Year 9 English Exam - Study & Preparation Booklet

Examination Format
Your Year 9 English examination will comprise three sections, as detailed below. You should aim to allocate your time
carefully to ensure that you complete all three sections within the two-hour time slot.

Section: Assessment Type: Marks: Suggested

Time:

Section One: Short-answer questions that test your knowledge of central 24 25 minutes
Language vocabulary, and short answer tasks that require you to find and marks
Knowledge correct accuracy errors.

Section Two: Mixed short- and longer-answer questions in response to an 24 35 minutes

Unfamiliar unstudied poem. marks
Poetry

Section Three: Write an analytical paragraph that explains how an important theme 24 60 minutes
Novel is developed in an unstudied passage from the novel. marks
Paragraph

Included below is more information about each section, as well as a suggested approach to study and preparation.

Section One: Language Knowledge

This section will test your knowledge of central vocabulary and rules of surface and syntactic accuracy, as well as
requiring you to find and correct accuracy errors in passages of text.

Central Vocabulary

This document contains a list of vocabulary terms that formed part of the central knowledge for each of the units of
learning in 9ENG this year. All terms within the document could be relevant to the end of year exam, but those words
marked with an asterisk* will be the focus of the vocabulary questions in Section One. Of the 18 asterisked terms,
eight will be assessed in the exam.

Surface and Syntactic Accuracy

You will be assessed on your understanding of accuracy in written English, including the surface and syntactic
accuracy conventions and terms you have learned this year. Primarily, this section will assess your ability to answer
questions about key grammatical terms and to find and correct grammatical errors in a piece of writing. It is
important that you know the grammatical terms and how to correct errors in their use.

Study and Preparation Suggestions

Your study and preparation for this section could comprise some of the following actions:
 Working out which terms you are already confident with and focusing on learning the ones you are not.
 Using your English Basics homework book and/or the English Department’s Language Knowledge Website to
practise engaging with these grammatical terms.
 Making flashcards to test your retrieval of terms and/or definitions.
 Copying out definitions and then challenging yourself to rewrite them without your notes.
 Reciting the words and definitions to yourself or with a friend.
 Having a friend or family member quiz you.

Section Two: Unfamiliar Poetry

In this section, you will be given a poem that you have not studied in class and you will be asked a mixture of
comprehension, short-answer and longer-answer questions to assess your ability to understand, interpret and
discuss the poem.

Example Questions

Comprehension questions could include questions such as:

 Identify the narrative perspective of the poem. (1 mark)
 Why does the poet describe the forest as “.....” in line 4? (1 mark)

Short-answer questions could include questions such as:

 Name the language feature used in lines 7-8 of the poem. What is being compared here? (2 marks)
 Explain the effect of the simile here (i.e., what does it add to our understanding of the poem?) (2 marks)

Long-answer questions could include questions such as:

 What ideas about our relationship with nature is the poet exploring in the final stanza? Make reference to at
least TWO points in your answer. (3 marks)

Study and Preparation Suggestions

Your study and preparation for this section could comprise some of the following actions:
 Familiarising yourself with the terms on the Poetry Knowledge Organiser.
 Familiarising yourself with the advice on the How To Read a Poem document.
 Making flashcards of the poetry terms and definitions so that you can confidently identify these techniques.
 Copying out the definitions and then challenging yourself to rewrite them without your notes.

Section Three: Novel Study

In this section, you will be given a passage from the novel you read in Term 3. It will not be one of the passages that
you discussed in class, but it will share clear and common themes with the passages you have studied. Your task will
be to write one analytical paragraph of around 250 words that explains how an important theme is developed in that
passage.

Your paragraph should follow the analytical paragraph structure that you have learned this year: you need clear topic
sentence(s), evidence from the text in the form of quotations, and concluding sentences that address the writing
prompt. You will be graded on your ideas and written expression, including surface and syntactic accuracy.

