GCSE 2017 STUDENT REVISION TOPICS
Subject
GCSE English Language
Date of exams
Exam board
th
Tuesday 6 June
EDUQAS
th
Monday 12 June
Use this traffic light self-assessment to help organise your revision. Fill in the columns by putting in the date for the
first time you do it. Every time you revise a topic go back and assess yourself again. You will soon see how much
progress you’re making.
Red = I feel nervous/worried. I need to ask for help/update notes/catch-up/avoid panicking.
Amber = I feel quite confident. I need to brush up on my notes/check that I understand/find out more.
Green = I feel confident about this topic. I must check my key points and use my time to revise something else.
TOPIC
R
A
G
In my
Revised?
plan
Reading non-fiction texts - travel writing, writing about an
experience. Read The Guardian Experience online or
google “Travel writing”
Reading fiction texts – openings of novels, short stories
Analysing the choice of words
Extracting information – picking out key points the writer
is making and putting in your own words
Picking out words/phrases and explaining the effect of
the language chosen
Subject terminology – adjective, adverb, short sentence,
commands, vivid description, alliterative phrase, sensory
imagery, dialogue
Evaluating using the phrases “I think/I feel”
Learning key phrases. “This suggests/this implies/this
creates the image/this gives me the impression that/this
shows the reader”
Writing according to TAP – type audience purpose
Writing creative prose – practising a story, description,
creating an atmosphere, building tension . using the 5
senses, similes,
Writing in a formal style to inform
Writing to persuade – using DAFOREST
Direct Address, Alliteration, Facts, Opinions, Rhetorical
questions, Statistics, Rule of Three (Lists)
Choosing effective vocabulary – revise upgrading your
words
Punctuation variety? : ; ! “ “ ( ) –
Paragraphing – mix it up – long, short, single line para to
open/finish – when do you start new paragraphs?
PROOFREADING – practice checking for mistakes –
think green pen
GCSE 2017 STUDENT REVISION TOPICS
Subject
GCSE English Literature
Date of exams
Exam board
nd
Monday 22 May
EDUQAS
th
Friday 26 May
Use this traffic light self-assessment to help organise your revision. Fill in the columns by putting in the date for the
first time you do it. Every time you revise a topic go back and assess yourself again. You will soon see how much
progress you’re making.
Red = I feel nervous/worried. I need to ask for help/update notes/catch-up/avoid panicking.
Amber = I feel quite confident. I need to brush up on my notes/check that I understand/find out more.
Green = I feel confident about this topic. I must check my key points and use my time to revise something else.
TOPIC
R
A
G
In my
Revised?
plan
Paper 1: Re-read extracts from Romeo and Juliet
Paper 1: The story of Romeo and Juliet
Paper 1:The characters of Romeo and Juliet. Learn
quotes.
Paper 1: The dramatic events of Romeo and Juliet. What
happened in each Act and scene. Write and learn the
timelibne.
Practiced analysing extracts from these texts
Write PEA + paragraphs on extracts
Completed all activities on BBC Bitesize Romeo and
Juliet
Paper 1: Revise all poems in anthology
Paper 1: Revised links between all poems
Paper 1: Revised connectives of comparison: However,
Similarly, In contrast, On the other hand, Whereas,
While, Both
Paper 1: Written practice comparison paragraphs
Learn phrases:
One strong image is…. This vivid description suggests…
This phrase emphasises the idea that… The structure of
the poem shows…. The poet was exploring the idea
that….
Learn poetic terms
Alliteration, Simile, Vivid description, adjective, sensory
imagery, Repeition, sibilance, Commands, Imperatives, S
Paper 2:Re-read An Inspector Call’s/Blood Brothers/Lord
Of the Flies
Paper 2: The story of An Inspector Call’s/Blood
Brothers/Lord Of the Flies
Paper 2:The characters of An Inspector Call’s/Blood
Brothers/Lord Of the Flies. Learn key quotes.
Paper 2:The dramatic events of An Inspector
Call’s/Blood Brothers/Lord Of the Flies
Paper 2:The themes of An Inspector Call’s/Blood
Brothers/Lord Of the Flies
Paper 2: The language and structure of the texts.
Practiced analysing extracts from these texts
Write PEA + paragraphs on extracts
Completed all activities on BBC Bitesize for An Inspector
Call’s/Blood Brothers/Lord Of the Flies
Paper 2: Re-read Jekyll and Hyde
Paper 2: The story of Jekyll and Hyde
Paper 2: The characters of Jekyll and Hyde. Learn key
quotes.
Paper 2: The dramatic events of Jekyll and Hyde.
