Mid-Year Exams Objective:

Mid-Year Exams Objective:
To understand the content and requirements of the mid-year exams To know how to approach question 1 of the exam and begin to consider the meaning of language.

Why do we assess in this way?
To gain a clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of students; To help inform our planning; To help you get used to the GCSE style exam.

The Reading Paper (Like the GCSE Paper 1, Section A)
List relevant information from the text (4 marks) Explain the effect of language features (8 marks) Explain the effect of structure (8 marks) Evaluate impressions of characters/places (20 marks)

Timings! You have one hour for the reading section.
Spend 5 minutes reading. List relevant information from the text (4 marks) – 5 minutes Explain the effect of language features (8 marks) – 12 minutes Explain the effect of structure (8 marks) – 12 minutes Evaluate impressions of characters/places (20 marks) – 23 minutes

How can we locate and retrieve information?
Read the question Active reading Highlight key points

Question 1. For this question you can quote or paraphrase Let’s read the entire extract from ‘Propping Up the Line’ by Ian Beck, published in 2014

Read again the first part of the Source from lines 1 to 6
Read again the first part of the Source from lines 1 to 6. List four things about Alfred from this part of the Source. (4 marks) Alfred felt something move. It came out of the mud in the dark behind his back where he sat cold and drowsily slumped against the trench wall. Something small and warmly alive pushed itself between the wooden slats and his battledress jacket. It touched for an instant the small exposed area of his pale dirty skin just where his jacket and vest were folded and rucked up together. He could feel something struggling and pushing to get past him. He shot up in revulsion – he knew just what it was: a filthy…

What do you need to think about for question 1?

Question 2: Language What does language mean? Why do we use it?

Question 2: Language What kinds of language devices do writers of fiction use? Consider words and phrases, imagery, sentence types, etc. remember contrast

Read lines 8 to 16. How does the writer use language here to describe the rat? You could include the writer’s choice of:  words and phrases  language features and techniques  sentence forms. [8 marks] He saw it there, pushing through and twisting its head, saw the wet greasy fur and its mean red eyes. He kicked at it and missed. The rat scuttled out from the tiny gap between the slat supports and ran across the mud. Normally Alfred would have let it go. Rats were, after all, commonplace but something, whether pent-up anger… hate… loss… pain… boredom, whichever it was made him give chase after it. The creature appeared sluggish, as if it were weighed down with overeating. It had most likely been feeding on what was caught, left behind, in the lines and coils of barbed wire which stretched for miles beyond the trench. The terrible sad debris of dead soldiers. The remains that were left behind after a 6am push. Can you highlight any words and phrases in one colour? Now try the language features in another colour Now highlight any sentence forms in another.

What did you come up with? What is the effect?
He saw it there, pushing through and twisting its head, saw the wet greasy fur and its mean red eyes. He kicked at it and missed. The rat scuttled out from the tiny gap between the slat supports and ran across the mud. Normally Alfred would have let it go. Rats were, after all, commonplace but something, whether pent-up anger… hate… loss… pain… boredom, whichever it was made him give chase after it. The creature appeared sluggish, as if it were weighed down with overeating. It had most likely been feeding on what was caught, left behind, in the lines and coils of barbed wire which stretched for miles beyond the trench. The terrible sad debris of dead soldiers. The remains that were left behind after a 6am push.

USEFUL WORDS & PHRASES FOR SPEED
Connective SIGNPOST The author / language in the text… EXPLANATION The reader… (or ‘we’…) This could also ……. DEVELOPMENT Firstly Secondly Thirdly As well as this Furthermore Moreover Finally Lastly Likewise Similarly Unlike As well as In contrast to Advises Argues Builds Connotes Contrasts Conveys Creates Demonstrates Describes Depicts Emphasises Evokes Exaggerates Gives the impression Gives a sense Highlights Informs Implies Indicates Juxtaposes Narrates Persuades Realises Recognises Refers to Reflects Represents Reveals Signifies Suggests Symbolises Shows Tells Is made aware Is informed Is told Is shocked / fascinated / persuaded / made to sympathise etc. Learns Discovers Link to later on in the passage where ….. Draw our attention to the theme of ….. Suggest/imply/infer/reveal/signify Students should ONLY use words / phrases they’re comfortable with. There’s no time to experiment! Column 1: Useful connectives to organise a response, and to compare and contrast. Column 2: Active verbs that may be used to explain / analyse. Column 3: Passive, and then active, sentence constructions that may be used when referring to the reader or audience. USEFUL WORDS & PHRASES FOR SPEED

