A Level AQA English Literature and Language help?
I am currently taking the English Lit/Lang combined course with AQA for my A-levels and as much as I revise the topics I am receiving consistently low results. We are currently studying the Paris Anthology and 'The Lovely Bones' by Alice Sebold. Later in the course, we are going to be studying 'The Great Gatsby', 'Othello', poetry by Robert Browning and of course our NEA.
I have looked at past papers and done practice questions, I have also looked at the Assessment Objectives and created revision tools such as character mindmaps but I do not seem to be progressing when it comes to in-class assessments. I seem to average at around a Grade of D/C.
Can anybody advise?
I have looked at past papers and done practice questions, I have also looked at the Assessment Objectives and created revision tools such as character mindmaps but I do not seem to be progressing when it comes to in-class assessments. I seem to average at around a Grade of D/C.
Can anybody advise?
There are a few things you can try to improve your performance in your English Lit/Lang course. Here are a few suggestions:
Seek additional help from your teacher or a tutor. They may be able to provide you with personalized feedback on your work and help you identify areas where you need to improve.
Try a different study method. Everyone learns differently, so what works for one person may not work for you. Experiment with different techniques such as flashcards, mnemonics, or summarizing your notes to see what helps you retain the material.
Practice, practice, practice. The more you practice answering questions and writing essays, the better you will become at it. Try to use past papers and practice questions as much as possible.
Review your work after each assessment and reflect on what you could have done better.
Take regular breaks, and ensure that you are well-rested and have a healthy diet.
Take the time to understand the assessment objectives and the assessment criteria, and make sure that you are addressing them in your work.
Try online tutoring on websites like Essay Fount
Try to engage with the texts and authors you're studying in a more personal and thoughtful way. Ask yourself questions about the themes, characters, and motifs, and how they relate to your own life experiences.
Remember that improvement takes time and effort, so don't get discouraged if you don't see immediate results. Keep working at it and stay positive, and you will see improvement over time.
Seek additional help from your teacher or a tutor. They may be able to provide you with personalized feedback on your work and help you identify areas where you need to improve.
Try a different study method. Everyone learns differently, so what works for one person may not work for you. Experiment with different techniques such as flashcards, mnemonics, or summarizing your notes to see what helps you retain the material.
Practice, practice, practice. The more you practice answering questions and writing essays, the better you will become at it. Try to use past papers and practice questions as much as possible.
Review your work after each assessment and reflect on what you could have done better.
Take regular breaks, and ensure that you are well-rested and have a healthy diet.
Take the time to understand the assessment objectives and the assessment criteria, and make sure that you are addressing them in your work.
Try online tutoring on websites like Essay Fount
Try to engage with the texts and authors you're studying in a more personal and thoughtful way. Ask yourself questions about the themes, characters, and motifs, and how they relate to your own life experiences.
Remember that improvement takes time and effort, so don't get discouraged if you don't see immediate results. Keep working at it and stay positive, and you will see improvement over time.
Original post by xHolly_1228x
I am currently taking the English Lit/Lang combined course with AQA for my A-levels and as much as I revise the topics I am receiving consistently low results. We are currently studying the Paris Anthology and 'The Lovely Bones' by Alice Sebold. Later in the course, we are going to be studying 'The Great Gatsby', 'Othello', poetry by Robert Browning and of course our NEA.
I have looked at past papers and done practice questions, I have also looked at the Assessment Objectives and created revision tools such as character mindmaps but I do not seem to be progressing when it comes to in-class assessments. I seem to average at around a Grade of D/C.
Can anybody advise?
I have looked at past papers and done practice questions, I have also looked at the Assessment Objectives and created revision tools such as character mindmaps but I do not seem to be progressing when it comes to in-class assessments. I seem to average at around a Grade of D/C.
Can anybody advise?
hi there!! honestly it is a hard subject. i struggled too and in truth i still do struggle and do better in some exams and some topics than others. as mentioned in another comment, you just have to keep practising and asking your tutor for help!
if you're struggling for resources, there is plenty on quizlet for the paris anthology. it is basically what got me through that anthology and all of those practise questions. same as gatsby, i believe. although, gatsby will be a recast task in your exam (i'm not sure if you would've gone through this yet as you're yet to study it). it's a creative writing task which focuses on characterisation and your analysis of fitzgerald's techniques in comparison to your own.
practice makes perfect! good luck! i believe in you!
Original post by Starrytillymae
hi there!! honestly it is a hard subject. i struggled too and in truth i still do struggle and do better in some exams and some topics than others. as mentioned in another comment, you just have to keep practising and asking your tutor for help!
if you're struggling for resources, there is plenty on quizlet for the paris anthology. it is basically what got me through that anthology and all of those practise questions. same as gatsby, i believe. although, gatsby will be a recast task in your exam (i'm not sure if you would've gone through this yet as you're yet to study it). it's a creative writing task which focuses on characterisation and your analysis of fitzgerald's techniques in comparison to your own.
practice makes perfect! good luck! i believe in you!
if you're struggling for resources, there is plenty on quizlet for the paris anthology. it is basically what got me through that anthology and all of those practise questions. same as gatsby, i believe. although, gatsby will be a recast task in your exam (i'm not sure if you would've gone through this yet as you're yet to study it). it's a creative writing task which focuses on characterisation and your analysis of fitzgerald's techniques in comparison to your own.
practice makes perfect! good luck! i believe in you!
