This paper 'exploring non-fiction and spoken texts' assesses a candidate's ability to compare a anthology text they have studied with an unseen. What makes this paper challenging is skilfully balancing between all A0's and here are our best tips to get the highest band of the mark scheme.
From reading the latest 2019 examiners report, students shouldn't use words of the question! I know this sounds bizarre as we're always told to use words of the question but the exam board prefer if you thought the question as implicit and do not explicitly refer to words of the question.
For example, saying 'Gillard uses predominantly formal language to present ideas'. Instead, it would be better if you said 'Gillard uses a predominantly formal register to highlight her stance and seriousness of Abbot's hypocrisy against women'. Notice I don't use any words of the question as this question remains generic in all years.
Students are spending too long on introductions, sometimes writing a side when more time could be spent planning or writing points. Introductions should be only a couple of sentences as this candidate did below hitting Level 6 (highest band) of the mark scheme
'Text A is a spoken speech to the public eye of the British Empire, the wider audience of the world, and also the people in government who disagreed with him. It's purpose is to inform them why he abdicated the throne, to justify himself and persuade them not to think badly and to reassure them of Britain's future. Text B however, is a written article, with an audience of movie goers and those interested in history. It's purpose is to express the authors opinion, to inform them why the movie is inaccurate, and persuade them to agree with him'.
Written in timed conditions, this is what the exam board would expect, with the introduction gaining credit in relation to context(A03). This is what A* is. Not that bad is it?
If your going to talk about mode, don't just say one is written and one is spoken- why is this significant and how does this affect the text?
Candidates are writing conclusions when there is no need. If you're just going to repeat what you've said before, there is sadly nothing to credit despite the expection you may have been taught when structuring essays. Time could be spent on planning, which I must emphasise is the difference between a C answer and A*. Take time to plan your response, as the more controlled and fully expressed answer you write, the better the mark.
In terms of points it's tricky to say how many. There is no formulaic framework to compare as this is an essay and is no maths exam where there is only one 'right answer'. The exam board are open to many ways to compare, do not think there is just one way to answer. Try to practice timed essays and see how you are comparing, and use the exemplar resources online as well as the mark scheme to see what you think it would get. Ask your teachers to mark these as well as it's likely you may be biased towards your own work!
The exam board have near full mark responses so take a look online. It's the best way to see what the exam board want from you as they are the one's that mark it after all, not your teacher.
From my personal viewpoint, I would try to begin with comparative openers 'both texts..' 'the texts differ..' to show you are hitting A04- to make connections with texts. It is difficult to make connections with a text you've never seen but take good time reading the unseen more than once if you don't at first make sense of it. The issue candidates lose A04 marks which is the dominant A0, is they make generic comparisons which do not shed light.
'Both texts talk about cooking' - so what?, does this really show a good thought to comparing the texts. Whilst the exam board does argue that if they are well argued, credit can be awarded, however before you make quite basic comparisons, take time to genuinely think how each texts compare both in similarities and differences.
Context whilst not the most dominant A0 is still important. Context can be gained with referring to genre conventions, the social/political background but also a purpose of a text as seen in the introduction above. Where candidates hit the highest band, they integrate it as part of the answer rather than bolting it on as a separate paragraph. If you want to score well for AO3, bring the text back to it's original context.
For example, if the unseen was a recipe, context could be rewarded if talking about how they should remain instructional, have an ingredient list, likely use of imperatives and declaratives. A recipe has a purpose to express their dish and persuade them in making whatever that is.
Trying to hit A02 is also a challenge. From the exemplars online, many answers do well in A04, A03 and A01 but A02 is usually a lower mark. However, this does not mean you can't get the top band. A student still got 29/32 with getting Level 6 in all A0's but compensated their A02 mark capped in Level 3. The exam board understands this is a challenging paper considering the time constraints, so below is an example paragraph achieving Level 6 in analysing the writer's methods.
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