Study and Preparation Suggestions

Your study and preparation for this section could comprise some of the following actions:
 Reminding yourself of the major themes that you studied in the novel.
 Practising identifying how those themes are developed in the passages that you did study.
 Practising identifying connotative words and describing how these build meaning in a passage.
 Familiarising yourself with the analytical paragraph structure, which will allow you to structure your ideas.
 Make flashcards to remember key elements of theme, character, language, setting, etc. from the novel.
 Discussing important ideas and themes with friends or classmates.
 vocabulary terms

The vocabulary words below form part of central knowledge for each of the units of learning in 9ENG. Knowledge of
these is assessed in the block tests, written assessments and end of year examination. You are encouraged to
practise learning, retrieving and applying these terms; they remain relevant throughout the study of English.
While all terms are relevant to the end of year exam, words marked with an asterisk* could feature in Section 1.

Unit 1: Ngā Kōrero o Neherā; Stories That Shape Our World

Story An oral or written narrative account.

Mirror* With reference to a story, this is a narrative that displays or engages with ideas, events, identities
or concerns that are familiar to readers from their own lives.

Window* With reference to a story, this is a narrative that displays or engages with ideas, events, identities
or concerns that are different or unfamiliar to readers from their own lives.

Theme A ‘big idea’ and/or underlying message of a text.

Oral tradition* When knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted by word
of mouth from one generation to another.

Society A system of sharing and human connection.

Aetiology* The cause or reason for a thing. As a story it explains why things are the way that they are.

Character A person, animal or animate object in a story that speaks, acts and/or influences the narrative
events.

Trickster* Mischievous characters throughout stories that use their knowledge and power to play pranks,
break the rules and make trouble.

Story Structure The deliberate sequencing of narrative events, often in a conventional order.

Context With reference to literature, this refers to the circumstances in which a work was created,
including social, historical and geographical.

Ancient Greece A society with shared language, values and beliefs that settled the coastlines, islands and
countries around the Aegean Sea in the 800s-300s BCE.

Ancient Rome A society, founded in Rome, that expanded across the European Continent and the
Mediterranean Sea between 753 BCE and into Late Antiquity.

Medieval Britain A period in Britain's history spanning from the collapse of Roman civilization in the 5th century
CE to the dawn of the Renaissance.

Te ao Māori* The Māori world view including language, community, cultural practices and beliefs.

Crafting With reference to writing, this is the skill of purposefully selecting language and structural
elements to create intentional effects.

Descriptive Language that is chosen to add detail, vividness or an emotional quality to writing.
language

Unit 2: Shakespeare’s Comedy

Hero / Heroine* A main character in a story whose special abilities, characteristics and achievements make
him/her appear noble and ideal.

The Fool* A common Shakespearean character type who is funny and irreverent, and whose use of
humour allows him to speak truths where others cannot.

Setting The location and time frame in which the action of a story takes place.

Time As part of setting, this refers to when a story takes place, either at a real point in history or the
 present, or in an imagined version of the past, present or future.

Place As part of setting, this refers to where a story takes place, either in a real location or an
imagined one.

Social class* A system of grouping or categorising people into a hierarchy, based on social and economic
status.

Plot The sequence of main events in a story.

Line As a division in a play, this refers to a group of spoken words that ends at the right hand margin
of the page.

Scene As a division in a play, this typically refers to the action that occurs between a first character’s
entrance onto an empty stage and the final character’s exit.

Act As a division in a play, this refers to a collection of scenes that, together, perform an overall
function in the overall narrative.

5-Act Structure* When a play is organised into five main acts, which are structured to show the rising and falling
tensions in the play, as well as the climax.

Exposition The part in a narrative in which the setting and plot are introduced, and in which impending
tensions and/or conflicts are established.

Rising Action The part in a narrative in which tensions and/or conflicts are intensified.

Climax The part in a narrative in which tensions and/or conflicts reach their highest point.

Falling Action The part in a narrative in which tensions and/or conflicts begin to be resolved.

Denouement The part in a narrative in which tensions and/or conflicts are resolved, and a new sense of
order is established.

Genre A method of categorising texts based on the perception of conventions and/or commonalities.

Comedy* With reference to Shakespeare’s plays, this is a genre of narrative identifiable by

commonalities in character and narrative structure often including deception,
misunderstanding, mistaken identity and, ultimately, resolution through marriage.

