Transcript Slide 1

GCSE
ENGLISH LITERATURE
J360
The Assessment Objectives: what they are and
where they go.
• AO1: Respond to Texts critically and imaginatively; select
and evaluate relevant textual detail to illustrate and
support interpretations.
• A664, A662, A664.
• AO2: Explain how language, structure and form contribute
to writers’ presentation of themes, ideas and settings.
• A662, A663, A664.
Assessment Objectives: continued…..
• AO3: Make comparisons and explain links
between texts, evaluating writers’ different
ways of expressing meaning and achieving
effects.
• A661: ONLY!
Assessment Objectives finally….
• AO4:- Relate texts to their social, cultural and
historical contexts; explain how texts have
been influential and significant to self and other
readers in different contexts and at different
times.
• A663 ONLY!
Preparing for the exam:
Know your text – you will not have time in the exam to
keep referring to your clean copy of the play.
Revise pre-taught material but be prepared to adapt it
to focus on the question set.
Remember that you are studying the original text, not a
filmed or stage version of it. However, you should refer
to the ‘audience’ not the reader in your responses.
Choice of questions
In the exam you will have the choice between the
‘extract based’ question and a general question.
Choose your question carefully – do the one that you
feel most confident about.
Only answer ONE question – remember the extract is
only set for the first question.
Extract Based Questions
• In an extract based question, you must stay focused
on the extract set - devote the majority of your answer
to discussing, quoting from and commenting on the
extract itself.
• References to the wider text should be firmly rooted in
your comments on the extract.
• You must quote from the extract briefly and frequently
to support your points.
• You must answer the question set – do not just write a
general analysis of the passage.
Extract based Questions
• Do not spend much time putting the extract ‘in
context’, but do so briefly in your opening paragraph.
• Devote at least two thirds of your answer to
discussing, quoting from and commenting on the
extract itself.
• Begin your essay by briefly locating the extract in the
context of the whole play and establish the dramatic
context for the characters and audience.
• Pay close attention to the build up of dramatic detail in
the extract.
General/Discursive Questions
• You must focus on the question set – make sure you
understand what it is asking.
• You must select relevant sections of the play to look at –
how well you do this will have an impact on your mark.
• You must use brief and frequent quotes to support your
points.
• Show a sharp awareness of audience response at key
moments.
• Conclude strongly but don’t repeat points in your
conclusion.
Don’t......
• Produce generalised answers, failing to look at the extract,
or act as though you don’t know the rest of the play.
• Fail to quote.
• Ignore the question.
• Only comment on one part of the play in a general
question.
• Ignore one strand in a two-stranded question.
• Completely lose focus on the question.
• Include pre-taught material with no relevance to the
question set.
DO: structure your answer
TASK
Understand, respond, evaluate, personalise


