English Literature
2 exams
Unit 1:Prose (‘Animal Farm’ and ‘Of Mice and Men’)
1 hour 45 mins 50%
Unit 2: Poetry (unseen poem and anthology)
1 hour 45 mins 25%
Monday 23rd May
Friday 27th May
Unit1:
Section A – ‘Animal Farm’: an extract to read and 3 questions to answer, worth 8, 10 and 12
marks.
1 hour – Qa 15 minutes, Qb 20 minutes, Qc 25 minutes (you will have to stick to the timings
yourself – no one will tell you to move on in the real exam!)
Section B – ‘Of Mice and Men’: a choice of 2 questions to answer, one on character and one
on theme, worth 40 marks.
45 minutes
Unit 2:
Section A – a question asking you to write about how the poet expresses their thoughts and
feelings in a poem you have never seen before
45 minutes, including 10 minutes reading and planning
Section B – a question asking you to compare a named poem from the anthology with
another of your choice
1 hour, including 10 minutes planning
UNIT 1: PROSE Revision Tips

After you have studied both books in class, re-read both at least once before the May
exam. Carry out as many timed, practice exam questions as you can: your teacher
will be happy to mark them.
Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck)
 Make sure you know the key events, themes and characters in each of the 6
chapters
 Make sure you know what aspects of 1930s American history each of the characters
represent
 The exam question asks you to write about the significance (importance) of EITHER
a character OR a theme. This could include setting. Make sure you know WHY that
character or theme is important a) in the story, and b) in terms of what he/she/it
represents.
 If you don’t have a study guide, such as York Notes or CGP, get one and use it!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mice-Men-York-NotesGCSE/dp/1408248808/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1454606562&sr=83&keywords=of+mice+and+men
http://www.amazon.co.uk/GCSE-English-Text-GuideMice/dp/1841461148/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1454606562&sr=84&keywords=of+mice+and+men
Animal Farm (George Orwell)
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Make sure you are aware of who the characters represent in terms of the Communist
Revolution and subsequent Communist State in Russia from 1917 onwards.
You are not assessed on your historical knowledge, BUT it will help your
understanding that this is not just a story about talking animals!
Again, make sure you know the key events/characters/themes in each of the 10
chapters.
Timing is CRUCIAL with this part of the exam – when practising, try to spend 15
minutes on question a), 20 minutes on question b) and 25 minutes on question c).
Again, if you don’t have a study guide, get one and use it!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Animal-Farm-York-NotesGCSE/dp/1408270021/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1454607411&sr=85&keywords=animal+farm
NOT the new ‘9-1’ GCSE
http://www.amazon.co.uk/GCSE-English-Text-GuideAnimal/dp/184762667X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1454607411&sr=83&keywords=animal+farm
Unit 2 POETRY: Revision Tips
You will need to have a full set of notes on each of the poems from your section of the
Anthology.
You will cover all of the poems in class but, at home, you could:
 Research each of the poets – their background and their reasons for writing that
particular poem. Google will make this easy.
 Get someone to test you on the terminology on the Poetry Glossary (attached)
 Revise comparative words and phrases (However, On the other hand,
Alternatively… etc) as in the exam you will have to compare and contrast two
poems.
You will also have to write about an unseen poem. The ‘SMILE – it’s poetry’ sheet gives you
an overview of what to look for.
***
For all aspects of the Literature exams, you will cover all of the past papers in class either
through discussion or timed practice.
However, at home you can:
 Get someone to test you on terminology
 Get someone to test you on the who/what/where/when/why of both Of Mice and Men
and Animal Farm
 Re-write practice questions that you have not done so well on (sticking to timings)
 Use GCSE Bitesize for revision of the novels
 Re read both novels
 Catch up on any notes you have missed if you are absent
 Use Show My Homework and complete all homework
 Keep old exercise books as you should have a lot of work in them that you can use
And in class, you must:
 Make all the notes your teacher asks you to
 Ask questions if you do not understand
 Try your hardest in timed practice
 Complete SIR marking responses in detail
Useful websites:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature/
https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-gcses/english-literature2010.html
All past exam papers are on the Edexcel website, above. Note that in 2015 the Animal Farm
exam changed from 4 questions to 3.