When you get into the exam hall, try to remember these key things:

• Before you write anything, make sure that you have read the ENTIRE paper
• Before you start to answer a question, read the text connected to that question to make sure you fully understand it.
• Look at the marks you are awarded for each question and use this to judge your answer – you know you need to write more for more marks (not necessarily in length, remember quality is important.)
• Make sure that you know what the question is asking. Identifying whether it is asking you to about finding information, presentational devices, inferring the meaning of something or explaining language techniques, will help you in your answer.
• It is important to word explanation yourself, repeating a text or pointing out certain features won’t gain you top marks, you need to say why or how you can identify these things for that.
• Remember to always give evidence for your explanations – once you have chosen what your evidence will be, be it quotations, presentational device or language technique, quote it in full.
• You should then link your point to WHY the writer has done this – how does it meet the text’s purpose and audience?