Thank you so much! We have just started working on Gatsby and have moved on to poetry, I am certainly enjoying these bits much more than Paris as it gives me a little excuse for some creative writing 😅
Original post by xHolly_1228x
Thank you so much! We have just started working on Gatsby and have moved on to poetry, I am certainly enjoying these bits much more than Paris as it gives me a little excuse for some creative writing 😅
for gatsby, one piece of advice i can give you is knowing the techniques that fitzgerald uses early on. when writing my recasts, i use the same techniques always. then during my commentary, i can compare my writing more effectively to his. knowing the techniques (used throughout the novel and not just in the extract) makes it easier and shows i have clearly identified what fitzgerald is trying to do.
always always always mention the narrative voice! at the start of my commentaries i always begin with the fact that it's from nick carroway's point of view. i compare it to what i've done (whether i chose 1st, 2nd, 3rd person, a letter format, a conversation etc) and explain what effect i wished to convey. it doesn't have to go at the beginning of the commentary but it is quite important to the story. my class and i constantly have debates on how reliable nick is as a narrator.
the big marks are where the commentary is, not the recast! just remember this and remember your techniques and you'll be good to go!
Original post by Starrytillymae
for gatsby, one piece of advice i can give you is knowing the techniques that fitzgerald uses early on. when writing my recasts, i use the same techniques always. then during my commentary, i can compare my writing more effectively to his. knowing the techniques (used throughout the novel and not just in the extract) makes it easier and shows i have clearly identified what fitzgerald is trying to do.
always always always mention the narrative voice! at the start of my commentaries i always begin with the fact that it's from nick carroway's point of view. i compare it to what i've done (whether i chose 1st, 2nd, 3rd person, a letter format, a conversation etc) and explain what effect i wished to convey. it doesn't have to go at the beginning of the commentary but it is quite important to the story. my class and i constantly have debates on how reliable nick is as a narrator.
the big marks are where the commentary is, not the recast! just remember this and remember your techniques and you'll be good to go!
always always always mention the narrative voice! at the start of my commentaries i always begin with the fact that it's from nick carroway's point of view. i compare it to what i've done (whether i chose 1st, 2nd, 3rd person, a letter format, a conversation etc) and explain what effect i wished to convey. it doesn't have to go at the beginning of the commentary but it is quite important to the story. my class and i constantly have debates on how reliable nick is as a narrator.
the big marks are where the commentary is, not the recast! just remember this and remember your techniques and you'll be good to go!
Hi, you’re the only person I have found so far to have talked about the Gatsby recreation for English LangLit!!
Do you have any more advice or suggestions for the recreation as I always seem to struggle on the creative writing - I hate how subjective the AO5 is for originality and flair!!! Any comments on how to do a good recreation would be much appreciated!
Original post by hannah040
Hi, you’re the only person I have found so far to have talked about the Gatsby recreation for English LangLit!!
Do you have any more advice or suggestions for the recreation as I always seem to struggle on the creative writing - I hate how subjective the AO5 is for originality and flair!!! Any comments on how to do a good recreation would be much appreciated!
Do you have any more advice or suggestions for the recreation as I always seem to struggle on the creative writing - I hate how subjective the AO5 is for originality and flair!!! Any comments on how to do a good recreation would be much appreciated!
hi, sorry i only just saw this!
ao5 sucks so much! i asked my teacher today what that meant and she didn't even know herself. which isn't a great start paha. all i can think it means is how your own style of writing differs from fitzgerald.
the recreation could be about anyone! obviously unlikely to be a character that's already come up and with a scene that's already come up but never say never. valentine was a blessing but took us all off guard. i thought it was a trick at first. so focus on characterisation and what language fitzgerald uses throughout (nouns, deliberate dialect, etc) for that character. and why fitzgerald chose nick to represent that character in a certain way. and if it's a made up character, then you've got complete free reign! i always compare my character to original characters. for example, daisy's voice is always described and at one point it is described as "money." if the character is poor, you could indirectly compare this in your recast by writing that their voice "lacked money" or "sounded like poverty". then of course you could refer to this in your commentary as to what you intended.
if it's a servant who comes up, you could talk about nick and how he doesn't even bother to learn his house keeper's name. it shows class difference. no lower class staff characters have names in the novel. what is fitzgerald doing? what is the effect/message behind this?
themes can also apply for the recreation and the commentary. how did you represent a theme compared to fitzgerald?
worldbuilding is so key for characterisation, especially if it's your own character. explain why you framed them in that way and used those adjectives and nouns to describe them. everything in a book is done for a reason. no words are accidental. why is their point of view different to nick's? would your character be able to retell the entire story again in their point of view- or do they not know enough?
why is your recast structured that way with those syntax choices? how does this compare to the base text? what coherent devices are used? what type of speech is used, if any? compare, compare, compare!
my teacher likes to chant "quote! explain! compare!" remember that you don't have to use the same techniques as fitzgerald. metaphors and similes are used because it is written through nick. but what if your servant character isn't educated? they wouldn't use the same lexis. so remember to make this comparison in your commentary and deliberately attempt this in your recast!
i do hope this helps!