Timeline of chapters.
Paper 2: The themes of Jekyll and Hyde
Paper 2: The context of Jekyll and Hyde
Paper 2: The language used by Stevenson
Practiced analysing extracts from these texts
Write PEA + paragraphs on extracts
Completed all activities on BBC Bitesize for An Inspector
Call’s/Blood Brothers/Lord Of the Flies and Jekyll and
Hyde
Paper 2: Unseen poetry. Revise approaches to unseen.
Feelings/Images/Writers ideas/Your opinion
Paper 2: Learn poetic terms
Paper 2: Practise picking out key quotes
Year11LanguagePaper1
ReadingQuestions
A1
A2
A3
A4
A5
Understanding Commenting Commenting
Commenting
Evaluatetextsanduse
meaning;
onwriter’s onwriter’suse onwriter’suse quotations
selecting
useof
oflanguage
oflanguage
information
language
andstructure; andstructure;
and
using
using
structure;
quotations
quotations
using
quotations
Mark
Mark
Mark
Mark
Mark
/5
/5
/10
/10
/10
Writing:Creativeprosewriting
B1
B1
Content,
Vocabulary,
organisation,
spelling,
paragraphs,
punctuation,
style,
grammar,
development, sentencestarters,
how
sentencevariety
interesting
Mark
Mark
/24
/16
Year11LanguagePaper2
Reading
A1
A2
A3
A4
Understanding Commenting Making
Understanding
meaning;
onuseof
inferencesand meaning,
selecting
language
understanding givingan
information
and
meaning
opinionon
structure;
writer’sviews
using
anduseof
quotations
language;use
quotations
Mark
Mark
/3
Mark
/10
Mark
/3
/10
A5
A6
Joining
Comparing
ideas
theuseof
from
languagein
two
twotextsand
textsand whattheyare
using
about;using
evidence quotations
from
bothof
them
Mark Mark
/5
/10
Writing
B1
Content,
organisation,
paragraphs,
style,
development,
how
interesting
Mark
/12
B1
Vocabulary,
spelling,
punctuation,
grammar,
sentencestarters,
sentencevariety
B2
Content,organisation,
paragraphs,style,
development,how
interesting
B2
Vocabulary,spelling,
punctuation,grammar,
sentencestarters,sentence
variety
Mark
Mark
Mark
/8
/12
/8
Skills
RAG
A:TAP:Iwriteintheappropriatestyleforthetype,audienceandpurposeofmytext;itis
obviouswhatIamwritingaboutthroughout.Idon’tlosefocusoftask.
A:Iwriteusingsomelanguagetechniquessuchasvividdescription,similes/metaphors/
DAFORREEST
A:Myideasareambitious
B:Organiseandstructuremywriting,includingusingparagraphs.Ihaveaclear
beginning,middleandending
B:ThewritinglinkstogetherwellandIdonotsuddenlyputinirrelevantinformation
B:Iuseclearparagraphs
C:Developmywritinginaninterestingway,consideringeffectonthereader.Myideas
aredevelopedandIgointointerestingdetail,givingevidenceformyviews
D:Iusesentencevarietyforimpact–oneword,simple,compound,complex;
D:Ivarythebeginningofmysentences
E:IemployrangeofVocabulary–e.g.“wow”wordscreatingatmosphere,powerful
words,sophisticatedwordswhichmaypersuadeorconvincemyaudienceofmyauthority
F:UseaccurateSPAG–spelling,punctuationandgrammar–andproofreadcarefully.I
writeclearly,usingfullstopsandcapitalletters.
F:Idonotusecommasinsteadoffullstops
F:Iusearangeofpunctuationcorrectly.
Informative/Persuasive/Non-fictionWritingPLC-breakingdownthe6skillsforwriting
ReadingPLC,basedon6skillsforreadingandtheexamquestions
Skills
HowamIdoing?
A:Icanreadandunderstandtheoveralltype, purposeandaudienceofatext
A:Icanexplaindifferentpossiblemeanings
withinatext
B:Icanskimandscantexts,pickingoutkey
points
C:Icanchooseanduserelevantand
appropriatequotations
D:Icanidentify,analyseandevaluatehow
writersuselanguageandstructuretoachieve
effects
E:Icanmakelinksandcomparisonsbetween texts,explainsimilaritiesanddifferences
E:Icanjoinideasfromtwodifferenttexts
togetherandsummarisetheirkeypoints
F:Icanidentifyandexplainwriters’pointsof
view;
F:Icanevaluatetheeffectsofatext,
consideringthepurposeofthewriterand
howareadermightreact.
