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ELAT

Hello :smile:
Anyone doing the ELAT this year? I'm appplying for English and Modern Languages and will have to do both the ELAT and the MLAT.
How are you preparing? Although it seems like there's no way to prepare:biggrin:

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Original post by somethin_blue
Hello :smile:
Anyone doing the ELAT this year? I'm appplying for English and Modern Languages and will have to do both the ELAT and the MLAT.
How are you preparing? Although it seems like there's no way to prepare:biggrin:


I was just looking for a thread on this as I'm doing the same! At the moment I'm just going over grammar (German) and have sessions planned with my English teachers for the ELAT :smile:
Reply 2
Applying for straight English and so I'm starting to prepare for ELAT….somehow...
I guess I'll just do the papers from previos years and ask a teacher to mark them... I'm a bit nervous actually. Do you know how much emphasis they put on the ELAT?
Original post by somethin_blue
I guess I'll just do the papers from previos years and ask a teacher to mark them... I'm a bit nervous actually. Do you know how much emphasis they put on the ELAT?


Hey,

I did the ELAT last year so I wish all you guys the best of luck. In terms of preparation, just keep going through the past papers to build up your timing skills and your ability to pick up things from unknown texts. It might also help just finding random extracts of literature off the internet and working on how to tackle unseen text. I'm assuming you know the structure of the paper, how many extracts you get and that they are all linked through a common theme so just being able to compare and contrast will help you immensely. I suggest always going for at least one poem as they are the easiest to annotate in the time your given.

Now onto your question. The ELAT is especially important for being shortlisted for the interviews (or so I'm told). However, it does go towards your whole application so it's not too devastating if you have nerves in the exams because you'll still have your written work, your personal statement, your reference and your grades to back you up. The admissions team also take into account contextual data, so there are many variables in deciding who gets called for interviews and who gets an offer. Personally, I don't think I did great in the ELAT so I was surprised I got an interview let alone an offer :smile:

What I'm trying to say is that the ELAT and entrance exams aren't "all or nothing" so please don't beat yourself up about if it doesn't go great because that's what I did and I look back now thinking "What an idiot!" :P

Hope this helps :smile: Good luck!
Original post by Alunzar
Hey,

I did the ELAT last year so I wish all you guys the best of luck. In terms of preparation, just keep going through the past papers to build up your timing skills and your ability to pick up things from unknown texts. It might also help just finding random extracts of literature off the internet and working on how to tackle unseen text. I'm assuming you know the structure of the paper, how many extracts you get and that they are all linked through a common theme so just being able to compare and contrast will help you immensely. I suggest always going for at least one poem as they are the easiest to annotate in the time your given.

Now onto your question. The ELAT is especially important for being shortlisted for the interviews (or so I'm told). However, it does go towards your whole application so it's not too devastating if you have nerves in the exams because you'll still have your written work, your personal statement, your reference and your grades to back you up. The admissions team also take into account contextual data, so there are many variables in deciding who gets called for interviews and who gets an offer. Personally, I don't think I did great in the ELAT so I was surprised I got an interview let alone an offer :smile:

What I'm trying to say is that the ELAT and entrance exams aren't "all or nothing" so please don't beat yourself up about if it doesn't go great because that's what I did and I look back now thinking "What an idiot!" :P

Hope this helps :smile: Good luck!


Thanks a lot! That was extremely helpful :smile:
So you're studying English at Oxford now? :cool:
Original post by somethin_blue
Thanks a lot! That was extremely helpful :smile:
So you're studying English at Oxford now? :cool:


I start this October :smile: So excited!! :biggrin:


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Good luck! Which college, may I ask? :smile:
Original post by Franconite
Good luck! Which college, may I ask? :smile:


You may :smile: St Peter's College :biggrin:
Can you tell me something about the submission of written work for English? I'm not from the UK and I don't have anything suitable...
Original post by somethin_blue
Can you tell me something about the submission of written work for English? I'm not from the UK and I don't have anything suitable...


Hey,

So the written work for English should be a piece of critical commentary no more than 1500 words that you have completed as part of your course. It should be a first draft (meaning it has no corrections/alterations) and should show your teacher's markings. It should be a critical commentary on an entire piece of literature and not just an extract. For example, an essay on the opening pages of a novel instead of the entire literary work is not acceptable. Pieces on drama and poetry are also acceptable. I took mine from work I had done on Sylvia Plath I had done in my last year of sixth form. Ideally, the essay you choose to submit should reflect your current ability so choose an essay from the last couple of months. In addition, choose essays that address things your interested in as it has a possibility of being discussed at the interviews.

If you have read through this and still think you do not have an essay worthy of submission, get in contact with the admissions department at the University and ask them what other arrangements (if any) can be made. :smile: I'm sure you have a piece somewhere that is acceptable. What course are you studying?
Reply 11
Hi, could I please ask how much you wrote for the ELAT? Is it better to write quickly to get all your ideas down, or to spend time thinking over the style and the way you're writing, maybe at the expense of getting all your ideas down in time?
Thank you and good luck at Oxford!
Original post by by97
Hi, could I please ask how much you wrote for the ELAT? Is it better to write quickly to get all your ideas down, or to spend time thinking over the style and the way you're writing, maybe at the expense of getting all your ideas down in time?
Thank you and good luck at Oxford!


