English Revision Pack

Transcription

1 English Revision Pack The most important thing students should do to prepare for the English exam is to read. The more classic literature that is read, the better. This will enable the student to expand their vocabulary and get used to the type of language the text from the exam might use. A list of suggested authors is on our information page. Students should read selected extracts and underline words that they do not know the meaning of. These words should then be looked up in a dictionary. Students should then rewrite the word in a sentence of their own and look for synonyms for the word in a thesaurus. Words with similar meanings form large parts of both the English and VR exam. Give your child spelling tests on these words. Another way to prepare would be to choose extracts from classic books and write your own comprehension questions for them. True or false questions would be a good place to start as well as questions that ask the student to retrieve evidence from the text. You could then move onto questions that ask the child to write what the writer is suggesting by using certain words and phrases. Get your child to read extracts or chapters and then write a short summary of what has happened this will ensure and consolidate their understanding. Copy short sections from a text, missing out all the punctuation, capital letters and misspelling some words. Your child should then rewrite the passage correcting the mistakes. Again, this forms an important part of the exam. Top Tips Read as widely as possible. Write answers in full sentences always otherwise your answer will not be marked. Take care with spelling and punctuation it does matter. Use a highlighter to highlight key words in the question. Take note of line numbers. If you do not understand a word, try to think what the whole sentence is saying and work out the meaning from there. Read the text carefully.

2 1. APOSTROPHES POSSESSION (where the apostrophe shows who the thing belongs to by adding s) E.g.: The book belonged to Sarah = Sarah s book. a) The shoes belonged to Tom = They were.. shoes Write 3 more sentences of your own OMISSION (where the apostrophe replaces a letter) E.g.: My friend is great = My friend s great. a) I do not understand = I understand. b) I have not got any sweets = I.. got any sweets. See if you can think of 3 more of your own So remember these rules and you won t go wrong! (or WILL NOT go wrong!) HOMOPHONES Where words sound the same but have different meanings and spellings: E.g.: There, their and they re. Buy, by and bye. See if you can think of the words that go with these words: - reign - would - weigh - son - red - blue - stare - steal Now see if you can write a different set of homophones into sentences. E.g.: They went outside to their car. It was over there by the garage. They re off to the cinema.

3 3. SENTENCES a) Question: Do you like school? b) Statement: I like school a lot. c) Imperative (instruction): You will like school. d) Exclamation: I like school! Now you try one of each. They can be on the same subject or different ones, but make sure the sentence is what it is supposed to be. a) Question:. b) Statement:. c) Imperative (instruction/command). d) Exclamation:. 4. PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES PREFIXES (letters at the beginning of a word) E.g.: Welcome = Unwelcome Happy = Unhappy Pleased = Displeased Obedient = Disobedient Now see if you can think of 3 more words of your own: SUFFIXES (letters at the end of a word) E.g.: Welcome = Welcoming Happy = Happiness Stab = Stabbed Now see if you can think of 3 of your own: 1 2 3

4 5. VOWEL SUFFIXES: No magic E? Then double up! Shop: shopping shopped Hug:..... Jog:.. 6. REMEMBERING SPELLING/ MNEMONICS: GrammAr= GrandmA! NeCeSSary= One Collar, two Sleeves! DiSaPPoint= Such a Pretty Polly! FriENDs to the END! North, East, South, West: Never Eat Shredded Wheat! Big Elephants Can t Always Use Small Exits! Rhythm Has Your Two Hips Moving! 7. I BEFORE E, EXCEPT AFTER C : Receive Receipt Hygiene Friend

5 8. U MUST FOLLOW Q : Queen Quiz Queue Squash... OTHER COMMON LETTER PATTERNS 1. SILENT LETTERS w, k, b, t, l, h In some words you must remember to include letters which have no sound in that word. Explanation: A long time ago, some of these letters did have a sound but, because their sounds were difficult to say, they died out. Only their ghosts remain. silent w wrong write writer wren wriggle wrap wrist silent k knife knock knee knowledge know knobbly knot silent b crumb thumb dumb debt doubt comb climb silent t thistle Christmas fasten listen whistle castle 2. ou and ow words Explanation: The letter pattern ou spells several different sounds. It can make the sounds ow as in house, the short sound u as in cousin and the long sound oo as in youth. round young youth found cousin uncouth sound shout 3. ough and augh words Explanation: The letter pattern ough can make many different sounds. u o oo aw tough dough through thoughtful rough although bought enough couplet

6 augh words include: taught daughter slaughter naughty laugh 4. ph words The sound f is usually spelt with the letter f but words which come from the Ancient Greek language use the letters ph. photograph telephone phobia physical geography apostrophe pamphlet paragraph atmosphere metaphor photosynthesis graphics Definitions of Literary Terms Adjective A word to describe a noun, or object. Example: The large, furry dog. Adverbs A word to describe a verb how something is being done. Example: He walked slowly along the path.alliteration The repetition of the same letter at the beginning of two or more words in a sentence. Example: The fierce wind fought through the ferns. Irony When the intended meaning is the opposite to the actual meaning. Example: To say Nice weather! when it is raining is to be ironic. Starting a war to prevent another war would be ironic. Metaphor Using a word or phrase to describe a similarity without using like or as in the image. Example: The tree s arms. The sun was a golden beachball thrown high in the sky, Noun A person, place or thing. There are different types of nouns a concrete noun which is a thing or object that can be physically touched; a proper noun is the name of something and will always have a capital letter; an abstract noun is an emotion, feeling or idea, something that cannot be physically touched; and a collective noun is the name of a group of things. Examples are listed in order below. Example: table, London, happiness, bunch. Onomatopoeia Words that sound like their meaning. Example: bang, crash, rattled, sizzling, slithered Oxymoron Placing two contradicting words next to each other. Example: Parting is such sweet sorrow The silence was deafening. Pathetic Fallacy The act of associated the weather with emotions. A stormy day would suggest that something dangerous or bad was going to occur and would build tension. Example: The lightning crashed outside as Billy nervously waited.

