How to Revise English

GCSE English Language and Literature TAGs

Lord Williams’s School English Department

1. What are TAG (Teacher Assessed Grades) Assessments? The English Department will be running four 45-minute assessments (57-minute if you’re entitled to 25% extra time) after Easter as part of our grade setting process for this year’s GCSEs. We want to be as fair and as accurate as possible when making our decisions; we also don’t want to overwhelm you, as your other subjects will also be carrying out similar assessments.

2. Overview of TAG Assessments (What to revise) The kind of revision you do for English depends on whether you are revising for English Language or English Literature. Here is an overview of the main things you need to revise for each paper. You could use this as a tick list to mark your progress in revision. Ask your teacher for revision resources with more detail on what you need to know and be able to do.

English Language TAGs – Explorations in Creative Reading and Writing

• TAG 1: Reading an unseen fiction text

o Question 2 (10 marks): Analyze language in a small extract with these sentence starters

▪ POINT: The writer has used a [language device] to suggest/imply/create…

▪ EVIDENCE: For instance, ‘…’ [quotation goes here]

▪ ANALYSIS:

• The use of … makes it sound like…

• The word/phrase/subject term ‘…’ creates an impression of…

• We might realize/imagine/feel…

o Question 3 (10 marks): Analyze structure in the whole source with these sentence starters

▪ POINT:

• The writer opens the text by introducing/using [structure feature] in order to

suggest/create…

• This links to/is contrasted with the ending of the text, where there is a shift in

focus to…

▪ EVIDENCE: For instance, this is seen when ‘…’

▪ ANALYSIS:

• The use of … creates a sense of…

• It tells us…

• We are shown that…

• The … develops…

• This interests the reader because…

o Question 4 (20 marks): Evaluate opinions about fiction texts using critical phrases, such as

▪ This makes the reader believe in the story because ….

▪ As we read this part, we feel…. because……..

▪ This makes us think of …..

▪ We are shocked/ surprised by ……..

▪ We recognise how the character must feel when ….

▪ This works because …..

▪ This makes the character seem …..

▪ The impact of this sentence/ description is …….

• TAG 2: Writing to Describe OR Narrate (40 marks)

o Use writers’ language and structure techniques in your own writing

o Plan an extended piece of writing, with several connected paragraphs.

o There are 24 marks for Content and Organization:

▪ Suggestions for writing a narrative:

• Introduce one or two characters

• Give them a motive

• Move the characters from one setting to another

• Jump forward in time

• Use a flashback

• Include dialogue

▪ Suggestions for writing a description based on a picture:

• Don’t have a main character

• Include several minor characters

• Focus on a brief period of time, no more than 5 minutes

• Don’t have a ‘chain of events’

• Imagine you are part of the scene in the picture

o There are 16 marks for Technical Accuracy:

• Writing sentences properly, with capital letters and full stops.

• Using a range of punctuation correctly.

• Being able to write different sorts of sentences.

• Writing grammatically and in Standard English (no slang!).

• Spelling a wide range of words correctly.

• Choosing advanced vocabulary with accuracy.

Core Language Paper 1 Terminology • QUESTION 2: LANGUAGE

o Word Classes: ▪ NOUN things or names or ideas, like ‘cake’ or ‘Timothy’ or ‘gluttony’

▪ ADJECTIVE describes nouns, like ‘big’ or ‘morose’ or ‘abhorrent’

▪ VERB actions carried out by nouns, like ‘kick’ or ‘is’ or ‘throwing’

▪ ADVERB describes how verbs are carried out, ‘savagely’ or ‘slowly’

▪ PRONOUN used instead of a noun, like ‘he’ or ‘she’ or ‘they’

▪ DETERMINER placed in front of a noun, like ‘a’ or ‘the’ or ‘one’ or ‘her’

▪ PREPOSITION tells you where or when something is in relation to something else

o Language Features and Techniques:

