The Student Room Group

AQA- English Literature at AS Level, Literature B

Scroll to see replies

Reply 680
did NOBODY else do Spec A?
Reply 681
Original post by racaha
Glad I'm not the only one that thought that! Because of the form, structure language, I was addressing language automatically with the question so when I tried to get form or structure in I felt like I was losing focus and going off task.



Same:frown:
Original post by Perseverance
How did you work that out? :smile:


Pretty happy about the exam, although only managed to write 3 (relatively long) paragraphs for A)i. Section B I chose 'gaps' but then found it very difficult in talking about Hardy.


I got 58/60 marks on CW which equals 77/80 (roughly; used the last years boundaries). I then used the AQA UMS Converter to see how many raw marks I need [based again on last years] to get 83 UMS to get the 160/200 UMS which equals an A.

So roughly 43, it depends on this years boundaries but they've stayed roughly the same for the last two years so yeah!
Originally Posted by racaha
Glad I'm not the only one that thought that! Because of the form, structure language, I was addressing language automatically with the question so when I tried to get form or structure in I felt like I was losing focus and going off task.


:ditto:
the exam was okish, keats was quite nice but the section b question i didn't write a lot for on descriptive language :/ would AO3 on section b count if i offered different ways they used description?
Reply 685
I don't think it was too bad, question's were predictable - guessed every single one for first question as they hadn't come up so i made the decision between chapter 1 of Gatsby, Lotos-eaters or Porphyria's lover - ended up going for the latter. And the second part question on the significance of women was pretty decent

Section B - Descriptive language - I don't think i did as well as i could, rambled a fair bit :/

So glad it's over now, now to concentrate on my A2 exam :|
Original post by Nikkicee

So glad it's over now, now to concentrate on my A2 exam :|


same here.
this thread?
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1640238
Reply 687
I did this exam last year and am needing to retake. I think my main problem was the Section A (ii) question, which requires you to mention context.

The last question I did on the exam was about the Lotos Eaters being a "condemnation of drug-taking". I had researched hours and hours about Tennyson and his early life, where he lived, his friends etc, as having been instructed by my teacher, and then incorporated this info into my question suggesting that Tennyson may have been condemning drug taking as evident by quote, and then making a context point.

However I have now been told that the examiners do not actually care whether Tennyson was a drug-user or not etc.

Could someone please outline to me what exactly I say for the context question? How do I bring in context in relation to the question?
Reply 688
Original post by paigums
I did this exam last year and am needing to retake. I think my main problem was the Section A (ii) question, which requires you to mention context.

The last question I did on the exam was about the Lotos Eaters being a "condemnation of drug-taking". I had researched hours and hours about Tennyson and his early life, where he lived, his friends etc, as having been instructed by my teacher, and then incorporated this info into my question suggesting that Tennyson may have been condemning drug taking as evident by quote, and then making a context point.

However I have now been told that the examiners do not actually care whether Tennyson was a drug-user or not etc.

Could someone please outline to me what exactly I say for the context question? How do I bring in context in relation to the question?


context is not worth many marks at all...i think its like a quater or sumat....
context can be literary or historical ...
i think the lotus eaters was inspired by the elgneds of homer or somthing like that....for each poem just find abit of contexual backgroung...
also try to find similarities with other poems from tennysons collection(by that i eman the prescribed set texts)..and than try to make references in your essays becosue some are really closley linked
also m ake sure that you incluse different interpretations....A03...just use the schools of thought and use phrases like
a feminism reading might focus on.....a psychodynamic reading may interpret this as a...a marxist readign may see this as a reference to...
that way the examiner can explicityl s ee that your showign different interpretatiosn and therefreo ah s t o give you marks for it...and also evaluate the interpretations you present...their strengths an d weaknesses...and in your conclusion you could say which one you fin more convincing and why.....
that c ounts as 'critically evaluating their strengths and weaknesses'

hope this rambllle helps
Sorry to post in this thread it's just that I'm in year 12 and handing my final draft of coursework (On Othello) with this exam board and I had a question that someone might be kind enough to answer? :smile:

Does anyone know if coursework for AQA Specification B English Literature is marked internally or externally, or if a selection get sent off? I'm soooo scared as I really want an A but even though my teacher says my coursework's fine, just a bit long, i'm concerned about what will happen if it gets sent off to the exam board for moderation :/ Is it really hard to get a high grade?

Thank you so much in advance for any response I'm really grateful :smile:
Reply 690
does anyone know what the Kite Runner and Pride and Prejudice section A questions were on the June 2011 paper??
I'm studying:
Section A: Pride and Prejudice
Section B: The Kite Runner, WH Auden's poetry, Brownings poetry

I was wondering if anyone had any tipds/advice on how to answer the Section B question? My teacher has meetings with the exam board and said that it's pretty much writing 3 "mini essays" and it isn't necessary to compare them throughout, and she said to include at least 2-3 poems from each text in section B.

Saying that, we've never done any practice past papers on the section B's, and she has 4 classes so she's not very good at handing back essays so it's hard for feedback... Any tips on what I should focus on for revising? So far I'm just trying to concentrate on knowing aspects of narrative for each text, and trying to fit in all of the AO's :/

Any help would be much appreciated! Oh, and by any chance if anyone has opinions/predictions on what questions/chapters/themes may sneak up on the paper, I'm always interested in reading up for those :redface:
I'm nervously babbling now, oh and ONE MONTH! Good luck with your revision everyone!

(Just posted this on another thread for the same exam incase people thought they were having deja vu):
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1959723&page=2&page=2
:smile:
Your teacher is right - this section is not about comparisons but connections so by exploring the focus (e.g use of places) you will be connecting them. You could though make links as you open a para on a new text - e.g in contrast to writer x, writer y uses... Have you seen all the past papers? Language, genre, characterisation, places, structure and endings have all come up. Openings hasn't ( and I hope it does) Neither has sybolism/imagery. Could be journeys, but maybe this is more specific to the texts I am teaching? In many ways, if you know the texts well, have practiced A02 for the section Aa questions and different possible readings (significance) for Ab you should be fine. Expect the unexpected! Names was an interesting one from Jan 2012. Use the key words frequently to remain focused and remember, A04 is not tested here but A01 is so have an intro/conclusion - use link words between paras.
Hope this helps.
I read on the internet that for Section A, Part A you should not write an essay, ideally you should write 21 points regarding how the writer tells the story. How true is this?
Original post by Buongiorno
I read on the internet that for Section A, Part A you should not write an essay, ideally you should write 21 points regarding how the writer tells the story. How true is this?


That's a complete lie. Who would even say that?! Don't follow it!
Original post by Buongiorno
I read on the internet that for Section A, Part A you should not write an essay, ideally you should write 21 points regarding how the writer tells the story. How true is this?


Not true at all unfortunately :redface: I think it's best just to follow the AO's for Section Aa and make sure you use the aspects of narratives.
i'm trying to work out what will come up for this exam but in may, does anyone know what section B questions came up? and what questions came up in section A for Tennyson?
Reply 697
I need help on structuring my responses, also what types of narrative voice are we meant to comment on?
Reply 698
My exam is in 10 days; I want to die.

Pretty pretty please can someone help me out with the Lotus Eaters and Tithonus? I'd be happy to help with anything in return... I'm studying Gatsby, Enduring Love, Auden and Tennyson :smile:
Reply 699
Hey guys,

I am doing Auden for question B and currently going over the idea, 'As I walked out one evening', does anyone know what the significance of this poem being a ballad is.

Thanks

Quick Reply