How to answer an exam paper

1. GCSE Drama How to answer an exam paper

2. Make sure you take the correct texts / notes into the exam with you Read ALL of the exam paper before preparing your answer Know how many questions you need to answer Know how many marks each question gives and divide your time accordingly Reading the Question

3. Read the questions carefully, more than once Select the ones you need to answer and underline key words Indentify what the question wants you to do e.g. discuss, explain, compare Reading the Question

4. (a) Selected scene: Act One. From: Near the start of the play. Parris is beside Betty’s bed. ‘He is bending to kneel again when his niece, Abigail Williams, seventeen, enters – a strikingly beautiful girl, an orphan, with an endless capacity for dissembling.’ To: ‘ABIGAIL: She hates me, uncle, she must, for I would not be her slave. It’s a bitter woman, a lying, cold, snivelling woman, and I will not work for such a woman!’ Discuss, in detail, how you would playeitherParris or Abigail in the selected scene. You will need to refer to voice, movement, gesture and facial expression, as well as to how your chosen character responds to others on stage. example

5. Spend time planning the structure of your answer Identify all of the points you wish to cover in the form of a list, spider diagram, mind map or flow chart Place these points into a logical order Consider a conclusion Preparing your answer

6. Discuss, in detail, how you would play either Parris or Abigail in the selected scene. You will need to refer to voice, movement, gesture and facial expression, as well as to how your chosen character responds to others on stage. Example Stressed voice Defiant High pitched Emphasis on the word ‘Not’ Voice Parris’ Niece Angry with having to serve Goody Putnam Led other girls into witchcraft Pacing Close proxemics to Parris when making points Response to Characters Movement Abigail Gesture Facial Expression Scowling Narrow eyes Gritted Teeth Arms open, ‘Why?’ Aggressive Pointing

7. Capital Letters Full Stops Paragraphs Connectives Punctuation Spelling Structure Quotations and examples Providing explanations for your answers Writing a conclusion Writing your answer

8. Capital letters are used for the following • Names of days, months and special days e.g. Christmas • Names of people, places and countries • Names of rivers, oceans and mountains • Titles e.g. Mr, Mrs, Dr, Sir, Captain • Main words in a book or film title e.g. The Lord of the Rings • Languages, nationality and school subjects • At the beginning of a sentence • When we refer to ourselves ( i = I ) • At the beginning of a quote Capital letters and full stops

9. Full stops are used to mark the end of a sentence except when you ask a direct question (?) or making an exclamation (!) Sentences should make complete sense, start with a capital letter and end with a full stop Capital letters and full stops

10. Divide the words below into FOUR sentences by adding capital letters and full stops • abigail would be very aggressive at the beginning of act 1 this is because she defends her reputation as a decent person to parris he caught her dancing in the woods with some girls from salem in performance i would do this by pacing up and down the room and avoiding eye contact Example

11. Divide the words below into FOUR sentences by adding capital letters and full stops • Abigail would be very aggressive at the beginning of Act 1. This is because she defends her reputation as a decent person to Parris. He caught her dancing in the woods with some girls from Salem. In performance I would do this by pacing up and down the room and avoiding eye contact. Example

12. Paragraphs split the text into manageable sections • A new paragraphs can show changes in the following; • Focus • Time • Dialogue • Speaker Paragraphs Change of time Change of place TiPToP Change of person Change of topic

13. When writing to explain, analyse or discuss use the ‘PEE’ structure • Point • What do you want to say? / What is the main idea? • Evidence • “Quotation” or reference from the text • Explain • What does the evidence mean / show / suggest? Paragraphs

14. As a performer I would play the part of Abigail in a hostile and rebellious manner. Stage directions such as, “Abigail: (with an edge of resentment)” suggests that she has little respect for Parris. She shows anger towards Goody Proctor by suggesting that she treats servants like slaves, “Abigail: They want slaves, not such as I.” Abigail would be very aggressive at the beginning of Act 1. This is because she defends her reputation as a decent person to Parris. He caught her dancing in the woods with some girls from Salem. In performance I would do this by pacing up and down the room and avoiding eye contact. Example

15. These are words or phases which connect ideas between clauses, sentences and paragraphs They help to organise writing and make it clear Examples can be found in page 96 of pupil planners Connectives

16. and also next finally especially equally because therefore Examples Use all of the following connections in a conversation with a partner • hence • however • although • except • for example • whereas • alternatively

17. Apostrophe To indicate possession or contractions Brackets To add additional information or explanations Colon Before a list, summary or quote Comma Between a list of three or more words, before a conjunction or to give additional information Exclamation mark To complete an exclamation sentence Hyphen Used with some prefixes and suffixes or to form compound words Question mark To complete a question sentence Quotations To show direct speech Semi-colon To link two sentences that are closely related or in a list that already contains commas Punctuation ’ ( ) : , ! - ? “” ;

18. http://www.correctpunctuation.co.uk/punctuation-terminatingmarks.htmhttp://www.correctpunctuation.co.uk/punctuation-terminatingmarks.htm Punctuation

19. Leave time to check your essay Ensure that quotes are accurate Ensure that Drama terminology is spelt correctly Spelling

20. Refer back to your planning (e.g. Spider diagram, list, etc.) and number points in logical order (e.g. Chronological, importance, etc.) Work out how much time you can spend writing about each point you make Include a short introduction to explain the question and how you intend to answer it Use a paragraph for each point you make For each point you make include a quotation or some form of evidence and link it back to the question Leave time to include a conclusion which should sum up your essay and provide and answer to the question Structure

21. You must take a copy of the text into the exam with you Find the section of the play which you need to refer to and make a note of the page number(s) Use quotes as evidence and to back up the points you make Quotes that are less than three lines can be included in the sentence following a comma and placed in quotation marks Quotes that are more than three lines must be placed in a separate paragraph following a colon, placed within quotation marks and starting with a capital letter Quotation