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.

Friday 8 May 2009

Section B - writing skills - The Apostrophe

The apostrophe has two jobs.

1. It shows when a letter has been missed out.
FOR EXAMPLE: It's a red book. = It is a red book.
That's a joke = That is a joke

The common mistake here is mixing up words that use the apostrophe like this - it's, you're, they're, who's, he's - with other words that sound very similar but don't need an apostrophe - its, your, their/there, whose, his.
Put the correct word in each of these sentences.
___________ very hot outside.(it's/its)
___________ book is on the table.(you're/you're)
___________ not really that good.(they're/their/there)
___________that at the door? (who's/whose)
Is that ______ book? (he's/his)

2. The second job is to show belonging. If someone owns something, you add an apostrophe and an 's' to the word.
FOR EXAMPLE: Jack owns the book - Jack's book.
The dog has a bone - the dog's bone.
The table has a leg - the table's leg.