7 Personification When you give something non-human, human characteristics. Example: The moon looked down. Prepositions Pronoun Proverb Pun Quotation Simile Soliloquy Verb Antonyms Synonyms Homophones Prefix Words typically used with a noun or pronoun to show the relationship of one thing to another. Example: The ball rolled between the two trees. A word used instead of a noun or name. Example: They walked into the park. A short and often memorable saying for an everyday truth or advice. Example: Too many cooks spoil the broth. Play on words, used in headlines of newspapers to attract the reader s attention. Example: Gord help us now! this is about Gordon Brown becoming Prime Minister and is playing on the phrase God help us. A passage or information from a text the exact words used. Example: To show his feelings for Juliet, Romeo compares her to a Dove (the symbol of purity): A snowy dove trooping among crows. Comparing one thing to something totally different, usually using like or as. Example: as fierce as a lion, as quiet as a mouse. The thoughts of a character expressed on stage in a play. A doing or an action word. Example: We went to the cinema and watched a film. These are pairs of words which have opposite meanings to one another. Examples: a) long...short b) dusk..dawn c) fat..thin d) fast slow These are pairs, or groups, of words which are similar in meaning. Examples: a) big, large, enormous b) thin, skinny, slim c) hot, warm, scorching d) cold, icy, freezing These are words which have the same sound but different spelling. Examples: a) fair, fare b) to, two, too c) weather, whether d) which, witch Little pairs of letters which are added onto the beginning of words to give it a new meaning. Examples: a) un meaning not; unsure, unhappy b) auto meaning self; autobiography, automatic c) tele meaning distance; telephone, television d) pre meaning before; prearrange, prefix

8 Suffix Abbreviation More little groups of letters, but this time at the end of the word to change its meaning. Examples: a) --less meaning without; humourless, remorseless b) ate, meaning to become; evaporate, segregate c) hood, indicating state or condition; falsehood, neighbourhood d) ive, meaning having the nature of; festive, aggressive A word or a phrase which has been shortened, it can also be initial letters pronounced separately. Examples: a) MP Member of Parliament b) UK United Kingdom c) cm -- centimetre d) TV television PUNCTUATION MARKS Commas Capital Letters and Full Stops Apostrophes Brackets Colon Dash Use to separate items in a list or clauses in a sentence. Example: I went to the shop and bought milk, eggs, bacon and bread. The dog, which was a puppy, ran across the road. When a sentence reaches a natural end, there needs to be a full stop and every sentence after that must begin with a capital letter. Example: My name is Simon. I am 11 years old. A little mark to indicate abbreviation or possession. Example: Mark s trainers had a nasty smell. He wouldn t wash his socks. These are used for enclosing extra information in a text. Example: My teacher (Miss Harrison) is very strict. Used to introduce information, a quotation or, most commonly, a list. Example: I went to the funfair and had: candyfloss, a hot dog, some chips and loads of sweets. Often used in words which have been joined together or to separate clauses in a sentence when you want to make more dramatic impact. Example: I went to see the new Harry Potter film fantastic! VOCABULARY BUILDER Always try to use the most effective word that you can. You should use a thesaurus whenever you are doing creative writing. Here are some common words and synonyms you could use to replace them. Good: Nice: Sad: Fun: excellent, superior, outstanding, superb, splendid. pleasant, kind, lovely, enjoyable, agreeable. melancholy, gloomy, cheerless, morose, distressing. musing, entertaining, exciting, pleasurable.

9 Bad: Wrong: Very: Said/to say: Thought/to think: Before: awful, terrible, dreadful, appalling, ghastly. mistaken, incorrect, erroneous, inaccurate. extremely, incredibly, greatly, exceptionally. uttered, declared, proclaimed, announced. believed, reflect, concentrate, deliberate. earlier, prior, previous, ahead of. CONNECTIVES/CONJUNCTIONS Connectives are used to link paragraphs, they help to create a fluent and cohesive text. First After a while Fainally On another occasion Then Straight away When Meanwhile Next Afterwards Here Previously Now In the end Lastly At once Hitherto Ultimately At this point before that At this moment Next time until then Soon Causal Conditional Conjunctions So Yet Moreover Still Though Therefore Consequently Despite this Hence However Even though Because An effect of All the same Caused by Nevertheless As a result of Stemmed from Otherwise Accordingly In that case An outcome An As a consequence Of Upshot if Of Conditional Conjunctions However In other respects Rather In that respect In spite of this Nevertheless Elsewhere Alternatively Whereas Differs from Instead In contrast On the other hand On the contrary Also An alternative view is

10 Additional Conjunctions Also Besides Not Only In addition Furthermore In addition While Whereas Moreover As well as Additionally An added example But And` Without Nor Additional Conjunctions For example Consequently Accordingly As exemplified by Including For instance Therefore As a result Such as These include For one thing Through