The last post!

If you’re looking to get an B, A or A* you might want to look at the terms below. Not all of them are strictly necessary (although you should clearly know terms such as metaphor!) but if you understand them and can discuss them they certainly won’t do your grades any harm. Also, if you are looking to continue to A level English knowing these will be useful.

Glossary of Poetic Terms

Alliteration
The repetition of the same consonant sounds at any place, but often at the beginning of words. Some famous examples of alliteration are tongue twisters such as ‘She sells seashells by the seashore’ and ‘Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers’.

Assonance
The repetition or a pattern of (the same) vowel sounds, usually in the middle of a word, such as
suppose and roses.

Couplet
In a poem, a pair of lines that are the same length and (usually) rhyme and form a complete thought. Shakespearean sonnets usually end in a couplet as does the Poem ‘Anne Hathaway’:

‘I hold him in the casket of my widow’s head

as he held me upon that next best bed.’

Enjambement

A line ending in which the sense continues, with no punctuation, into the following line or stanza.

”But in contentment I still feel

The need of some imperishable bliss.”

Hyperbole
A figure of speech in which deliberate exaggeration is used for emphasis. Many everyday expressions are examples of hyperbole: tons of money, a flood of tears, dying of hunger (when you really just need a sandwich!) etc.

Imagery

The use of pictures, figures of speech and description to evoke ideas feelings, objects actions, states of mind etc. Similes, metaphors and personification all create imagery.

Litotes
A figure of speech in which a positive is stated by negating its opposite. Some examples of litotes:
no small victory, not a bad idea, not unhappy.

Metaphor
A figure of speech in which two things are compared, usually by saying one thing is another ‘the room was an oven’, or by substituting a more descriptive word for the more common or usual word that would be expected. Some examples of metaphors: the world’s a stage, he was a lion in battle, drowning in debt, and a sea of troubles.

It is probably the most important figure of speech to comment on in an essay.

Simile
A figure of speech in which two things are compared using the word “like” or “as.” ‘The room was as hot as an oven’

Personification
A figure of speech in which non-human things or abstract ideas are given human attributes:
the car coughed and spluttered, dead leaves danced in the wind, blind justice.

Nostalgia – A feeling of loss or longing for the past.

Onomatopoeia
A figure of speech in which words are used to imitate sounds. Examples of onomatopoeic words are: buzz, hiss, zing, clippety-clop, cock-a-doodle-do, pop, splat, thump, tick-tock.

Another example of onomatopoeia is found in this line from Tennyson’s Come Down, O Maid:
“The moan of doves in immemorial elms,/And murmuring of innumerable bees”. The repeated “m/n” sounds reinforce the idea of “murmuring” by imitating the hum of insects on a warm summer day.

Refrain
A phrase, line, or group of lines that is repeated throughout a poem, usually after every stanza.

Rhyme
The occurrence of the same or similar sounds at the end of two or more words.


Stanza
A better word to refer to a verse in a poem.

Stress
The prominence or emphasis given to particular syllables. Stressed syllables usually stand out because they have long, rather than short, vowels, or because they have a different pitch or are louder than other syllables. A stressed syllable is the one you can say forcefully; it usually sounds very odd if you put emphasis on an unstressed syllable, so you can say FOOTball, but footBALL sounds weird. ‘Foot’ is the stressed syllable, ‘ball’ is the unstressed one.

Symbol

When a word, phrase or image ‘stands for’ an idea or theme. The sun could symbolize life and energy or a red rose could symbolize romantic love.


Read through all your poems today and listen to your podcasts. Work out which combinations of 4 poems (1 Heaney, 1 Clarke and 2 bank) you will use for the following lit poem questions


Compare the ways that the idea of death is presented in four of the poems you have studied from the AQA English Literature Anthology.
To do this, choose two poems from List A and two poems from List B.
List A List B
At a Potato Digging (Heaney) The Affliction of Margaret (Wordsworth)
Mid-Term Break (Heaney) On my first Sonne (Jonson)
Cold Knap Lake (Clarke) Tichbornes Elegy (Tichborne)
The Field-Mouse (Clarke) The Laboratory (Browning)
Remember to compare:
the idea of death in the poems
how death is presented. (36 marks)


Answer both parts (a) and (b)
(a) Compare the effectiveness of the endings of A Difficult Birth, Easter 1998 by Gillian Clarke and Digging by Seamus Heaney and then
(b) Compare the effectiveness of the endings of two poems from the Pre-1914 Poetry Bank.
(36 marks)


