National 5 English 2018/19

How is everyone getting on with their persausive/reflective essays?

we're getting our first drafts back of our persuasive essays this week actually
hows you're going

not well at all. i scraped my last one an i am struggling to produce a new one because of stress to be honest with you. I am not hadleing the stress well at all

Hope that your prelim went well?

yhh, about that...I thought i done ok, i guess. I got the results today actually and got 54%..I was aiming for at least 75% but what can you do now. im not going to worry too much about it and the worst part is telling my mum *sighs*.Anyways, thank you for asking. And from now on im going to work very hard to aim for an A in the actual exam,for all subjects that is. Well thats what my mum expects and im not ready for her dissapionted look either.

For one of your first exams, and in English specifically, 54% in a prelim is pretty good going! In subjects like maths they only give you questions on the parts of the course you've covered, whereas in English, your prelim typically contains the entire course, which you shouldn't expect yourself to know in the depth that you will in May. I don't know if I've explained that well, but by passing with a comfortable C in the prelim, you've got a solid foundation there, and English is known for being a subject where grades improve a lot between prelims and exams, as you use that time to learn the RUAE techniques and analyse your texts in much more depth.

More generally, prelims are all about learning, and seeing where you're at at this point in the year. The results you get in them don't determine or impact your final grades- what does that is what you do now to identify the areas you struggle with and work most on them.

Thanks a lot, that helped.

Hi, i was wondering if anyone has done Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde for their critical essay at nat 5 and if so what quotes and points did you make about them? My teacher has left all of our work we need to practice and learn until one week before the prelim to start

ive got my english and modern studies prelim on monday, any advice, tips?

My English Prelim is tommorrow and im not prepared for the RUAE or Sctish texts question paper but i have three critcal essays prepared on Jekyll and Hyde for Prose. My modern studies prelim is on thrusday and my teacher told me to focus on women and ethnic minorities in the Scotish Parlisment and ways Parties Campaign for votes.

Has anyone done the P&N 2019 Prelim, and if so, would you be willing to tell me what the RUAE was about?

It might not seem like it, but you're best not finding this out...It's up to you what you do, but you won't know in advance for the real exam, and for you to get the most out of your prelims in terms of being able to learn from them and get an idea of how you're doing, not knowing content is important.

Hope that the prelim goes well for you when you do it

What great advice, thanks for your help...

No problem, let us know how you get on

Rachel,

It is a bit late for detailed suggestions about revision. However some suggestions:-
a) Make sure you have a good understanding of your Set Text. It appears - since you are using J&H for your essay question - I take it you are not presenting it as your Set Text. You are not allowed to use the same text as a Set Text as well as an essay text.
b) Obviously I would prefer you thoroughly know your text but if you can focus on WHY you feel this about the text it might gain your marks. Effectively focusing on Evaluation rather than alanlysis - although preferably both.
c) Try not to run round or avoid the question. Even if your argument is weak endevour to always address the question.
d) In RUAE you ought to pick up the U questions: the what is happening questions. With regard to A focus on the language. What do the words mean and what do they suggest? What does the expression mean and - if possible - why has the writer used that expression. This approach will not work all the time, but you might pick up some marks.
r) In the E questions - how has the authors writing affected you as the reader - again focus on thelanguage and the words used and what they mean and suggest. Since the E questions are about how you feel about this quote try to make a response on what you feel.

This is not an approach for top marks, but it might assist in staving off disaster. In RUAE answer first the questions you feel you can answer leaving the others to come back to later. Hopefully that will not be all of them.

Lastly take a deep breath when you open the question paper and don't give in to the urge to make an immediate dash for the Loo.

Good Luck.