1. 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.

2. 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.

3. The Reading Paper (Like the GCSE Paper 1)
List relevant information from the text (4 marks)
Explain the effect of language features (8 marks)
Explain the effect of structure (8 marks)

4. Timings! You have 45 minutes 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) – 17 minutes
Explain the effect of structure (8 marks) – 17 minutes

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

6. Question 1. For this question you can quote or paraphrase

7. List four things other than the fact he is blind, that you learn about Blind Bill from this extract. (4 marks)
Blind Bill’s day started like any other. He was a man who liked routine and on warm summer days he liked to spend his time in his garden. He shifted his position in his garden chair and checked his table top again for his mobile telephone. He would phone his son later, but not yet. Bill would only bother him in the really lonely times. This morning he hoped there would be some visitors or a neighbour passing his gate who would stop and pass the time with him.
Some time later, Bill recognised Mrs. Jobson’s heavy footsteps. It was a Wednesday, and Bill knew it was her day for Willbridge supermarket.
“Nice drying day for your washing, Mrs. Jobson.”
His comment took her by surprise, and he heard her gasp. She would wonder how a blind man could know about her washing. Heavens, silly woman: the flapping, cracking sound it made as each gust of wind came down the valley was loud enough. And he knew she always did her washing before going to the supermarket. He enjoyed teasing her.
“You’d better have it in by three, though. It’ll rain by three.”
Again he was rewarded by her gasp of surprise. But she believed him because he’d always been right before. He could feel the weather fronts coming as the wind changed to the west on his cheek, and he felt the slight pressure of warm dampness on his skin that confirmed the change of weather to come. He hoped it wouldn’t rain; it would finish his day outside so early. Nothing indoors but quiz games on TV that you didn’t need sight to play. Bill was good at quizzes and, since his blindness, stuffing his brain with new facts was one way of not going mad. Indoors, Bill’s blindness was a prison cell. Not like being out here, where at least every sound brought back memories from the time when he’d had eyes. At times, though, despair hit him. He’d do anything to have two eyes again, to be rid of the dark.

8. What do you need to think about for question 1?

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

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

11. Let’s read the rest of the extract
Let’s read the rest of the extract. Highlight any language that the writer uses to convey Blind Bill’s thoughts or feelings.

12. Question 2
Objective:
To understand how to approach question 2 of the reading paper

13. Look at this extract. How does the writer use language to convey Blind Bill’s thoughts or feelings? (8 marks)
His comment took her by surprise, and he heard her gasp. She would wonder how a blind man could know about her washing. Heavens, silly woman: the flapping, cracking sound it made as each gust of wind came down the valley was loud enough. And he knew she always did her washing before going to the supermarket. He enjoyed teasing her.
“You’d better have it in by three, though. It’ll rain by three.”
Again he was rewarded by her gasp of surprise. But she believed him because he’d always been right before. He could feel the weather fronts coming as the wind changed to the west on his cheek, and he felt the slight pressure of warm dampness on his skin that confirmed the change of weather to come. He hoped it wouldn’t rain; it would finish his day outside so early. Nothing indoors but quiz games on TV that you didn’t need sight to play. Bill was good at quizzes and, since his blindness, stuffing his brain with new facts was one way of not going mad. Indoors, Bill’s blindness was a prison cell. Not like being out here, where at least every sound brought back memories from the time when he’d had eyes. At times, though, despair hit him. He’d do anything to have two eyes again, to be rid of the dark.

14. What does effect mean? In groups, discuss the effect of these quotations. Remember to consider specific words or techniques used:
‘But the girl had sounded so nice, gentle, innocent.’
‘The tones of the yob’s voice ground through Bill’s memory again’
‘And then he heard it. The scream. And not just any old scream. It was a scream of pure terror, cut short.’