Read lines 8 to 16. How does the writer use language here to describe the rat? You could include the writer’s choice of:  words and phrases  language features and techniques  sentence forms. [8 marks] He saw it there, pushing through and twisting its head, saw the wet greasy fur and its mean red eyes. He kicked at it and missed. The rat scuttled out from the tiny gap between the slat supports and ran across the mud. Normally Alfred would have let it go. Rats were, after all, commonplace but something, whether pent-up anger… hate… loss… pain… boredom, whichever it was made him give chase after it. The creature appeared sluggish, as if it were weighed down with overeating. It had most likely been feeding on what was caught, left behind, in the lines and coils of barbed wire which stretched for miles beyond the trench. The terrible sad debris of dead soldiers. The remains that were left behind after a 6am push. In your groups, write a SPEED response for this question. The best one will be handed out as a good example for you.

Now spend 5 minutes reading the extract and 12 minutes answering the question by yourself:
SCORCHING: Confidently explains the effects of the writer’s choices of language using a range of relevant examples Uses subject terminology accurately clear explanation of effect(s) of writer’s method(s) HOT: Shows an understanding of how language is used to achieve effects and influence the reader, using relevant quotations Uses subject terminology effectively. Identification of effects of a range of writer’s methods with some comment. Use Carrie WARM: Comments on some aspects of language and attempts to explain the effects Attempts to use subject terminology accurately Attempts to explain the effects of writer’s methods on a reader

Objective: To understand how to answer question 3 of your exam paper
Starter task. Using the criteria on the tables and the example given, try to identify what aspects of the criteria this language response has met. Look at your own response. What criteria has yours met?

Structure Always start with the paragraphs Word Sentence Connectives
Paragraph – time/place/perspective Whole text Always start with the paragraphs What are they about? Work out why they were put in a particular order Are there any recurring motifs (ideas)?

In groups, consider the possible effects of writers using or changing the following:
Tense Passing of time Place Person (perspective) Order of events Omission of details Size of paragraphs Length of sentences Openings and closing – this is a good place to start Hyphens, colons, ellipsis

Look at the extract in a group. What do you notice about the structure?
Alfred felt something move. It came out of the mud in the dark behind his back where he sat cold and drowsily slumped against the trench wall. Something small and warmly alive pushed itself between the wooden slats and his battledress jacket. It touched for an instant the small exposed area of his pale dirty skin just where his jacket and vest were folded and rucked up together. He could feel something struggling and pushing to get past him. He shot up in revulsion – he knew just what it was: a filthy… ‘Rat!’ he shouted to no one in particular. He saw it there, pushing through and twisting its head, saw the wet greasy fur and its mean red eyes. He kicked at it and missed. The rat scuttled out from the tiny gap between the slat supports and ran across the mud. Normally Alfred would have let it go. Rats were, after all, commonplace but something, whether pent-up anger… hate… loss… pain… boredom, whichever it was made him give chase after it. The creature appeared sluggish, as if it were weighed down with overeating. It had most likely been feeding on what was caught, left behind, in the lines and coils of barbed wire which stretched for miles beyond the trench. The terrible sad debris of dead soldiers. The remains that were left behind after a 6am push. Before it was light, after the heavy artillery bombardments and the whistles and the bright spray of the flares and the shouting and the Very lights, the men streamed over, filtered through the narrow gaps in the wire. Whole portions of them however were miraculously left behind – bits of men hooked up and hanging there for all to see, like the display in an awful butcher’s shop window; or if there were enough shreds and rags of uniform still attached to the limbs, then it was more like the washing on the line flapping on a Monday morning at home. Alfred had grown almost used to such sights. Almost used to seeing the remains of men he had sometimes known and shared fag time and mugs of tea with. Almost used to them being suddenly torn apart and scattered around here and there or falling like rain into the mud. Almost used to them being thrown up in the air along with the astonishingly loud shellbursts. Used to seeing the remains chucked around among the living like so much discarded offal. Used to seeing legs, hands, heads and sometimes faces stare up at him blankly from the grey mud. Used to seeing his pals’ insides suddenly all spilled out from between their buttons, or poking through the rips and gaps in their uniforms. Used to seeing their innards fully exposed in the cold light of the outside where they didn’t belong at all. Where they were never meant to be seen. He knew it was wrong to be even remotely used to such sights, or to any of it, even for a second, let alone for ever….. The rat zigzagged through the mud down the service trench, passed a wooden sign. It hesitated at the base of a trench ladder, and Alfred finally smashed it down into the mud. He felt its tiny backbone crack under his boot and he had a moment of fleeting sympathy for it; just another dirty dead thing, another of God’s creatures that had given up the ghost in the mud like so many others, and no one there to grieve its loss but him. He twisted his boot on the rat, pushing its bloated little body further into the mire.

