Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1. Look at past questions and use them to break down your texts for revision
If you look through past paper questions, you'll spot that the sorts of questions you receive
will always be about generalised things. Off the top of my head, things like Setting, Character,
Beginnings and Endings, Death, Love, Chronology etc. all tend to crop up with reassuring
regularity. So, this is the way in which you should approach your texts when revising them.
Remember that in the actual thing you'll come across one of these sorts of questions and you
will either have to sit and think for the very first time of exactly how the minor characters
influenced the play (...for example...) or you'll have handily thought of it all before.
Hopefully you'll agree that the second scenario is much better than the first. My advice is
therefore to go through all of your texts and pick out the main points to do with these themes.
Not only will you familiarise yourself with the texts in the process, but you should also find
that a lot of the points can be easily recycled into your actual essay in the exam and that's
the aim. Get a piece of paper, head it up with the theme you're looking at and then divide it
into columns. Think of a point from one of the texts and simultaneously whether that same
point can be made in another text -- i.e. compare and contrast. You might draw a blank, or you
might think "well they DO mention the minor characters, but they play more of a role in
narrating the life of the main characters than in providing any of the action..." = et voila, a
contrast! That kind of thing.
structure and make your essay cohesive. It's similar to the line-of-argument thinking, really.
Hopefully that makes sense.
7. Remember what your texts are called and who wrote them...
It does not in any way shape or form help impress the examiner if you cannot get these right!!
You'd be amazed what sorts of things you assume you know but will blank on in the exam,
and the names of texts and authors are right up there with major things people forget. Part of
this is due to the fact you'll be giving them all slang names by the end of studying them (e.g.
'Handmaids' instead of 'The Handmaid's Tale', and suddenly you'll be in the exam wondering
who on earth wrote it, how many Ts there are in "At(t?)wood" and whether it was 'a'
Handmaid's Tale or 'the' Handmaid's Tale or whether there was ever an extra word there at
all). Really stupid things but you'll get stuck! Make sure you're spelling all of the titles,
character and author's names right (don't assume you've been calling them the right name
for 2 years, for instance many people reading The Outsider are very freaked that 'Mersault'
has secretly been called 'Meursault' the whole time). This is the thing you will absolutely kick
yourself for not getting right.
Really though, there's no point in doing X number of paragraphs as some optimum number.
You'll have no idea how many points you're going to have and how many paragraphs your
writing will take up until you've written it. Otherwise it's like saying that you're going
somewhere nobody's ever been before, but nevertheless want somebody to advise you on the
exact walking time. Just plain old bizarre.
Essay Structure
Introduction: Here you can enumerate and briefly delineate your answers to 2, 3, 4, 5
and 7. Define terms. Set parameters. Establish links to key issues/themes of the
works making clear comparison/contrast claims.
Body: Here you discuss your answers to 6 & 7, supporting your arguments with
evidence from the texts.
o Make clear claims at the start of your paragraphs, relevant to the question.
o Relevant and accurate quotation from a text is always impressive. So are
specific examples!
o Summarize your key point at the end of a paragraph.
o Provide transitions within and between paragraphs.
o Dont forget that its a comparative essay (whats similar, whats different, why
does this matter in relation to the question.
Conclusion: Bring together your answers. Be succinct, and do not merely repeat
what you have already said in the body of your essay.
Time Management
Time recommendations
Remember
0 The work does not reach a standard described by the descriptors below.
1 Little knowledge is shown of the part 3 works and the way context affects their
meaning.
2 Knowledge of the part 3 works and the way context affects their meaning is
sometimes illustrated; understanding is superficial.
3 Knowledge of the part 3 works and the way context affects their meaning is
adequately illustrated; understanding is satisfactory.
4 Knowledge of the part 3 works and the way context affects their meaning is
pertinently illustrated and the understanding shown is good.
5 Knowledge of the part 3 works and the way context affects their meaning is
thoroughly and persuasively illustrated and the understanding shown is perceptive.
0 The work does not reach a standard described by the descriptors below.
1 There is little awareness of the expectations of the question.
2 There is some awareness of the expectations of the question; the response is only
partly relevant and is mostly unsubstantiated generalization.
3 There is adequate awareness of the expectations of the question; the response is
generally relevant and critical.
4 There is good understanding of the expectations and some of the subtleties of the
question; the response is consistently relevant and critical.
5 There is excellent understanding of the expectations and many of the subtleties of
the question; the response is relevant, focused and insightful.
0 The work does not reach a standard described by the descriptors below.
1 There is limited awareness or illustration of the use of stylistic features.
2 There is some awareness and illustration of the use of stylistic features, with limited
understanding of their effects.
3 There is adequate awareness and illustration of the use of stylistic features, with
adequate understanding of their effects.
4 There is good awareness and illustration of the use of stylistic features, with good
understanding of their effects.
5 There is excellent awareness and illustration of the use of stylistic features, with very
good understanding of their effects.
0 The work does not reach a standard described by the descriptors below.
1 There is little focus, structure, sequencing of ideas and development.
2 There is some focus, structure, sequencing of ideas and development.
3 There is adequate focus, structure, sequencing of ideas and development.
4 There is good focus and structure, with a logical sequence and development.
5 There is precise focus and excellent structure; the work is coherently sequenced and
thoroughly developed.
Criterion E: Language
How clear, varied and accurate is the language? How appropriate is the choice of register,
style and terminology? (Register refers, in this context, to the students use of elements
such as vocabulary, tone, sentence structure and terminology appropriate to the task.)
Marks Level descriptor
0 The work does not reach a standard described by the descriptors below.
1 Language is rarely clear and appropriate; there are many errors in grammar,
vocabulary and sentence construction and little sense of register and style.
2 Language is sometimes clear and carefully chosen; grammar, vocabulary and
sentence construction are fairly accurate, although errors and inconsistencies are
apparent; the register and style are to some extent appropriate to the task.
3 Language is clear and carefully chosen with an adequate degree of accuracy in
grammar, vocabulary and sentence construction despite some lapses; register and
style are mostly appropriate to the task.
4 Language is clear and carefully chosen, with a good degree of accuracy in grammar,
vocabulary and sentence construction; register and style are consistently appropriate
to the task.
5 Language is very clear, effective, carefully chosen and precise, with a high degree of
accuracy in grammar, vocabulary and sentence construction; register and style are
effective and appropriate to the task.