English literature revision day: 1 st

April (to be referred to as the best day of the holidays from 2nd april)

What would atticus do? He’d revise

Name:Target grade:

Unit 1: Understanding Prose: Other Cultures and Literary Heritage

AO4: Relate texts to their social, cultural and historical contexts; explain how texts have been influential and significant to self, and other readers in different contexts and at different times.

‘To Kill a Mockingbird’

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Harper Lee was born in Monroeville, Alabama, a sleepy, small town similar to Maycomb. Her father was a lawyer, like Atticus, and her good friend, Truman Capote, was the inspiration for the character of Dill. However, she insists To Kill a Mockingbird is not intended to portray her own childhood town but rather a nonspecific Southern town. ‘People are people anywhere you put them’, she said in a 1961 interview. After leaving Monroeville in her twenties, she later returned and still lives there now.

In 1931, when Lee was five, nine young black men were accused of raping two white women near Scottsboro, Alabama. The ‘Scottsboro Case’ ended with five of the men being sentenced to long prison terms. It was suspected that the women were lying as their claims became more and more dubious when the men appealed. This was a highly publicised trial that undoubtedly influenced Lee’s story.

Lee moved to New York in the mid-1950s and finished To Kill a Mockingbird by 1957. It was published in 1960, just before the peak of the Civil Rights Movement. It became a huge success and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961, selling over 15 million copies.

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To Kill a Mockingbird references President Roosevelt’s famous claim that, 'The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself’.

The abolition of slavery in 1865 had significant economic effects on many whites in the south. Most black people living in the south still worked in service or manual labour jobs but now they had to be paid.

Despite this impactful change to their rights, blacks were still segregated from whites by ‘Jim Crow’ laws.

Black men were seen by many as sexual predators, not to be trusted around white women.

The Wall Street Crash in 1929 made worse the declining economic situation in the Southern states. Agriculture and cotton trading in particular had become less profitable in the decade before. Through the 1930s many were living in poverty with many seeing their household incomes halved.

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Having less food, fewer clothes and little money, rural Alabamians ceased going to school, church and other social functions.

Attempts were made to reform education in the 1920s and 1930s, addressing illiteracy and chronic underfunding. Local jurisdictions gave white schools the bulk of school funds and greatly reduced the already inadequate funds for black schools.

There was a stark contrast in support for rural teachers and systems compared to those in the cities.

In 1918, Comer, the ‘education governor’, set compulsory school attendance until age 16 for all children. Opponents argued that education was wasted on blacks but Comer disagreed.

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Exam questions often ask you to explore the importance of a character, theme or event. Could you write in depth about all of these?

The importance of the character of Mrs Dubose The importance of the character Mayella Ewell The significance of the setting of the novel The importance of the character of Calpurnia The significance of the black church The importance of the school/ education

Obvious choices are the theme of morality and justice; the characters of Atticus, Scout and Bob Ewell; the importance of Tom Robinson’s trial but these have all been past questions. They could reappear with slightly different wording but it is more likely that something new will be used.

AO4 is worth 24 out of the 40 marks available for this question (before SPaG). The influence of the context for both the setting and the publication needs to be your priority.

Choose one of the topics above and write a detailed answer that references the context in EVERY paragraph.

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AO1: Respond to texts critically and imaginatively; select and evaluate relevant textual detail to illustrate and support interpretations.

‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ AND ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’

To paraphrase, AO1 is just good quality writing that explores interesting ideas.

‘Critically’ – a chance to show you know what you are talking about. You are emerging critical readers; you don’t just read a book, remark what a lovely story it was, and put it back on the shelf; you interpret, infer and analyse!

‘Imaginatively’ – there isn’t really an expectation here that you discover things in either text that no-one has ever thought of before, but, examiners want to see that you are capable of exploring a text using your own ideas, linking them together to form a coherent and INTERESTING line of argument. They do not want to see the same learnt phrases over and over again (they will mark hundreds of these papers). Yes, use everything I have told you, everything other students have discussed and everything you have read yourself but weave it together in a way that best explores the question on the day and avoid trying to make everything you have learnt ‘fit’.

‘Select and evaluate relevant textual detail’ – NO QUOTES = NO MARKS!

Quotes have to be relevant. By all means learn a few ‘key’ quotations to save you leafing through the book, but make sure they ‘illustrate and support interpretations’. Even if the examiner doesn’t fully agree with your point, if it is supported, they have to award the quality of the interpretation and how well you have supported it.

‘Evaluate’ – Please, please, PLEASE avoid making a point, throwing a quote in to show that you are right and then moving on. Use a quotation to support your idea and then further

explore the quotation in more detail. What is there in the quote that is worth discussing? If nothing useful, you’ve chosen a dud, or your brain is switched off.

How do you guarantee marks for AO1?

PLAN! ‘I never plan’ is not a good enough response to this. Plan:

Your main ideas and the order you will use them in For To Kill a Mockingbird, what references to context you will use What quotations you will use to support your ideas Your conclusion: what are you actually trying to say? Decide before you have

rambled on for two pages with no sense of direction.

Getting started will be much easier once these things are in place.

Extracts from answers that received full marks in previous years:

Mockingbird Q: How is Tom Robinson significant?

This answer isn’t ‘perfect’; even A* answers can be improved, but both AO1 and AO4 are addressed. All points are made clearly, are supported with relevant textual references and are made with significant consideration of contextual factors.

Can you justify this answer getting full marks? Identify where AO1 and AO4 have been met.

