AQA GCSE ‘REVISION BOOSTER’ MASTERCLASS: UNSEEN POETRY (SECTION C, PART I – WORTH 24/96 MARKS!)

WHEN? Tuesday 14th May at 5:30pm
DURATION? One hour
INSTRUCTOR? Rhys
AIMED AT? Students taking GCSE examinations with AQA this year (read more below)
LEVEL? Mixed-ability
PRICE PER STUDENT? £11, as advertised*
MAX GROUP SIZE? 10
PAYMENT? Via the payment system here

The Unseen Poetry GCSE ‘Revision Booster’ Masterclass is aimed at students taking GCSE English examinations (AQA) in the summer of 2024. This Masterclass is aimed specifically at the AQA exam board and, due to other exam boards having a slightly different style of question for Unseen Poetry, it is recommended that only students doing AQA attend. Note that this is preparation for GCSE English Literature, AQA Paper 2 (the examination for which is on the 20th May).

Note that, in this session, we will only focus on Section C, Part I of II (as Section C, Part II, is only worth 8 marks and is often perceived as much more challenging). Section C, Part II will be addressed in a subsequent session, which will be aimed at students of all exam boards (all of whom have to do an Unseen Poetry Comparison, which is Part II of Section C).

This is a one-hour group session, which will loosely follow the structure outlined below (subject to change slightly, as any good revision classes should, to ensure that all students in attendance are getting the most from the session, feel supported, and have their questions answered!)

1. Revision ‘quick-fire’: a ‘quick-fire’ task to recap key terminology for unseen poems.
2. Structuring a response: top-tips ‘refresher’: as a group, we will discuss how the process of getting from a blank poem to the point where the students are ready to start writing their exam response. The biggest challenge students face is often that they see a blank poem, which they have not seen before, and do not know how to find the key elements to discuss in an exam response. This is what we will address/revise.
3. Interactive ‘live writing’ demonstration: Rhys, the instructor, will model how to turn a plan into an essay which meets the top-band criteria of the mark scheme. This will be interactive, ensuring that students are gauging exactly how the top marks are being ‘unlocked’, step by step.
4. Time for questions: the students will have chance, throughout the session, to clarify any particular doubts they have.