Poems on Prezi

Poems on Prezi
I have made prezis of some of the poems in the AQA Relationships anthology to help you with your revision.

Follow the following links and use them to develop your own understanding and analysis of the poems:

Harmonium by Simon Armitage

The Manhunt by Simon Armitage

Brothers by Andrew Forster

Remember: you will need to know the themes, ideas, emotions for all of the fifteen poems for the Poetry exam and to be able to explain how the poets use structure, language and imagery to present their ideas.

GCSE Language Non-Fiction

Q: Explain how the presentational devices (headline, images, text font/colour/size, use of text boxes, logos, structure) support the text's purpose.  8 marks (12 minutes)

(Remember to use PEA format for answering this ie Point, evidenence, analysis.
Aim to make 3-5 points and explain the evidence to support each point)

Of Mice and Men Revision

Here are some useful revision resources I have sourced for you.
When you revise Of Mice and Men:

1. Use the whole of this blog - you will find many older posts on Of Mice and Men (and An Inspector Calls) from previous years and all are relevant to you
2. Make sure that you know the text.  It is a short novel and can be read in one sitting.  Look through this blog (click on Of Mice and Men from the list of entries on the right hand side) and you will find a link to a website where the whole text is available on line.  Read it.
3. Follow the links on previous posts to great websites which are full of revision ideas and useful information.  I also hugely recommend this website: Schmoop.  Have a look and see what you think.

Of Mice and Men - Events from Mister Connor


 

Of mice and men from bmiller7210

Of Mice and Men - Language analysis from hunwix

Of Mice of Men - Animals from Mister Connor

Of Mice And Men Powerpoint from Barbara McQueen

Od Mice and Men - Animals/ Lennie from Mister Connor

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.

An Inspector Calls

Something to think about for September 2012 Inspector Calls

Father and Daughter

Cookie Monsters!

Here is the film we watched in class.  Watch it again and then imagine that you have been asked by the film director to write the opening and closing paragraphs to a book of the film.  Write your opening and closing paragraphs.

Be aware of the themes of the original film.  Think carefully about the father/daughter relationship.  Make sure that your opening and closing fit with the film's setting and is appropriate to the tone and nature of the film.

Write in a mixture of simple, compound and complex sentences for effect.  Vary your sentence lengths.  Try starting your complex sentences with a connective such as 'although'.  Use sensory imagery and description, but avoid being too descriptive and flowery.  Make sure your use of imagery is appropriate to the task.  Rather than use lots of adjectives and adverbs, aim to work hard to find the most appropriate nouns and verbs.

Stick to just two paragraphs.  Aim for between 3 and 6 sentences in each paragraph.

Hand in homework next lesson.

Good luck!

The AQA guide to reading and understanding Texts

This is the AQA guide to reading and understanding texts for Section A of your lanuguage exam.  Have a look as part of your revision. It is useful to know what your examiners recommend and what they are looking for.

Good luck on Tuesday

URGENT

Please do not think that you can waltz into your final exam with no preparation.  It is worth 40% of your total GCSE in English language and so is very important.

Read my posts for this exam (AQA GCSE English Language Non-fiction Unit 1).  Follow my links to the AQA website (enter GCSE and English Language into the seach options) to have a look at some past papers and look at the powerpoints we have used in class to prepare for this exam.  Also, have a look at this website.  It has been put together by a leading English teacher with decades of experience and is very useful.  If you have invested in the revision booklets for this exam, then read them and do some practise questions.

EQUIPMENT: You will need:

1. Highlighers for the exam
2. Pens that work
3. A reliable watch

REVISION TIPS:

• You need to revise the features of different types of writing (ie persuasive, descriptive, informative)
• Presentational features (font, image, headline, size, sub-heading, text box, bullet points etc)
• Language techniques (word choice, register, imagery, figurative language, emotive, technical etc)
• How to address and sign off a letter
• Persuasive techniques (AFOREST)
• Counter argument (Many people think...; however, evidense shows...)

