[MushyMorshy]

I know it's a bit early (or not?) but I thought I'd start this thread to find out any tips or revision stuff people are doing to prepare their English exam.

I'm doing 'The Great Gatsby', 'The God of Small Things', 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' and W.H. Auden poem.

I'm thinking of doing 'The Great Gatsby' for Section A. I'm predicting Chapter 6 or 7 will come up, since those are the only ones that haven't come up yet.

[Sailingslipelick]

I remember doing this exam last year. It was definitely not my favourite. Got the A2 and doing the pastoral this year!

Good Luck!!! Make sure you guys all stick to the AOs. The examiners are very picky on them!

[Buongiorno]

Absolutely dreading this! I am doing The Great Gatsby, The Kite Runner, Keats and Browning.

I suppose it's better to do a poet in Section A, as the story of a poem is usually a lot simpler than a story of a book, and your analysis needs to be directly related to the storyline.

[MushyMorshy]

(Original post by Sailingslipelick)
I remember doing this exam last year. It was definitely not my favourite. Got the A2 and doing the pastoral this year!

Good Luck!!! Make sure you guys all stick to the AOs. The examiners are very picky on them!

I'm doing A2 exam too! But I'm doing the Gothic Genre. You should google Litb3, Wellington College. They have past scripts for Litb3 stuff. Same with Litb1 for those who have seen this post, but there's not much variety for Litb1 on that website...

(Original post by Buongiorno)
Absolutely dreading this! I am doing The Great Gatsby, The Kite Runner, Keats and Browning.

I suppose it's better to do a poet in Section A, as the story of a poem is usually a lot simpler than a story of a book, and your analysis needs to be directly related to the storyline.

I did W.H. Auden last year for Section A, and flopped it LOL. Thought I'd choose it for Section A since it'll be easier because you had to mention at least 3 poems in Section B if you didn't do the collected poems in section A. In the end, I failed that exam What are you planning to do for both sections?

[Buongiorno]

(Original post by MushyMorshy)

I did W.H. Auden last year for Section A, and flopped it LOL. Thought I'd choose it for Section A since it'll be easier because you had to mention at least 3 poems in Section B if you didn't do the collected poems in section A. In the end, I failed that exam What are you planning to do for both sections?

Oh really? I've been taught that you only need to write about one of the poems from the collection in section B. Or is this totally wrong?

I will do either The Great Gatsby or Keats in section A - I am not doing The Kite Runner for sure though. What about yourself?

[Sailingslipelick]

(Original post by MushyMorshy)
I'm doing A2 exam too! But I'm doing the Gothic Genre. You should google Litb3, Wellington College. They have past scripts for Litb3 stuff. Same with Litb1 for those who have seen this post, but there's not much variety for Litb1 on that website...

Some of those documents were really helpful! Thank you!!
Now to arm myself for this exam.

[james.sutt]

(Original post by Buongiorno)
Absolutely dreading this! I am doing The Great Gatsby, The Kite Runner, Keats and Browning.

I suppose it's better to do a poet in Section A, as the story of a poem is usually a lot simpler than a story of a book, and your analysis needs to be directly related to the storyline.

It's been recommended to me to do poetry in Section A because you will have do to less searching to find things to comment on, and then that leaves the two novels to compare in Section B and they should be easier to compare

[MushyMorshy]

(Original post by Buongiorno)
Oh really? I've been taught that you only need to write about one of the poems from the collection in section B. Or is this totally wrong?

I will do either The Great Gatsby or Keats in section A - I am not doing The Kite Runner for sure though. What about yourself?

For Section A, part Aa they'll ask you about one poem, then Ab they'll ask you about the whole collection. As far as I'm aware you'll have to mention 3. You'll also have to mention 3 too for Section B if you choose to do the collected poems. Unless I've been taught wrong...or maybe it's because you're doing Keats & Browning...I'm not sure. Double check with your teachers just in case.

I've decided to do Gatsby for Section A and the other three texts for Section B.

[Yumnaarrhhh]

(Original post by james.sutt)
It's been recommended to me to do poetry in Section A because you will have do to less searching to find things to comment on, and then that leaves the two novels to compare in Section B and they should be easier to compare

Hmm poetry would be easier for Section A,Part A but for A)Part B the questions are quite difficult
I think I'm going to look at the 42 mark question first and then decide which one i'm going to do for part A..

