Exam Board: SQA Level: National 4 & 5 Subject: English First Teaching: September 2013 First Exam: June 2014 As well as being a highly popular play for National 5 English study, Tally's Blood paints a wonderful picture of life in wartime Scotland, as experienced by the Italian immigrant community. Exploring the themes of racism, love and family loyalties, it does so with humour and warmth through the eyes of an Italian family with close blood ties. When World War Two breaks out, friendships outwith the family are sorely tested by the difficulties of wartime prejudice. - One of the set drama texts for National 5 English - Written by a very successful playwright and television screenplay writer

Alek Fitz is the lead reaper for Valkyrie Collections, an agency that gathers debts for the paranormal elements of the world. Bound into modern-day slavery by a contract he cannot break, sold by parents he never knew, Alek works alongside demons, spirits, witches, and even Death himself to collect on deals made with humanity. When Alek is forced to take a job from a local vampire hunting down a run-away thrall, he is immediately thrust into a world of blackmail and backstabbing, where the Rules are nothing more than an inconvenience to ancient, supernatural predators. For the first time, Alek has more to fear from his clients than from his debtors. But Alek is the best in the business. It’ll take more than a Vampire Lord to keep a good reaper down.

Exam Board: SQA Level: National 5 and Higher Subject: English First teaching: September 2017 (N5) / September 2018 (Higher) First exams: Summer 2018 (N5) / Summer 2019 (Higher) Understand, analyse, evaluate, succeed. This study and revision guide takes you through every aspect of The Cone-Gatherers, with exam advice for the National 5 and Higher English Critical Reading papers. Fully up to date with SQA's latest exam requirements, this book is written by an expert who knows what exam success looks like. b” Develop understanding of plot, structure, characterisation, themes and language. /bClear explanations and detailed commentary are supported by definitions of key terms and unfamiliar wordsbrbrb” Build critical and analytical skills. /bStudents are encouraged to think more deeply about the text and consider the writers' ideas, choices and techniquesbrbrb” Receive advice on the Scottish Texts section of the exam. /bSample questions with model answers and examiner-style commentary are supported by additional practice questions for students to dobrbrb” Prepare for the Critical Essay section of the exam. /bWith tips and examples for planning, structuring and writing a top-grade essay, plus practice essay questions for students to answerbrbrb” Remember key quotations.

This Companion, first published in 2000, addresses the work of women playwrights in Britain throughout the twentieth century.

From the late 1960s until the present day, a significant number of women playwrights have emerged in Scottish theatre who have made a pioneering contribution to dramatic innovation and experimentation. Despite the critical reassessment of some of these authors in the last twenty years, their invaluable achievement in playwriting, within and outside Scotland, still deserves more thorough investigations and fuller acknowledgement. This work explores what is still uncharted territory by examining a selection of representative texts by Ann Marie di Mambro, Marcella Evaristi, Sue Glover, Jackie Kay, Liz Lochhead, Sharman Macdonald, and Joan Ure. The three macro-thematic areas of the book – the rewriting of the Shakespearean canon; the representation of female communities and minorities; and the conflicts between the self and society – find significant and paradigmatic expression in their dramas. All seven writers examined in this book have explored new theatrical methods, introduced aesthetic innovations and opened new perspectives to engage with the complexities of national, community and individual identities. This study will surely contribute to wider recognition of their achievement, so that their work can never again be described as “uncharted territory”.

Alek Fitz is a reaper, a collection agent who works for the supernatural elements of the world, tracking down debtors and solving problems for clients as diverse as the Lords of Hell, vampires, Haitian loa, and goblins. He’s even worked for the Tooth Fairy on occasion. Based out of Cleveland, Ohio, Alek is the best in the game. As a literal slave to his job, he doesn’t have a choice. When Death comes looking for someone to track down a thief, Alek is flung into a mess of vengeful undead, supernatural bureaucracy, and a fledgling imp war. As the consequences of failure become dire, he has few leads, and the clock is ticking. Only with the help of his friend Maggie—an ancient djinn with a complex past—can he hope to recover the stolen property, save the world, and just maybe wring a favor out of the Great Constant himself. It’s a hell of a job, but somebody’s got to do it . . .

Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist: A “compelling chronicle” of the science, politics, and business of blood (The Wall Street Journal). Blood carries life, yet the sight of it makes people faint. It is a waste product and a commodity pricier than oil. It can save lives and transmit deadly infections. Each one of us has roughly nine pints of it, yet many don’t even know their own blood type. And for all its ubiquitousness, the few tablespoons of blood discharged by 800 million women are still regarded as taboo: menstruation is perhaps the single most demonized biological event. Rose George, author of The Big Necessity, takes us from ancient practices of bloodletting to the breakthrough of the “liquid biopsy,” which promises to diagnose cancer and other diseases with a simple blood test. She introduces Janet Vaughan, who set up the world’s first system of mass blood donation during the Blitz, and Arunachalam Muruganantham, known as “Menstrual Man” for his work on sanitary pads for developing countries. She probes the lucrative business of plasma transfusions, in which the US is known as the “OPEC of plasma.” And she looks to the future, as researchers seek to bring synthetic blood to a hospital near you. Spanning science and politics, individual’s stories and global epidemics, Nine Pints reveals our life’s blood in an entirely new light. One of Bill Gates’ Recommended Summer Reading Titles “Stellar . . . An informative, elegant, and provocative exploration of the life-giving substance . . . A wondrously well-written work.” —Booklist (starred review) Both fascinating and informative . . . George packs her book with the kinds of provocative, witty, and rigorously reported facts and stories sure to make readers view the integral fluid coursing through our veins in a whole new way.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “George charges down wholly unexpected avenues of medical history and global injustice, leaving the reader by turns giddy and appalled. And always, always in awe of the writing.” —Mary Roach, author of Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War “A very good book.” —The New York Times