AQA A2 English Literature B (LITB3): Elements of the Gothic 11th June 2015

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Hey, is anyone doing "The Changeling"? I did this exam last year and was 4 UMS from an A* and got an A overall. I have 2 essays that both got A grades. If anyone wants me to send you them, PM with your email address. Thanks :smile:

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Reply 1381

Keatdanhenson

Original post by Crystalz

My teacher wrote an essay on the significance of blood for us this week
all year we have done significance of blood
last week we had a last minute mock with the question EXACTLY "how are the boundaries between good and evil blurred"
Methinks my teachers saw the exam.

That was the first question we ever did at the start of A2 in September so I highly doubt it!

Reply 1382

Keatdanhenson

Original post by Nerdy_Birdy96

Apparently we are the only ones who though it was a decent exam. If you search litb3 on twitter there seems to be quite a few negative responses :/

embrace it!
might mean the grade boundaries are low this year

Reply 1383

northwestsixth

Original post by wellholathere

I did that question too! I used the tigers bride and the company of the wolves.
Tigers bride ~ he was a victim to his body, can't speak etc etc
company of the wolves ~ She was no longer a victim because she empowered herself

I did the section B for TBC!

Title- girl is a victim of her naivety, and doesn't recognise the threat of the Marquis
COUNTER- tigers bride- she is a victim of her father who objectifies her and gives her away. Supported by linking back to title story by saying girl is victim of marquis sexual corruption :smile:

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Reply 1384

MedievalWitch

any predictions for grade boundaries this year, weren't last years really high?? hopefully there quite low this year :')

Reply 1385

tellmeimmageek

Original post by The 1920s chick

The Snow Child, The Bloody Chamber and The Company of Wolves, I briefly talked about Lady in the house of love... my thesis was blood was significant in terms of virginity and sexuality and the loss of virginity, my other sort of argument was that the blood is very violent. I did go off topic so many times but I think the question was as difficult... just very glad it wasn't setting

I talked about The Bloody Chamber and Lady Of The House of Love. I said for TBC that the images of blood through the choker and the consummation of their marriage represents virginity and the pain of being a woman where the male is like a predato. But I countered blood's significance and said that it is more sothe violence and the torture that is significant, and the images of blood compliment that. For LOTHOL I said that the "blood stained lace" image and how she lies in her coffin all day shows how she is initally confined into a role that she is reluctant over, and the image of blood allows us to see that, but then blood shows release and enlightenment, when she bleeds herself and her blood "fascinates" her. But then I countered that and said the significance of blood is undermined in comparison to the way that Carter has subverted gender roles (I went off topic quite a bit too!)

Reply 1386

14Billie

Original post by Annabel_rose

Aha our answers sound so similar! For section A I basically concluded with a similar point, that the guilty suffer the most as their punishment is essentially eternal damnation from a religious perspective, suffering which ultimately outweighs that of the innocent. I just hope it was enough for an A!

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Makes me feel so relieved when I hear that!😂😂 I really hope so too, got my fingers crossed for both of us!

Reply 1387

username1355940

Original post by 1chirag7

Oh, oops! I should have worked that out.

I did women in general as victims, Victor and his creature as both and society as a whole as a villain. It was okay I guess. For section B, I did the blurred boundaries between good and evil question for Doctor Faustus, The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale and Frankenstein (studied TBC but I hate writing about it because I make it too complicated and lose track). I don't think I had enough quotation in that section and I definitely didn't have enough time to make it the best I could (so disappointing :dontknow:

).

Overall, I think the questions were average both in difficulty and in enjoyability. I was really hoping something about settings or ideologies came up in the section B but LGO. On to the next exam!

I didn't talk about women in the frankenstein one as victims, instead I talked about society being the villain. I know the question said focus on presentation of characters but u can easily link it to the presentation because victor is described to be "possessed" in his studies and walton's immediate presentation talks about how he feels the need to achieve a "great purpose". Things like that are okay right?

Reply 1388

All-rounder

Original post by Emily.97

Whaaat? Hmm.

