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Is the English language misogynistic?
Right then, Year 12! Following our work on language and sexism, I’d like you to consider to what extent you agree with the following statement:
The English language systematically degrades and devalues women.
Pop your response in a comment on this post. No more than 250 words, please – being succinct is a skill you need to master!
Mr Shovlin
Grammar Police Promotions: The Results
The results are in!
651 of you attempted our Grammar Police Promotions Test; only 78 of you achieved the pass mark of 10/10 – and of that 78, only 30 managed it on their first attempt!
We will be issuing certificates over the next week to all students who achieved the pass mark on their first attempt. These students are now official Grammar Police Sergeants.
If you weren’t successful this time, do not be disheartened. Below, we’ll discuss the answers to the trickiest questions in the test.
The Tricky Questions
Here, the correct answer was the semicolon – as you shouldn’t use a comma to separate two main clauses.
If you’d like to know more about semicolons, look no further.
Almost 2/3 of our applicants got this question wrong. The correct answer is ‘bear’.
‘Bare’ can mean not covered or unsupported or basic.
The meaning we needed was tolerate – and for that, we needed the word bear.
This was a rather difficult question, and the correct answer was There is a comma splice, which 57.3% of you worked out. Comma splicing is when we join two separate sentences with a comma, when we should be using a full stop or a semicolon.
If you got this one wrong, have a look here for guidance on how to avoid comma splicing.
Almost a third of you got this one wrong. We needed the verb affect, and not the noun effect. (Effect can be a verb, but it has a very specific meaning that most people don’t use.) You can find more information on this here.
More people got this one wrong than right. We needed the spelling fazed, as to faze means to disturb or unsettle. To phase is to carry out in gradual stages.
Thank you to all of our applicants – regardless of whether or not you’ve been successful this time – and don’t forget to keep an eye out for your next opportunity to join the privileged ranks of the Lutterworth Grammar Police!
Chief Superintendent Shovlin
Describing a supermarket
Just before Christmas, all of our Year 10 students had a go at writing a description inspired by the picture above.
You can find a selection of brilliant descriptive writing in the comments on this post.
If you’d like to add some of your own, feel free.
Other students can then use it for inspiration for future descriptive tasks.
Year 11 Mock Exams – Examiners’ Report
The majority of you did well on your Year 11 mock exams, but this report focuses on what could be improved in advance of the second set of English mocks in March.
Unit 1: Reading
- Make sure you stick to 15 minutes per question; Question 4 had the lowest average mark for this paper, which is possibly down to you running out of time.
- Refer to writers by their last names. You’re not friends with them.
- Start each question on a new side in the answer booklet. This makes it easier for an examiner to mark, and easier for you add extra content to in the event that you have some spare time.
- Try to begin each answer with a topic sentence that shows you’ve understood the question.
- Back up all of your points with quotations from the texts.
- Use the language of the question in your answer to ensure you stay focused on what’s being asked of you.
- Do what the question tells you to do. If you’re asked to divide an answer into two sections, do it.
Unit 2: Writing
Content
- Take your time working out what you are being asked to do and make sure you’re doing it!
- The letter, for example, ought to have been addressed to a local newspaper, and yet around ¼ of you aimed it at the local council. Similarly, some of you thought it was the newspaper planning on running a festival. Read the task carefully.
- A ‘lively’ article should be entertaining, and not dull. Many of you wrote articles on social networking that felt more like advisory leaflets.
- Think carefully about your audience. The article, for instance, was aimed at students your age, and so the best responses were a little more casual and entertaining.
- Adopt the right form for your text. Letters need addresses – and these need to be in the right place. Articles need headlines and bylines, and these should be engaging – not dull.
- Plan your pieces of writing and include these plans in your answer booklet so that the examiner can see you’ve given your work some thought. Well-planned pieces almost always achieve higher marks.
- A strong set of arguments is always preferable to simply crowbarring in the persuasive devices.
Sentence structure, punctuation and spelling
- Basic errors meant that the average mark out of 7 was for SPPS was under 3.
- There is no excuse for failing to start sentences/proper nouns with capital letters.
- Commas should not be used to separate sentences.
- Apostrophes should be used when necessary and avoided when not.
- To access the higher marks for SSPS, you should be:
- Using a range of punctuation (beyond full stops, commas and apostrophes) accurately and for effect.
- Varying your sentence functions and types for impact on the reader.
English A Team: a couple of dates for your diaries!
Year 11 A Team members: the next two sessions are detailed below.
Sign up sheets for Session 2 are up outside the English staff room. Sign up sheets for Session 3 will be up in the new year.
Hope to see you at both!
