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gcse ..english

Hotel california

My son is rather upset because one of the questions in his gcse English paper requires him to write as if he is someone else.  The exact question varies year on year, but usually starts with "imagine ......"

He has told me he cannot do these kinds of question as he struggles with seeing things from another perspective.

The question carries 20% of the marks, so a lot to lose.

Does anyone know if asc children can do a different type of question instead, as it seems unfair to me to expect him to do something he cannot.

Parents

  • I know the problem - in that I had difficulty writing imaginary texts, especially personal letters and other things which teachers thought we ought to know how to do, and always gives me discomfort about the use of relational wording. Imagining I was an inanimate object was a whole lot easier (history of a penny was a personal best). I remember being mortified at having to write a thank you letter in class time as a piece of assessment. I couldn't handle the emotional/relational conventions required.

    Imagine... type questions are used. They are similar to Discuss.... Explain... etc., which children need to be good at, but the problem may be the difference between actual and effect.

    All he has to do is to take himself out of context and explain something, or give a narrative. The explanation is largely independent of the overriding concept, in that he could practice stock answers, or how to write such answers, and learn some conventions to go round it. 

    Not all the marks should be tied up in imagining you are someone else, they usually have to include presentation, style, spelling, grammatical construction etc., so if he could just get round the conventions of non-self, he would probably still do alright on marks. But I can well understand if he is cringing at the thought.

    Getting off the exercise depends what is actually specified in the curriculum. Is imagining you are someone else a specified learning outcome? I doubt it. You could talk to his teacher about doing a variant of the exercise.

Reply

  • I know the problem - in that I had difficulty writing imaginary texts, especially personal letters and other things which teachers thought we ought to know how to do, and always gives me discomfort about the use of relational wording. Imagining I was an inanimate object was a whole lot easier (history of a penny was a personal best). I remember being mortified at having to write a thank you letter in class time as a piece of assessment. I couldn't handle the emotional/relational conventions required.

    Imagine... type questions are used. They are similar to Discuss.... Explain... etc., which children need to be good at, but the problem may be the difference between actual and effect.

    All he has to do is to take himself out of context and explain something, or give a narrative. The explanation is largely independent of the overriding concept, in that he could practice stock answers, or how to write such answers, and learn some conventions to go round it. 

    Not all the marks should be tied up in imagining you are someone else, they usually have to include presentation, style, spelling, grammatical construction etc., so if he could just get round the conventions of non-self, he would probably still do alright on marks. But I can well understand if he is cringing at the thought.

    Getting off the exercise depends what is actually specified in the curriculum. Is imagining you are someone else a specified learning outcome? I doubt it. You could talk to his teacher about doing a variant of the exercise.

Children
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