A complete guide to approaching and answering Section A, Paper 2 of A Level English Literature (‘The Gothic’).
Includes:
Unseen Gothic One-Stop Shop
(Mark scheme; Exam rubric; Luckhurst’s Gothic Waves; Gothic concerns, character archetypes and key conventions; Setting as character; Decay and language in the Gothic; Metonymy; Movements within the Gothic)
Gothic Textual Survey
(11 key Gothic texts across the periods of Early Gothic (1765-1788), High Gothic (1789-1813), Late Gothic (1814-1838), Post-Gothic (1839-1898), Postmodern (1960-) and the Female/Cosmic Gothic)
Coverage for each text mentioned:
Title, year, Author
Key context
Tropes
Narration (1st, 2nd or 3rd person)
Key characters, setting and language
Resource from a student who achieved A* at A-Level in the 2022 series. Please leave a review if choosing to download, and credit if/when reusing! Thanks.
THIS BUNDLE CONTAINS KNOWLEDGE ORGANISERS FOR ALL 15 OF THE OCR CONFLICT POEMS!
These clear, detailed and visually-appealing knowledge organisers offer complete reference points for students learning or revising the following poems from the OCR ‘Power and Conflict’ anthology:
Anthem for Doomed Youth - Wilfred Owen;
Lament - Gillian Clarke;
Honour Killing - Imtiaz Dharker;
Envy - Mary Lamb
Vergissmeinnicht - Keith Douglas
Partition - Sujata Bhatt
The Destruction of Sennacherib - Lord Byron
There’s A Certain Slant of Light - Emily Dickinson
The Man He Killed - Thomas Hardy
A Poison Tree -William Blake
What Were They Like? - Denise Levertov
Phrase Book - Jo Shapcott
The Prelude (Extract) - William Wordsworth
Flag - John Agard
Punishment - Seamus Heaney
Each organiser contains a number of detailed, clear, and colourful sections explaining the key elements of the poem:
Context;
Line-by-Line Analysis;
Poetic Devices/ Language Devices;
Themes;
Form/Structure;
Poems for Comparison;
The Poet’s Influences.
The resources are designed to be printed onto A3, and are provided as both PDFs and Word documents (so that you can edit should you wish to). All images used are licensed for commercial use and are cited on a separate document (included).
This is a condensed revision notes for OCR English Literature Paper 1 – Hamlet.
The notes will include:
The exam structure;
Aristotle Tragedy structure and plot;
Critics for the play Hamlet through the ages;
Theatre + Film Adaptations of Hamlet;
General context for Hamlet (written/received reception);
Hamlet Key Quotes Act 1 – Act 5;
Example phrases I have used in writing my essay.
With these notes I was able to achieve feel at ease whilst revising and achieve top grades throughout my A-Levels.
Drama and Poetry pre-1900 exam paper.
Key units for the delivery of the above subject. Each subject has lesson-by-lesson outlones, MTP, is fully resourced (including some differentiation) and contains a range of activities. Exam question tasks are supported and scaffolded.
Detailed Lessons on How to Approach the OCR A Level Literature Exams, includes:
Hamlet
Dystopia (The Handmaid’s Tale)
Ibsen and Rossetti
Detailed early modern context lesson
Resources include extracts and model responses
Following from the condensed revision notes for OCR English Literature Paper 1 – Hamlet.
The resource includes:
Two sets of essays Part a and b which I completed during mocks of year 12 and 13 (you can see the progression of my writing)
I have transcribed the essay but I have also included the actual exam paper if you prefer that (included some teachers comments and some adjustements I made)
With these notes you will be avle to knowhow tp structure your essays and hopefully see where you can improve and achieve top marks.
This is for the Drama and Poetry pre-1900 exam paper!
This is a condensed and concise revision notes for OCR English Literature Paper 2 – Dystopia.
