'Jimmie's Fight' practice entrance exam paper

This is a detailed 28-page full practice English entrance exam paper. It follows the style of English entrance exams favoured by most HMC and GSA independent day schools: 30-minute multiple choice and language analysis section followed by a 30-minute timed composition. The paper follows a composition task format which asks students to base their response partly on an image provided on the test paper. The pack is also illustrated with other images which can easily be used to offer students more opportunities to write responses based on an image.
The extract is taken from the famous 1893 American novella ‘Maggie, a girl of the streets’, by Stephen Crane. The choice of a late nineteenth century extract is deliberate; many of the top schools have recently set English entrance exam comprehension tasks with extracts taken from The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and various Sherlock Holmes stories. Being able to write about older texts, analyse their language and define archaic or dialectal vocabulary are all good exam skills. The supporting analysis of the more demanding language-based comprehension tasks helps students see how explanations can be structured and how quotations can be embedded. They can familiarise themselves with technical terms which the pack describes and applies in the sample answers. This boosts student confidence and enriches their timed analytical comments.

This resource contains the following: A 28-page booklet, containing: •The comprehension text extract •Comprehension questions •Comprehension answers •Composition image and task •Sample composition response •A full analysis of the creative strengths of the sample response. Also included are other images which students are welcome to use in other timed 30-minute compositions. A further composition planner sheet, covering a rich variety of suggested words and phrases, to help with the exam composition. This is for parents who plan to use the pack as a teaching aid rather than exam practice paper. It can also be shown to exam practice students after their first attempt, to show them alternative vocabulary choices and tactics they could have used. ‘What makes a good descriptive or narrative plan?’ This handout helps students to improve their composition planning skills. .

Sample Images X Jimmie's Fight Sample 1 Sample page from the resources X Jimmie's Fight Sample 2 Sample page from the resources X Jimmie's Fight Sample 3 Sample page from the resources X Jimmie's Fight Sample 4 Sample page from the resources

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