How effective are they and why are they included? Setting - What does the setting offer to the piece of prose? You might be asked simply to “respond” to the text or perhaps to “perform a close reading”. Firstly, do not worry about the fact that it is a piece of unseen prose. 6. ( Log Out /  Which bits don’t you understand? Farming is always a chancy business, but in west-era Kansas its practitioners consider themselves “born gamblers,” for they must contend with an extremely shallow precipitation (the annual average is eighteen inches) and anguishing irrigation problems. So where does the disruption make itself noticed in this extract? In your examination you will be asked to analyse and evaluate an unseen nineteenth-century prose extract. What is the effect? I’m their. Currently I am achieving a grade 5 on my assesments. Teaching the new GCSE English language unseen prose extract – some strategies January 31, 2016 ~ markrobertsteach Last time I wrote about some of the common problems pupils face when faced with an unseen prose extract. Change ). Here are two exemplar unseen poetry essays, at GCSE standard, based upon Section C of the AQA English Literature Exam (June 2017). Quite rightly, this flawed theory has taken a bit of a kicking over the years. Hopefully this is useful stuff. Your teacher will give you reading activities which you can carry out on your own, in pairs or in larger groups. Equilibrium is in place. Are they intrusive or an excluded narrator? Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. So I now give them a post-it and ask them to imagine they’ve just got this extract in an exam. How does the author use punctuation? Are there any links between sections? You will be asked to develop your own opinions on the subject of the text and justify these with appropriate evidence. Does that mean the title is straightforward or ironic? 3. But I find it really useful precisely because it has big gaping holes in it. Next up is my old mate Todorov, with his much-maligned theory of narrative stages. Are there any descriptive sections? They raise cattle and sheep, grow wheat, milo, grass seed, and sugar beets. And that, really, is all. I need some help with how to write a good essay that will guarantee me to get at least a grade 9 on my english lit and language papers. I’ve used classic fairy tales and The Gruffalo before, as well as episodes of The Simpsons or even Thomas the bloody Tank Engine. Most pupils will spot that we are dealing with an everyday, run-of-the-mill, down-at-heel (insert cliché of your choice) kinda place. The farm ranchers in Finney County, of which Holcomb is a part, have done well; money has been made not from farming alone but also from the exploitation of plentiful natural-gas resources, and its acquisition is reflected in the new school, the comfortable interiors of the farmhouses, the steep and swollen grain elevators. Home Economics: Food and Nutrition (CCEA). CIE Unseen texts often come with very few instructions. You’re right: ‘Until one morning in mid-November of 1959, few American – in fact, few Kansans – had ever heard of Holcomb.’ Now this is not giving the game away. But as a general rule, it’s a good idea to start simple when introducing Todorov. Todorov’s theory is meant to deal with whole texts, so, given that unseens are usually openings, we are only usually dealing with stages 1 and/or 2. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. There’s no explosion gone off, nobody has been shot or had their wife leave them. I patiently explain that it’s ok to use + and – as general categories as long as we are then going to refine our categories into more precise emotions (anxiety, joy, relief, anticipation etc. Where and when do we think this might have been set? I ask the class to highlight positive and negative words/phrases at which point some clever dick shouts out ‘But sir, you banned us from using ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ in this classroom at the start of Year 10!’. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. You can also stick some narrative hook stuff in here. What is the structure of the extract? An essay at this level: - shows effective writing skills - is well organized and well developed - uses details clearly and properly to support a thesis or illustrate ideas - displays consistent ability in the use of language - demonstrates variety in sentence structure and proper word choice. Farm ranchers, most of them, they are outdoor folk of very varied stock – German, Irish, Norwegian, Mexican, Japanese. Here are some questions which may guide your reading of any extract: Our team of exam survivors will get you started and keep you going. I used to tell the group to read the extract and then ask ‘Any questions? Sign in, choose your GCSE subjects and see content that's tailored for you. I feel so left out because everyone else in m class knows how to write a solid essay that ensures them their targets and the sad thing is I am in the higher set. Next we do little creative writing exercises, such as write the opening line to The Collector. