The English Miscellany

From time to time PhDs are submitted and they are failed . Your 3 to 7 year investment does not come with any guarantee of a pass. Nor is it enough complain that the supervisory team did not tell you that you might fail, or that you are at risk. While failure is very uncommon, there are no guarantees of success. Most examiners are looking for positive evidence of success, but they are also required to identify weaknesses and errors. Both roles comprise the work of critical scrutiny and the professional process of examination. On one occasion when I was serving as a PhD examiner we required major corrections with a 24 month timetable as that seemed to be the alternative to a failure. But the alarm bells ought to have been clear well before submission. Multiple errors and weaknesses may result in protracted re-submission or even outright failure. Examiners often spot weaknesses that your supervisors may not have identified or scrupulously checked. It is not uncommon for ...

In the exam you are typically provided with a short extract from one of Shakespeare plays. This blog provides a checklist of the key points that you will need to write about. This exercise is an opportunity to show off your understanding and your critical vocabulary, and to demonstrate your awareness of how literary and rhetorical techniques contribute to effective dramatic writing. Finding your bearings Keywords: conflict, drama, character, theme Who are the main protagonists, and who are the subsidiary speakers? Which characters prompt or lead the discussion? Who dominates? Think about the context for the action, the sense of conflict or rapport and dramatic situation how the extract helps to develop a character/psychology/motivation/emotion ... or to advance a theme. Think about what has happened before , and what will happen after the selected scene/extract Is there an emotional high point or specific dramatic moments that have more emphasis t...

Are you locked in the Library? It's the exam season again! Here are 16 practical tips and strategies to support study and revision work for exams: Short blocks of time for work A balanced workload between all subjects means variety  Days off work for leisure Writing down a list of reasons to be motivated Rewarding yourself for doing the hours planned Not starting to revise too late Summarising your notes Creating Mindmaps or other visualizations  Devising your own mnemonics or memory games Reading past exam papers Ensuring that you know what the examiners are looking for Doing timed answers and exercies Trying out model opening and closing paragraphs for essays Learning about 50 impressive words to use in discussions, arguments, or concepts Working with your teachers to explain what's not clear  Working with friends collaboratively in teams Dr Ian McCormick is the author of The Art of Connection: the Social Life of Sentences (Quibble Ac...

Why not create your own league table of writers with your class? This is a great opportunity for critical thinking and collaborative decision-making. Start by constructing a long or short list of writers/poets/novels/poems. Then discuss your key criteria for evaluation. Perhaps your scores will change over time? Poet and playwright Oliver Goldsmith’s “poetical scale” was originally published in The Literary Magazine in January, 1758. Genius        Judgement        Learning           Versification Chaucer                       16                    12                    10  ...

Summary of the AQA Exam Board Guidance on language work for A level (16-18 years).  For AS and A level, learners can analyse texts by exploring four functions of language: the expressive function – how a text represents its writer or producer and conveys their attitudes and values the experiential function – how a text represents people, institutions and events the relational function – how a text creates an ideal audience position, creating a power relation between producer and audience, and shaping the audience’s response the textual function – how texts create coherence and cohesion Linguistic Frameworks Phonological: alliteration, assonance, rhythm, rhyme the forms and functions of non-verbal aspects of speech Lexical-semantic: denotational and connotational meaning, figurative language, structural semantics (semantic fields, synonyms, antonyms, hypernyms, hyponyms), jargon, levels of formality ...

1. ATTITUDE Be interested in everything. If you know and experience lots of different things there is a point when they start to join up, or to link in some strange and delightful way. With a broad-based knowledge it is also more likely that you will be able to make informed and inspired guesses. These mindmoves are both enjoyable and stimulating. Give the topic/subject the benefit of the doubt. If you assume that you will be having a tedious experience while studying, your initial thoughts tend to be self-fulfilling. At first many topics are complex and they present initial barriers to entry. Similarly, anything unfamiliar may involve the shock of the new. Rather than turning away, take a leap of faith and keep going until you discover those satisfying moments of lucidity - these are the dawning lights of the understanding at work. Positive mental attitude - this means not basing your current work or your future expectation on past failures. Channel your antagonism effectiv...

A revision list of 103 key words to describe kinds of speech - please add other suggestions below. absurdity aestheticism affectation agility alertness antagonistic aptness archaic artificiality badinage banter belligerent. combative censure civility clarity clowning colloquy conceits courtier / courtly courtship decadence delicacy discourse dramatic effortless elegance epigrammatic erudition esoteric exchanges extravagance felicity fencing fluidity fooling frivolity funny gallantry ...