Revision for the Controlled Assessment

Next week will be the start of the controlled assessment for the Poetry Reading task for Year 11. For the Y side of the year group, this will take place on Friday 9th and Monday 12th; the X side will be taking them on Thursday 8th and Friday 9th.

One of the biggest problems we have with controlled assessments is that people DO NOT revise for them!

You wouldn’t expect to turn up to an exam without revising – a controlled assessment is exactly the same. You NEED to have an idea of what you are going to write BEFORE you turn up for the exam.

 

Spend some time this weekend and the evening prior to your controlled assessment revising WHAT you have to write/say and HOW you are going to write/say it. That way, when you get into the controlled assessment on Thursday or Friday, you’re not having to waste time deciding what to write and trying to analyse the poem – you can just get straight on with it.

We know you’re under so much pressure at the moment – we all are! – but we’re behind you 100% to make sure that you achieve your true potential. If you have any questions, worries or stresses about the controlled assessment, come and speak to one of your English teachers this week.

Revision Tips:

• Below will be the lesson powerpoints, poetry task mark scheme and a student written model example (A grade). Use these to target certain areas, plan what you are going to write and revise the poem.
• You are not allowed an annotated copy of the poem in the controlled assessment, so ensure you revise at least three language devices and two structural devices that the poet uses in each poem. Also, make sure you know what the poems are about!
• Google the poems – look up the images that are created by each poet, watch videos on Youtube or on this site. Read up about the poet to help you decide WHY they have written about what they have.

Resources:

Edexcel Unit 3 Poetry mark scheme – Exam out of 24

L1 Intro and Base Details Group Work

L2 Base Detail in detail…

L3 PEE Base Details

L4 August 6 1945b

L5 August 6 1945

L6 Parade’s End

Unit 3 Controlled Assessment Example Answer and Writing Frame

Good luck with revision – any questions, leave a comment or ask next week.

Miss Jarvis

Parade’s End – Daljit Nagra

Champage-gold Granada

One of the areas you can talk about in ‘Parade’s End’ is the use of the car as a symbol for the family, their aspirations in life and potentially the area as a whole. These notes below are taken from 11×7 and 11y8’s interpretation and analysis of the poem.

 

“champagne-gold” – This could represent the wealth and celebration of wealth that the family wish to achieve. The changing of the colour of the car could hint at how the family is trying to integrate (fit in) with the community. It could also show that the dad is potentially trying to show off  – at least, that’s how others may view it.

 

“car-skin pucker” – direct link between the car and the skin of the family.

 

“Then we swept away the bonnet-leaves from gold to the brown of our former colour.”  – this links back to the opening stanza and the desire to change their colour, blend in with the community. However, here we sense their sadness at their aspirations being shattered.

 

‘Bonnet-leaves’ are being washed away as their dreams are also being swept away, returning to their origins. It could also represent the debris after this ‘battle’ being swept away: the conflict between the Indian family and the white community.

 

‘Former colour’ could represent more than one aspect. Firstly, it could be referring to the family and their skin colour, how they are trying to fit into the white community but are made to feel different yet again with the acid attack. Secondly, it could refer to the area as a whole. This family were trying to improve it, opening up a good shop and doing up their car, making improvements. However, the actions of the ‘pub-roar’ masses have dragged the area down again.

 

How does the poet uses the symbol of a car to present conflict? This could be an A/A* paragraph within your essay, as it could show varying, perceptive interpretations of the language used. Practice writing about the car as a symbol to include as a section in your assessment.