JC English- answer length

Thatguy97

So, I have my mock exams in a few weeks. I'd like an A in English but have a major query; answer length. I am aware that English is about quality over quantity (as are all subjects), but if I wrote only one A4 for Personal Writing, surely my answer wouldn't suffice. I understand also that people's handwriting differ in size. As a general guideline, how much should I write for each section of the exam (Paper 1 & Paper 2)? Any replies would be greatly appreciated!!

Grian1

For personal writing I would write around 3/4 pages. Quality is the most important here. Usually if there's 30 marks I'd write 3 pages or 15 marks 1.5 pages. This is A4 page. But always write more and spend more time on studied stuff than unseen.

Bazinga_N

Thatguy97 wrote: »

So, I have my mock exams in a few weeks. I'd like an A in English but have a major query; answer length. I am aware that English is about quality over quantity (as are all subjects), but if I wrote only one A4 for Personal Writing, surely my answer wouldn't suffice. I understand also that people's handwriting differ in size. As a general guideline, how much should I write for each section of the exam (Paper 1 & Paper 2)? Any replies would be greatly appreciated!!

In my opinion writing pages and pages for every question is ridiculous and a complete waste of time! Personally I do the following:

Paper One:
Comprehension - 1-2 pages (PQE per question and you should be fine!)
Personal Writing - 3-4 pages (quality is extremely important as well!)
Functional Writing - 1-2 pages
Media Studies - 1-2 pages

Paper Two
Drama - 2-4 pages (For question 1 & 2)
Poetry - 2-4 pages
Fiction - 2-4 pages

Honestly not more than this is needed! There's no point in doing pages and pages of work when all you need is a couple of pages to show off the skills you have to the examiner

Best of Luck

Leinsterr

Comprehension should be 2 pages.
Personal Writing should be at least 3 pages.
Functional writing is 1.5 pages.
Media Studies is 2 pages.

3 pages (1.5 pages per subsection) for Drama, Poetry and Fiction.

Grian1 wrote: »

But always write more and spend more time on studied stuff than unseen.

This is wrong. Spend 30 mins in each section. Since you should know the prepared section really well as it is PREPARED, spend exactly 27 mins on unprepared and 23 mins on prepared. This is coming from someone who got an A in the junior cert last year. Good luck

Grian1

Leinsterr wrote: »

This is wrong. Spend 30 mins in each section. Since you should know the prepared section really well as it is PREPARED, spend exactly 27 mins on unprepared and 23 mins on prepared. This is coming from someone who got an A in the junior cert last year. Good luck

My English teacher said to write more on Studied than Unseen because you know more about it.

MomijiHime

I don't write by pages but by points.. for every 5 marks write a point (not including intro and conclusion.) Seen and unseen stuff are worth the same amount of points so you should spend the same amount of time on them. For the essay- it's worth the most marks so you should spend the most time on it (40-50 mins). With that time you should be able to write about 2 1/2 A4 pages