I can be at A-grade standard within two months, right? AS Eng Lit

So I'm doing AS Eng Lit.

Doing Othello, Gatsby, Death of a Salesman, and Keats.

Lit is easily my weakest subject. Whereas in other subjects a big part of it is learning content, there's very little content to learn in Lit. It seems most of it is exam technique and being able to interpret stuff, make links, etc.

I've only gotten one A, in an Othello essay I did.

Am I right in thinking that it'll be much easier to get to A-grade standard in Lit than it will be in other subjects like G&P and History due to the relative lack of content? I'm imagining that I can rather comfortably get up to A-grade standard in Lit by doing, say, maybe three essays in each section - Othello, Gatsby, Keats, and Death of a Salesman - getting feedback from each and improving with each essay. Is that realistic?

How hard is it to get to A-grade standard in Lit compared to other subjects that put more emphasis on content?

AQA btw.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 1

math42

I did WJEC but A was quite easy to be honest. Just made notes in the last couple of weeks, not that I completely lazed about during term but I didn't do much work at home other than what was assigned. Just make sure you can nail the assessment objectives. You can probably improve your performance more by more focused work (I would say I underachieved marks wise in Lit from not doing this) but just to get to the A standard you don't need much. Main thing is bring things back to the author, organise and write well, use context effectively and fairly frequently (when you are meant to use it..) and always with an actual point in mind, make productive comparisons between texts (when relevant), which basically means make points that sound cool.

Original post by Abstract_Prism

So I'm doing AS Eng Lit.Doing Othello, Gatsby, Death of a Salesman, and Keats.Lit is easily my weakest subject. Whereas in other subjects a big part of it is learning content, there's very little content to learn in Lit. It seems most of it is exam technique and being able to interpret stuff, make links, etc.I've only gotten one A, in an Othello essay I did.Am I right in thinking that it'll be much easier to get to A-grade standard in Lit than it will be in other subjects like G&P and History due to the relative lack of content? I'm imagining that I can rather comfortably get up to A-grade standard in Lit by doing, say, maybe three essays in each section - Othello, Gatsby, Keats, and Death of a Salesman - getting feedback from each and improving with each essay. Is that realistic?How hard is it to get to A-grade standard in Lit compared to other subjects that put more emphasis on content?AQA btw.

Reply 2

Zarvee

Eh, I find that English lit is packed full of content that simply has to be engaged with in order to do well. So no, I would say that doing that is not enough, to be brutally honest.

I do both Biology and English literature, and I did better in Biology - even though I revised more for English Lit. (Granted, perhaps only a week more) Biology is hugely content based, and therefore most of the time it is easier, as long as you revise properly. On the other hand, English demands flair, creativity and more than just a few flimsy arguments - all of which is hard to construct under time pressure.
Not entirely sure why you think English lit is a subject lacking in content, when the best students know their books inside out and back to front with detailed analysis and critique.
Actually, you sound a lot like me during my first year - I thought I would get an A easily in English Lit because teachers acknowledged I was talented in English and could most certainly get good grades, so I just stopped trying. Unfortunately, that doesn't work. English Lit requires a lot of effort, I would argue, and a lot of practice - perhaps even on par with Maths? (I do that as well by the way)

Reply 3

Abstract_Prism

Original post by Zarvee

Actually, you sound a lot like me during my first year - I thought I would get an A easily in English Lit because teachers acknowledged I was talented in English and could most certainly get good grades, so I just stopped trying.

What did you get in the end?

Reply 4

Zarvee

Original post by Abstract_Prism

What did you get in the end?

Got a C. A bit under my predicted A grade ay? :tongue:

That's what skipping 50% of my lessons and not revising until two weeks before the exam got me :damnmate:

Oh yeah, and not doing any past papers besides mocks… I was an idiot.

Reply 5

Abstract_Prism

Original post by Zarvee

Got a C. A bit under my predicted A grade ay? :tongue:

That's what skipping 50% of my lessons and not revising until two weeks before the exam got me :damnmate:

Oh yeah, and not doing any past papers besides mocks… I was an idiot.

Thing about past papers.

Now that the entire spec has changed, what should I do?

Reply 6

Zarvee

Original post by Abstract_Prism

Thing about past papers.

Now that the entire spec has changed, what should I do?

You seriously have to do past papers, then shove them in your teachers faces for them to mark. As many as possible. Until they run away at the sight of you.
Plus, read through your books/poetry, annotating as you go along. Then read through them again. If at any point you go 'Ay Ay?! That's mighty interesting that is!' Write it down, and then brainstorm it. Construct your own questions then answer them (If you're new spec, you may have to do this. Do you have any past papers you can use?)
Speak to your peers, share ideas and keep in mind how they interpret things. Read critics views on your books and memorise key phrases from them.
Make your own guide to answering each question and stick it up somewhere you can see it.
Basically, just engage, engage, engage. With the books, the themes, your peers, the exam specification, etc. and you'll do great :smile:

Reply 7

Zarvee

BTW please don't stress, you still have plenty of time to do well :smile:

Reply 8

Tomliu

Original post by Abstract_Prism

Thing about past papers.

Now that the entire spec has changed, what should I do?

I'm currently doing my AL's. Although I didn't do lit last year, I still wanna say I you reeeeally want an A, Go Do Past Papers! That could save you tons of time from reading all the repeated stuff in ur textbook. I didn't attend many lessons last year due to some changes in our school's staff system, I was doing 4 subjects, including maths in both As and AL. By the time I came back to school after the winter holiday, I've not covered one third of my physics textbook!! What I did is focusing on the past papers all the time before the As exams.
You may use ur books as reference books, but NEVER read through it as textbooks, you don't got the time! But do take it easy. And if you have any need in science related subjects I'm ready to help. By the way, I got A in all the subjects last year, Good Luck!

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Reply 9

Abstract_Prism

Original post by Tomliu

But... There are literally no past papers for this new spec. Only one specimen paper. Should I try and do the ones from the old spec?

Also, what is AL?