Revision sessions

1. Revision sessions Session 2

2. Session Two • Session two is on Q2 of your first Literature paper. • Your first session was on Q1. • In Q1 – you answer BOTH part A and B of one question on your short stories. You have about twenty minutes on each question.

3. Session Two • Question 2 • Question 2 is either based on TKAM or OM and M. • There are two parts for this question and they are both worth 15 marks each. • Again you should aim to spend about twenty minutes writing on each question.

4. Generic skills for BOTH texts. • Although you have studied different texts, the skills you need to demonstrate are the same and you are assessed with the same mark scheme. In Question A – to secure an A/A*, you must: • Identify language devices used in your extract and comment on their effect in relation to the question. • Write in a lot of depth about the impact of single words etc – e.g. Write a lot about a little. • Evaluate the impact of the devices used.

5. Top Tips • 1. Stay focused on the question – your topic sentences throughout the body of your response need to relate back to the question and must include precise wording from your question. • 2. Identify and name the devices you are going to comment on – e.g. Lee’s use of imagery in this line helps to convey..... • 3. Use phrases such as “could”/ “might” show to show that you are exploring a range of different ideas. • 4. EXPLODE evidence on your extract to save time and use this to help you write your response. • 5. Aim to comment on THREE devices in depth.

6. Read your extracts • 1. Read your question and extracts. • 2. Decide on which three pieces of evidence you are going to use. • 3. Explode these pieces of evidence making sure your notes on this quote link to the question. • 4. Use these explosions to have a go at writing about ONE device. Aim to produce an A* exemplar paragraph. • 5. Use the mark scheme to peer assess work – what mark would you give and why? Next step?

7. Example - TKAM Lee uses figurative language to present the character of Mr Ewell: “he thought Atticus an easy match....his chest swelled, and once more he was a little red rooster.” Scout’s description of Ewell as a “little red rooster” is powerful as it creates a rather mocking and comical image of a “Little” man thrusting his chest forward in an attempt to appear confident in front of the gallery. The word “swelled” suggests he is using assertive body language whilst the adjective “little” undermines this confidence and implies that despite his attempts to look serious, he actually looks rather foolish. Furthermore, the use of the adjective “red” helps to convey Ewell’s impulsive and aggressive temperament. Scout’s narrative view point makes Ewell sound both threatening and non threatening at the same time; this description therefore captures the contradictory nature of his character – he is both terrifying and pathetic.

8. Of Mice and Men In this extract, Steinbeck uses pathetic fallacy to demonstrate Curley’s wife’s toxic effect on the ranch workers: “Both men glanced up, for the rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off.” Using this powerful description of sunshine suddenly being “cut off” to describe Curley’s wife’s entrance is effective at perhaps preparing the reader for the dark events which unfold later on in the novel. The “sunshine” described could be used to represent the hopes for the future the men have and therefore the fact that Steinbeck presents Curley’s wife as blocking this small “rectangle of sunshine” suggests that she is a direct threat to their dream. Through this use of stark imagery, Steinbeck presents her as someone who could somehow reduce the men’s chances of ever realising their dream. The reader is forced to be as suspicious of her intentions as the men themselves are.