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EDEXCEL English Literature and Language AS exam EXPLORING VOICES - 02/06/2015

My school run an accelerated programme whereby I am taking an AS qualification in English language & literature a year early, at the same time as my GCSE's. This means that I have had a year of teaching with minimal lessons (the same, if not less, as the number of GCSE lessons per subject) with no free periods. The majority of the year has been spent doing coursework, but little has been focused on the actual exam, which is 60%. Consequently, I have no real idea what I am doing and am desperate for help, particularly as the course itself is not a popular one.

The selected text of my school is 'Address Unknown' by Kressman Taylor.

I was wondering if anybody else is taking the same exam, and if so, has any tips on answering the essay questions. Predictions or areas to focus on would also be greatly appreciated, as I have 12 GCSE exams to revise for in addition, taking place in the 3 weeks after half term.

Thanks & good luck!!
Original post by laurynanderson
My school run an accelerated programme whereby I am taking an AS qualification in English language & literature a year early, at the same time as my GCSE's. This means that I have had a year of teaching with minimal lessons (the same, if not less, as the number of GCSE lessons per subject) with no free periods. The majority of the year has been spent doing coursework, but little has been focused on the actual exam, which is 60%. Consequently, I have no real idea what I am doing and am desperate for help, particularly as the course itself is not a popular one.

The selected text of my school is 'Address Unknown' by Kressman Taylor.

I was wondering if anybody else is taking the same exam, and if so, has any tips on answering the essay questions. Predictions or areas to focus on would also be greatly appreciated, as I have 12 GCSE exams to revise for in addition, taking place in the 3 weeks after half term.

Thanks & good luck!!


I'm also doing this exam, as you said, it's not very popular! I'm doing the Bloody Chamber. For the language side of it, I use the book which basically has all the information you need. As the Lit is counts as much as Lang spend the same for both parts.

What topic did you choose for unit 2?
Original post by Omni Vanitas
I'm also doing this exam, as you said, it's not very popular! I'm doing the Bloody Chamber. For the language side of it, I use the book which basically has all the information you need. As the Lit is counts as much as Lang spend the same for both parts.

What topic did you choose for unit 2?


I have the textbook but personally dislike it, though have created some vague revision notes for each form of transcript.

Our school chose 'Women's lives'. For my coursework piece intended for a listening audience I wrote 5 poems, and for the piece intended for a reading audience I wrote a short story on a female explorer grasping with the philosophy of transcendentalism. Coursework is no problem (I got 80/80) but I'm fearing the exam will drag my grade down!
Original post by laurynanderson
I have the textbook but personally dislike it, though have created some vague revision notes for each form of transcript.

Our school chose 'Women's lives'. For my coursework piece intended for a listening audience I wrote 5 poems, and for the piece intended for a reading audience I wrote a short story on a female explorer grasping with the philosophy of transcendentalism. Coursework is no problem (I got 80/80) but I'm fearing the exam will drag my grade down!


The text book is horribleee but it has all the necessary information, so i just study from there :P As for coursework, well done! I'm also scared that the exam will bring down my grade, but you should have no problem with it (getting full marks on cwk aint easy :P)
Original post by laurynanderson
My school run an accelerated programme whereby I am taking an AS qualification in English language & literature a year early, at the same time as my GCSE's. This means that I have had a year of teaching with minimal lessons (the same, if not less, as the number of GCSE lessons per subject) with no free periods. The majority of the year has been spent doing coursework, but little has been focused on the actual exam, which is 60%. Consequently, I have no real idea what I am doing and am desperate for help, particularly as the course itself is not a popular one.

The selected text of my school is 'Address Unknown' by Kressman Taylor.

I was wondering if anybody else is taking the same exam, and if so, has any tips on answering the essay questions. Predictions or areas to focus on would also be greatly appreciated, as I have 12 GCSE exams to revise for in addition, taking place in the 3 weeks after half term.

Thanks & good luck!!


hi I'm also doing the same exam. did you want advice for the address unknown question or the spoken language section (section a), I'd be happy to help !!!!
Original post by sherlock16638
hi I'm also doing the same exam. did you want advice for the address unknown question or the spoken language section (section a), I'd be happy to help !!!!


Both, if possible please! Thank you ever so much!!!

Firstly, how do you structure an Address Unknown question? Is there a key way to answer the question, or should I structure it as:

1.

A paragraph on the structure within the given extract

2.

A paragraph on the language within the given extract

3.

A paragraph on the linguistic devices within the given extract

4.

Paragraphs on themes, voice and changing purposes of devices as a comparison to the wider novella with regards to the second bullet point?


-I get the general idea, but structuring the answer is beneath me. We have not had a single lesson on exam prep!

In terms of the spoken language section, my plan is to answer part B in this structure:

1.

Intro: Brief evaluation of context, purpose, receiver and mode of transcript B and C.

2.

Paragraph on the purposes of text B and C: Make links between form and function, discuss contextual factors affecting production.

3.

Paragraph on vocab/lexis in tect B and C: Look at level of lexis frequency and how this affects the level of formality/register, and whether its appropriate for the purpose and readership. Look at semantic fields and consider the effect on style/register. Explore spoken language features and explain their function using the context.

4.

Paragraph on non-fluency features/grammar in text B and C: Use exemplification and explanation based on CPR, and explain why non-standard grammar has been used if so and why/why not based on CPR.

5.

No conclusion.



Is this the correct structuring? Thanks for the help!
Original post by laurynanderson
Both, if possible please! Thank you ever so much!!!

Firstly, how do you structure an Address Unknown question? Is there a key way to answer the question, or should I structure it as:

1.

