SQA past papers

Here you can find SQA past papers. There are Credit Close Reading and Writing papers (all levels) from 2007 and 2008.

You have already seen both papers, so once you have worked on them again, you can check your answers here (2008) and here (2007).

I suggest that you pick a few writing tasks to work on, and at least two to practise under exam conditions. Flex your writing muscle!!!

Folio redrafting - final instructions

Please check all of your essays carefully to ensure that they meet the following style requirements:

• Arial or Times, 12 point font
• Fit on to 2 pages
• Be consistent in layout for all of your pieces
• Names of text in italics; spell author’s name correctly; use capitals correctly
• Paragraphing – miss a line and don’t indent
• Double indent longer quotes (don’t miss a line and don’t use inverted commas)
• Align all writing to the left
  

For example:

Moritz Kopka

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

How does Harper Lee use the character of Atticus Finch to develop two key themes in the novel?

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a novel set...



Please check your task against the following, to make sure that they are correct:

· How does Harper Lee use the character of Atticus Finch to develop two key themes in the novel?

· Choose a poem in which the poet has created a particular mood or moods. Say what the moods are and show how the poet has used language to create them.

· How does the language in the poem War Photographer evoke sympathy for the photographer and convey the horrors of war?

· Analyse the ways in which Steinbeck presents Curley’s wife in the book, and discuss how you think the reader is supposed to respond to her.

· What is the main turning point in Romeo and Juliet? Through detailed reference to the text, show how Shakespeare creates a turning point in the play.

Any questions, please come and speak to me. Make sure that you bring all finished essays along on Friday, ideally on a flash drive, then we can check and print them together.

Poetry Archive

The Poetry Archive is an excellent resource, with all sorts of poets reading their own work. Enjoy.

For your first homework task of the year, you need to set up a Google account, and post a comment at the bottom of this post. Any questions or concerns about the Google account should be answered here.

In your comment, you should say something relevant to English. You could simply let everyone know of a book that you have read recently, and tell us what you think of it. You could provide a link to a relevant website that you have found useful or interesting. You could write a short poem or story. You could share your personal targets for the year in English, and ask for suggestions. You could make a suggestion on how the blog could function. Be creative, and try to respond to others' comments where relevant.

Exam prep

Good luck in your exams folks.

Remember, for the English exam, you will have a close reading paper, and a writing paper.

In the close reading paper, the key thing to remember is to answer the question exactly. Look for the number of marks available and work out what you need to do to get all of the marks. Use the support sheet that I gave you to remind you of the different types of questions.


In the writing paper, choose either a creative or a personal piece. Before you start writing, make a decision on the following:

• Plot (where you will begin telling the story, how you present the main event, and where you will end it)
• Characters
• Narrator (1st or third person, and when they are telling the story in relation to the event)
• Conflict (What is the story really about? What does the reader want to know throughout the story?)

Once you are completely clear on all of this, think about how you will build atmosphere and tension, then you can begin writing.

Some other key pieces of advice:

• Think very carefully about your opening sentences. You need to raise questions in the reader's mind.
• Try to make your imagery interesting and unusual. Visualise, or imagine very carefully, the thing you are comparing, before comparing it to something else. Try to build your imagery into the action (for example through verb choice), rather than just sticking on a simile.
• Add in descriptive touches throughout the piece.
• Set out speech correctly.
• Vary the lengths of sentences to slow down or speed up action, and to make your writing more readable.

Exam Preparation
Just because you don't have specific things to learn for the English exam, don't think that you cannot do things to help you perform better. Use the close reading paper and the writing paper that I gave you before Easter to have a practice.

• Mark your own answers in the close reading paper.
• Write a few openings for different stories.
• Practise a short descriptive passage. Describe the table where you are now.
• As you walk around each day, try to come up with similes and metaphors for things that you see. Personify objects by imagining that they are doing things. Is the empty Coco-Pops packet echoing your hunger? Is the spider plant reaching down to tickle the cat? Is your little sister clowning? Is your mother policing the house? Is your Granny levering herself out of the chair, or plucking information out of you? This is all imagery, and is the sort of thing that will gain you credit in your writing.
• Try to be original. It's OK to write about a holiday, or skiing or mountain-biking, but remember that these are the things that lots of people write about, and yours will have to stand out somehow.

Any questions about anything, please come and ask me, or email me (gb@hsog.co.uk).

For your essay, you will be writing, as you know, about Act III, sc 1. Here is a link to the essay support sheet.

Decide for now on what your key points will be, and gather evidence from throughout the play so support your arguments. We will draft the essay when we return from the Easter holidays.

Creative writing

I have put together some links to online writing resources to help you develop your writing skills. These mostly relate to creative writing, but the basic skills will help you in all of your writing across all subjects.

If you find yourself with ten minutes and a creative tingling, you could try on of these writing prompts. If they don’t spark your interest, try these.



In class, I suggested that when planning your writing task in the exam, you ask yourself the following questions:

· What is the structure?
· What atmosphere will I create at the beginning? Will it change?
· What images can I create? (What can I compare things in the story to?)
· How will I build tension?
· How will I create character?