AQA English Literature GCSE 2015 JUNE SUMMER OFFICIAL THREAD OMAM AIC

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Same I did the manhunt question. I was so happy that it came up because it was the only poem I seriously revised (Thank God). I compared it to brothers too, although I think I should have compared it to sister Maude.. but I couldn't really say anything about structure in sister Maude so I didn't, even though it had way more language techniques.

I said that both poems use structure to present damaged relationships. Manhunt does this by using half rhymes to show incompleteness in the relationship and therefore damaged. I said it contrasted with the couplet structure of the poem which could show confusion and lack of communication etc.

In brothers I wrote about the fact that the last stanza had only 4 lines as apposed to the usual 5 which literally shows that the younger brother got left behind. I kinda used really big and long words to show that I was writing a lot about a little :colondollar:

I then talked about lang tech. So in manhunt the quote about blown hinge of his lower jaw or something, shows he can't communicate and would be a problem as a relationship is based of communication. I also said that the blown hinge emphasised the damage in the relationship as it has images to heavy artillery in wars which are extremely damaging.

In brothers I talked about the older brother 'chasing olympic gold' and younger brother having a coin. The olympic gold is more prestige than a coin, highlighting the growing rift between the brothers. Talked about how 'chased' is very stealthy and fast which shows how fast the relationship is being damaged and if not fixed it could ruin the relationship forever. I justified this through the last line that said something about him not being able to close the distance he set in motion.

Hopefully this gets me at least and A. :daydreaming:

wow that sounds really good! you will definitley get at least an A with that! I did similar stuff, and also compared the titles how they are both ambigous and could mean different things :smile:

Reply 1061

joannaawhitee

Original post by swagmister

I wrote 3 and a half for the first and 2 pages for the second you?

I wrote 3 sides for the first one and like 1 and 3/4 sides for the second one :biggrin:

Reply 1062

TheKevinFang

Original post by blitzchika

How much did you write for unseen? I did 3 paragraphs but I'm not sure if its enough. I did one on structure, one on language and one about a device used

Three paragraphs is fine; the unseen poem was not too bad but it's like the 36 marker but without comparison basically.

Reply 1063

Saffiee

I wanted one of the sonnets for the relationship cluster or THCM, nettles, QuickDraw,brothers, praise song to my mother annoyed but oh well, think I did good I compared manhunt to QuickDraw and talked about war imagery and its effect like allows us to empathise etc and the form of it and QuickDraw and what it shows. For unseen I wrote a side and a half was confused but wrote how the layout stays the same reflecting her constant love and passion they have for the person or thing and how the word weak at the knees is a cliche in which is overused allowing us as readers to relate to her as the language symbolises how most people would have felt what she went through etc not sure opinions?

Reply 1064

GarlicBread01

I stupidly compared Manhunt to Nettles (Higher, Relationships) :frown:

Could I still possibly get a C?

Reply 1065

Saffiee

Original post by Sanderm1

I stupidly compared Manhunt to Nettles (Higher, Relationships) :frown:

Could I still possibly get a C?

Of course that's a good poem to compare to because that to uses war imagery to link to it

Reply 1066

TheTruthTeller

Original post by Sanderm1

I stupidly compared Manhunt to Nettles (Higher, Relationships) :frown:

Could I still possibly get a C?

Yeah It's all done to your content. Out of interest what points did you make for Nettles :O Seems very tricky to compare for a "damaged relationship".

Reply 1067

GarlicBread01

Original post by TheTruthTeller

Yeah It's all done to your content. Out of interest what points did you make for Nettles :O Seems very tricky to compare for a "damaged relationship".

I just got everything confused and didnt really read the question properly :s-smilie:

I tried to say that in Manhunt the husband goes through pain and the partner feels sympathy, but also frustration because of the effect it has on their relationship. Similarly, in Nettles the father feels sympathy for his son but is also frustrated that he cannot get rid of the Nettles.

Haha the examiner is gonna think im crazy :tongue:

Reply 1068

What Is Life?

So I'm not the only one who chose next to (I am the only one in my year who did)

Reply 1069

youreanutter

Original post by youreanutter

well they have now introduced foundation on higher sand belfast confetti and bayinet charge were removed from AQA website s i would defo revise as 1 will almost definetly come up

TOLD U ALLLLL BAYONET CHARGE CAME UP OMGS SO HAPPY ONLY REVISED THESE TWO SO I COMPARED BAYONET CHARGE TO BELFAST CONFETTI WOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
back to revision

Reply 1070

Keisha_99

Original post by dawideksoltysik

I did Manhunt with To his coy mistress for the 'damagaed relationships' question. I talked about how there is war imagery in manhunt but animistic in THCM in order to seduce her and have sex with her. I talked about some device how they get that point across and having spoken to my teacher, she said that would be good. What do you think?

Few! I did THCM and Manhunt too.. No one else did it so i was rather worried!

Reply 1071

simply_a_ Δ

So you know how there's 4 topics in the anthology and so we get different questions based on which topic we choose. Well does that mean the grade boundaries will be slightly different for each topic since one topic may have been regarded as easier than the other.
Looks like many people did relationships or conflict cluster, I did character and voice :/ the questions weren't that amazing for this cluster.

Reply 1072

User1473160

Original post by Hot&Spicy

ATTENTION! PLEASE READ:

I do character and voice, and chose to compare Brendon Gallacher with the poem Give.

No one else did this.