A paragraph on the structure within the given extract

2.

A paragraph on the language within the given extract

3.

A paragraph on the linguistic devices within the given extract

4.

Paragraphs on themes, voice and changing purposes of devices as a comparison to the wider novella with regards to the second bullet point?

-I get the general idea, but structuring the answer is beneath me. We have not had a single lesson on exam prep!

In terms of the spoken language section, my plan is to answer part B in this structure:

1.

Intro: Brief evaluation of context, purpose, receiver and mode of transcript B and C.

2.

Paragraph on the purposes of text B and C: Make links between form and function, discuss contextual factors affecting production.

3.

Paragraph on vocab/lexis in tect B and C: Look at level of lexis frequency and how this affects the level of formality/register, and whether its appropriate for the purpose and readership. Look at semantic fields and consider the effect on style/register. Explore spoken language features and explain their function using the context.

4.

Paragraph on non-fluency features/grammar in text B and C: Use exemplification and explanation based on CPR, and explain why non-standard grammar has been used if so and why/why not based on CPR.

5.

No conclusion.

Is this the correct structuring? Thanks for the help!


For address unknown, what you're doing sounds correct and you could definitely get full marks that way but personally I would tackle it differently.
I usually do a paragraph on the given extract (sometimes split it if it's really long) exploring the literary and linguistic features and a brief mention of the letter headers/greetings/signing off. I think the crucial thing is to link it back to the question and make sure you're concentrating on the theme.
I then do a paragraph on letters in the rest of the novel (personally I would only do 2 maximum as it can get quite confusing otherwise and you can easily get enough from just 2) and again make sure that I'm answering the question.
The way you're doing it is perfectly fine I just prefer to do it in a less structured way (if that makes any sense) as otherwise I feel like I'm over-complicating it when it isn't necessary to split it up so much, as long as you cover a range of features (I usually aim for at least 6 quotes in the first paragraph and at least 4 in the second section and try to extend my explanations to get more marks).

For section A (again this is just my opinion and how I have always done it and managed to get A's with), I would do a paragraph on text B covering the first bullet point by explaining the Form, Audience and Purpose (just remember F.A.P) and incorporate context and genre into those elements (which will happen anyway if you cover F.A.P), and find 2/3 quotes for each as evidence of the text's Form, Audience and Purpose being individual to that type of text. (e.g- if the text was a newspaper article then you could pick out formal language which is often used in newspaper articles, or if the audience of a text were football supporters then you would pick out words associated with the semantic field of football which the audience would understand). This is the place where I would mention any literary/linguistic features rather than spontaneous speech features as I would save these for the second paragraph (that relate to the Form, Audience or Purpose).
I would then do a paragraph on text B including spontaneous speech features (usually around 5-6, obviously if you find more then do more or if you can't find that many then make sure your explanations are extended).
I would then repeat these steps for text C. It's definitely crucial to make sure that half your answer is covering the first bullet point (genre, context and purpose) and half the second bullet point (spontaneous speech features) as this is what the mark scheme looks like, with half the marks being given for each bullet point.
Your method sounds good and in-depth, but again I feel like it may be over-complicating it when a more simple structure can be used to get full marks. Obviously (as with both section A and B) if you prefer to break it down more to ensure that you cover everything then of course continue doing it your way, these are just the ways I have found work for me and that have got be good grades in mocks. There isn't really an exact way to do it so using the method you think works for you is your best bet!

I hope this helps (sorry for going on a bit; I'm not great at explaining things), if you have any more questions feel free to ask as I'm aware some of what i've said might not be that clear!!!!
Thanks!!! How did the exam go for you? I particularly liked Text B but I found text C challenging. In terms of address unknown, I found the question both a blessing and a curse - it was so broad! I wasn't sure if I was writing about the correct thing, but the question also let you write about something more specific - I wrote about the reverse in the relationship being shown by the shifting of the power balance for bullet point two. Hope your exam went well!
I literally felt exactly the same way, I thought that there wasn't much to write for text C which was frustrating, but at least text B was good. I also did the same thing for address unknown. I thought that the question was asking for a lot of information compared to the questions they usually ask, and I felt like I had to cover everything in detail otherwise the examiners might penalise for not fully answering the question which was challenging!!! otherwise I thought it was a pretty good exam, thanks for asking!! I guess it's hard to tell really as often examiners give more marks for points than you expected/ vice versa, I just hope I did enough!! good luck for August/with other exams (if you have any)!!!
I took this exam on the 2nd too! I think the exam wasn't too bad but my time management killed me. Text B was sweet but Text C I also thought was pretty dull and there wasn't much going for it, weird considering its was a travel diary but I thought it was really boring, so I suffered when analysing Text C, but atleast the email convo of Text B had a lot to dig into. I did the Color Purple, the extract they choose was really good, a greta question where you could pick out a lot of the themes and features of the book but unfortunately my timing was bad so I didn't have much time for it and I'm not sure if I focussed on the question enough or went off on to many tangents, just hope I did enough for atleats a B.
Reply 10
Original post by laurynanderson
I have the textbook but personally dislike it, though have created some vague revision notes for each form of transcript.

Our school chose 'Women's lives'. For my coursework piece intended for a listening audience I wrote 5 poems, and for the piece intended for a reading audience I wrote a short story on a female explorer grasping with the philosophy of transcendentalism. Coursework is no problem (I got 80/80) but I'm fearing the exam will drag my grade down!


How do you know that you have gotten 80/80? Are the coursework marks out or are you just quoting your unmoderated marks?
Reply 11
Did anybody write on Dubliners?

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