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

Roughly how many quotes (excluding critics' quotes) did people put in each essay? I'm worried I didn't use enough.

This was a really nice paper! For Section A I chose the Macbeth question. I argued that whilst he was victimised by the Witches and his psyche (e.g. guilt and paranoia), the crimes he commits are so horrifying that we ultimately respond to him as a villainous character. In Section B, I chose the question about gothic protagonists being admirable rebels. After analysing The Pardoner, Frankenstein and Lady Macbeth, my main line of argument was that none of them were admirable at all :smile:

Reply 802

Rogerthat545

1

Original post by mlsg

Roughly how many quotes (excluding critics' quotes) did people put in each essay? I'm worried I didn't use enough.

I cannot remember exactly but I probably had around 4/5 quotes for each point I made

Reply 803

Rogerthat545

1

For section B and the question on death, could you say how death takes on a more sentimental note in Frankenstein with the social injustice done to Justine who does as a result and the loss of innocence with Williams murder?

Reply 804

mlsg

Original post by Rogerthat545

I cannot remember exactly but I probably had around 4/5 quotes for each point I made

Thanks, I think I'll be alright then! Whenever I couldn't remember the quote I just had to paraphrase haha underestimated how hard closed book would be

Reply 805

Kittyboy

16

Did the majority do gothic? I really wanted to do gothic :/

Reply 806

marissaofmnm

The questions were actually really lovely but the timing really pressured me so much! My gut instinct told me to do Frankenstein in Section A but I was also tempted to do the bloody chamber question and ended up planning for that only to realize I would much rather do the Frankenstein one. So I scrapped my bloody chamber plan and planned for the Frankenstein one which resulted in me losing 5 mins!! Those precious minutes would have really helped me in my section B where I did not have time to finish my conclusion- I wrote about 3-4 sentences!! The whole exam was a huge blur tbh, it was non-stop writing and I cant even remember what I wrote anymore. I knew my indecisiveness would come back to bite me in the ass one day... T.T but i'm trying not to feel too bad about it because I think I did answer the questions decently well (?) and I remembered enough quotes. I just dont want to get a really nasty examiner who looks at my conclusion and knocks off a few marks! :frown:

i'll try to not stress about it too much since it was my last exam and my summer holiday officially starts wooo!!

Reply 807

Oochiecoo

3

Original post by ParisInc.

Did anyone do the wuthering heights section A entrapment question because so far I don't know anyone who has lolololol

Meeee! I was the only one in my class to do it,mimthought it was a gift on a question!

Reply 808

Vanessaxx98

2

Hey how did everyone find it ? I done Macbeth section A and I done settings section B. I thought the exam was really difficult and horrible and im dreading to know my grade. Hope everyone done alright though!

Reply 809

throwaway112233

I have a question about something that's been bugging me since I left the exam hall. I accidentally wrote 'Edward' instead of 'William' when talking about Frankenstein's brother (it was a passing comment), and it's been bothering me all day because I caught it at the last minute just as the time ran out.

Will I get penalised? I need an A* lol.

Reply 810

Libbyisconfused

Original post by Trackstar

for the macbeth section A, what extent do you agree macbeth is a victim and not a villain?, I kind of argued both sides with more on being a victim and never concluded stupidly so I feel like i never really answered the question. you think I'll get marked down?

I also did the part A question on Macbeth and came to the conclusion that he was indeed a villain and it was necessary for Shakespeare to make him one in order to fulfill his didactic purposes. In regards to you not doing a conclusion - I don't think it's the end of the world, you tend to almost conclude at the end of each paragraph by linking back to the question and finishing off you point in an appropriate place. I doubt you will be marked down, however, it is probable that you wouldn't gain the marks a conclusion could give you. Remember, you usually feel it went worse than it actually did, I sure you did brilliantly - arguing both sides is always great.

Reply 811

Teecesay

1

Original post by rosieschofield

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?

