AQA A2 English Literature 2016 - Elements of the Gothic (LITB3) - OFFICIAL THREAD

Hi, I've got my mock tomorrow as well. I've found these articles but I don't think they will be of much use in terms of narrative, form ad structure though.
http://crossref-it.info/articles/312/how-to-write-a-good-english-exam-answer
http://www.ed.ac.uk/files/imports/fileManager/English%20Literature%20Writing%20Guide%20final.pdf
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/education/your-a-level-english-literature-what-the-examiners-are-looking-for-28744154.html

I was told by my teacher that we don't compare in section B like we did a AS level?

I got an A in this exam. Happy to answer any questions!

A few tips though. Learn a good range of quotes. This is obvious and I'm sure most of you are aware but it is so helpful. I took it to the extreme and memorised over 200 in total but it definitely helped as I had a wide range to choose from when it came to the exam. However, it is probably more sensible to just pick a few that are applicable to several themes.

You don't necessarily have to know a lot about a text when it comes to wider reading. I literally just picked a few quotes out from books I had never read, I knew the context so I was able to apply them to my questions.

Be inventive in your answers. I came up with a few wild and obscure interpretations, but as I was able to back them up, it was fine. What I absolutely loved about this course is that there are so many ways you can explore a point. It's so much easier to be creative in this exam than it was at AS too, so make the most of that!

Don't forget to have an interesting introduction. You want to entice and impress the examiner and let them know straight away you know what you are talking about. Define any words, use nice language and use any potential technical terms.

Be succinct. You can get excellent marks with a very short essay as long as you have explored the question properly.

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What themes where last years questions on?

In the Examiner Reports (Please read them - they are so helpful) there is an emphasis that psychoanalytical, feminist, marxist readings etc were not essential. If you can justifiably put in a reading which will DEVELOP, PROGRESS and ADD TO your argument, then feel free to include them, but AQA said that many candidates seemed to just throw in a Marxist/ Feminist etc. reading for the sake of it and it did not add anything to their argument. In these cases, these readings often seemed to be irrelevant to the question and therefore candidates actually LOST marks in the AO1 criteria which asks for a strong focus on the question.

Similarly, for AO2 I think language analysis is what you will naturally focus on more. But be sure to make 2 or 3 points on structure and narrative voice in order to achieve the higher bands.

Also remember that in this exam, contrary to LITB1, all the AOs have an equal weighting, so be sure to cover them all equally. With AO4 especially, as an Examiners Report mentioned, make sure you really know your context. In one year they had too many cases of vague generalisations which were unworthy of credit; such as, some candidates (for The Bloody Chamber) suggested that, even in 1970, everyone thought rape was ok and it happened often. That is simply not true and, instead of showing a secure understanding of context, shows absolutely no understanding and was therefore a waste of time putting it in, again losing marks for invalid evidence.

Hope this all helps!

I am doing Macbeth for section A, and for section B I am doing Dr Faustus, The Bloody Chamber and Northanger Abbey. Is anyone doing the same or similar text to me ?

Oh cheers ! I'll have a look at that !
Yea sorry for confusing you , I was told by my teacher to do like three separate paragraphs for each book for section B, it's not a comparison ( sorry that second coursework got to my head lol 🙃)
What books you doing ?


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That's okay, I was just making sure! I'm studying the Bloody Chamber, THe White Devil, and The Changeling. What ones are you doing?

Bloody chamber , Frankenstein and Dr Faustus , I really messed up on the bloody chamber bit of section B , I did the "good and evil blurred " question and just froze , I didn't know what to write , quite hard quoting without he books


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How did you get on with section A? We had the 2013 paper and I only did 2 texts for section B

I got an A in this A level and this exam if anyone would like to ask any questions good luck guys. I loved this course.

Oh and I'll pop this into the English exam section

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Anyone got any exam predictions for what topics /themes might come up for Section B. And for Frankenstein,Dr Faustus and The bloody Chamber