Advice please.... calling English GCSE teachers!

[olivia41]

Hi, could any English teachers out there please advise..... my DD is doing a controlled assessment essay on a play in a few weeks' time and has to write about one aspect of the play, could be anything on dramatic devices (their choice) - do teachers prefer students to just use the actual book given out in class with the play written in it (for reference/revision purposes), or are they allowed to use literacy guides (in addition to books) ahead of the assessments, e.g. I see that Letts do a literacy guide with character profiles, etc, essay practice etc, - what I'm essentially asking is do they do the essay purely from their perception of the book or should they have access to such a guide like the Letts one? Sorry for waffling!!! Thanks.

They can use any revision guide of their choosing to prepare for the controlled assessment - nothing wrong with that and if you want to get her one that's fine.

What I would be careful of is just taking what's said in the guide as gospel; if she repeats what she's read in them without thinking about the text herself, she will get poor marks as she won't really be engaged with the arguments and it will be obvious that she is just 'parroting' what she's read elsewhere. So any English teacher will probably advise that the very best preparation is to read the text as many times as possible and to develop her own ideas.

Thanks, Brian - great advice! Yes, DD has thoroughly read the play and has some very good ideas about dramatic devices - she is the type of pupil that wants to do things "by the book" and so will probably be happier developing her own ideas, so will probably stick to reading the play thorough over.... just didn't want to put her at a "disadvantage" by not providing her with whatever she may need to develop her ideas further - so hard knowing right thing to do! Anyway, thanks for advice.

sorry, reading the play THROUGH OVER AND OVER.... bad English!!!!

She won't be at a disadvantage by not having a study guide. The teacher will make sure they have covered everything they need to write their assessment essay. What your DD needs to do is make sure she has revised what they covered in lessons and has a good bank of themes, ideas and key quotations in her head. The top grades are achieved by having original ideas and expressing them in a fresh way. It sounds like she's working hard already so don't worry too much