SKILLS:

• PEEA (point, evidence, explanation, analysis)
• Writing with a variety of sentence structures and lengths for effect (simple, compound and complex)
• Paragraphs: organising your ideas into pargraphs (3-5 per side of A4)
• Linking ideas using connectives
• Writing with the appropriate register (ie formal or informal) for the task
• Calm reading and picking out the important/relevant facts and techniques
• Comparison - being able to draw links between two different texts (when in doubt just introduce each new point with a comparsion connective ie On the other hand, in contrast etc)

EXAM SCHEDULE:

1. Spend first 5 minutes reading the questions in Section A
2. Spend next 10 minutes reading and annotating the texts - picking out relevant language techniques, presentational features to answer the questions - use highlighters and pens for this
3. Spend approx 12 minutes on each 8 mark question
4. Spend 24 minutes on a 16 mark question
5. Spend in total 1 hour on Section A
6.  Spend 25 minutes on the first question in Section B
7. Spend 35 minutes on the second question in Section B

AQA English Language Unit 1

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English language exam writing questions

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English Language Non-Fiction Section B

GCSE English Lanuage Exam Section B: WRITING

You should spend 60 minutes on this section

25 minutes on Question 5

35 minutes on Question 6

Both questions are compulsary: there is no choice

Identify the GAP (genre, audience, purpose) of each task and write appropriately to task

Plan your work carefully - think about the structure

Write about 2 sides of A4 for each (REMEMBER TO PARAGRAPH 3-5 paragraphs per side of A4)

Q5:  This will ask you to write to explain, describe

Writing to Describe/Explain:

• Explanations have analysis in them so you need to break down all the details of what you have to explain into the main componants, put them in order and then expore the effectos of each part
• Your writing needs to be authoritative in tone, have a balanced view point and be objective
• Use a clear paragraph structure
• Develop your ideas , building layers to interest the reader
• Create a clear picture using small but interesting details
• Use a range of sentence structures
• Use a variey of punctuation
• Ensure your spelling is accurate
• Use a variety of interesting vocabulary
• Use a variey of advervbs and adjectives
• Use a range of imagery through figurative language
• Include a wide range of detail
• Use sensory description

Q6: This question will ask you to write to argue or persuade

Writing to persuade:

• Alliteration
• Facts/figures
• Opinion - include your own and other peoples opinions
• Rhetorial question - use rhetoric to create emphasis and effect
• Exaggerate - use exaggeration and hyperbole to emphasis your point of view and use EMOTIVE language (appeal to the reader's feelings/emtions)
• Second person narrative - address the reader   'You' and use imperative verbs such as 'act now', 'listen'
• The rule of three - and repetition
• Plan to write 3-5 paragraphs per side of A4
• A new point and persuasive technique in each paragraph
• Use a mix of short and long sentences
• Aim to start and finish paragraphs with a short sentence

Writing to argue:

• Start with your thesis:  It is a well know fact that ...
• Balanced sentences
• Use counter argument ie Many people may have been led to believe that...: however, recent statistics show...
• Formal language
• Opinions and specifica examples
• Range and variety of points
• Listing
• Hyperbole
• Emotive language
• Syllogistic argument (if, but, then - remember Coy Mistress)



Questions 1-4 Non-Fiction Exam

Non-Fiction Texts Exam

Question 1

• Provide a summary of what you have leaned from the article
• Ensure that you deduce and infer meanings rather than just state the obvious
• Provide 'connections and comments' about the concerns raised in the text
• Use quotes to support your answer
• You do not need to analyse language features (no PQE)

Question 2 

• Avoid general answers - be specific
• What does the image show?  Does it contradict or support the article?  Is it ironic?
• When responding tho the headlines or anything with words in, concentrate on each individual word, its meaning and how it links to the article. 
• If there is a language technique being used - name it and say why its being used
• Similarly name the presentational feature
• Use quotes where appropriate
• Use PQE

Key words:  font, colour, headlines, sub-headings, logos, slogans, tabloid, pictures, quotations, photographs, diagrams, italics, bullet-points, text wrap, charts, caption

Question 3

• Ensure you only write about the parts of the text that are relevant (ie only the parts that are tense and exciting or where you find out what the writer is feeling)
• Avoid comments suc as 'it makes you want to read on'
• Practise explaining why the writing is effective for the reader by making perceptive comments related to: your own experience, other parts of the text, or the context of the situation
• Write in detail
• Use quotes to support your points

Question 4

• This one tests yuor language analysis and knowledge of language techniques and the effect of them on the reader
• Use PQE throughout
• Use comparison connectives (one the other hand, similarly, in contrast etc)
• This question has 16 marks so your answer needs to be twice as informed as your previous answers
• The best responses from candidates are ones that pick out exciting techniques using a quote and then really analyse the quote and technique in detail, using close word analysis and evaluative comments.
• In addition to this, you need to pic kout a similar point to compare the quote to from the other article.