I am about to chop my legs off! Is this comparison ok??

Well, it was about hopes and dreams, and the homeless man is hoping for change in society. I am sure this is perfectly fine. I was going to do give as well but instead i chose Casehistory Alison :smile:

Don't worry xx

Reply 1073

User1473160

Original post by simply_a_ Δ

It seems like everyone is saying that the grade boundaries are low: around high 30's. I hope this is the same for the character and voice cluster and i'm sure it will be otherwise it's a bit unfair in my opinion. I compared Brendon Gallacher with Casehistory Alison. What did you do? x

Reply 1074

Sulee

Original post by hannahoreilly56

wow that sounds really good! you will definitley get at least an A with that! I did similar stuff, and also compared the titles how they are both ambigous and could mean different things :smile:

I did The Manhunt with Sister Maude. There's actually quite a lot you can say about structure. For example, I said that in 'The Manhunt' the same couplet persist throughout even toward the end and there's no change in structure. This reflects the mans willingness to not change his state of mind and still be detached from the outside world. The same persistent structure also reflects the delicacy of the situation and the fact that neither of them want to do anything sudden.
For sister maude however the structure persists until the last stanza which disrupts this quatrain structure. The same structure doesnt persist because it allows the speaker to have a breakthrough of emotion and add an element of finality to her curse of Sister Maude. The structuer in Sister maude is also cyclical too, because she repeats 'Sister Maude, Oh Sister Maude'. This emphasizes that she has not lightened her emotions from the first stanza where she says this and she is adamant in cursing her sister for her betrayal. The word "you" is also italicised and emphasizes the need to direct her full disapproval toward her sister. This shows their damaged relationship because the speaker is willing to disrupt a fairly stable structure solely for the purpose of cursing her sister. In this respect, the Manhunt is also similar because the ending is used as a breakthrough of emotion. This is because the refrain is repeated one last time but by saying "Only then" it highlights that before that moment she was not allowed to come "close". It is also significant that "close" is the final word because for a poem that relies on the emotional detachment between the two in The Manhunt. This is juxtaposed with the word "sin" which is the ending of Sister Maude, and the fact this word is stressed in the tetrameter structure is another example of the negative undercurrent throughout Sister Maude.

Reply 1075

Sulee

Original post by Sanderm1

I stupidly compared Manhunt to Nettles (Higher, Relationships) :frown:

Could I still possibly get a C?

Thats actually one of the best poems to compare it to:
Both of these poems use a military conceit to accentuate thefragility and vulnerability that one suffers against tools of warfare. There isa sense that pain sustains throughout each poem. For The Manhunt, this is shownin the quote “unexploded mine, buried deep in his mind”. The fact that the mineis “unexploded” somewhat heightens tension because there is a sense ofinevitability that in his current fragile state he is unable to impose his ownauthority on anything however when he overcomes this, the mine may explode.Also, an alternative interpretation is that “unexploded” emphasizes his stateof mind in the sense he has prevented anyone from seeing his feelings orhelping him, which extends to this idea that this pain will be present so longas he is self-conscious about opening himself up. His refusal to open uphighlights the disco-ordinate nature between him and the narrator, this isfurther embellished in the half rhyme of “mind” and “mine” and that no matterhow hard they try to synchronize, his wounds are such that he will not exposehimself to further vulnerability. This idea of enduring pain is seen throughout nettles,especially in the last lines. “But in two weeks the busy sun and rain/ Hadcalled up tall recruits behind the shed:/ My son would often feel sharp woundsagain”. Immediately, the idea of pain being ever-present is shown. This isthrough the short time-scale the author uses; because the whole poem gives theimpression that the task of consoling the son is taxing, the idea of “two weeks”feels even shorter and is a reminder that relationships are always underpressure. This is contrast with the fragility and tender approach of “TheManhunt” where the timescale is vague, which adds to the delicate andunassuming nature of the poem. “The busy sun and rain” highlight that nature isomnipresent and no matter how hard the father tries to protect his child, theirlove is outweighed by the natural cycle. This shows the inadequacy of love, thesame inadequacy which prevents the woman in “The Manhunt” from truly fixing theman. “Tall recruits” is an example of military lexis and emphasize the growingopposition to their love. This is because this is the first time the nettleshave been assigned a magnitude, and reflects that as the bond between thefather and son is stronger, the challenges that face their love are alsoharder. The final line is a summing upof the harsh reaiies of love and reminding the reader of the time-limitedability o a parent to protect their child from pain. An alternativeinterpretation is that this poem is a critisizm of war by suggesting theinvolvement in war leads to an endless and destructive path – a notion alsoapparent in the Manhunt, showed by the permanent “frozen” scars which remindhim of his pain.

Reply 1076

Nidadnan

Can you get a bad mark if the poem you selected was not an obvious one to choose? For example, I chose to compare Sister Maude and Nettles. :frown:

Reply 1077

Changing Skies

Original post by Nidadnan

Can you get a bad mark if the poem you selected was not an obvious one to choose? For example, I chose to compare Sister Maude and Nettles. :frown:

Of course not :smile:

I sat this paper a few years ago, picked two that most people didn't, and I did well. If you can compare the two with enough points it's absolutely fine :h:

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Reply 1078

Nidadnan

Original post by Changing Skies

Of course not :smile:

I sat this paper a few years ago, picked two that most people didn't, and I did well. If you can compare the two with enough points it's absolutely fine :h: