[JBateman]

Hey I'm in Year 12 and I've just finished my English Literature B exam. My target is an A and I need an A to get my ideal university choice. So for those who don't the exam is split into two sections. In section A there are two half-hour essays to write and then a big hour essay to write for section B. Both sections are worth the same marks.

So I think I pretty much aced the first and second question to A standard. My problem is the B section: "How do the writers you have studied use climaxes/anti-climaxes in their work" I thought the word climax simply meant the end of the novel/poem. After just looking it up it seems this is not the case at all, a climax is a point of intense excitement and significance. (don't judge me - English is my strongest subject and it is VERY rare that I misunderstand words like this). So will my essay be just graded zero? If this is the case surely that's really unfair, shouldn't they just dock me a few marks for this very trivial mistake and then mark my essay in the context of the assessment objectives? I at least want to know from anyone who has had experience in this type of problem, just to put my mind at rest. Thankyou

[Morganb804]

I did this exam... a truly disgusting paper!!!

[dongonaeatu]

no

[coodooloo]

(Original post by JBateman)
Hey I'm in Year 12 and I've just finished my English Literature B exam. My target is an A and I need an A to get my ideal university choice. So for those who don't the exam is split into two sections. In section A there are two half-hour essays to write and then a big hour essay to write for section B. Both sections are worth the same marks.

So I think I pretty much aced the first and second question to A standard. My problem is the B section: "How do the writers you have studied use climaxes/anti-climaxes in their work" I thought the word climax simply meant the end of the novel/poem. After just looking it up it seems this is not the case at all, a climax is a point of intense excitement and significance. (don't judge me - English is my strongest subject and it is VERY rare that I misunderstand words like this). So will my essay be just graded zero? If this is the case surely that's really unfair, shouldn't they just dock me a few marks for this very trivial mistake and then mark my essay in the context of the assessment objectives? I at least want to know from anyone who has had experience in this type of problem, just to put my mind at rest. Thankyou

I don't think you failed at all. The climax is essentially the end of a particular work, the idea of it being a build of excitement is almost a by-product of being positioned at the end of a text. If you know what I mean - so a book will often end in an exciting way, but if you talk about the ending than I can't see why it should be a problem.

[Craming Revision]

you failed it mate.. time to get the rope.

[TheWorldEndsWithMe]

Well, in some pieces the climax is the end point, but that said, can you get your school/whatever to ring up and explain what happened? I know in ours if someone has severely misunderstood a question or answered all the essays instead of one (or whatever) they ring them up and ask them to be understanding. Might be worth a shot? (At least, they do it for economics, I haven't heard any stories of other subjects).

[JBateman]

I did this exam... a truly disgusting paper!!

Haha I certainly agree the second section was worse than all the past papers put together.

I don't think you failed at all. The climax is essentially the end of a particular work, the idea of it being a build of excitement is almost a by-product of being positioned at the end of a text. If you know what I mean - so a book will often end in an exciting way, but if you talk about the ending than I can't see why it should be a problem.

Maybe I am overreacting. When I look back though it seems obvious that the climax in The Kite Runner was Hassan's rape and in The Great Gatsby myrtle getting run over and gatsby getting shot. I didn't write about any of these lol and focused on the final few pages of every book.

Well, in some pieces the climax is the end point, but that said, can you get your school/whatever to ring up and explain what happened? I know in ours if someone has severely misunderstood a question or answered all the essays instead of one (or whatever) they ring them up and ask them to be understanding. Might be worth a shot? (At least, they do it for economics, I haven't heard any stories of other subjects).

So do you think it would worth seeing my English teacher or the exams officer about it? Thanks for the advice.

you failed it mate.. time to get the rope.

Haha I hope you're joking

[reena khan]

No, you haven't as long as you have done a good analysis with a clear argument .Anyway i did the speech question cos i found it easier .

[JBateman]

No, you haven't as long as you have done a good analysis with a clear argument .Anyway i did the speech question cos i found it easier.

I hope you're right lol, I was gonna do the speech question but I honestly thought I knew what climax meant haha.

[Craming Revision]

(Original post by JBateman)
Haha I certainly agree the second section was worse than all the past papers put together.



Maybe I am overreacting. When I look back though it seems obvious that the climax in The Kite Runner was Hassan's rape and in The Great Gatsby myrtle getting run over and gatsby getting shot. I didn't write about any of these lol and focused on the final few pages of every book.



So do you think it would worth seeing my English teacher or the exams officer about it? Thanks for the advice.



