Practice Exams Jan 2014

Paper 2: What went well?

Student perspective Max: time management, well-prepared, able to plan Anthony: well prepared Carrie: time management, pre-mocks helped Linda: improvement in time management, pre-mocks helped, quote preparation Dylan: preparation, ideas and relationships between them Sie: pre-mock, questions werent too intimidating Claire: remembered some quotes, finished Miranda: finished Gonen: followed thesis, didnt get distracted, finished Ryan: time management

Paper 2: What went well?

FMRs perspective

Everyone made good question selection Introductions in response to the question were generally very strong Most people used CPAM in their introductions Most people used topic sentences strategically Quotes, when used, were well integrated

 Beautiful language use (Criterion E) Strong knowledge esp. The Things they Carried
Characterization of male soldiers Use of representative female figures Post-modern narrative approach Juxtaposition of war as both brutal and beautiful in The Things they Carried

Conclusions that returned to question and showed a new level of understanding

Paper 2: What do we need to work on?

Working more detailed language analysis into our responses Confidence with a range of different essay questions Developing more effective structure within paragraphs, synthesising ideas at the ends of paragraphs Time management (ensuring that we finish and have time to proofread) Developing ideas in response to the question Using more quotes / quote weaving Addressing the question more explicitly

Paper 2: How and when will we do this? HOW:

FMR to assign parts of the texts we should re-visit and re-read Find our more context information More content beyond the representation of women More practice papers

WHEN:
Cram in last internal assessments After school sessions

Paper 1: What went well?

You drew upon your prior knowledge of war (if texts A and B chosen) Most students identified CPAM in introduction Explicit reference to genre in most introductions Clear thesis statement Time management Comparison and contrast of the two texts throughout essays with good balanced treatment of texts Ideas were well explained with use of supporting evidence More language analysis than in Paper 2 Clear sense of purpose evident in understanding of the texts

Paper 1: What do we need to work on?

Evaluating the thesis statement against the purpose of the texts, (ie: would a Time Out review be offering a social critique of attitudes to war?) Working with tone and subtleties within a text Always making connections between the elements of CPAM throughout the essay Drawing connections between language devices to look for patterns in a text so as to comment on tone, atmosphere etc. Continuing to work on a range of different genre, especially visual texts

How and when will we do this?

Weekly packets of love After class tutorials Class time with visual texts and various genres drawn from the media (perfect fit for Part II the final section of the course)