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Sir, when are you putting up the questions for revision, like the essays and 15-minute questions, or have you already put them up and I can't find them?
ReplyDeleteOn their way- I should have them up within the next hour or two.
ReplyDeleteYou know on the questions which include a part a and part b, what exactly do we do for those? Do we have to basically do two seperate essays, so two introductions and conclusions as well? Or do we have to link them sort of as one essay? I don't understand..
ReplyDeleteThe easiest way to deal with them is deinfately with two "mini" essays- they should be self contained and labelled "a)" and "b)" to ensure that you hit the mark schemes (and there will be one for each half of the question). The introduction and conclusion question is a tough one as this is what makes these questions much harder than they might appear to be- I think every quality answer will have them both (so x2 for two part questions) but, by writing two, you could end up seriously compromising yourself in terms of time. I would think of it in terms of each answer ("a" and "b") being half the length of a full, four part answer, and therefore each will have an introduction and conclusion which is half the length of what it would be in a single part question; commenting on only two poems instead of four. Hope this is helpful.
ReplyDeleteWhat is usually better:
ReplyDelete- If you write some really good quality writing because you're not rushing too much, and don't finish (say your last paragraph and conclusion)
or
- If you rush the essay and finish completely but then it's not as good writing because you were focusing on finishing?
Like do the examiners automatically take a lot of marks off your work if it's incomplete or do they focus on the content of the writing more?
I know in like a perfect world it would be great if you could obviously finish with really good writing, but this always seems the way when we do timed essays?
Is this right?
ReplyDeleteShort Stories: Just language devices
Cultures Poetry: Both language (2 paragraphs) and structure (1 paragraph)
Literature Poetry: Both language and structure (at least 2 quotations should be about structure in the whole essay)
Short answer to this question is that examiners mark positively and qualitatively which means that you are far better to write the best stuff you can and, if you don't finish then so be it (see my comments on the sample essay submitted as a comment on the Cultures Poetry post). It's also worth bearing in mind that, so long as you write about the texts you are comparing equally (and write about the right texts) there is no official penalty mark deduction for not finishing. That said, if you are aiming for the top grades, an examiner will be looking for a well crafted essay which should, in theory, be complete.
ReplyDeleteThe answer? Plan carefully and make sure you write an equal amount about each text, compare in detail and then throw in a very short (1 sentence if need be) conclusion if you run out of time and don't cover everything you had intended to.
Unfortunately, for the best candidates, timing is a massive issue in this exam but the main thing is to show what you can do in the writing that you do have time to complete.
Previous post was re question @19:52, this on relates to question @22:04:
ReplyDeleteIs this right?
Short Stories: Just language devices
Cultures Poetry: Both language (2 paragraphs) and structure (1 paragraph)
Literature Poetry: Both language and structure (at least 2 quotations should be about structure in the whole essay)
In principle this is right but remember- there is no absolute formula here, simply my interpretation of the mark scheme which I have passed on to you. The starting point for any essay is the question: plan your ideas from here and analyse language and structure along the way.
Cultures: This sounds right
Lit Poetry: Yes, but if you can only find one structural element which fits then only use one rather than undermining your essay with weaker points to try and tick the box
Short Stories: Not just language devices in that you need to analyse the ideas in the stories and therefore some of your evidence may not use any devices at all- this is fine so long as they feature somewhere just to tick the box on the mark scheme. You may also need to write about the structure depending on the question however this may be something as simple as the way the ways in which characters change through the story or the way the writers have chosen to reveal certain things at certain times.
Remember: your ideas (in relation to the question) come first and the language/structural features are there to tick boxes on the mark scheme along the way.
Sir I was wondering whether you could do one of those revision commentaries on chemistry, like the one you did on snowdrops? It's just I am finding it really hard to understand chemistry, and the snowdrops commentary really helped me? thank you!
ReplyDeleteGood suggestion. I'm having a bit of a problem recording sound on my laptop at present but I will aim to have this online by the end of the week.
ReplyDelete