Do:
- Make sure you read the text properly and make notes as you read it.
- Think about GASP (Genre Audience Subject Purpose) and address these in an intro paragraph.
- Try to pursue at least one of these in your first paragraph proper e.g. look at the ways in which the purpose of the text is reflected in certain lexical and grammatical choices (imperatives in a recipe, modals in an advice column, 1st person pronouns and past tense verbs in an autobiography).
- Label word classes wherever possible, with as much detail as you can: a proper noun gets you more marks than a noun.
- Try to look at how the subject of the text is represented by the writer, be it an issue, a person, a film etc.
- Think about how the audience is positioned in relation to the subject matter.
Don't:
- Waste time talking about clauses and sentence types (simple, compound, complex): these are not assessed on this paper.
- Go on about graphology: graphology is for losers. If you spend more than 1 sentence talking about graphology draw a big L on your head, remove your clothes and leave the exam hall claiming mental feebleness.
- Talk about how alliteration "makes the text flow": texts don't flow; rivers do.
- Misspell common words: alot, grammer, sentance, writter. Get these write. I mean right.
