GCSE English Exam Revision Booklet

What you need to revise and suggestions on how to revise.

GCSE ENGLISH EXAM 2012 What do I have to revise? FOR SECTION A (UNDERSTANDING NON-FICTION TEXTS): As obvious as it sounds, you must stay focused upon the question. What are the key words of the question? Repeat these to ensure your staying focused upon the question if youre worried your drifting or waffling. You must also be specific avoid vague and general comments, like this makes you want to read on.

1) HIGHER PAPER: Retrieval (8 marks) Do NOT analyse language you wont get ANY marks for this. Prove youve understood the text and have engaged with it (e.g. you know what its about). MUST use quotations or references to support your understanding. Dont just list quotes: summarise what you have learned and retrieved from the text. The quotes prove what you have learned.

Presentation (8 marks) The paper may tell you which presentational features to examine. If not, this question looks at headings/headlines; sub-headings; pictures (content, size, position); captions; colours; bullet points; article within an article; font (size, style, colour) etc. The effectiveness looks at how well presentational features contribute to the purpose of the text for the audience. You simply have to explain the effect created. If youre asked to link presentational features with the text (the January exam AND the sample exam BOTH did this) then dont panic! Presentation and writing will be clearly linked they have to be. The examiners report from January says students should look at individual words and their meaning and effect and how this links with presentation (so you will need to use quotations for this question). Basically, the presentational devices will add to or support the meanings you will find in the text.

Inference (8 marks) Again, do NOT analyse language techniques you wont get any marks for this. You are reading between the lines. If the question asks you which bits you find exciting in the text, you find a bit and then explain how this is effective. For example, if youve read the article Everest The Hard Way a tense and exciting bit is when they get lost. You would then need to say this shows the vastness of the mountain and the possibility of confusion and panic NOT it would make the reader want to read on. A good technique is to focus upon what the question wants, identify a quote and then say this shows or this suggests followed by a specific comment.

Language and comparison (16 marks) For this section, you will have to know the GAPS (genre, audience, purpose, style) of the named text and the one youre going to compare it with. Youll probably be asked how language is used for effect this means how does the writing achieve the purpose for the audience. You will need to know the techniques for each purpose listed in Section B. Look for a relevant technique in one text and explain its meaning and effect (how they achieve the purpose for the audience) and then find a similar (or very different) technique in the other text. Explain the effect here too. If its a different technique, show you know that the reason for this difference is down to a different purpose and audience. If its the same but for a different effect, show you know this. If both texts use the same technique for the same reason, show you know this too. Use comparative words: similarly, however, in contrast, also, etc.

2) FOUNDATION PAPER: Retrieval (4 marks) A very straightforward question: focus upon the question and simply list four answers (1 mark for each). You can just copy quotes too its a very simple question.

Inference (4 marks) The skill of inference is reading between the lines. The answer may not be immediately obvious and you will have to work the answer out for yourself. 1) Focus on the question; 2) Choose a quote that is relevant for the question; 3) Infer! Write: This shows to make sure you are inferring. Repeat this at least twice for a higher mark on this question.

Retrieval and inference (8 marks) This is a combination of the first two questions and should be very simple and straightforward. However, in January MOST students didnt do well on this question. The question will ask something straightforward and most students will do what they did on question 1 and simply copy out bits of the text. THIS IS WRONG! Your answer should look like exactly like the inference question. The only difference is that you should look at several different answers not just two 3 or 4 as a minimum.

Language (12 marks) For this section, you will have to remember GAPS (genre, audience, purpose, style). In the January exam, the question actually told the students what the genre, audience and purpose were! This will probably happen in your exam too. You will need to know the techniques for each purpose listed in Section B. If the questions mentions persuade, then thats what you must focus upon; if it says describe, then thats your focus; etc. 1) Focus upon the question. 2) Choose a quote that clearly has a relevant technique (see section B). 3) Name the technique and then explain how this is used to achieve the purpose. Do this several times for a higher mark.

Presentation and comparison (12 marks) This question looks at headings/headlines; sub-headings; pictures (content, size, position); captions; colours; bullet points; article within an article; font (size, style, colour) etc. The question may just tell you to compare the presentational features of two texts. If this is the case, youll need to know the GAP for the two texts. You then explain how the presentational features achieve the purpose (e.g. how the picture persuades, or how the bullet points inform; etc.). You also need to compare (use comparative words), which you can do one of two ways: Method A: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Choose a presentational feature of text 1. Explain how it helps to achieve the purpose of the text. Do this again (even more if youre confident and have the time). Choose a presentational feature of text 2. Explain how it helps to achieve the purpose of the text and compare back to text 1. 6) Keep repeating steps 4 and 5. Method B: 1) 2) 3) 4) Choose a presentational feature of text 1. Explain how it helps to achieve the purpose of the text. Choose a similar presentational feature of text 2. Explain how it helps to achieve the purpose of the text and compare back to text 1. 5) Repeat steps 1-4.

FOR SECTION B (PRODUCING NON-FICTION TEXTS): Remember to focus upon GAPS (Genre, Audience, Purpose, Style): the question will tell you most of this. GAPS is crucial if your piece of writing is to be relevant to the question being asked. The mark scheme looks at whether the tone or register of your writing is suitable for the audience and if it achieves the specific purpose. Write in paragraphs that are effective and purposefully varied in length. Use a variety of discursive markers (furthermore, in contrast, in addition, etc.). Write in accurate sentences that are varied in terms of their length and starts (consciously crafted for a top grade). A range of punctuation used accurately (apostrophes, commas, semi-colons, colons etc.). Use extensive vocabulary with fairly accurate spelling. You will have to answer two questions the last one is worth more marks, so give a good amount of time to it.

