I have just marked my first set of mock papers for the
English Language GCSE and I have seen some marked improvements from my set. They
are a set 4 out of 6. A lovely group. But, boy have we battled to get ready them
for the mocks, but a few things clicked in the exam.
There were two things I felt worked really well. One was a
simple case of numbers. The pattern two, two, one. For question 2, it really
helped to focus them. Find two words. Explain effect. Find two techniques.
Explain effect. Find one interesting thing to say about the sentences. I’d go
on to say that the structure worked for the literature papers two. For less the
confident students, it worked as a way to get them to have a stronger focus on
word choice. I have students who find tonnes of techniques, but they miss out
on simple exploration of word choice. The 2/2/1 pattern also helps students to
avoid over searching in a text. Limiting things to two words, two techniques
and one thing about the sentences, gives them more focus and thinking time to
comment on the effect.
In fact, I regularly now get students to find me 2/2/1. I am
that sad I get them to remember the 2/2/1 pattern with the fingers on their
hand. Word of warning: make sure their hands are pointing the right way. Might change
that next time we have a lesson observation.
The other thing that worked was about narrative perspective.
And, more importantly, how students comment on the effect of a narrative
device.
We memorised the following effects of narrative perspective:
1st person
– closer – understanding – building relationship – connection
3rd person
– distant – mystery- revealing – helpless
Then, I got students to memorise the following effects of
the tense of a narrative:
Past – fixed –
inevitable - predictable – helpless
Present – changeable
– unpredictable- involved
As a result of these things, the students wrote very well
about the structure of the text when looking at the start, middle and end. Most
of them commented on the helplessness of the extract and how the extract
developed this sense of helplessness throughout the text. The extract started
with a dream where the protagonist felt helpless was reinforced and developed by
the boy’s helplessness in relation to his mother’s illness. This was supported
by the writer’s use of a 3rd person perspective.
After marking the papers, I am coming to the idea that we
need to focus more on narrative perspective and probably look at some simple
choices by the writer. The gender of the protagonist is a structural device.
The age of the protagonist is a structural device. The background of the
protagonist is a structural device. Why that person? Why that voice? Our rush to
get this question right in our heads has meant we simplify the question to referring
to repeated motifs and opening and closing sentences. But, maybe, we are
missing some important questions that need some time for thinking. We need
students to think about some obvious questions.
Take ‘A Christmas Carol’. Yes, we have an omniscient
narrator, but our protagonist is an old, rich, lonely, miserable man. There are
five structural choices made just there.
Old – fixed attitude
towards things which they have had for a long time – hard to convince
Rich – a position of
power and could cause change or improvements
Lonely – might have a
desire to change his life
Miserable – seeking some
form of happiness
Man – a voice that
will be listened to in Victorian society – quite stubborn
Now, I love Charles Dickens, so when I teach ‘A Christmas
Carol’, I can’t help thinking back to ‘Oliver Twist’ and making connections
between the two. You know ‘Oliver Twist’. The story about a poor, orphaned, outspoken, troublesome boy.
Poor – a position of
weakness and without power
Orphaned – reliant on
others for guidance / help
Outspoken – a refusal
to accept the situation
Troublesome – a sense
of being unsettled – not in the right position
Boy – his identity is
not fixed yet and there is chance he can become something different
We all know that Dickens want to change society and its
attitude towards the poor. It is interesting to compare ‘A Christmas Carol’ and
‘Oliver Twist’. One it about a rich man learning to embrace the poor. The other
one is about a poor boy becoming rich. There are some interesting points then
to make about the structure in relation to their narrative choices. Take
Oliver. At the start he is a poor, orphaned, outspoken, troublesome boy. By the
end he is rich, part of a family, polite and a little bit older. The story is
structured around his growth. Oliver is placed in a number different situations
and each one highlights how he doesn’t belong to that world. Each setting is
described to highlight how he contrasts to that specific world.
When looking at Shakespeare, we probably miss out some clear
structural choices. Here’s a speech from Juliet. What is her attitude towards
love? Back up a bit. How old is she? What is her experience of life? What has
she loved? Has she experienced love? What are her views on love? All these
questions need answering before you even start analysing the character and
speech. What is her point of view? How does she see things? What is her
perspective?
So, where next for me? Well, I think I am going to get
students to narrow the narrative perspective down to five key words. Then, get
students to see how this impacts on the overall structure. For me, I think the
narrative perspective needs to be at the heart of any explanation. The starts
the story with the character is a terrible situation so we empathise with his
plight and see the events from his perspective.
Mind you: I think I probably need more perspective – it is
only eight marks.
Thanks for reading,
Xris
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