How to Win!

YEAR 11 REVISION GUIDE- ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Unit 1H

2 hours 15 minutes

Tuesday 4th June a.m.

Remember – success in the exams is about –

o identifying key words in the questions

o planning and organising your answer

o using your time wisely

o checking your work carefully

Remember to come into the exams properly equipped. You should bring:

o transparent pencil case or bag

o ruler

o several black or blue pens or biros

o two pencils (sharpened!)

o rubber

o highlighters

Check out these websites for English help:

www.gcse.com/english

www.homeworkhigh.com

www.universalteacher.org.uk

www.podcastrevision.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english

www.englishbiz.co.uk

www.revisioncentre.co.uk/gcse/english/index.html

www.S-cool.co.uk/gcse/english.html

Summary of time allocation and questions

First 15 mins – READ THE PAPER AND MAKE NOTES – you may write on

the paper and the insert

Section A – Reading – 1 hour

Three unseen reading sources (texts) – non-fiction

Four questions – all have to be answered

Question 1 – refers to Source 1 – retrieve information and ideas

Question 2 – Source 2 – explore links between key ideas and the presentational

features and headline

Question 3 – Source 3 – understand and interpret meaning, infer more subtle meanings

Question 4 – Source 3 and EITHER Source 1 OR Source 2 – COMPARE how language is

used for effect – give examples and analyse them

Section B – Writing – 1 hour

Two questions – both have to be answered

Question 1 – Writing to Inform OR explain OR describe (shorter task)

Question 2 – Writing to Persuade OR argue (longer task)

Detail – what will you be asked to do?

SECTION A - 1hour – READING

Analyse non fiction and media texts (some with images) that you have not seen before.

Could include:

newspaper articles

magazine articles

leaflets

websites

travel guides

reviews etc.

Three texts.

Assessed on how well you:

understand the facts

identify the key ideas in a text

can summarise the key points of a text

can analyse the language used and explain the effect on the reader

can infer and deduce the more subtle meanings and explain how language is used

to convey them

the impact of visual images, graphics and layout – and how they work with the

ideas in the text

compare the impact of language effects in two texts and explore how this is

done

You will need to compare two of the texts.

Before you start:

Write down PALL – Purpose, Audience, Language, Layout; this helps you read the

texts intelligently.

Write down PEE – Point, Evidence, Explanation; this helps you write about texts

in detail.

Organise your time in the exam:

Read the QUESTIONS and underline KEY WORDS 3 mins

Read the TEXTS, underlining or highlighting: 15 mins

key points, found in the TOPIC SENTENCES (usually the first) of each

paragraph

emotive language

quotations from experts

facts/opinions

WORDS

rhetorical questions

lists

interesting nouns, verbs or adjectives

slang and colloquial language

formal language

repetition

dialogue (direct speech) or quotation

statistics or numbers

first/second person (I/we or you)

technical words

Write your answers 45-50 mins

Remember to use quotations in all your answers and refer closely to the

text.

Be clear how many marks the question is worth. If the question asks you

to ‘choose reasons’ why… and ‘explain’ why you chose them, you must

answer both parts of the question.

When you are asked about the use of language, be sure to write several

PEE chains or even PEEEE chains. Always explain the effect on

the reader.

Question 2 will ask you to explain why a headline and image are

effective and how they link to the text. This means you need to look

at:

subheadings

titles

captions

pictures

use of bold

style of font

use of colour

whether the text is tightly packed or whether there is a lot

of white space

text boxes

images

logos

use of LANGUAGE in the headline

etc. etc. – and relate these to the context, purpose and key ideas in the

text, explaining their effect on the target audience.

When comparing 2 texts, use these words as glue

to stick your ideas together: equally, similarly, in the same way, likewise, in contrast, unlike, whereas, however …

CHECK your answers: 10 mins

Have you answered the KEY WORDS in the questions?

Have you referred to the text or quoted where necessary?

Have you explained the EFFECT on the READER?

Have you used YOUR OWN WORDS where necessary?

Is your meaning clear?

Always remember PALL –

PURPOSE - why has this been written? What is the writer trying to achieve?

AUDIENCE - who is the writing aimed at?

LANGUAGE – what specially-chosen language features can you find? What is

the effect on the reader?

LAYOUT – how is the text organised? What does it look like on the page? Why

is this?

Make sure you give your own opinion. Do you think the extracts have worked? How could they

have been improved?

10 easy steps to revise for Section A

1. Pick up and read a range of non-fiction texts: newspapers, magazines, websites,

autobiography, travel writing, biography, political cartoons, press advertisements …

2. Always consider PALL

3. Always consider PURPOSE and AUDIENCE for everything you read – why is s/he writing

this piece, who and what is it for, how does the writer achieve this?