Inform Uses lots of facts and factual information. Think about what the target audience already knows, what they need to know, what they might like to know or what you think would be useful for them to know. 5Ws and H. Easy to follow structure/layout (can even use sub-headings and/or bullet points if relevant). Should be objective or balanced not biased. Imperative verbs

Explain 5Ws and H focusing upon the why and how specifically Easy to follow structure/layout (can even use sub-headings and/or bullet points if relevant). Largely factual with opinions used to make the explanation clearer. Focus upon your audience: what do they need explaining to them?

Describe Range of adverbs Range of adjectives Powerful verbs Alliteration Onomatopoeia Imagery: similes, metaphors, personification The 5 senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, touch Varied sentences Varied vocabulary Show, dont tell

Argue Uses persuasive features but Seemingly balanced: presents the counter argument, only to highlight its weaknesses Variety of arguments outlined by the topic sentence in each paragraph Logical developments Summary

Persuade Alliteration Facts Opinions (presented as facts) Rhetorical questions/repetition Emotive language Statistics Triples (rule of 3) Contrasting pairs Address the audience (collective pronouns we, us) Imperative verbs Lists Biased Anecdotes Expert views

Advise (you will not be asked to write in this style for section B, but may need to know it for the language question in section A) Very much like inform and explain. Build up a good relationship with the reader. A suitable tone. You modals (might, may, could etc.) Show empathy. Make suggestions don not try to argue or persuade. Give clear advice (e.g. step one; the next step might be etc.) Be encouraging and motivating (e.g. dont worry about; boost your confidence by etc.) Give the reader a choice (e.g. you might find; if this doesnt work try etc.)

GCSE ENGLISH EXAM 2012 How do I revise? There are so many different ways to revise; it neednt be boring. Have a timetable and stick to it discipline is really important. The best advice is to revise in small chunks regularly the exact details of this will be down to you. Try this: 20 minute slots of revision and then breaking for 10-15 minutes. Your concentration wont last much longer than 20 minutes so in your break do something completely unrelated to your revision listen to music, walk, whatever, just stay away from the work! Build in rewards. Once youve done a certain amount of sessions, reward yourself. In choosing a technique, go for what works sounds obvious, but what works is obviously most effective!

MEMORY GAMES There are loads of these and you can invent them for yourself if you want. Heres a sample: 1) House: visualize your house. Stick key words around the house in your mind. Put a picture with the keyword for even more memory power. E.g. youre trying to learn the persuasive techniques: stick rhetorical question on your fridge and surround it with multi-coloured question marks. 2) Person: do the same as above but stick the words on the body of a person! Different people for different topics. 3) Mnemonic: this is where you try to remember something by taking the first letter of each word to create a memorable word or phrase. E.g.: IMPS = imagery, metaphor, personification, simile. POST-IT NOTES Put important pieces of information on post-it notes and stick them around your house. You start now, and you will see those bits of information hundreds of times! Last year, a student placed over 300 post-it notes around their house they did very well in the exams.

PODCAST Are you the sort of student whose concentration is helped by music? Record yourself reading key bits of information. Play these back on your MP3 player. Also, play it when falling asleep your unconscious mind will remember too. You may even wish to sing or rap revision notes just make sure no-one else hears, if you want to maintain some sort of social life.

TAKE A DUMP Once youve started a topic, write down as much as you can at the start of your next revision session about that topic. Do your 20 minutes of revision and then, with a different, coloured pen, write on the same sheet everything youve now learned about the topic. Repeat this over several revision sessions and watch your knowledge grow.

WORK WITH A FRIEND Only do this if you KNOW you will revise and be disciplined, otherwise, it turns into a social time and youll end up feeling guilty. That said, this type of revision is great: sharing knowledge, testing, correcting and encouraging each other. Can also be a great stress buster if you choose the right person. Teaching each other can be very powerful too. Most teachers will tell you that most of their learning happened when they became teachers and had to share that information.

READING This doesnt work for MOST students, but for some, a good, old-fashioned reading of your revision books can still work. Just remember, your optimum concentration lasts less than 20 minutes, so youll need lots of breaks.

MIND-MAPS AND DIAGRAMS I once taught a dyslexic student who revised everything through illustrations. Diagrams and drawings can be enormously helpful if you are particularly visual. Examples of mind-maps can be found online. What about making posters or storyboards/cartoons that help you to revise?

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PHYSICAL ACTIVITY Recite revision notes to punches, kicks, running whatever you want to do. Equally, you may wish to turn keywords and information into physical actions. For example, when learning presentational features, you can remember picture by pretending to take a photo. Ive been in many exams before where students are surreptitiously making gestures to remember their revision. Just dont distract anyone else in the exam

PAST PAPERS AND SELF-TESTS Exams are like games you have to learn the rules, what they expect you to do in order to do well. Thats dealt with in the first part of this booklet What to revise? You should also practice past papers in order to get used to the exam and its expectations, including time pressures. After youve learned something, self-test to. What you dont know, make sure it goes on your revision plan for the following session.

Theres lots of stuff online, but ultimately you have to be focused, committed and disciplined.

A few months of hard work for a potential lifetime of opportunity.

For extra help, have a look at this schools revision guide: http://www.whitbycc.co.uk/documents/StudySkillsHandbook.pdf

Or try this site http://getrevising.co.uk/

Good luck!

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