▪ ALLITERATION words start with same sound

▪ CONNOTATIONS extra meanings a word suggests

▪ EMOTIVE LANGUAGE makes us feel emotions

▪ HYPERBOLE exaggeration for effect

▪ JUXTAPOSITION two things near enough to notice the contrast

▪ LIST of THREE 3 short phrases in a row

▪ METAPHOR one thing * is * another thing

▪ OXYMORON two-word contradiction

▪ PATHETIC FALLACY weather echoes mood / feelings

▪ PERSONIFY describe a thing as if it’s a person

▪ SIMILE one thing * like / as * another thing

• QUESTION 3: STRUCTURE ▪ DRAMATIC IRONY audience knows things characters don’t

▪ FLASHBACK tells what happened before main action

▪ FORESHADOW hint at what happens later

▪ FOCUS what the writer is drawing the reader’s attention to

▪ JUXTAPOSITION two things near enough to notice the contrast

▪ NARRATIVE GAP information left out to create mystery

▪ REPETITION returning to the same image or phrase again and again

Advanced Connectives • ADDITIONALLY to add a similar idea

• ALTERNATIVELY ‘on the other hand…’ / ‘instead of…’

• DESPITE ‘without being affected by…’

• EVEN IF to introduce a condition that won’t change things

• FURTHERMORE to add a new but linked idea

• HOWEVER to introduce a contrast or opposite

• LIKEWISE in the same way

• NONETHELESS ‘even though that’s true…’

• RATHER THAN ‘instead of…’

• UNLESS to introduce a condition that needs to be true

• WHENEVER ‘every time that…’

• WHEREAS to introduce a comparison for contrast

English Literature TAGs

TAG 1: An Inspector Calls (30 marks, plus 4 marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar)

• STORY / PLOT/ SETTING What happens when, where it happens, why they’re important

• CHARACTERS Focusing especially on Sheila, Mrs Birling and Inspector Goole

• QUOTATIONS Memorizing key quotations

• DRAMATIC DEVICES How the play works on stage

• CONTEXTS The significance of key historical contexts

• THEMES Linking to the big ideas in the play, especially social responsibility

• AUDIENCES How 1946 / modern audiences might react to the play

EXAMPLE AN INSPECTOR CALLS ESSAY PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE

POINT: Priestley shows us that…

EVIDENCE: He does this when… [quotation goes here]

TECHNIQUE/ANALYSIS: The use of the word ‘…’ suggests; the technique of … implies…

LINK TO CONTEXT: Audiences in the UK in 1946 might have responded by…; this links to Priestley’s

political message because…

TAG 2: Anthology Poetry – Power and Conflict (30 marks)

• Knowing the following poems: Ozymandias, Prelude, Storm on the Island, Exposure, Charge of the

Light Brigade, Remains, Bayonet Charge. This includes:

• The situation in the poem – what’s happening

o Key quotations you are confident you can explain – first line, last line and one from the middle is

a good approach

o The form and structure of the poem

o Themes / big ideas / context

• Analyzing language using core technical terms (metaphor, simile, alliteration, etc.)

o Analyzing poems using core poetic terms (rhyme, rhythm, volta, etc.)

• Practicing comparing poems – similarities, differences

EXAMPLE ANTHOLOGY POETRY ESSAY PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE

COMPARATIVE POINT: The two poems are similar/different because…

EVIDENCE FROM POEM A: This can be seen in the first poem when… [quotation goes here]

TECHNIQUE/ANALYSIS: The use of the word ‘…’ suggests; the technique of … implies…

COMPARATIVE PHRASE: Similarly/ Contrastingly…

EVIDENCE FROM POEM B: The second poem focuses on… which can be seen when [quotation here]

TECHNIQUE/ANALYSIS: The use of the word ‘…’ suggests; the technique of … implies…

LINK TO CONTEXT: The similar/ different lives of the two poets help us to understand this because…

3. How to Revise English: Active Revision

Just reading notes is the worst possible way to revise; it doesn’t help you to remember information. Instead, you need to do something with your notes and set texts. Here are some active ways to revise:

