Transcript Slide 1
GCSE Drama
HOW TO ANSWER AN EXAM PAPER
READING THE QUESTION
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
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
EXAMPLE
(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 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.
PREPARING YOUR ANSWER
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
EXAMPLE
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.
Stressed voice
Defiant
High pitched
Voice
Parris’ Niece
Angry with
having to
serve Goody
Putnam
Response to
Characters
Led other
girls into
witchcraft
Narrow eyes
Pacing
Movement
Abigail
Facial Expression
Scowling
Emphasis on the word ‘Not’
Gritted Teeth
Close
proxemics to
Parris when
making
points
Gesture
Arms open, ‘Why?’
Aggressive
Pointing
WRITING YOUR ANSWER
Capital Letters
Full Stops
Paragraphs
Connectives
Punctuation
Spelling
Structure
Quotations and examples
Providing explanations for your answers
Writing a conclusion
CAPITAL LETTERS AND FULL STOPS
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
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
EXAMPLE
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
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.
PARAGRAPHS
Paragraphs split the text into manageable
sections
A new paragraphs can show changes in the
following;
Focus
Change of time
Time
Change of place
TiPToP
Dialogue
Speaker
Change of person
Change of topic
PARAGRAPHS
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?
EXAMPLE
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.
CONNECTIVES
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
EXAMPLES
Use all of the following connections in a conversation with a partner
and
also
next
finally
especially
equally
because
therefore
hence
however
although
except
for example
whereas
alternatively
PUNCTUATION
’:
Apostrophe
To indicate possession or contractions
Brackets
Colon
Comma
Exclamation mark
To complete an exclamation sentence
Hyphen
Used with some prefixes and suffixes or to form
compound words
Question mark
Quotations
Semi-colon
( )To add additional information or explanations
,
!
-?
“”
;
Before a list, summary or quote
Between a list of three or more words, before a
conjunction or to give additional information
To complete a question sentence
To show direct speech
To link two sentences that are closely related or in
a list that already contains commas
PUNCTUATION
http://www.correctpunctuation.co.uk/punctuation-terminatingmarks.htm
SPELLING
Leave time to check your essay
Ensure that quotes are accurate
Ensure that Drama terminology is spelt
correctly
STRUCTURE
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
QUOTATION
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