15. 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

16. Look at this extract. How does the writer use language to convey Blind Bill’s thoughts or feelings? (8 marks)
His comment took her by surprise, and he heard her gasp. She would wonder how a blind man could know about her washing. Heavens, silly woman: the flapping, cracking sound it made as each gust of wind came down the valley was loud enough. And he knew she always did her washing before going to the supermarket. He enjoyed teasing her.
“You’d better have it in by three, though. It’ll rain by three.”
Again he was rewarded by her gasp of surprise. But she believed him because he’d always been right before. He could feel the weather fronts coming as the wind changed to the west on his cheek, and he felt the slight pressure of warm dampness on his skin that confirmed the change of weather to come. He hoped it wouldn’t rain; it would finish his day outside so early. Nothing indoors but quiz games on TV that you didn’t need sight to play. Bill was good at quizzes and, since his blindness, stuffing his brain with new facts was one way of not going mad. Indoors, Bill’s blindness was a prison cell. Not like being out here, where at least every sound brought back memories from the time when he’d had eyes. At times, though, despair hit him. He’d do anything to have two eyes again, to be rid of the dark.
In your groups, write a SPEED response for this question. The best one will be typed and handed out as a good example for you.

17. Now spend 5 minutes reading this new extract and 17 minutes answering the question:
SCORCHING:
 Clearly 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 Don’t Ask Jack
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

18. 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?

19. What to look out for when examining structure
Time – flashback, flashforward, tense, chronological
Person – narrative perspective, description, dialogue,
Patterns, repetitions, openings and closing
FOCUS – person, place, setting

20. 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
Openings and closing
Patterns

21. Look at the extract in a group. What do you notice about the structure?
May in Ayemenem is a hot, brooding month. The days are long and humid. The river shrinks and black crows gorge on bright mangoes in still, dustgreen trees. Red bananas ripen. Jackfruits burst. Dissolute bluebottles hum vacuously in the fruity air. Then they stun themselves against clear windowpanes and die, fatly baffled in the sun.
The nights are clear, but suffused with sloth and sullen expectation.
But by early June the southwest monsoon breaks and there are three months of wind and water with short spells of sharp, glittering sunshine that thrilled children snatch to play with. The countryside turns an immodest green. Boundaries blur as tapioca fences take root and bloom. Brick walls turn mossgreen. Pepper vines snake up electric poles. Wild creepers burst through laterite banks and spill across the flooded roads. Boats ply in the bazaars. And small fish appear in the puddles that fill the PWD potholes on the highways.
It was raining when Rahel came back to Ayemenem. Slanting silver ropes slammed into loose earth, plowing it up like gunfire. The old house on the hill wore its steep, gabled roof pulled over its ears like a low hat. The walls, streaked with moss, had grown soft, and bulged a little with dampness that seeped up from the ground. The wild, overgrown garden was full of the whisper and scurry of small lives. In the undergrowth a rat snake rubbed itself against a glistening stone. Hopeful yellow bullfrogs cruised the scummy pond for mates. A drenched mongoose flashed across the leaf-strewn driveway.
The house itself looked empty. The doors and windows were locked. The front verandah bare. Unfurnished. But the skyblue Plymouth with chrome tailfins was still parked outside, and inside, Baby Kochamma was still alive.
Change of tense, one line paragraph, change of focus between person and place.

22. Why is it structured in this way?

23. 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

24. In groups, answer the question: You now need to think about the whole of the Source. 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 this focus as the Source develops  any other structural features that interest you. (8 marks)
SCORCHING:
Comments on how the organisation of events are used to achieve effects and influence the reader
HOT
Comments on the effects of the writer’s choice of structural features using some relevant examples
WARM:
Comments on the organisation of events

25. 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. The text is a complete short story. 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 this focus as the Source develops  any other structural features that interest you minutes reading 17 minute response (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 the Don’t Ask Jack story
WARM:
Comments on how the organisation of events are used to achieve effects and influence the reader using relevant examples

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

27. Example Questions:
You are going to enter a creative writing competition. You will be judged by a panel of your teachers.
Either: Write a description suggested by this picture:
Or: Write the opening part of a story about camping in a remote location.

