The Student Room Group

Edexcel A2 English Literature and Language (Combined)

Hi. Is anyone doing this exam? It's called: "Unit 3: Varieties in Language and Literature" and is on the 21st of June! Anyone that is doing a "sense of place" as their theme and are studying John Betjeman and Thomas Hardy how are you going about revising for this exam? Did you do it in January? How did it go? Please share your revision tips for this exam. There are two sections, if you can explain how you are going to revise for these individual sections it would be useful, thanks in advance :smile:
(edited 12 years ago)

Scroll to see replies

No one? lool
Reply 2
Hello! I do Edexcel A2 English Lit & Lang! (Not my TSR account though)

Haha I thought I was the only person here doing this subject! Sadly we're not doing the same theme. I'm doing Family & Relationships and will be using All my Sons & A Dolls House as my text. Unfortunately, my class is quite terrible and disorganised! I really don't know what the "unseen piece" is really about!?!?! We did a few in class but I'm still a bit confused as to how to go about it! Any help/tips?! sample answers?
But for revision, I'm trying to understand and apply as many literary devices possible to help improve my analytical writing.. hrmm practice summarising a text which can help the fluidity of your writing when it comes to the exam.
Read any text and get a glossary of literary devices out and use it to identify the techniques used in the text.
Also for the outside text (don't know if the same applies to you) I've been highlighting all possible themes and trying to find ways in which it relates to each other and also summarising different sections of the text and analysing the language used and what impact it conveys.

Hrmm I don't know if this would be useful to you because we're not doing the exact same thing but that's what I'm going to do for this exam.

Also does anyone know where you can you find past papers beside the Edexcel website?!?!? I feel like there aren't a lot of resources for this exam :frown:
Original post by Mobs25
Hello! I do Edexcel A2 English Lit & Lang! (Not my TSR account though)

Haha I thought I was the only person here doing this subject! Sadly we're not doing the same theme. I'm doing Family & Relationships and will be using All my Sons & A Dolls House as my text. Unfortunately, my class is quite terrible and disorganised! I really don't know what the "unseen piece" is really about!?!?! We did a few in class but I'm still a bit confused as to how to go about it! Any help/tips?! sample answers?
But for revision, I'm trying to understand and apply as many literary devices possible to help improve my analytical writing.. hrmm practice summarising a text which can help the fluidity of your writing when it comes to the exam.
Read any text and get a glossary of literary devices out and use it to identify the techniques used in the text.
Also for the outside text (don't know if the same applies to you) I've been highlighting all possible themes and trying to find ways in which it relates to each other and also summarising different sections of the text and analysing the language used and what impact it conveys.

Hrmm I don't know if this would be useful to you because we're not doing the exact same thing but that's what I'm going to do for this exam.

Also does anyone know where you can you find past papers beside the Edexcel website?!?!? I feel like there aren't a lot of resources for this exam :frown:


Oh right, i know it's really hard to find people doing both english lit and lang...it's either one or the other. Even though we are doing different themes that's more or less what am doing, yes there is no proper material on the internet, and there's only been 2 papers before this one so it's definitely going to be hard to prepare!
Original post by Mobs25
Hello! I do Edexcel A2 English Lit & Lang! (Not my TSR account though)

Haha I thought I was the only person here doing this subject! Sadly we're not doing the same theme. I'm doing Family & Relationships and will be using All my Sons & A Dolls House as my text. Unfortunately, my class is quite terrible and disorganised! I really don't know what the "unseen piece" is really about!?!?! We did a few in class but I'm still a bit confused as to how to go about it! Any help/tips?! sample answers?
But for revision, I'm trying to understand and apply as many literary devices possible to help improve my analytical writing.. hrmm practice summarising a text which can help the fluidity of your writing when it comes to the exam.
Read any text and get a glossary of literary devices out and use it to identify the techniques used in the text.
Also for the outside text (don't know if the same applies to you) I've been highlighting all possible themes and trying to find ways in which it relates to each other and also summarising different sections of the text and analysing the language used and what impact it conveys.

Hrmm I don't know if this would be useful to you because we're not doing the exact same thing but that's what I'm going to do for this exam.

Also does anyone know where you can you find past papers beside the Edexcel website?!?!? I feel like there aren't a lot of resources for this exam :frown:


Omg im doing the exact same things as you.. Do you know what things i could include for AMS in an essay for womens role. My teacher said it will either me that, mens role or the role of money this year!
Reply 5
Original post by Maxine_johson
Omg im doing the exact same things as you.. Do you know what things i could include for AMS in an essay for womens role. My teacher said it will either me that, mens role or the role of money this year!


AMS women's role?! Wouldnt every theme have to link with ADH?

