How to study for your English Unfamiliar texts exam

How to study for your English Unfamiliar texts exam

Apply the process below to each of the THREE texts: poetry, prose & non-fiction.

1. Buy some highlighters!  

2. All the clues are in the text.  Look really carefully at the title, and at the description of the what the text is about at the top of each text.

3. Read the entire text before you look at the questions.

4. Now look at the exam questions.  Put your finger under each word to be sure that you know exactly what you are being asked.

5. Now you know what the examiner is interested in, read the text again.  Think about what you learn from the text that helps you answer the exam questions.

6. Now you can answer the technique question, and give an example.

7. The big question is next.  Look very carefully at what it is asking you to do.  Take time to plan your answer.  Find 3-6 examples to support your answer.  Write three paragraphs (or more).  There will usually be three guiding questions, and you can write one paragraph on each guiding question.

8. Key words or phrases that will help: shows, helps us to understand, emphasises

9. If you can show how several techniques are used together to develop an idea (in response to the question), then you can achieve with merit.

10. Think about the deeper meaning of the text.  What do we learn from it?  If you can show a perceptive (deep & thoughtful) understanding of the text, and link it to the wider world or to other texts, that you can achieve with excellence.

You're 100% wrong about...seafood

QUESTION THREE: NON-FICTION

We started by highlighting the text in two colours.  

Colour 1 = how the writer feels about seafood.

Colour 2 = why the writer feels this way.

Refer to Text C, “You’re 100% Wrong About … Seafood” which I handed out in class on Friday to answer this question.

(a)          Select (✔) ONE language feature the writer uses to describe seafood.

Adjective(s)	Hyperbole	Rhetorical question(s)
Alliteration	Listing	Sibilance
Allusion	Onomatopoeia	Simile
Colloquial language	Punctuation	Verb(s)

Give an example of this language feature from the text.

(b)          Explain how this and / or other language feature(s) helps you to understand the writer’s attitude towards seafood throughout the text. You might consider:

•              the writer’s overall opinion of seafood

•              why the writer has chosen to express his opinion in this way

•              why the writer wishes his opinion was different.

poetry: What's That Story, Then?

Explain how language features help you to understand the child’s feelings throughout the text.  You might consider:

• What the child sees and hears
• How the child’s feelings change
• Why the child’s feelings change
• 

One language technique which shows us [what the child says] is [name technique].

An example is [give example]

This emphasises...

What Story's That, Then

Today we are reading the poem "What Story's That, Then?" by Vincent O'Sullivan.  We are going to discuss the poem in groups, and record the discussion as part of our spoken interactions assessment (worth 3 credits)

In groups, read the poem and then come up with ideas to the following questions:

1. What is written above the poem?  How does this sentence help you understand the poem?

2. What is the mother doing in the poem?  How can you tell if she is being successful?

3. What is the child doing at the beginning of the poem?

4. What impact does the image of the skinny dog and fat owner have on the child?

5. What is meant by the last sentence: "She has seen the world, and named it."?