AS English Literature

SannahIqbal

In the middle of drafting my English Lit coursework, any tips?
Thank you.

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Reply 1

CBftw

Original post by SannahIqbal

In the middle of drafting my English Lit coursework, any tips?
Thank you.

Hey, I'm doing that! Really struggling with it too :frown:

Are you doing the AQA B course?

Reply 2

Louanneee

I'm starting mine soon! What are you doing yours about? Maybe try looking at previous essays on the same subject and get ideas from that

Reply 3

NinjaNicky

If anyone is doing The History Boys or The Merchant of Venice I can help, did them last year :smile:

Reply 4

Emily.97

Original post by SannahIqbal

In the middle of drafting my English Lit coursework, any tips?
Thank you.

What is your coursework question? And which exam board are you with? :smile:

Reply 5

SannahIqbal

My board is OCR. I heard AQA isn't too bad though.

Reply 6

SannahIqbal

Original post by Louanneee

I'm starting mine soon! What are you doing yours about? Maybe try looking at previous essays on the same subject and get ideas from that

Yeah, I've been looking through a few.
The question says, "how far is the dramatic presentation in this extract typical of, and significant within, the play as a whole?" - that means to relate back to the play.
I'm doing a play called Broken Glass, you? x

Reply 7

SannahIqbal

Okay, So I collected some things which I found might be useful. Here's a sum-up for some things to include that would get you marks:

My teacher really likes the words "suggests" "foreshadows" "juxtaposed" "ambiguity" "hyperbole" "repression" "significant" "depicts" "parallels" other literary terms, etc.

Contrasts/reversal/opposes/is different to
Irony / DRAMATIC IRONY
Imagery - metaphor for/symbolises/represents/connotes
Language style - emotive/slang/colloquial
Reinforces/underlines/highlights/depicts/signifies

The examiner's Report is really useful to read it tells you what to do and what to avoid; to talk about what the writer is doing instead of the characters and not to just give your point, but also explain it, e.g. "this is powerful..." - how is it powerful?
Also, I don't think they really care about the impressive flowery words as long as there is a good structure and it is flowing well so that it is as clear and as clean as possible.
You can never go wrong with the P.E.E structure. There are also marks for context and language analysis.

Body Paragraph -Topic sentence; point/theme
Explain key terms in topic sentence
Relate your point to theme
Give examples to support point (quotes from work, criticisms)
In the basic structure, find parallel and contrast.

Conclusion:- Restate thesis statement
Reiterate main points
Refrain from adding new information
Don't keep it too long.

Read the work first and come up with your own conclusions. Pick out concepts you want to discuss and have quotes from the novel to back it up. Put the criticism, put your opinion, put the quotes.

It is important to convey a sense of dramatic development and COMPARE the writers use of a particular technique or image in different places. But make sure you always always refer back to the question. Obviously yours is different from mine but don't go off the subject, make sure what you're trying to convey is clear.

So hope this helps! If anyone has anything else to add, please do. x

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 8

username1601611

Original post by NinjaNicky

If anyone is doing The History Boys or The Merchant of Venice I can help, did them last year :smile:

I'm doing the history boys and much ado about nothing!

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Reply 9

arfah

Original post by jill800

I'm doing the history boys and much ado about nothing!

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I did the History boys last year. I got an A for coursework, so just ask if you need any help. :biggrin:

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Reply 10

Louanneee

Original post by SannahIqbal

I'm doing Top Girls by Caryl Churchill and The Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams and the question is about feminism although I can't remember what it is exactly x

Reply 11

CBftw

I'm doing Posh & Twelfth Night - if anybody has done this coursework previously and has any tips please let me know. :smile:

Reply 12

NinjaNicky

Original post by jill800

I'm doing the history boys and much ado about nothing!

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Ok, so what's your question for the history boys?

Reply 13

username1601611

Original post by arfah

I did the History boys last year. I got an A for coursework, so just ask if you need any help. :biggrin:

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Original post by NinjaNicky

Ok, so what's your question for the history boys?

I'm only just starting it now at college so do you have any tips for aiming for an A in this? (AQA)

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Reply 14

Dylann

Original post by CBftw

I'm doing Posh & Twelfth Night - if anybody has done this coursework previously and has any tips please let me know. :smile:

I did this, probably because we go to the same college though lol. Don't remember too much of the coursework...although I can help a bit:

Posh: the commentary is very important so make sure you write your scene with this in mind. Have an interesting scene, not a generic one, teachers love interesting literature.

Twelfth Night: choose a question you feel most comfortable with. Read the scenes that involve that question over and over again, you really don't want to miss out key quotes.

For both, use quality vocabulary. You should use at least five words that you didn't previously know the meaning of (make sure you know how they fit in a sentence too lol)

I got 26 and 30 respectively, and I'll happily send you my final pieces for each (through our college email!)

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Reply 15

NinjaNicky

Original post by jill800

I'm only just starting it now at college so do you have any tips for aiming for an A in this? (AQA)

The AOs are you best friend, look at the mark scheme and then analyse your essay for how well you've hit the criteria. Think outside the box and try not to make really obvious statements, EngLit is about interpretation and as long as you can justify you argument it's better to not be a sheep saying the same old rubbish. There's some good reviews online that can help you think critically too :smile:

Reply 16

CBftw

Original post by Dylann

Oh yeah, you're from the St Dominic's thread - heeeeyyy loool :smile:

Thanks for the tips & if you could send your final pieces that would be so helpful! (Should I PM you my college email?) :smile:

Reply 17

Dylann

Original post by CBftw

Oh yeah, you're from the St Dominic's thread - heeeeyyy loool :smile:

Thanks for the tips & if you could send your final pieces that would be so helpful! (Should I PM you my college email?) :smile:

Yeah PM

Reply 18

arfah

Original post by jill800

I'm only just starting it now at college so do you have any tips for aiming for an A in this? (AQA)

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Yea just keep referring to the question at the end of each paragraph. Include all the AO's especially AO2, and alternative interpretations by saying 'however' 'despite this' etc. Also it's better to use less quotes, but analyse in great depth, rather than loads of quotes and little analysis. Just pm if you need more help. :smile:

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Reply 19

username1601611

Original post by NinjaNicky

The AOs are you best friend, look at the mark scheme and then analyse your essay for how well you've hit the criteria. Think outside the box and try not to make really obvious statements, EngLit is about interpretation and as long as you can justify you argument it's better to not be a sheep saying the same old rubbish. There's some good reviews online that can help you think critically too :smile:

Thank you! :-)

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