Below, you will find a selection of resources and explainations to help you tackle your English exam which is fast approaching!
On Tuesday the 1st of December at 9.30am you will sit the two external papers that are attached to this course.
3.1 Extended Written Text Essay: In this paper, you will select one of the essay statements to craft a response. You will draw from our literature study of King Lear and critically analyse the text in light of the statement. Given that the exam is a total of 3 hours long, you should use 1.5 hours to complete this paper.
3.3. Unfamiliar Text: In this paper, you will be presented with two texts that you have likely never seen before. For each text, you will evaluate how the author has used techniques to communicate their ideas. It is vital that you discuss the effects of the techniques. In the third and final question, you will be tasked with comparing the texts and their language effects. Given that the exam is a total of 3 hours long, you should use 1.5 hours to complete this paper.
3.1- The King Lear Essay
You have done it a zillion times over the course of your English career- written an essay about a text you have studied. This paper is no exception. There will be a selection of essay statements which you must select one from. You must then evaluate the extent to which you agree with the statement, using King Lear as evidence for your argument. Robust unpacking and examination of the text in light of the statement is required but you must also demonstrate your ability to think critically about literature and its place in the world. Engage with the critical theory of the tragedy genre in your analysis to strengthen your discussion of the text and its function and highlight the way that we as readers can be manipulated by Shakespeare to view the world in a certain light.
Below, you will find the last three years of NCEA papers. One of the best approaches you can take is to add time pressure to your practice essays. Set that clock for 90 minutes and send me the product for feedback!
Past Papers
2019-Essay-L3 2018-Essay-L3 2017-Essay-L3NCEA Excellence Exemplar
2018-Essay-Exemplar-L3Marking Schedule
Essay-Marking-L33.3 Unfamiliar Texts
The skill of reading and exploring language- this is what this paper is all about. The unfamiliar text paper evaluates your awareness of how written language communicates ideas, the function of texts in the world at large, and how we as readers respond to these texts. Your goal is to analyse the way authors have crafted their text in order to achieve a specific response from the reader. This is not a test of how many language features you can name but rather how well you can explore the way that language operates and the differences in author craft. You must unpack the WHAT, HOW and WHY of the text, paying close mind to the parameters of the question.
Below, you will find the last three years of NCEA papers for this standard. One of the best approaches you can take is to add time pressure to your practice runs. Set that clock for 90 minutes and send me the product for feedback!
Past Papers
2019-UF-bookletL3 2019-UF-L3 2018-UF-L3 2018-UF-Book-L3 2017-UF-L3 2017-UF-Book-L3NCEA Excellence Exemplar
91474-exp-2016-excellenceMarking Schedule
91474-ass-2019Revision Grid
I have also put together a grid of revision activities that you can do if you want to mix things up a little. This grid covers content, wider thinking and practice papers.
Level-3-Revision-Grid