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Help with To Kill A Mockingbird English Lit exam (22/5/12)

Hi, i just got this account today so sorry if I'm doing something wrong haha, but i have the TKAM exam tomorrow and I'm a bit stuck. I did the exam last year and i only got a C therefore i decided to take it again to try and get higher. I'm fairly confident about it (despite not studying it for certain months) but I'm confused about the Assessment Objectives. I know i have to use A02 and A04 but I do not understand them very well. I know about Language, Structure and Form for A02, but A04 is the one I'm not sure of. If anyone could explain them to me that'd be great.

Thanks :smile:

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Reply 1
A04 is context I think! mention about the great depression and segregation...its the things that relate to the story, and why the author wrote it at the time they did!
Reply 2
Ah great thanks, thats what i thought it was :smile: So basically its like things that were happening at the time which inspired parts of the book? I'm guessing talking about slavery, and the discrimination of black people those times would be good points to include as-well as it was all a major influence of the book.
Original post by jessiejay26
A04 is context I think! mention about the great depression and segregation...its the things that relate to the story, and why the author wrote it at the time they did!


Aww sorry I can't help. I did that exam a couple of years ago now, but good luck for tomorrow! Hope it goes well :biggrin: x

Sorry jessie, qouted the wrong person :b
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by ba96
Ah great thanks, thats what i thought it was :smile: So basically its like things that were happening at the time which inspired parts of the book? I'm guessing talking about slavery, and the discrimination of black people those times would be good points to include as-well as it was all a major influence of the book.


Aww sorry I can't help. I did that exam a couple of years ago now, but good luck for tomorrow! Hope it goes well :biggrin: x
Reply 5
Yes! All of that will really gain you marks! Most people find it quite difficult to put in, because it doesn't really fit in with what you're saying, but if you just put a couple of sentences in, even in the conclusion if nowhere else fits, then you gain marks :smile: Im doing this exam tomorrow, and I am really scared! haha! :P x
Reply 6
Original post by rockchicsocks
Aww sorry I can't help. I did that exam a couple of years ago now, but good luck for tomorrow! Hope it goes well :biggrin: x


Thanks! :smile: I have one on the History Boys before it so its going to be a busy morning!
Reply 7
Original post by jessiejay26
Yes! All of that will really gain you marks! Most people find it quite difficult to put in, because it doesn't really fit in with what you're saying, but if you just put a couple of sentences in, even in the conclusion if nowhere else fits, then you gain marks :smile: Im doing this exam tomorrow, and I am really scared! haha! :P x


Exactly what i kept thinking! I kept saying to myself how the hell am i going to fit in about the society at that time when the question won't be about that?! Me too, i have the History Boys before that, so i am already going to be stressed with all the writing...oh the joys of exams!
I'm sure both you guys will be fine, but I have no idea what the History Boys are! If there is anything I can remember from TKMB is to always link it back to foreshadowing, and the change from a child perspective to a grown ups perspective. I just got my Mockingbird book off the bookshelf for the first time in about a year, its covered in annotations and the siginature of my best friend on every page :smile: I think the themes are about parent and child/predjudice/discrimination/growing up and society(community/education)- but I'm sure you guys already know that. And obviously... the imagery and the synonomous meaning of the Mockingbird(being innocent e.t.c :smile:
If there is anything I learnt from that exam is chill, and it should turn out fine. I did mine and got an A*, but was on the verge of tears before the exam because I'm that cool lol:cool:
Good luck guys, and welcome to the Student Room!
Original post by ba96
Thanks! :smile: I have one on the History Boys before it so its going to be a busy morning!


Aww that sucks, long morning for you then! Oh well, at least you can cross them off the list! I'm actually counting down the days til my exams finish :biggrin:
Reply 10
Original post by ba96
If anyone could explain them to me that'd be great.

Thanks :smile:


Mentioning things as simple as how extreme racial prejudice was in the South are all part of social/historical context, as well as social prejudice and stereotypes at the time of setting :smile:
I'll just leave this here...

For my mocks I managed to get full marks in my TKAMB paper (which is really annoying since mocks don't mean anything haha!) and even though I'm no English nerd and I didn't do ANY revision beforehand I still got a good grade.
The main point is to ANSWER THE QUESTION. I didn't have any fancy quotations/historic knowledge prepared so all I did was focus on the extract in front of me. I think OCR wants you to say what you learn from the extract, not what you already know. If the question says 'how is this extract dramatic?' then I look for the basic things e.g. metaphors and say WHY they are dramatic. There's not use throwing in a sentence about segregation because that's not what the question is asking! Instead I threw in the fact that Scout is just a child and the situation she is in (the extract was based on when they were sneaking into Boo Radley's garden) makes her vulnerable. Also, the fact that Boo Radley is so isolated from society means that the reader does not know what to expect (fear of the unknown) and so the tension builds.

Just remember that it's an English paper, not a history one so just write what the extract is telling you based on what the question is asking and you'll do fine. :smile:

Sorry for the long post, I just hope it helps.

Just link the structural, lingual, contextual and tonal things you find in the passage and describe how they link to the question being asked.

edit: Oh and I only wrote 1 and a half sides of paper, so don't get caught up with writing loads! :smile:
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 12
Original post by rockchicsocks
I'm sure both you guys will be fine, but I have no idea what the History Boys are! If there is anything I can remember from TKMB is to always link it back to foreshadowing, and the change from a child perspective to a grown ups perspective. I just got my Mockingbird book off the bookshelf for the first time in about a year, its covered in annotations and the siginature of my best friend on every page :smile: I think the themes are about parent and child/predjudice/discrimination/growing up and society(community/education)- but I'm sure you guys already know that. And obviously... the imagery and the synonomous meaning of the Mockingbird(being innocent e.t.c :smile:
If there is anything I learnt from that exam is chill, and it should turn out fine. I did mine and got an A*, but was on the verge of tears before the exam because I'm that cool lol:cool:
Good luck guys, and welcome to the Student Room!


