Tips for GCSE English Language and Literature?

Yeah.. i think it's because in one of the questions it asked me how the writer proved something and i started talking about the persuasive techniques.




Both, actually :/

Thanks for the reply i appreciate it so much. This really motivates me!

Oh ok if a question is asking you how did the author present this character? Then start off with a clear sentence that directly answers the question just to show the examiner you know what your talking about. Also use PEE to structure your writing
Point
Evidence
Explanation
for each paragraph.

As in you must be learning poems from an anthology.. What set of poems are you doing? I have a link to a student room forum that has really useful poetry pdf files

And this is why practice is so important - it's surprisingly easy to misunderstand the question and just throw all the marks without even realising it. As long as you know where it is that you're going wrong and how to improve, you should be fine.

If it's any reassurance, 90% of the country get only half the marks or less on the question about language features (according to last year's teacher). Aim to be getting at leat 10 marks (is it out of 16?) Consistently otherwise you're going to be demotivated because it's really hard to get more than 10.

You're welcome . It's nice to know the advice is helping.



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If you have a 'How does... etc.' question, it's asking for techniques: such as similes, metaphors or meter. The questions wants you to get a quote, tell the examiner what the technique is and how it creates an effect on the reader.

For example, if a question is, oh, 'How does J.B. Priestly present the Inspector in 'An Inspector Calls'?', then I could say something like:

Priestly presentation of the Inspector is mysterious, as described from his very name of 'Inspector Goole', where the latter is a pun on the noun 'ghoul', or a ghost, subtly suggesting that the Inspector is almost ethereal and otherworldly, casting an aura of mystery about his character for the audience, so intriguing them into the identity of such a man. Furthermore is the connotation of ghoul as relating to the dead, which links to Eva Smith, and the Inspector's great knowledge about the girl, where the girl is use as a plot device by Priestly to strengthen the intelligence of the Inspector. Sheila is greatly influenced by the Inspector, with herself declaring that she remembers how 'he made me [Sheila] feel', being the end of a tricolon crescens of 'how he spoke, how he looked, and [...]', to gather rhetorical impact and allow the Inspector's influence to reverberate through the audience despite his absence at the speaking of this by Sheila. Thus the Inspector is presented as almost an omniscient character by his influence on other characters and his very name.

Note that I've given a technique and how I've concluded the PEE chain directly linking to the question. This must always be done: link whatever you say directly to the question itself, using the very words of the question if need be. This demonstrates great focus and stops you rambling on about unnecessary points to the question as it forces you to consider what you're actually writing. Ever since I began doing this the quality of what I've written has become more ordered and structured and I've cut out excess. I greatly prefer my style. Though, be careful of having a repeating structure, always ending in the same way, so vary how it is written, but always try to do so.