Tom Robinson is a very significant character in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. Firstly, he can be seen as a metaphoric mockingbird. Towards the end of the novel when we hear of Tom’s death, we are reminded of Miss Maudie’s words, ‘Mockingbirds don’t do one thing, but make sweet music for us to enjoy’. Tom is proved innocent in the trial by Atticus but is convicted of the rape of a white girl. As the story is based in the 1930s, the reason behind the conviction is that Tom is black. The huge amount of racial prejudice against African-Americans in the Southern states of America at this time has led to Harper Lee recreating the injustice of these times. As a child, Harper Lee experienced the Scottsboro trial which convicted nine black men of the rape of two white women. This real story has been the inspiration of the novel and Harper Lee expresses the injustice of both trials (for the nine men were proved innocent after their deaths) with the extended metaphor of the mockingbird. Tom Robinson has not done a thing wrong and still ends up dying, which leads the reader to think his murder is like shooting a mockingbird.

‘Jekyll and Hyde’ Q: How is the character of Utterson presented in this extract?

Again, not ‘perfect’, and certainly lacking in some sophistication of phrasing but this question (a) is only marked for AO1. Can you justify the mark?

Another opportunity to write! Past paper from January 2013, questions a, b and c. Question a – AO1, question b – AO2, question c – AO1 AND AO2

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Utterson is a very polite man. After seeing Jekyll one of his first instincts is to introduce his cousin Enfield. He is also only after the best for his friends. He tells Jekyll to come outside and ‘whip up the circulation’, in the hopes it might make him feel better.

To add to this pleasant character, he says everything in a ‘good nature’, which is an excellent quality that his friends respect about him.

We know Utterson as a popular character when Jekyll says he’s ‘very glad to see him’, and we can tell Jekyll is honestly disappointed he can’t be outside with them.

Although a polite character, Utterson likes to influence people’s choices. He, more forcefully, tells Jekyll to ‘come now’ and ‘get his hat’. These imperatives showing a more forceful side of Utterson.

His good mood soon changes when he turns ‘pale’ with ‘horror in his eyes’ after witnessing the account at the window. Asking God to ‘forgive (him)’ shows Utterson is a wary man who perhaps feels he shouldn’t have witnessed what he has.

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UNIT 2: Understanding Poetry: Unseen poem and anthology poems

AO2: Explain how language, structure and form contribute to writers’ presentation of ideas, themes and settings.

The order of importance of the things you need to think about before you start writing about the unseen poem:

Meaning of the poem

Ideas thoughts and feelings presented

Language techniques that contribute to the presentation of the meaning, ideas, thoughts and feelings

Structural devices that contribute to the presentation of the meaning, ideas, thoughts and feelings

How these devices impact on the reader’s interpretation

Remember, analysis and evaluation of the effects of language and structure only mean something if you understand the overall meaning of the poem. If you don’t understand the main feelings, ideas and themes, how can you even begin to work out what the effects of specific parts are? Don’t rush in – think.

Vernon Scannell presents memories of his friends in a cheerful fashion at first. However towards the end of the poem, the attitude and feelings become more depressing and the reader feels saddened.

In the first two stanzas, Scannell presents joyful images through the use of similes and metaphors: ‘street lamps spilled pools of liquid gold’ and ‘stars were strung on the telegraph wires’ are two lines from the poem that seem to only come from a child’s thoughts. Scannell is describing his thoughts as a child when he would visit the orchard with his friends. The use of the word ‘gold’ represents wealth or treasure. Scannell would have thought that the apples were like treasure to him and his friends.

The next four stanzas incorporate caesura. ‘The clusters on the lower boughs of the tree were easy to reach. We stowed the fruit in the pockets of our jerseys.’ The poet has purposefully used caesura to add an irregular mood towards the poem as a whole, even though the poem is structured in a childlike ABAB rhyming pattern. In the first stanza, the rhyming pattern is childish and simple. But as the poem continues and structure becomes more complex, it may represent growing up.

Focus on question

Understanding of content/ ideas

Language, structure and form

Evidence

In the PPE exams, this student showed in the introduction that they understood the tone of the poem and the feelings presented. All subsequent ideas were based on this understanding. They have explained how the language, form and structure contribute to the meaning.

The Anthology Poems: Clashes and Collisions

Remember you answer two questions here: one that focuses on a named poem and another that compares the named poem to another poem (you choose whether you write about another named poem or to choose your own).

Section 2 Question (a)

AO2: Explain how language, structure and form contribute to writers’ presentation of ideas, themes and settings.

Section 2 Question (b)

AO3: Make comparisons and explain links between texts, evaluating writers’ different ways of expressing meaning and achieving effects.

To do:

Know the poems really well. Make sure your notes sheets are filled in for each one and revise: key themes, ideas and feelings; language features used and their effect; structural devices used and their effect.

Why is each poem in this collection? What is the clash or collision? Sometimes it’s a clash in lifestyle or thinking, sometimes it’s a jarring of content and the way it is presented. Make sure you understand how each poem presents this overarching theme.

Make connections between poems that compare ideas, themes, feelings, language, structure and form. How are they similar or different? Be prepared for the final question.

Try…

Making a grid to show where these similarities and differences are:

Hitcher

Exposure

Catrin

August 6, 1945

Parade’s End

Half- Caste

Cousin Kate

Your Dad did what?

Conscientious Objector

The Drum

O What is That Sound

Invasion

Belfast Confetti

Our Sharpe-ville

The Class Game

Death * * * * * * * * *War * * * * * * *Prejudice

Power

Innocence

Making a colourful mind map that links all of the poems together.

Testing your knowledge with a partner with games like ‘Name the poem’, ‘What’s the clash?’ and ‘Identify the technique’.

Unseen poem question:

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Section 2 Question (a) AO2:

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Section 2 Question (b) AO3:

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