Section B writing practice questions (Jan 2012)

Section B: Writing

Answer both questions in this section.

You are advised to spend about one hour on this section.

You are advised to spend about 25 minutes on question 5.

You are advised to spend about 35 minutes on question 6.

5

 

Write a letter which you hope will be published in your local newspaper. Inform readers

what leisure facilities are available for young people and families in your area and

explain how you think they could be improved. (16 marks)

  

 

 

6

‘Life is too easy for young people today. They lack challenges and don’t have to fight

for anything.’

Write an article for a magazine of your choice which persuades your readers that this

statement is either right or wrong (24 marks)

Cover for Friday 8th March

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english/

The link above will take you to GCSE bitesize. Spend half the lesson focusing on Reading and spend the other half on Writing. Focus on your weakest areas; for example

Reading non-fiction questions which is what unit 1 is about
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english/reading/questionsrev1.shtml

Writing
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english/writing/writingtoadviserev1.shtml

again focus on your weakest area; above is writing to advise

Mrs Stacey can help you with this as she has done summer schools for English.

Unseen Poetry

Read the poem below and then answer part (a) and part (b).

 

The Sea

The sea is a hungry dog.

Giant and grey.

He rolls on the beach all day.

With his clashing teeth and shaggy jaws

Hour upon hour he gnaws

The rumbling, tumbling stones,

And ‘Bones, bones, bones, bones!’

The giant sea-dog moans,

Licking his greasy paws.

And when the night wind roars

And the moon rocks in the stormy cloud,

He bounds to his feet and snuffs and sniffs,

Shaking his wet sides over the cliffs,

And howls and hollos* long and loud.

But on quiet days in May or June,

When even the grasses on the dune

Play no more their reedy tune,

With his head between his paws

He lies on the sandy shores,

So quiet, so quiet, he scarcely snores.

James Reeves

*’hollos’ : cries or calls used to attract attention or call encouragement

 

 

Part (a)

What picture of the sea do you think the poet creates in this poem?

 

and then Part (b)

 

How does the poet create this picture by the ways he writes about the sea? (18 marks

Now listen to this version

http://youtu.be/yfwbMiZUZ0M

Try out this rap

Figurative Language Rap -
http://youtu.be/yfwbMiZUZ0M

Poetry Essay Tues 5th February

Write about the lyrics of a song and their effect on you; you may wish to include some or all of the following:

• the content of the song; what it is about?
• the ideas the songwriter may have wanted us to think about?
• the mood or the atmosphere of the song?
• how it is written; important words or phrase, the structure and how it is organised?
• your response to the song's lyrics

Welcome to our new blog

Hi Everyone
Welcome to our new blog designed to support you during your final weeks of English; we are going to be focusing on unseen poetry and ensuring you get the best grades possible. The posts that follow are there for you to access at school and at home to aid your revision.

This is a bit mad but again another approach

http://youtu.be/8_86bTL6lsg

another teacher with a different approach to unseen poetry

http://youtu.be/Q0R9App30Yo

Here a link to the audiobook of Of Mice and Men

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atzRqKpyjJE&feature=share&list=PLC206EA96C5CEC91C

Tackling Unseen Poetry

This is a great video which offers a different way of approaching unseen poetry through song lyrics


 http://youtu.be/Ebd-0bjUjZk

Takeaway Teacher

Writing at A*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2Lc6kdoWsA&feature=share&list=PLD7EDBCA65C4AA9FD

General English Revision

Memory Strategies for Revision
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwAK131fnZk&feature=share&list=PLD7EDBCA65C4AA9FD

Purpose of this blog

Over the next few weeks we are going to be revising skills to enable us to engage with and to intepret unseen poetry. This revision does not stop when the lesson ends; it is just beginning- bookmark this website as over the next few weeks it will become your tool to use to revise. Dip in and out of the different tasks and visit some of the links. Hopefully it will be the key to increasing your confidence when tackling the poetry questions. Enjoy...

STRIVE

strive

/strīv/

Verb Make great efforts to achieve or obtain something. Struggle or fight vigorously: "scholars must strive against bias".

Synonyms endeavour - endeavor - struggle - try - fight - aspire When we critique a poem we use STRIVE; it means Subject Theme Rhythm Image Versification Effect

“Sheer Poetry!”

Resources on poetry by the poets themselves.

Sheerpoetry.co.uk is an innovative and constantly changing new UK poetry site.
Sheer Poetry has sections for primary teachers and students, secondary teachers and students, and for university level and the general poetry reader. Here you will find poems, articles, workshops, interviews and essays, question sessions and more, about and by Carol Ann Duffy, Gillian Clarke, Seamus Heaney, Simon Armitage, and others.
http://www.sheerpoetry.co.uk/gcse

This link above is to the Sheer Poetry website where you will find lots of interesting stuff on poetry. I love it and I hope that you will too

Revising for the question on unseen poetry

The link below takes you BBC GCSE Bitesize where you can revise how to write about poetry


 http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature/writingcomparingpoetry/writingabpoetryrev1.shtml

This lesson we will

—Listen to the poem ‘The Highwayman’

—Match examples of poetic techniques from ‘The Highwayman’.

—Learn about syllables and rhyme schemes.

The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes

The poem tells the story of a nameless highwayman who is in love with a landlord's daughter named Bess. Tim, the insanely jealous ostler (stableman), betrays him to the authorities: an action which leads to brutal death for both the lovers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afzmoHOz5AE&feature=related

Rhyme Scheme

 "I'm Late For School"

I got up late for school today,  A 

And nearly missed the bus!  B

I hurried down the stairs,  C

Wolfed my toast, and caused a fuss!  B

I quickly threw books in my bag,  D

My pens, my lunch and shorts.  E

Grabbed my coat from out the cupboard,  F

Took my bat and ball for sports.  E

Syllables

—A unit of sound in a word.
All words have at least one syllable.
Syllables can be just one letter or a group of letters - it's the sound that matters. 

 

  walk, go, home
These words have 1 syllable
happy, birthday, because
These words have 2 syllables

September, underneath, Internet
These words have 3 syllables

Figurative Language

Alliteration	The repetition of usually initial consonant sounds in two or more neighbouring words or syllables .	The wild and woolly walrus waits and wonders when we'll walk by.
Assonance	A resemblance of sound in words or syllables.	Holy & stony  and Ffeet feet sweep by sleeping geese.
Cliche	A word or phrase that has become overly familiar or commonplace.	No pain, no gain. Opposites attract. Break a leg.
Hyperbole	Big exaggeration, usually with humour.	Mile-high ice-cream cones. I am so hungry I could eat a horse.
Metaphor	Comparing two things by using one kind of object or using in place of another to suggest the likeness between them.	Her hair was silk. He was a bull in a china shop.
Onomatopoeia	Naming a thing or an action by imitating the sound associated with it.	Buzz, hiss, roar, woof.
Personification	Giving something human qualities.	The stuffed bear smiled as the little boy hugged him close. The moon crept across the sky.
Simile	A figure of speech comparing two unlike things that is often introduced by like or as.	The sun is like a yellow ball of fire in the sky.