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AQA English GCSE
IntroductionLecturer: Stephen Evans
Wednesday, 16th September 2009
GCSE English Language
L.O. To understand what the GCSE English course involves and some key concepts (ideas) involved in the subject.
What is English?
What words do you remember from your English studies?
E.g. Similes, verbs etc.
With a partner write down as many words you associate with “English” .
Some myths we’d better dispel right away.
1. Being good at English is a gift: you either have it or you don’t.
WRONG!
Writing is a skill you can develop and improve upon. The more you practice the better you become. Everybody is capable of improving their English skills and getting the best grades.
2. I’m really rubbish at writing – I find it hard to think of what to write about and then make it read or sound good.
WRONG!
• Dulce et Decorum Est
• 1 Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,2 Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,3 Till on the haunting flares we turned out backs,4 And towards our distant rest began to trudge.5 Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,6 But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame, all blind;7 Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots8 Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.
9 Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!--An ecstasy of fumbling10 Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,11 But someone still was yelling out and stumbling12 And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime.--13 Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,14 As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
Even the greatest writer’s had to plan and practice.
Writing is a craft.
There is very little “divine” inspiration just plain old perspiration – hard work and graft.
It is a cliché but writing really is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.
Planning your work and giving your self plenty of time to plan will result in you producing work of the highest quality.
3. I’m bad at language...WRONG
Language is not just writing. It is also speaking and listening. You will gain coursework marks for your skills as a speaker and as a listener.
Speaking and listening is a natural way of communication. Whether or not English is your first language or not you learnt to speak before you ever wrote.
We sometimes forget how well we use English already because we concentrate only on the written part of our language.
We are building on our existing English skills and developing the writing side of our language.
What is meant by our “mother tongue”?
• If we really had to sum up what English and language is all about. It is communication.
• Communicating our thoughts and our feelings to others.
• The way we communicate using written or spoken English depends on the...?
Summary
• English is a skill we can develop and a craft we can learn.
• Everybody in this room is capable of improving their English skills and gaining the highest grades.
• You will be tested on the quality of your communication skills. You clearer you put across your ideas, the better marks you will gain.
What is a text?
Register
• Register is writing and speaking in a way appropriate to the situation and the person or people we’re communicating with (the audience).
• SMS: A textbook case • Part of an essay written by a Scottish 13-year-old
secondary school pupil • My smmr hols wr CWOT. B4, we used 2 go 2 NY
2C my bro, his GF & thr 3 :-@ kds FTF. ILNY, its gr8. • Bt my Ps wr so {:-/ BC o 9/11 tht thay dcdd 2 stay
in SCO & spnd 2 wks up N. • Up N, WUCIWUG -- 0. I ws vvv brd in MON. 0 bt
baas & mnts.
• My summer holidays were a complete waste of time. Before, we used to go to New York to see my brother, his girlfriend and their three screaming kids face to face. I love New York, it's a great place.
• But my parents were so worried because of the terrorism attack on September 11 that they decided we would stay in Scotland and spend two weeks up north.
• Up north, what you see is what you get - nothing. • I was extremely bored in the middle of nowhere.
Nothing but sheep and mountains.
Wednesday, 23rd September 2009
GCSE English Language
L.O. To understand the main features of travel writing. We are doing this so that we can use them in our own piece of original writing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHBB7RDIGQY
Wednesday, 30th September 2009
Coursework 1: Travel writing
L.O. To look at the ways writers use language to bring the places they describe alive for the reader. We will be looking at metaphor and simile, adjectives and verbs.
Common writing mistakes
Correct the sentences on the worksheet.
Hyperbole is _______________________. An example of this is_____________________.
Personification is _______________________. An example of this is _________________.
Colloquial English
This is a type of informal writing – it is not as informal as slang.
Friend mate/pal blood
Beautiful fit/sexy phat
Fantastic juicy bad
Wednesday, 7th October 2009
Coursework 1: Original Writing – Travel Writing
L.O. To understand the importance of punctuation in our writing. To ensure we proof-read and revise our work in order to improve it.
Keywords imperatives, colon
Punctuation
Sensory description is when the writer ___________________________________.
The writer does this in order to ____________________________________.
Punctuation
Woman
A woman, without her man, is nothing.
Punctuation
Woman
A woman: without her, man is nothing.
Punctuation
Dear Jack,I want a man who knows what love is all about.
You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we’re apart. I can be forever happy – will you let me be yours?
Jill
Punctuation
Dear Jack,I want a man who knows what love is. All about
you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men I yearn! For you I have no feelings whatsoever. When we’re apart I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?
Yours, Jill
Punctuation
Correct punctuation leads to clear communication of feeling and thought. It avoids all ambiguity.
Ambiguous sentences
• Enraged cow injures farmer with axe.• • Stolen painting found by tree.• • Ladies are requested not to have children at the bar.• • Safety experts say school bus passengers should be
belted.
