About a Boy - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

About a Boy

Exam Prep Slide2

Preparing for the WJEC GCSE English Literature

You

will be given an extract from the novel to

analyse for

question 2 part (

i

).

The marks for this task make up one third of the total marks available for

this text

.

Complete

the following example question as practice.Slide3

Sample question

Read chapter 9 pages 54 and 55 up to ‘maybe he didn’t hate him after all.’

NB: In the real exam, the extract will be printed on the exam paper.

Then

answer

one of the following questions

:

Higher tier:

With close reference to the extract, show how

Nick Hornby

suggests Marcus’ thoughts and feelings here

.



Foundation tier:

What are your thoughts and feelings as you

read this

extract? Give reasons for what you say, and remember

to support

your answer with words and phrases from the extract.Slide4

Try to find and discuss at least

ten

features that address the

assessment objectives

(AOs) listed below. Also comment on how these features are

typical of

the novel and how they link the extract to the overall concerns of the novel.

Assessment

Your answer will be given a mark out of 10 for AO1 and AO2, with equal

weight to

each:

AO1

assesses your critical response to the text as a whole, its

characters and

relationships; sub-text and hidden meanings; ideas, themes

and settings

AO2

assesses your understanding and analysis of language, structure

and form

, especially how these help shape ideas and meanings in the novel.Slide5

Marks awarded

Higher tier

Foundation tier

0 marks

Nothing written or nothing worthy of credit

Nothing written or nothing worthy of credit

1 mark

Brief, simple, narrative

Very brief, very little detail

2-4 marks

2-4 marks

2-4 marks

Underdeveloped, some

empathy for 3-4

Brief, simple comments on

what is happening

5-7 marks

Focused and supported by

detail; for 6-7 thorough and

thoughtful discussion

More focus and selection,

with some discussion for

6-7

8-10 marks

Evidence of close reading;

assured, evaluative, analytical

Clear and detailed

discussion of the extractSlide6

Peer marking activity

After

you have answered the sample question, read the following list

of features

that you may have included.

Swap

answers with another student

and use

this list, together with the assessment information above, to give the

work a

mark and a positive, helpful comment on how they might improve.

Tick or underline any of the following features in their answer.

Also

credit

any other

relevant discussion, but remember that just re-telling the story

doesn’t attract

many marks.

Use the assessment grid to decide on a mark out of ten.Slide7

Themes:

Important

incident marks beginning of Marcus and

Will’s friendship

, and is also the day Marcus’s mother attempts

suicide. Referred

to by Marcus as the ‘Dead Duck Day’ throughout the rest of

the novel

.

 Character and relationship:

Marcus’s

point of view conveys

his pessimistic outlook at this point as he assumes ‘nobody would believe him’. His shifting opinion of Will is also revealed in ‘Marcus hated him even more’ then ‘maybe he didn’t hate him after all’. Tone: Chapter opens with short sentences to convey Marcus’s shock at having killed a duck. First paragraph continues with a kind of interior monologue, or even stream of consciousness, where Hornby uses rhetorical questions, such as ‘How come he managed to pick a duck that pathetic?’, irony and hyperbole (exaggeration) ‘he’d be imprisoned’ to convey feelings of dismay.

Extract analysisSlide8



Form:

Extract is written in the third person, from Marcus’s point of view, which encourages us to feel both empathy and sympathy with his situation.



Structure

:

Novel

alternates between Marcus and Will’s points of

view, which

creates humour as we get to know what each character thinks

of the

other, e.g. when Marcus refers to Will as ‘that trendy bloke who

was trying to get off with Suzie’. Structure of the extract: Narrative, showing Marcus’s thoughts in reaction to the incident, followed by dialogue between Marcus, Suzie and Will reflecting both the conflict and humour of the situation. Free indirect style: Conveys Marcus’s voice and feelings e.g. the repetition of ‘tried’ in italics to convey the irony of achieving something he didn’t want when he often can’t achieve what he wants.

Extract analysisSlide9



Informal language:

Helps convey a spoken quality, e.g. ‘OK’ and the slang term ‘kids’ and euphemism ‘keel over’ to mean died in Marcus’s thoughts; elision of ‘do you’ to ‘

D’you

’ and the expletive ‘bloody’ in Will’s direct speech.



Humour

:

Will’s

comment, ‘That’s not a sandwich, that’s a bloody

French loaf

.’ creates some humour both here and later at the end of chapter

23 when Will reminds Marcus how they first met. Direct speech: Interaction with other characters allows for more of Marcus’s thoughts and feelings to be given in response to what others say, e.g. Will’s sarcastic repetition of ‘maybe’ leads to the comment, ‘Marcus didn’t like this bloke.’Extract analysis