Important+Advice+and+Tips


 * IMPORTANT ADVICE! **

Hey guys, be **confident**, because you're **prepared**! :)

Over the years, the Cambridge examiners have offered feedback on candidates' performance, and some of their comments will be very useful as we prepare to sit for our paper. These comments, in their original, lengthy form, are restricted, but I've summarised the __**key** **points**__ here:

The examiners commented that they enjoyed reading students' work that showed real **engagement** and **enjoyment**. Good answers kept a __tight focus on the demands of the questions__, and answers were __carefully structured and argued__ and __supported by accurate quotations__. Examiners were happy to see evidence of __individual and personal understanding and response__. They praised **succinct** answers, reminding candidates that the //length// of an essay does not automatically mean it has //quality//.

Things to avoid include writing essays that are obviously 'prepared' in the sense that they have been memorized and reproduced, with little relevance to the demands of the question. **DO READ THE QUESTIONS CAREFULLY!**

Do __use **quotes** generously to **support** your points__, but do not insert quotes just for the sake of doing so, with little relevance to the question.

Always __make sure you are **addressing** the **question**__: irrelevance cannot be rewarded!

__Be **calm** and **PLAN** before writing__. This will help you avoid repeating yourself in the essay.

For the unseen, do not just focus on the narrative aspect of the pose passage or poem and end up neglecting the __**writer's use** of **language**__.

Do __focus on the **effects created** by the writer's use of language__, and do not just list technical terms.

__Use time **wisely**__: do not get carried away by your enthusiasm for the set text answer and neglect your unseen question (likewise for paper 2, do not neglect any one question or question part). **Planning before writing is a good investment**.

__ Other significant comments from the examiners: __ "Many scripts were prodigiously full for the time allotted. This is not in itself a virtue, though. Indeed, in some cases, they might have benefited from being slightly shorter, as there was a tendency for answers to become repetitive and for points to be laboured."
 * QUALITY** over quantity :)

"Occasionally candidates wrote a definition of the words used in the question, presumably to ensure that their answers were relevant. This made more sense when defining words such as ‘moving’ and ‘sympathetic’, but less so when defining ‘significance’ and ‘powerful’. It made for laboured introductions which often inhibited rather than helped the response." Define when **//relevant//** and **//necessary//**.

"There was also the usual confusion about what might constitute a ‘moment’ or an ‘incident’. There are still many candidates who find it almost impossible to restrict themselves to an appropriately limited section of text. Examiners are looking for quality, not quantity and, though they are flexible in accepting what is offered, candidates who use a whole act of a play or large section of a novel in response to tasks requiring consideration of moments or incidents do themselves a disservice since their responses are almost inevitably superficial as a result." Read the question **carefully** and **analyse** it, making sure you know exactly what the question **requires**.

"Candidates are clearly directed not to use the printed passage in answering questions (a) and (b), but a significant number ignored this instruction, particularly in answering on To Kill a Mockingbird and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Most often the material only constituted a part of the first answer, but it could not be credited and as a result the mark was often depressed. Candidates should be made aware that they limit the reward available to them by using the same material twice. It would also seem to be very obvious that candidates should read the questions carefully, but judging by the number who ignored instructions to refer to the rest of the play or novel in the passage-based questions, some clearly did not. The second part of these questions is specifically designed to enable them to demonstrate knowledge of the whole text and they penalise themselves if they merely repeat or expand on material in the passage." Again, read the questions carefully, and take note of any additional **instructions**.

"There is a tendency for some candidates to treat the prose passage as a comprehension exercise and, of course, in order to achieve a high mark, it is just as necessary to go beyond the narrative elements and to engage with mood and feeling and language as it is with the poem." In your analysis, whether it is for the prose or poem, explore closely how the writer uses **language** to make you **feel** and build a certain **atmosphere**. It isn't just about what the writer writes or does, but about us explaining the **effect** of what he does. If you are simply paraphrasing what is going on in the poem or prose, then something is wrong...

"However, often the questions which had two parts were not evenly answered: it was fairly common for some candidates to respond well to one part and briefly or poorly to the other." It is important to give **equal** **attention** to both questions, and for a question with two parts, to both parts, as each part has equal weightage.