Knowing Technical Terms • Make flashcards with the name of the term on one side and the definition and a simple example on the other

side. Quiz yourself, or turn it into a competition between friends

• Practice spotting examples of techniques in your set texts. This could also be a competition between friends

Knowing Sentence Starters and Linking Phrases • Make flashcards with the sentence starter or linking phrase on one side, and what it’s used for on the other

side (e.g., “Used to link context to your explanation of the text”)

• Practice using the sentences in paragraphs that answer sample questions

• Practice some more

Finding Examples of Writer’s Techniques • Annotate a page of a set text chosen at random

• Take a passage from a novel and divide it into its main chunks (this is to practice identifying the structural techniques a writer has used)

• Again, this can be done against the clock or as a competition between friends

Writing Paragraphs on Language and Structure

• At first, do this with a list of sentence starters / linking phrases in front of you

• Then practice without the list in front of you

• Get a friend to tell you what worked well / less well

• Get a teacher to mark it (ask nicely)

Knowing the Plot of An Inspector Calls

• Find a summary online, cut it up, shuffle it, and put it in the right order. Try this against the clock.

• Summarize the plot in 200 words, then 150 words, then 100, then 50, then 20, then 5.

• Watch a (reliable) production of plays on YouTube

Knowing Quotations

• Make flashcards: write the quotation on one side and a hint about when it comes and its importance on the other side. Use in the same way as terminology flashcards

• Write quotations with missing words on paper; next day, try to fill the gaps

Knowing Character and Setting

• Draw a spider diagram for each character or setting, including key motives, goals, actions, emotions, and quotations

• Write the names of two characters on a single page. Make as many links between the characters as you can.

• Write a one paragraph biography of each major character

Knowing Themes and Contexts

• Write the name of a theme / context in the middle of a piece of paper. Link it to as many characters, settings, events and contexts as you can.

• Take a context, and write down three reasons why it helps us understand the text

• Take a context, and sum up the historical facts in 30 words. Then try it in 20 words, then 10.

Themes Language, Form, Structure (AO2) Context (AO3) Key Quotations (AO1)

‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ (1854) Tennyson

Conflict War Patriotism

• Third Person- sounds like official account • Strong rhythm created through regular rhyme, dimeter and dactylic evokes the sound of horse hoofs and drums. • Repetition and anaphora emphasise the relentless forward motion of the soldiers and how they followed orders • Personification emphasises the dangers the cavalry faced.

• Based on the Crimean War, where a miscommunication sent the light brigade into combat. • Tennyson was Poet Laureate, which could explain the propagandist tone.

• ‘Into the jaws of death, / Into the mouth of hell.’ • ‘Then they rode back, but not / Not the six hundred.’ • ‘Honour the light brigade, / Noble six hundred!’

‘Exposure’ (1917) Wilfred Owen

Conflict War Nature Futility of War

• Para- or half-rhyme scheme of ABBAC, together with a jarring metre, makes the poem sound uncomfortable like the physical and mental conditions of the waiting soldiers. • Alliteration, assonance, and sensory imagery assail the reader. • Repetition is used almost as a refrain at the end of each stanza: the question will not go away and reflects the nihilism soldiers feel.

• This is based on Owen’s first-hand experiences in the trenches. The winter of 1917 was particularly bitter. • Owen described the realities of war.

• ’But nothing happens.’ • ‘Sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence.’ • ‘Merciless iced east winds that knife us.’ • ‘snow dazed’ / ‘snow-dozed’

‘Bayonet Charge’ (1957) Ted Hughes

Conflict War Nature Patriotism Effects of Conflict

• Verbs give a sense of frantic movement and lack of control, as does the enjambment (only four sentences in the poem). • Accumulation emphasises irrelevance of patriotism in war. • Semantic fields of war and nature are juxtaposed, showing the impact of war on the land. • Third person and anonymity makes the narrative universal.

• The soldier is shown as more weapon than man, reflecting the deaths in WWI where Hughes’ father was a veteran. • Hughes’s poems often examine man’s impact on nature.