Why is it structured in this way?

USEFUL WORDS & PHRASES FOR SPEED
Connective SIGNPOST The structure in the text… EXPLANATION The reader… (or ‘we’…) This could also ……. DEVELOPMENT Firstly Secondly Thirdly As well as this Furthermore Moreover Finally Lastly Likewise Similarly Unlike As well as In contrast to Advises Argues Builds Connotes Contrasts Conveys Creates Demonstrates Describes Depicts Emphasises Evokes Exaggerates Gives the impression Gives a sense Highlights Informs Implies Indicates Juxtaposes Narrates Persuades Realises Recognises Refers to Reflects Represents Reveals Signifies Suggests Symbolises Shows Tells Is made aware Is informed Is told Is shocked / fascinated / persuaded / made to sympathise etc. Learns Discovers Link to later on in the passage where ….. Draw our attention to the theme of ….. Suggest/imply/infer/reveal/signify Students should ONLY use words / phrases they’re comfortable with. There’s no time to experiment! Column 1: Useful connectives to organise a response, and to compare and contrast. Column 2: Active verbs that may be used to explain / analyse. Column 3: Passive, and then active, sentence constructions that may be used when referring to the reader or audience. USEFUL WORDS & PHRASES FOR SPEED

Now on your own: You now need to think about the whole of the Source
Now on your own: You now need to think about the whole of the Source. This text is from a novel and describes the first meeting of the main characters. How has the writer structured the text to interest you as a reader? You could write about:  what the writer focuses your attention on at the beginning  how and why the writer changes the focus as the Source develops  any other structural features that you think help to develop the meeting. (8 marks) SCORCHING: Begins to analyse how the organisation of events are used to achieve effects and influence the reader HOT Clearly explains the effects of the writer’s choice of structural features using a range of relevant examples Use Carrie WARM: Comments on how the organisation of events are used to achieve effects and influence the reader using relevant examples

Question 4 Objective: To understand how to approach question 4 on the reading paper. Starter task. Using the criteria on the tables and the example given, try to identify what aspects of the criteria this structure response has met. Look at your own response. What criteria has yours met?

Question 4 is worth 20 marks will give you a statement and you will be asked to state whether or not you agree. It will ask you to: • write about your own impressions of the characters or their actions • evaluate how the writer has created these impressions • support your opinions with quotations from the text. You will be marked on how well you: Evaluate the text Offer examples from the text to explain views Analyse the effect of the writer’s choices Select quotations

Evaluate Analyse Impressions
Can you remember from the mid-year exams – what do these mean?: Evaluate Analyse Impressions

Impressions of what Alfred remembers.
How does the writer the horror and dreadful effect war has on Alfred?

