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The AQA English Literature exchange/advice thread.

Hello everyone, I've set up this thread in the hope that it can be some sort of an exchange centre/haven for exchanging and viewing essays for AQA. I'm studying Unseen poetry, Conflict, Mice and Men and an Inspector Calls.

Post an essay below for advice or read other's. Thanks :smile:
Good luck in your exams

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Reply 1
I'm also doing Unseen poetry, Conflict, Mice and Men and an Inspector Calls. Subscribing :biggrin:
Reply 2
Original post by multiplexing-gamer
Hello everyone, I've set up this thread in the hope that it can be some sort of an exchange centre/haven for exchanging and viewing essays for AQA. I'm studying Unseen poetry, Conflict, Mice and Men and an Inspector Calls.

Post an essay below for advice or read other's. Thanks :smile:
Good luck in your exams

This seems like a really useful thread. Unfortunately I am not studying any of the same texts as you (To Kill a Mockingbird, Kindertransport and Character and Voice poetry) but hopefully it will be useful all the same
Unseen poetry - What lips my lips have kissed
Poem:

Spoiler



Exam question: What is the poet saying about the nature of love and loss, and how does she put this across?
Essay:

Spoiler

Original post by Caz.123
This seems like a really useful thread. Unfortunately I am not studying any of the same texts as you (To Kill a Mockingbird, Kindertransport and Character and Voice poetry) but hopefully it will be useful all the same

I presume lot's of people aren't doing my texts. But if everyone adds their essays then it'll hopefully be useful to everyone!
Reply 5
Original post by multiplexing-gamer
Unseen poetry - What lips my lips have kissed
Poem:

Spoiler



Exam question: What is the poet saying about the nature of love and loss, and how does she put this across?
Essay:

Spoiler



Is this poem from the CGP unseen poetry workbook?
Original post by Caz.123
Is this poem from the CGP unseen poetry workbook?


Yes, why :colone:
Does anyone have any OMAM notes? xx
Reply 8
Doing exactly the same as you, thank you for setting up a thread :smile:
Original post by shyamshah
Doing exactly the same as you, thank you for setting up a thread :smile:

Post some essays then, the only way this thread will succeed is if everyone posts their fair share of essays :smile:
Reply 10
Original post by multiplexing-gamer
Yes, why :colone:


I thought I recognised it and that was the only explanation I could think of :L
Original post by multiplexing-gamer
Post some essays then, the only way this thread will succeed is if everyone posts their fair share of essays :smile:


I have only got essays on my email and so i wont be able to transfer them into TSR sorry
Reply 12
Original post by shyamshah
I have only got essays on my email and so i wont be able to transfer them into TSR sorry

If they are on email can you not copy and paste them? I havent done any essays yet but will share when I do
Original post by Caz.123
If they are on email can you not copy and paste them? I havent done any essays yet but will share when I do


Nah, its messed up because the essays are from my friend who did it on microsoft word 2007 and i have word 2003 so it wont work.
Original post by shyamshah
Nah, its messed up because the essays are from my friend who did it on microsoft word 2007 and i have word 2003 so it wont work.

You could e-mail to me if you like (if you agree, I'll PM you my e-mail) then I'll post them up on here? :cool:
Reply 15
has anyone got notes on Characters and Voice section of the AQA anthology?

will be much appreciated
Reply 16
I'm studying Shakespeare - Macbeth and Wilfred Owen - Dulce Et Decorum Est and Mental Cases.
Has anyone got notes or websites with notes on these?
Original post by stephhyy
I'm studying Shakespeare - Macbeth and Wilfred Owen - Dulce Et Decorum Est and Mental Cases.
Has anyone got notes or websites with notes on these?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature/poetryowen/
Original post by multiplexing-gamer
You could e-mail to me if you like (if you agree, I'll PM you my e-mail) then I'll post them up on here? :cool:


Yeah, thats a good idea. PM me as soon as possible and i will try and send it to you quickly :smile:
Explore the idea of shattered dreams in Of Mice and Men During the 1930s in the backdrop of the Great Depression, this idea of an American Dream came into prominence where many people put their hopes into. The basic idea of this was to be able to be independent and earn your own money on your own terms. Each dream is unique to each person. In Of Mice and Men (OMAM), the characters have various dreams which they aspire to which are consequently shattered in John Steinbeck’s novel. For George and Lennie, the main protagonists all they yearn for is independence and freedom to work on their own terms. For Curley’s Wife, it is a wish for untarnished happiness where the possibilities are endless. For Candy, it is to be more than a mere cog in someone’s dream; he wishes to be something more, something greater. Finally Lennie it is the idea of brotherhood: Lennie will always have George as his faithful companion.
The American Dream for George and Lennie is that they could have everything they wanted that was made by them and the dream was based on independence and freedom. It was the concept that they were able being their own boss and live on your own terms. The quote “live off the fat of the land” summarises the idea of being able to take whatever you made of the Earth. The word “fat” emphasises the idea that the land gives them so many precious things that they could simply live off. However this dream is somewhat crushed after Lennie’s death. Candy states “You an’ me can get that little place, can’t we George” which seems to be quote which ends the idea of George and Lennie’s dream. The quote summarises Candy’s hope that the American Dream will still live even with the demise of Lennie. The fact that he uses the phrase “little place” suggests that Candy feels that he is not asking for a lot and that her wants a piece of the American Dream which he feels he should have had earlier. It reinforces the idea that Steinbeck is putting forward: the American Dream raises your hopes and then crushes your dreams.
Curley’s wife seems to have an idealistic view of what her American Dream is; it’s full of glamour and Hollywood. Her wish is for this sense of untarnished happiness where she can live happily without being under the constant control of her paranoid husband. However, it soon clear that her dreams will never be achieved because she dies at the end of the novel. The quote “And then she was still” signals the shattering of Curley’s Wife’s dream. She yearned for so much in life like stardom, attention and freedom yet she died trapped in her life, marriage and image. Her American Dream is never achieved and instead she dies a young soul who has never really achieved anything in her life. Steinbeck, once again reiterates the idea that the American Dream is futile to all and that their lives will end in tragedy.
Candy, one of the supporting characters in the novel yearns to be more than a mere cog in someone’s dream. In the novel he is the oldest known rancher and has outlived his purpose on the ranch. He has the most to lose if his American Dream with George and Lennie is shatteredbecause he has no other purpose otherwise. The quotation “S’pose I went in with you guys.”, highlights upon the fact that Candy does not only want to help out on George and Lennie’s dream ranch but he wants to financially have some control over the ranch making some of it owned by him too. Candy wants to have more control at this new dream ranch in contrast to the lack of control he has at the present ranch he is at. The fact that Candy uses the word “S’pose” to suggest that he joins there dream which also suggests that he is uncertain of the dream and that he too has his doubts about the dream yet falls into its trap.
For Lennie, the American Dream is more about brotherhood and the idea of having a companion by him through the good and bad times. Due to his mental inabilities he seems to need someone like George to guide him and look after him as well as keep him out of trouble.The dream ranch they were going to have would symbolise their friendship and also be a sign that they would always have each other throughout their lives.
To conclude, it is clear that Steinbeck is painting a bleak view of the American Dream. His entire novel seems too based around the idea that people put their hopes in a “dream” which they can never achieve. In OMAM all the characters are left with shattered dreams and end up in worse position than before with two of characters dying. All the characters have unique dreams of their own which are eventually shattered.

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