• ‘King, honour, dignity, etcetera’ • ‘Threw up a yellow hare that rolled like a flame.’ • ‘Stumbling’, ‘sweating’, ‘plunged’ / ‘almost stopped’

‘Remains’ (2008) Simon Armitage

Conflict War Memory Effects of Conflict

• Short clauses, enjambment, colloquialisms, and economical unadorned language creates an impression of natural speech and creates the sense of real-life testimony. • Half-rhymes and a bouncy four beat rhythm create a sense of ironic jollity, disrupted by shorter lines at key moments. • Enjambment reflects the continuing nature of memories after war.

• The poem is based on a real-life soldier’s experience in Iraq and his post-traumatic stress disorder. The first-person narrative mimics the interview Armitage conducted.

• ‘But I blink // And he bursts again […]/ Sleep, […] / Dream’ • ‘tosses his guts back into his body.’ • ‘And the drink and the drugs won’t flush him out-’

‘Ozymandias’ (1818) Percy Bysshe Shelley

Power Nature Identity

• The sonnet form, written in traditional iambic pentameter, emphasises Ozymandias’ self-love • As well as contrast, Shelley uses the oxymoron ‘colossal wreck’ to accentuate the destruction of the statue. • It is ironic that the sculptor’s work has endured whilst Ozymandias’ power has not.

• Shelley was a romantic poet, and the poem could be seen to sympathise with the French Revolution in criticising the absolute power of government. • Looks back at Ancient Egypt

• ‘‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings, / Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair!’ / Nothing beside remains.’ • ‘frown / and wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command’

Extract from ‘The Prelude’ (1798) - William Wordsworth

Conflict Nature Identity

• Similes compare the natural to the living and vice versa, and personification conveys both the beauty and danger of nature. • Conjunctions and enjambment link the events seamlessly • Iambic pentameter, with its close relation to the rhythm of the natural voice, suits the personal nature of this poem.

• Wordsworth presents romantic ideals of the power of nature. • This was an autobiographical poem based on his childhood

• ‘Like a living thing, / Strode after me.’ • ‘moved slowly through the mind / By day, and were a trouble to my dreams.’

‘Storm on the Island’ (1966) Seamus Heaney

Conflict Nature Power

• Assonance intensifies through the poem as the storm gets worse • Present tense suggests the struggle is ongoing, and the community’s power is suggested in their continued resistance • The extended metaphor is of a military attack, with the semantic field of warfare (‘exploding’, ‘blast’, ‘bombarded’, ‘strafes’)

• ‘Stormont Ireland’ is the name of the seat of the NI assembly, and this poem could therefore be a metaphor for the troubles in Ireland.

• ‘We just sit tight while wind dives / and strafes invisibly.’ • ‘Strange, it is a huge nothing that we fear.’ • ‘tragic chorus’

Key Passages from An Inspector Calls

From the opening stage directions

The dining room is of a fairly large suburban house, belonging to a prosperous

manufacturer. It has good solid furniture of the period. The general effect is

substantial and heavily comfortable but not cosy and homelike… The lighting

should be pink and intimate until the Inspector arrives and then it should be

brighter and harder.

At rise of curtain, the four Birlings and Gerald are seated at the table, with Arthur

Birling at one end, his wife [Mrs Birling] at the other, Eric downstage and Sheila

and Gerald seated upstage. Edna, the parlourmaid, is just clearing the table, which

has no cloth, of the dessert plates and champagne glasses, etc., and then replacing

them with decanter of port, cigar box and cigarettes. Port glasses are already on

the table. All five are in evening dress of the period… [Mrs Birling] is about fifty, a

rather cold woman and her husband's social superior. Sheila is a pretty girl in her

early twenties, very pleased with life and rather excited… At the moment they have

all had a good dinner, are celebrating a special occasion, and are pleased with

themselves.

From the beginning, showing relations between the Birlings and Edna

BIRLING: (noticing that his wife has not taken any) Now then, Sybil, you must a

take a little tonight. Special occasion, y'know, eh?

SHEILA: Yes, go on, mummy. You must drink our health.

