EXAM

PREPARATION
The following slides will help you prepare for your upcoming
English exams.
WHAT IS THE EXAM ON?
Your exam will assess both your:

Reading skills (Poetry Analysis)

Writing skills (Creative Writing)
Reading Mark
Scheme
Writing Mark
Scheme
 POETRY ANALYSIS

 Identify techniques
 Explain effects using PEE
 Convey reader’s response using PEE
 Poetic Techniques

Alliteration: repetition of consonant sounds, usually the first letters of the words, for a dramatic effect, e.g.
Billy bashed his brains in.
Hyperbole: an extreme exaggeration for effect, i.e. the collision between these two warriors was earth-
shattering.
Imagery: Descriptive language which appeals to the reader’s senses.
Metaphor: is the comparison of two things where they are described as the same, without using the words
‘like’ or ‘as’. For example, the sea was a hungry dog.
Onomatopoeia: where words are spelt like they sound, e.g. splash, hoot, bang etc.
Personification: where an inanimate object is given human or animal qualities, i.e. the car roared.
Repetition: where words or phrases are repeated several times.
Rhyme: when two or more words have the same sound, it usually occurs at the end of a line- this is called
end rhyme.
Simile: a comparison between two things where they are described as similar, using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’.
For example, the sea was like a hungry dog
Stanza: A group of lines that concentrate on one topic (like a paragraph)
ANALY
SIS
YOU MUST INCLUDE CONTEXT: IT CAN BE IN YOUR POINT IN THE WRITER’S INTENTIONS OR MESSAGE IN YOUR ZOOM

 Point – make a statement that answers the question you are being asked.

 Evidence – Use a quote from the novel – this is ANYTHING that is taken only from the poem. Try to embed your
quote in a sentence.

 Explanation – Explain why the quote you’ve used helps you answer the question/proves your point.

 Include:

 the writer’s intention/ message – why he included this information/ why he wrote this poem

 the reader’s response – how the reader/ we feel about the character/ the situation/ the theme (the contemporary
reader/ the modern reader)

 Zoom - the one word (noun/verb or adjective) and its connotations (what we associate with that word) that helps
to develop the meaning and what we understand about the character/ situation/ theme - then link the quote to
the rest of the poem or to wider themes, issues or the context of the poem.
 CREATIVE
WRITING
A choice will be given between a Descriptive and
Narrative task – CHOOSE ONE.

 Use correct form and structure according to the task chosen

 Ensure SPaG is accurate
 Use a range of technique, sentence types and vocabulary
 SUCCESS CRITERIA
You should write formally, in first or third person narrative and mainly in past
tense. You will be assessed for WRITING imaginative and thoughtful writing, using
a range of techniques, your organisation of writing, including paragraphs and
interesting vocabulary.

Things to think about:

· Vary your paragraph openings and sentence lengths.
· Write in a logical order which will interest and engage your reader.
· Use impressive, imaginative vocabulary and a range of language techniques -
such as personification and metaphor - to describe.
· You must use the correct form of writing for the task you choose to do.
Or for Dramatic Effect
SENTENCE TYPES:
Simple sentences: contains a subject and a verb and can contain an object
•Sarah likes to read in the library.
•Tom enjoys reading at home.

Compound sentences: joins two simple sentences using the conjunctions:

for, and, nor, if, but, or, yet, so.
•Sarah likes to read in the library but Tom prefers to read at home.

Complex sentences: A complex sentence contains a connective such as

because, since, after, although, or when .
Because Robert felt tired, he only studied for an hour.
Although the rain had stopped, the pitch was still water-logged.
Paul enjoys Music, however, he is more proficient in Art.
PUNCTUATION MATTERS
Full stop . indicates that a sentence has finished

Comma , indicates a slight pause in a sentence, separates clauses in a

complex sentence and items in a list
Question mark ? goes at the end of a question

Exclamation ! goes at the end of a dramatic sentence to show surprise or

mark shock
Apostrophe ‘ shows that letter(s) have been left out or indicates possession

Speech marks “” indicate direct speech, the exact words spoken or being quoted

Colon : introduces a list, a statement or a quote in a sentence

Semicolon ; separates two sentences that are related and of equal

importance
Dash / hyphen - separates extra information from the main clause by holding
words apart
Brackets ( ) can be used like dashes, they separate off extra information
LANGUAGE TECHNIQUES
TO USE Comparing one thing to another thing using the He was as strong as an ox.
Simile words ‘as’ or ‘like.’