Thank you, I've just finished packing :smile: The honest answer is I don't remember how much I wrote (it's been a while). However, I'd always say that it's quality over quantity when it comes to essay writing. I would say that you should just write in your normal style as you're under pressure in the exam so you don't want to waste time trying to write in a way that is unnatural to you. Just as long as you make your points clear and embed quotes effectively, you should be fine.

Whilst it is good to have a lot of thoughts to get down, be careful not to just list your ideas. Instead, try to arrange your ideas to make and develop a strong argument/interpretation of the texts. Think about deeper meanings of the text and possibly other interpretations. As it is a comparison essay, highlight common themes and subtle connections that you find interesting and can develop. If you find you have a lot of ideas but not enough time, prioritise those that are stronger/have more evidence for. :smile:

So, in short- Quality over Quantity! :P

Hope this helps :biggrin:


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Reply 13
Original post by Alunzar
Hey,

So the written work for English should be a piece of critical commentary no more than 1500 words that you have completed as part of your course. It should be a first draft (meaning it has no corrections/alterations) and should show your teacher's markings. It should be a critical commentary on an entire piece of literature and not just an extract. For example, an essay on the opening pages of a novel instead of the entire literary work is not acceptable. Pieces on drama and poetry are also acceptable. I took mine from work I had done on Sylvia Plath I had done in my last year of sixth form. Ideally, the essay you choose to submit should reflect your current ability so choose an essay from the last couple of months. In addition, choose essays that address things your interested in as it has a possibility of being discussed at the interviews.

If you have read through this and still think you do not have an essay worthy of submission, get in contact with the admissions department at the University and ask them what other arrangements (if any) can be made. :smile: I'm sure you have a piece somewhere that is acceptable. What course are you studying?


I'm also an international applicant, but my teacher said the piece I have on Harold Pinter's "The Birthday Party" (the question was on Pinter's representation of violence in the play as a whole, in case you're familiar with it) should be good enough, she gave me 19/25 in it and she's incredibly stingy with her marks so woohoo :biggrin: Is something like that appropriate or should I start writing another essay specifically for Oxford's written work requirement?
Original post by fzehra1
I'm also an international applicant, but my teacher said the piece I have on Harold Pinter's "The Birthday Party" (the question was on Pinter's representation of violence in the play as a whole, in case you're familiar with it) should be good enough, she gave me 19/25 in it and she's incredibly stingy with her marks so woohoo :biggrin: Is something like that appropriate or should I start writing another essay specifically for Oxford's written work requirement?


Hi,
I'm not too sure on this to be honest as I feel it's personal preference on what you want to submit. The strict answer is that you should never write an essay just for the admissions process unless circumstances mean you have to (I.e if you're a mature student). The grade isn't a bad grade so it's really up to you.

Also, isn't the deadline for submission passed now or do you get longer to submit your written work?



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(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 15
Hello! I'm sitting the ELAT too :smile: I was wondering if anyone could help me with developing a thesis statement? (my school has been really unhelpful). When writing your answer, should you go for a narrow thesis statement e.g. use of imagery/metaphor/structure etc to convey time as a beast which the speakers must escape or to be more broad, e.g. time is portrayed as a beast in which the speakers must escape. Should I specify one technique and do in depth analysis of it, or go through each technique used and compare in this way?
Reply 16
On your thesis statement, keep it broad. So you would say in your introduction, that both writers portray time as a beast in which the speakers must escape. Then in your essay, you would go on to examine how they do this looking at their use of e.g. physical descriptions, how they create an atmosphere of fear, differing depictions of the 'beast' , how they create a sense of flight and escape etc etc. As you discuss each of these ideas that support your thesis, you draw evidence from the text that relates to language, style and structure, and compare and contrast your selected texts. Does that make sense?
Reply 17
Original post by xkiwi
On your thesis statement, keep it broad. So you would say in your introduction, that both writers portray time as a beast in which the speakers must escape. Then in your essay, you would go on to examine how they do this looking at their use of e.g. physical descriptions, how they create an atmosphere of fear, differing depictions of the 'beast' , how they create a sense of flight and escape etc etc. As you discuss each of these ideas that support your thesis, you draw evidence from the text that relates to language, style and structure, and compare and contrast your selected texts. Does that make sense?


Yes! Thank-you so much :smile: I only have a few days left to rectify but this was so helpful. Could you give me any tips on a strong introduction/conclusion? Thank-you again :redface:
Reply 18
Strong intro: say which pieces you have chosen because both texts explore (your thesis statement). Then give a one/two sentence HIGH LEVEL view of Text 1 (i.e. how text 1 looks at the thesis statement), and contrast it with a one sentence view of Text 2 (i.e. how it looks at the thesis statement) etc. If you can place your chosen texts in their genre, its helpful. Then briefly set out the three or four (four is quite ambitious in the time) supporting arguments that you are going to explore, which should kind of drop out of your thesis statement. That's it. You are done in 5 sentences or so but show good focus and a clear argument.

The conclusion is going to revisit your thesis statement with more perspective and bring your supporting arguments together, with a feeling of synthesis around the comparisons and contrast. Perhaps something unexpected became clear as you were frantically writing your main paragraphs! Remember to lift your conclusion back up so you are looking at the whole extract/text/poem whatever. And a bit of acknowledgement of genre in the conclusion would be marvelous. If there are some areas of your thesis statement that remain unproven or ambiguous, it is quite OK (IMHO) to acknowledge that.

Or something like that.

Or just let the red mist descend and write frantically for 90 minutes......!
Reply 19
Loool I've not prepared for this at all :')

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