AQA A2 English Literature 2016 - Elements of the Gothic (LITB3) - OFFICIAL THREAD

2 of the quotes I used were worded wrong D: Will this be a big problem? I only used 2 quotes for Macbeth section B on death, and I messed one of the two quotes up. Eek!

For section A I did TBC and said that murdee was used in TBC and punished for the marquis and then when the female murdered she was rewarded through liberation, however could have also been used to rework the tale of Bluebeard is this right as it's not about wether it was rewarded or punished? Similarly in The eel king I said she's rewarded because she's freed but murder is also used to convert the journey of feminism and used also just because it's a gothic trait was this answering the question? I don't think it was because the question was about reward and punishment of murder 😩😩

Oh god, I did two ideas on him as a victim of both the witches and himself. Then argued he is actually a gothic villain. And concluded he was a gothic villain overall, do you think that would be okay as I disagreed with the question or?

Yeah I argued a couple of ideas of how he can be seen as a victim but that he is actually a villain

I agree with you! I said very much the same thing in that in both The Bloody Chamber and The Erl King, the seemingly innocent protagonist is rewarded with liberation and the ability to overstep their societal boundaries. But yes to say that perhaps it is purely because it's a gothic trait is countering it's purpose in The Bloody Chamber, and you're expressing an alternative to it being 'rewarding' or 'punishment', remember you can challenge what the question gives you! I countered to what extent this is a reward, because at the end of both the stories, the protagonist possessed the red mark on her forehead from the supernatural key and the women in the Erl King had the Erl King's 'love bites' on their throat; showing that the murder of the patriarchal power is not as emphatic as it may appear, as their mark on society still shows ... thus the reward is limited.

Thank you so much I was so worried I was the only one in my class who did TBC, I jus concluded it that within the stories murder is used to Carter as a narrative device to convey important themes and messages is that ok?

Haha bless you!! what did the rest of your class do? I was really tempted to do Frankenstein after seeing the question for it, but my teacher had sort of taught us to specialise TBC for section A so felt a bit aghhhh but if you mean like her important themes and messages surrounding feminism/her moral purpose (I'm assuming) then yeah that looks pretty sound to me!

7 people did Frankenstein and 2 did Faustus yeah I looked at Frankenstein and was tempted but my mind just kind of went blank, yeah that's what I said that murder is used to convey female empowerment and the journey of feminism etc which isn't answering reward/punishment but hopefully it should be ok I got an A* in the coursework and I need a B overall so I really hope it's ok

I'm so jealous your class got to look at Faustus!! :-( Frankenstein yeah Isolation looks like a nice and simple question but admittedly because it's so specific about one particular gothic element, for me (having only learnt to apply it in the style of section B) I would've struggled to find points! Yeah I feel you I got an A in my coursework, and really I need an A for Uni (and self gratification, but for that I needed an A on this paper which I'm not entirely sure I got lmao) but I needed a C on this paper to get a B overall, which is a nice safety blanket at least.

Frankenstein question was golden!! Wrote about Walton isolated physically from England and from his crew = drawn to Victor. Victor isolates himself bc domestic life is stifling. Monster is isolated no matter how hard he tries - focus on DeLacys.

Quick question though... Chose Frankenstein and Isolation for section A, which is very settings heavy, then picked settings for section B... a few Frankenstein points were similar, but I threw in some different ones... am I likely to get marked down because I chose similar questions? It's just... gothic settings are almost always linked to isolation that it's hard to distance the two!

Just realised I spelt the 'Marquis' wrong for the whole exam ffs (put the Marquie).
Does anyone think I'd lose many marks for this?

They would only punish you for it the first time, so do not worry

nice username, loved that film

For Macbeth section A, could you argue that Macbeth's psychological state e.g. "Heat-oppressed brain" shows he is a victim?

I made similar points in my essay. The mark schemes always tell examiners to accept any argument, so long as it is backed up by quotes