GCSE ENGLISH LANGUAGE EXAM

PAPER 1: Here is a knowledge organiser for Paper 1, Section A (Reading Fiction): Paper 1, Section A Knowledge Organiser.

Here is a knowledge organiser for Paper 1, Section B (Writing Fiction): Paper 1, Section B Knowledge Organiser. And 2 examples of good descriptive writing: Ed – practice piece and WJEC student exemplar

PAPER 2: Firstly, here’s my guide for SOME of those features that we discussed in class; you’ll  find that this sheet will come in handy for both Section A and Section B of Paper 2, Non-fiction: SOME KEY LANGUAGE FEATURES. Don’t forget to also revise the terms in your glossaries and continue to read those opinion articles on the Guardian app. 

Here is a knowledge organiser for Paper 2, Section A (Reading Non-fiction): Paper 2, Section A Knowledge Organiser

Here is a knowledge organiser for Paper 2, Section B (Writing Non-fiction): Paper 2, Section B Knowledge Organiser. And for a bit more detail, here’s a PPT that explains the various formats/conventions for non-fiction writing: LANGUAGE EXAM – PAPER 2, SECTION B ADVICE. An exemplar of a strong piece written by one of last year’s Yr 11s: Erin’s paper 2 writing

GCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE EXAM (PAPER1): ‘ROMEO & JULIET’

R&JHere’s a handy knowledge organiser for Romeo & Juliet: R&J Knowledge Organiser Start digesting the info on it! I’m also including the context PPT that we looked at in class as it contains some stuff that we couldn’t fit on the knowledge organiser: Extra context – R&J

For the extract bit of the exam, I’ve created a list of common features (we discussed what we could say about them in class): Improving AO2  Here are some key quotes (as well as their associated AO2 & AO3 points) that should enable you to answer the second bullet point which refers out to the rest of the play: ROMEO & JULIET QUOTES ANALYSIS Get revising and hand in essays for marking.

Watch this space for exemplar essays. Meanwhile, here’s an example of how to answer a question on conflict: R&J exemplar

 

GCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE EXAM (PAPER 1): ‘A CHRISTMAS CAROL’

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Alrighty! Here’s my new super-duper revision booklet for A Christmas CarolA Christmas Carol Revision booklet. I’ve also attached a handy knowledge organiser: A Christmas Carol Knowledge Organiser

Is that all I need? Well, not really, because the more exemplars that you have, the better. Here’s a nice one that Erin Sheridan produced: Erin Sheridan’s paragraphIf you want to see high level (A-Level standard) language analysis, have a look at George Booth’s piece: GB – Language analysis And here’s another piece (again, A-Level standard) of a structural analysis (with some language analysis thrown in): GB – Structure analysis  Here’s a nice discussion of narrative perspective:

As well as those exemplars, you must also check out Elliot Longworth’s theory about Dickens’ use of the ghosts: Elliot’s Theory   

And here is Ed Webster’s rather sophisticated theory: ed-websters-theory

GCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE EXAM (PAPER 2): POETRY

Ahhh…glorious poetry.

The last of my Lit revision booklets! poetry-revision-booklet-2 and of course a handy knowledge organiser for Power and Conflict Poetry (Power and Conflict Knowledge Organiser) and one for Unseen Poetry (Unseen Poetry Knowledge Organiser)

Here’s a useful little sheet for you to complete (it will remind you of the meanings/themes in each poem and help you decide which poems you might like to compare in the exam): anthology-themes

A blank anthology to help in your revision practice: blank-poetry-anthology

Just in case you forgot your mindmaps/context at school, here they are (scanned from Danny Kelly’s exercise book); use them to help you revise the key quotes, AO2 and AO3: Mindmaps and Extra contextual notes  To make life easier for you, I’ve narrowed down the quotes to 3 for each poem but you’ll need to know what you’re going to say (AO2/AO3) about the quotes: Key quotes for each poem  

And last but not least for the conflict collection, here’s a really good essay from Ed Webster: Ed Webster – poetry comp practice

As for the unseen poetry, here’s a nice resource which has two poems on each page: Eduqas – selection of unseen poems – useful for AQA  There are no questions accompanying the poems so go with the following: 1) In the first poem, how does the poet present the speaker’s feelings (30 minutes) and 2) In both poems, what are the similarities and/or differences between the ways the poets present those feelings? (15 minutes)

A-LEVEL ENGLISH LITERATURE: AMERICAN LITERATURE (PAPER 2)

unclesamOkely dokely, folks, let’s make sure that we know our context/themes. Check out the PPT that I put together: Contextual overview of American Literature

Right, now have a look at the sample paper with which the exam board have provided us: PAPER 2

My recommended structure as well as an exemplar for Section A of the exam: section-a-structure-exemplar

Here’s the table with quotes, context & themes (needs updating/adding to) that Charlotte very kindly put together for us: Key Quotes Table

And here’s my recommended structure as well as an exemplar for Section B of the exam: section-b-structure-exemplar  I’ve also come up with a few exam-style questions and provided you with some possible introductions. Check those out here: possible-exam-questions 

It’s over to you now. I won’t wish you luck for your exams because it’s nothing to do with luck. How much you practise will determine the grade you get.

Yours as always,

Mr J

A-LEVEL ENGLISH LANGUAGE EXAM 2016: SPOKEN LANGUAGE

post-telegraphic-stage-250wFirstly, I can’t overstate how important it is that you use the CORRECT terms! So…let’s start with a reminder of those spoken  language terms: SPOKEN LANG FEATURES – GCSE  But of course it ain’t all about spoken language terms – no siree, Bob! Remind yourself of those all-important key constituents: SOME KEY LANGUAGE TERMS – A-LEVEL  And here’s a quick  PPT to get you thinking about active and passive utterances in a sporting context: Active or passive. 

So, in this paragraph we’re getting down to the business of spoken language – check out these 4 resources. Firstly, here’s a PPT  on the difference between the two basic types of Spoken Language – Prepared & Spontaneous (don’t forget that it could be a  mix, e.g. a debate in Parliament): Prepared vs spontaneous speech. Done? Good. Now, I reckon that you could argue that  all language is fundamentally about power. Think about it. Meantime, here’s a really useful PPT about Language and Power (with a few theories thrown in): Language and Power. Speaking of theories, here are a number of useful gender theories to add to your collection: Gender theories  And here we have a nice PPT about child language acquisition: Language acquisition

That’s all very helpful, Mr Johnson but I don’t recall how to structure my answer in the exam. Not a problem. Check my advice out here (I’ve also included past questions and a quick note about politics, which hasn’t appeared on the exam for a while. By the way, like my note about politics, it would be a good idea to jot down a list of what you would expect in other contexts, e.g. interviews, conversations, commentaries, etc.): COMPONENT 1 ADVICE & PAST QUESTIONS  Alrighty, but how should all of this stuff actually look on paper? Well, here’s how I would write about a prepared speech: Boston bombings analysis  (note the lack of non-fluency features)And here are two examples for spontaneous speech: Russell Brand Example2  (television interview) and June 2010 exemplar paragraph (television commentary). I’m not going to include an exemplar from the exam board as the pieces that you’ve produced are vastly superior.

Here’s the structure advice for Paper 3 (creative writing/analysis): COMPONENT 3 ADVICE

I know (emphatic stress) that you’ll do well in the exams so all that’s left for me to say is that I wish you all the very best in whatever you choose to do in life.

It’s been a pleasure.

Mr J