GCSE English Language
How to get your best possible result.
- Read the sources very carefully
- Read the sources more than once
- Read the questions very carefully - work out what they are asking you to do
- Write exactly what you need to in order to answer each question fully
- Control your timing
- Answer every question
- Plan your answers
- Do your best
Name………………………………………………………..
If you print this out you can highlight it and annotate it to help you in your preparation for your mocks and the real things.
Real exams: Paper 16th June am Tuesday
Paper 212th June am Monday
Paper 1
Explorations in creative reading and writing.
1 hour 45 minutes (105 minutes) - if you plan to spend approximately a minute per mark, this would give you 25 minutes as a ‘buffer’ - you need to devote about 10-15 minutes for reading and re-reading the source, so you have 10 minutes or so to share among the harder questions and for checking/improving at the end.
Section A- this tests your reading skills
There will be one source and it will be a piece of creative writing from a novel or short story.
Look at the details they give you - is it at the start of the story? Middle? End? Or do they give you any other helpful information?
Q1 - 4 marks - 4 minutes
Four simple pieces of information - just stick to exactly what they ask you to look for and only use information from the lines they tell you to use.
Q2 - 8 marks - 8 minutes
Explain the effect of language - read the question carefully to check what the focus is and only use information from the lines they tell you to use.
Give some EVIDENCE from the source (keep your quotations short), say what kind of technique it is, and EXPLAIN the EFFECT this makes for the reader.
You should try to deal with 2-3 points IN DEPTH. You must make your ideas clear, do not make the examiner do the work. This is the difference between a Level 2 and a Level 3 response.
You could write about;
●Sentence length
●Specific words; nouns, verbs, adjectives etc
●Lexical fields
●Imagery; similes, metaphors, personification
●Sound effects; alliteration, sibilance, onomatopoeia
●Use of direct speech
●And many, many more possible ideas - whatever you are comfortable with writing about
Q3 - 8 marks - 8 minutes
How is the text structured to interest you as a reader?
Look at what the focus is at the beginning and how that changes through the source.
Structure is to do with how the ideas in the extract are put together - how it is ‘built’ - how it takes shape.
ZOOM OUT….what does the whole extract ‘look’ like? Look at the start and the end - is there a journey from one end of the extract to the other?
ZOOM IN...what is going on in between the opening and the ending….
For example…..
●Does it start with setting a scene - a place? A time? inside/outside?
●Does it start with someone’s thoughts? Someone’s feelings?
●Does it start with people talking?
●Does it start with a short sentence? A long sentence? A list? A question?
How does the passage move on from the opening idea?
●Does it move from one place to another? One time to another?
●Does it move from something big to something small, inside to outside, quiet to loud?
●Does it move from lots of people to one person?
How is it written on the page?
●Look at length of paragraphs/sentences.
●Look for direct speech.
●Look for use of punctuation.
….and how does all this interest you?
❏What questions does it make you ask about what is going to happen next - what does it make you expect?
❏Is it a good beginning (if it’s at the start of a novel) or a good middle/ending? (They will tell you whereabouts it comes in the larger text.)
Do NOT write about language again!
Q4 - 20 marks - 20 minutes
This is the highest value question, so give it 20 minutes of your time. You will benefit from planning your response to this task – but only if you use your plan – go back and annotate the extract for examples that fit the statement.
This is your opportunity to write about your own response to this piece of creative writing - engage with the opinion they give you and use the words in the text to write about YOUR OWN reading of the extract.
You MUST focus your response on the statement given in the question; this is essential to score highly. There will be a “key word” in the statement to help you – i.e. “struggling”.
Use the PEE structure.
Really, really think about it, then tell the examiner what you think and why you think it. Use quotations and the word ‘because’.
You should to aim to find three or four examples of where the key word (i.e. “struggling”) is shown and then explore the writer’s methods and evaluate how effective they were on you, the reader.
Section B - this tests your writing skills
Q5 - 40 marks - 40 minutes
This is CREATIVE WRITING so you need to be creative with your language, sentences and paragraphs.
You will have two questions to choose from …. ONLY ANSWER ONE!
There might be one narrative and one descriptive question, or two descriptive questions, or two narrative questions - you need to know how to do both.
Narrative...this means ‘story telling’
●How do you tell a story?
○Show, don’t tell
○Start with something that creates questions in your reader’s mind
○Think about the shape of a story - narrative theory -
■Set the scene (first equilibrium)
■Introduce a problem/conflict/tension
■Move towards a dramatic climax...increase the tension and pace
■Move towards a closure/resolution after the dramatic climax and end on a new/second equilibrium
●If that’s too complicated, stick to a beginning, a development towards a dramatic moment, then an ending.