28. Communicates developed ideas
Simple vocabulary
Some reasons are given in support of opinions
Some awareness of purpose, form and audience; some control of register
One or two ideas, may not be linked
Limited or no evidence of structural features
Simple sequencing of ideas (paragraphs may be used to show obvious divisions)
some range of sentence structure, often repetitive
there is some attempt to use punctuation
some range of simple vocabulary
the spelling is usually accurate
tenses are usually accurate
Clear communication of ideas
linguistic devices used
Awareness of purpose and format
Clear development of ideas
relevant ideas, linked
Sequencing of ideas into paragraphs (direction may be uncertain)
Evidence of structural features
variety of sentence structure
there is control of sentence construction
control of a range of punctuation
control of tense and agreement is generally secure
there is a range of vocabulary
use of Standard English
Successful communication of ideas
Purpose, form and audience matched; attempts to control register
Use varied vocabulary with sophisticated use of linguistic devices
Writing has shape and structure
Communication has clarity and fluency
linked and relevant ideas
writes in paragraphs with some discourse markers, not always appropriate
uses structural features
Ideas/arguments are organised into coherent structure
there is variety in sentence structure to include co-ordination and subordination
a range of punctuation is used, mostly accurately
Most spelling, including that of irregular words, is correct. Words with regular patterns such as prefixes, suffixes and double consonants

29. What makes a good description?

30. What makes a good story?

31. Vocabulary:

32. 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.

33. 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.

34. Linguistic devices

35. 1.
“…with a final decision made, a path selected, he would stride off, sending patterns of frosty air before him like the smoke of a cigar.”

36. 2.
“There was a good crystal frost in the air; it cut the nose and made the lungs blaze like a Christmas tree inside.”

37. 3.
“It was not unequal to walking through a graveyard where only the faintest glimmers of firefly light appeared in flickers behind the windows.”
“A window in a tomb-like building was still open.”

38. 4.
“The street was silent and long and empty, with only his shadow moving like the shadow of a hawk in midcountry.”

39. 5.
“He stood entranced, not unlike a night moth, stunned by the illumination, and then drawn toward it.”

40. 6.
“The light held him fixed, like a museum specimen, needle through the chest.”

41. 7.
“He walked like a man suddenly drunk.”

42. 8.
“They passed one house on one street a moment later, one house in an entire city of houses that were dark, but this one particular house had all its electric lights brightly lit, every window a loud yellow illumination, square and warm in the cool darkness.”

43. 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

44. Varying Sentence Openings
Start with a verb (“-ing”)
Smashing against the bottom of the rocks, the waves sent white foam shooting into the air.
Start with “as” or “while” (prepositions – you can also use prepositions like under, behind, before etc …)
As the skies darkened, raindrops began to pour down.
While the gulls screamed overhead, a lonely dog raced along the wet sand.
Start with an adjective (a describing word)
Grotesque images danced before my eyes.
Start with an adverb (a word that describes the verb)
Silently, he crept towards the exit

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

46. What is a zoom? Your descriptions should include what you see when you are looking through the lens of a camera; you can zoom in and out.

47. Write a description of the same thing
Cover all areas: up, down, left, right, in the distance, in front of you, behind, inside, outside
THINK IN IMAGES – WHAT WOULD A CAMERA CAPTURE????
Include SENSES

48. Writing to Describe
Effective writing makes you feel almost as if you're 'there'
N.B.
You are writing to
describe; you are not
telling a story.

49. How to approach your description
What does it look like?
What does it sound like?
What does it feel like?
What does it taste like?
What does it smell like?

50. Description P1
Look at the image and describe what it looks like from a distance P2
Choose an aspect of this image to describe in more detail e.g. a house, an abandoned ship P3
Zoom in on this chosen aspect even more. E.g. what is in the house or ship? Use your five senses (taste, smell, touch, see, hear) P4
End your description by linking back to your first paragraph. You could repeat a line or phrase if you want to.

51. Narrative: Stage 1 – opening: the scene is set
And the main characters are
Introduced. There is a problem.
Stage 2 – developing plot: a new character is introduced, though questions are left unanswered as to who they are.
Stage 3 – complication: something happens between the new character
and the main character.
Stage 4 – crisis: the new character forces a turning point in the story.
Stage 5 – resolution: we discover the identity of the mysterious character and the ‘problem’ at the beginning is resolved.