Did you know?
- Usually, you only need to change a few small things to boost your grade. Don’t believe me? Watch this video to hear from Mia, a current GCSE student, who shot up from a grade 4 to an 8 in less than 2 terms.
- The differences between grades are so subtle that it isn’t hard to climb up the grade ladder once you understand what you need to change.
- The key to success is to TAKE ONE THING AT A TIME. Don’t attempt to do everything on this list at the same time! Master one before moving onto the next.
Let’s dive in.
In no particular order …
#1 Make small changes to your vocabulary
Small changes will transform the quality of your writing.
If you improve the quality of your writing, you’ll instantly improve your results – the examiners will assess you on your command of the English language.
Here are some examples and ideas.
Instead of saying for example before a quotation, embed your quotation into your sentence.
ORIGINAL Shakespeare establishes the theme of appearances versus reality at the start of Macbeth, for example, when the Witches say “fair is foul, and foul is fair”.
BETTER VERSION The Witches end Act 1 Scene 1 with “fair is foul, and foul is fair”, which establishes the theme of appearances versus reality.
Note: I also made the sentence more concise. Focus on using the RIGHT words, not LOADS of words.
Find different ways to say this suggests
You will collect very few marks if you simply make a point or highlight a writer’s method or language device.
You have to explain its effect and the most common way of saying this is through, this suggests.
For instance: The Birling’s home is “substantial … but not cosy and homelike”. This suggests that they do not have close family relationships and also, highlights Mrs Birling’s focus on propriety over loving relationships with her children.
What could I have replaced this suggests with?
- Mirrors
- Highlights
- Reflects
- Conveys
- Portrays
- Infers
- Connotes
- Might suggest
Don’t say the word
Remember, you are in an English exam. You need to show off your knowledge!
An instant grade booster is to identify the word class of the word you are referring to.
For instance, instead of saying the word, you could say:
- The determiner
- The article
- The noun
- The adjective
- The adverb
- The personal pronoun
- The possessive pronoun
You get the gist …
#2 Think like an examiner!
The assessment objectives should drive your essays.
They are what teachers and examiners use to decide how many marks to award.
If you know them, you’ll know how to include all of the right elements in your essays.
Although you could also learn the AOs for Language, a much better way to achieve success is to understand what is required from each question type.
This is because, remembering which AO goes with which question will be confusing.
However, since the Language papers follow the same format every time, learning the strategy for tackling the questions will be far more valuable.
#3 Know the subtle differences in writer’s methods
Many of the common writer’s methods have slight variations.
If you can master these, you will be well on your way to higher marks.
Here are some to start with.
Alliteration
Alliteration is the repetition of a sound.
Don’t be fooled by words starting with the same letter – this is all about sound.
For instance, if you saw the words never and gnat, since the ‘g’ is silent, this is alliteration.
Also, don’t only look for words next to each other – words close to each other count!
For example – the wheels slowly but surely, wound away from the hill
Here, we have the alliteration of the ‘w’ sound. However, I would count ‘away’ in this since the ‘w’ is prominent.
But, here’s where it gets interesting…
There are different types of alliteration!
- Sibilance – repetition of the ‘s’ sound (most common). It tends to create a hissing sound.
- Plosives – repetition of the ‘p’ and ‘b’ (most common). They are created by closing the mouth and releasing a burst of breath. It usually creates quite a harsh sound. Other sounds counted as plosives are ‘t’, ‘k’, ‘d’ and ‘g’ since they require a general burst of breath.
Personification
Personification is when non-humans are given humanistic characteristics. For instance, the trees danced.
However, there are sub-sets of personification worth knowing about.
Pathetic fallacy for instance, specifically gives human emotions to nature e.g. the unruly night.
On the flipside, zoomorphism is when humans are described with animalistic features.
Just to make it even more interesting (!), anthropomorphism is when an animal or object behaves like a human for instance, in Shrek, the donkey behaves as if it is a human.
#5 Deepen your analysis of language and interpretations
One way to instantly boost your marks is to explore different possible interpretations- it is exactly what the examiners want.
A great exercise is to explore connotations – that is, words that have a similar or related meaning – of specific words.
Here’s an example from Macbeth:
Banquo describes the Witches as “withered and wild”.
Let’s explore.
Connotations of the adjective withered:
- Unattractive
- Old
- Decaying
- Shrivelled
Connotations of the adjective wild:
- Untamed
- Out of control
- Animalistic
- Insane
So, we could write the following:
The only physical description of the Witches we get is from Banquo – they look “withered and wild”. The adjective “withered”, in this alliterative phrase, suggests that the are unattractive since it creates images of them looking shrivelled and almost decaying. Additionally, the adjective “wild”, connotes beings that are untamed, animalistic and out of control. Although one can look ‘out of control’ by one’s physical appearance, perhaps this has a deeper symbolic significance in that, they wreak havoc on Macbeth’s mind which leads our tragic hero’s life to spiral out of control.
Here’s what I did:
- I chucked in as much terminology as possible – alliterative, adjective, tragic hero
- I zoomed in on individual words instead of simply analysing the whole quotation
- I explored different possible interpretations
- I deepened my exploration by considering the symbolic significance of the quotation
Not only does this technique work well with literature but also for language. For instance, question 2 on Language Paper 1 requires you to analyse language and structure.
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