Yeah, thats what we were told because our lecturer marks exams for a different school

Reply 1389

Nerdy_Birdy96

Original post by Keatdanhenson

embrace it!
might mean the grade boundaries are low this year

I bloody hope they're low, I wouldn't mind an A* XD

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 1390

georgiadavies

Feel like I did sooo badly on this.
For Section A I did Bloody Chamber (didn't like the question but I knew it a lot better than Macbeth or Frankenstein) but I couldnt remember any quotes from The Werewolf, so I just talked about TBC (crimson choker, key stain and the bloody chamber representing female menstruation - gross i know haha soz) and the bloody rose in the tigers bride showing how she refused to be the idealised female and then i panicked and blagged it so wrote about the snow child even though I don't think there was even any blood in there lmao
Then for Section B i did the blurred boundaries between good and evil.. Macbeth's heroism for murder that turned into brutality showing the blurred boundary, and also whether Lady M/The Witches influence on him made it difficult to establish if he was good or evil. Then Bloody Chamber just winged it and said about perception, e.g. Erl King at first she views him as sweet and loving of the forest but then she realises the birds are crying n shiz so just spoke about the blurred boundary due to perception (such a weak point i know haha) then for Frankenstein just did Victors intention, did he create life for medical purposes or own glory and also using intention to justify monsters actions "I am malicious because I am miserable" to show how its not clear cut..

Completely waffled but with it being english lit hopefully that's got me at least a pass haha. Anyone else do these?

Reply 1391

Kaydan

I think everyone has mixed feelings about this exam.. Some people say it went great, whereas others disagree completely - dubious and scared about the overall outcome.. Either way, I just hope the grade boundaries are low 😁

Reply 1392

arfah

What was the section B question on victims again?

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Reply 1393

Nerdy_Birdy96

Original post by arfah

What was the section B question on victims again?

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Gothic protagonists are victims to no-one but themselves.

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Reply 1394

arfah

Original post by Nerdy_Birdy96

Gothic protagonists are victims to no-one but themselves.

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Think I answered it wrong...

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Reply 1395

arfah

Original post by Nerdy_Birdy96

Gothic protagonists are victims to no-one but themselves.

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I answered it saying they're victims of themselves but however they're victims to other people to.. Do you think I've completely answered it wrong???

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Reply 1396

Kaydan

For Frankenstein, I mentioned Victor being a villain and a victim. Similarly, I repeated this idea with the Monster - who can be seen as both things, as well. However, apart from covering the basic concepts, I spoke about Justine, Elizabeth and the Female creation - which I argued were victims at the hands of both Victor and the Monster. Furthermore, I then concluded by mentioning that I felt society was also villainous in its own way, as it propelled the Monster, alongside Victor - to do the things he does, because despite being unjustifiable, we can understand why the Monster acts in such a vengeful and malicious way. This being said, I included context, sophisticated language and gothic terminology - words such as macabre, unnatural, etc.. Just hope everything went well 👍🏽

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 1397

bethanyw27

Original post by arfah

I answered it saying they're victims of themselves but however they're victims to other people to.. Do you think I've completely answered it wrong???

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I did a similar thing to be honest, I think as long as you justify and link it back to the question we should be alright if not RIP university for me

Reply 1398

scudamoret

The Bloody Chamber question seemed unnerving but with some ease it was answerable. Blood is a passage for liberty, sacrificial in the innocence of the virgin of the eponymous story for a "dozen husbands impaled a dozen brides", overtly human against the vampire in "Lady of the House of Love" as blood "stained the bed" and finally, in "Snow Child", blood is blunt and ruining of perfection as a "hole in the snow", symbolic to great degree. "Wolf Alice" and "Company of Wolves" were subtly mentioned, too.
Sec B: "art of murder" is not the fascination of Gothic writers but rather the "art of secrecy and concealment" which is predicated by murder and the abstract leitmotif/destination for death. "Macbeth" is incredibly euphemistic and poetic in communicating the demise of a character, to which the methodisation/art of murder falls redundant. "Frankenstein" is initially artistic in creationism and then Victor's pursuit of keeping the monster's identity hidden, as murders of William and Clerval are not recited by an all-too-eloquent creature. Finally, "Puss in Boots" is so quick to conduct the deaths of Signor Pantelone and the grandma that murder is quick, sporadic so the "bed is occupe" whilst the lovers are at it on the carpet. Ultimately, Gothic (Jacobean, Enlightenment and Anglo-Saxon) all concerned with consequentialism and convicted secret-holding protags rather than "art of murder".

Reply 1399

arfah

Original post by bethanyw27

I did a similar thing to be honest, I think as long as you justify and link it back to the question we should be alright if not RIP university for me

I think I was answering the question now....tbh I'm just confusing myself by looking at what other people put. Obviously I'm going to have different interpretations to everyone else. :s-smilie:

just gotta hope for the best I guess. And I did look up what happens if you miss read the question and apparently for mis reading questions they sent it to the senior examiner who marks the way you've answered the question. :smile:

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