Mastering English Exams with Jennifer Webb: Tips and Strategies for Success
Prepare effectively for English Language and Literature exams with expert advice from Jennifer Webb. Learn to approach exams as strategic challenges, not just writing tasks. Follow tips on planning your writing, analyzing extracts in literature papers, and incorporating context effectively in your responses to excel in your exams.
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Approaching the Exams Jennifer Webb @FunkyPedagogy English Teacher and Author
There are 8.5 hours of exams for English Language and English Literature combined. It sounds like a lot of writing (and it is), but don t see it as 8.5 hours of writing. See it as an obstacle course where you need to formulate a plan of attack. YOU KNOW how many questions there will be and have a general idea of what they will ask... YOU KNOW what you are being examined on (the AOs) and how to structure your responses...
Language Papers Plan your writing, but don t spend ages doing it... A quick spider diagram or set of bullet points is enough. Practise writing quick plans. Don t just list technical terms you MUST talk about effect! Avoid makes the reader want to read on, interests the reader and paints a picture in the reader s head. Don t feel the need to write really long pieces less is more. Write less but with more CONTROL long pieces tend to drift and suffer in clarity and accuracy.. If in doubt, leave it out... Read questions very carefully so that you are confident about what you are being asked, and are looking at the right line numbers. Transactional writing structure your argument using discourse markers
Literature Papers Pre-prepared essays won t help you at the top end of the mark scheme. Extract questions read the extract carefully and ensure that you know where it is from, what happens before and after, who is speaking and what they are speaking about. Avoid feature spotting. Ensure that, whatever you do choose to talk about, it is something where you can speak about effect MEANINGFULLY. e.g. enjambment, sibilance, alliteration... Go beyond word-level analysis and zooming in. Writers do a lot more than just selecting words... Context YES, but only if it enhances your argument! Literary Theory YES, but only if it enhances your argument! Be careful with how you manage your time, especially on paper 2.
Context During the Renaissance period, people believed that kings were divinely ordained by god and that to kill them was therefore a great sin. James I was paranoid about being assassinated and he often wore a metal plate under his clothing. This play is also clearly influenced by the failed Gunpowder Plot where... Point being made about the PLAY and answering the question Shakespeare compounds Macbeth s guilt and evil character by placing the murder in his own home. Traditionally, people in Shakespeare s time believed that guests had the right to be protected within the home, and that to do them harm was a great sin. Macbeth s regicide is made even more wicked because Duncan is a guest in Macbeth s home at the time and is therefore vulnerable and relying on his friend to safeguard him as he sleeps. RELEVANT, SPECIFIC context in a single sentence... Bringing it back to the original point this is how my context reference enhances my argument...
The bottom line... REVISE! If you know your texts for Literature really well, you will be fine. Yes, it is helpful to memorise quotations, but make sure these are lines which you could use to talk about lots of different ideas in the text... Know your timings for each exam so that you can go in calm and have a plan of attack. The writing tasks make up 50% of your English Language mark prepare what you can, but focus on producing a crafted piece which has been well- planned, rather than writing down everything you can think of. Quality over quantity.