Yes definitely, you did not need to agree with the question

Reply 812

EnglishAS

1

thought the exam was ok! I did Bloody Chamber for section A, used the erl king- how the erl king is supposed to not be able to be murdered given his link to nature and that nature will anyways come back to life, how the narrator kills the erl king to free herself, which represented women breaking free from the patriarchy, the bloody chamber with the religious imagery that the Marquis gives murder, also how his wives are willing to submit to death compared to the narrator trying to escape, again linking to escaping the patriarchy
section B I chose 21, how victor to the scientific community was admirable presented as a character who can enlighten the world, but also how the religious community would condemn him for his creation, especially playing god and making the creature without a female, condemning him to the north pole. Macbeth I did how he defies God with the divine right of kings, how he cannot communicate with God anymore after it and how he cant sleep suggesting both in life and in death, and lady macbeth's unsex me would offend the patriarchy and also her supernatural links would be bad in the eyes of the audience, leading to her condemned through madness. Bloody chamber i again did the erl king with similar points to section A, mentioning the escape of the patriarchy for the narrator, and the lady of the house of love how she is pitied by the reader,how she is able to break free of her eternal life through the exorcism of the soldier and the change in narrative voice when she becomes mortal.
only thing I'm worried about is if repeating points in the two sections will alter my mark? and maybe if I directly answered the question enough, I know it gave a quote but the actual questions were just the "presentation", did not refer to the quote so I took it as a guide rather than a main feature of my answer?

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 813

EnglishAS

1

Original post by marissaofmnm

The questions were actually really lovely but the timing really pressured me so much! My gut instinct told me to do Frankenstein in Section A but I was also tempted to do the bloody chamber question and ended up planning for that only to realize I would much rather do the Frankenstein one. So I scrapped my bloody chamber plan and planned for the Frankenstein one which resulted in me losing 5 mins!! Those precious minutes would have really helped me in my section B where I did not have time to finish my conclusion- I wrote about 3-4 sentences!! The whole exam was a huge blur tbh, it was non-stop writing and I cant even remember what I wrote anymore. I knew my indecisiveness would come back to bite me in the ass one day... T.T but i'm trying not to feel too bad about it because I think I did answer the questions decently well (?) and I remembered enough quotes. I just dont want to get a really nasty examiner who looks at my conclusion and knocks off a few marks! :frown:

i'll try to not stress about it too much since it was my last exam and my summer holiday officially starts wooo!!

conclusions don't really win you many marks, the examiner typically focuses more on the main body of writing, or that's what our teachers say anyway :tongue:

I wouldn't worry about your conclusion if the rest of your essay was good :biggrin:

Reply 814

Trackstar

14

Original post by Libbyisconfused

I also did the part A question on Macbeth and came to the conclusion that he was indeed a villain and it was necessary for Shakespeare to make him one in order to fulfill his didactic purposes. In regards to you not doing a conclusion - I don't think it's the end of the world, you tend to almost conclude at the end of each paragraph by linking back to the question and finishing off you point in an appropriate place. I doubt you will be marked down, however, it is probable that you wouldn't gain the marks a conclusion could give you. Remember, you usually feel it went worse than it actually did, I sure you did brilliantly - arguing both sides is always great.

Thanks that's put my mind at rest! I don't know what it is about english exams but I pick up on the minute all the time!

Reply 815

tagliatilly

4

that paper was a BLESSING omg nicest one i've ever seen...... i was convinced i was gonna fail because i did next to no revision but i got SO lucky with the questions so i think i've got a B and MAYBE even scraped an A?!?!? i'm gonna go with B though, i don't wanna be disappointed on results day.....!

Reply 816

LostInPanda

3

Original post by abigailsahin

Glad to see we had the exact same essay plan for section A, although I struggled for quotes on Walton but only wrote a short amount on him. My teacher did tell us avoid doing that but I'm sure you will be fine. They can't mark you down for good knowledge even if it is repeated. U still answered the question :smile:

Oh good!

Yeah, Walton was a bit harder than the other two, especially for quotes, but for isolation, the Arctic really works!

Reply 817

Libbyisconfused

that Macbeth question was an absolute gift! I argued that he is ultimately a villain. I did not at all like the section B questions about setting or death, so thank goodness for the question about gothic protagonists!

Reply 818

shanice9988

1

Original post by rosieschofield

Did anyone do setting ?

yes, that question was a gift!! I did it for tbc, macbeth and frankenstein

Reply 819

ParisInc.

8

Original post by Oochiecoo

Meeee! I was the only one in my class to do it,mimthought it was a gift on a question!

ahh finally! I thought it was amazing because most of the entrapments were not physical so you could be more in depth, like writing about social entrapment, emotional entrapment, psychological etc. What ideas on entrapment did you use? My overarching theme was that ultimately entrapments lead characters to transgress boundaries and harm themselves through aiming to break free from their various forms of imprisonments. I'm worried i may have stretched it a bit too much though... :frown:

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

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