higher english- difficult? what should i do?

johnferguson1324

spoke to a neighbour about my age yesterday.
we didn't just talk about school. don't worry! you probably think i'm a nerd already. anyway, we did get talking about school stuff, since it's what we'll be spending the next year on. she's going into sixth year, and told me about higher english. it's worrying, gcse sounds like a joke compared:
-she said that to prepare, she had to start reading newspapers every day. i'm all for getting good grades, but this sounds like a big commitment. should i start doing this?
-when do you get the opportunity to resit?
-she also said she started the course by doing her personal study- book of her choice. should i pick a book now? if so, what book?

thanks :smile:

to save me a few threads, i suppose you could tell me what i should do for other subjects as well.
thanks

Have you recently moved to Scotland? Higher is a big step up from Standard Grade (the Scottish equivalent of GCSEs), but it's honestly not so bad as people make out, especially if you don't fall behind (miss more than a day at one go and it's like... WOAH!).
As for Higher English, supposedly it is hard, I've been finding it alright so far. You can give a bit of thought to some books you might like to do for your personal study- read around, take some notes etc.- but there's no need to actually pick it just yet.
As for reading a newspaper everyday, if you happen to be taking MS as well, it'll probably come in handy, but tbh, I just read the Guardian Online now and again and I'm doing fine!

Reply 2

ImperceptibleNinja

Newspapers: Yes, it will do you good to develop a habit of reading articles and thinking about their content and presentation, but you probably don't have to do it daily. In the exam, there's a close reading [or there was a few years ago...], which basically consisted of a load of questions on an article from a newspaper or similar source. There were three ways in which you could get marks [understanding, analysis and evaluation], and the questions on the text had letters in the margin telling you which aspect they were looking at. I can't remember if there are always two texts to compare, or if you sometimes only get one.

If you want an example of a paper paper, there's one here, but try to save some stuff as revision.

There are three little test-things that you have to pass in order to sit the exam in May, and you'll probably be required by your school to do reasonably well in your prelim, probably in February or thereabouts. One of these is a critical analysis, one is a close reading, and the other is writing a timed essay on a book of your choice [I think. It's a few years since I did all this]. In the exam, you'll write two essays on texts you'll study in class. You take a same approach to the personal study, but set the 'question' yourself, and explore what you;re interested in. When I did it, we got to take a sheet of A4 with a plan on, and had about 50 minutes or so to write it all. Read a few books and try to find one which has lots you can say about it. I did Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, and there's SO MUCH in that book, it's amazing. I was struggling to cut down everything I wanted to say so that I could write it in time.

In terms of resits, you only get one go at the exam in May, and you have to redo the whole thing - i.e. spend another year studying Higher English - if you want to resit. The exam counts for everythign, I think.

That makes it sound quite big and scary. I found Higher English quite a challenge... I alwasy found time constraints very frustrating, and had too much to say. It took a lot of work, but by practicing essays and getting familiar with analysing texts, it's not too bad.

What other subjects are you planning on doing?

I'm sorry if anything I've said is out-of-date.

Reply 3

Meteorshower

What ImperceptibleNinja has said is right, apart from there are four "nabs" (something you have to pass to sit the exam) and the other one is writing something yourself, either a short story or a report or anything really.

Reply 4

ImperceptibleNinja

Meteorshower

>.< I can't believe I forgot that was what they were called. d'oh :rolleyes:

Reply 5

Meteorshower

ImperceptibleNinja

>.< I can't believe I forgot that was what they were called. d'oh :rolleyes:

Been living in a mathematical bubble? :p:

Reply 6

ImperceptibleNinja

Meteorshower

Been living in a mathematical bubble? :p:

Yup, more or less. It's all a bit semigroup-tastic just now =] How're things going?

Reply 7

Meteorshower

ImperceptibleNinja

Yup, more or less. It's all a bit semigroup-tastic just now =] How're things going?

Really good, got started on all the new-fangled AH maths and applied maths etc and it's a lot more interesting than higher :biggrin:

It all makes sense quicker too which feels good!

How about you, all things good and well in St Andrews? (or are you not there at the moment, meh, either way XD)

Reply 8

ImperceptibleNinja

Meteorshower

Really good, got started on all the new-fangled AH maths and applied maths etc and it's a lot more interesting than higher :biggrin:

It all makes sense quicker too which feels good!

How about you, all things good and well in St Andrews? (or are you not there at the moment, meh, either way XD)

Glad to hear the AH Maths is going well! Things in St A's are good - a lot of students are away, but there's a small sea of tourists waving golf clubs and ice creams about, so it's not too quiet. I'm here for another week or so, then I'm scooting off back home for a wee while. Currently on the last of 6 weeks of a summer school - it's great fun!