Year 11 GCSE Revision

Here are some practise essay questions. You would be expected to complete these in 40 mins and use textual references to help you. Please do as many as you feel you can and bring to me to mark.

Animals are important in “Of Mice and Men”. Why is this and how does Steinbeck show their importance?

How does Steinbeck present the relationship between George and Lennie in the novel? Write about how George feels about Lennie, how Lennie feels about George, why you think George stays with Lennie and the methods Steinbeck uses to present their relationship.

How does Steinbeck present loneliness and isolation in the novel? Write about characters who are lonely and isolated, why they are lonely and isolated, how Steinbeck’s settings reflect characters’ loneliness and isolation.

How does Steinbeck prepare you for the idea that Curley’s wife’s death is inevitable?

How far do you think Steinbeck presents dreams as futile in “Of Mice and Men”? Write about:
the dreams the characters have
the effects of the dreams on the characters
the extent to which Steinbeck presents the dreams as futile.

Mr Campbell

Hello all,

I hope you are having a lovely holiday and enjoyed the weather yesterday.

As promised, here is a little bit of homework for you. Essentially, I am going to ask all of you to leave one quotation that will be useful for 'Of mice and Men'. You need to write a quotation, explain why it is useful, which characters it may help with and which themes it connects to. I am expecting all of you to contribute, and all of you to write a different quotation. So, the sooner you do it, the easier it will be. We should then have 33 quotations to draw on (I am going to give an example below). To leave your work, simply click 'Add Comment'.

Any other questions or work, please email me.

Don't forget to leave your name after your explanation.

Mr Campbell

Below are three poems that are similar to those likely to appear in your Literature exam. Remember, the question will always take the same format (Write about this poem and its effect on you). I suggest you take some time to write answers to this question and bring them to me so that I can mark them and give you some feedback.

Mr Campbell

As promised, a list of past exam questions from the play. These are the longer questions, worth 20 marks and designed to take 40 minutes to answer. The shorter, extract based questions will be about describing Miller's craft as a playwright.

2005
Either,
(b) Give advice to an actor playing Eddie on how he should present the character to an audience. [20]
Or,
(c) “Loyalty is at the centre of the events of this play.” To what extent do you agree with this statement? [20]

2006
Either,
(b) Show how Catherine’s character changes throughout the play, and explain the reasons for these changes. [20]
Or,
(c) What does the character of Mr. Alfieri contribute to the play as a whole? [20]

2007
Either,
(b) Imagine you are Rodolfo. At the end of the play you think back over what has happened. Write down your thoughts and feelings. Remember how Rodolfo would speak when you write your answer. [20]
Or,
(c) To what extent can Eddie be blamed for his own death? [20]

2008
Either,
(b) For which character in A View From The Bridge do you have the most sympathy? Explain how Arthur Miller’s presentation of your chosen character creates sympathy for him or her. [20]
Or,
(c) Give advice to an actor playing Marco on how he should present the character to an audience. [20]

If you write an answer to any of these (which I strongly suggest you do) I will mark it and give you some feedback.

Mr Campbell

A good source of information on characters, plot and thematic ideas for the novel:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature/prosemicemen/

A good place to visit for plot overviews, character discussions and themes for the play:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature/dramaviewbridge/

These are rather lengthy and difficult to navigate but they contain some important, useful information regarding the ways that your papers will be marked, the sorts of information that you need to make sure you know before the exam as well as the format of your exams. This informs the lessons that we do but if you wanted to see the information in its entirety, unadulterated format, here it is:

English GCSE Specification:

http://www.wjec.co.uk/uploads/publications/2178.pdf

English Literature GCSE Specification:

http://www.wjec.co.uk/uploads/publications/2180.pdf

Follow the link below to find a plethora of non-fiction pieces by Polly Toynbee of 'The Guardian'. She has a wonderful tone and often writes about interesting things; a new article will be posted by her every week. If you were feeling daring, you could always check out some of the other columnists too.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Archive/0,5673,-25,0.html

Hello lovely Y11s.

This blog is, quite simply, a way to pool all of our resources in preperation for your GCSE English exams. I know how much you all love the internet and I believe that using ideas here will offer a fresh revision resource to be used in conjunction with the other revision exercises that I set for you. I will, periodically, be asking you to contribute something to the blog: essays, quotation banks, ideas or useful websites. I will also post things of interest up here for you to use; I hope this proves a valuable aid for you as you approach the exam period.

Mr Campbell