Higher English Exam 2011 Coming Up!!

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It is a hard one to judge, like some Close Reading papers I do far better on... I hate the ones which have loads of Analysis. I find the subject of the paper is never really an issue (got 39/50 on a paper on trains...), its the type of questions they ask.

Teach yourself there IS more than one correct answer, if you don't know a word, try to figure it out by the context it is used in.

Critical Essays are going to be difficult. There HAS to be questions for Macbeth and Color Purple... otherwise I'm done for.

Reply 81

EatMyShortsYum

I'm doing:

'Romeo and Juliet' - Play
'Brave New World' - Prose
'Follower'and 'Digging' by Seamus Heaney - Poetry

I've never got above a 21 in the essays, is it still possible to get an A?
Or what do you have to achieve to get 23 or 25?

Reply 82

SomethingWicked

Original post by EatMyShortsYum

As long as you get a high mark in the close reading you could get an A. I'm so glad there's a lot of marks to be gained in the close reading. I find them really easy, especially in comparison to the essays.

Reply 83

NaturalDisaster

Play-"A View from the Bridge"-Arthur Miller
Poems-"Spleen"-Charles Baudelaire (William Aggeler's translation)
"Home from Abroad"-Laurie Lee
"A Fairy Tale"-John Glenday
Prose Non-fiction-"I have a dream" Speech-Martin Luther King

Hoping for a good question involving obsession for A View from the Bridge, and one on depression or anguish for Spleen, those are my two best texts. I got 21/25 for both of my Prelim essays (Spleen and "I have a dream") and 34/50 for Close-reading, although I did a practice close reading a while back and got 46.5/50 so I was really surprised (and pleased) but I doubt I'll do as well in the final. As long as I get some practice in (and stop procrastinating!) I should hopefully get an A. Also got 25/25 for my last "View from the Bridge" essay so I'm optimistic about that, as long as I remember my quotes.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 84

INeedToLoseWeight

How much percent doctor think the folio will bring your grade up by roughly?

Reply 85

NaturalDisaster

Original post by EatMyShortsYum

Of course you can. If you get 21 in both of your essays you've got an A. :biggrin:

Provided you do well in the close-reading. How's your folio? That can boost your grade by a couple of marks (pathetic, isn't it? It would be nice if it was more)

Reply 86

NaturalDisaster

Original post by INeedToLoseWeight

How much percent doctor think the folio will bring your grade up by roughly?

2, maybe 3? That's what it did for me, anyway. Same with German speaking. Still, that can make the difference between a D and a C, so it's still good. :biggrin:

Reply 87

EatMyShortsYum

In Higher English, when asked to 'refer to the ideas and style' of a passage what should you discuss/analysis?

Reply 88

herewe

Texts we're doing are
Drama: "amadeus" By Peter Shaffer
Prose Non fiction: "A Hanging" By George Orwell
Poems: "out of the Blue" By simon Armitage and "Girl Reporter" by Philip Hobsbaum

For my prelim I got a 33/50 for the close reading, 17/25 Amadeus essay and a 15/25 OOTB essay, so a 65% overall.

anyone else doing any of these texts, especially Amadeus?

Reply 89

catmandoo

Tbh I'm not gd at explaining it but c if u get the marking scheme they split it into 2 sections so u should then be able to get some sort of idea what they are lookin for

Reply 90

SomethingWicked

We've done 4 poems, a novel, a short story, and a film.

One of the poems, box room, I really can't stand and trying to learn it seems to be wasting time at this point. Should I just forget about it and focus on the other three? (Which in themselves all cover a decent range of themes/topics)

Reply 91

INeedToLoseWeight

Original post by NaturalDisaster

2, maybe 3? That's what it did for me, anyway. Same with German speaking. Still, that can make the difference between a D and a C, so it's still good. :biggrin:

Yeah that's what i thought. I calculated that I brought my work from 65% to 68%, but my English teacher says it takes it to 72%. Not sure how it would tbh, when it's only worth 20%.

Also with German what? Assuming all language highers have the same structure how is that possible? My French speaking brings me up 25%.

Reply 92

TheUnbeliever

The ideas are what the text is trying to convey to you, the style is how this is being done. For example, the author might draw on religious imagery (style) to demonstrate how important they consider libraries to be (idea).

Reply 93

NaturalDisaster

Original post by INeedToLoseWeight

SERIOUSLY?!! Wow. Much jealousy there. I got 25/25 for my German speaking and it brought my total percentage from 83% to 87%. Still, my teacher says that would be an A1 :dance:

Reply 94

INeedToLoseWeight

Original post by NaturalDisaster

SERIOUSLY?!! Wow. Much jealousy there. I got 25/25 for my German speaking and it brought my total percentage from 83% to 87%. Still, my teacher says that would be an A1 :dance:

Actually, i just worked out what I got for the other papers minus the speaking, an it was 70%, but I got 77% in the prelim, so it only brought it up 7%, not 25% :colondollar:

Reply 95

NaturalDisaster

Original post by INeedToLoseWeight

Actually, i just worked out what I got for the other papers minus the speaking, an it was 70%, but I got 77% in the prelim, so it only brought it up 7%, not 25% :colondollar:

You lied to me...I am disappoint...

Reply 96

Martyna156

Original post by _Stephieee

I am in the exact same position with the regards to The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, and my teacher has only covered two texts with us so I have no option but to write about it. I'm already incredibly nervous about how much I'm going to have to try and 'fit' a question round the book :O

Yeah, I know : ( only two texts? thats not a lot... I've done a play, novel and 5 poems. what are you going to do if you won't even be able to 'fit' the question?

Reply 97

nic!

heyy!

im very worried about the exam which is on FRIDAY!
the texts im doing are

the almond tree by jon stallworthy
brooklyn cop by norman mccaig
lord of the flies by william golding and
all my sons by arthur miller

just wondering if anyone has any tips for me ? or any good quotes i could use for these texts.
im unsure on which quotes are best to memorize and how many roughly for each text.

:smile:

Reply 98

McWolf

So as far as the essays are concerned, I just need to revise a little bit more for them and keep practicing them. But the close reading... eww...

I've read through the whole grade booster book which has given me some good knowledge or clauses and stuff which I wasn't aware of before which I may be able to use in answers. But I just get soooo stressed when doing the close reading papers, and my concentration on them is pretty low.

I try reading the whole passage, and my concentration wanders and I don't really take it in and have to keep re-reading things before my mind actually listens. (I'm not even joking).

If I try to do the questions without reading the whole passage, it makes it even harder and more stressful because i have no idea what it's about or what I'm looking for, and then end up having to keep re-reading the questions!

Timing, I just get so bogged down on answers, and finding things when it asks for two examples or whatever, when I just can't find another one, or one that I can explain. How many minutes should I be spending reading each passage, and how much should I allocate to the various questions? I keep hearing "1 min per mark" but I seem to take 1.5 to 2 mins per mark most of the time!

Seriously... I attempted the 2010 paper before I had my tea tonight, and got to about the 3rd question before giving up. I just get so stressed with it and panic that I can't concentrate. I don't want to be swearing at the paper in the exam now do I? :P

So how can I have more concentration when doing close reading? The littlest of noises or distractions just put me off and stress me out. And how should I allocate my time?

Reply 99

_Stephieee

Original post by Martyna156

Yeah, I know : ( only two texts? thats not a lot... I've done a play, novel and 5 poems. what are you going to do if you won't even be able to 'fit' the question?