Exam Review Sheet Grade 7

Grade 7 English examination study guide

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What is the purpose of the MS examinations? These end of year tests are designed to help you develop your skills in writing examinations in a formal setting with time-limits. Hand written (without spellcheck) examinations remain the major instrument of assessment in most systems and it is important you get practice at taking them. Remember that your other major assessment tasks are also important, and you should make sure you spend time and effort on those as well. What will I do in the examination? In the exam you will need to write a literary essay. You will be given two ballads to read and you can choose to either: •write an essay that analyses one of the ballads •write a comparison of the two ballads. The comparison is more challenging but gives you more opportunity to demonstrate your skills. Which ballads should you study for the examination? Ballads will be used in the examination. As you should know, ballads are often sung or told aloud, with a definite pattern of rhyme and rhythm to help the narrator remember the story. Stories within ballads are usually about feats of heroism or endurance, and can be tragic, romantic or swash-buckling adventure tales. Two ballads will be chosen for the exam from the following list that all the classes have studied. The Griesly Wife by John Manifold Miller's End by Charles Causley The Lesson by Roger McGough The Gresford Disaster (Anon) Lord Ullin's Daughter by Thomas Campbell What can I do to revise? •

Look through your folio pieces (especially your responses to literature) and work out ways to improve upon your weaknesses

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Review and think about the process of writing a good literary essay?

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Work on your spelling and punctuation (practise, test yourself, have people test you)

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Review and think about literary devices and figurative language.

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Use the attached assessment criteria to work out what you skills you need to work on

• You can use the following questions to help you revise the ballads Story:

What happens in the ballad? Who are the main characters? What sort of narrative is it?

Moral:

Is there a message in the ballad? What is the writer trying to teach us?

Chorus:

Are certain words, phrases or lines repeated? Pick out some examples. Is there a pattern to these repetitions? Try to describe the pattern.

Rhythm:

Try to describe the pace of the ballad. Does the pace change at different points in the story? Why? What is the mood of the ballad?

Rhyme:

Is there a pattern to the rhyming words? Try to describe this pattern and say where these rhyming words occur.

Remember good literary essays will explain not just what the author does, but why the author might have made those choices and the effect they have on the reader.

How will the exam be assessed? Below are the assessment criteria that will be used to assess your essay. Use this as a resource to help prepare for the exam.

Self and teacher assessment for exam Level 9-10 S T R O N G

Ideas

Structures

Style & language

I skillfully analysed the ideas in the poem/s

I used sentences accurately and smoothly

My language is accurate and varied (Spelling, punctuation)

I always supported my ideas with good quotations or reference to the poems

I used topic sentences to introduce my ideas

Word choice demonstrates a wide vocabulary

I was able to find meaningful links between the poems if I chose 3) b

My paragraphs are unified I was able to develop a line of thought effectively

I wrote in the appropriate style for a formal literary essay

7-8 E F F E C T I V E

I analysed the ideas in the poem/s

I used sentences accurately

My language is accurate and varied (Spelling, punctuation, word choice)

I always supported my ideas with good quotations or references to the poems

I used topic sentences and paragraphs effectively (obvious sign-posting used)

I wrote in the appropriate style for a formal literary essay

I was able to find links between the poems if I chose 3) b

I was able to develop a line of thought clearly

5-6

I analysed the ideas in the poems

My essay is well organized

D E V E L O P I N G

3-4 E M E R GING

I supported my ideas with quotations or references to the poem/s

I attempted to analyse the ideas in the poems I supported some of my ideas with references to the poem/s I understood parts of the poem

1-2 NOT YET S T

My ideas showed a limited understanding I attempted the task

I used sentences accurately most of the time

My language is generally accurate and somewhat varied (Spelling, punctuation, word choice)

I used paragraphs effectively most of the time

I make some errors but they do not impede understanding

My essay is generally organized

My language is not always easy to understand.

I used sentences accurately some of the time I used paragraphs effectively some of the time

I may have made a significant number of errors in spelling, punctuation or word choice I did not always use the appropriate style

I am unsuccessful in organising my work

There are significant weaknesses with the style and language I have used