Some readers may find the poems in the AQA English Literature Anthology depressing. How do you respond to the content and style of these poems?
Compare your responses to The Affliction of Margaret by William Wordsworth with your
responses to one poem by Seamus Heaney, one poem by Gillian Clarke and one other poem
from the Pre-1914 Poetry Bank.
(36 marks)

Answer both parts (a) and (b)
(a) Compare how children are presented in ëOn my first Sonneí by Ben Jonson and The Song of the Old Mother by W.B. Yeats.
Compare:
! the children in the poems
! how the children are presented.
and then
(b) Compare how animals are presented in ëThe Field-Mouse by Gillian Clarke and
Death of a Naturalist by Seamus Heaney.
Compare:
! the animals in the poems
! how the animals are presented. (36 marks)



Compare how the writers present parents in four poems from the AQA English Literature
Anthology.
To do this, choose two poems from List A and two poems from List B.
A B
Catrin (Clarke) On my first Sonne (Jonson)
Follower (Heaney) The Song of the Old Mother (Yeats)
Digging (Heaney) The Affliction of Margaret (Wordsworth)
Cold Knap Lake (Clarke) Little Boy Lost/Little Boy Found (Blake)
Remember to compare:
! the parents in the poems
! how the writers present the parents by the ways they write about them. (36 marks)



Did you enjoy reading the poems in the AQA English Literature Anthology?
Compare your responses to Mid-Term Break by Seamus Heaney with one poem by
Gillian Clarke and two poems from the Pre-1914 Poetry Bank.
Compare:
! your responses to the characters and situations
! your responses to the ways the poems are written. (36 marks)

Here are some links to exam papers of the last 4 years

http://store.aqa.org.uk/qual/gcse/qp-ms/AQA-3712H-W-QP-JUN07.PDF
http://store.aqa.org.uk/qual/gcse/qp-ms/AQA-3712H-W-QP-JUN08.PDF
http://store.aqa.org.uk/qual/gcse/qp-ms/AQA-3712F-W-QP-JUN09.PDF
http://store.aqa.org.uk/qual/gcse/qp-ms/AQA-3712-H-W-QP-JUN10.PDF


Good luck!



have a look at the poetry questions and the Of Mice and Men questions. Plan each response for 5 minutes...at this point it would be good revision to plan for all of the questions rather than write one or two essays in full ..consider all of the types of questions that could come up.

This is it...

OK there are a few hours until the exam begins so some smart revision is probably in order.

What can I do in 2 hours?
You can look at a magazine cover and:
1 - consider its P A F
2 - find 3 language techniques and explain how/ why they back up the purpose of the text or suit its audience
3 - find 3 presentation techniques and explain how/ why they suit the magazine's audience
4 - look at the BBC homepage on the net and follow the activities above again.
5 - test yourself on how many AFOREST techniques you remember. Then see if you can fit them into a paragraph arguing against raising the school leaving age to 18.

Then have a go at planning a writing response for the following:

Argue that CVCC should offer a residential week in Bude for each year group.
Persuade Dr. Bawn to allow you time off to go to the V Festival
Advise a trainee teacher how to get off to a good start with a new tutor group.

Remember PAF before you start each task.


And then go nanight and I'll see you all in the morning.

Sweet dreams!
Mrs O

GCSE Paper 1a Revision

Don't forget your exam on Monday is testing you on:

Section A
- following an argument
- understanding how fact and opinion are used to support the writer's purpose
- the effect of presentation and layout techniques
- the effect of language

Section B
Write to Argue or Persuade or Advise

Keep working and keep focused. You are nearly at the finish line and need to push on through to get there.

MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU!!

Keep up the good work Y11. It was super to see so many of you revising English today. Nice one!

GCSE English Top 5 Writing Tips: Writing to Persuade

A good refresher course in this important writing skill for Paper 1. Enjoy.

"Much to learn, you still have." Yoda - Star Wars Episode II

"Help you I can! Yes! Mm!"

In two weeks time you will have already completed your first exam ... which is English Language paper 1 ... for those who have not started revising yet, that massive ringing sound in your head is the alarm bells that suggest you need to wake up and smell the coffee. No school in Devon is doing more to help you to achieve your potential, so give your teachers and parents a break and just do some... all right?

Seriously. There is so much to do on the CD you've been given by your English teacher that you could start now and still have things left over by the 16th May. As Yoda would say "Choose wisely Padawan and rewarded you shall be."