[Buongiorno]

(Original post by MushyMorshy)
For Section A, part Aa they'll ask you about one poem, then Ab they'll ask you about the whole collection. As far as I'm aware you'll have to mention 3. You'll also have to mention 3 too for Section B if you choose to do the collected poems. Unless I've been taught wrong...or maybe it's because you're doing Keats & Browning...I'm not sure. Double check with your teachers just in case.

I've decided to do Gatsby for Section A and the other three texts for Section B.

Some say that in Section B two shorter poems or one long one is fine. I will check with my teachers though, thanks.

Regarding Gatsby, Chapters 6 & 7 have never come up... Do you think it will be one of those two or will the exam board try to trick us and throw in a different chapter?

[MushyMorshy]

(Original post by Buongiorno)
Some say that in Section B two shorter poems or one long one is fine. I will check with my teachers though, thanks.

Regarding Gatsby, Chapters 6 & 7 have never come up... Do you think it will be one of those two or will the exam board try to trick us and throw in a different chapter?

I hope chapter 6 or 7 will come back. *prays* I think for revision, I'm going to focus these two chapters, and revise briefly on the rest...

[Buongiorno]

(Original post by MushyMorshy)
I hope chapter 6 or 7 will come back. *prays* I think for revision, I'm going to focus these two chapters, and revise briefly on the rest...

In terms of revision, I am doing the same thing - although I will try to revise ALL the chapters as I don't want to risk 21 marks.

[mohsi]

Here are some revision notes I made for my Jan 2012 exam - I got an A using them.

I studied The Great Gatsby, Small Island, Tennyson and Browning.
Sorry that the notes are not completely finished, but I guess it is better than nothing.

[Buongiorno]

I have a quick question -in Section A part A, do you have to go chronologically through a chapter, explaining structure and language as you go along, or can you just pick out some specific features of the chapter and focus on them (obviously relating them back to the overarching story of the chapter)? If this makes sense...

What are people predicting to come up in section B by the way?

[Florence321]

(Original post by Buongiorno)
I have a quick question -in Section A part A, do you have to go chronologically through a chapter, explaining structure and language as you go along, or can you just pick out some specific features of the chapter and focus on them (obviously relating them back to the overarching story of the chapter)? If this makes sense...

What are people predicting to come up in section B by the way?

Nope, don't do it chronologically as there's often too much to say. Pick out the sections/themes/aspects you think are the most impotant and then talk about them. Eg, if you were doing Gatsby, first talk about Nick's narration - precise, flowery, unreliable, with quotes from thoughout the chapter - then maybe the setting, characterisation etc.
Hope that makes sense!

[Florence321]

(Original post by mohsi)
Here are some revision notes I made for my Jan 2012 exam - I got an A using them.

I studied The Great Gatsby, Small Island, Tennyson and Browning.
Sorry that the notes are not completely finished, but I guess it is better than nothing.

Wow those notes are great, thanks! I'm completely freaking out about this exam, I don't know how I'm going to know everything for it and be able to decide between the questions

[Phil90974]

Since this test has been done seven times now, and there are seven parts in Rime of the Ancient Mariner - what do you guys think will happen with the question?

[Scatach]

Does anybody have any advise on how to approach the AO3 (interpretations)? That's the one that I'm struggling with most, and it's covered on both the second 21 mark question and the 42 mark question.

I'm doing The Kite Runner, Rossetti's Poetry, Auden's Poetry and The Great Gatsby. We're only covering Gatsby in minimal detail, so that will definitely not be the text I answer section A on.

[Sayers345]

(Original post by mohsi)
Here are some revision notes I made for my Jan 2012 exam - I got an A using them.

I studied The Great Gatsby, Small Island, Tennyson and Browning.
Sorry that the notes are not completely finished, but I guess it is better than nothing.

I need a bit of advice on revision. I started around a week ago, but I feel my revision is all over the place and I'm concerned I'm not going about it in the right way while time's running out.
How'd you revise effectively? And what do you think is the best approach to take on the exam!

[Phil90974]

(Original post by Sayers345)
I need a bit of advice on revision. I started around a week ago, but I feel my revision is all over the place and I'm concerned I'm not going about it in the right way while time's running out.
How'd you revise effectively? And what do you think is the best approach to take on the exam!

My revision is going pretty dismal tbh. What I'm doing is reading examiner reports and studying mark schemes for the past exams. It is very helpful as I feel in the dark about how to go about answering the questions, when to put quotes in, when my opinion is needed and what not.