The Student Room Group

9's at GCSE English - AMA + Advice

Hi, I received two 9's at GCSE for both English Lit and Lang (Englishes? English's? whatever) I've been around TSR recently giving advice for what I did and I surprisingly received a lot more questions than I expected.

As a result, I'll be adding my tips and tricks that helped me through GCSE English and will be happy to answer any questions :smile:

Inspector Calls:

Spoiler


Macbeth (or any Shakespeare play)

Spoiler



Poems:

Spoiler


NOTE: EXAMPLE OF MY NOTES ARE ON PAGE 2 AND 3 OF THIS THREAD

Whilst I appreciate that some of you may need help on a specific character, theme, etc, I wont be posting any other note requests on here just because
a) Takes too much time
b) I'm doing this voluntarily to help give an example of what you could be doing for your OWN revision, not giving the answers away to someone who has a class test tomorrw, it's not fair. I'm hoping my examples clear up questions some of you may have :smile:

Hope this helps!

EDIT: @adamantacademic was nice enough to condense this thread into a snazzy powerpoint, check it out if you just want a quick summary :tongue::wink::biggrin:
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5317336&p=77228676#post77228676

ANOTHER ANNOUNCEMENT [02/05/18]: To those of you who have exams coming up, good luck! I know it may seem overwhelming but the hardest part about revising for a subject is starting it! Just do your best to jump right in and dont be too hard on yourself, take breaks, care about your mental health and just do as well as you can :smile:
(edited 5 years ago)

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How exactly do you manage to get the paper done in time, especially the eng lit paper which has unseen poetry in it? I would get much better grades if I wasn’t so slow at finishing each question, but I am and therefore my work is rushed and unfinished. Thank you for the help
Can you please pass me your notes for English? In return I can offer Maths help where I can.
[if you did] how did you analyse writer’s intentions?
Well done :tongue: those are amazing and good luck with a-levels:wink:
Original post by NotYourAuntCarol
How exactly do you manage to get the paper done in time, especially the eng lit paper which has unseen poetry in it? I would get much better grades if I wasn’t so slow at finishing each question, but I am and therefore my work is rushed and unfinished. Thank you for the help


the key is not only practise, but a good concise plan. Before you even start your essay you should make a rough 5min summary of what you're going to write. When writing your essay you need to make sure every sentence you write also has value to answering the question. By making sure you stick to PEEL and not waffle, you should find that you're quicker. Remember, quality is much better than quantity.

Use the timings recommended by your teachers, and remember that for every sentence you write, think to yourself, 'how is this relevant?'
Original post by thekidwhogames
Can you please pass me your notes for English? In return I can offer Maths help where I can.


I'm currently looking for my notes at the moment, I'll post what I can find -some of them has been given to my old teacher for her class, stay tuned and I'll hopeefully has some pics up soon :smile:
Original post by Toastiekid
[if you did] how did you analyse writer’s intentions?
Well done :tongue: those are amazing and good luck with a-levels:wink:


I'm not quite sure what that is but if you mean you have to include why the writer wrote what they did I'd say start sentences like
'Heaney's use of x has been included to create y' and just refer to the writer?

I didnt do writers intentions so it may not be the best advice but if you explain what it is I may be able to help further :smile:
Original post by CinnamonSmol
I'm currently looking for my notes at the moment, I'll post what I can find -some of them has been given to my old teacher for her class, stay tuned and I'll hopeefully has some pics up soon :smile:


Ah - thanks!!
Original post by CinnamonSmol
I'm not quite sure what that is but if you mean you have to include why the writer wrote what they did I'd say start sentences like
'Heaney's use of x has been included to create y' and just refer to the writer?

I didnt do writers intentions so it may not be the best advice but if you explain what it is I may be able to help further :smile:


Nah I’m not 100% sure what it is either...my teacher always tells us to use it though!:biggrin:
Which a-levels are you doing?
Original post by thekidwhogames
Ah - thanks!!


Update: found my notes but the lighting is awful where I am so I'll post them tomorrow :smile:
Original post by Toastiekid
Nah I’m not 100% sure what it is either...my teacher always tells us to use it though!:biggrin:
Which a-levels are you doing?

