English Language GCSE personal writing?
English language and literature discussion, revision, exam and homework help.
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English Language GCSE personal writing?I have my unit one English Language GCSE tomorrow which is multi-modal texts (like comparing DVD covers) and personal writing. Does anyone know examples of questions I could be asked for personal writing, our mock was 'Someone you admire' (which I think is a really awkward question as I don't have a certain person in mind haha).
I do CCEA by the way, but I'm guessing it's pretty much the same as AQA on what kind of questions are asked. -
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Re: English Language GCSE personal writing?(Original post by pokings)
I have my unit one English Language GCSE tomorrow which is multi-modal texts (like comparing DVD covers) and personal writing. Does anyone know examples of questions I could be asked for personal writing, our mock was 'Someone you admire' (which I think is a really awkward question as I don't have a certain person in mind haha).
I do CCEA by the way, but I'm guessing it's pretty much the same as AQA on what kind of questions are asked.
1. First remember that though it says 'personal writing' it doesn't mean you have to write the exact truth. If you look at the question and it says 'Your best moment in life...' for example and you go blank and panicky... stop. Take a breath. You can make up the moment. You can embelish and exaggerate a little if need be. In short as long as it sounds like personal writing no one can prove whether or not it is true. So don't spend forever searching your mind for the exact answer that never comes...(Original post by Procrastinator123)
I'm doing the same exam as you with CCEA as well.. dreading it!
Needing help too, does anyone have any personal writing tips?
x
2. Although this is personal writing you are also trying to ENTERTAIN while telling a story and informing people what you think and feel. Its just YOU are the subject and source of the story. You'll be writing in the first person 'I...' but it still needs all the things a good story needs such as:
a). An interesting opening line or paragraph to grab attention.
b). An interesting ending to stick in the mind and draw the whole thing together.
c). Setting the scene and facts by including information as you write. ie. My Favourite Animal might include 'I must have been six years old when I saw my first elephant and to be honest I was terrified.' or 'my favourite place' includes the information about age.
d). Use descriptive language: the five senses such as how things smelt, felt to the touch, sounded, looked and tasted (spread out of course over the whole writing rather than in one clump) or what you imagine they might be like in terms of these things ie. I have always dreamt of travelling to a place where the air is scented with herbs and.....' Its not neccesary to use every one of the five senses but one or two in addition to how things look is good.
e). More descriptive language such as similes, metaphors, words that sound like themselves ie sloshing almost makes the sound that water makes. Similes always use the word LIKE or 'as if' ie. 'I felt like a spy' or 'It was a cloudy, dull day and I felt as dreary and sad as the heavy sky above my head. Exam day. I dragged myself along the road as if I were a prisoner being led to my execution. It was then that I remembered what my nan always said. 'Look life straight in the eye and don't flinch'.
My nan is the person who perhaps of any person is the one I most admire in the whole world. She is not famous. She's just a little old lady of five foot two, skinny with fluffy white hair and a butter wouldn't melt in her mouth expression. To underestimate her however would be a serious mistake to make. Nan is tough, really tough and that's because that's what life has made her..... blah blah....
f). Just remember its not always the length but the quality of what you write. Work out how much time you have to do the piece. Keep an eye on your clock.
g). Try to leave a bit of time to read through and check punctuation and spelling.
h.) Remember to split your information and parts of the story up by PARAGRAPHING.
i). Always include something about feelings... it makes the piece personal and lets the reader feel that you are sharing something. It doesn't matter whether you really, really felt 'hysterical' or 'full of wonder' or 'scared'... its more important that you make your writing interesting and imagine the feelings that go with what you are saying. Of course if you really felt something then great... you can write about it.
For AQA candidates don't forget to write your piece in the right style... ie. as a journalist for a 'film review' and so forth.
Thats all I can think of for now. You'll all do great I'm sure!
Good luck
Last edited by catoswyn; 28-05-2012 at 20:45. -
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Re: English Language GCSE personal writing?Woah thankyou for such an indept answer, I always waste to much time trying to think of something to write, that's why I am trying to think of certain themes now that I could use for multiple questions c:(Original post by catoswyn)
Thats all I can think of for now. You'll all do great I'm sure!
Good luck
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Re: English Language GCSE personal writing?How'd you find it? :L x(Original post by pokings)
Woah thankyou for such an indept answer, I always waste to much time trying to think of something to write, that's why I am trying to think of certain themes now that I could use for multiple questions c: -
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Re: English Language GCSE personal writing?Well, that was attrocious. I wrote absolute drivel for the multimodal texts; it was basically a list of Point, Evidence, Explanation, Repeat, and I failed to mention much in the way of language techniques ( I wrote about things like "mentioning awards", "using quotations from reviewers" and "having a short intriguing sentence to draw the reader in", but completely failed to mention "stating opinion as fact").