4. Identify as many LANGUAGE FEATURES as you can

5. For each of them, try to explain their intended effect on the audience

6. Look out for LAYOUT – presentational features (layout, pictures, bullet points, font …)

7. For each feature, work out what EFFECT it has on you, the reader

8. Make sure you can COMPARE texts. Ask yourself, do the writers have a similar audience

and/or purpose, how do they contrast or differ, do they make you feel differently about

an issue, how and why do they use presentational features to make you feel differently?

9. Use spider diagrams to explore features of different text types e.g. women’s magazine,

information leaflet, tabloid news report, internet web page …

10. Pick a text, use one highlighter pen to pick out key language features, and another

colour to pick out presentational features

Useful Media Terms

bullet points – a good way to organise a text

captions – can help readers understand a picture

colour – there are lots of connections and links – colours reinforce messages:

blue=crisp/cold/clean; red=passion/danger/sex/roses; green=nature/eco-friendly/calm …

columns – a way of organising text and helping in to be clear to the reader

fonts – classic/formal/old-fashioned/modern … Chosen to impact on different audiences and

to grab attention

graphs/charts/diagrams – help make complicated information easy to grasp and locate

headings – an important way to organise text

images – pictures in media texts reinforce the message, or can provide a contrast to it

italics/bold print/underlining – used to emphasise information

logos – a symbol of a company or organisation, carefully designed to represent what it stands

for

maps – helpful way of giving information about location

paragraphs – THE most important way of organising text into chunks: can be short (easier to

read, and to pick up the essential ideas) or longer and more detailed

REMEMBER - the most powerful part of any text is the opening and the end. WHY

IS THIS?

Useful Language Terms – (you probably won’t need them all, but some might be useful)

Noun – the name of something: could be an object (e.g. table), or a proper noun (name of a

person or place)

Verb – a doing (to hit), happening (to begin) or being (to be) word. Verbs can be very active

or they can form a list to give the impression of lots of activity e.g. The boy whistled,

clapped and jumped down the road.

Adjective – a describing word eg The affectionate, old brown dog. These are very useful in

creating a description and can appeal to the senses in order to bring a text to life for the

reader.

Preposition – specifies the position of something e.g. through, up, over, beyond, under,

across

Sentence – a group of words containing a verb and making complete sense on its own. Can be

simple with only one verb (The cat sat on the mat), compound with two simple sentences

joined by a connective (The cat sat on the mat and purred) or complex with a subordinate

clause to add extra meaning and information (While sitting on the mat, the cat purred

loudly. Sitting happily on the mat, the cat purred happily. The cat purred loudly while it

was sitting on the mat.)

SECTION B -1 hour – WRITING

a) Writing to INFORM/EXPLAIN/DESCRIBE – 20 MINS 16 marks

b) Writing to ARGUE/PERSUADE – 30 MINS 24 marks

10 mins to CHECK

There will be 2 questions and

NO CHOICE. You must answer

both questions!!!

Include a plan which could be -

a list

a spider diagram

a flow chart.

These questions are worth 40 marks in total.

You will be assessed on

spelling

sentence structure

punctuation

paragraph use

If you forget about all these things you can go back and add paragraphs by marking

QUESTIONs!

your text with // to show the examiner you want a new paragraph there.

Try to use a variety of punctuation ( :, ;?...!) as this automatically gives

you more marks. Jot down a variety at the top of your answer and cross them off as

you use them. Remember commas to mark off subordinate clauses.

Use a variety of sentence structures for effect. Use long descriptive sentences

followed by short snappy ones.

Expand your vocabulary. Use words you do not normally use. It doesn’t matter if

you’re not completely sure how to spell them. You get points for trying.

Avoid repetition unless you are doing it on purpose.

Use standard English and avoid slang.

Avoid writing conversation – it’s difficult to punctuate correctly and very BORING to

read!

Remember the basics, capital letter for names and places, apostrophes for belonging.

Make sure you engage your reader. Use any trick you can to guarantee your reader is

interested and continues to read.

One of the biggest problems which means students drop marks is that they simply

don’t write enough. Aim for 2 sides of A4 on this question.

Remember to highlight the key words of the question.

Always remember to manipulate your reader!

Consider PALL:

1. What do they want your writing to do? Purpose

2. Who do they want you to write it for? Audience

3. How will you use language to achieve this? Language

4. How do they want you to present it? (magazine article, letter, diary – make sure

you set it out the right way but DON’T waste time writing articles in columns –

they just want to see a letter laid out right, or that an article has a headline

and maybe sub-headings.) Layout and form

WRITING TO INFORM

Remember who your target audience is – ensure you include appropriate information

Include lots of facts

Use straightforward language

Organise your information carefully into paragraphs or sections

Writing to inform should be easy to follow, clear and logical

WRITING TO EXPLAIN

Should answer the questions HOW? Or WHY?

