AQA-A A2 English Literature Unit 4

sneezyme

hello!
for all thoses of you who were in the aqa war synoptic thread, (and anyone else intersted) why don't we do the same thing again, helping each other out with quotes and ideas but for the unit 4- keats/blake and othello/other shakespeare on this thread? (tuesday 22nd june)

i'm doing keats and othello. anyone else doing these?

Good luck guys! I did this paper in January and got an A so can try and answer any questions if it helps - really glad I did it now as Tuesday has become the only day next week I don't have an exam :eek:

It's not too difficult but I would strongly recommend looking at the mark scheme as the criteria for this are quite specific, and brushing up on context (eg. for me, the effect of Romanticism on Blake) and debating different viewpoints for Othello. Good luck!

Reply 2

OP

oh you're so lucky you did it in jan slowjamz!
could you please tell me what was the othello questions that came up if you can remember them and also what did yo write in your answer for the question you did if yo can remember and don't mind! :smile:

thanks lots!

Reply 3

sneezyme

oh you're so lucky you did it in jan slowjamz!
could you please tell me what was the othello questions that came up if you can remember them and also what did yo write in your answer for the question you did if yo can remember and don't mind! :smile:

thanks lots!

Ooh, this is testing my memory a bit, but I'll try and recall as much as I can :smile:

Sorry if I miss anything out though.

Right, from what I remember the question I did was based around "Othello" being the play's title. There were two quotes from critics, one which basically argued that it was only fitting that the play should be named after Othello the hero, and one which argued "Iago" would have been a better title due to the centrality of his role in the play and Othello's weaknesses. I think I basically discussed the concept of "hero" in drama and how it applied to the two of them - ie. reasons why Othello could be deemed a hero and reasons why not, and the same for Iago, and the effect of each of their roles on the play. I'm really struggling to remember what I wrote beyond that unfortunately :confused:

I got 90/90 in it though so I must have done something right, and I'll post if I come up with anything more. Hope that helps a tiny bit! And really try not to worry about the exam, I wasn't as well-prepared as I should have been but it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. Just make sure you're as familiar with your texts as you can be. Fingers crossed for you on Tuesday xx

Reply 4

OP

oh i've read several critical essays on that topic-it should be called iago and not othello..
so basically all i can do is read critical essays, know the play well and learn quotes..

Reply 5

kokopops1

slowjamz that helped! wicked idea sneezy...coz i know that the synoptic thread definately helped me!!

Reply 6

sneezyme

oh i've read several critical essays on that topic-it should be called iago and not othello..
so basically all i can do is read critical essays, know the play well and learn quotes..

Exactly right. If you do that, you're totally on track to do well :smile:

Reply 7

kokopops1

slowjamz that helped! wicked idea sneezy...coz i know that the synoptic thread definately helped me!!

No problems, the synoptic thread really helped me too so glad I can help somebody now! Good luck with the exam :smile:

Reply 8

kokopops1

slowjamz

No problems, the synoptic thread really helped me too so glad I can help somebody now! Good luck with the exam :smile:

aww thanks! im worried about keats....no1 here seems to be doing that

Reply 9

OP

keats is a bit tricky, cos' no matter how much i revise, if a stupid question comes up i won't be able to answer it-for example the childish poetry question.
i hope negative capability comes up!

Reply 10

chucky123

Im doing othello and blake... having trouble with both! :frown:

any help would be greatly appreciated!

Reply 11

ali*117

anybody found any useful critcism online about othello?

Reply 12

Leaby

7

Anyone else doing the Merchant of Venice?

I am also doing Blake - great thing about Blake is the fact that he's so vague about everything - you can interpret poems to mean whatever is written in the question! 'A Sick Rose' is a good example :wink:

Reply 13

OP

does anybody know what they asked for the keats questions in january? :confused:

Reply 14

OP

these are what websites i know about if anybody's interested:

www.novelguide.com
www.englishbox.xom
www.collegeclub.com
www.antistudy.com
www.bookrags.com

hope they help!

Reply 15

kokopops1

sneezy how r u actually revising for keats?

oo...and negative capability....explain?!? i get soo confused...will be much appreciated if u can

Reply 16

OP