Looming exams - Arrggghhhh!

If you are a more recent subscriber to this blog, you probably won’t be familiar with some material we presented a couple of years ago about how to prepare for sitting A Level English exams. Unlike the obvious marshalling of facts that provides a framework for Chemistry or History for example, how to go about revising English texts is less obvious. So, for our current students:

Welcome to the first in a short series about how to revise English successfully.

1. What does it mean to revise: Characterisation?

It is very likely that at least one of the questions you will face in the exam will focus on characterisation (how an author presents a character). How can you prepare for that?

There are basic areas to cover, regardless of the text. For each of the following:

• Try and make condensed notes / a mind map / list headwords
• Learn a quotation or specific example to illustrate

Selected character:

1) The character’s narrative arc:

• How s/he is introduced
• His/her story/development through the novel
• The character’s own new perspectives by the end (what s/he has learnt)

2) His/her physical appearance and the language s/he uses (register, syntax)

3) His/her relationships with others in the text

4) The imagery associated with him/her.

Author:

1) The author’s attitude to the character – discerned through

• 2 and 4 above
• Differences in perspective
• Tone used describing that character and direct/indirect judgements on him/her (authorial intrusion?)

2) Changes in attitude / sympathy – ultimate assessment of character.

Reader:

1) Be aware of your personal response to the character – have you found the hero / heroine attractive – annoying - funny?

2) Are you satisfied with how the author created the character

• Are they believable (2D or fully rounded) – or more significant for the role they play in the text’s ‘meaning’?
• Do you have other criticisms about the characterisation?

Always keep in mind that every character is simply a literary construct, created by an author for the purposes of the text.