The notes will include:
The exam structure
Dystopia context timeline
Synopsis of dystopian Novels + Texts
An example essay beginning with analysis
A 29/30 essay written under timed conditions by me
With these notes I was able to achieve feel at ease whilst revising and achieve top grades.
These notes are for the Comparative and Contextual study exam paper (paper 2).
This half-termly unit of work is designed to help prepare students for OCR’s Entry Level Certificate in English with particular focus on the imaginative writing assessment. It supports students in developing some of the key skills required to write their own engaging narrative and descriptive pieces such as writing effective openings, writing dialogue, varying sentences and creating characters. It supports and leads them towards the imaginative writing task which they complete at the end of the unit. The 71 slide teaching PPT is included as well as a detailed set of teacher’s notes with suggested teaching approaches and all ten classroom resources in both Word and PDF formats. I have also included a CPD self-study unit for teachers on teaching imaginative writing for entry level students and a set of extra creative writing tasks which can be used for the assessment. I hope you enjoy teaching the unit.
A PowerPoint which takes your students through Language Paper 1 of the OCR exam.
This PowerPoint should be accompanied with the OCR English Language Book 2 as this has the extracts needed. Extracts that are not in this book will be uploaded with the PowerPoint.
This is a fantastic student workbook which can be used from the beginning of Y10 GCSE English Literature. Completing the activities in their own workbook allows students to take ownership of the poems they are studying and increases their familiarity and comfort with each poem. Please note that this doesn’t contain any notes or analysis of the poems: instead, it’s a workbook created for students to complete.
The workbook consists of a series of unnumbered pages, so that you can choose the order that best suits your class.
The contents are as follows:
1. Front Cover – this page allows space for the student’s name/class details.
2. Assessment Objectives and Exam Information – this page gives a clear, concise explanation of exactly how the AOs are rewarded in the Mark Scheme, showing your students exactly what they need to do to gain marks. It also explains the format, layout and mark structure of the poetry section.
3. Previous Questions - the poems and questions that have featured on the exam papers since 2017.
4. Poems and Poets – a full list of all the poems in your selection.
5. Sound Effects and Visual Effects – a superb examination of eight of the most common language techniques used by poets. Each section explains clearly what the technique is and gives a variety of quotations to illustrate this to the students. This is an excellent revision aid that students can use at any point in the year.
6. Your Sound Effects and Visual Effects – these two pages feature grids for students to fill in as the year progresses, allowing them to note and thus memorise examples of the various language techniques from their poems.
7. Poetry Profiles – these two pages are where the students will record essential information about each poem, thus building up a full set of their own notes as their study progresses. The first page prompts them to add information under the headings Poem, Poet, Context, Subject Matter, Themes and, most importantly, Links to Other Poems. The second page uses the headings Form/Structure, Sound Effects, Visual Imagery, Tone, Vital Quotes and Favourite Lines. The PDF includes one copy of these pages, so you will need to print one pair of pages for each poem on your selection.
I’ll be adding lots more GCSE poetry resources to my shop so please check back regularly!
I hope this is useful for you and instructive for your students - as always, I’d love to hear any feedback you may have.
This resource features 12 sample exam questions for the second question of Paper Two GCSE English Language. This is the question requiring GCSE students to write an article for various media.
These questions have been carefully designed to reflect the exact format and layout of the OCR GCSE English new specification, allowing students to become more comfortable with the appearance and demands of their exam paper.
The twelve questions feature four tasks on broadsheet newspapers, four on local newspapers and four on school magazines.
These exam questions can be used both as class activities and as homework. They are also ideal for practice tests in the run-up to the exams.
Other Transactional Writing Resources for OCR:
40 Sample OCR Questions: Letters, Speeches and Articles
12 Sample OCR Questions on Speeches
16 Sample OCR Questions on Letters
I hope these are helpful for you and instructive for your students – as always, I’d be delighted to hear any feedback you may have.
