Helping with English First Language + Literature

[tempz]

If anyone needs any help just post here and I will try my best to help you.

 

[Asad]

YES, OF COURSE!
Starting from the beginning...
i need help in gudided writing. How many genres are there in total and what can i do to do well in them!
For the description question q2 of paper 2 Eng lang. Is there any way to do good in that?
and for the last composition part.. any advice?

 

[tempz]

YES, OF COURSE!
Starting from the beginning...
i need help in gudided writing. How many genres are there in total and what can i do to do well in them!
For the description question q2 of paper 2 Eng lang. Is there any way to do good in that?
and for the last composition part.. any advice?

Well for the Descriptive question the trick is to highlight key words in the text that the question is asking about and try and focus on what they mean and how this helps portray the writers emotions. In the mark scheme for that question it states a series of keywords that must be referenced to secure a top grade so you should try and cover every single word you can find that relates to the question. Here is an example question to help:

2 Re-read the descriptions of:
(a) Signor Alessandro’s enjoyment of the curry in paragraph 1;
(b) the traffic jam in paragraph 3.
[Total: 20]
Select words and phrases from these descriptions, and explain how the writer has created effects by using this language.

Without me having done the question I can already say that in part (a) you would need to write down all the words that relate to the 'curry' as well as Alessandro's 'enjoyment', this means emotive words and say how they make him feel.
For part (b) you would need to write down words that relate to the traffic jam so this time you would look at the picture the writer is creating and how the words are helping to make this effective.

My advice is to write down all the words that relate to the question on a rough piece of paper first then find out how they 'create effects' as the question says.

 

[tempz]

YES, OF COURSE!
Starting from the beginning...
i need help in gudided writing. How many genres are there in total and what can i do to do well in them!
For the description question q2 of paper 2 Eng lang. Is there any way to do good in that?
and for the last composition part.. any advice?

In reply to your other question my advice for the composition is to go for the Narrative Writing question as it always tends to be the most open for interpretation. You can try the argumentative question but bear in mind that this requires extensive knowledge of the topics the question invites you to talk about. The Descriptive Question is difficult to do well as you need to write concisely and in depth on once single point at a time and often people end up wandering from one unclear point to the next. To do this question well you need to use effects such as time lapse, description of character and have an interesting storyline. If you just think of interesting books or films you should be able to come up with an interesting topic for the narrative writing that will get you a good mark. Bear in mind for all composition questions your grammar and spelling must be very accurate with little/no mistakes as this is a First Language exam.

 

[Asad]

And for the genres?
A letter, Diary Entry, Article, Dialogue writing, News report .. and?

 

[burndtjamb]

Do you know any effective ways of revising for English Literature? There just seems to be so much content in the books I don't really know where to start aside from re-reading them :/ (I'm doing The Great Gatsby and Death of a Salesman)

 

[AnnoyingCarrot123]

I Also Take IGCSE Literature... But different stories
You must read the stories + at least know briefly about it.

 

[tempz]

Do you know any effective ways of revising for English Literature? There just seems to be so much content in the books I don't really know where to start aside from re-reading them :/ (I'm doing The Great Gatsby and Death of a Salesman)

For the English Literature exam there are three available questions,
- Passage Based [REQ.]
- General [REQ.]
- Empathic (Only on prose + play)

You are required to do 1 general and 1 passage question and you can then choose another. For the Great Gatsby my advice is to read through key moments in the text (your teacher should have told you these) and read through them and find out the underlying themes. A recurring theme in Gatsby is the 'American Dream' and how it is far less perfect than we imagine. This is the best way to do a general question, to talk about major themes in the novel.

For the passage question you simply have to know the novel, there is no evading it. The question will give a passage and ask you to talk about it, for this you will be required to highlight specific words from the passage as well as phrases and say what they mean and how they convey a characters emotions.

 

[burndtjamb]

Thanks for answering my last question . I was revising the poems today (from Songs of Ourselves) and there was one line in "Time" by Allen Curnow that really has me stumped. I don't really know what the poet is trying to say with this line. If you don't know the poem here is a link to it: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 734AAMXDdK

The line I am having trouble with is "So do they the measurable world resist"

 

[tempz]

Thanks for answering my last question . I was revising the poems today (from Songs of Ourselves) and there was one line in "Time" by Allen Curnow that really has me stumped. I don't really know what the poet is trying to say with this line. If you don't know the poem here is a link to it: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 734AAMXDdK

The line I am having trouble with is "So do they the measurable world resist"

I have not studied that anthology but I have found an excerpt that talks about the themes of the poem in general which is what you have to talk about.

The poem "Time" is in the first person. Here "Time" speaks for itself. Thus the poem is time's autobiography. Time is everywhere. It is in the northwest monsoon blowing through the pine forests. It is a dynamic like the racing water and static like the unused rails on which trainsdon't run. It is also static dynamic like the mileage written on yellow boards. Thus time keeps others moving towards their destinations, though static itself in the form of a mileage board.


Time is the dust which fills the entire road. It is like lupine found along beach. It is what keeps the class going-the sums taught by the teacher in-charge of a class. It is like the cows about the yield milk and the music of the magpie. It marks the beginning of work in a clean office. Its activity is seen when belts are fitted to machine noisily. The smell emanating from the machines at work, indicate time in full swing. Time keeps the lovers busy talking and thus it is compared to a park.


Whenever children remember heard tunes or when haunting melodies are remembered time is at work. Even the sawmill represents times activity. When the car driver applies the second gear, it is because he wants to hurry, as he is conscious of time.


But, time which dominates all worldly activities really is beyond all these. It is a huge force and all these wordly activities are like a mist in a mountain. The world is measurable, but time is immeasurable transcendental. Time is also memory. It is because of time that we remember everything. Time does not consciously carry man. It is like an island, offering man living place. It is like man's father and friend. Everything obeys time. In fact time is the alpha and the omega, of existence.


The poem is in the form of an address, where time addresses man. Time is a force, simultaneously passive and dynamic. It is all pervasive. It is a life-driving force. If there is no time, there is no existence.

 

[burndtjamb]

Thanks that was really helpful! I had some of those ideas already but it was hard to condense them into an organised form like that. Do you have summaries like that for the other IGCSE poems from Songs of Ourselves?

 

[brainstorm1]

My teacher always tells me to write about the historical/social and econmoically backgrounds about the given text in LIT. Use critical theories and expand on them. PPE (point evidence explanation) and think bout wat techniques the writer use to make the text wat it is. Characterisation, plot, themes language and structure are also important. Memories 2-3 good quotes for each character and revise what i ve mentioned and you shud b good
The texts i ve studied for this upcoming lit exam are 'Of mice and men' by Steinbeck and 'An inspector calls' by Priestley.