[lekky]

I mean prose for question 1.. Sorry phone is ****.

[lekky]

(Original post by arrow2)
Hey does anybody know any poetry that would link in with the them of 'love at first sight' as a wider reading resource?
I can see me failing this exam miserably !!

When I set out for lyonnesse by Thomas hardy??

[unknownpleasures]

Yeah, no one should worry about number of texts! This exam is clearly about quality over quantity and no arbitrary formula for memorising quotes will really help that much. Any links we make should be well-developed rather than scattergun. I'm just so relieved that 60-70% is on the unseen texts, and I have the lovely cushion of AS Level UMS/coursework to help me if things go badly wrong.

[Jellynubbin]

(Original post by lekky)
Does anyone know how fussed they are about the 'through the ages' part?

I was doing a brainstorm on romantic love and was going to use Sonnet 130 AND Much Ado but realised two Shakespeare texts wouldn't be a great plan. So I changed Much Ado to A Streetcar Named Desire but that left me with 2 post modern texts and 1 elizabethan.
Would they have cared do you think?

This is AO4, don't worry about including a quote from every era since medieval gothic literature, all you need to to is talk about how the context of the different extracts/poems/whatever has effected their meaning and interpretation.


Geddit?

[lekky]

(Original post by Jellynubbin)
This is AO4, don't worry about including a quote from every era since medieval gothic literature, all you need to to is talk about how the context of the different extracts/poems/whatever has effected their meaning and interpretation.


Geddit?

Yup cheers

[Jellynubbin]

(Original post by lekky)
Yup cheers

No worries. I had the same worry til last week when my amazing English teacher sorted my head out!

[claudia92]

what kind of detail is everyone going into for the context? like if one of the texts is from the romantic period, how much would you say about it?

[alecangeltess]

Would depend highly on what it was, so let's say Blake's The Sick Rose, would tie it to the historical context - child prostitution and thus a destructive love. And literary context - very different, based highly on imagery and nature. In the exam, if a comparison came up, could make use of that.
But I'm finding it difficult to visualise tieing context in in the exam (obviously with the extracts it's ok, but with wider reading). Any advice please?

[alecangeltess]

Another thing, when it says "use wider reading to inform" interpretations of the extracts, can someone give me an example of this in an essay? Like I know comparison is good, just finding it difficult to directly influence interpretation.

[lekky]

(Original post by claudia92)
what kind of detail is everyone going into for the context? like if one of the texts is from the romantic period, how much would you say about it?

It depends on the text and the genre. I'd talk about how romance was presented and mention why any differences in the text could relate to context. Some texts allow more context talk than others. For Sonnet 130, Shakespeare and most Chaucer you have quite a lot you can talk about. With things like Carol Ann Duffy 'Before you were mine' or most Hardy poetry there is less to say about it. If you have less to say about your W.R. make sure you talk about the actual texts you're given.

If it was a drama you have more to say because undoutedly there will be one with less stage directions (earlier) and more stage directions (modern) so you could talk about a) how stage directions are used to present romantic love and b) how the use of stage directions has developed/become more common over time -- link to language bc in e.g. Shakespeare emotion is shown more through language and imagery, rather than stage/props.

[lekky]

(Original post by alecangeltess)
Another thing, when it says "use wider reading to inform" interpretations of the extracts, can someone give me an example of this in an essay? Like I know comparison is good, just finding it difficult to directly influence interpretation.

sorry I don't really get what you're asking?

You could say something like....

"the first person narrative of the prose extract allows the reader an honest insight into XXX's thoughts. Similarly, in "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte, the first person retrospective narrative from the perspective of the protagonist Jane Eyre allows the reader to experience her thoughts surrounding her romantic relationship with Mr Rochester"..... ETC.

[alecangeltess]

(Original post by lekky)
sorry I don't really get what you're asking?

You could say something like....

"the first person narrative of the prose extract allows the reader an honest insight into XXX's thoughts. Similarly, in "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte, the first person retrospective narrative from the perspective of the protagonist Jane Eyre allows the reader to experience her thoughts surrounding her romantic relationship with Mr Rochester"..... ETC.

Yeah I see. A lot more clear now, also as I started to do extract notes it does all fit together quite nicely.
I really should have done more work for this throughout the year haha. And I'm doing English at uni. lololololol

[lekky]

(Original post by alecangeltess)
Yeah I see. A lot more clear now, also as I started to do extract notes it does all fit together quite nicely.
I really should have done more work for this throughout the year haha. And I'm doing English at uni. lololololol

hehe dw it will be completely different at Uni! Where are you going?

After the exam I'll never be doing English again.. that actually makes me sad

[lekky]

(Original post by alecangeltess)
Would depend highly on what it was, so let's say Blake's The Sick Rose, would tie it to the historical context - child prostitution and thus a destructive love. And literary context - very different, based highly on imagery and nature. In the exam, if a comparison came up, could make use of that.
But I'm finding it difficult to visualise tieing context in in the exam (obviously with the extracts it's ok, but with wider reading). Any advice please?