I found that on Wookiepedia.. geddit?

One really useful thing I found on YouTube was a collection of videos called 'Teacher in your pocket' which, if you ask me sounds mighty uncomfortable and a bit cumbersome. It's included in the next post and there's a young-ish, enthusiastic teacher who will tell you all about persuasive writing skills which you need to know for paper 1 section B on the 16th May (I think I MAY have mentioned it already).

Glad no one has mentioned the conga incident on here BTW...long may it continue ;O)

GCSE English - Argue Persuade Advise - Paper 1 Section B (3/4)

GCSE English - Paper 2 Section B - Inform Explain Describe (4/4)

What the mocks have taught us...

Have you been a wally? Did you really revise enough?

This week you'll get the marks back from your mock exam of Paper 2. Even before getting your result you will know what kind of performance you gave and which section was the trickiest for you. You also know if you bothered to revise - and so will your teacher so watch out if you haven't put the work in as they will be on your case and ringing home this week if they think you are slacking.

All I can say is this - if you are disappointed with your marks there is only one person who can help you. YOU.

Get your books out, get your CD in the disk drive and knuckle down if you have to improve.

This week we will be focussing on the writing sections of the Language papers (P1b and P2b). Prepare to INFORM/EXPLAIN/DESCRIBE and ARGUE/PERSUADE/ADVISE.

In the meantime listen to your podcasts and look at the writing sections on your revision CD. You could also have a look at the short videos that I have posted tonight... they give some top tips especially for persuading (paper 1) and describing (paper 2).

Week three: Mocks = revision.....simples!

Hello everyone.

A good friend of mine, Vidal Sassoon said "The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary." How right he was. To get good grades you have to put the blood, sweat and tears in.

You should be revising for your Paper 2 Mock exam this week.
In section A you'll be tested on your knowledge of poems from other cultures and your ability to compare and contrast two of them at the same time.

There are really good power point presentations on your free CD that show you how to get from a D to a C and for some of you there are hints and tips for getting an A in this section of the paper. There's even an essay for you to read and get ideas from. The key things to remember are that you should:

• plan your answer for at least 10 minutes
• be comparing the following elements in every paragraph
ATTITUDES & REASONS
IDEAS & FEELINGS
VIEWPOINT
TECHNIQUES
• use comparative language (also, whereas, therefore, oppositely)
• use PEE in your paragraphs to get a C or above



In section B you have 45 minutes to write to INFORM, EXPLAIN or DESCRIBE... just one. You'll need to revise what techniques each type of writing requires and it's vital that you work out P A F (purpose, audience, format) so that you write in the correct style and tone. Spend between 5 and 10 minutes creating a really clear and detailed plan that will maximise your marks. Use the P2b file on the revision CD, it has lots of tips for successful writing skills.

The only barrier to your success is your failure to revise.
Go home and prepare for war!

Week 2

So guys, there are only 9 weeks until the first English exam. This week in class you should have been focusing on poems from other cultures.


You will sit a mock exam on 25th March and section A will focus on a comparison of two poems from your cluster. There are lots of brilliant revision resources to help you get 'mock ready'.

Here are some of the best ones:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english/poemscult/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/audio/english/
http://www.podcastrevision.co.uk/page22/page6/page8/page8.html
http://www.podcastrevision.co.uk/page22/page6/page9/page9.html (for Miss Watt's group only)


From tomorrow you will be working on how to write a good comparative response that links two of the poems together. You'll be using many of the skills for poem comparison that you have learned so far in your preparation for the literature exam.
You have to make sure that you cover the following 4 areas in your response...there are marks set aside for each so cover every one!

What?
Ideas and feelings

How?
Techniques and their effect

Why?
Poet’s attitude and reasons

You?
Your response

By the end of the week you need to be confident that you can compare any two poems from the cluster and explain the four key points as outlined above. You will get homework and revision for this section of the exam... you have been warned!







Have a good week!

The Final Countdown

There are officially ten weeks until you sit your first English exam in the hall.

BUT

Have no fear, the English department in its infinite wisdom has decided to bombard you with help in the run up to the 16th May so that you can maximise your potential and do your very best when it counts the most.

Every week this blog will summarise what you've done in class and give you hints and tips for revision to do at home.

The English exams are as follows:
Paper 1 - 16th May 2011
Paper 2 - 18th May 2011
Literature paper - 24th May 2011