How do you get that A/A* in English?

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I'm sure you'll get A* as you're a very bright You like exploring ideas and subjects deeply and that's exactly what examiners look for from students.

Can you tell me what exactly do they want. When I see pictures I analyse them in very deep levels however they are quite 'unique' ideas like for example today I was annotating a newspaper in which it showed a police man retreating from a mob. The policeman had protective clothing yet he still had to retreat. I felt that the sheild the policeman was holding could represent the primary job of a policeman: to protect citizens. As the policeman is retreating with his protective gear this may create the sense that if the policeman can not protective himself then how is going to protect the people reading the article: citizens. The police are being disabled from there ability to protect due to 'hooligans' thus leading to the reader to feel a sense of perhaps hopelessness within the situation as they are caused to believe these hooligans are a 'threat ti national security'.

Is this too much? I know probably most of it was waffle but I do tend to get carried away...

...other than the usual: BE ORIGINAL. I would particularly like advice for Paper One.

Many Thanks
Rae

Thanks for all the advice, it's much appreciated.

I'll rep you tommorow

@CrookedTeeth: Yes you definately over exaggerated on the analogy

@carnationlilyrose: Lick my fingers? Well I am the type tp miss out page...

Have you got any advice for section B particularly the Argue or persaude questions or the ones that involve both?

Oh and how deep into analysis do you recommend?

A bit too much, and the grammatical errors/spelling mistakes undermine your arguments.

work your ass off. nah, just work quite hard, try to improve your writing style and be unique. With poetry look for all of the techniques, and try to understand the story. I hope that helped

Don't spend your whole time going into massive depth on one point. Go for lots of points with one explanation about each. The mark scheme will have a list of things the examiners will expect you to comment on, plus 'etc.' at the end, so you must have quantity as well as quality for this one. Examiners will reward anything vaguely sensible and they're not looking for a Phd thesis, so make your point and move on quickly. The bit you wrote about the police will have taken you at least half the time allocated to this question and it's really only one point, so only a couple of marks gained there.

Does anyone have any advice for AQA Specification B

Okay, thanks. I didn't really proof read that post...


Thanks. When you compare poetry do you: compare language, meaning and structure or language, structure and poetic devices?



Thanks. So it about quality or quanity when it comes to these questions. Like for example lets say there was a question about language and it was worth seven marks; would I use 3/4 examples and analyse it in detail or 7 brief examples?

- Practise as many questions as you can and try to get them marked

- Flowing structure

- Avoid too-flowery language because you might end up going off topic

- Always refer back to the question here or there to show you understood what you've been asked to discuss

- As basic as this sounds, P.E.E - Point Evidence Explanation. Do not make an assertion without backing it up and then explaining it. PEE all over your essay

- Have a look at the AQA A mark scheme for the particular module to see what the examiner is looking for - pay attention to the "AOs" and how they are weighted; such as alternative interpretations/wider reading etc



Hope this helps a bit and good luck with achieving the A/A*!

I disagree with your PEE point. My a-level english lit teacher used to mark us down for using such a formulaic structure.

But he's right in that it can break up an answer into parts and hardly allows a natural flow of ideas/an argument.

Trust me, you can literally write anything in an English exam as long as you can back it up with evidence from the text and explain why you've said it. I got an A* at GCSE, and I'm convinced I did nothing but waffle the whole way through.

You could do it either way, to be honest. Look at the mark scheme for last year's paper and you will see that there is not a direct correlation between number of points and marks. You need 'at least one' example of use of both image and language to get 4 or 5 marks, so in theory 3 or 4 points are ample, but of course the devil is in the small print and the key bit is 'detailed/shaped/absorbed.' It's what you say about them that matters, but the ability to write one pithy sentence containing all you need and move on to the next point quickly is what will give you the best chance. To be fair, last year's paper was a bit unusual in putting image and language together in one question and the November paper went back to the usual formula, but the mark scheme isn't online yet.

http://store.aqa.org.uk/qual/gcse/qp-ms/AQA-37021H-W-MS-JUN10.PDF

That's A level, and it still holds true, although you should be doing it with some level of subtlety and sophistication by then. PEE is exactly what is required in GCSE. I am an examiner.

I disagree with your PEE point. My a-level english lit teacher used to mark us down for using such a formulaic structure.

Can I refer you to the other threads I've been posting in? You will probably find what you want there.

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?p=31386225&highlight=
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?p=31402262&highlight=
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?p=31423124&highlight=

...other than the usual: BE ORIGINAL. I would particularly like advice for Paper One.

Many Thanks
Rae