MRS BIRLING: (smiling) Very well, then. Just a little, thank you. (to Edna, who is

about to go, with tray) All right, Edna. I'll ring from the drawing room when we

want coffee. Probably in about half an hour.

EDNA: (going) Yes, ma'am.

Edna goes out. They now have all the glasses filled. Birling beams at them and

clearly relaxes.

From Mr Birling’s Speech, immediately before the Inspector’s arrival

BIRLING: (solemnly) But this is the point. I don't want to lecture you two young

fellows again. But what so many of you don't seem to understand now, when

things are so much easier, is that a man has to make his own way – has to look

after himself – and his family too, of course, when he has one – and so long as he

does that, he won't come to much harm. But the way some of these cranks talk

and write now, you'd think everybody has to look after everybody else, as if we

were all mixed up together like bees in a hive – community and all that

nonsense. But take my word for it, you youngsters – and I’ve learnt in the good

hard school of experience – that a man has to mind his own business and look

after himself and his own – and —

We hear the sharp ring of a door bell. Birling stops to listen.

Dialogue between Mr Birling and the Inspector, in Act One

BIRLING: Oh well – put like that, there's something in what you say. Still, I can't

accept any responsibility. If we were all responsible for everything that happened

to everybody we'd had anything to do with, it would be very awkward, wouldn't

it?

INSPECTOR: Very awkward.

BIRLING: We'd all be in an impossible position, wouldn't we?

ERIC: By Jove, yes. And as you were saying, dad, a man has to look after himself—

BIRLING: Yes, well, we needn't go into all that.

Dialogue between Sheila and the Inspector, in Act One

SHEILA: I've told my father – he didn't seem to think it amounted to much – but I

felt rotten about it at the time and now I feel a lot worse. Did it make much

difference to her?

INSPECTOR: Yes, I’m afraid it did. It was the last real steady job she had. When she

lost it – for no reason that she could discover – she decided she might as well try

another kind of life.

SHEILA: (miserably) So I’m really responsible?

The beginning of Act Two, with entrance of Mrs Birling

INSPECTOR: (ignoring this) Now Miss Birling has just been made to understand

what she did to this girl. She feels responsible. And if she leaves us now, and

doesn't hear any more, then she'll feel she's entirely to blame, she'll be alone with

her responsibility, the rest of tonight, all tomorrow, all the next night—

SHEILA: (eagerly) Yes, that's it. And I know I'm to blame – and I'm desperately

sorry – but I can't believe – I won't believe – it's simply my fault 10 that in that in

the end she – she committed suicide. That would be too horrible–

INSPECTOR: (sternly to them both) You see, we have to share something. If there's

nothing else, we'll have to share our guilt.

SHEILA: (staring at him) yes. That's true. You know. (she goes close to him,

wonderingly.) I don't understand about you.

INSPECTOR: (calmly) There's no reason why you should.

He regards her calmly while she stares at him wonderingly and dubiously.

Now Mrs Birling enters, briskly and self—confidently, quite out of key with

the little scene that has just passed. Sheila feels this at once.

MRS BIRLING: (enters, smiling, ‘social’) Good evening Inspector.

INSPECTOR: Good evening, madam.

MRS BIRLING: (same easy tone) I'm Mrs Birling, y'know. My husband has just

explained why you're here, and while we'll be glad to tell you anything you want to

know, I don't think we can help you much.

SHEILA: No. Mother – please!

MRS BIRLING: (affecting great surprise) What's the matter, Sheila?

SHEILA:(hesitantly) I know it sounds silly —

MRS BIRLING: What does?

SHEILA: You see, I feel you're beginning all wrong. And I'm afraid you'll say or do

something that you'll be sorry for afterwards.

MRS BIRLING: I don't know what you're talking about, Sheila.

SHEILA: We all started like that – so confident, so pleased with ourselves until he

began asking us questions.

Mrs Birling looks from Sheila to the Inspector.

MRS BIRLING: You seem to have made a great impression on this child, Inspector.

INSPECTOR: (coolly) We often do on the young ones. They're more

impressionable.

