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Help for A2 English Literature Synoptic (AQA Unit 6)

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the worst thing about this module is that the novels are so long and iv read birdsong and the 1st part of regeneration but i didnt realise we had to make notes so now, iv got to go through it all again but jotting things down as i go along

Reply 21

little one

tomdav

Im doing measure for measure as well! :smile:

yipee snap... blake too?

Reply 22

tomdav

sherri

yipee snap... blake too?

haha yeh, lucky us :wink:

Actually, he isn't too bad.

Reply 23

little one

tomdav

haha yeh, lucky us :wink:

Actually, he isn't too bad.

lol woww same same! lol yeh blake isnt bad but the questions that come up are worded hard! we cud exchange notes :smile:

Reply 24

Scal- D

Hey, yeah i'm struggling a lot too on the Blake and Measure for Measure has any one got any good notes or tips please

Reply 25

man123

Yes anything about Blake would be helpful?

Reply 26

little one

man123

Yes anything about Blake would be helpful?

If you go to the engish sub forum and search "Blake" some stuff i posted up will come up, check it out

Reply 27

man123

Can someone quickly sum up what Swedenbergs influence was over Blake in his songs of innocence and experience? Was it about religion and sex.

Reply 28

little one

man123

Can someone quickly sum up what Swedenbergs influence was over Blake in his songs of innocence and experience? Was it about religion and sex.

While Blake was the Poetic Genius defined, he was also a philosopher, radical, and great thinker. If we ignore the prophetic and epic qualities of Blake's own written and engraved works, we discover further intended meanings on a social and political level. Blake's Jerusalem is an example in which social ideas shine through the epic tale of Albion. In this work, Blake's love-hate relationship with his native England is expressed through the tensions between characters. As another example, we may look toward Blake's "London" in his Songs of Experience. Here, once again, Blake comments on the city he both loves and hates.

Some of Blake's influences and those he influenced are easily traced. If we look toward his own Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Blake tells us, on plate 3, "And lo! Swedenborg is the Angel sitting at the tomb; his writings are the linen clothes folded up." We see that Blake identifies the teachings of Emmanuel Swedenborg but, later he replaces those ideas with his own. Swedenborg's thought appears to serve as a springboard for Blake's expansive vision.

Swedenborg was a highly respected Swedish scientist and philosopher of the 18th century. Though Swedenborg was so accomplished, nevertheless, he was also incomplete. About the middle of his life, Swedenborg began to document various visions that appeared to him and ultimately, those visions which involved the teachings of the Lord. Supposedly, the Lord chose Swedenborg to be the human connection between heaven and earth. For the rest of his life, Emmanuel Swedenborg served the purposes of his God and developed an ability to predict the future. It is that ability that propelled him to fame for his teachings.

While Blake acknowledges Swedenborg's thoughts, he later reveals what he perceives as limitations in Swedenborg's teachings. Blake also thought much about religion and its status withing society. It is within his two works "There is no Natural Religion" and " All Religions Are One," that Blake tackles his own views on the role of religion in society and the individual life.

While we can not possibly give justice to all of Blake's multitudinous ideas here, we may acknowledge that Blake's ideas range throughout a wide scope of subjects and vary from the radical to the practical. Blake was indeed, no ordinary thinker. We would like to encourage future students to consider Blake in a way that not only challenges their own views and opinions about the world but, their opinions about the man himself.

Reply 29

tomdav

There is a huge Blake revision thread from last year as well, I'll try and revive it for everyone to look through later :smile:

Reply 30

Amy_likes_glitter

i was wondering earlier would it be good to listen to some songs from the war time? as the lyrics could be synoptic links? i may be just rambling though...

Reply 31

Cambyses

Amy_likes_glitter

i was wondering earlier would it be good to listen to some songs from the war time? as the lyrics could be synoptic links? i may be just rambling though...

I think that's definitely relevant and an interesting thing to bring up. Think about how poetry reflected the songs soldiers sang to cheer themselves up, how it challenged them and interpreted them, etc. A good example is Wilfred Owen's 'Smile Smile Smile', which takes its name from 'Pack Up Your Troubles', a wartime song.

Reply 32

A Stranger in Moscow

I want to bump this so I remember to look at it later :smile:

Reply 33

KatieUni08

There is a massive thread that has been a massive help so far in my synoptic unit which is on the first page here, its title is "WW1 literature - poetry prose and quotes" or something along those lines. Have a good read trough there and you will get loads of information.

So far I've read:
Birdsong - Faulks
Regeneration - Barker (which includes Sassoon's Declaration)
All Quiet On The Western Front - Remarque (I know a lot of people have said their teachers have said not to use this as your main content in your exam but it never will, none of your reading will as you are given a booklet of extracts which, in 1a you compare two poems and then in 1b you compare the other extracts to assess how typical they are by referring to wider reading which is where all of this comes in - I hope this makes sense)
Accrington Pals - a play, I don't remember who by
And about 30 + poems so far

In out class, there are only 8 of us, we are all reading a different piece of literature and doing a 'lesson' on it in class so that effectively we have notes and quotations and a short extract from 7 pieces of literature that we haven't actually read then we are an 'expert' in our own novel.
So far we've only done Oh What A Lovely War but my own text is Birdsong :smile:

I feel like I'm rambling! But I've felt its really helpful that when your reading to underline any important quote tat fit under 'typical' themes of war literature and then writing them up so I have a sheet or two of quotations for each book I've read then when it comes to revising I can pick the best quotations to illustrate each theme quickly and easily!!

