How to…pass your English exam in style

1. How to…pass your English exam in style Pay close attention – this is all about what is right, and what is so so wrong!

2. Studying for an exam • This may seem a little obvious, but it is far better to spend your study time on the things that really freak you out. It is easy to spend time on what you already know…and it makes you feel a lot better! But if you already know it, then there’s no reason to go over and over and over it. • Write down what you feel are your biggest weaknesses when it comes to exams. These are the things you should be focusing your study time on.

3. So…when it comes to crunch time… • You must know what is expected from you in an exam. The marking schedule on the front of your paper tells you exactly what the examiner is looking for and what they are marking you against.

4. Extended Text – ‘Angela’s Ashes’The good things… • Many of your ideas and explanations were impressive. • Most of you show a clear understanding of the text, and can speak in detail about it. • You know how to write an essay and clearly structure it using paragraphs. • Many of you offer insightful personal responses.

5. The things we need to work on… • Using specific examples from the text. • Detail, detail, detail! • Underlining the title of the text. • Using a wider vocabulary to make our writing stronger and more convincing. • SPELLING! • Structure…writing can get a little waffly and off the topic.

6. Answering the question! • Using key words from the question in our answers to stay on track. • Not saying ‘book’ EVER! Instead of this, use words like ‘novel’, ‘text’, ‘autobiographical account’… • Choosing the question that best fits the text (this is a tricky one!) • Developing our introductions and conclusions to mean something, to convince, to really outline our ideas and views…

7. But the BIGGEST thing to be aware of is… • When writing essays at Level 2, there is ONE word that separates the marking schedule from Level 1. This ONE word is what the marker will be looking for in your essay. • This ONE word can be confusing and frustrating, especially when you do not know what it means or what you have to do about it. This is why you may not have achieved in your recent essay.

8. So what is the ONE word? • Analyse

9. What does it mean? • To analyse something means to examine it in detail in order to discover its meaning or essential features.

10. This is different from ‘discuss’ because: • To discuss something means to exchange opinions about something, to consider it by talking it over. To investigate by reasoning or argument.

11. So the difference between ‘discuss’ (Level 1) and ‘analyse’ (Level 2) is: • Detail • Specifics • Digging for the deeper meanings • Really pulling the text apart to examine it • Having well thought out, logical and convincing ideas that have come from what the text is really trying to tell us.

12. What is the MUDDIEST POINT?

13. Looking at the questions…some ideas on how to approach them: • Analyse how ONE or MORE minor character(s) helped you understand a main character. • Good characters to choose: Malachy Snr, Angela, Frank’s brothers (again be specific, name them, give examples…), Frank’s school friends, Aunt Aggie, Grandma…

14. What should you talk about? • Always go back to the question you are answering. HOW did these minor characters help you understand a main character? • E.g. The character of Malachy Senior helped me to understand Frank in the text. Due to Malachy’s drinking problems, Frank was forced to take over caring for the family. He became the man of the house and felt responsible for the well being of his brothers and mother. This feeling of obligation is illustrated many times throughout the text through the desperate measures Frank will go to to provide for his family. An example of this is when his mother Angela becomes ill with fever. Frank must care for her as well as his many brothers. He is so desperate to look after them that he resorts to stealing bread, milk and lemonade. Malachy was responsible for the state of his family, however, this responsibility was thrust onto Frank because of Malachy’s own inability to provide for his family. It is through the minor character of Malachy Senior that I understand Frank’s burning desire to want more for himself and for his family, and his ultimate decision to move to America ‘The land of opportunity’.

15. Analyse how an important setting was made realistic or believable. • It is not enough to just talk about a setting. You must answer BOTH parts of the question. • ‘Anglea’s Ashes’ is set chiefly in Limerick, Ireland in the 1930s and 1940s. An important social setting in the text is poverty. This was made realistic through the description of the poverty that not only the McCourt family faced, but many other families in Limerick also faced during that time. Many Limerick people suffered almost starvation level poverty. Jobs were hard to find and the dole of 19 shillings a week was “just enough for all of us to starve on”. Malachy’s alcholism meant that Frank’s family was one of the worse off in Limerick although there were more shocking cases: Paddy Clohessy’s family for instance. The description of the horrific poverty that was endured by the McCourt’s and the many other families in their lane was made realistic through detail, and the cold hard reality of the poverty that was their day-to-day lives.

16. The poverty manifested itself in many ways: there was no electricity in the houses, cooking was done on the fire, the lavatory was outside and shared by the whole lane. The houses were damp – the McCourt’s Roden Lane house flooded every winter and they were forced to live upstairs in ‘Italy’ – and death and disease were rampant. McCourt sets ‘Angela’s Ashes’ in this crippling poverty, and it is through the detail of how poverty impacted on day-to-day life that poverty as a social setting is made realistic…blah blah blah…

17. Had enough?! One more… • Perhaps the best question to choose to answer in the 2006 exam paper was: • Analyse how your text managed to be both entertaining AND thought-provoking. • This question is IDEAL for ‘Angela’s Ashes’ as you can focus on the stylistic qualities of the text.

18. For example… Angela’s Ashes is entertaining because: • It is narrated from child’s eye point of view • The irony which arises from the young Frank’s innocence • Caricaturing of minor characters to poke fun at the ‘Irishness’ of the community: their colourful speech and lack of logic. • Lively direct speech • Vivid use of language (similes and metaphors) • Comic story telling method – often building up to a punchline • The use of letters, sermons, an essay and teacher’s lessons to add colour.

19. Angela’s Ashes is thought-provoking because… • Of the seriousness of the issues it raises: Poverty Alcoholism Prejudice/bigotry Death and disease Hope • It is an autobiography (this really happened) • It is political (Catholics vs. Protestants) • Setting – creates a record of ‘slum life at that time’ • Of the way it presents its characters/the way life is viewed through Frank’s eyes • It is something that we can all empathise with and to some extent relate to.

20. Okay okay…moving on… Unfamiliar Texts • How did it go? • What did you think? • What was good and what was bad?

21. You said… • The questions were strange and didn’t always make sense! • You didn’t have enough time! • Sometimes you didn’t know HOW to go into more depth! • What does ‘effective’ mean? How can something be ‘effective’?! • You need to know your glossary terms!

22. Visual texts are hard! • So are the poems! • How do I ‘develop’ ideas? …but generally you all felt okay about it all (I hope!)…you can be very proud of your efforts, especially considering we have hardly covered unfamiliar texts this year!

23. What you need to get for each level:

24. So what do we need to work on? • Knowing terms, techniques and definitions for ALL texts (esp. visual!) • Using SPECIFIC examples from the text to back up what you’re saying. • Reading the question carefully and taking note of bolded sections!

25. Carefully looking at what the question is actually asking you to do. • Developing your answers more to say what you really mean! Expand…explain …give more examples. I’m sure you know what you’re saying, but that doesn’t mean the marker does! • Don’t repeat yourself unnecessarily…come up with new ideas.

26. Don’t define the term (e.g. ‘a metaphor is when you…), but show how it is relevant to the text. • Make sure you give yourself enough time to complete the paper…you shouldn’t have a problem with this at the end of the year. Most of you who didn’t achieve ran out of time to finish properly

27. Had enough? • Me too! Until the next mock exams….

28. A final thought… “Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our greatest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us”. • Coach Carter