Mrs Birling defends her actions, Act Two

MRS BIRLING: I'll tell you what I told her. Go and look for the father of the child.

It's his responsibility.

INSPECTOR: That doesn't make it any the less yours. She came to you for help, at a

time when no woman could have needed it more. And you not only refused it

yourself but saw to it that the others refused it too. She was here alone, friendless,

almost penniless, desperate. She needed not only money but advice, sympathy,

friendliness. You've had children. You must have known what she was feeling. And

you slammed the door in her face.

SHEILA: (with feeling) Mother, I think it was cruel and vile.

BIRLING: (dubiously) I must say, Sybil, that when this comes out at the inquest, it

isn't going to do us much good. The press might easily take it up—

MRS BIRLING: (agitated now) Oh, stop it, both of you. And please remember

before you start accusing me of anything again that it wasn't I who had her turned

out of her employment – which probably began it all. (turning to Inspector) In the

circumstances I think I was justified. The girl had begun by telling us a pack of lies.

Afterwards, when I got at the truth, I discovered that she knew who the father

was, she was quite certain about that, and so I told her it was her business to make

him responsible. If he refused to marry her – and in my opinion, he ought to be

compelled to – then he must at least support her.

The Inspector’s Final Speech, Act Three

INSPECTOR: But just remember this. One Eva Smith has gone – but there are

millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us,

with their lives, their hopes and fears, their suffering and chance of happiness, all

intertwined with our lives, and what we think and say and do. We don't live alone.

We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. And I tell you

that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they well

be taught it in fire and blood and anguish. Good night.

He walks straight out, leaving them staring, subdued and wondering. Sheila is

still quietly crying. Mrs Birling has collapsed into a chair.

GREAT ONLINE RESOURCES!

1. http://smallgreenfrog.uk/

▪ This is Mr Haynes’ creation, containing copies of all the poetry anthology poems.

Click on the words in red to read basic annotations on each poem’s key features.

▪ The site also contains Poem Quote Images: a great device for learning key

quotations.

2. https://massolit.io/

▪ The school has a subscription to this excellent website, which contains short

video lectures in the arts, humanities and social sciences.

▪ There are specific lecture courses on An Inspector Calls and the Power and

Conflict Poetry Anthology poems. These are ideal for stretching and challenging

your understanding of our key literature texts.

▪ You just need to create a personal account!

▪ Here are the links to the relevant videos:

i. Ozymandias – https://www.massolit.io/courses/power-and-conflict-aqa-poetry-

anthology/percy-shelley-ozymandias-1818

ii. The Prelude – https://www.massolit.io/courses/power-and-conflict-aqa-poetry-

anthology/william-wordsworth-the-prelude-stealing-the-boat-1798-1850

iii. Storm on the Island – https://www.massolit.io/courses/power-and-conflict-aqa-

poetry-anthology/seamus-heaney-storm-on-the-island-1966

iv. Exposure – https://www.massolit.io/courses/power-and-conflict-aqa-poetry-

anthology/wilfred-owen-exposure-1917

v. Charge of the Light Brigade – https://www.massolit.io/courses/power-and-

conflict-aqa-poetry-anthology/alfred-lord-tennyson-the-charge-of-the-light-

brigade-1854

vi. Remains – https://www.massolit.io/courses/power-and-conflict-aqa-poetry-

anthology/simon-armitage-remains-2008

vii. Bayonet Charge – https://www.massolit.io/courses/power-and-conflict-aqa-

poetry-anthology/ted-hughes-bayonet-charge-1957

viii. Videos for An Inspector Calls – https://www.massolit.io/courses/priestley-

an-inspector-calls

3. https://www.bl.uk/discovering-literature

▪ The British Library website contains a wide range of fantastic articles on the

Literature texts that we study. Use the search function to find relevant pages.

4. Mr Bruff on YouTube

▪ Mr Bruff’s online tutorials are short, clear and effective.

▪ He covers a vast range of texts and exams, but check out his videos on Language

Paper 1, the Power and Conflict poems and An Inspector Calls.