English Exam Revision.
The examination tests two fundamental things: Knowledge and Skills
To ensure you have the required knowledge you need to revise.
This means:
· Revisiting texts – re-reading the novel, watching the film again
· Ensuring you know which aspects of the texts with which you need to be familiar – old exam papers are very helpful for this
· reading over and highlighting key points from class notes, previous essays and handouts
· writing summaries of these key points
· memorising a range of significant quotations
· for film, memorising a range of specific examples of production techniques
· for unfamiliar texts, memorising the language terminology from your English Toolbox
To get better at a skill you need to:
The examination tests two fundamental things: Knowledge and Skills
To ensure you have the required knowledge you need to revise.
This means:
· Revisiting texts – re-reading the novel, watching the film again
· Ensuring you know which aspects of the texts with which you need to be familiar – old exam papers are very helpful for this
· reading over and highlighting key points from class notes, previous essays and handouts
· writing summaries of these key points
· memorising a range of significant quotations
· for film, memorising a range of specific examples of production techniques
· for unfamiliar texts, memorising the language terminology from your English Toolbox
To get better at a skill you need to:
- Practise – you improve skills through repetition – practice planning and writing essays and answering unfamiliar text questions (Use the NZQA Website)
- Try to emulate experts – read exemplars of the level to which you aspire, and try to imitate the techniques used
- Assess coaching and feedback – look through your old essays and remind yourself of the feedback you’ve been given
- Get extra feedback and guidance if you’re unsure – English Tutorial time on a Monday in Room 203 is useful for this.
- Mind-maps are useful for showing topics, subtopics and links, to provide an overview and checklist. Use different colours and symbols as well as key words. A good first step is to create a mind-map with all the standards that will be assessed, and all the aspects of those standards you’ll need to know.
- Flash Cards – Quotation on one side, analysis on the other
- Quizlet – Great electronic resource for learning vocabulary and quotations http://quizlet.com/find-flashcards/
- Your phone – record your notes and quotes – play them back to yourself
- Your friends – form a study group to meet in the library every few days – half an hour is plenty – help each other out – you learn a lot through teaching others
- Literary analysis websites such as ‘Sparknotes’ can help consolidate what you have already learned in class http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/