Key words:  informal, formal, technical, scientific, emotive, serious, descriptive, first person, second person, third person, humorous, impersonal, fact, opinion, colloquial, ironic, repetition, informative, bias, anecdote, persuasive, rhetorical, hyperbole, alliteration, imagery

REMEMBER to expand your answers fully.  Here are some sentence starters to make your answer effective:
This quote suggests...
The words '...' suggest...
The reason a (simile) is being used is ...
This quote could also suggest ...
This is ironic because ...
This image juxtaposes with the article because...
This article excites me because ...

Only one more English Exam to go - HURRAH!!

With only one English exam to go, you are on the home straight with the finish post in sight.

However, it is essential that you go into this next exam prepared.  I recommend going on to the AQA website to look at some past papers (I am not allowed to put them on this web-site for copywrite reasons).  Here is a link:  AQA English Language Non-Fiction Texts H (for the higher paper) and AQA English Language Non-Fiction Texts F (for the foundation papter).  The Mark schemes for these papers are also available and worth looking at.  Click here for the Higher paper mark scheme and here for the Foundation paper mark scheme.

GCSE English Language Non-Fiction is a 2 hour and 15 mins exam and is worth 40% of your total GCSE English Language.

The exam paper is divided into 2 sections:

A:  Reading 

You should spend 1 hour on this section and have an addtional 15 mins reading time at the start

• When its reading time - read through the questions in Section A FIRST and then read through the articles, using a highlighter to highlight key points relating to the questions asked.
• QUESTION 1 will always be phrased this way: What do you learn from the article about the issues and concerns?
• QUESTION 2 will always be phrased this way: Explain how the (presentational features ) are effective and how they link to the article/
• QUESTION 3: Will always be phrased this way: Explain some of the thoughts and feelings the writer has experienced
• QUESTION 4: Will always be a comparison on language and is usually phrased like this:  Compare the ways language is used for effect in these two articles.  Give some examples and analyse the effects.  You will be given one article and will have to choose the other article yourself.

REMEMBER: Each question ALWAYS states which article to look at.  Remember to base your answer on the right one.
USE the 15 minutes reading time effectively - only underline what you need to answer the questions
THERE will only be 3 articles to read

TIMINGS: very roughly time your answers to about 1 minute per mark (Questions 1-3 are approx 12 minutes each   and Q4 should take about 24 minutes)

Last year's English Lit Unit 1 Modern Texts exam

Here is a download of the January 2011 English Literature Unit 1 Modern Texts exam to remind you of what to expect on Tuesday 22nd May.

AQA Lit Modern Texts H Jan 2011

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GCSE Non-Fiction 29th May 2012

I have been trudging through the net to find you the best revision sources for this exam.

Its an important exam.

It is worth 40% of your whole GCSE English Language

I will be adding more material over the next week - SO STAY TUNED

Here is another teacher's revision on non-fiction texts - they explain very clearly the importance of GAP and how knowing the features of different types of writing is key to being able to comment on them and write them yourself.

Non Fiction - Pat

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GOOD LUCK for 22nd and 24th May

With your first exam speeding towards you, it is essential to say calm.  Prioritise your revision.  At this stage, it is too late to try to go over everything.  Make sure for both An Inspector Calls and Of Mice and Men you know:

• Context
• Priestley's and Steinbeck's intentions - the effect they hoped their writing would have on audience/reader
• Plot
• Themes
• Characters linked to themes (memorise some key quotes for each character)
• Some key literary and dramatic techniques (AIC: lighting, entrances and exits, dramatic irony, dialogue) (OMAM: setting, dialogue and dialect, character description, symobolism, foreshadowing)

MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL:
CALMLY LOCATE THE QUESTIONS ON AN INSPECTOR CALLS AND OF MICE AND MEN in the exam paper  AND...

Read the questions and read them again - then aim to use the key words in  the question in your answer.

HOW TO SOUND LIKE YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT?

• Use verbs such as:  suggest, infer, present, articulate, demonstrate, creates, builds, determines when commenting on writer's techniques
• Use modal verbs such as:  could, should, may to show you understand that you are putting forward an opinion
• Use pronouns such as one, we or the reader instead of 'I'
• Always link your comment to the question
• Aim to mention the technique as part of your comment (ie metaphor, alliteration)

Remember to always stick to the paragraph formula: 

1. Point
2. Evidence/Quote
3. Technique
4. Analyse/Comment/Explain
5. Link to question

Moon on the Tides: Relationships poems Summary

A summary of all the poems in the Relationships cluster.  Handy for your revision, this summary also makes links between the poems, picks out key themes and emotions and some quotes.  However, the quotes are not linked to points of analysis - you still need to have some analytical points on structure and language for each of the poems. 