Analyse the detail
LANGUAGE



Consider context and overview

TEXT
A663 – Prose from Different Cultures
There are TWO Assessment Objectives:
AO2 Explain how language, structure and form contribute to
writers’ presentation of ideas, themes and settings.
You must incorporate comments on how the playwright uses
language and structure to enhance/explore character,
themes and ideas in the play.
A663 – Prose from Different Cultures
• AO4 Relate texts to their social, cultural and historical
contexts; explain how texts have been influential and
significant to self and other readers in different contexts
and at different times.
• You must explore the cultural setting of the text. How
different readers may respond to the text over time, what
the writer’s attitude is, and how the setting of the text
influences the events and characters.
Weightings of AO3 & AO4
AO4 has a higher weighting in the mark
scheme than AO3. This means that you must
make sure that you include many references to
the cultural context of the text in your exam
response.
We are now going to consider how you can do
this effectively.
What is AO4?
AO4: relate texts to their social, cultural and
historical contexts; explain how texts have
been influential and significant to self and to
other readers in different contexts and at
different times
PRACTICALITIES
• AO4 ‘quality’ is required, rather than just ‘coverage’ examiners don’t want ‘bolted on’ information.
• FOCUS and RELEVANCE are key – only include
references to cultural context in your comments on the
question set, as relevant to that question.
• AS APPROPRIATE TO TEXT AND TASK
• The key terms are ‘relate’ and ‘explain’ - not just ‘know
about’.
SO WHAT IS ‘CONTEXT’?
‘Context’ = exploring the SETTING of a text
• How is the setting significant in the narrative of
the text?
• How does the setting relate to the ‘real world’?
• How do these things influence the way we
respond to the text?
SETTING and THE NARRATIVE
In the text, to what extent:
• do things happen as they do
• are characters like they
are
because of when/ where the story
takes place?
Consider (eg):
•Time / Period
•Place
•Culture / Community
In a ‘different cultures’ text,
any or all of these may be
unfamiliar to the reader
You couldn’t teach a Different Cultures text without addressing this unfamiliarity:
the ‘context’.
SETTING AND THE ‘REAL WORLD’
Setting becomes ‘context’:
• when we link the setting in the text and a setting in the
‘real’ world
• when we start to explore the relationship between them.
To do this, we need some knowledge from outside the text:
the social . . . cultural . . . historical . . .
CONTEXT of the text
EXPLORING SETTING
How does exploring / understanding ‘context’:
help us to understand
make us think more carefully
about
alter our view of
… etc
the characters
their relationships
what happens
…etc
?
These are the areas A663 tasks will tackle.
THE CONTEXT OF THE READER
. . . explain how texts have been influential and significant to self
and to other readers in different contexts and at different times
For example • how/why a text may influence views/ attitudes/ circumstances
• how/why responses to a text may change over time
• how/why a text may provoke different reactions in different
readers
Any relevant response to these aspects WILL be credited
If there is no reference to these aspects, the whole mark range will still
be accessible – for example, they may not have been relevant to the
extract or question set
LINKING TEXT AND CONTEXT
You need to learn how to:
• select from your contextual knowledge what is relevant
• explain how the contextual material helps to shape the text itself
• explore how the contextual material helps to shape the way we
respond to the text
• integrate all this into a response to the task set
‘Bolt-on background’ is not what examiners are looking
for. Never begin with an introduction about the cultural
context of the text – your understanding of this element
must be fully integrated into your response.
THE TASK
AO4 in the questions
The Texts
The specification prescribes the TEXT to be
studied:
• a prose text ‘from Different Cultures’
• so, by definition, setting and ‘context’ will be significant
• and any reading / teaching / study can’t help but address
these aspects
AO4 Preparation (ii)
The Exam Board does NOT prescribe the
‘CONTEXT’ to be studied.
Your teacher will guide you to relevant ‘context’
as it arises in the novel. So, as events happen, you
will learn about how the cultural context of the text
has determined or influenced the events and
characters.
AO4 Preparation (iii)
So, for example in Of Mice and Men, the specification does not
prescribe:
• the Great Depression of the 1930s
• the ‘American Dream’
• the experience of black Americans
BUT Any / all of these
might be helpful – if used
constructively.
• …etc
Ask - at key points, what ‘context’ will help to ‘open up’ the text to the reader ?
. . . if it helps when reading, it should help when answering an exam question
Exam Questions – the P T R structure
A663 questions will:
• PROMPT an exploration
• of a specific TOPIC or issue in the text
• and of a way of RESPONDING to this
P
T
R
So – generically PROMPT
TOPIC
RESPONSE
[something in the text]
so [adjective]?
What makes (F)
How does the
writer make (H)
N.B. – there will also be:
• a reminder about AO2 – ‘LANGUAGE’ etc.
TASKS – an example of P T R
The task asks the candidate:
What makes the ENDING of the novel so POWERFUL
and MOVING?
The candidate asks him/herself:
How does my KNOWLEDGE / UNDERSTANDING OF
‘CONTEXT’ help me to explain what makes the
ENDING of this novel so POWERFUL and MOVING?
The task also reminds the candidate about ‘language’ - eg at F tier:
You should consider . . .
• the words and phrases [the writer] uses
P T R PROMPTS
FOUNDATION TIER
What makes . . .
What are your feelings about . . .
What are your impressions of . .
What do you think . . .
What do you find . . .
How does [ ] bring home to you
HIGHER TIER
How does [writer] . . .
How does X’s writing . . .
Explore the ways [writer] . . .
Explore the ways X’s writing . . .
Explore how [writer] makes . . .
In what ways does [writer] . . .
P T R TOPICS and RESPONSES
TOPICS
FOUNDATION / HIGHER
the ending of the novel
the way [character] is treated
how the relationship changes
what to admire / pity
the harshness of everyday life
RESPONSES
FOUNDATION / HIGHER
powerful
moving
tense and exciting
entertaining
horrifying
A Summary of the Importance of AO4
• You couldn’t learn a Different Cultures text without
addressing . . . the ‘context’
• What ‘context’ will help to ‘open up’ the text to the
reader?
• AO4 performance will directly affect outcomes
• Key terms are ‘relate’ and ‘explain’ - not just ‘know about’
• ‘Bolt-on background’ will not gain credit
• DON’T underestimate - AO4 has teeth
• DON’T overload - a little AO4 can go a long
way
• DO ask - how does ‘context’ help
understanding / affect response ?
• DO emphasise - keep it relevant to the task
Some Simple Examples from “Of Mice and Men”.
• pp6-8: Lennie and his pockets: what we learn about him and his relationship
with George.
• pp23-25: the boss’s reaction to them.
• pp56-58: livin off the fatta the lan’.
• pp75-77: the truth about Crooks.
• Pp86-88: Curley’s wife and her dreams.
Over to you:-
Find some more examples which put a moment/
character/ conversation in the novel first and
the context second.
Passage-based Questions
There are two common problems:
1.Lack of focus on the passage
2.Lack of focus on the question
AVOID:
• An introduction about the author, historical or cultural
setting/background.
• Excessive detail when putting the passage in the context of the
rest of the novel.
• Detailed reference to the rest of novel outside the passage.
Passage-based questions continued....
DO:
• Read the question carefully and focus on the key words –
highlight them.
• Quote briefly and frequently from the passage to support
your points.
• Refer briefly to other points in the novel, tethering your
comments firmly to the passage.
• Think carefully about your point – don’t just include pretaught points unless you have made them relevant to your
response.
General/Discursive Essay
• Make sure that you have understood the demands of the
title.
• Choose the sections of the novel that you look at carefully,
ensuring that they are the most relevant moments.
• Include brief, frequent quotations to keep your answer
firmly rooted in the text.
• Make sure that references to cultural context are fully
integrated into your comments, not bolted on.
If you have time: or later, read the following scripts
and commentaries
• Scripts A & B Higher Tier
• Scripts B & C Foundation Tier.
Questions?
Good Luck in A663