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. What style of language and form is adopted by the writer? It allows pupils to spot the times when it works and comment on the times when it really doesn’t. )when we answer the question. Because we have clearly jumped straight past Equilibrium and have landed on Disruption… unless you are going to argue that in the seedy, dog-eat-dog world that Hale inhabits a possible assassination passes for Equilibrium. Thanks for reading. The depot itself, with its peeling sulphur-colored paint, is equally melancholy; the Chief, the Super-Chief, the El Capitan go by every day, but these celebrated expresses never pause there. Unseen is relatively straightforward if you break it down in to five main parts: Narrative - Who the narrator is, are they in the first, second or third person? Revision notes for students studying unseen prose as part of CCEA GCSE English Language. Do they seem to complement or contradict each other? No passenger trains do – only an occasional freight. And that’s all you need. Up on the highway, there are two filling stations, one of which doubles as a meagerly supplied grocery store, while the other does extra duty as a cafe – Hartman’s Cafe, where Mrs. Hartman, the proprietress, dispenses sandwiches, coffee, soft drinks, and 3 .2 beer. We then share ideas as a group and feedback as a class. Until one morning in mid-November of 1959, few American – in fact, few Kansans – had ever heard of Holcomb. with english literature, you need to make sure that you have a good structure to your essay and are able to order your points in a clear and coherent way. We then start to notice that there is usually a lot more of one category than the other and see if we can link that back to the title/opening line. Interesting conversations like this crop up: Student B: But ‘united’ can just mean being together. What narrative style is used? Unless you include, as one must, the Holcomb School, a good-looking establishment, which reveals a circumstance that the appearance of the community otherwise camouflages: that the parents who send their children to this modern and ably staffed “consolidated” school – the grades go from kindergarten through senior high, and a fleet of buses transport the students, of which there are usually around three hundred and sixty, from as far as sixteen miles away – are, in general, a prosperous people. After that we start to look at whole extracts, in terms of tone/atmosphere/mood (thanks to @MrsAMinett for pointing out that I’d missed this pretty vital ingredient of an unseen off my last list). Revision notes for students studying unseen prose as part of CCEA GCSE English Language. Based on the book Oranges are not the only fruit by Jeanette Winterson. What is the tone and mood of the extract? The next thing that I’m working on involves archetypes. Get them to write a paragraph and explain why. I promised a few of my teaching ideas to try and deal with this and here they are: At the early stages, you’ll obviously want to ease your class into dealing with unseen prose extracts. Like the waters of the river, like the motorists on the highway, and like the yellow trains streaking down the Santa Fe tracks, drama, in the shape of exceptional happenings, had never stopped there. In your examination you will be asked to analyse and evaluate an unseen nineteenth-century prose extract. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. This can be worrying if you are not really sure what the examiner or interviewer is expecting. Read about our approach to external linking. Your main focus should be to understand the themes/viewpoints of the extract and then to identify and analyse the writer’s craft. 5. Anyway, let’s have a look at an extract from In Cold Blood and see if all this is any use: Down by the depot, the postmistress, a gaunt woman who wears a rawhide jacket and denims and cowboy boots, presides over a falling-apart post office. But there’s a distinct feeling of something unsettling taking place to upset the natural order. Then we compare their versions with the real thing, at which point they have the chance to reconsider whether they actual story will match their initial list of connotations. ( Log Out /  However, the last seven years have been years of droughtless beneficence. Any confusing vocab? What is the significance of ending the extract at this point? Let’s now look at the opening line to Brighton Rock: ‘Hale knew, before he had been in Brighton three hours, that they meant to murder him.’. Then we look at opening lines and title together. Here are some examples of fiction writers from the 19th century who, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Home Economics: Food and Nutrition (CCEA). Examine the way that Winterson shapes meanings. MARK ROBERTS – Mainly writing about teaching English and teaching boys. You are being asked to perform a skill called practical criticism. Being unified. Last time I wrote about some of the common problems pupils face when faced with an unseen prose extract. etc.’ I’d make it clear that there were no daft questions/responses at this point but still I’d tend to get the more confident kids raising issues and asking the right kind of questions. And then things start to get very interesting. You’ll obviously want to stamp down hard on the phrase ‘It make makes the reader want to read on’. Student C: Yes, but when ‘united’ is abbreviated to ‘Utd’ that’s always football – like in Man Utd. Sign in, choose your GCSE subjects and see content that's tailored for you. 4. Read about our approach to external linking. (Holcomb, like all the rest of Kansas, is “dry.”). That’s for another day though. ( Log Out /  ( Log Out /  How is character developed in the extract? ‘The Emigrée’ by Carol Rumens – A Guide (AQA Power & Conflict poetry), Falling to pieces: common mistakes with AQA Language Paper 1 – Q3 Structure, I Only Have Eyes For You: Themes of perception in GCSE English literature. Yes. An unseen prose example answer created by a student in time conditions and marked by teachers, that received 21/25. Is there an. Look carefully at the title and the introduction to the extract as important information and guidance may be given. The essays were written by a student (aged 16) in exam conditions, taking approximately 40 minutes to complete. Here are some examples of fiction writers from the 19th century who may be used in your examination: Our team of exam survivors will get you started and keep you going. The poems written about are Alan Bold's 'Autumn' and Billy Collins' 'Today' and attained full marks. How does the extract end?