Ah Thankyou! It's a play but i think it must be quite a new spec as i haven't heard of many people who have done it. Haha! Yes i forgot about the foreshadowing, and the maturing is definitely one i'll add in. Yeah, I'm quite confident about the themes, social prejudice, racial background, discrimination, the great depression etc...all factors i should cover. Wow well done! I understand, before my exams its stress stress stress but we can only try our best and once it's done, it's all done.

Thanks so much for your help! :smile:
Original post by rockchicsocks
I'm sure both you guys will be fine, but I have no idea what the History Boys are! If there is anything I can remember from TKMB is to always link it back to foreshadowing, and the change from a child perspective to a grown ups perspective. I just got my Mockingbird book off the bookshelf for the first time in about a year, its covered in annotations and the siginature of my best friend on every page :smile: I think the themes are about parent and child/predjudice/discrimination/growing up and society(community/education)- but I'm sure you guys already know that. And obviously... the imagery and the synonomous meaning of the Mockingbird(being innocent e.t.c :smile:
If there is anything I learnt from that exam is chill, and it should turn out fine. I did mine and got an A*, but was on the verge of tears before the exam because I'm that cool lol:cool:
Good luck guys, and welcome to the Student Room!


Wow...a*, i can only dream! Thankyou, my revision guide does mention alot on how the first half is a child's perspective and the second half is a more mature approach, so it only seems sensible to mention that! Also, the symbolism of the mockingbird and how it fits in with soo many things! :smile:
Reply 14
Original post by Mill13
Mentioning things as simple as how extreme racial prejudice was in the South are all part of social/historical context, as well as social prejudice and stereotypes at the time of setting :smile:


Brilliant, thanks! :smile:
Reply 15
Original post by PurpleSquid
I'll just leave this here...

For my mocks I managed to get full marks in my TKAMB paper (which is really annoying since mocks don't mean anything haha!) and even though I'm no English nerd and I didn't do ANY revision beforehand I still got a good grade.
The main point is to ANSWER THE QUESTION. I didn't have any fancy quotations/historic knowledge prepared so all I did was focus on the extract in front of me. I think OCR wants you to say what you learn from the extract, not what you already know. If the question says 'how is this extract dramatic?' then I look for the basic things e.g. metaphors and say WHY they are dramatic. There's not use throwing in a sentence about segregation because that's not what the question is asking! Instead I threw in the fact that Scout is just a child and the situation she is in (the extract was based on when they were sneaking into Boo Radley's garden) makes her vulnerable. Also, the fact that Boo Radley is so isolated from society means that the reader does not know what to expect (fear of the unknown) and so the tension builds.

Just remember that it's an English paper, not a history one so just write what the extract is telling you based on what the question is asking and you'll do fine. :smile:

Sorry for the long post, I just hope it helps.

Just link the structural, lingual, contextual and tonal things you find in the passage and describe how they link to the question being asked.


Wow thats brilliant, thanks! I've written that down and i think i'm going to take your advice. It is quite hard to study for English exams such as this one because you don't know what extract you'll be given. I think the topic of Scouts age and her maturing may come up on the exam, so hopefully i'll be able to answer it!

Thanks :smile:
Reply 16
I've got the exam tomorrow too, but am unsure what/how to revise for it? Any tips?
Original post by ba96
Wow thats brilliant, thanks! I've written that down and i think i'm going to take your advice. It is quite hard to study for English exams such as this one because you don't know what extract you'll be given. I think the topic of Scouts age and her maturing may come up on the exam, so hopefully i'll be able to answer it!

Thanks :smile:


You're welcome! :smile: Good luck!


Original post by tur7le9
I've got the exam tomorrow too, but am unsure what/how to revise for it? Any tips?


I'd say to check over what you need to look out for when you are presented with the extract. Remind yourself to look for language (e.g. metaphors, imagery), structure (how the passage progresses, sentence length) and context. There's not much to memorise, just make sure you know how to approach the passage in the exam.

If you want to do the novel question then you'll probably need to look over the novel again and memorise key quotations (but I'm definitely not doing this, I'll go for the extract question). :wink:
Original post by ba96
Ah Thankyou! It's a play but i think it must be quite a new spec as i haven't heard of many people who have done it. Haha! Yes i forgot about the foreshadowing, and the maturing is definitely one i'll add in. Yeah, I'm quite confident about the themes, social prejudice, racial background, discrimination, the great depression etc...all factors i should cover. Wow well done! I understand, before my exams its stress stress stress but we can only try our best and once it's done, it's all done.

Thanks so much for your help! :smile:



Original post by jessiejay26
Wow...a*, i can only dream! Thankyou, my revision guide does mention alot on how the first half is a child's perspective and the second half is a more mature approach, so it only seems sensible to mention that! Also, the symbolism of the mockingbird and how it fits in with soo many things! :smile:


See you guys will ace it, you already know everything, all you got to do is put that on paper and before you know it, you've got an A*!I did my lit paper in year 10 and I'm in 12 now so your right in saying the spec probably has changed, but I'm sure the History Boys will go fine too! In 24 hours it shall all be over :b but good luck and let me know how it goes! :smile: x
Good luck to everyone tomorrow! x

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