The Personal writing was a bit better, but I would have preferred it if I had time to make it slightly longer and I think I will lose loads of marks for making my introduction too long.
It really infuriates me that I only managed to write five pages in total when most of my friends managed between 10 and 15; 2 - 3 times more than I did!
I write so slowly, and I don't know how people can write 15 pages in an hour and a half! -
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Re: English Language GCSE personal writing?I don't think I did very well in the multi-modal texts, I had to stop myself on the presentational devices to move on to the language ones (haha I did the whole thing backwards, first presentational then language then personal writing) but I don't think I wrote enough about language, I just had a mind blank. Personal was a little better, the question was very vague, I just made something up and sugar coated it until it sounded someone presentable. I wrote nine pages, but I write quite big, usually I could manage about fifteen so I'm not sure I did as well as I could.
Yeah I have one on Thursday, hoping it goes a little better. -
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Re: English Language GCSE personal writing?Sounds like you did fine to me. You obviously used time management to move on when neccesary from presentational to language questions... good exam technique.(Original post by pokings)
I don't think I did very well in the multi-modal texts, I had to stop myself on the presentational devices to move on to the language ones (haha I did the whole thing backwards, first presentational then language then personal writing) but I don't think I wrote enough about language, I just had a mind blank. Personal was a little better, the question was very vague, I just made something up and sugar coated it until it sounded someone presentable. I wrote nine pages, but I write quite big, usually I could manage about fifteen so I'm not sure I did as well as I could.
Yeah I have one on Thursday, hoping it goes a little better.
Don't forget everyone always thinks their exam could have been better and everyone is in the same boat in the end.
Here's hoping you get the grade you want!
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Re: English Language GCSE personal writing?Sorry you felt it went bad. Maybe it was better than you thought in reality though.(Original post by TheSilentFez)
Well, that was attrocious. I wrote absolute drivel for the multimodal texts; it was basically a list of Point, Evidence, Explanation, Repeat, and I failed to mention much in the way of language techniques ( I wrote about things like "mentioning awards", "using quotations from reviewers" and "having a short intriguing sentence to draw the reader in", but completely failed to mention "stating opinion as fact").
The Personal writing was a bit better, but I would have preferred it if I had time to make it slightly longer and I think I will lose loads of marks for making my introduction too long.
It really infuriates me that I only managed to write five pages in total when most of my friends managed between 10 and 15; 2 - 3 times more than I did!
I write so slowly, and I don't know how people can write 15 pages in an hour and a half!
I just wanted to say that if you think your handwriting is very much slower than normal you can get tested for this if you're going on to do A levels for instance. If the test shows a significant difference to the norm or that handwriting prevents you expressing ideas clearly whereas typing information gives you a normal writing speed and better expression of ideas you may get permission to use a laptop in exams.
Average hand writing speed is about 23 words per minute. People who write at up to c. 16 wpm or below may be considered to have a problem and if they can then type faster than this could get permission. People who experience pain when writing can also get help. You'd need a proper assessment by an external assessor to be sent to the exam boards for future exams and this can be arranged by colleges for free. Schools and sixth forms tend to be worse at arranging these tests and some teachers have been known to not understand the system at all and dismiss slow handwriting as a 'special need' so you'd need to be clear with them if so. Universities then take this proof too and can make similar arrangements so it can be well worth looking into rather than struggling on for years or avoiding essay writing subjects at advanced levels just because of slow handwriting!
Last edited by catoswyn; 03-06-2012 at 14:21. -
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Re: English Language GCSE personal writing?I think I can manage about 23 words per minute depending on how well I have planned the sentence in my head. I use quite a complex sentence structure, so my paragraphs can actually take longer to think about rather than write.(Original post by catoswyn)
Sorry you felt it went bad. Maybe it was better than you thought in reality though.
I just wanted to say that if you think your handwriting is very much slower than normal you can get tested for this if you're going on to do A levels for instance. If the test shows a significant difference to the norm or that handwriting prevents you expressing ideas clearly whereas typing information gives you a normal writing speed and better expression of ideas you may get permission to use a laptop in exams.
Average hand writing speed is about 23 words per minute. People who write at up to c. 16 wpm or below may be considered to have a problem and if they can then type faster than this could get permission. People who experience pain when writing can also get help. You'd need a proper assessment by an external assessor to be sent to the exam boards for future exams and this can be arranged by colleges for free. Schools and sixth forms tend to be worse at arranging these tests and some teachers have been known to not understand the system at all and dismiss slow handwriting as a 'special need' so you'd need to be clear with them if so. Universities then take this proof too and can make similar arrangements so it can be well worth looking into rather than struggling on for years or avoiding essay writing subjects at advanced levels just because of slow handwriting!
And I'm fairly sure I know people who can write 50 words per minute...maybe their handwriting is just really big. Mine's fairly small.
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