GCSE English Language GCSE English Literature All students are following a course which will give them two outcomes in English: Grades 1-9 Two Outcomes = Four Exams

Myth-Busting! You can’t revise for English: especially English Language. It’s unseen. I’m just going to wing it. I’m never going to know it. I can’t remember anything no matter how many times I’ve learned it. I’m really tired. I’ll just do it tomorrow.

Challenges for Young People: English Literature Texts studied: Macbeth An Inspector Calls Jekyll and Hyde 15 poems from the AQA anthology All exams are now ‘closed book’. Although for some of their texts, students will be given extracts to use as a springboard, they are expected to have learned a significant number of quotations from each text. ENGLISH LITERATURE

Look at pg13 of your revision guide … Students: can you tell your parents which of the texts each quotation comes from? Write the answers down on your booklet. Challenge: can you put the quote into context? Who said it? What is happening? What techniques are being used? What is the writer trying to suggest? Questions you can ask about any text/quotation. The more students talk about their texts, the more familiar they will be. ENGLISH LITERATURE

How to prepare for your Literature exams… Start now! Pg3 of your booklet: The Content. Pg8-11: Top tips on how to revise for each section. The most important thing: KNOW YOUR TEXTS. If you can, have your own copies of the texts. Read them at home, re-read them and then re-read them again. Watch the film versions available (but be clear about the differences): this will help you become more familiar with the language and structure. ENGLISH LITERATURE

Examples of Top Tips Pg 8 Active Revision Create a timeline of events for each Act (‘Macbeth’) and Chapter (‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’) so you know who comes in and leaves at what point as well as what happens Research the Context What did the Elizabethan’s believe about: the divine right of Kings; the supernatural; fate and destiny; the role of women? Define and Identify Language Techniques/Subject Terminology Alliteration, Cliché, Deference, Dramatic Irony, Emotive Language Define and Identify Structural Techniques Foreshadow, Iambic pentameter, Length of Utterance Explore the key question: What is the effect of the writer’s use of language? How is the writer trying to create an impact on the reader? ENGLISH LITERATURE

Challenges for Young People: English Language pg2 In both English Language papers, students have to hone their skills to be able to understand and explore ‘unseen’ texts. The texts will be taken from the 19 th, 20 th and 21 st Centuries. This means that students will be challenged by: Unusual vocabulary A variety of sentence structures Unfamiliar topics ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Paper 1: Explorations in Creative Reading and Writing What's assessed Section A: Reading one literature fiction text Section B: Writing descriptive or narrative writing How it’s assessed Written exam: 1 hour 45 minutes 80 marks 50% of GCSE Questions Reading (40 marks) (25%)– one single text 1 short form question (1 x 4 marks) 2 longer form questions (2 x 8 marks) 1 extended question (1 x 20 marks) Writing (40 marks) (25%) 1 extended writing question (24 marks for content, 16 marks for technical accuracy) Paper 2: Writers’ Viewpoints and Perspectives What's assessed Section A: Reading one non-fiction text and one literary non-fiction text Section B: Writing writing to present a viewpoint How it’s assessed Written exam: 1 hour 45 minutes 80 marks 50% of GCSE Questions Reading (40 marks) (25%) – two linked texts 1 short form question (1 x 4 marks) 2 longer form questions (1 x 8, 1 x 12 marks) 1 extended question (1 x 16 marks) Writing (40 marks) (25%) 1 extended writing question (24 marks for content, 16 marks for technical accuracy) ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Read All About It Success in the reading sections of the English Language papers will be achieved if students get into good habits and practise their skills of: Inference and Deduction Comprehension and Information Retrieval Analysis of language and structure Exploring the writers’ methods Evaluation and argument Comparison of methods and their impact and effect ENGLISH LANGUAGE

How to Prepare: pg14 There are many challenges facing students in these exams, not least that the unseen texts will be adult fiction and non-fiction. They will contain complex and perhaps unfamiliar language and students will be expected to unpick these texts very carefully in order to succeed. Example preparation sheet: Look at this sheet together and read the first two paragraphs. Underline any vocabulary you don’t understand. Use a dictionary to find out the definition. Make a note of it on the sheet. Get into good habits of summarising and discussing the texts by using the key questions alongside the text: What? Who? When and Where? ENGLISH LANGUAGE

An example of 19 th Century Literary Non- Fiction: Florence Nightingale Letter to The Times, 1876 The beginning has been made, the first crusade has been fought and won, to bring real nursing, trained nursing to the bedsides of cases wanting real nursing among the London sick poor, in the only way in which real nurses can be so brought to the sick poor, and this by providing a real home within reach of their work for the nurses to live in – a home which gives what real family homes are supposed to give:- materially, a bedroom for each, dining and sitting rooms in common, all meals prepared and eaten in the home; morally, direction, support, sympathy in a common work, further training and instruction in it, proper rest and recreation, and a head of the home, who is also and pre-eminently trained and skilled head of the nursing. What is Florence Nightingale’s attitude towards nursing? ENGLISH LANGUAGE

An example of 19 th Century Literary Non- Fiction: Florence Nightingale Letter to The Times, 1876 The beginning has been made, the first crusade has been fought and won, to bring real nursing, trained nursing to the bedsides of cases wanting real nursing among the London sick poor, in the only way in which real nurses can be so brought to the sick poor, and this by providing a real home within reach of their work for the nurses to live in – a home which gives what real family homes are supposed to give:- materially, a bedroom for each, dining and sitting rooms in common, all meals prepared and eaten in the home; morally, direction, support, sympathy in a common work, further training and instruction in it, proper rest and recreation, and a head of the home, who is also and pre-eminently trained and skilled head of the nursing. What is Florence Nightingale’s attitude towards nursing? ENGLISH LANGUAGE

An example of 19 th Century Literary Non- Fiction: Florence Nightingale Letter to The Times, 1876 The beginning has been made, the first crusade has been fought and won, to bring real nursing, trained nursing to the bedsides of cases wanting real nursing among the London sick poor, in the only way in which real nurses can be so brought to the sick poor, and this by providing a real home within reach of their work for the nurses to live in – a home which gives what real family homes are supposed to give:- materially, a bedroom for each, dining and sitting rooms in common, all meals prepared and eaten in the home; morally, direction, support, sympathy in a common work, further training and instruction in it, proper rest and recreation, and a head of the home, who is also and pre-eminently trained and skilled head of the nursing. What is Florence Nightingale’s attitude towards nursing? ENGLISH LANGUAGE

The Writing’s on the Wall In English Language, writing is worth 50% of the marks. 24 marks for content and structure. 16 marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar (one writing question in each paper) Paper 1: Describe/Narrate Paper 2: Argue/Persuade ENGLISH LANGUAGE

How to get those crucial marks in writing? Every time? T echniques (different ones for fiction and non-fiction) V ocabulary (unusual, varied) C onnections (between paragraphs, ideas and sentences. PLANNING!) O peners (of paragraphs and of sentences. ) P unctuation ( ; : ? () ‘ ) S entence structure (variety: long and short sentences, embedded clauses, structure for effect) ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Check it Out After every piece of writing (not just in English), make sure you are checking your SPAG. Use a dictionary to check spellings. Use a thesaurus to find out and use alternative words. Experiment with different sentence structures: read books and pick out long and short ones, semi-colons and colons. Make every effort to use basic punctuation: full stops and commas. Without it, your writing will not achieve Grade 4. DIRT your work with your teachers’ help! ENGLISH LANGUAGE Oi! I am in your planner!

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