The Globe A round, open-air theatre in which Shakespeare’s plays were performed.
Theatre*

Gender Roles The actions or behaviour considered to be appropriate to a particular gender as determined by
prevailing cultural norms.

Elizabethan A system of connection and exchange in which women had little to no choice, and which saw
Marriage Roles women passed as property from male family members into a husband’s control.

Unit 3: Novel Study

Protagonist* The central or leading character in a narrative.

Character The process through which a character’s personality, attitude and/or behaviour changes
Development* over the course of a narrative.

Connotative Words or phrases intentionally selected by an author for the strong or important
language connotations they convey to a reader or audience member.

Hero’s Journey* An extremely common story structure that involves a protagonist who goes on an
adventure, is victorious in a decisive crisis, and comes home changed or transformed.

Ordinary World* The world of a hero before the journey begins, allowing us to identify with and understand
the hero and giving us something to compare/contrast with once the journey begins.
 Call to Adventure The part of the narrative that sets the story rolling by disrupting the comfort of the hero’s
ordinary world.

Refusal of the Call The part of the narrative in which the hero wants to reject the journey, helping us to
understand how dangerous the journey is.

Meeting the Mentor The part of the narrative when the hero gets help or advice from someone, allowing the
hero to better understand the extraordinary world and to prepare for its dangers.

The Extraordinary A world that contrasts with the hero’s Ordinary World in terms of its physical characteristics,
World* its rules, its inhabitants and/or its dangers (literal or figurative).

Crossing the The part of the narrative when the hero first enters the extraordinary world; often this is the
Threshold moment when the hero must commit to the journey, because there is no going back.

Tests, Allies, and The part of the narrative in which the hero must overcome increasingly difficult challenges,
Enemies find and accept aid from allies, and defeat or outsmart enemies.

Approach to the The part of the narrative in which the hero prepares for the hardest part of the journey, and
Innermost Cave is therefore often a time of rest before the next big danger.

The Ordeal* The part of the narrative which is the most difficult moment of the hero’s journey, when s/he
comes most close to death.

The Reward The part of the narrative in which the hero receives a literal reward (such as a new object,
weapon, or treasure) or a metaphorical reward (such as a new identity or way of living and
seeing the world).

The Road Back The part of the narrative in which when the hero begins to prepare to return home, often
after the hero is reminded of the need to get home (perhaps through a memory or the
discovery of something).

Resurrection The part of the narrative in which the hero comes back to life, either literally or
metaphorical (e.g., by claiming a new identity).

The Return with Elixir The part of the narrative when the hero earns the final reward, finally solving the original
problem and bringing the journey to an end.

LANGUAGE KNOWLEDGE

The terms below form part of language knowledge taught and assessed in 9ENG. Knowledge of these is assessed in
the block tests, written assessments and end of year examination. You are encouraged to practise learning, retrieving
and applying these terms; they remain relevant throughout the study of English. Remember, the English Department’s
Language Knowledge Website is a good place to seek clarification or test your knowledge.

Surface Accuracy

Capital letters Capital letters (as opposed to lower case letters) are an element of accuracy in written
English. They are used in certain circumstances, including:
 at the start of a sentence
 at the start of a quote that follows a signal verb
 for the first letter of a proper noun
 with the personal pronoun ‘I’

Sentence-ending A punctuation mark that ends a sentence and tells the reader how to interpret that
punctuation sentence.

Full stop A punctuation mark (.) that indicates the end of a sentence.

Exclamation Mark A punctuation mark (!) that indicates the end of a sentence, giving a sense of emphasis
through heightened volume or emotion.

Question Mark A punctuation mark (?) that indicates the end of a question.

Macron A horizontal line printed above a vowel to express an elongated sound (a feature of
accurate writing in te reo Māori).

Apostrophes Apostrophes (’) are a punctuation mark used to:

 demonstrate possession:
o e.g., The book belongs to Ben. It is Ben’s book.
 indicate contraction:
o e.g., will not = won’t; did not = didn’t; You are = you’re.

Commas in Lists One function of the comma (,) punctuation mark is to separate list items, which can
include single words or whole clauses.
 I am going to buy a pen, a ruler, an eraser, a water bottle and a backpack.
 They will need to pick it up, put it on the table, stand back and then press play.

