Wednesday, 12 May 2010
Writing Introductions
REmember, that your introducetion should really be like a mini-essay plan. It is the way that your examiner will be able to find their way around your essay--like a map, if you like. DON'T, whatever you do, think that you have a wonderful, secret idea that you will spring on the reader at the last minute--bu then they might have lost interest, and find it hard to make the connection. Never save the best until last in an essay.
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The problems occur when one thinks of a great idea half way through. I suppose that is the reason for good preparation and planning.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Rupert, I get some of my best ideas sometimes towards the end and then it is difficult to accommodate them as they are not mentioned in the plan. I want to ask about quoting effectively- (I have copied the question from my comment on the post dated 9th may) - Sometimes I pick out long quotes which are relevant but because they are very long I do not always prefer using them. Do you have to quote the sentence fully or can you use ellipses between the start and end of the sentence? For example, in chapter 1 George says 'And when it rains in winter, we'll just say the hell with goin' to work, and we'll build up a fire in the stove and sit around it an' listen to the rain comin' down on the roof.', can you write it as- in chapter 1 George says 'And when it rains in winter...listen to the rain comin'?
ReplyDeleteI also have problems with thinking of good ideas near the end of the essay!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the good advice, I think I have a tendency to want to surprise the reader with exciting things, rather than just tell them an interesting answer in a straigtforward, planned way!
This isn't really connected in any way, but I keep thinking about - what effect does alliteration actually have on the reader, except make English students really excited? Similarly, what do assonance and sybilance do?
Also, do you have any lists of sophisticated poetry words and their meanings, like enjambement, meiosis and entrelacement(is that right?) - it would be really useful if I could have a list which I could stick up on doors etc! Thank you!
What Eleanor suggested would be very useful! This is unrelated, but I was just wondering if we were able to come the revision session thats not for our class on the 24th. Because the 11L1 one is during my Spanish exam. Would I be allowed to go the one in the morning? Thanks
ReplyDeleteHey Dr. Mccarthy I was just wondering if you could post some possible essay questions (that you've made up) for of mice and men. The other day in english we were thinking of questions (for of mice and men) like "how important are animals/dreams/friendship..." or "how is loneliness portrayed..." or "how does the shooting of candys dog foreshadow the ending..." etc in class and it would be really helpful to have some properly phrased questions on a variety of themes from of mice and men so that we can do practise essays on them at home. It would also be helpful to have possible exam questions on the poems too. Also, I didnt want to use just past paper ones as they wouldn't ask exactly the same question twice. Thank you, Hatty
ReplyDeleteBy the way, of course you can come to the reversae revision session if you have an exam at the time of your assigned one--thanks for pointing out this problem. I'm hoping this will not mean that we'll have a class of 50, but heighho....
ReplyDeleteParidhi, with regard to your long quotations problem, if I were you I would either quote the lot or paraphrase it and pick out the relevant words (which should be your focus). TRy not, in general, to have long quotations, though--they're usually not worth the trouble. Short, neatly integrated quotations mean that you focus more sharply on language.
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