Waving goodbye

Well, this is it.

Class finished. Blog finished for this academic year.

I don’t know if any of the class will look at this – why would they? the class is finished - but I thought I’d say goodbye anyway, particularly to the people who aren’t in the class but who have for some reason landed on my blog – in some cases, quite regularly.

So hello and goodbye to those of you in:

Churchtown, Tel Aviv, Stow, Key West Florida, Jedburgh, Brighton, Swindon, Bathgate, Newtonmore, Kinross, Cupar, Manchester, Maidenhead, Mountain View California

and various other places across the world.

I’d love to know what brought you here and in some cases why you have kept coming back. It would intrigue me greatly if you were to leave me a comment telling me.

Thanks for being a pleasant class, if you were in the class. Have a good summer, even if you weren't.

And a nice life.

Your time to star!

Just in case anyone doesn’t know his/her room and desk number, they’re as follows:

Music Box auditorium

Clare, 7
Denise, 30
Natasha, 35
Chris, 45



Music Box 1.23

Emily (no desk number)

Creative Arts building, room 187

Caroline, 2

Creative Arts building, room 193

Gareth, 3
Andrew, 18
Kathryn, 2

Music Box 9

Jade, 4

Music Box 119

Ashleigh


105

Kelda

Good luck for the exam. You’ve worked hard, or at least hardish, and deserve to do well.

There are really only 2 main things to remember: write as accurately as you can (especially in paper 2) and ANSWER THE QUESTIONS.

Paper 1: remember the standard imagery/context/linking questions and how to do them. If you don’t know, read back in the blog or email me!

Otherwise:
*keep an eye on the marks and make your answer an appropriate length
* explain anything that seems remotely difficult (that the marker might think, if you don’t explain it, that you don’t understand)
* don’t ramble on unnecessarily
*use lots of white space between your answers (paper isn’t rationed and it makes it nice and easy to mark)
* remember that you don’t get marks simply for identifying a technique (eg “It’s a minor sentence”) but by doing so and THEN writing about the exact effect in the context
* remember that, generally speaking, you get the marks for the comment, not the quote. The quote is just to show what bit you’re talking about.

Paper 2: remember that the “questions” comprise a general description of the text followed by a (usually 2-part) instruction.

Sometimes the description might seem a bit alarming but the instructions might be a lot simpler, so do think hard before you choose a question.

Remember, too, that just telling the story will not be enough, but that telling selected bits of the story to illustrate your main points (ie to answer the “question”) will be necessary.

And think of the SECT idea, if it’s helpful, though don’t stick rigidly to the CT bit of it – or not in that order, necessarily. But you don’t want a whole list of statements: SSSSSSSS! If you state something about the text, give evidence to back it up. Evidence = quote or direct reference (ie something particular that happens in the story that illustrates what you’ve said).

And do show awareness of the writer’s techniques – essentially. Mentioning the writer’s name occasionally is useful: “Miller makes Eddie reveal his feelings when….”.

And remember the poor old marker: underpaid, ageing, grumpy, distracted. Write readably. Miss lines. Number accurately. Don’t waffle to no effect.

Good luck!

The sands of time...

Revision!

We went over the some of the main things to remember about Close Reading, from a little crib sheet made up by one of my colleagues. Email me if you want this (though it doesn’t have anything new; it’s just a handy reminder, to be propped up against the Corn Flake packet on the morning of the exam).

We also discussed the suitability for our texts of various exam-type questions made up by another of my colleagues, and you tried writing one. No one handed theirs in, however, which suggests that you're not working quickly enough! Please finish what you wrote and send it to me, together with one or two essays. Email them to me by Tuesday at the latest, to give me a chance to mark them.

Next week, as I said last week, I’ll be there and will be happy to do any revision/marking/advice on demand.

Meanwhile, revise your texts! Learn quotes! Despite the evidence from the SQA workshop, I’d still recommend trying to get at least 5 relevant quotations into each essay (many more for essays on poetry) – so this means learning 10 for each of the play and the novel, since the relevance will depend on the question.

Feel free to email me if you have any problems with which you feel I could help: pdonaldson@stevenson.ac.uk

Countdown...

Today we looked at critical essays: the markers’ instructions from 2008 and some actual students’ essays. I gave out 10 essays and we looked at 2 and were surprised but (I hope) encouraged by the leniency of the marking.

