View Full Version : English Literature : GCSE Examination
Isis-ra
20-05-2008, 08:45 PM
Hello, Just today i took my GCSE English lit exam and i am most sure that i have failed :*(
The Exam was on the novel 'Of mice and men' and The poetry was based around Simon Armitage, Carol Ann Duffy and Robert Browning and the feelings that the poet presents...
I cant believe i did so rubbish...
Did anybody else do a similar exam?
In all honesty, as long as you expressed an opinion, backed it up with examples from the writing, and showed a clear and concise progression of thought I bet you do fine. I just wrote a 10 page term paper on Dostoevsky that I thought was "meh." I got an A because I did the basics well. It wasn't a masterpiece of writing. What I did do was have an opinion that I was able to back up with the text as well as examples from literary criticism. I didn't even always agree with the "master critics," but I was able to support my own opinions and make a logical argument. Often this is enough, especially at the high-school level where the most important thing is getting the basics right. The further along you go up on the educational chain the more important the basics of presenting a logical thought progression become.
BenJohnson
30-01-2009, 10:27 PM
So how did you do in the end?
sunday
31-01-2009, 02:34 AM
"The further along you go up on the educational chain the more important the basics of presenting a logical thought progression become."
Totally agree Yog. Coherence is everything
Isis-ra
31-01-2009, 07:26 AM
Well, seen as I am back. I thought I'd tell everybody that I did pass. I got a B, which is surprising seen as I severely dislike high school and never went in. Im so glad that I have left.
Isis-ra
31-01-2009, 08:21 AM
Correction: "Dislike" = disliked. Sorry for double post, but this browser won't let me edit my posts.
BenJohnson
31-01-2009, 11:23 AM
Well done on the 'B', a lot better than me :)
Gongrats on the b. Are you the kind of people who always think they did badly on an exam and later get a superb grade? :D
We have something similar to GCSE's too. Basically we had to write 2 essays in 6 hours each and the better one was graded. I got something equivalent to b- or c and a ½. My problem always was that i am a very slow writer and it always seems to be pretty hard to come up with something to write. It was pretty gruesome to sit there for 6 hours :D
Isis-ra
31-01-2009, 07:36 PM
I am kind of like that, but i've just recently been diagnosed with Dyspraxia and Dyslexia. So, I may have been able to do better if I had more time.
I take it that GCSE stands for Grammar Composition Skills Exam? Is this a highschool equivalency style exam? I'm not familiar with it at all, different country and all. :O
Isis-ra
31-01-2009, 07:46 PM
It actually stands for General Certificate of Secondary education. :)
BenJohnson
31-01-2009, 07:50 PM
It replaced the older English secondary school examinations of O level and CSE. Basically the brighter pupils were given O level exams and the lesser ones CSE's. They combined the two into GCSE's to make it fairer. I had the dubious pleasure of being the first year to take GCSE's which was a huge cock up at the time.
Isis-ra
31-01-2009, 07:54 PM
:angel: I have heard they have been made much easier, which probably explains why I did so well with no revision and low attendance.
Is this an exam to determine if you have a highschool level of writing for graduation purposes?
amberzak
31-01-2009, 08:53 PM
In the UK, we take GCSE's in all subjects. This is when we are 16. Then we go onto College where we do A levels or a BTEC (A levels are Advance Levels, and are accademic, where as BTEC is a more pratical course) and from there we go onto degrees.
Everyone has to do there GCSEs.
amberzak
31-01-2009, 09:47 PM
Congrats on the B grade.
I would just like to state that GCSE's aren't everything. I didn't do well on my GCSE English at all. I got a D. Basically I didn't have confidence in myself because of bad tutors. Then I went to college to do a BTEC (I did two in the end, Drama and Media) and had the oppotunity to retake my GCSE English. I had a great tutor, and fell in love with English. Even more important, I revealed a huge secret I had kept hidden since I was a child - that I wrote poetry.
Now I am studying at degree level, planning on going on to Masters and hoping to then do a PHD.
BenJohnson
31-01-2009, 09:57 PM
D? Still did better than me :rofl: as you say GCSE's aren't everything, nor is school.
Hmmmm, back in the day I had to take a GBSE or Georgia Basic Skills Exam. It had three basic components: math, grammar/comprehension, and essay. The essay portion was pass/fail. Either you knew how to write a basic essay or you didn't. The essay portion was a pain in the ass. Basically they gave you an hour to write a five paragraph essay on a random topic assigned when they handed you the test. There were two questions and they were usually crappy. Back then it wasn't so easy coming up with a coherent essay on a random topic in less than an hour. Still it must have been less crapy than what they were looking for because I passed.
The other portions of the test were statistics based. Your score was the percentage of students taking the test that year that you scored higher or worse than. I remember being in the 95th percentile grammar/comp and 96th percentile on math. Basically it just reaffirmed that I was in a state full of idiots. heehee
Mr. Blocks
03-02-2009, 08:08 PM
Hello, Just today i took my GCSE English lit exam and i am most sure that i have failed :*(
The Exam was on the novel 'Of mice and men' and The poetry was based around Simon Armitage, Carol Ann Duffy and Robert Browning and the feelings that the poet presents...
I cant believe i did so rubbish...
Did anybody else do a similar exam?
I did Of mice and men. I also hardly turned up for school over it's entirety, that includes junior and infant.
I managed a C. Which means you win.
It's funny, because I managed to get better grades than people that did turn up and tried. It's amazing how things work.
Isis-ra
05-02-2009, 12:33 PM
I did Of mice and men. I also hardly turned up for school over it's entirety, that includes junior and infant.
I managed a C. Which means you win.
It's funny, because I managed to get better grades than people that did turn up and tried. It's amazing how things work.
Same here, I got 13 A* - C, most got below 5. I believe going on adventures and thousands of bus rides is much more fun than going in school and being bullied by ignorant idiots.
sunday
05-02-2009, 01:15 PM
It's funny, I never thought of school as a social place. To me it was more like a job. I realised that getting top grades meant that I could choose any university and degree, and therefore have flexibility. I wanted to be able to wake up one morning and think "Hey I want to be a doctor!" and be free to do so, because I have the grades.
But I agree with Isis-ra that real experience like travel teaches you a thousand more things than school. I wouldn't call school kids ignorant perse` though, it's just a matter of some kids still being their age- immature, while others are wiser than their years.
Isis-ra
05-02-2009, 05:55 PM
It's funny, I never thought of school as a social place. To me it was more like a job. I realised that getting top grades meant that I could choose any university and degree, and therefore have flexibility. I wanted to be able to wake up one morning and think "Hey I want to be a doctor!" and be free to do so, because I have the grades.
But I agree with Isis-ra that real experience like travel teaches you a thousand more things than school. I wouldn't call school kids ignorant perse` though, it's just a matter of some kids still being their age- immature, while others are wiser than their years.
Yes, I think you are correct. I wanted to be a neurosurgeon but even though I do have the grades, its a matter of wanting to do more than that. I have so many things I want to do, I guess becoming a Doctor, then a surgeon and the a Neurosurgeon is just too much.
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