The way I am doing it is .. to use Jane Eyre as an e.g. again

"In times of high drama, such as when Jane makes the decision to leave Mr Rochester, the first person narrative reveals Jane's true thoughts. Despite the emotive and exclamatory language Bronte uses to portray Jane's inner conflict, Jane presents herself as calm and collected to Mr Rochester. This reflects the Victorian belief that women should at all times retain control of their emotions"... at least it always seems to work that way in my practice essays..

When you make a point abou tlanguage or whatever stop and think "why do they do that? what effect does that have? does it present love in a certain way or emphasise a message about love? have they done that because of society at the time? how would contemporary society react to that".. at least thats what I try to have going through my head when I think of points to make.

[alecangeltess]

(Original post by lekky)
The way I am doing it is .. to use Jane Eyre as an e.g. again

"In times of high drama, such as when Jane makes the decision to leave Mr Rochester, the first person narrative reveals Jane's true thoughts. Despite the emotive and exclamatory language Bronte uses to portray Jane's inner conflict, Jane presents herself as calm and collected to Mr Rochester. This reflects the Victorian belief that women should at all times retain control of their emotions"... at least it always seems to work that way in my practice essays..

When you make a point abou tlanguage or whatever stop and think "why do they do that? what effect does that have? does it present love in a certain way or emphasise a message about love? have they done that because of society at the time? how would contemporary society react to that".. at least thats what I try to have going through my head when I think of points to make.

Yes to the that last paragraph especially. I'm good at the first stuff, just need to get used to context.
English is great, but I've done so little this year as I only need an E in this unit!! I know it sounds lazy but ah well, it's so limited for AQA exams. Also, our teacher has been utterly diabolical.
Uni should be good, to answer your question Brasenosenosenose Oxford, grades permitting of course!

[lekky]

(Original post by alecangeltess)
Yes to the that last paragraph especially. I'm good at the first stuff, just need to get used to context.
English is great, but I've done so little this year as I only need an E in this unit!! I know it sounds lazy but ah well, it's so limited for AQA exams. Also, our teacher has been utterly diabolical.
Uni should be good, to answer your question Brasenosenosenose Oxford, grades permitting of course!

ooh that college is pretty! I was going to apply to St Johns but then I saw the timetable for medics. Har no thanks! Have fun and well done on your offer

yeah to be fair I need like 42% in biology to get an A so I'm just meh? Surely everything over 42% is wasted effort?

[d123]

(Original post by alecangeltess)
Yes to the that last paragraph especially. I'm good at the first stuff, just need to get used to context.
English is great, but I've done so little this year as I only need an E in this unit!! I know it sounds lazy but ah well, it's so limited for AQA exams. Also, our teacher has been utterly diabolical.
Uni should be good, to answer your question Brasenosenosenose Oxford, grades permitting of course!

I'm jealous! I need a high B in this to get an A overall I think, because I messed up AS a bit. Coursework is good though. Problem is, every practise essay I've done has been at least a high B. Whenever I get into the actual exam situation though, I end up doing a lot worse. Last year, I got As all throughout the year, and then a D in the actual exam, so I'm stressing because I have no idea how well I'll do. I'm just trying to work really hard to learn quotes and wider reading but the uncertainty is getting to me. If I do well, I could get almost full marks. If I do badly, I could get a D again. Luckily I only need an E to get a B overall, so that's a good thing I guess.

[lekky]

(Original post by d123)
I'm jealous! I need a high B in this to get an A overall I think, because I messed up AS a bit. Coursework is good though. Problem is, every practise essay I've done has been at least a high B. Whenever I get into the actual exam situation though, I end up doing a lot worse. Last year, I got As all throughout the year, and then a D in the actual exam, so I'm stressing because I have no idea how well I'll do. I'm just trying to work really hard to learn quotes and wider reading but the uncertainty is getting to me. If I do well, I could get almost full marks. If I do badly, I could get a D again. Luckily I only need an E to get a B overall, so that's a good thing I guess.

Start focusing on practicing analysing unseen texts? That would be my suggestion. Good luck, I hope you do well. It's horrible when you prepare and try your hardest and then don't get the reward, it happens to me in maths constantly.

[d123]

(Original post by lekky)
Start focusing on practicing analysing unseen texts? That would be my suggestion. Good luck, I hope you do well. It's horrible when you prepare and try your hardest and then don't get the reward, it happens to me in maths constantly.

Yeah, I've done quite a lot of that - the last three months of English lessons were practise text after practise text. Hopefully it will go ok, but it's one of those exams that are so hard to predict.

[claudia92]

(Original post by lekky)
It depends on the text and the genre. I'd talk about how romance was presented and mention why any differences in the text could relate to context. Some texts allow more context talk than others. For Sonnet 130, Shakespeare and most Chaucer you have quite a lot you can talk about. With things like Carol Ann Duffy 'Before you were mine' or most Hardy poetry there is less to say about it. If you have less to say about your W.R. make sure you talk about the actual texts you're given.

If it was a drama you have more to say because undoutedly there will be one with less stage directions (earlier) and more stage directions (modern) so you could talk about a) how stage directions are used to present romantic love and b) how the use of stage directions has developed/become more common over time -- link to language bc in e.g. Shakespeare emotion is shown more through language and imagery, rather than stage/props.

Ahh thanks a lot, this really helped. Out of interest, how do you structure your essays? I haven't got a set way of writing them and I feel I should to make me feel more prepared and relaxed about the whole exam..