Alfred felt something move
Alfred felt something move. It came out of the mud in the dark behind his back where he sat cold and drowsily slumped against the trench wall. Something small and warmly alive pushed itself between the wooden slats and his battledress jacket. It touched for an instant the small exposed area of his pale dirty skin just where his jacket and vest were folded and rucked up together. He could feel something struggling and pushing to get past him. He shot up in revulsion – he knew just what it was: a filthy… ‘Rat!’ he shouted to no one in particular. He saw it there, pushing through and twisting its head, saw the wet greasy fur and its mean red eyes. He kicked at it and missed. The rat scuttled out from the tiny gap between the slat supports and ran across the mud. Normally Alfred would have let it go. Rats were, after all, commonplace but something, whether pent-up anger… hate… loss… pain… boredom, whichever it was made him give chase after it. The creature appeared sluggish, as if it were weighed down with overeating. It had most likely been feeding on what was caught, left behind, in the lines and coils of barbed wire which stretched for miles beyond the trench. The terrible sad debris of dead soldiers. The remains that were left behind after a 6am push. Before it was light, after the heavy artillery bombardments and the whistles and the bright spray of the flares and the shouting and the Very lights, the men streamed over, filtered through the narrow gaps in the wire. Whole portions of them however were miraculously left behind – bits of men hooked up and hanging there for all to see, like the display in an awful butcher’s shop window; or if there were enough shreds and rags of uniform still attached to the limbs, then it was more like the washing on the line flapping on a Monday morning at home. Alfred had grown almost used to such sights. Almost used to seeing the remains of men he had sometimes known and shared fag time and mugs of tea with. Almost used to them being suddenly torn apart and scattered around here and there or falling like rain into the mud. Almost used to them being thrown up in the air along with the astonishingly loud shellbursts. Used to seeing the remains chucked around among the living like so much discarded offal. Used to seeing legs, hands, heads and sometimes faces stare up at him blankly from the grey mud. Used to seeing his pals’ insides suddenly all spilled out from between their buttons, or poking through the rips and gaps in their uniforms. Used to seeing their innards fully exposed in the cold light of the outside where they didn’t belong at all. Where they were never meant to be seen. He knew it was wrong to be even remotely used to such sights, or to any of it, even for a second, let alone for ever….. The rat zigzagged through the mud down the service trench, passed a wooden sign. It hesitated at the base of a trench ladder, and Alfred finally smashed it down into the mud. He felt its tiny backbone crack under his boot and he had a moment of fleeting sympathy for it; just another dirty dead thing, another of God’s creatures that had given up the ghost in the mud like so many others, and no one there to grieve its loss but him. He twisted his boot on the rat, pushing its bloated little body further into the mire.

Let’s start the answer together:
Focus this part of your answer on the second half of the Source from line 17 to the end. A student said: ‘This part of the text where Alfred remembers the battle shows the horror of war and the dreadful effect it has on him.’ To what extent do you agree? In your response, you could: • consider your own impressions of what Alfred remembers and its effect on him • evaluate how the writer shows the horror and dreadful effect war has on Alfred • support your response with references to the text. [20 marks] Let’s start the answer together:

critical evaluation is clear and consistent
Focus this part of your answer on the second half of the Source from line 17 to the end. A student said: ‘This part of the text where Alfred remembers the battle shows the horror of war and the dreadful effect it has on him.’ To what extent do you agree? In your response, you could: • consider your own impressions of what Alfred remembers and its effect on him • evaluate how the writer shows the horror and dreadful effect war has on Alfred • support your response with references to the text [20 marks] SCORCHING: critical evaluation is clear and consistent demonstrates critical awareness demonstrates engagement with the text as a whole Provides detailed and appropriate references to support points HOT: there is evaluative comment critical awareness of extracts (e.g. openings and endings) in relation to the text as a whole uses appropriate supportive references selects relevant and appropriate quotations to support views WARM: Clearly evaluates the text Offers examples from the text to explain views clearly Clearly explains the effect of writer’s choices and methods Selects a range of relevant quotations to support views In groups

SCORCHING: critical evaluation is clear and consistent demonstrates critical awareness demonstrates engagement with the text as a whole Provides detailed and appropriate references to support points HOT: there is evaluative comment critical awareness of extracts (e.g. openings and endings) in relation to the text as a whole uses appropriate supportive references selects relevant and appropriate quotations to support views WARM: Clearly evaluates the text Offers examples from the text to explain views clearly Clearly explains the effect of writer’s choices and methods Selects a range of relevant quotations to support views Carrie

