Calling any English teachers! GCSE mock help

[Oddsocks15]

DD had a walking talking English mock yesterday. She wouldn’t share her mark but it was really low.

I’ve told her to speak to her English teacher, apparently Head of English gave advice at the start of the walking talking mock which seems to have contradicted what DDs English teacher said in class.

DD struggles with the subjective nature of English, she is a maths girl.

The mock was an AQA specimen paper: An Inspector Calls, Ozymandias and unseen poetry. She said she was really pleased with what she had written but clearly not what is required. Teacher had made comments like “don’t state the obvious” and then “give more information” or something similar basically the comments in DDs eyes contradict each other.

After the tears, i started looking online for advice on how best to answer the questions. She has a load of study books, I’ll have a read of those too if DD will let me.

Any English teachers here that can advise?

I’m not sure what a “walking talking” mock is? so not sure if I can help although I am an English teacher.

It’s hard to say without examples of the questions (and answers!) what might have gone wrong. It’s usually a case of not providing an analytical response which explains what the effect of a particular choice of words/techniques is and how the words/technique created that effect.

I would guess that the “don’t state the obvious” is asking your DD not to simply recount what happens in the texts but to write analytically about them - which is where the need to give more information might come in.

A parent rather than teacher. Having seen dd's gcse script I'd suggest while she needs to state the basics, it is also a requirement to follow this through with the effect it creates and her opinion as a reader.

Ie. "Quote" is an example of alliteration , creating a staccato effect by repetition of ... Such language moves the pace of the passage along more rapidly and the writer involves the reader in the momentum of the journey. This is contrasted later by the slower pace created by use of "" later in the passage. I enjoy this because ...

Has she been given guidance such as PEE?

OK, I’ve had a look at the specimen paper. The key phrases is those types of questions are: “how” and “the ways they write”. These are directing the student specifically to give an analytical answer - so something like: the use of the adjective “vast” to describe the legs of the statue show how enormous it was, suggesting Ozymandias’s power and status when the statue was commissioned. However, the fact that the face of the statue now lies “half-sunk” and “shatter’d” shows how far that power has been diminished, and how he is now all but forgotten.

So glad I put so much effort into answering, only for the OP not to return!

Are you being serious, TheOnlyLiving? OP posted this at 8.20, and at 10.36 you are moaning that s/he hasn't returned?

A walking/ talking mock differs from usual mocks in as much as a teacher will give detailed instructions and prompts throughout the exam. These might be things like, ‘remember, when answering this question you need to refer to the effect the language used has on the reader’ or ‘this is a 4 mark question so you should only spend 5 minutes on it.’

They’ve always worked well in our school, especially as they ‘force’ students to keep to the correct pace as you all move into the next question together.

The advice from @TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross is spot on by the way: that is exactly what your daughter’s teacher means by not stating the obvious but including more detail - it’s all about effect created.

I am here! I posted before I left for work and now on my lunch break.

I can post examples of DDs answers but would be when I get home later. Don’t want to waste anyone’s time

Are you being serious, TheOnlyLiving? OP posted this at 8.20, and at 10.36 you are moaning that s/he hasn't returned? hmm

Yes, I am actually. Why would you think I wasn’t being serious? If people start a thread asking for very specific advice as this one was, it’s courteous to do so when you have the time to engage in the discussion thereafter.

I’m sure she’ll be grateful for all the useful advice you’ve given on here though in response to her post. Oh - my mistake - you just came on to be bitchy and then leave again. So even with my moaning, I still managed to be more useful than you.

Sorry TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross I didn't mean to upset or offend anyone. As I said I started the thread before I left for work and checked in again on my lunch break.

Appreciate all the advice given thanks everyone

Next time post quicker oddsocks, lest you upset people

And another useful, relavant contribution there. Well done.

You really need to get out more. 🙄😂