AS English Lit WJEC Prose Extract Questions

Hi all,
I am doing my AS exam soon and I am doing Jane Eyre. I seem to do well in my essays (34/40) yet I seem to do poorly on my extract question (13/20). Does anyone have any tips on doing extract questions because I can never seem to get the hang of them and I need an A.

OP

.;

Original post by drriversong

Hi all,
I am doing my AS exam soon and I am doing Jane Eyre. I seem to do well in my essays (34/40) yet I seem to do poorly on my extract question (13/20). Does anyone have any tips on doing extract questions because I can never seem to get the hang of them and I need an A.

Hi! I moved this to the English forum for you - you're more likely to get an answer here :smile:

Reply 3

The Empire Odyssey

21

Original post by drriversong

Hi all,
I am doing my AS exam soon and I am doing Jane Eyre. I seem to do well in my essays (34/40) yet I seem to do poorly on my extract question (13/20). Does anyone have any tips on doing extract questions because I can never seem to get the hang of them and I need an A.

I just think generally, you need to practise analysing unseen extracts. Unseen extracts are there to test your analysis skills, rather than your memory skills.

If you tackle your analysis skills such as; terminology, language, author's intention and a general historical context of the literary canon, you'll do fine.

Reply 4

bethanystephens

3

I'm assuming you're doing the one I'm doing on Friday? Key things we were told to do well in an extract question is to PRETEND that this is the first time you have read it. For example, if you are given the first proposal of Mr Rochester, comment on how it could be considered to be romantic etc, but DO bring in the fact that he has a wife. Don't comment on other areas of the novels unless you have real reason to be doing so, i.e. "Mr R. is super romantic and loves Jane and there are no legal issues between their marriage" would be wrong, but saying "Mr R. is a byronic hero as although he has a a wife with mental health issues contained within his attic, his love for Jane is true in the way he uses realistic language...blah blah blah". Also, do NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES talk about context. My teacher (who is also an exam marker) said that it is believed to be "waffle", so leave it out, unless it is 100% directly applicable. For instance, don't randomly link Jane leaving the red room to the feminist movement, only use it in events such as her saying "i am a bird and no net ensnares me" because it is surprising that she does not conform to female social norms. Don't just chunter on about it for a page and a half, you don't get marks so there's no need. Use your quotes effectively from the extract because it's the only chance you really have of being able to directly quote across - don't waste it. Make sure you are linking themes (that's where the big marks come in) and PLEASE do not start talking about other parts of the novel because I promise you it won't be useful in gaining marks. If in the exam you find yourself waffling about context or another area, bring it to a close, put a line through it, whatever, and then start a new paragraph on another point in the extract. Take five minutes to plan. It'll go well :smile:

Good luck!

Reply 5

iram_b

4

Is anyone doing Othello and Poetry this Friday?

AS English Lit WJEC Prose Extract Questions

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