Friday, 5 October 2012

Revision: OF MICE AND MEN by John Steinbeck and INSPECTOR CALLS by JB Priestley

The big date in your diary should be our second English lesson after half-term - YOUR MOCK GCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE EXAM UNIT 1: Modern Texts (that means An Inspector Calls and Of Mice and Men for you).


This is a 1 hour and 30 minute exam and you will be asked to answer two questions.  When you open the exam paper:
1. Read the instructions and then look for the question on An Inspector Calls (there will be a choice of 2) (5 mins)
2.Choose the question on An Inspector Calls that you have the best knowledge to answer.
3. Flick through the exam paper and find the questions on Of Mice and Men.  Read them and then go back to your question on An Inspector Calls,
4. Spend at least 5 minutes planning your answer (mindmap your plan or just list 4-6 points and a few key details)  This bit is essential and you are in danger of failing if you do not plan.  You can also be awarded marks for your plan if you do not manage to finish your essay.
5. Spend 35 minutes writing your essay answer.  Stick to the tried and tested winning formula:
  •  Introduction:

  • Name of the play and who wrote it and when (1946)
  •  Priestley's purpose in setting the play in 1912 in an upper middle class Edwardian household 
  • Gist of the play (J.B. Priestley’s 1946 play, “An Inspector Calls” is a drama which features a dramatic turning point. The play charts the disintegration of a family’s relationships after each member is accused of being responsible for a young woman’s death)
  • Address the question using key words from the question (ie Throughout the play tension begins to emerge under the glossy veneer of the wealthy Birling family and this is evident even in Priestley's stage directions for the setting of the play and introduction of the characters.
 
  • Main Body of Essay: 4-6 points which all address the question.  Each point will have the following:
  • Evidence from the text to support each point (remember embedded quotations will get higher marks)
  • Close analysis of the evidence - use technical language and focus on particular words or dramatic effects (eg ...this use of exaggeration develops the idea that...  this example of dramatic irony works to show Birling's blinkered vision, the word 'never'...)
  • Evaluate how this effects the audience  (the audience would begin to see Birling as an opinionated idiot...)
  • Link each point to Priestley's purpose (ie Priestley used Sheila as a symbol of hope...)
  • Link each point back to the question  (...in this way tension continues to build.)
 
  • Conclusion
  • Finish you essay by drawing your points into a final direct response to the question.
  • You can make your conclusion powerful  by introducing one final point or even just a short quote that works to reflect your ideas.  (ie Inspector Goole's words 'I find the young are more impressionable' emphasise how Priestley believed the hope lay with the young in post war Britain.)

6. Now go on the the Of Mice and Men question, which is a two part question and both parts need answering
  • You will be given a text extract to analyse in relation to a particular aspect of the novel's context and Steinbeck's purpose. Spend about 20 mins on this section.
  • Highlight or underline the sections of the text that best suit your answer
  • Plan you answer
  • Write a detailed analysis, focusing on specific words or phrases (use terminology ie adjective, the superlative, the dynamic verb etc)
  • Evaluate how these words/phrases effect the reader and link to context and Steinbeck's purpose)
7. The second part to the question is your chance to link the theme to the whole novel and you must show knowledge of the whole novel.  Spend about 20 minutes on this question.  A few minutes planning and then writing a mini essay answer.


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