Comparing one thing to another by stating that His heart was broken into a million
Metaphor one thing is the other. pieces.

Using the same sounds at the beginning of The lion lounged lazily on the soft
Alliteration words. ground.
An action word that is beyond the obvious. The decaying leaves were withering and
Interesting Verbs dangling from the branches.

A describing word that is beyond the obvious. The mansion was gigantic, spacious and
Interesting Adjectives totally unique.

A word that adds more detail to a verb or It was especially cold that day. The walk
Adverbs adjective. Usually ends in ‘ly’ home was pain-stakingly long

Giving non-human things human features. The sun peered from behind the clouds.
Personification
USE FREYTAG’S PYRAMID TO
STRUCTURE YOUR
NARRATIVE:
USE DROP-SHIFT-ZOOM-LINK TO MAKE AN
ENGAGING NARRATIVE
Drop Shift Zoom Link
Billowing ash clouds enshrouded the sky over his head. He charged violently through
the open space. Darting in and out of explosions, his face was steeled with
your reader in to the middle of the concentration as he rushed towards anything that resembled a sanctuary for his
Drop
action/setting. fatigued body. Finally, in amongst the chaos and mayhem, he saw a spot to which he
ran. He dropped down into the burrow like a dazed rabbit.
Racing through his mind were memories of the summer. When the sun beamed down on
where he sat. Birds were chirping a chorus tune and, beside him, the most enchanting
woman of all. In her company he felt the warmth of summer embrace him and consume
Shift your perspective, time or location. his heart. Her azure eyes, her coquettish smile – she was a goddess that made him feel
as though he had arrived at God’s gates. He strained to think of her voice, the sound of
her hum…
Shells thundered around him. Fire blasted in front of him. Sending him back to the hole
in which he cowered. He slowly peeped his head up. Swivelling around, he could see the
in on tiny detail/ give a close battlefield. Grass frazzled from heat. Blown body parts, possibly of friends, were heaped
Zoom description of a particular together in tight bundles.
focus/object/person

He lifted himself up from the dirt and found all of the strength within him to bolt once
more towards the enemy lines. He ran. Heart heavily beating against his chest.
Link back to opening (cyclical narrative) Breathing rapidly. He ran and ran. Until eventually his figure had been lost in the gulf
or to the future. of ominous ash clouds that enveloped the field.
 DESCRIPTIVE Use the Sound Silence table to bring your descriptive to life.
WRITING
Example: Sound
• Waves: roaring, crashing onto the rocks, slapping the •
Silence
The rocks sat silently looking the destruction the storm
Describe a Storm boat
• Metal body of the ship chipping and cracking •
caused
The clouds silently scrutinized the
• Panicked screams; captain commanding emergency tumultuous/tempestuous waves
procedures • Lightening silently severed/scared the sky
• thunder: frightening, ferocious clouds booming, • The boat silently surrendered
raging, rampaging, tantrum • The pause between the angry outbursts of the clouds

Movement Stillness
• The boat: swaying dangerously; drifting like a puppet •
The cliff slept unmoving, undeterred by the havoc
at the mercy of a troublesome child; rocking side to storming around them.
side • Crewmen stood in shocked silence, as little figurines in a
• Waves: chaotic/ominous dance – the tides began an model of a storm
ominous dance choreographed to the chaotic music of • The magnificent waves grew larger and larger in their
the storm; wrestling menacing rampage, turning the tides into a towering wall
Lightening ripped across the silent, moody sky. Sacring • Crew members running like headless chicken; in fear of water that shadowed over the tiny merchant vessel.
the brewing grey ocean of clouds into two. Flashing a of their lives
warning to the small merchant boat that fought bravely • The fish
against the climbing waves. Thunder boomed loudly,
announcing the approaching storm for anyone who had Light Dark
missed the flash of pleading light. • Luminous lightening stretched across the sky • The lurching boat cast a menacing silhouette on the
momentarily bringing a slice of hope in the midst of rampaging sea
such darkness • The waves unleashed their anger upon the boat from the
Hazy black rocks sat far out on the horizon like • The flickering lights of the ship gasped their final deep blue dark indigo depths of the ocean
silhouettes of doomed hope. They stared in shocked breaths before submerging under the water • The dark dismal clouds hung in the air shrouding the
• Crewmen ran frantic with solitary rays of white, world in hopeless darkness
silence, waiting with baited breath to see who would win
desperately trying to find a way in this madness • Shadows – a dark monster floated up to the surface of the
in this battle: boat or storm; vessel or sea; man or ocean from the depths of the mighty blue sea
nature?