The Writing Task Objective:
To understand how to approach the writing section of the exam

Successful communication of ideas with some clarity and fluency
Attempts to match purpose, form and audience; attempts to control register Varied vocabulary with some use of linguistic devices Appropriate reasons are given in support of opinions Linked and relevant ideas Writes in paragraphs with some discourse markers, not always appropriate Evidence of structural features Ideas are organised into coherent arguments there is variety in sentence structure to include co-ordination and subordination a range of punctuation is used, mostly accurately control of tense and agreement is generally secure spelling is mostly accurate some use of Standard English Sophisticated communication of ideas Tone, style and register generally matched to purpose, form and audience, showing clear awareness of the reader/intended audience Vocabulary clearly chosen for effect and precision and successful use of linguistic devices Writing is engaging with a range of connected ideas Increasing variety of linked and relevant ideas Usually coherent paragraphs with range of discourse markers Usually effective use of structural features Clear shape and structure in writing (paragraphs used effectively to give sequence and organisation sentence structure is varied to achieve particular effects a range of punctuation is used accurately Most spelling, including that of irregular words, is correct. Words with regular patterns such as prefixes, suffixes and double consonants control of tense and agreement is secure Uses Standard English Communication is consistently clear sophisticated and effective Tone, style and register matched to purpose, form and audience Increasingly sophisticated and ambitious precise vocabulary and phrasing , chosen for effect with a range of appropriate linguistic devices Secure awareness of the reader Selects rhetorical devices to suit audience Writing is engaging with a range of detailed connected ideas Coherent paragraphs with integrated discourse markers Effective use of structural features Communication has clarity, fluency and some ambition a range of punctuation is used consistently accurately spelling, including that of irregular words, is secure control of tense and agreement is totally secure Uses Standard English appropriately

Example Questions: Your school wants to display some creative writing.
Either: Describe a deserted area as suggested by this picture: Or: Write a story about a very clever person. (24 marks for content and organisation 16 marks for technical accuracy) [40 marks]

What makes a good description?

Vocabulary: Colour: Weather: Shape

KEY TERM! IMAGERY Words can be chosen to create more than just meaning: they create feeling, too. Some words (or phrases) are able to create a particularly vivid sense such as a picture, a sound, a taste, etc. This effect is called imagery.

KEY TERM! Imagery is a very important feature of descriptive writing and, especially, of poetry. The most common way by which a writer can create imagery is through the use of figurative language (figures of speech), typically through the use of metaphor, simile and personification.

Varying Sentences Simple Sentences – a sentence that contains one clause: My hands were shaking. Compound Sentences – a sentence that joins two main clauses together using a connective: My hands were shaking, and a bead of sweat ran down my cheek. Complex Sentences – a sentence that contains two clauses however the subordinate clause is reliant on the main clause: Although my hands were shaking and sweat ran down my cheek, I forced myself to continue

Sentence openers: There are lots of ways to open sentences, such as:
When ‘Last night’ Where How (‘ly word) Name Simile Adjective One-worder ‘ed’ clause ‘ing’ clause

Sentence Types: If, if, then Many question Description: detail Magic
Burger Irony Emotion, word Some; others Short impact Adverbial

Punctuation When do we use a full stop?
When do we use an exclamation mark? Name four purposes of a comma When do we use capital letters? How do we use speech marks correctly? What are the two purposes of an apostrophe? What do we use a semi-colon for? What do we use a colon for?

Spelling. Write a sentence including each one of these:
There, their, they’re Your, you’re Our, are No, know Where, were, we’re, wear Remember: would have, could have, should have, NOT of

Can you zoom into details on this image?

What makes a good story?

Miss, how can I start it? I don’t know how to end it!

Example Questions: Your school wants to display some creative writing.
Either: Describe a deserted area as suggested by this picture: Or: Write a story about a very clever person. (24 marks for content and organisation 16 marks for technical accuracy) [40 marks]

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