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Mrs Whelan’s English Revision Guide

Mrs Whelan’s English Revision Higher Paper


Higher Paper Section A This section is testing your READING skills. You are tested on your ability to:

What to expect: There are three reading sources on which the questions are based. All three reading sources are used in the exam and all three are ‘unseen’. There are four questions.

Question 1 refers to the first source, called Item 1, and will test your ability to retrieve information and ideas from the source text.

Question 2 refers to the second of the sources, called Item 2, and will test your ability to understand and interpret presentational features such as headline, sub-headline, pictures and captions from the source text.

Question 3 refers to the third source, called Item 3, and will test the your ability to understand and interpret meaning in the source text.

Question 4 refers to the third source together with one of the other sources chosen by the you. This tests your’ ability to compare the effectiveness of language used by the writers in the source texts.

How many marks are they worth? Q1= 8 marks (10 mins) Q2= 8 marks (10 mins) Q3= 8 marks (10 mins) Q4= 16 marks (20-25 mins)

Approaching Section A

read the entire question paper through once- you have 15 minutes reading time so use it!

scan each source text a second time before attempting to write an answer

remember that some questions carry more marks than others

manage your time! Rushed or unfinished answers will lose marks

read the question properly and focus on what you are being asked

present your own comments, explanations and analysis about the texts in your answers

support all of your ideas with appropriate quotations from the text, making sure you quote in full- (PEE on your page!)


Section B

The first writing question is focused on writing to inform and perhaps describe The second writing question is focused on writing to persuade or to argue a point of view How many marks are they worth? Q5= 16 marks (25 mins) Q6= 24 marks (35 mins) Tackling Section B

Think about PURPOSE

Think about AUDIENCE

Think about the FORM you are writing in

Manage your time

You are marked on ‘content and organisation’ and ‘accuracy’ so focus on:

Paragraphing

different sentence structures

spelling

punctuation

interesting vocabulary

original ideas

conveying your ideas to the audience in an engaging way

topic sentences, cohesive techniques (e.g connectives)

This Guide: This guide is designed to give you an insight into the requirements of each question. You will see examples of students’ answers to the summer 2012 exam and you should study them to see how and why they gained such high marks.


Q1 (8 marks) RETRIEVAL SKILLS Retrieval means to pick out information Q1 will always require you to retrieve information from text 1. You need to be able to pick out the important information and, if necessary, explain it. You might get questions like: ‘What do you learn about…?’ ‘What are the writer’s main concerns about…?’ ‘What evidence is there for…?’ ‘What can you find out about…?’ Task:

1) In the box below, make notes about HOW you would retrieve information from a text


Look at this student’s answer to Q1. This is a response to the June 2012 exam paper.


Q2 (8 marks) PRESENTATION The PRESENTATION questions require you to really think about the effects certain presentational techniques create. On the higher paper, you will look in detail at one text. Remember that this isn’t about feature-spotting; it is about thinking how the presentation adds to the overall effect of the text. You should think about the sub-text (hidden messages) as well as obvious points *TIP* The question will usually tell you what to look for so try to focus on those specific areas in detail *TIP 2* The question will ask you to talk about the EFFECTIVENESS of the features. This means you are going to have to evaluate. Try to include evaluative phrases such as: “This is significant because..’ “This is important…” “This is vital because…” “This is effective because….” Remember, if you are going to say that something is/isn’t effective, you must say WHY Task: Look at the text and complete the table below

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=stop+smoking+campaign&hl=en&safe=vss&tbo=d&biw=1280&bih=907&tbm=isch&tbnid=wC4iJ5jnoLnbVM:&imgrefurl=http://adverlab.blogspot.com/2009/02/working-on-anti-smoking-campaign.html&docid=xiFBB5x33JLGwM&imgurl=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XJseql2u5l0/SZDHGa-EEvI/AAAAAAAAEyE/V7YDxuNVTfw/s400/smoker-campaign.jpg&w=400&h=240&ei=GVe_UM3_LMWg0QXak4HYBQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=830&vpy=595&dur=6996&hovh=174&hovw=290&tx=157&ty=79&sig=111399158489843454867&page=2&tbnh=150&tbnw=254&start=39&ndsp=47&ved=1t:429,r:45,s:0,i:222


Impact and Links to the Text

Feature 1

Impact/effect

Links to the text

Feature 2

Impact/effect

Links to the text

Feature 3

Impact/effect

Links to the text


Q3 (8 marks) UNDERSTANDING AND INTERPRETING Interpreting means taking what you can see and having your own opinion about what it really means. You should try to use quotes to help support your interpretations. Basically this is requiring some sophisticated PEE with a strong focus on inferring ideas from the text. The exam board have defined what they mean by ‘interpretation’:

• Inferring meaning from a text • Commenting on parts of a text• Explaining meaning and implications • Using words / ideas other than those in the text • ‘Reading between the lines’• Making connections between parts of a text• BUT not moving beyond the text (no huge leaps in the dark!)

You might get questions like: ‘Explain how…’ ‘How does…’ Task: In the box below, set out the stages of a DEVELOPED PEE you could use to answer this type of question


Q4 (16 marks) LANGUAGE This is the big one! Most students find this question the hardest so you should spend a lot of time revising for it. On the higher paper, you will have to compare the effectiveness of language in text 3 and one other text. This question will require you to use PEE and think about how and why a writer has used particular language features. The examiner will want to see that you can identify language techniques (using accurate terminology) and that you can then give examples with a full explanation of effects. You must be able to make links to the second text. *TIP* You MUST know a wide range of sophisticated language techniques. Why not make some revision cards with the term on the front and the definition/examples on the back? TASK: Choose a non-fiction text and complete the table below.

Language Technique Example Effect on Reader


TASK: Choose a second text and complete the following

Linguistic Feature Evidence Effect?

AUDIENCE

PURPOSE

GENRE

EFFECTIVE VOCABULARY

IMAGERY

TECHNICAL STRUCTURE


Use this space to jot down notes on how you might approach Q4:


Revision Ideas

1 Study an advertisement in a magazine or newspaper or on the internet. Decide who the audience is, and how you know, what is the advert trying to say and how it says it. Think carefully about the words and images that have been used. Think about the size of the picture and the words – what effect is the advert trying to have on you? Jot down some words to describe the effect you think the advertiser is trying to create and then use a thesaurus and develop and extend your vocabulary.

2 Choose an online article from www.thedailymail.co.uk and www.thedailymash.co.uk and make notes on the different ways language and layout are used.

3 Find an article which interests you on www.nationalgeographic.com/uk and explain how the writer uses language for effect.

4 Go to www.biography.com and find a biography of a famous person you are interested in. Make notes on the way language is used to inform.

5 Allow 25 minutes to plan and answer this question: Describe your ideal holiday location.

6 Allow 35 minutes to plan and answer this question: Write a letter to a national newspaper, arguing EITHER that standards in schools are improving OR that they are falling.

7 Make revision cards for as many language features as you can and write definitions/examples on the back.

8 Go to www.AQA.org.uk and download past papers. Alternatively, ask your teacher for some

Think about the types of questions you will be given. Come up with your own revision ideas here:

http://www.thedailymail.co.uk/

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/uk

http://www.biography.com/

http://www.aqa.org.uk/

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