●Stick to either first person (I) or third person (he, she)
●Don’t mix your tenses unless you are a gifted creative writer who knows exactly what you are doing with this. If in doubt, stick to your story happening at some point in the past.
❏Remember that you might only be asked to write the beginning of a story - if you choose to do this, make sure you pace yourself...build up the tension slowly…….
Descriptive...make the examiner feel like they are really there.
How do you describe something vividly?
●Appeal to the senses
○What can you SEE?
○Write about sounds - what do you HEAR?
○What can you TASTE?
○What can you FEEL?
○...and what can you SMELL?
●What EMOTIONS are you feeling?
●Who are you with, who is involved?
●Where/when is it?
Use poetic, imaginative language. DON’T JUST SAY SOMETHING IS BLACK….WHAT KIND OF BLACK IS IT?
And…..
Don’t forget that 16 marks are awarded for accuracyand your ability to make your writing impressive with use of;
❏Varied paragraphing – check the rules on when to change
❏Varied punctuation – apostrophe, commas, colons, semicolons, brackets (use your SPaG book to revise/learn these)
❏Varied sentence length – make sure you vary length and structure – try starting with a verb/adjective/adverb.
No paragraphing = low marks.
You need to write a good length for this answer - it is worth 25% of the whole GCSE. Aim for two to three sides of QUALITY (you should be spending 40 minutes writing).
Paper 2 (points of view)
1 hour 45 minutes (105 minutes) - if you plan to spend approximately a minute per mark, this would give you 25 minutes as a ‘buffer’ - you need to devote about 10-15 minutes for reading and re-reading the source, so you have 10 minutes or so to share among the harder questions and for checking/improving at the end.
Section A - this tests your reading skills
There will be two sources and they will be non-fiction and will present someone’s point of view (opinion) about something.
One will be written in 18-- something (the 19th Century) and the other will be 19-- or 20-- something. The words used and the way they are written will probably be quite different.
Look at the details they give you - what kind of writing are the sources; speeches? Letters? Articles? Diaries? Something else? Do they give you any other helpful information?
Remember that the oldest piece of writing will present a world we’re not familiar with today - perhaps no cars, no television, no electricity, no telephones - a different way of talking to each other and of writing about everyday events.
Q1 - 4 marks - 4 minutes
True or false - simple comprehension. It will test you so think carefully.
Q2 - 8 marks - 8 minutes (don’t get carried away with time)
This is a simple answer - just sum up the differences and use quotations - don’t analyse the language and write about how the reader might respond - keep it simple.
Write a summary of the differences...
Two very important things here…
●Check which parts of the sources they want you to refer to
●Make sure you understand what the question is asking you to do.
It is a simple case of writing a summary (condensed information) of the differences between an aspect of the texts, for example; write a summary of the differences between the two boys.
You should use very brief quotations to support your answer. ‘Very brief’ means just a word or a short phrase.
You MUST compare the two things as you write - use words/phrases like;
●They both…
●In contrast, ...
●However, …
●In the other source …
●Similarly, ...
Q3 - 12 marks - 12 minutes (watch the time)
How has the writer used language to……..?
Two very important things here;
●Check which parts of the sources they want you to refer to
●Make sure you understand what the question is asking you to do.
Give some evidence from the text - a quotation and say what technique the writer is using, then explain how this achieves the desired effect.
For example…
How has the writer used language to influence the reader?
●The writer uses direct address, ‘how would you feel if this were your own grandmother?’, referring repeatedly throughout the article to ‘you’ and ‘your’. This influences the reader because it speaks directly to him or her so it feels as if the treatment is affecting his or her own vulnerable relative, which makes the issue of elderly abuse immediate and personal.
Q4 - 16 marks - 16 minutes
Compare the ways two writers convey their attitudes/points of view/opinions about something.
●This is a two-step question; you are NOT just comparing their opinions, you are comparing HOWthey tell us what those opinions are.
Start your answer by saying exactly what you think each writer’s perspective (opinion, point of view) is, what the piece of writing is (diary, letter, extract from a biography, etc) and when it was written.
●You need to decide on three or four ideas you will use to compare theways the writers convey their opinions
●Then you explain how each one does this, using short quotations from the sources to support what you are saying.