I will be adding lots more GCSE revision resources to my shop so please check back regularly!
This bundle contains everything you need to teach and revise the OCR poems: it has annotated copies of each poem, a revision table to give to students, suggestions for unseen poems and advice on exam technique.
Save 41% by buying this as a bundle.
All resources are high quality and are tried and tested.
A bundle of A Level English Language resources geared towards OCR exam board:
sentence stems for exams
an escape room revision game (lexis and semantics)
theory and concept guide
child lang example with mark scheme
Lexis and semantics lesson resouce
A revision timetable ready made suitable for adapting
A Trudgill research homework template (could work for any theorist if adapted)
This is a fantastic student workbook which can be used from the beginning of Y10 GCSE English Literature. Completing the activities in their own workbook allows students to take ownership of the poems they are studying and increases their familiarity and comfort with each poem. Please note that this doesn’t contain any notes or analysis of the poems: instead, it’s a workbook created for students to complete.
The workbook consists of a series of unnumbered pages, so that you can choose the order that best suits your class.
The contents are as follows:
1. Front Cover – this page allows space for the student’s name/class details.
2. Assessment Objectives and Exam Information – this page gives a clear, concise explanation of exactly how the AOs are rewarded in the Mark Scheme, showing your students exactly what they need to do to gain marks. It also explains the format, layout and mark structure of the poetry section.
3. Previous Questions - the poems and questions that have featured on the exam papers since 2017.
4. Poems and Poets – a full list of all the poems in your selection.
5. Sound Effects and Visual Effects – a superb examination of eight of the most common language techniques used by poets. Each section explains clearly what the technique is and gives a variety of quotations to illustrate this to the students. This is an excellent revision aid that students can use at any point in the year.
6. Your Sound Effects and Visual Effects – these two pages feature grids for students to fill in as the year progresses, allowing them to note and thus memorise examples of the various language techniques from their poems.
7. Poetry Profiles – these two pages are where the students will record essential information about each poem, thus building up a full set of their own notes as their study progresses. The first page prompts them to add information under the headings Poem, Poet, Context, Subject Matter, Themes and, most importantly, Links to Other Poems. The second page uses the headings Form/Structure, Sound Effects, Visual Imagery, Tone, Vital Quotes and Favourite Lines. The PDF includes one copy of these pages, so you will need to print one pair of pages for each poem on your selection.
I’ll be adding lots more GCSE poetry resources to my shop so please check back regularly!
I hope this is useful for you and instructive for your students - as always, I’d love to hear any feedback you may have.
This resource features 16 sample exam questions for the second question of Paper Two GCSE English Language. This is the question requiring GCSE students to write a letter.
These questions have been carefully designed to reflect the exact format and layout of the OCR GCSE English new specification, allowing students to become more comfortable with the appearance and demands of their exam paper.
The sixteen tasks featured ask students to write to a variety of audiences, allowing them to practise using the appropriate style and register for each context.
These exam questions can be used both as class activities and as homework. They are also ideal for practice tests in the run-up to the exams.
Other Transactional Writing Resources for OCR:
40 Sample OCR Questions: Letters, Speeches and Articles
12 Sample OCR Questions on Speeches
12 Sample OCR Questions on Articles
I hope these are helpful for you and instructive for your students – as always, I’d be delighted to hear any feedback you may have.
I will be adding lots more GCSE revision resources to my shop so please check back regularly!
Here’s a link to audio recordings of selected poems from the 3 clusters, voiced by an ex-BBC Broadcaster and English Teacher. Listening to poems can help students embed sound, rhythm, vocabulary and quotations.
Please share with students, colleagues and other schools.
https://soundcloud.com/anton-jarvis-206182017/sets/gcse-unseen-ocr
8 lessons that hopefully will help with the OCR Shakespeare and film controlled assessment. I used Macbeth and the Doran 1999 RSC version, however as you can see you can use Polanski as well. Thanks x