For AMS women's role, there are only three people you could write about. Kate, Anne and Susan Bayliss. Hrmmm....not sure what you could say about them since the play does not really focus on women's role but I guess you could just talk about Kate's ignorance to things that matter in society e.g she knew about the secret but as a women could not speak out about it even if she wanted to because back then, women were still suppressed and given less rights. Plus given the contextual factors, she probably wouldn't have been taken seriously anyways. Also the fact that she plays the role of a generic housewife (stands by her husband no matter what) which is indicative of the typical role of women during that time. However, Kate is the ruling power in the family as both Keller and Chris submit to her. Remember the quote where Keller says "I wear the pants and she beats me with the belt"
I dont know what else there is to say about her, I guess you could also mention Kates maternal instincts as a mother and how she treated George, she is more sympathetic than Keller and a lot more caring.
I read somewhere .. "Kate's action shows the same disregard for justice and social responsibility as her selfishness extends to her role as a mother as far as Chris is concerned. "

Actually to be honest I'm not so sure!!!! I think I went on a tangent :frown: sorrrrrry.

Hrmmm do you have any resources for this exam? You seem to be the only one outside my college on TSR doing the same thing as me!!! How are you approaching the unseen piece ?
Reply 6
Hey..
I'm doing A sense of place too but, we done Stuff Happens and Translations...why does no one else do this?
Reply 7
I also do it and am doing Family Relationships with A Doll's House and All My Sons.

I'm struggling to revise for it.

What I done today was read both texts again (third time) and wrote down particular quotes and also the similarities between the texts, as well as making a mental note of the various dialects of the characters. I'm hoping that the major theme is money as there's so many quotes and a lot of contextual knowledge that's conducive to a good answer. For example, Miller was a socialist and it's clear that All My Sons is about capitalism and how it creates insular people and how the war made people more open to views regards society and the 'global village', so to speak. Similarly, A Doll's House is pervaded by money issues and troubles, most explicitly Nora's trouble with her father, Krogstad and Torvald. Nevertheless, there are also minor characters (Kristine and the Maid) who had to give up things due to money-struggles. There are further issues regarding society as a whole.

The law is another crucial theme. Both Torvald and the minor character Frank have a strong view of the law, believing it to be crucial (Frank mentions it somewhere), as well as Krogstad ('the law takes no account of motives'). On the other hand, Nora, Keller and George have a dim view of the law. Nora is shocked that her situation will not be regarded ('then they must be very bad laws') whilst Keller is more concerned with money ('I made you money, what more do you want?'); this could also be reflected in his discursive nature of Bert and the jail game at the start of the play. George, similar to Nora, is a bit sceptical of the law despite being a lawyer ('outside, the law doesn't make much sense').

In my opinion, the final major theme in both is the relationship between father, son and daughter. This theme is particularly evident in A Doll's House ('you're just like your father, you have his irresponsibilities'... or something) as Torvald, upon discovering Nora's lie, won't let her look after the children, and his comment regard 'poisoning' their home with lies. Chris also feels guilty about Joe Keller's crime; he feels he must run away, disregard the business, 'dirty money'. 'That money has blood on it'. This can also be said for Annie and George, and the Maid and her children, who she had to give up.

There are many other themes evident in both, as well as on their own. For example, both deal with the issues of women, especially A Doll's House which is easily comparable to All My Sons. Contextual factors are also rich in both, for example, post-war America, 19th century Norway, women's rights, rise of socialism and shared responsibility and scepticism in religion.

I don't think there's much excuse for anyone doing these particular plays to struggle to write something.

Also, I'm sure your teachers have said but remember to include things about the nature of the plays - they are to be PERFORMED, not read, so you will get credited especially for things like comments on the stage directions, former plays, audience of the plays, both now and then, and the variety of the performances. For example, the first performance was received with disgust (see 'alternative German ending') and yet now, to make it more interesting, performances actually have Nora dressed as Lara Croft, in some she shoots him and some versions are even set in the future. My next bit of a revision (and hopefully last) is to go over specific performances to bring in and remembering specific quotes. These are an easy mark.

What I'm struggling with is the unseen text (which to me seems like a bit of an 'add-on' or after-thought). The focus this year is like structure, language and something else. I'm not really sure what I could write or how long it should be.

My teacher all year has complimented me on my writing, analysis and all that, but because of this I really have no idea what I should do. I just 'do my thing' and get a well done. I hope that's because I do it naturally rather than he's just an easy marker or something.

Also remember you only get 10 marks in each for your language/literary terminology. It's not crucial to spam your answer with words like adjective and 'diminutive' and stuff like that. I guess my advice for what it's worth as I'm at the same level as you guys is to just open your mind and don't be restricted too much, just explore the texts deeply as well as widely, taking in all the contextual factors as well as literary and linguistic terms to try and explain and support the point you make.

And most of all, good luck I guess!
Reply 8
It is probably the easiest exam ever. You can learn all you need to know in 2-3 hours; all you need to do is analyse differences between characters based on YOUR TOPIC (ours is 'The Individual within Society') - the questions won't deviate much from that theme, since there is no choice of questions, meaning the one provided must be accessible to all candidates. That part is 60% of the marks, and the most important, so spend more time on it.