Oh right :redface: Im guessing its just referring to the writer here and there just bc why not

Im doing English Literature and Language (combined course because I couldn't decide oops)
History (ew)
Graphic Design
and EPQ :smile:
Original post by CinnamonSmol
Oh right :redface: Im guessing its just referring to the writer here and there just bc why not

Im doing English Literature and Language (combined course because I couldn't decide oops)
History (ew)
Graphic Design
and EPQ :smile:


oooh they sound interesting:tongue:
Have you got any good book recommendations? I just finished my current read:frown:
Original post by Kuchan
I was wondering if you use any structure for writing up the essays. Also could you do a post on how you revised for the poetry comparison, unseen poetry and the other books you have done . (I'm doing An inspector calls, Macbeth and Sign of four).


I'll be posting my notes tomorrow and will probably write up a better explanation but for Macbeth 40 markers I usually
-write a 5x5 plan. This is basically where you have 5 paragraphs, each with 5 PEELs (Point, Quote, Explain it and then link it w a sentence)

Poetry: (again, I'll post notes tomorrow)
STILTS+C Format

Subject -what poem is about
Theme- what themes does it have, death? love? grief?
Imagery- metaphors, similies, figurative language used to set the scene
Language-use of words used by the poet to create certain things
Tone -Elegaic? Happy? How does the Poet sound?
Structure- Use of enjambement, how many stanzas, blank verse? Iambic pentameter? etc
+
Context: who poet is and what prompted them to write the poem (probably better to write this first)

Imagery, Language and Structure should be your main focuses as they pick up the most marks
Where do you come up with ideas about imaginative writing? For my exam board (Edexcel) both language papers have 40 mark questions at the end based on this and i can never think of anything!
Original post by Toastiekid
oooh they sound interesting:tongue:
Have you got any good book recommendations? I just finished my current read:frown:


I'm studying The Handmaid's Tale and I honestly love it, whilst it's hard to understand at first, the concept behind it is great. That and 1984 are good reads!

What are you planning to take at A-levels? (if youre doing them) and hows gcses at the moment?
Thats amazing!Please send me some of your notes as English is my worst subject since I'm predicted an 8.
Original post by diamondionysx
Where do you come up with ideas about imaginative writing? For my exam board (Edexcel) both language papers have 40 mark questions at the end based on this and i can never think of anything!


this is the one question I was hoping someone would ask :smile: Go on writing prompt websites and also read funny tumblr posts to give you ideas

for me, my story was about a man who was sexually attracted to a vase only to find a crack in it who then went through the 5 stages of grief. I found inspo from tumblr and honestly, just write something original or obscure, itll be fun to write but also for the examiner to read
Original post by Jman10101
Thats amazing!Please send me some of your notes as English is my worst subject since I'm predicted an 8.


I'll be posting them tomorrow
Original post by CinnamonSmol
I'm studying The Handmaid's Tale and I honestly love it, whilst it's hard to understand at first, the concept behind it is great. That and 1984 are good reads!

What are you planning to take at A-levels? (if youre doing them) and hows gcses at the moment?


Oooh yeah 1984 is great! I actually read both of them over the summer and yeah the hand maids tale had me very confused:biggrin: I might read it again though:tongue:
For a-levels I’m thinking of doing maths, fm, physics:wink: though my English teacher does keep trying to get me to do English:colondollar:
GCSEs are going okay, I had my English lit mock today which was pretty...lit:h:
Original post by CinnamonSmol
Hi, I received two 9's at GCSE for both English Lit and Lang (Englishes? English's? whatever) I've been around TSR recently giving advice for what I did and I surprisingly received a lot more questions than I expected.

As a result, I'll be adding my tips and tricks that helped me through GCSE English and will be happy to answer any questions :smile:

Inspector Calls:

Spoiler



(still more to come)


I need your advice please. I did lit paper 1 and I nearly got a 7 but during the exam I was ill and in intense back pain so I took 15 minutes off which I could have used to write another paragraph but I was too ill. I wrote about 4 quotes for each section (romeo & juliet and a christmas carol). I have a similar system to you and I did include context and themes so where did I go wrong. I even linked. Do i need more quotes or?

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