EllipsisEllipsis is used to:
1. Build up suspense.
E.g. The door slowly creaked open…
2. To show an incomplete thought or idea
E.g. If only I had £200.00 I could…
3. Hint or suggest somethingE.g. “We could book a hotel and…” .
“the best travel writers are not really writing about travel at all. They are recording the effects of places or movements upon their own particular temperaments—recording the experience rather than the event”
Jan Morris - one of the world's leading travel writers.
Thursday, 24th September 2009
Coursework 1: Original Writing – Travel Writing
L.O. To understand how different writers use the features of travel writing to produce distinctive and individual pieces of writing. To use ellipsis in our writing.
Keywords: sentence variation, humour, ellipsis
New Orleans. The modern Atlantis, half-sunken, battered and bruised but defiant and unbowed. The Big Easy had not had an easy time of late. It had almost drowned.
The street-car’s engine hummed a tune that promised the greatest tour of any city in the whole history of travel. Sparks shrieked from the snake like wire above and the stale smell of ozone and diesel filled my nostrils like a fourth of July firework-fest. I sneezed. It tasted like an acid-burger with plenty of mustard and to hell with the calories. Clang! Swoosh, shudder, j..j..j…judder… We were off…
Colloquial English is ______________________. An example of this is_________________. Colloquial English is used in writing to _______________.
Imperatives are _______________________. An example of an imperative is _________________. Imperatives are used to _______________________________.
Wednesday, 30th September 2009
Coursework 1: Original Writing – Travel Writing
L.O. To understand that travel writing is about reporting an emotional experience. To be able to plan effectively in order to prepare coursework of the highest standard. To be aware of connectives and topic sentences.
Keywords: topic sentence, planning
Punctuation.
The colon is used for two reasons: The first is to
_______________________________.
Secondly, it is used to ________________________________.
Topic sentences
Topic sentences help the audience follow your writing, especially the points you are making.
Topic sentences make your writing easier to understand.
They should be part of your planning – this is essential if you are to create work of the highest standard.
1. Plan
2. Topic sentence3. Expand/develop the point
4. Next topic sentence5. Expand/develop the point
6. Next topic sentence7. Expand/develop the point etc.
Conclusion
Make each topic sentence the start of a new paragraph.
Thursday, 1st October 2009
Coursework 1: Original Writing – Travel Writing
L.O. To use all we have learned to produce our first draft coursework on travel writing. To be aware of your targets and areas for development in relation to this coursework and for the rest of the course.
Keywords: planning
Introduction:HookFocusSummary
Paragraph One – topic sentence and developmentParagraph Two - topic sentence and developmentParagraph three - topic sentence and developmentParagraph four - topic sentence and developmentEtc.
Conclusion
The conclusion includes:RecapClosing remark
What the examiners are looking for:• The writer has used the past tense. (1 mark)• The writer has provided a unique view of the subject. (1 mark)• The writer has addressed the reader directly. (1 mark)• The writer has started with a ‘hook’. (1 mark)• The hook successfully catches the readers’ attention. (up to 5 marks)• The writer has included factual information. (1 mark)• The writer has made the facts interesting. (up to 5 marks)• The writer has focused on a central theme. (1 mark)• The central theme is appropriate. (up to 5 marks)• The writer has used humour. (1 mark)• The Humour is effective. (up to 5 marks)• The writer has used simile and/or metaphor. (1 mark)• The metaphors or similes are effective. (up to 5 marks)• The writer has used adjectives and strong verbs. (1 mark)• The adjectives and verbs are effective (up to 5 marks)• The writer has used sensory description. (1 mark)• The sensory description engages the reader. (up to 5 marks)
I Wanna be yours1. How do we know this is a personal poem?2. How does the speaker address the audience directly?3. How do we get a sense of the speaker’s accent?4. How does the poet make the poem sound conversational
(like the speaker is really speaking)?5. Find an example of hyperbole and say why it is effective.6. Find two examples of metaphor and say why you think they
are effective.7. Find a line that has two meanings.8. Find an example of rhyming couplets.
Monday, 5th October 2009
Coursework 1: Original Writing – Travel Writing
L.O. To use all we have learned to produce our first draft coursework on travel writing and to answer any questions you have. To know how to use a semi colon.
Keywords: planning, punctuation, semi-colon
What is a semi-colon?
A small piece of punctuation that looks like this
;
Why is it used?
1. To separate 2 clauses (ideas) in a sentence when they are closely related.
2. To separate items in a list when the items are long and could cause uncertainty. A semi-colon can make the sentence clearer.
Example
Terry always slept with the light on. He was afraid of the dark.
Terry always slept with the light on; he was afraid of the dark.
The idea must be linked.
• Which of these sentences uses the semi-colon correctly.
• a) Greece is a beautiful country; lovely beaches and friendly people.
• b) Greece is a beautiful country; the people are friendly and the beaches are empty.
• c) Greece is a beautiful country; olives are delicious.
Journeys By Railway
1. What does Theroux consider to be the advantages of travelling by train?
2. What are the disadvantages of other forms of transport?
3. Find two examples of colloquial English.4. What is different about this piece of writing
and all the other pieces you have read>5. What does Theroux mean by “the train is the
last word in truth drugs.”?