Organise carefully into sections

Verbs in the present tense e.g. it is, they have

Technical vocabulary or words chosen to link with subject-matter

Enough detail to put ideas across clearly and simply

Can use connectives as appropriate to reflect:

chronology e.g. firstly, next, eventually, overall cause and effect e.g. because, therefore, so, thus, consequently

emphasising e.g. above all, especially, obviously, clearly illustrating e.g. for example, such as, for instance, as shown by

WRITING TO DESCRIBE

Needs to come to life for the reader – they need to believe they are there with you

Appeal to all the senses as appropriate:

sight – colour, shape, size, movement

touch – texture, temperature, movement

smell

sound

taste

Use imaginative words – stretch the limits of the English language – show what a

WORDSMITH you are!

Avoid boring words like NICE!!!

Paragraph your work – new paragraph for a change of TIME, TOPIC, TALK (in direct

speech)

Avoid conversation

WRITING TO ARGUE

Balance both sides of an argument and then give your own opinion.

Acknowledge the opposing argument and then try to counter argue with your point of

view.

Start with a statement that you may not agree with - ‘Some people believe that ……….however, I believe……..’

Use useful linking phrases - ‘However’, ‘Therefore’, ‘Nevertheless’ Assert your own opinion - ‘I believe that….’ Use the texts from Section A to help you. You can quote from these for extra marks.

Use facts and figures to back up your point. (If you don’t know any, make them up but

make sure they are believable)

Use rhetorical questions

Use emotive language.

WRITING TO PERSUADE

Imagine you are a used car salesman.

You must convince the reader that you are absolutely right!

You are trying to persuade someone to do or think something so use all your

persuasive powers.

Use logical connectives (because, consequently, as a result, nevertheless, however …) Exaggerate and stress points.

Use ‘we’ and ‘us’ when you can. This makes the reader feel more people are on the side

of your opinion.

Remember the rule of 3. Say your point 3 times to make the message more effective.

For example, ‘These people are helpless, vulnerable and destitute’ Use repetition

Use emotive language

Direct your points personally at the audience, ‘Surely you would agree?’ Use rhetorical questions. ‘Is this really what you want?’ Use connectives to move from one point to another (firstly … secondly … next …

finally/in conclusion …) Finish on a strong point, ‘Think about it!’

Formal Letter Layout

62 Church Street Lower Kington

Dorset BN6 7EF

21st January 2011

Mr E J Brown Multimix Building Supplies Ltd Matrix Industrial Park Birmingham B64 8ZE Dear Sir,

I am writing to you to complain about some bricks I received from you recently. The bricks caused huge problems for me and my family. Firstly, when I tried to remove the wrappers from the bricks, they … Secondly, … In addition, … Lastly, … I am sure you will agree that this is unacceptable. I am expecting you to provide me with compensation, as well as replace the bricks free of charge. I look forward to your speedy reply. Yours faithfully, W M Smith William Smith

your address on right hand side

postcode – letters in capitals – no punctuation

line space under

address

date – in full

name and address of recipient – complete with postcode – no punctuation

needed

line space below address

greeting – the word ‘dear’ starts with a capital letter

line space between greeting and letter body

introductory

paragraph

line space between paragraphs

concluding paragraph, summing up points and handing over to recipient for reply

sign off as

appropriate

signature

print name below

connectives at start of paragraphs to link them

through whole letter

connectives at start of paragraphs to link them

through whole letter

connectives at start of paragraphs to link them

throughout whole letter

formal language – no

abbreviations

line space between paragraphs

HOW CAN YOU REVISE FOR THIS SECTION?

Try to plan or answer some of the questions below:

1. Write an article for an educational magazine in which you argue for or

against compulsory work experience.

2. Write a leaflet for younger children in which you explain how to

play safely around their neighbourhood and inform them of local facilities.

3. Write a magazine article for teenagers which persuades them to

improve their health and describes the steps they need to take to do so.

4. Write a letter to your Headteacher in which you try to persuade him that school

uniform should be abolished.

5. Your school wants to ban Saturday jobs for students. Write a letter

to your Headteacher in which you argue for or against the idea of

Saturday jobs

6. Write an article for a careers magazine in which you inform students on

what to look out for when applying for a job and explain how to succeed in interviews.

7. Write a letter to the school kitchen where you persuade them of the need to

improve school meals.

8. Write an article for the school website in which you describe a fantastic

life-changing experience.

9. Write a letter to your local MP in which you argue for or against

lowering the driving age to 16

10. Write an article for your school newspaper in which you inform students

how to cope with bullying and explain what to do if they are aware it is going on.

11. Write the text of a webpage in which you explain to teenagers how to revise

for their GCSEs

12. Write the text of a leaflet in which you persuade people to be more

environmentally friendly in their homes.

13. Write an article in which you argue for or against the use of computer

games as an educational tool.

14. Think of something you would like to change at your school. Write a

speech to give to students in which you try to persuade them to agree

with your opinion.

15. Write a magazine article for teenagers in which you describe to them ‘how

to be cool’.

Good luck!