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English help!!

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  • 18-03-2014 10:04pm
    #1
    onethreefive
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,799 ✭✭✭


    Hi!,
    I got my mocks back and in English I got a C1 and I am really upset by this. I thought it was my best subject!

    Can anyone give me advice on how to improve this? I really need advice for improving my marks on both papers!

    Thanks!


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    #2
    d1234
    Registered Users Posts: 594 ✭✭✭d1234


    Hi there!

    My advice is to keep writing. That really is the only way that you can improve. Get someone you know to have a look at it and it would be even better if it was an English teacher as they could give you some direction. With most teachers I know, they will never turn away a student who is willing to learn or improve.

    I would also be making some good concise notes. Have these so that you could get these through easily in 30 mins before your exam.

    Don't learn any samples or essays. Complete waste of time. Perhaps though think about what you could write for an essay or report/speech etc if they come up.

    There are also some great vocab resources available online. Why not pick out some words or phrases which are general but could be applied to many cases.

    Also - don't be solely relying on Heaney or whoever to come up. Make sure you know at least five poets works.

    Most importantly - 1) Answer the question asked.
    2) Watch your timing.

    Best of luck and hope that all will go well for you in June!!


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    #3
    thelad95
    Registered Users Posts: 7,812 ✭✭✭thelad95


    A thesaurus is your friend especially when practicing paper 1. For example these 2 sentences have the exact same meaning but which would impress an examiner more?

    1. By indirectly helping Macbeth to overthrow the throne, Banquo was guilty of being a traitor in a way.

    2. By inadvertedly acquiescing in Macbeths unlawful usurpation of the throne, Banquo was guilty of a type of treasonous inaction.

    Also instead of just learning one generic summary of a poem, look at a number of themes and images from poems. Also make loads of comments about poets style in your answers i.e. the way a poem is written devices used etc.

    Also, keep practicing paper 1 essay questions. I would highly recommend you avoid short stories as they are very difficult to achieve full marks on and most students just make a mess of them.


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    #4
    spurious
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 27,140 CMod ✭✭✭✭spurious


    You should also look at where you are losing your marks.


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    #5
    shedu
    Registered Users Posts: 34 ✭shedu


    Are you familiar with the PCLM 30/30/30/10 marking scheme?


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    #6
    onethreefive
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,799 ✭✭✭onethreefive


    Hi all,

    Thanks for the replies! I'm not really sure about the marking scheme apart from there is marks for mechanics etc.

    I'm going to start doing extra essays whenever I have the time and handing them up! I really want a B3


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    #7
    Mr Pseudonym
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,237 ✭✭✭Mr Pseudonym


    shedu wrote: »
    Are you familiar with the PCLM 30/30/30/10 marking scheme?

    Here's a pretty good video of a summary of PCLM given by a teacher in the Institute.


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    #8
    onethreefive
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,799 ✭✭✭onethreefive


    Thanks a million! Hopefully this is what I am missing!


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    #9
    Mr Pseudonym
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,237 ✭✭✭Mr Pseudonym


    If you have a look at the Marking Schemes (last year's), what Hogan said about the questions having multiple aspects is reinforced. In my experience, there are always at least two. Wherever a corrector sees where a part of the question has been addressed, they will mark it with a specific initialism (for instance, "Effective Imagery" may be coded EI). It is, therefore, really easy, when they're deciding the marks, to see how often the student addressed the question and how balanced the treatment of the aspects of it was. As part of my study, I took every Single Text question from the last few years (including those of the texts I wasn't doing) and tried to identify what the marking scheme stressed.


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