Exam preparation

1
Exam preparation

• Get writing essays!

A Wilkes Production
2
What is it all about?

• Two different sections A and B.
• Section A is writing about poetry. Choose one of
  the two questions. You have to use the poem they
  give you, and choose another poem to compare it
  with.
• Section B is where you have to show off your
  writing. You will have to write to inform,
  explain or describe. Choose one question and go
  for it!

3
Section A-Poetry

• All of these poems have a message.
• They are packed full of images and ideas.
• They all use language in interesting ways, to try
  and get their message across.

4
Key Words Reminder

• Images
• Dialect
• Phonetic spelling
• Simile
• Metaphor
• Rhythm
• Meaning

• Alliteration
• Assonance
• Cultures
• Stanza
• Onomatopoeia
• Structure

ASK YOUR TEACHER NOW IF YOU DONT UNDERSTAND ANY
OF THESE!
5
A quick run through

• Keep an eye open for which poems could go
  together!

6
Not my Business

• A negative poem with repetition, fear, unanswered
  questions and lots of images.

7
African name
Who are they?
How does this image make you feel?
They picked Akanni up one morning Beat him soft
like clay And stuffed him down the belly Of a
waiting jeep.
Is Akanni treated humanely?
Was this planned?
What business of mine is it So long as they dont
take the yam From my savouring mouth?
What does this represent?
Why use this word?
8
Who are they?
Does this sound more or less threatening than the
first verse?
They came one night Booted the whole house
awake And dragged Danladi out, Then off to a
lengthy absence.
African name
Is this a vacation?
What business of mine is it So long as they dont
take the yam From my savouring mouth?
9
Chinwe went to work one day Only to find her job
was gone No query, no warning, no probe Just
one neat sack for a stainless record.
What does this show?
Why stainless?
What business of mine is it So long as they dont
take the yam From my savouring mouth?
Why is it neat?
10
Think about the country in which this poem is
set. Why is this an effective image?
And then one evening As I sat down to eat my
yam A knock at the door froze my hungry hand. The
jeep was waiting on my bewildered lawn Waiting,
waiting in its usual silence.
Is this image effective?
Why does the poem not end with a definite outcome?
Why repeat this word?
11
Presents from my aunts in Pakistan

• This is a poem about being caught between two
  cultures. It has contrasting images and lots of
  similes.

12
The narrator receives gifts.

• They are from Pakistan, from her aunts.

13
Salwar kameez peacock blue and another
glistening like an orange split open
What language technique does the poet use to
describe the colours? What is the effect of this?
14
embossed slippers, gold and black
Slippers are associated with luxury. Gold is a
precious metal and is expensive. What does this
tell us about these shoes?
15
However, there is also a feeling of sadness

• I could never be as lovely as those clothes.

16
The bangles cut her, and she is embarrassed
showing her clothes to her English friend. She
wants to wear denim.

• What are the deeper meanings here?

17
She thinks about Pakistan and she tries to
imagine what it is like. She has seen it in the
papers, a fractured land.

• It seems that her own country has once had
  conflict, like the narrator.

18
Some quick questions

• What is Pakistan like, as she imagines it?
• What is significant about her looking through
  railings?
• What does this poem tell us abut being split
  between two identities?

19
Search for my Tongue

• This is a poem about someone who learnt to speak
  in one language. When she moved, she had to learn
  a new language, and she forgot her old language.
  This is a symbol for her losing her identity. She
  gets it back, yay!

20
Some hints

• This is an extended metaphor about losing her
  identity and language, but then getting it back
  again, first in dreams.
• She says tongue, but she means language.
  (Metaphor!)
• She writes a stanza in her original language
  why, and how?
• Look at the physical descriptions and how her
  language blossoms/grows(Metaphor!)

21
Your task

• Explain how this poem explores the connection
  between identity (who you are, your culture) and
  language (the words that you say or write.)
• Look at the images.
• Explain the structure.
• Can you compare it to another poem?

22
Which poems could you use with a question about

• Conflict
• Identity
• Dialect
• Interesting structures
• Use of contrast
• Use of vivid images
• Interesting use of words
• ?

23
Remember to

• PLAN
• PEE(L)
• Answer the question. (Keep checking that you
  are!)
• Compare the poems. How are they giving different
  meanings or the same meanings?

24
Questions

• A) Using Not my Business and one other poem,
  discuss how other cultures can be shown in a
  negative way.
• Or
• B) Using Search for my Tongue and one other
  poem, discuss how a persons language is
  important to their identity.

25
Section B

• Writing to Inform, Explain or Describe.

26
Remember

• The questions might be on both sides check the
  back page.
• Make your choice and stick with it ignore the
  other questions.
• SPIDER PLAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Decide which order to do your points in, this
  will make your work organised.
• READ THE QUESTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!

27
Make sure you know what to do.

• P what is the purpose? What are you being asked
  to do?
• A who is your audience? Who are you writing
  for?
• F what is the format? How will you be setting
  out your piece of writing?

28
Try these practice tasks

1. Write an informative article for your school
   magazine describing your favourite pastime.
2. Describe your home. What makes it a home? (Make
   sure you use adjectives!!!!)
3. Teenagers are often shown as troublemakers in
   certain newspapers. Write a letter to a newspaper
   explaining why you think that this is unfair.