Can you cram literature?

I know the plot, some themes in details, and characters. i just dont know the quotes well. wjec rule says no book in exam. it's 2 books for this exam -_- and there's like 10 characters altogether ._.

any tips on what to do if i cant write a sufficient amount on the essay section? i plan out 40 min for each essay (theres two essays and two extracts) but if i cant write enough do i move on and leave it?
tbh I've not prepared well for this exam and i dont really mind coming out with a C but it's still not too late to learn some more tips to help improve :P

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Reply 1

samkajj

For the wjec exam earlier in the week i woke up at 5am on the day and crammed quotes for omam and went over a few poems. I do think it is possible so im gonna cram for friday too :redface:

i simply don't have time for english atm
And for the essays try to write at least 5 paragraphs! Concluding with your opinion on the essay title

Reply 2

Mayhem™

Without a doubt, I did this for the Monday exam and will be doing the same for Friday's exam by memorising quotes the night before.

Reply 3

TSR George

Original post by k.m.b

For the wjec exam earlier in the week i woke up at 5am on the day and crammed quotes for omam and went over a few poems. I do think it is possible so im gonna cram for friday too :redface:

i simply don't have time for english atm
And for the essays try to write at least 5 paragraphs! Concluding with your opinion on the essay title

why did your school do this to you ? :frown:

i did omam exam last year so thank god thats out of the way! i'll try to write 5 paragraphs then :P

Reply 4

Changing Skies

I crammed for my A level Literature exam, it's definitely possible. Just pick out some really important quotes, Google some instead of searching for them yourself. If you find yourself not being able to write loads, I'd say put down a couple of extra points but don't drag it out. Remember that it's quality over quantity so your essay could be pretty decent if you've covered the question to a good extent :smile:

If you know the themes, plots, some general quotes and some characters, it's quite easily to formulate a good answer :h:

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Reply 5

Rajive

Original post by k.m.b

For the wjec exam earlier in the week i woke up at 5am on the day and crammed quotes for omam and went over a few poems. I do think it is possible so im gonna cram for friday too :redface:

i simply don't have time for english atm
And for the essays try to write at least 5 paragraphs! Concluding with your opinion on the essay title

For my lit exam on Monday, I did 5 paragraphs for the 2 questions, would that be okay?

Reply 6

samkajj

Oh don't get me started D: the english department is a mess! I would have much rather of done some exams last year,but tbf we did an exam on The Tempest and poetry in year 10 too
Anyway,i shall go back to revising physics

Reply 7

Kiniun

I'm laughing to myself so hard rn because I legit made up quotes for my AQA English lit exam even though we had books. You'll be fine, there's still time.

Reply 8

TheOtherSide.

Original post by k.m.b

For the wjec exam earlier in the week i woke up at 5am on the day and crammed quotes for omam and went over a few poems. I do think it is possible so im gonna cram for friday too :redface:

i simply don't have time for english atm
And for the essays try to write at least 5 paragraphs! Concluding with your opinion on the essay title

I basically crammed quotes like the hour before for TKAM (and a bit before I went to sleep). :getmecoat:

I hate WJEC.

Reply 9

samkajj

Original post by Rajive

For my lit exam on Monday, I did 5 paragraphs for the 2 questions, would that be okay?

5 for both or 5 for each?
It depends what grade you are aiming for
Also
It is good to maintain structure (start with an introduction outlining your views and all the obvious things like explaining the effect of specific words and linking to context and to also conclude each paragraph by referencing back to the essay title)

Reply 10

Rajive

Original post by k.m.b

.

5 for Each I talked about context in my conclusions?

Reply 11

samkajj

Original post by TheOtherSide.

I basically crammed quotes like the hour before for TKAM (and a bit before I went to sleep). :getmecoat:

I hate WJEC.

C'mon, we can be wjec haters together :frown:

Also our school's fault for choosing this board (idek if schools get to choose but)

Reply 12

uberspudz

For each character find three quotes which relate to them the best. Learn these quotes. Then do the same for each theme. Don't try to learn too many. Only if you have time, learn additional quotes. Writing the quotes out again and again can work, you could even type them to save time. You can write a quote or two per paragraph, it doesn't have to be a great deal. As long as you are comfortable with the themes and characters you can drop a few quotes here and there, but focus on the content of your essay. If you can't remember quotes, don't stop writing. The great thing about extracts are you can pull quotes from there, and relate them to the point of your essay and add any other quotes you remember. I recentely just did my first closed book exam at AS, I found that I remembered quotes whilst writing my essay; I didn't learn them it was just because I'd read the book. As it's closed book they don't expect you to know each quote word for word, so if you have to paraphrase then it's no big deal! Cramming quotes and looking over them before the exam isn't a bad thing, they will be fresh in your mind. Good luck! :smile:

Reply 13

TheOtherSide.

Original post by k.m.b

C'mon, we can be wjec haters together :frown:

Also our school's fault for choosing this board (idek if schools get to choose but)

Pretty sure they do...

Spoiler

Reply 14

samkajj

Original post by TheOtherSide.

Pretty sure they do...

Spoiler

This probably sounds stupid but I don't understand why the whole of England can't be on the same exam board? Surely it'd be more fair, rather than some of us doing closed book exams and vice versa.

Reply 15

TheOtherSide.

Original post by k.m.b

This probably sounds stupid but I don't understand why the whole of England can't be on the same exam board? Surely it'd be more fair, rather than some of us doing closed book exams and vice versa.

I'd say to go one step further and have the same exam board for everyone who's doing GCSEs, except there must be some really good reasons why they still have multiple exam boards, even if I can't think of any.

Reply 16

TSR George

Original post by k.m.b

urgh i have physics tomorrow too and along with lit, physics is also one of the subject where i know im going to do bad in -_- good luck!

Reply 17

samkajj

Original post by TheOtherSide.

lol but I'm guessing the first reason is the huge population of people taking these qualifications

Reply 18

outgoingpopcorn

I am planning to do all my revision for Friday's exam on Thursday night and on Friday morning. It should be fine, I did this for Mondays too. (btw just checking you are all doing GCSEs right?)