Course Description
This course is aimed at students in Year 11 taking their GCSE/iGCSE English Language examinations. The course will aid students in all areas of the GCSE/iGCSE English Language course, regardless of examination board. Spread over 4 days, the course consists of sessions on Creative Writing, Non-Fiction/Functional Writing, Unseen Prose, Essay Planning and Writing.
Day 1: Creative Writing
In this class, students will revise the fundamentals of both descriptive and narrative writing, creating a checklist which can be used in any examination of creative writing. Students will gain an appreciation of planning; will develop a richness in the use of metaphor and image; will learn characterisation, and its forms; will be able to properly distinguish between description and narrative. They will also be provided with a small thesaurus of commonly overused words.
Day 2: Non-Fiction/Functional Writing
In the class, students will gain an appreciation of, and be able to distinguish between, newspaper reports, speeches, reviews, letters, and other forms of functional writing - i.e. writing directed towards some purpose and particular audience. Again, the importance of planning will be stressed. More particularly, the significance of audience will be discussed. Students will have an opportunity to compose a short piece of functional writing, which will be marked and commented upon.
Day 3: Unseen Prose
In this class, students will be introduced to some unseen texts from the 19th and 20th centuries. They will learn the art of correct annotation, and how to use annotation as a form of planning; they will revise skills for dealing with common problems related to unseen texts. Finally, they will be introduced to recurrent contexts related to 19th and 20th century literature (modernist writing, journalism, the place of the novel in the 19th century, the significance of women as writers in both the 19th and 20th centuries), to help them better understand the texts themselves.
Day 4: Essay Planning and Writing
In this class, students will use the materials from session 3 to learn the art of careful planning and essayistic writing. Students will encounter a variety of approaches, from the comparative essay to the commentary, whilst discussing the importance of introductions and conclusions, of rigid structure, of intent and analysis. Students will have an opportunity to practice their writing during the session, which will be marked and commented upon individually.
Detailed feedback: An end of course report is sent on completion detailing the student’s achievements and areas for further work.
Max is an Oxford educated English graduate who has also completed an MPhil in American Literature at Cambridge. Max has tutored since 2012 and works with students of all levels and with diverse educational needs. He has taught over 1,300 hours and helped 50 families through Keystone.
- Maximum Class Size: We teach in groups of no more than 10 with the average number in our classes being 5
- Platform: Lessons will take place on Zoom, which is free and straightforward for students to use. A link will be sent out ahead of the course start date. Take a look at this video to see our online teaching in action.
- Age group: Year 11
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