OCR A2 English Literature, F663/01: Drama &amp; Poetry pre-1800, 6 June 2014

Hi all,

Presumably like the rest of you, the Easter revision pilgrimage has just begun! I wish you all the best of luck!

I'm doing Volpone/Paradise Lost & King Lear.

Volpone/Paradise Lost have clicked wonderfully and am more than happy to share a thought to those of whom are pondering.

With regards to King Lear, I have a few qualms.

1) Does anyone have any exemplar/A* essays on word documents?
2) Does anyone have any not just useful, but pertinent contextual points?
3) Which character/theme was last year focused upon? (Praying it was Kent....)
4) Which points during the play are best for structural analysis? (Iambic meter analysis etc) (For that matter, this question applies to Volpone/Paradise Lost too)

Reply 1222

Original post by cbarrasford17

Hi all,

Presumably like the rest of you, the Easter revision pilgrimage has just begun! I wish you all the best of luck!

I'm doing Volpone/Paradise Lost & King Lear.

Volpone/Paradise Lost have clicked wonderfully and am more than happy to share a thought to those of whom are pondering.

With regards to King Lear, I have a few qualms.

1) Does anyone have any exemplar/A* essays on word documents?
2) Does anyone have any not just useful, but pertinent contextual points?
3) Which character/theme was last year focused upon? (Praying it was Kent....)
4) Which points during the play are best for structural analysis? (Iambic meter analysis etc) (For that matter, this question applies to Volpone/Paradise Lost too)

Hi I'm doing volpone and PL too! Have you done any practice essays because there aren't many past papers? And do you know how we're supposed to choose questions because our teacher hasn't given us any advice? Also do you need to know a lot of critics for the comparison bit? Thanks :smile:

Reply 1223

cbarrasford17

Original post by lightningdoritos

Hi I'm doing volpone and PL too! Have you done any practice essays because there aren't many past papers? And do you know how we're supposed to choose questions because our teacher hasn't given us any advice? Also do you need to know a lot of critics for the comparison bit? Thanks :smile:

For P.D/Volpone I've only done an essay on Avarice, Punishment and Seduction. In Easter I'm planning on two further essays and three plans. In the exam you will have 6 choices to which at least one will be specifically tailored for your texts (as the whole country can face the same questions with differing texts). In terms of picking the questions on the day, make sure you can evaluate the quote fully for both sides of the argument (agree/disagree) and scrutinize or as examiners say 'pull apart' at least one key word from the question.

Yes, for complete safety and to give the examiner every right to accredit you, aim for one critic per point. It's not a chore memorizing them as they're brief snippets of extended quotes which reinforce your argument thus making it more intelligent and intelligible.

Reply 1224

Original post by cbarrasford17

For P.D/Volpone I've only done an essay on Avarice, Punishment and Seduction. In Easter I'm planning on two further essays and three plans. In the exam you will have 6 choices to which at least one will be specifically tailored for your texts (as the whole country can face the same questions with differing texts). In terms of picking the questions on the day, make sure you can evaluate the quote fully for both sides of the argument (agree/disagree) and scrutinize or as examiners say 'pull apart' at least one key word from the question.

Yes, for complete safety and to give the examiner every right to accredit you, aim for one critic per point. It's not a chore memorizing them as they're brief snippets of extended quotes which reinforce your argument thus making it more intelligent and intelligible.

OKay thanks a lot! In terms of essay structure do you mention both texts in every paragraph?

Reply 1225

cbarrasford17

Structure varies from one to another. For me, I find aiming for 4 wholesome points suits me well. Typically this is how my plan would look -

1) Agree with the question
2) Disagree with the question
3) Agree/Disagree depending on a variable e.g if the question was on seduction you could say it's dependent on whether it's avaricious lust or romantic lust.
4) Scrutinize a word from the question

Reply 1226

username973803

14

Hi guys are any of you doing shakespeare's King Lear along side Burial at Thebes and Rape of the Lock?

What do you predict will come up? :smile:

Reply 1227

Elle97

8

Does anyone know what the A* boundary usually is? We've just had mock exams and me and a couple of girls got 28 on section A and 28 on section B and the teachers have no idea if that's an A* or not! It's a little harsh if it isn't, that gives us hardly any room!😂😭

Posted from TSR Mobile

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 1228

Original post by Elle97

Does anyone know what the A* boundary usually is? We've just had mock exams and me and a couple of girls got 28 on section A and 28 on section B and the teachers have no idea if that's an A* or not! It's a little harsh if it isn't, that gives us hardly any room!��

Posted from TSR Mobile

An A* isn't technically a published grade for the exam, but you'd need 57/60 for an A* so thats basically 28 and 29. :smile:

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 1229

hannahemer

I'm doing The White Devil and Paradise Lost for the comparison, and I'm finding it so difficult to find any links, does anyone have any suggestions? Also like other people has said does anyone have any exemplar essays, I've had massive issues with teachers and so desperately trying to catch upnow!
xxxxxx

Reply 1230

How is everyone going about with context? It's worth 10 marks in here, so do we need loads of context for both texts?

Reply 1231

lambmo

I'm doing the same and it's impossible! there are no exemplar essays for them either which really sucks... I feel like i hardly know anything about the texts when i try and compare them

Reply 1232

hannahemer

Original post by lambmo

I'm doing the same and it's impossible! there are no exemplar essays for them either which really sucks... I feel like i hardly know anything about the texts when i try and compare them

It's a massive problem! I need some just general comparative points and I think I'll try and go from there, have you found any good websites?

Reply 1233

Hi everyone for the Shakespeare part do you think it's okay to structure an essay by doing a paragraph on each character if the question is on a theme?
So for example:
Intro

Para on Antony
Para on Caesar
Para on Cleo

Conclusion

Reply 1234

Original post by lightningdoritos

Hi everyone for the Shakespeare part do you think it's okay to structure an essay by doing a paragraph on each character if the question is on a theme?
So for example:
Intro

Para on Antony
Para on Caesar
Para on Cleo

Conclusion

Yeah thats what I do :smile:

but if its a character qs then of course only the one character

Reply 1235

Is it true that you don't get any marks for critics on the comparison section? My teacher said you can use them to strengthen your argument but they don't get you any AO3 marks....it's all comparison apparently

Reply 1236