Mrs Rowlands’ Rad Revision Guide

Before you start your exam... • Read the questions... THEN read the sources

• Remember to take your quotations from the START, MIDDLE and END of the sources

• Use a highlighter!

• How many marks is the question worth – this will affect how much you write.

EG – a 12 mark question needs 3xPEEDs

Reading tips • READ the question

• Decide what it is you need to address – what is the anchor word of the question?

• What should you focus on for top marks?

• Plan your timings

Question 1/1a: 4 marks • You’re being asked to LIST four things you learn

Remember:

ONE clear answer per lineUse full sentences Don’t repeat yourself Focus on the key information in the article

Answering a ‘what’ question In these questions you’re being asked to interpret information from the sources

You need to DEMONSTRATE you understand the message of the text and can choose relevant quotes to support your answer

When explaining your quote you need to do two things: EXPLAIN the quote in your own words and EXPLAIN how it supports your points (you could write ‘this shows that.....’)

‘explain what you learn about...’

• This means you need to read the article for its information – what evidence can you find that is SPECIFICALLY about the topic in the question?

• If you don’t answer the question being asked you will not gain any marks... Even if it’s a detailed answer!

Writing about language • TAP the text: text type, audience, purpose

• ALWAYS think about the purpose – is there more than one? Why has it been written?

EG - a magazine article might have been written to inform/explain... But it’s also been written to entertain

• What language techniques have been used? Where do they appear in the text? How are they used to have an effect? THINK: pun, alliteration, RQ, triplet, emotive language, punctuation for effect. Is the headline ‘alarmist’? DO NOT write ‘it draws the reader in’ – HOW does it interest the reader?

• Remember to include evidence from THROUGHOUT the article. Think about WHY the writer chose the language they have (authorial intent)

• DO NOT write about presentational features like pictures or font size

Writing about presentational features • This means how the source LOOKS

• You could write about: Pictures, captions, boxed text, font size, colour

• Before writing, you need to decide which presentational feature is most VISUALLY DOMINANT (catches your eye the most)

• How does the visually dominant device ENHANCE THE MEANING of the text? (Refer to the TAP)

• When talking about images think about DENOTATION (what a picture actually SHOWS) and CONNOTATION (what you can ASSOCIATE a picture with)

Comparing presentational features

• When you compare you need to look at SIMILARITIES and DIFFERENCES

• Make sure you EVALUATE which one makes more effective use of presentational features and why

The writing section – make sure you PLAN both questions! Your 5 planning steps!

1. TAP the question.

2. Ideas – Mindmap/Brainstorm/Bullet point

3. Order your ideas.

4. Remind yourself of devices - what you include will depend on the PURPOSE and TEXT TYPE

5. Think about what you are going to include in your opening .

Focus on the TEXT TYPE you’re being asked to create – how can you include specific features?

Text Type Specific features

Letter Remember the structural features: If it’s a formal letter to someone you don’t know it should start ‘Dear Sir/Madam and end Yours FAITHFULLY. If you know the person it should end ‘yours sincerely’

BlogWritten in 1st person ‘Online article’ Often informal – are a person’s opinion

Leaflet Lots of structural features – bullet points, subheading, sections, quotations

Webpage Makes reference to links you can click on Links are ‘subheadings’

Speech Some form of address – use of personal pronoun – us/we/together Directive statement at the end

Article (Newspaper or magazine)

Headline, subheading, punchy opening paragraph

Writing to persuade A – alliteration/anecdotesF - factsO - opinionsR – repetition/ rhetorical questions E – emotive languageS - statisticsT – triplet (this can be three reasons in a sentence, or three adjectives)

Writing to argue – think about your TONE

A – alliteration/anecdotesF - factsO - opinionsR – repetition/ rhetorical questions E – emotive languageS - statisticsT – triplet (this can be three

reasons in a sentence, or three adjectives)

Counter-argument – you must include ONE section explaining the

OPPOSITE point of view... But ONLY so you

can explain why it is wrong

EG, ‘Although some people say school uniform is a

practical solution to expensive clothing

habits, they are wrong because.....’

Remember 3:1

Writing to advise I - Imperative verbs

M - modal verbs

P - personal pronoun

Remember to make sure your tone isn’t bossy or controlling – you’re trying to help someone out!

Writing to inform and explain

• I = I (Personal pronoun)• D = Detail• E = Emotive language• A = Alliteration

• Bullet Bonanza – but NO MORE than 2 – remember to introduce the BB with a SINGLE SENTENCE paragraph and a colon (:)

General writing tips

• The following pages are to help you with ALL of the writing section of the exam

• You should attempt to include as many of these tips in your writing as you can; this is IN ADDITION to the purpose-specific acronyms you need to use

• I = ‘ing’ words. (The ‘ing’ is called a gerund). This means using the present tense. Eg – panting

• S = simile. Eg – Like a bat out of Hell, I ran. • P = Preposition. This means place. Eg –

underneath the duvet, my heart pounding, I hid.

• A = adverb. Eg – Silently, I got to my feet• C = connective. Eg – Because the silence was so

eerie, I decided to investigate• E = ‘ed’ words. Adding this suffix turns a verb from

present to past tense. Eg – Shouted out loud, my words were carried away in the wind.

Using ISPACE to start your sentences

Upcycle your language

• Make as much use of noun phrasing as you can - eg the long, dark road

• Upcycle your verbs – instead of saying walked or shouted, think of more interesting verbs like strolled or bellowed

Punctuation Punch

• Try to use as much interesting punctuation as you can... But only when it’s appropriate!

• You can use ; to join together two short sentences

• You can use : to introduce a list, or before bullet bonanza

SCS1• Use a range of sentence types:

Simple, short sentences

Compound sentences, joined with a connective

Complex sentences with subordinate clauses (extra info which could be in brackets –or dashes – like this)

1 word sentences (follow them up with a ! or?)

Discourse markers • These SHOW the examiner that you’ve set your

ideas out into cohesive paragraphs

• They should be used at the start of your paragraphs to denote (show) different ideas

EG: firstly, for a start, in addition, on top of all that

Paragraphing

• Although you will have planned your ideas using the 5-step plan, you need to remember when to start a new paragraph

TiPToPWhen changing the TIME you are talking about

When changing the PLACE you’re talking about

When changing the TOPIC you’re talking about

When changing the PERSON you’re talking about

But don’t forget you can also use SINGLE SENTENCE

PARAGRAPHS for effect, when you have a particularly emotive

or important sentence