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And the winner of our summer megatest challenge is…
Announced in this video…
Congratulations – your £10 prize will be on your student account shortly!
Two Sentence Story Competition
Enjoy creative writing? Think you could do better than the two-sentence story above? Then enter the English Faculty’s Two Sentence Story Competition. We’ve got a load of exciting prizes to give away to our lucky winners.
There’s only one rule: your story must contain only two sentences.
To enter, submit your story here by Friday 30th September.
Good luck!
A Level Language students: want to see a top grade exemplar for Section A of the Year 12 exam?
Your wish is our command.
Hannah Franks and Abbi Lowden have kindly allowed us to share their exam papers so that you can see what makes an A grade response to the Year 12 exam.
Below, you’ll find the paper, the mark scheme, and two A grade responses to it.
We hope it’s useful.
A Level English Language Exam – Year 12 – June 2016
A Level English Language Exam – Textual Analysis Mark Schemes
A Grade Exemplar – Section A (Textual Variations and Representations) 1
A Grade Exemplar – Section A (Textual Variations and Representations) 2
Incoming Year 8s and 9s: your holiday homework is here!
The summer holidays are not just a time for relaxing and watching the horizon scroll by; they’re also a time for taking risks and challenging yourself. We’d like you to use some of your holiday reading great books.
Your Tasks
- We’d like you to take home your Library Lesson Reading Booklet and complete the final tasks on A Christmas Carol
- We’d like you to aim to read at least four books (preferably more!) over the holiday.
Our Advice
- Double check that the books are on the Accelerated Reader system before getting stuck in. (You can, of course, read books that aren’t on the system – but you won’t be able to get points for these.)
- Try to pick books that fit within your Accelerated Reader ZPD range. You can find this by logging in to AR and checking the Progress tab.
- If you are struggling to find a book then don’t forget you can access our virtual library.
If you have any trouble logging in to AR, you can contact Mr Smith by email over the holiday: m.smith@lutterworthcollege.com.
Enjoy the break!
Summer homework for incoming Year 11s
Going to be in Year 11 in August?
Then this post is for you!
Before your first lesson back after the summer holiday, you need to have completed the following tasks. Bring your completed work with you to your first English lesson.
1. Complete the revision tests on An Inspector Calls and The Sign of Four.
They are both 75 questions long, and test your knowledge of each text’s story and key quotations.
(Note: you cannot save your progress in either test, so make sure you set aside plenty of time to complete them.)
When you’ve submitted your answers, you will be emailed your results. (Make sure you enter your email address very carefully as a mistake will result in your score not being recorded.)
The pass mark for each test is 80%. If you fail to achieve this mark, you’ll need to do some revision of the text before having another go.
Make sure you print off your results emails to show to your English teacher. (If you don’t have a printer, you’ll need to print the emails off at school when you come back.)
You’ll find the links to the tests below:
An Inspector Calls revision test
The Sign of Four revision test
2. Find definitions for the Top 40 Poetic Terms you’ll find below.
You can present these definitions however works best for you.
A sample definition for you to give you the idea of what we’re after:
- Alliteration: When words that are close together start with the same sound. For example, Two wrongs don’t make a right.
If you get stuck, we recommend that you:
- Check the glossary at the back of the CGP Love and Relationships Poetry Guide many of you have already bought from the library. (It’s available online here.)
- Search for the term online. (On Google, typing ‘define [term]’ will give you an accessible definition, as below.)
If you have any questions about any of this work, you can get in touch with us on Twitter, or by email (m.smith@lutterworthcollege.com).
Enjoy the holidays!
The English Faculty
Year 10: Want to see some Grade 8 Writing with a Viewpoint work?
Look no further.
A couple of weeks ago, you all sat the following assessment:
‘Young people spend far too much time on social networks. It’s damaging their education, endangering their safety and destroying their ability to communicate.’
Write a letter to a broadsheet newspaper in which you explain your point of view on this statement.
Below, you’ll find two exceptionally strong responses to that task.
See if you can work out why they achieved such high marks:
A Level English Literature: Summer Work for Incoming Year 13
Studying A Level English Literature in Year 13 next year? Here’s your summer work! Please read the instructions carefully as ALL THREE SECTIONS ARE EQUALLY IMPORTANT
1. Summer Reading for NEA
In preparation for your NEA, which accounts for 20% of your A level grade, you need to purchase and read The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter.
An information sheet on the NEA can be found HERE. As you read the collection we’d like you to consider the themes below as these will form the basis of your NEA
- minds under stress
- the Gothic
- representations of women
You may wish to choose a theme not featured on the list; this will need to be approved by Mr Smith.
We’d also like you to consider reading as any texts from the pre 1900 list below which you think would make an interesting comparison to The Bloody Chamber.