Session 2
Session 3
Christmas 50: Year 13 English Language
Year 13 Language students: here’s what you need to be doing over the holidays to complete the Language allocation of your ‘Christmas 50’…
1. Make sure you have detailed notes on every term covered in the Grammar Glossary. If there’s anything you’re unsure about, you can tweet us (@englishatlc).
2. When you’ve done that, have a go at The Grammar Megatest if you’ve not do so already. (Make sure you input your email address very carefully, as the test will email you your results. These should be printed and placed in your folders.)
3. Complete this blog task. Make sure you watch both talks and submit a comment on the post with your own thoughts.
4. Listen to the CLA-themed audio files below, and make detailed notes on each. These will help a great deal in preparing you for the mock exam in January.
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5. Watch this Intelligence Squared debate and make notes on the arguments presented by both sides. At the end of the debate, decide whether you’d vote for or against the motion, and explain your decision in 100-200 words in a comment on this post.
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6. Complete the task on this blog post. Make sure you read/watch/listen to all of the links given, and leave a comment on that post to show the decision you’ve reached.
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7. Enjoy the rest of your Christmas break!
If you have any questions/queries, get in touch by email or on Twitter (@englishatlc).
PS. If you haven’t already got this, make sure you grab it from the library before the holiday, or add it to your Christmas list.
Christmas 50: Year 12 English Language
Year 12 Language students: here’s what you need to be doing over the holidays to complete the Language allocation of your ‘Christmas 50’…
1. Make sure you have detailed notes on every term covered in the Grammar Glossary. If there’s anything you’re unsure about, you can tweet us (@englishatlc).
2. When you’ve done that, have a go at The Grammar Megatest if you’ve not done so already. (Make sure you input your email address very carefully, as the test will email you your results. These should be printed and placed in your folders.)
3. Using the language scrapbook you compiled over the summer holiday, create a visual analysis similar to the one below.
You should place your text in the middle of a larger page (preferably A3), and annotate around the edge. Imagine you’re answering the question, How does this text use language to achieve its aims?
If you’re struggling for a suitable text to use, have a go with the Bin Bag Notice we found on the stairwell of an apartment block in Leicester city centre.
4. Complete this blog task if you haven’t already done so. Make sure you watch both talks and submit a comment on the post with your own thoughts.
5. Listen to the CLA-themed audio files below, and make detailed notes on each.
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6. Enjoy the rest of your Christmas break!
If you have any questions/queries, get in touch by email or on Twitter (@englishatlc).
PS. If you haven’t already got this, make sure you get it from the library before the holiday, or add it to your Christmas list.
Christmas 50: Year 13 English Literature
If you’re in Year 13 and studying English Literature, here’s what you need to be getting up to as part of your Christmas 50.
You need to be independently reading around the subject to develop your own critical interpretation of texts by understanding other critical schools of thought, focusing on the ideas of critical theorists.
The following tasks will help you produce analysis at the highest level.
1. Read Terry Eagleton’s ‘Marxism And Literary Criticism’ and Raymond Williams’ ‘Keywords’ (both available in the Literature Google Drive) – this will aid your expression and analysis.
2. Go onto The British Library site and:
- Listen to the short lectures by John Bowen on:The Brontës and the 19th century woman and make bullet point notes on the sections that will be useful for developing AO3 in your essay.
- Listen to Professor John Bowen’s discussion of the intertwined nature of fantasy and realism within Emily Brontë’s novel and make bullet point notes on the sections that will be useful for developing AO3 for your exam responses.
- Read the article on ‘The Victorian Reader’ and make bullet point notes on the sections that will be useful for developing AO3 in your essay.
3. Read the Catherine Fry article given in class, annotating points that would help develop your comparative essay.
4. Go to emagazine and log in using ‘englishatlc’ as your username and password. Search for articles on the Brontes, ‘Faustus’, ‘The Bloody Chamber’ and the Gothic. Make bullet point notes.
5. If you are aiming for a B-A grade, you need to also make detailed notes that cover key points for AO4 – identify the social, cultural and biographical influences on the texts you are studying for both of your coursework tasks and for your examination.
Happy Christmas!
Christmas 50: Year 12 English Literature
If you’re taking English Literature in Year 12, you’ll be working on the first draft of your NEA over the Christmas break.
You all now have an individual question and detailed plan and need to be completing a 1500 word essay for Feminism and Marxism, ensuring that they cover all the assessment objectives.
This must be completed for Thursday 7th of January for the Feminist essay and the following Tuesday 12th of January for the Marxist task.
Merry Christmas!
Why varying your sentences is important…
English at Lutterworth College 