How the exam works...

You've already written this down, but for those of you who have lost it have a look at how your exam works:

There are two papers at AS level:

Paper 3 - Poetry and Prose
Poetry: Section 5 'Songs of Ourselves'
Prose: 'A Passage to India' E M Forster

Paper 4 - Drama
'An Ideal Husband' Oscar Wilde
'A Streetcar Named Desire' Tennessee Williams

NOTE: Paper 3 has two parts to it.

Each paper is marked out of 25 so your final mark will be out of 100. For those of you who are desperate to find out what the grade boundaries are, I sadly will not have the answer until the papers are marked and handed back to you! They decide it once everything has been marked.

You also have an hour per paper (I think - I'll need to check my notes!) - and I've already told you how to manage that time: 10 mins to plan, 50 mins to write the paper. Most of you have started doing this and I can really tell from the organisation of your answers, but for those of you who haven't - I strongly suggest you get into the swing of things!

When you start the paper, you will notice all of them have two questions. You answer one.
Very simply - and they all have this format - there is an answer a) and b)
a) is always a general question: this means that you will asked a question about the text as a whole, so you need to have a good wide knowledge and understanding of the text on the whole.
b) is always a specific questions: this means you will get a passage from the text and you will have to analyse closely (and that word is ALWAYS in the question) as well as refer to the text as a whole. As I've mentioned, they are a little tougher on you here (in terms of your language analysis) because it's right in front of you. This doesn't mean you should avoid it, it just means you have to be very thorough.

Have a look at these. They're the Assessment Objectives - ie what the examiner uses as a rough guideline to mark your stuff. You need to hit all of these points well to get top marks:

Assessment objectives

You will be examined based on four assessment objectives, set by QCA for all English Language and Literature A-level courses.  You will need to be familiar with these, as your teachers will refer to them throughout the course, particularly when marking your work:

AO1:

Select and apply relevant concepts and approaches from integrated linguistic and literary study, using appropriate terminology and accurate, coherent written expression.

This means using both linguistic and literary terminology to express your ideas about the text in a logical (coherent) and accurate way.

AO2:

Demonstrate detailed critical understanding in analysing the ways in which structure, form and language shape meanings in a range of spoken and written texts.

This means analysing a text in a critical way, commenting on the way the writer has chosen a specific structure (the sequence of ideas), form (type of writing/genre) and expression (use of words and sentences) in order to convey his/her ideas to the reader and have a particular effect.

AO3:

Use integrated approaches to explore relationships between texts, analysing and evaluating the significance of contextual factors in their production and reception.

This means comparing texts in different ways, analysing and evaluating how the context of each text influenced the writers’ techniques as well as how the context of the audience might shape their interpretation of it.

AO4:

Demonstrate expertise and creativity in using language appropriately for a variety of purposes and audiences, drawing on insights from linguistic and literary studies.

This means being able to express your ideas in a creative way, selecting appropriate language for a specific purpose and audience, using both linguistic and literary techniques.