What is mainly worrying em is hat this is going to be 3 hours continuous writing :| OW AT OUR HANDS!

x

Reply 34

A Stranger in Moscow

Beccydoodaa

You are right; All Quiet On The Western Front is not to be mentioned as a solid subject of the essay. However, it can be mentioned briefly as an example of wider reading as this shows a broad spectrum of literary texts (some of which are not from the more well known war writers). This book was on my own personal reading list and I would still recommend it to get a good view point from a soldiers perspective, the British troops are mentioned frequently.

Sorry if that wasn't clear before, hell_o is right you probably shouldn't use it as a main subject of your essay but it is good for reference :smile:

That's really sad. It's easily the best book on the list.

Reply 35

Beccydoodaa

Too true!

I found it one of the most insightful in to the actual war theme as there are clearly two sides to the story and while reading All Quiet On The Western Front you begin to realise that the 'other side' isn't all the different.

Important to remember I think. There is a scene in Oh What A Lovely War, where two identical scenes are going on simultaneously, one in German and one in English and the conversations are the same. I always saw this as a mirror image of the 'us and them' kind of attitude.

Reply 36

KatieUni08

Beccydoodaa

the 'us and them' kind of attitude.

You can also find this in Birdsong when Levi and the other German soldiers save Stephen. When hey emerge from the tunnel they were trapped in they find the war is over. They bury Jack Firebrace and Joseph Levi together, in a joint grave to symbolise the end of the war. This kind of echoes the All Quiet On The Western Front as you see that these men are the same on each side, just fighting for survival and just following orders.

And there's a kind of relation to 'A Dead Boche' by Robert Graves as he describes a dead German in a horrific way but the words used to describe him, give an anti heroic stance and show that he isn't the 'stereotypical' german soldier, just a normal man. The quote is something along the lines of "Big-bellied, spectacled, crop-haired"

If you haven't read Birdsong I'd seriously suggest it as it covers just about all of the main themes of 'typical' war literature - Excellent for 1b!!

x

Reply 37

iamorgan

I've just stumbled across this forum whilst revising (...)
Just a general comment because people seem to be confused about what to learn, how much detail, and how this applies to the question.

I think the key points to make are;

•

Read broadly -don't just focus on one poet. Maybe look at three of Sassoon, Owen and Rosenburg's poems and then others on both sides of the spectrum (Pro and anti war, pre and post Somme)

•

Don't by any means just focus on poetry. The unit allows focussing on plays (Oh What a lovely war!) has songs in it that are quite easy to remember

•

It's absolutely not necessary to memorise, word-for-word, long extracts. Try to learn three key phrases from each text, these will give you a structure comment in the exam (i.e. if you write that something is repeated or such and such develops as the poem/play/novel/letter/diary goes on, that's structure)

•

Don't get too bogged down with historicism -this is looking at wider reading, so avoid general comments -back it up with a quote if you can

•

Remember when analysing poetry to comment on all the areas to pick up the marks -Subject/Structure, Theme/Tone, Rhythm/Rhyme, Imagery, Form/Language, Analysis, etc)

•

Remember that part B is a comparison between the three extracts and your wider reading -don't just focus on wider reading. You need to compare within and between the three extracts, within and between your wider reading and within and between both

•

Part A should have no wider reading in -this is a perfect opportunity to pick up high marks because it is a relatively simple comparison question that just needs to be attacked

•

Focus on timing -don't get carried away with part A -leave yourself enough time to panic about, plan and execute part B! I do part B first...

I am struggling to remember the quotes and the texts' structure, and am not really sure how to go about it other than reading, reading, reading.
I don't like doing war poetry to be honest because it bores me (we did it for GCSE and had to use it in our coursework) although this has the benefit of remembering things from many years ago!

Good luck on the module, it's only just over four weeks away now isn't it??
I think I might scream. I really don't feel ready for part B because there's just so much to learn -does anyone else feel like this??

Reply 38

wytpak1

friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reply 39

| Jamie |

To those who haven't read it already, I heartily recommend Peter Whelan's 'The Accrington Pals' as a very useful addition to your wider reading. It's a play largely about women on the home front and their new found independence while the men are away fighting. It's very accessible and engaging, offering a multitude of points about gender that can be pulled out and used easily. Best of all, it's very short - an hour and half to read at best, and then half an hour immediately afterwards making notes is a very good two hours spent, if you ask me :smile:

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Help for A2 English Literature Synoptic (AQA Unit 6)

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