Romeo and Juliet

Hi! What exam board is this for?

Its AQA IGCSE

Ok, so... you need to have a clear understanding about what happens in each scene. Romeo and Juliet/Shakespeare generally is not that hard when you're studying it for GCSE, you just have to get into the mentality of thinking that everyone struggles with it initially but they wouldn't offer it to study in GCSE if they didn't think students were capable of obtaining the highest results. So here's what you need to do.

- Make notes about every Act and what happens in every scene
- Get revision guides. I cannot stress this enough. Go on amazon and look up York Notes for R&J as well as the specific revision guide for the AQA IGCSE, because I am absolutely sure they have one. If you've searched long and hard on amazon and there isn't one then go onto the actual website and they are bound to have some form of revision guide there. This is bound to be useful because it'll give you hints about what the examiners are looking for and the way it is expected to 'think.'
- Go on the AQA IGCSE website and find past papers. Do them. Always make a rough plan first, and learn to do this in timed conditions. If the Shakespeare is not the only thing you'll be examined on and there's another text you'll have to do in the same exam, then practice doing both one after the other as though it's an exam. Trust me, even the best students can fall behind on timing.
- Lastly, remember that this is GCSE. With all due respect, you can have the best ideas in the world and still not fully explain yourself. Go on the IGCSE AQA website and look up exemplar candidate answers and the mark schemes to look up what's needed for an A* answer. Trust me, they're incredibly useful.

Also - enjoy studying Romeo and Juliet! It's a great play and very accessible.

So, just to confirm, I just have to make a summary of each scene and notes on what each of the characters is saying?

Thank you for the advice and thanks for taking the time doing it I'll follow the advice you've given and check their website Also, do I have to use a revision guide if I'm already using MrBruff on YouTube and SparkNotes?

Sparknotes and a youtube video are not enough. I'm sorry, but it's the truth. I scored A*s in GCSE and A2 English and the only way I was able to do it was by doing a LOT of independent learning and that means going through the play painstakingly, looking at and highlighting revision guides and compiling charts. I've actually just had a look on Sparknotes just now to see what you mean and although it offers okay advice, it's too superficial to get the top grades.

So, for instance - I would make charts under the theme of love, violence, death, fate, family, political life etc. and find various quotes for each of these themes, then analyse them to work out what language analysis you can get from them - imagery, onomatopoeia, rhyme scheme, structure, etc. Remember, you need to hit all of the targets to get an A*.

Ah right, okay, I shall do all that Your chart idea is very good

Have you got any advice on poems? Unseen Poetry is another part of the IGCSE. I'm doing the Relationship cluster from the AQA Moon of the Tides anthology

Ok so I did my GCSEs in 2010 so I need to get a better understanding of what 'unseen poetry' entails - am I right in thinking it's a collection of several poems that you analyse during class times but then you get asked a question and you can't see the poem? Also please just look at the mark schemes and EXAMINER REPORTS for both, it's seriously one of the most useful things you can do.

Also, revision guides (I'd advise you to get them all if you can):

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Romeo-Juliet-York-Notes-GCSE/dp/1408248824/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397930108&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=aqa+igcse+romeo+juliet

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philip-Allan-Literature-Guide-GCSE/dp/144411025X/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1397930108&sr=8-2-fkmr0&keywords=aqa+igcse+romeo+juliet

And yeah the chart idea REALLY works, I can't stress this enough. At the end of the day, it is so much better to compile your own revision notes because it just sinks in so much more, rather than trying to rely on someone else's brain. Also look at the back of your Shakespeare text because if it's a student edition they're bound to have useful revision notes. You can do this!

I think so, unseen poetry is something we haven't been through at school yet though so I'm not entirely sure. But, we did work on the relationship poems for our coursework so I've analysed them. I've tried to find out more info on it though, I've emailed my teacher.

Thanks for the revision guides, I just went to look for some. Should I get one for the poems also? Currently looking at one by Phillip Allan

I get what you mean It is a student edition, I've seen some of the notes there Do you have any advice on structure? Is P>E>E a good way of doing so? Making a Point, giving Evidence for it (like a quotation) and then Explaining it?

Ok, so even if you haven't been through it at school you need to get ahead of the game and look up exactly what it is, what materials you'll be given in the exam in form of extracts etc. and then look up candidate answers (exemplar) on the AQA IGCSE website as well as examiner reports and mark schemes to know exactly what you're getting into. Best do this now rather than later. And get revision guides for every single bit you're doing (and this isn't just limited to English, btw). Even if your school is the best one in the UK there is absolutely no harm whatsoever in looking up what the exam board (the one which at the end of the day has the final say on what mark you get) wants from you.

So, structure-wise: obviously there are two lots of structure: the essay entirely as well as within a paragraph. I think 'PEA' may be slightly more useful in this case - 'Point, Evidence, Analysis.' For example, this is the kind of thing I would write - although note, I'm writing about 'The Tempest,' not R&J!

'Caliban is a sympathetic creature, representing far more than a savage. When describing the island he lives in, the fact he speaks in lyrical verse form as opposed to the baser blank verse of Stephano and Trinculo mark him out to possess noble characteristics with its beautiful sound and texture.' <--- and that's just talking about structure, you could also extrapolate further to talk about language and imagery but this is just a brief example.