Your exams and how this blog works

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In your English lessons, you are studying for TWO GCSEs.

English
and English Literature.

English
60% exam (2 2-hour papers, Paper One and Paper Two)
20% speaking and listening coursework
20% written coursework (four essays: creative writing, transactional writing, Shakespeare, poems from other cultures)

English Literature
70% exam (one 2.5-hour paper consisting of three sections - one on a play, one on a novel, one on an unseen poem)
30% coursework (four essays: Shakespeare, poems from other cultures, pre-1914 poetry, pre-1914 prose)

The exam board is WJEC, the Welsh board.

This blog has been designed to help you understand and revise for all three papers. There is lots of information, tips, practice questions and links.If you look on the right, there is a list of labels. Click on these and it will direct you to all the information about that particular label. For example, click on An Inspector Calls and you will get four posts about the play, how to answer a question on it, key quotes, etc. Or, if you are worried about answering Section B type questions, click on that and you will get all the posts helping with that.

Thursday 7 May 2009

English Literature - play - An Inspector Calls


Section B of the English Literature GCSE is on a play. You should do the one you have studied - either a View from the Bridge or An Inspector Calls. This post will look at AN INSPECTOR CALLS.
BBC Bitesize revision have a really useful site on this play with lots of resources and revision tips. Click here to go to it.

You will have to answer TWO questions on An Inspector Calls. The first is an EXTRACT question. An extract from the play will be reprinted, and you will be asked a question on it. In your answer, you should quote a lot from the extract and track how the play and characters change throughout it. You must answer on the WHOLE extract, not just the beginning or end.

The other question will be based on the WHOLE PLAY. This is the question where it would be handy to have memorised some quotes. If you look through this website, I have put together some of the key quotes for each character. Don't try and rewrite long quotations in the exam, or get too bothered about memorising. Short, one or two word quotations are best, as they prove you have a deep understanding of the play. For example, saying something like 'Mr Birling thinks that community is a lot of "nonsense"', or 'Sheila grows increasingly "hysterical" as the play continues.'

As ever, try and focus on EXPLAINING, not describing. Don't fall in to the trap of just retelling the play. Instead of saying "Mr Birling sacks Eva from her job at the factory and Sheila gets her sacked from her job at the shop", say "Mr Birling and Sheila are both responsible for Eva losing a job, but their motives are very different and they react differently when the Inspector explains the results of their actions."