Haha I hope you're joking

LOL ofc im joking lmao

[reena khan]

i don't think the paper was that hard.For example if you did the kite runner you could say the significance of hassans rape is that it becomes amir's reason for redemption.the climax is the rape. And if u did speech like me u could say Hosseini uses breakdowns speech when amir finds out Hassan has died.I mean im not exactly clever but i tried really hard so hopefully might get a decent grade.Anyway could anyone please tell me what u wrote for part 2 of section a if u did the goblin market question.Thanks

[roflcakes1]

I doubt you'll have done as badly as you think since climaxes are often at the end of the narrative: even though there may be an 'obvious' climax, it's up to you what you write on, so as long as you've presented a good argument and analysis they can't mark you down for not choosing the same climaxes that most other candidates chose.
I don't know how much it will help if you ring the exam board, since the question was quite simple and as an english literature student, you're expected to understand what it's asking.
Remember though that you have your coursework and the first half of the essay, you can still get a good mark even if you think you messed up the last question

[Fragile_Illusions]

You'll probably still do really well. Climax does essentially just mean the end of the text. I've learnt it's more about how you write rather than what you write.

[CraigKirk]

I think that if you have commented only on the climaxes at the ends of texts, then your grade will be damaged because you haven't ranged around the text. However, these are still climaxes, so you should be able to claim plenty of marks for your discussion of them, depending on how good it is. It may not quite reach A standard, however, because your variety is going to be minimised.

Did you range around the text in your comments? If you did, then you should hopefully be okay.

[JBateman]

I think that if you have commented only on the climaxes at the ends of texts, then your grade will be damaged because you haven't ranged around the text. However, these are still climaxes, so you should be able to claim plenty of marks for your discussion of them, depending on how good it is. It may not quite reach A standard, however, because your variety is going to be minimised.

Did you range around the text in your comments? If you did, then you should hopefully be okay.

Well I've kind of accepted I'll be getting a bad mark for the B section, but hopefully my coursework (which I got full marks for) and the Section A will drag the mark up.

[DrMeredithGrey]

I did this exam too, and I normally always get A in English, in my coursework and mock papers. Now I swear my highest hope is of getting a C :/ Such a bad section B question.

[Morgasm19]

(Original post by DrMeredithGrey)
I did this exam too, and I normally always get A in English, in my coursework and mock papers. Now I swear my highest hope is of getting a C :/ Such a bad section B question.

Same :/ Do you think they'll lower the grade boundaries at all? Everyone I spoke to at my school and loads of people on here have complained about the paper, particularly the section B questions.

[Morgasm19]

(Original post by reena khan)
i don't think the paper was that hard.For example if you did the kite runner you could say the significance of hassans rape is that it becomes amir's reason for redemption.the climax is the rape. And if u did speech like me u could say Hosseini uses breakdowns speech when amir finds out Hassan has died.I mean im not exactly clever but i tried really hard so hopefully might get a decent grade.Anyway could anyone please tell me what u wrote for part 2 of section a if u did the goblin market question.Thanks

I did Goblin Market for Section A, I was so pissed off to see it, I was expecting Jessie Cameron nooo haha but I did a little intro and then said:

Yes, it could be a children's story because it has fairytale elements and the vivid use of imagery could appeal to a child's imagination

Yes, it could further be classified a children's story as it conveys a moral message worth teaching about the importance and value of sisterhood and friendship

However, some of the subject matter is too dark, such as the rape imagery with Lizzie and the goblins, and some of the themes of sin and self-restraint are too mature for children to understand/appreciate/benefit from reading about.

Then in my conclusion I said Rossetti probably didn't have a specific audience in mind when writing the poem, the poem has a universal appeal as there are aspects of the narrative that appeal to children and adults.


What did you say for that question?

[Charl1211]

It's a tough one to call as AQA are obsessed with how well the candidate answered the question... Did you know you are allowed to ask for a definition? Have you found out how you did now?

[cool pilot dude]

(Original post by JBateman)
Hey I'm in Year 12 and I've just finished my English Literature B exam. My target is an A and I need an A to get my ideal university choice. So for those who don't the exam is split into two sections. In section A there are two half-hour essays to write and then a big hour essay to write for section B. Both sections are worth the same marks.

So I think I pretty much aced the first and second question to A standard. My problem is the B section: "How do the writers you have studied use climaxes/anti-climaxes in their work" I thought the word climax simply meant the end of the novel/poem. After just looking it up it seems this is not the case at all, a climax is a point of intense excitement and significance. (don't judge me - English is my strongest subject and it is VERY rare that I misunderstand words like this). So will my essay be just graded zero? If this is the case surely that's really unfair, shouldn't they just dock me a few marks for this very trivial mistake and then mark my essay in the context of the assessment objectives? I at least want to know from anyone who has had experience in this type of problem, just to put my mind at rest. Thankyou

I think I failed my AQA English language and lit A exam yesterday- all thanks to having a flu,migraine,aching joints and non-stop sneezing! which I still have....

Tomorrow I have my closed book examination (great expectations) and hope this flu will go away! Im trying to find th energy to revise right now; but cant!

I wish you all the best and I hope all the best for myself...