The first part is the easiest thing ever - group attitudes, values and ideas then analyse how the language, form and structure make these AVI's effective as you go along, and you'll get full marks.

Re-reading the texts is a big waste of time mate - my whole English class do that and one or two will come out with an A, but to get an A*, it's all down to analysis (you don't need to know the plot - it's an open book exam, so the text can remind you of the plot - picking important extracts you can work with is most important).

Hope this helps.
Reply 9
By the way, look at exemplar responses for this - five of us took the exam in January and made up half of the 100%s in the country due to the disparity between schools; some schools don't teach you how to answer this properly and it's very important.
Original post by fun_fun
Hey..
I'm doing A sense of place too but, we done Stuff Happens and Translations...why does no one else do this?


In the jan 10 examiner report, A sense of place is the least common question attempted from candidates entered for the exam...the most popular is family and relationships, it is definitely hard finding people doing the same theme as you :frown:
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by SYNman
It is probably the easiest exam ever. You can learn all you need to know in 2-3 hours; all you need to do is analyse differences between characters based on YOUR TOPIC (ours is 'The Individual within Society') - the questions won't deviate much from that theme, since there is no choice of questions, meaning the one provided must be accessible to all candidates. That part is 60% of the marks, and the most important, so spend more time on it.


Lol i just started revising for this today :O, are your chosen texts poems or plays?

The first part is the easiest thing ever - group attitudes, values and ideas then analyse how the language, form and structure make these AVI's effective as you go along, and you'll get full marks.

Hope this helps.



Lol i just started revising for this today :O, are your chosen texts poems or plays?
Reply 12
Original post by SYNman
It is probably the easiest exam ever. You can learn all you need to know in 2-3 hours; all you need to do is analyse differences between characters based on YOUR TOPIC (ours is 'The Individual within Society') - the questions won't deviate much from that theme, since there is no choice of questions, meaning the one provided must be accessible to all candidates. That part is 60% of the marks, and the most important, so spend more time on it.

The first part is the easiest thing ever - group attitudes, values and ideas then analyse how the language, form and structure make these AVI's effective as you go along, and you'll get full marks.

Re-reading the texts is a big waste of time mate - my whole English class do that and one or two will come out with an A, but to get an A*, it's all down to analysis (you don't need to know the plot - it's an open book exam, so the text can remind you of the plot - picking important extracts you can work with is most important).

Hope this helps.


What do you mean 'group attitudes values and ideas', if there's only one text? Elaborate.

Yeah, it may be a waste of time but I wanted to get to grips with it a bit more and just group quotes and ideas together to compare so I have a bit of a plan before I even go in.
Original post by CUFCDan
What do you mean 'group attitudes values and ideas', if there's only one text? Elaborate.

Yeah, it may be a waste of time but I wanted to get to grips with it a bit more and just group quotes and ideas together to compare so I have a bit of a plan before I even go in.


I think they mean the format you need to answer the question (section A)- am presuming you mean the unseen text? You basically just need to analyse the text and pick up the important facts such as their attitudes, is it neutral, positive or negative, linguistic terminology used such as hyperbole, figurative language etc...values and ideas are interconnected with attitudes...hope that helps a little
Reply 14
OMG Thanks CUFCDan !! That was so helpful and useful!

Does anyone have or know where I can find example answers for the essay on the A Dolls House and All My Sons? My college LACKS a lot of resources (although there aren't many to begin with) so I'm pretty much struggling with trying to format and structure this essay properly. Any tips !?
http://www.edexcel.com/migrationdocuments/QP%20GCE%20Curriculum%202000/GCE%20January%202010%20-%20ER/6EL03_01_pef_20100310.pdf - have a look at the examiner's comments, it's particularly good for your theme and texts...(page 5/6)

http://www.edexcel.com/quals/gce/gce08/english/langlit/Pages/default.aspx - only the jan 10 paper with mark scheme is available atm..
Reply 16
Original post by ,,,,
http://www.edexcel.com/migrationdocuments/QP%20GCE%20Curriculum%202000/GCE%20January%202010%20-%20ER/6EL03_01_pef_20100310.pdf - have a look at the examiner's comments, it's particularly good for your theme and texts...(page 5/6)

http://www.edexcel.com/quals/gce/gce08/english/langlit/Pages/default.aspx - only the jan 10 paper with mark scheme is available atm..


Thank you!!! :biggrin:
Reply 17
Anyone doing Love and Loss? Struggling a bit :\
Reply 18

Original post by ,,,,
In the jan 10 examiner report, A sense of place is the least common question attempted from candidates entered for the exam...the most popular is family and relationships, it is definitely hard finding people doing the same theme as you :frown:


ooh really, thnx for lettin me knw. College just like to mess my life up!
Reply 19
Original post by toto7
Anyone doing Love and Loss? Struggling a bit :\


I did this too. How'd you find it? :smile:

Quick Reply

Latest