If you weren’t there and would like these exemplar essays, do email me and I’ll send them as an attachment, together with the marks awarded. You’ll also find handwritten versions of these on the SQA website, under Services for Learners, NQ subjects (choose English), English Higher Critical Essay workshop – the marking instructions are there too.

I also, cruelly, made the class write a critical essay in the second part of the class, which wasn’t quite 45 minutes, so the homework is to finish it and do another one. If you weren’t there, please do this for next week, again in a strict 45 minutes. If you were in class, please try to do the other one at home; or any essay or close reading. If you email it to me then I can mark it in advance, but on the other hand it's better practice for the exam to use handwriting.

Here are the titles:

Choose a play in which a character is at odds with one or more than one of the people around him or her.

Show how the dramatist makes you aware of the character’s situation and discuss to what extent this led to a greater understanding of the concerns of the play.

and

Choose a poem which presents a character to whom you react with sympathy, dislike or laughter.

Show how the poet arouses this response from you and discuss how important it is to the overall impact of the poem.

Next week I’d like to have suggestions of what you want to do: go over texts? Do a class critical essay? Some more close reading?

The final week, the 13th, I imagine you might prefer to stay at home and revise, but I will be there as usual at 1.15 and available for any tuition on request, so do feel free to come then if you want. If no one turns up by 1.30, then I’ll go, but I’m happy to stay if anyone wants to discuss anything to do with English.

Vitamins and revision

Nothing interesting is going to happen from now on, I’m afraid, people! Today we went over in some detail the 2008 Close Reading. Please do/finish this for homework.

We also considered the language on the label of a Vitamin Water bottle. Remember to practise your analytical skills as you live your life between now and May 15. Read adverts, labels, leaflets, newspaper articles – anything – and look at the sentence structure, word choice and so on.

Next week we shall be looking at actual students’ essays and the SQA’s marks for them, and then doing a timed essay on literature. So come prepared! No more spoon-feeding…

Do some revision. Write some essays. Do not have any fun.

Happy Easter

Sorry that this is rather a late post.

In our most recent class, we mainly looked at two pieces of writing: one on garden birds and one on Wikipedia. The first was humorous and the second more serious; but both used sentence structure, word choice, imagery etc. Do pause in your reading over the next weeks and ask yourself the sorts of questions that the SQA does – just to give yourself confidence that you do, indeed, know how the question setters will have been thinking.

I’m writing this at home without my record of work with me, but I’m sure I must have given you homework. If not, download the 2008 paper from the SQA website (http://www.sqa.org.uk/) and do that – at least passage 1. But as well as this, you must revise – look at the Language Skills book if you’re at all uncertain about Close Reading, but also re-read the novel and the play and learn – well, I’d suggest four poems, ideally, off by heart and memorise what there is to say about them. Do also read my notes on the novel and the play and look up the internet – you’ll find lots of other things there, for inspiration and reassurance. Learn quotes: 10 per novel, 10 per play and lots and lots for the poems (which is why it’s easier to learn them off by heart, in my opinion).

And then do one or more essays from the past papers. Limit yourself to 45 minutes per essay and force yourself to ignore distractions. Remember, if you get the mark you need in a few weeks’ time you never have to do this again!

Remember too that you must be able to write about the literary techniques of the novel, the play and the poem without even thinking, when May 15 comes. There will be no time to sit trying to work them out from first principles: you’ll be too busy concentrating on answering the question.

See you on the 22nd. Have a good Easter.

A bit of a blank

I have a problem here: I'm sure I imparted some pearls of wisdom about something or other before we watched the second half of the film; but I can't remember what they were. A challenge to you: what did I say?? Do comment.

Then we did watch the rest of the film, , which despite its crackles, unconvincing accents and old-fashioned hairstyles I thought was quite evocative. I liked the very close-up camera shots as the film went on; they gave a real feeling of the claustrophobia of being crammed together in a small flat with all that tension. I also liked the way Eddie ran after the immigration van, yelling at Marco, and then turned to see all his neighbours lined up against him. But maybe it all just seemed convincing to me because it just reminds me of my youth: all those frocks and rickety chairs and everything in black and white...

Homework is passage 2 of 2007 about libraries (and you could also do passage 1, if you haven't) - and I would suggest that you also try a literature essay, your choice. If you don't have the past papers, last year's is on the SQA website - http://www.sqa.org.uk/ and go to Services for Learners, NQ subjects, drop down to English.