F:Icanidentifyandexplainhowthecontext
inwhichthetextwaswrittenmayshapethe
meaning
HowamIdoing?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
WhenwritingaboutJekyllandHyde/InspectorCalls/BloodBrothers/LOTF,I:
Usethequestiontohelpmewritemyopeningparagraph.
Inmyintroduction,IgiveanoverviewofhowIamgoingtoanswerthequestion-boththe
extractandtherestofthetext.Thisworkslikeaplan.
Writeinclearparagraphswithatopicsentencewrittenatthebeginningofeachone.Each
openingsentenceofaparagraphshouldaddressthequestioninsomeway.
Userelevantsubjectterminologythroughout:novel,writer,reader,audience,dramaticirony
gothic,structure,imagery,patheticfallacy,character,relationships,contrast,effect,tension,
ShowthatIclearlyknowthetextbyreferringtoarangeofpointswhicharenotintheextract.
Canrememberandusequotationswhicharenotintheextract
Pickoutrelevantquotationsfromtheextract
Use‘Thissuggests/emphasises/presents/conveys/createstheimpressionthat…..’
Explainanddevelopmyanswerstothequestion.IfImakeastatementaboutacharacteror
themeIshouldexplain,explore,support.‘ThismightsuggestthatHydeis….Thiscouldbeseen
as…
Analysethewriters’usesoflanguageandstructure.Language:powerfuladjectivesorverbs/
particularimagessuchasthoseofreligionorviolence/similesandmetaphors/oxymorons/
etc.Structure:endings/beginningsandcontrastsbetweenthese;juxtapositionsof
scenes/chapters;developmentofcharacter/tension
Zoominonaparticularwordorphraseandexploreitsmeaning/effectindetail
Makedirectreferencetotheeffectonthereader
Linktowiderthemesorideasthattheauthorsareexploring
14. Linktothecontext–explainhowthequotationreflectsVictorianideasandvalues-to
religion/class/scienceORhowitreflectscertainideasexploredintheGothicGenre-JEKYLL
ANDHYDEonly
15. ExplainhowthecharacterorthemeIamwritingaboutreflectsthewriter’sideas:Stevenson
uses………………..toexplorethestrongconflictbetweengoodandevilwhichhebelievedexists
withinhumans.
WhenwritingabouttheunseenpoemsI:
HowamIdoing?
1.
Focusonthetask
2.
Writeclearlythroughoutmyanswer
3.
Canunderstandthekeyideassuggestedinthepoem
4.
Summarisewhatthepoemisaboutinthefirstparagraph/openingsentences
5.
Pickoutkeyquotations
6.
Use‘Thissuggests/Thisemphasises/Thiscreatestheimpressionthat/Thispresents
7.
Zoominonaparticularword/shortphrase
8.
Identifywriters’techniques/toolsclearly
9.
ExplainthefeelingsofeitherthespeakerORofcharactersinthepoem
10. Explainwriter’sideasclearly:E.G.Thepoetmightwantustoreflectonhowbeautifuland
powerfulnatureis
ForcomparisonI:
11. Begineachparagraphwithacomparativepoint:Bothwriterspresentanimalsas…….Onepoet
suggeststhatanimalsarepowerful,whereastheotheronesuggeststheyarepowerless.
12. Endeachparagraphwithacomparativepoint
13. Explainthesimilaritiesanddifferencesindetail
Whatisthepoemabout?
Whoisthespeaker?What
pointofview?
Meaning
Feelings
Imagery
Writers’
tools
Structure
Whatarethemainfeelings inthepoem?Dothese
changer?
Whatarethemainimages inthepoem?
Whatarethekeywordsin themainimagesofthe
poem?
Whattoolsdoesthewriter use?Vividdescription,use ofthesenses,
personification,metaphors, similes,repetition,
alliteration,assonance,
sibilance,onomatopoeia?
Howisthepoemstructured? Whatdoesitfocusonatthe
beginning,middleandend?
Doesthefocuschange?Are
thelineslongorshort?Does
itrhymeandwhatarethe
effectsofthis?Doesithavea
regularrhythm?Doesituse
enjambment,caesurasor
end-stoppedlines?
Whatisthecontextofthe
poem?Whenwasit
written?Whenisitset?
Attitudeschangeover
Context
time.Whatattitudesare
showninthepoem:tomen
andwomen/love/sex/
nature/war/class?