For example…
Both writers use emotive language to tell the reader how strongly they feel about the treatment of animals (a comparative point). In Source A the writer uses adjectives such as ‘heartbroken’ and ‘horrified’ (evidence from the source) to tell us how desperately sad he was when he witnessed the extremely harsh treatment of animals in captivity in a poorly run zoo. Similarly (clear comparison), the writer of source B uses powerful nouns such as ‘negligence’, ‘cruelty’ and ‘abuse’ when reporting about the treatment of dogs at a ‘puppy farm’. This use of emotive language encourages the reader to feel empathy for the mistreated animals and persuades us to agree with the writers’ points of view (explanation/evaluation).
Then start another paragraph by saying that both writers do something else, and give the quotations and discuss your explanation of how the words ‘work’. Use comparison all the time.
Useful words/phrases;
●Both writers…
●Similarly, …
●In contrast, …
●However, (don’t forget to use a comma) ….
●On the other hand, …
●Whereas, …
●Alternatively, ….
●It can also be seen that the other writer ...
Section B - this tests your writing skills
Q5 - 40 marks - 40 minutes
This is where you write to persuade/debate/argue what YOUR point of view is about something.
They will give you a statement/question and you write your response to it.
Remember PAF…
F = form(what type of thing have they asked you to write? - a speech to a school, an article for a broadsheet newspaper, a letter to someone in authority?)
A = audience (who are you writing to/for? Is it a teenage reader of a magazine, an adult newspaper reader, the Board of Governors at your school?)
P = purpose (what are you writing this for? Is it to persuade people to agree with you, or change something, or do something?)
Advice on what to include;
●An exciting, memorable, interesting opening. Make it VERY SHORT, both as a short sentence and as a short whole paragraph.
●Emotive language
●Facts and figures (make it up but make it believable)
●Use three; words, repeated ideas, lists, alliterative words, etc.
●Anecdote - a brief story to illustrate/support your argument
●Quote a relevant person - make them up - Professor Snow from the Department of Child Behaviour at the University of (think of a city); a past pupil at the school who has now gone on to win a major award; a mother of someone affected by what you are writing about… so many possibilities.
●Use ‘them’ and ‘us’ and ‘you’ - this can be very powerful.
●Flatter the people you want to agree with you; ‘the intelligent reader will easily see the importance of…’ (for example)
●Acknowledge that there is another side to the argument - say what it might be, then explain why it is utterly wrong!
●Make your ending memorable, short, interesting - just like your opening - don’t let the examiner forget your answer!
Don’t forget that 16 marks are awarded for accuracy and your ability to make your writing impressive with use of;
❏Varied paragraphing – check the rules on when to change
❏Varied punctuation – apostrophe, commas, colons, semicolons, brackets (use your SPaG book to revise/learn these)
❏Varied sentence length – make sure you vary length and structure – try starting with a verb/adjective/adverb.
No paragraphing = low marks.
How to practise/revise for these papers:
You need to read a range of texts – both fiction and non-fiction, modern and pre 1914.
You need to practice summarising a non-fiction text, try using a page from a magazine or a news article.
You need to practice identifying HOW the writer uses language – try picking a random page from a fiction book and analysing what the writer has done on that page and what effect it had on you.
You need to learn the proper names for writer’s techniques – revise what an adverb and adjective is, what a simile and metaphor are etc…
Try selecting a photograph from a newspaper or online news source and use if to spend 45 minutes coming up with a creative writing piece.
Spend time planning and practice editing your own work so that you can quickly check it over at the end of the exam – no more than 5 minutes.
English Language GCSE - Examination Structure
Paper 1 = (50%) 1h 45mins Paper 2 = (50%) 1h 45mins
Part A - 1hr - Stop after 1 hour no matter what. 25%Reading Focus
Q 1 List 4 things you learn 4 marks
Q2 Language Devices 8 marks
Q3 Structural Features 8 marks
Q4 Short essay response 20 marks / Reading Time
15 minutes
4 4
8 8
8 12
20 16
5 minute buffer / Part A - 1hr - Stop after 1 hour no matter what. 25%
Reading Focus
Q1 True or False Statements 4 marks
Q2 Comparative Summary of Sources 8 marks
Q3 Language Devices in one Source 12 marks
Q4 Compare Language Devices 16 marks
Part B - 45mins 25%
Writing Focus
Q5 Narrative or Descriptive Writing 40 marks
(24 content/16 organisation) / 40 minutes
5 minute buffer / Part B - 45mins 25%
Writing Focus
Q5 Argue Persuade Writing 40 marks
(24 content/16 organisation)