sunlight on the grass revision booklet
Short Stories
AQA Anthology
Revision Booklet
English Literature
Unit 1: Part A:
Modern Prose
The Examination
This is worth 20% of the total GCSE
It is 45 minutes of a 90 minute exam.
You must answer ONE question. The question is in two parts:
Part A: you respond to a passage from the text
Part B: you must link this passage to the whole text.
Assessment Criteria
AO1: respond to texts critically and imaginatively; select and evaluate relevant textual detail to illustrate and support interpretations (10%)
AO2: explain how language, structure and form contribute to writers’ presentation of ideas, themes and settings (10%)
You are not assessed on AO3 or AO4.
This means they you do not compare the stories or relate them to context. The examination asks you to choose between two questions. Each question will name one story and leave the second choice of story up to you. The questions are split into two parts and you have to answer both parts. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO COMPARE THE TWO STORIES.
What we will revise:
Plot, narrative structure and the crafting of characterisation in each short story;
Themes and ideas related to each short story;
Language and style: the use of language techniques to create effects e.g. the use of symbolism in ‘Compass and Torch’ to illuminate themes and ideas of moral guidance and family relationships.
My Polish Teacher’s Tie
Plot Summary
‘My Polish Teacher’s Tie’ is about the forming of a relationship between Carla, a dinner lady who works in a school and who is revealed to be half-Polish, and her pen-pal Stefan, a teacher visiting from Poland. Carla nervously engages in a pen-pal friendship with Stefan, but she chooses to let Stefan think she is a teacher, embarrassed that she isn’t a “real professional”. They exchange poems and we see their relationship grow, until Stefan’s visit, when there is an awkward break in their communication as Carla
AQA Anthology
Revision Booklet
English Literature
Unit 1: Part A:
Modern Prose
The Examination
This is worth 20% of the total GCSE
It is 45 minutes of a 90 minute exam.
You must answer ONE question. The question is in two parts:
Part A: you respond to a passage from the text
Part B: you must link this passage to the whole text.
Assessment Criteria
AO1: respond to texts critically and imaginatively; select and evaluate relevant textual detail to illustrate and support interpretations (10%)
AO2: explain how language, structure and form contribute to writers’ presentation of ideas, themes and settings (10%)
You are not assessed on AO3 or AO4.
This means they you do not compare the stories or relate them to context. The examination asks you to choose between two questions. Each question will name one story and leave the second choice of story up to you. The questions are split into two parts and you have to answer both parts. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO COMPARE THE TWO STORIES.
What we will revise:
Plot, narrative structure and the crafting of characterisation in each short story;
Themes and ideas related to each short story;
Language and style: the use of language techniques to create effects e.g. the use of symbolism in ‘Compass and Torch’ to illuminate themes and ideas of moral guidance and family relationships.
My Polish Teacher’s Tie
Plot Summary
‘My Polish Teacher’s Tie’ is about the forming of a relationship between Carla, a dinner lady who works in a school and who is revealed to be half-Polish, and her pen-pal Stefan, a teacher visiting from Poland. Carla nervously engages in a pen-pal friendship with Stefan, but she chooses to let Stefan think she is a teacher, embarrassed that she isn’t a “real professional”. They exchange poems and we see their relationship grow, until Stefan’s visit, when there is an awkward break in their communication as Carla