- Jane Austin – Northanger Abbey
- Wilkie Collins – The Woman In White
- Henrik Ibsen – A Dolls House
- Mary Shelley – Frankenstein
- Bram Stoker – Dracula
- The Castle of Otranto
- Wuthering Heights – Charlotte Bronte
You may wish to choose a text not featured on the list; this will need to be approved by Mr Smith.
You must bring this book with you when you start back after the holiday.
2. NEA Proposal: Research and critical reading
You should produce some detailed research on The Bloody Chamber and the three possible areas of study:
A good starting point is eMagazine, use the search function to find articles on The Bloody Chamber
(To log in, you’ll need the details you’ll find by clicking on the ’emagazine’ tab at the top of this page.)
I also recommend that you use the British Library site, this has a whole section dedicated to Angela Carter and The Bloody Chamber
The British Library on Angela Carter
You must bring these notes with you when you start back after the holiday.
3. Summer Reading
In preparation for for the year 13 Texts Through Time module you need to purchase and read the following 3 texts
______________________________________
If you have any questions about any of the summer work, contact Mr Smith (m.smith@lutterworthcollege.com).
Enjoy your holiday!
A Level English Language: Summer Work for Incoming Year 13
Studying A Level Language in Year 13 next year? Here’s your summer transition work:
1. Make sure you have a copy of the AQA English Language Student Book and the Revision Workbook.
We will be making regular use of both in class next year.
The texbook is available on Amazon here, and the workbook is here.
2. Watch the debate you’ll find on YouTube below.
When you’ve watched the debate, answer the following question in the comments on this post:
Is the English language ‘going to the dogs’?
You should aim to write between 200 and 300 words, and refer to ideas presented by the speakers in the debate.
________________________________________________________
And that’s that!
If you’ve any questions over the summer, email Mr Parry-Shovlin (s.parry-shovlin@lutterworthcollege.com).
Enjoy the holiday!
A Level English Language: Summer Work for Incoming Year 12
Right then, incoming Year 12s doing English Language A Level: here’s your summer work!
All of the tasks below must be completed in advance of your first Language lesson next term.
1. Make sure you have a copy of the AQA English Language Student Book and the Revision Workbook.
We will be making regular use of both in class next year, and you will be expected to bring them with you to every lesson.
The texbook is available on Amazon here, and the workbook is here.
2. Create a ‘language scrapbook’.
This scrapbook will form an integral part of your first term’s worth of lessons, and needs to contain the following items:
(Note: for electronic texts, you’ll need to screenshot and print them.)
- A text message/WhatsApp interaction
- An interaction on Facebook (e.g. a status and some replies to it)
- An interaction on Twitter (e.g. a tweet and some replies)
- A printed advertisement
- An online advertisement
- A poster
- A menu
- A film review
- A newspaper comment piece (e.g. from The Guardian’s Comment is Free section)
- A speech
- A piece of unsolicited post (‘junk mail’)
3. Have a look at this blog post and respond to it in the comments section.
Your comment should be around 200-300 words. Make sure you watch both videos before responding. You might also want to read through the comments that are already on the post. (Avoid anonymous comments.)
4. Make detailed notes on the Nouns section of the Grammar Glossary.
We’ll be having a little test on this when you return, so make sure your notes are up to scratch!
And that’s that!
If you have any questions about any of the tasks above, or the course in general, contact Mr Parry-Shovlin (s.shovlin@lutterworthcollege.com).
Enjoy the hols!
A Level English Literature: Summer Work for Incoming Year 12
Incoming Year 12s studying English Literature next year: here is your transition work.
If you have any questions about any of the work detailed here, please contact the A Level English Literature Coordinator, Mr Smith (m.smith@lutterworthcollege.com).
Summer Reading
You need to read Othello by William Shakespeare and The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald.
You can get hold of the appropriate editions of each text at the links below. (To save money, you could buy a second-hand copy.)
The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald
You must bring these books with you when you start back after the holiday. We’d also like you to make a bulletpointed synopsis of both of these texts.
Research Tasks
1. Read the interview with Terry Eagleton and answer the following questions in detail.
Terry Eagleton Interview – Asking Important Questions
(a) What, according to Eagleton, is the role of literary theory when analysing texts?
(b) What does Eagleton believe makes a good English student?
2. Read this article from the British Library and then summarise, in your own words, what makes a Shakespearean tragedy.
3. Read the article from emagazine below, and then write half a page in response to the following statement: ‘Simon Bubb argues that Iago’s lack of humanity is what Shakespeare is most interested in sharing.’ To what extent do you agree?
4. Read the task sheet titled The Canon (link below). For each of the authors listed, write the title of at least one of their works and the genre.
Remember that you must bring evidence of all tasks having been completed to your first English Literature lesson next term. If you have any questions, please email me on m.smith@lutterworthcollege.com
Enjoy the summer!
Mr Smith
English at Lutterworth College 