Whatotherpoemcould
makeagoodpairwiththis
one?Whichotherpoems
fromtheanthologycould
youcompareitwithand
Pairingfor why?
comparison ENGLISH GCSE
ENGLISHLANGUAGEGCSE
ENGLISHLITERATUREGCSE
LanguageExam1:20thCenturyFictionReading
andCreativeProseWriting
LiteratureExam1::ShakespeareandPoetry
Writtenexamination:1hour45minutes
Totalof80marks/40%ofqualification
SectionA(20%)–Reading
Oneextract(about60-100lines)ofliterature
fromthetwentiethcentury.Youanswer5
questions.
Totalmarks=40
SectionB(20%)–ProseWriting
Writtenexamination:2hours
Totalof80marks/40%ofqualification
SectionA(20%)Shakespeare
RomeoandJuliet
Oneextractquestionandoneessayquestionbasedonthe
readingofaShakespearetext
Totalmarks=40
SectionB(20%)Poetryfrom1789tothepresentday
Totalmarks=40
LanguageExam2:19thand21stCenturyNonFictionReadingandTransactional/Persuasive
Writing
TwoquestionsbasedonpoemsfromtheWJECEduqasPoetry
Anthology,oneofwhichinvolvescomparison.Youaregiven
onepoembutdonothavetheanthology.
Totalmarks=40
LiteratureExam2:Post-1914Prose/Drama,19thCentury
ProseandUnseenPoetry
Writtenexamination:2hours
Writtenexamination:2hoursand30minutes
Totalof80marks/60%ofqualification
Totalof120marks/60%ofqualification
SectionA(30%)–Reading
SectionA(20%)Post1914Prose/Drama
Twoextracts(about900-1200wordsintotal)of
high-qualitynon-fictionwritingfromthe
nineteenthandtwenty-firstcenturies.You
answer6questions,oneofwhichinvolves
comparingthetexts.
LordoftheFlies(Golding);ORAnInspectorCalls(Priestley);OR
BloodBrothers(Russell)
Onecreativewritingtaskdrawnfromaselection
offourtitles
Totalmarks=40
SectionB(30%)–Writing
Onesourcebasedquestiononapost-1914textfromtheabove
prescribedlist.
Totalmarks=40
SectionB(20%)19thCenturyProse
TheStrangeCaseofDrJekyllAndMrHyde(Stevenson)
Twocompulsorytransactional/persuasivewriting
Onequestionona19thcenturyprosetext-onthewholenovel
tasks.
butyouhaveanextracttohelpyou.
Transactionalwritingisnon-fictionsomightbea
Totalmarks=40
report/alettertoanewspaper/anewspaper
articlewrittentoinformorpersuade.
SectionC(20%)UnseenPoetry
Totalmarks=40
Twoquestionsonunseenpoems,oneofwhichinvolves
comparison.
Totalmarks=40
Skills
RAG
A:TAP:Iwriteintheappropriatestyleforthetype,audienceandpurposeofmytext;itis
obviouswhatIamwritingabout.Iwriteaclearnarrative(story)
A:Iwriteusingsomelanguagetechniquessuchasvividdescription,similes/metaphors
A:Mystorylineisambitious/imaginative
A:Mystorylineisbelievableandconvincing(evenifitisambitious)
B:Organiseandstructuremywriting,includingusingparagraphs.Ihaveaclear
beginning,middleandending
B:ThewritinglinkstogetherwellandIdonotsuddenlyputinirrelevantinformation
B:Iuseclearparagraphs
B:Iuseparagraphsforeffect,suchasasinglesentenceparagraph
B:Ihavesometension/senseofbuildup
B:Ihaveaclimaticpoint
B:Ihaveaclearresolution
C:Developmywritinginaninterestingway,consideringeffectonthereader.Myideas
aredevelopedandIgointointerestingdetailaboutimportantpartsofthestory.
C:Idevelopmystorybyzoominginonthesenses
C:ISHOWnotTELLwhatthecharactersandatmospherearelike
D:Iusesentencevarietyforimpact–oneword,simple,compound,complex;
D:Ivarythebeginningofmysentences
E:IemployrangeofVocabulary–e.g.“wow”wordscreatingatmosphere,powerful
words,sophisticatedwords
F:UseaccurateSPAG–spelling,punctuationandgrammar–andproofreadcarefully.I
writeclearly,usingfullstopsandcapitalletters.
F:Idonotusecommasinsteadoffullstops
F:Iusearangeofpunctuationcorrectly.
F:Idonothavelotsofdialogue
F:AnydialogueIdouseispunctuatedandlaidoutcorrectly.Lucywhispered,‘Ifeelsick!’
Remembernewspeaker,newparagraph.
CreativeWritingPLC-breakingdownthe6skillsforwriting