How are you managing your GCSE English revision? Do you feel like you are coping or winning? We are now in full exam season and attaining the high grades in the new 9-1 specification is more important than ever. ‘But how do you revise for English?’ This is a question that I get asked all the time.
There are several key things that you can do to revise and excel in English Language questions for AQA, OCR, IGCSE and Eduqas examination boards.
Number 1 – get hold of some past papers and focus on the questions that challenge you most. Then annotate the text fully with a highlighter.
Ensure that you are looking for the right techniques in a language analysis question.
You need to be highlighting: VERBS, ADJECTIVES, ADVERBS, NOUNS ESPECIALLY ABSTRACT NOUNS, ALLITERATION, TRIPLES, RHETORICAL QUESTIONS, HYPERBOLE, ONOMATOPOEIA, COLLOQUIAL, FORMAL AND INFORMAL LANGUAGE, THE 5 SENSES, IMAGERY INCLUDING SIMILES, PERSONIFICATION AND METAPHORS,WRITER’S USE OF CONTRAST OR COMPARISON, LEXICAL CHOICES and SEMANTIC FIELDS.
For structure questions ensure that you know how to identify the following features: ASYNDETIC LIST AND SYNDETIC LISTS, TELEGRAPHIC SENTENCES, COMPLEX AND COMPOUND SENTENCES, REPETITION OF WORDS AND PHRASES, PARALLEL PHRASING, MOOD AND TOPIC CHANGES, PARAGRAPH SIZE, PUNCTUATION FEATURES.
Using your PEE technique you would need to comment analytically on any point you make as demonstrated here:
POINT: Fitzgerald uses syndetic listing to depict the atmosphere of the lavish party,
EVIDENCE: ‘among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars’
EXPLANATION: The effect of the syndetic list creates a cumulative effect with a sense of the party gaining in excess and excitement. This effective use of listing also helps to embed a hedonistic atmosphere of romance and glamour as it contains the three idyllic ingredients that display how the party developing. Additionally, the list suggests how the party is becoming increasingly more enjoyable; it is slowly building up our anticipation of an event about to occur.
Good luck to all of you taking exams. Get that A!
Serena