Quotation conventions A set of surface accuracy rules used to accurately signal the use of a quotation or piece
of dialogue in writing.

Quotation conventions When including a quotation in written English that uses a signal verb, certain conventions
using signal verbs must be followed.
1. A comma is used after the signal verb.
2. Double inverted quotation marks are placed around the quote ("....”)
3. The first letter of the first quoted word must be capitalised.
4. Punctuation like commas or full stops at the end of the quote are included inside
the quotation marks.
5. If the quote comes at the end of the sentence, then sentence ending punctuation
must be used inside the quotation marks. For example: . ! ?

Quotation conventions A woven quotation is used in academic writing when the quote is fully integrated into the
for woven quotations structure of the sentence rather than being offset using a signal verb. The following
punctuation conventions apply:
 The quote does not have to start with a capital letter (unless the usual
capitalisation conventions apply, e.g., for a proper noun, etc.)
 The quote is not preceded by a signal verb and so will not have a comma before
it
 Punctuation at the end is placed inside the quotation marks

Syntactic Accuracy

Subject In a sentence, the person or thing performing an action or being described.

Independent The combination of a subject and a verb to express a complete thought.

Clause
Simple A single independent clause punctuated as its own sentence. It must contain a subject and at least
Sentence one verb, and it must make a complete thought. For example:
The book belongs to Ben.
subject verb object

Subject-verb The grammatical requirement that a verb (or verbs) in a sentence must match the number and
agreement person of their subject. If the subject is singular, then the verb form must be singular, and vice
versa. For example:
Singular: The character is responsible for the change.
Plural: The characters are responsible for the change.

Compound Two independent clauses, connected by a coordinating conjunction and punctuated as a

Sentence sentence.
The book belongs to Ben and the bike belongs to Marcia.
Independent clause coordinating conjunction independent clause.

Comma splice A comma splice is what we call the incorrect use of a comma to connect two independent clauses.
Comma splices must be avoided in accurate writing. For example:
Incorrect:
❌ It was a magnificent day on Tuesday, we went to the beach.
(creates a comma splice)
Correct options include:
✅ It was a magnificent say on Tuesday so we went to the beach.
(uses a coordinating conjunction)
✅ It was a magnificent say on Tuesday. We went to the beach.
(uses a full-stop and starts a new sentence)

Dependent A clause that includes a subordinating conjunction but which does not express a complete thought.
Clause  Since Aria was so protective of her books
 Unless the rain stops

Complex A complex sentence is made up of two clauses. One clause is independent, meaning it could
Sentence stand on its own; the other is dependent and could not stand as a grammatically complete
sentence. The dependent clause begins with a subordinating conjunction for example: while,
therefore, whereas, because, however. The independent and dependent clauses can go in any
order.

For example:

Since Aria was so protective of her books, Emily did not like to borrow them.
subordinating conjunction + dependent clause, independent clause

Emily did not want to borrow the book because it belonged to Ben.
Independent clause, subordinating conjunction + dependent clause.

Word Classes

Noun A class of words that function as a name, often of people, places, things or ideas.

Common noun A noun that names a general type of person, place, thing or idea, and is not capitalised
(unless it begins a sentence).

Proper noun A noun that names a specific person, place, thing or idea and is always capitalised.

Pronoun A class of words that take the place of a noun within a sentence.

Concrete Noun A noun that names a material object (i.e., one that can be physically seen, felt, smelt, heard
or tasted).

Abstract Noun A noun that names a non-material object, such as an idea, emotion or quality.

Verbs A class of words that names an action or indicates a state of being.

 Some common verbs of state include: is, to be, am.
  Some common verbs of action include: walk, run, think, eat.

Verb tense The form a verb takes which indicates whether the action or state took place in the past, is
currently taking place in the present, or will take place in the future.

Signal Verb A verb used to indicate the manner in which dialogue is expressed, or to introduce a quote in
academic writing.

Coordinating A class of words that connect two elements of equal grammatical ranking within a sentence.
Conjunction In English, there are seven coordinating conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so.

Subordinating A class of words used to introduce a dependent clause and connect it to an independent
Conjunction clause.