Year 9 English exam

What to expect and what to do….

This is your very first English exam at college. There are certain things you might

not know…

1. You MUST write the WHOLE exam in PEN – NOT PENCIL. Make sure you bring two pens, because one always runs out when you need it most! Use a clear plastic bag for a pencil case, and bring a highlighter too.

2. You will be in the exam for TWO HOURS. If you work steadily and use 40 minutes for each section, you will be fine. KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE CLOCK!

3. Don’t use twink! Just rule a straight line once through the middle of any mistakes. The marker will understand.

4. Bring in a bottle of WATER. Sugar drinks will send you buzzing in the first hour, but you need to be

sharp for the full two hours…..

DEFINITELY no phones!!

And finally – if you have a cold – PLEASE bring tissues! It’s REALLY annoying sitting next to someone who sniffs

for two hours!!!!

Your English exam is on Monday, 19th November

The exam has three sections – here’s what they are…

The FIRST SECTION of your exam is to test your general English skills

This section of the exam should take you 40 minutes.

At the end of this time, you will be given the second and third section of the exam.

ALL answers in this section are to be written ON the pages.

This is what Section One covers:

 

Punctuation /15

Grammar /15

Spelling /5

Vocabulary /6

Sequencing /5

Making Inferences /10

Language Features /20

 

Total

/76

%

You should re-read Chapter 3 AND pages 82-88 of your

workbook to prepare for this part of the

exam.

The SECOND SECTION of your exam is to test your understanding of a

studied text (an essay) AND

The THIRD SECTION is to show how well you can write when it

comes to creative writing.

For Sections TWO and THREE you will need to bring in a few sheets of

refill paper. You will START your writing on

the booklet, but you will need to continue on your

own paper.

The SECOND SECTION of your exam is to write an essay. You will have 40 minutes to plan and write it.

The exam essay

Planning is important because it gives you a chance to think about what you’re going to write.

DO NOT just memorise an essay from coursework and write that down – you won’t pass if you don’t stick to your chosen

essay topic!!!!

Because of this, your plan will be included as part of your grade. We recommend that you spend FIVE to TEN

MINUTES planning.

A good plan will: bullet point the title, author/director of your text and the key words of the essay topic.

It will have the specific examples, quotes and/or filming techniques that you are going to discuss on it.

It will bullet point what is going to be written in the conclusion.

There will be THREE essay topics to choose from. YOU CHOOSE ONE ONLY!

Don’t be the egg who tries to write an essay on all three in 40 minutes – you won’t be able to!! And

you will Not Achieve.

The essay topics will all be two sentences and will look something like this:

Describe an interesting character.Explain how they changed.

You will need at least TWO body paragraphs to deal with each sentence. Make sure you write about BOTH parts of the essay topic!!!

You also need to build in PROOF READING TIME.

Though the essay grade is NOT focussed on spelling, punctuation and grammar, your writing still needs to be readable, and to make CLEAR

SENSE to the marker.

If you do not PARAGRAPH you will

not pass!!Miss a line between paragraphs to make

them super-clear. Like this:The Outsiders is a coming-of-age novel by S. E. Hinton, first published in 1967 by Viking Press. Hinton was 15 when she started writing the novel, but did most of the work when she was sixteen and a junior in high school. Hinton was 18 when the book was published. The book follows two rival groups, the Greasers and the Socs (pronounced by the author as /soʊˈʃəz/, short for Socials), who are divided by their socioeconomic status.

The book takes place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1965, but it is never stated in the book.

A film adaptation was produced in 1983, and a little-known short-lived television series appeared in 1990, picking up where the movie left off.

Creative Writing Section

The THIRD SECTION of your exam is to write a descriptive piece of writing.

You will have 40 minutes to plan and write it.

Planning: your plan will be included as part of your grade. We recommend that you spend FIVE MINUTES

planning.

A good creative writing plan will: outline what you will cover in each paragraph. It will name specific language

features you are going to use on it.

There will be THREE topics to choose from. YOU CHOOSE ONE ONLY!

There will be pictures alongside each choice to help give you ideas.

You DO NOT HAVE TO USE THESE PICTURES if you don’t want to!

You also need to build in PROOF READING TIME.

0The creative writing grade IS focussed on spelling, punctuation and grammar. You need time to check all of this AFTER you have finished writing. We recommend TEN MINUTES!!

0 If you do not PARAGRAPH you will not pass!!

Miss a line between paragraphs to make them super-clear.

Good luck!! If you do your absolute best, then no one can ask anything more of

you…..