High school is the right time to amp up your potential for the English language. You need to especially focus on some key concepts that will help you gain an insight into what the future holds for you. When the syllabus along with the difficulty level increases and you start focusing more on time-demanding subjects, English would most probably take a backseat. So you need to give the correct amount of time at the right chances that you get and this time comes frequently in Class 8.
The English exam is not only about memorizing the literature portion given in the books but it is also about making sure that you structure your sentences in such a way that it best suits your questions. The most appropriate answer to any given question has to follow all the NCERT guidelines and it must be completed according to the syllabus prescribed by your NCERT textbook. The questions given in the NCERT are also quite essential as they lay a base for the questions that come in exams. The NCERT questions along with their solutions must be revised regularly before the exams to ensure maximum marks as these questions are extremely important and they make their way to the exams in one form or the other. It is preferable to refer to the NCERT coursebook along with the Class 8 English NCERT Solutions while studying.
The textbook of English Class 8 is Honeydew and it consists of ten chapters. Each chapter has a section that incorporates a poem at the end of it. Here are a few things that you must deem important when you study for your Class 8 English exam:
- Relevant literature – Due to the vast amount of components that the chapters possess, students often end up writing heaps of things that are not even relevant to the question given in the exam. Students must not be intimidated by the question that might seem vague at times and they must carefully read it to decipher what is appropriate and relevant to write as its answer. There is often a word limit to the literature questions and you must strictly adhere to it. This restricts you to only writing the important portions and regular reading of the chapter will help you categorize what fits the answer best.
- CBSE curriculum and NCERT textbooks – The most important thing that you must keep in mind while writing your answer is that you must follow the CBSE guidelines and the NCERT material regardless of how much you know on that topic. When you write the answers, you must keep the NCERT text in your mind as anything apart from that would lead to deduction of your marks. You can refer to books apart from NCERT for practice but right before the exams, you must only revise through NCERT to make sure that your content is according to it. It would not only fetch you maximum marks but also help you organize your thoughts in a better way to serve the purpose of English literature.
- Word limit – The writing part of the English exam requires you to turn on your creative side and this facilitates a lot of ideas in your head. This array of thoughts must be carefully organized and must be according to the word limit. For this, when you read the question, you must quickly jot down the important pointers that you wish to cover in your write-up. You must make sure you do it in order and in a way that makes sense and is the most relevant.
- Structure and Format – It is necessary that you suitably structure your answers and they follow the right format according to CBSE. The structure of your letters and articles must be what is prescribed by your teachers and this usually is in the following order:
- The definition and a brief overview of the title or topic come first. You can also start your piece with a quote that is relevant to the topic and a small introduction on how that quote is relevant to your writing.
- List the pros and cons of the issue that you introduced and identify its problems. This can be followed by some examples that might be either utopic or real or both.
- Pen down the solutions and real-life implications of the topic. If it’s a problem or a societal issue, then you might also write some ways to better that problem and how you can do your part in solving it.
- All your write-ups must end with a brief conclusion that summarizes your whole piece and this must constitute your last paragraph or portion.
- Practice previous year question papers – The line of questioning is usually the same every year as the teachers need to frame the exam in a way that covers all the important concepts and nothing important is exempted from the exam. Due to this, you must make sure that you thoroughly solve the previous year’s question paper and if you feel that you require more practice or have some time left, you can also refer to question papers of years before that. This will not only help you practice in the format of the exam, but it will also familiarise you with the question-paper pattern and there won’t be any component that will baffle you in your final examination.
If you follow these guidelines meticulously then you’d score well in your English exams and this would also help you articulate your language better. You would be able to categorize and structure your sentences well and be prepared for future exams where these skills are tested the most. The scoring scheme is according to the above-mentioned points and it is best if your answers follow the same pattern. You must also make sure that the NCERT text is at your fingertips and you can answer every possible question that can be framed from it.
The English exam is not that difficult as students sometimes make it to be and if you study the right things and accurately answer your questions, then there’s no way that you’d have your marks deducted.