BBCBitesize also has some good revision materials on the AQA poetry anthology, as does the PHILIP ALLAN website which has been build to support their published GCSE literature guides.

AQA Relationships poems summary

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Something seen: A Guide to Answering the Unseen Poetry Question

Remember this?  Read it again.  Choosing only one or two quotes to analyse in detail for both structure and language (remember: 'write alot about a little') will save time when answering the unseen question.

Unseen poem exam practice

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Some more quotes from An Inspector Calls to help with your revision - ENJOY!

An inspector calls key quotes

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An Inspector Calls Revision

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Unseen Poem

The Unseen Poem

The second part of the poetry exam is not something to fear.  The examiners are not seeking to trip you up, nor are they asking you to do the impossible.

You all have a response to poems, in the same way that you all have a response to song lyrics.  Watch this youtube clip to realise that you are all analysing, understanding and responding to 'poems' every day.

The question will always have two parts to it.  The first part will ask you to show that you understand what the poem is about and the second part will ask you to explain how the poet effectively expresses this/these ideas.

Aim to spend at least 5-10 minutes reading and annoting the poem before you start answering the question and remember to jot down a quick plan of your answer (the examiner will credit you for it)

Example questions:

• Read the poem below.  What do you think the poet is saying about her mother?  How does the poet express her ideas?  (18 marks)

Handbag by Ruth Fainlight

My mother's old leather handbag,
crowded with letters she carried
all through the war. The smell
of my mother's handbag: mints
and liptsick and Coty powder.
The look of those letters, softened
and worn at the edges, opened,
read, and refolded so often.
Letters from my father. Odour
of leather and powder, which ever
since then has meant womanliness,
and love, and anguish, and war.

• Read the poem below.  What do you think the poet is saying about choice?  How does the poet present his ideas?

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

A Good Frameword for your answer would be:


P1:

• Answer the question, using quotes from the poem to support your opinion.  Explain how the the quotes you have chosen support your answer. 
• Aim to repeat the key words in the question in your answer.

P2: 

• Make a point on how the poet has used structure to express their ideas (this could be anything about the stanzas, rhythm, rhyme (or lack of it), punctuation, particular poetic form)
• Use a quote to support your point
• Make sure you explain how this structural technique is effective and the effect on the reader.

P3:

• Make a point on how the poet uses language and/or imagery to express their ideas (this could be anything about word choice, tonal words, words in same semantic field, alliteration, repetition, metaphors, emotive words, similes, personification)
• Use (ideally embedded) quotes (short ones) to support your point/s
• Explain how this technique is effective and the effect on the reader

P4:

• This could be a another point on language or structure -  linking to how it helps express the poet's ideas
• Include your own response to the poem

Poetry

The Relationships Cluster in the AQA Moon on the Tides Anthology

Exam: 24th May
Two questions
One question on the Relationships cluster (you will be given a choice of 2 questions and asked to compare the given poem from the Relationships cluster with another poem from the anthology) 45 mins
The second question gives you an unseen poem and asks your to explain what the poem is about and explain how the poet uses structure and language to express their ideas) 30 mins

Revise EACH OF the RELATIONSHIP  poemS for:

- Voice - who is the poem's speaker/ who is telling the story
- Tone, emotions - what tone of voice is the speaker using (sad, loving, jealous) and what are emotions are being expressed
- SUMMARISE the poem - what is it telling the reader - what are the main points of the story - are there any obvious themes ( ie true love doesn't change; time is love's enemy)
- 2  great points on structure (For example: Poetic form (if it is a sonnet, ghazal, ballaad), number of stanzas, rhyme, rhythm, punctuation, effect of the line break, effect of enjambment and punctuation)
- 2 great points on word choice (For example: emotive language, colloquial language, words in same semantic field, words that express tone of voice, words with interesting and relevant connotations, alliteration, repetition of words or ideas)
- 1 great point on imagery (For example: metaphors and similes used to create images, personifaction that adds drama or meaning in some way)
- Your individual response to the poem  (This could go into your final paragraph)

Here are the AQA recommended steps to 'unpacking' a poem