Original post by Starrytillymae
hi, sorry i only just saw this!
ao5 sucks so much! i asked my teacher today what that meant and she didn't even know herself. which isn't a great start paha. all i can think it means is how your own style of writing differs from fitzgerald.
the recreation could be about anyone! obviously unlikely to be a character that's already come up and with a scene that's already come up but never say never. valentine was a blessing but took us all off guard. i thought it was a trick at first. so focus on characterisation and what language fitzgerald uses throughout (nouns, deliberate dialect, etc) for that character. and why fitzgerald chose nick to represent that character in a certain way. and if it's a made up character, then you've got complete free reign! i always compare my character to original characters. for example, daisy's voice is always described and at one point it is described as "money." if the character is poor, you could indirectly compare this in your recast by writing that their voice "lacked money" or "sounded like poverty". then of course you could refer to this in your commentary as to what you intended.
if it's a servant who comes up, you could talk about nick and how he doesn't even bother to learn his house keeper's name. it shows class difference. no lower class staff characters have names in the novel. what is fitzgerald doing? what is the effect/message behind this?
themes can also apply for the recreation and the commentary. how did you represent a theme compared to fitzgerald?
worldbuilding is so key for characterisation, especially if it's your own character. explain why you framed them in that way and used those adjectives and nouns to describe them. everything in a book is done for a reason. no words are accidental. why is their point of view different to nick's? would your character be able to retell the entire story again in their point of view- or do they not know enough?
why is your recast structured that way with those syntax choices? how does this compare to the base text? what coherent devices are used? what type of speech is used, if any? compare, compare, compare!
my teacher likes to chant "quote! explain! compare!" remember that you don't have to use the same techniques as fitzgerald. metaphors and similes are used because it is written through nick. but what if your servant character isn't educated? they wouldn't use the same lexis. so remember to make this comparison in your commentary and deliberately attempt this in your recast!
i do hope this helps!
ao5 sucks so much! i asked my teacher today what that meant and she didn't even know herself. which isn't a great start paha. all i can think it means is how your own style of writing differs from fitzgerald.
the recreation could be about anyone! obviously unlikely to be a character that's already come up and with a scene that's already come up but never say never. valentine was a blessing but took us all off guard. i thought it was a trick at first. so focus on characterisation and what language fitzgerald uses throughout (nouns, deliberate dialect, etc) for that character. and why fitzgerald chose nick to represent that character in a certain way. and if it's a made up character, then you've got complete free reign! i always compare my character to original characters. for example, daisy's voice is always described and at one point it is described as "money." if the character is poor, you could indirectly compare this in your recast by writing that their voice "lacked money" or "sounded like poverty". then of course you could refer to this in your commentary as to what you intended.
if it's a servant who comes up, you could talk about nick and how he doesn't even bother to learn his house keeper's name. it shows class difference. no lower class staff characters have names in the novel. what is fitzgerald doing? what is the effect/message behind this?
themes can also apply for the recreation and the commentary. how did you represent a theme compared to fitzgerald?
worldbuilding is so key for characterisation, especially if it's your own character. explain why you framed them in that way and used those adjectives and nouns to describe them. everything in a book is done for a reason. no words are accidental. why is their point of view different to nick's? would your character be able to retell the entire story again in their point of view- or do they not know enough?
why is your recast structured that way with those syntax choices? how does this compare to the base text? what coherent devices are used? what type of speech is used, if any? compare, compare, compare!
my teacher likes to chant "quote! explain! compare!" remember that you don't have to use the same techniques as fitzgerald. metaphors and similes are used because it is written through nick. but what if your servant character isn't educated? they wouldn't use the same lexis. so remember to make this comparison in your commentary and deliberately attempt this in your recast!
i do hope this helps!
You have no idea how helpful this is!! So many good pointers here that I feel like have really explicitly stated what I need to do in my recreation and commentary - I feel like I'm much more focused on these now than with the stuff my teachers have ever given me! Thank you so much for all your advice, I really appreciate your time for replying and sharing your ideas. The best of luck tomorrow, I know you'll do so amazingly with all this advice!
Original post by hannah040
You have no idea how helpful this is!! So many good pointers here that I feel like have really explicitly stated what I need to do in my recreation and commentary - I feel like I'm much more focused on these now than with the stuff my teachers have ever given me! Thank you so much for all your advice, I really appreciate your time for replying and sharing your ideas. The best of luck tomorrow, I know you'll do so amazingly with all this advice!
ahhh i'm so glad you found it helpful! and hopefully it'll become helpful for other people in other years doing this exam too! i first came to this website because i couldn't find any guidance at all as this is still a fairly new a level.
good luck too!!!! you will do great, i'm sure!
Original post by hannah040
Hi, you’re the only person I have found so far to have talked about the Gatsby recreation for English LangLit!!
Do you have any more advice or suggestions for the recreation as I always seem to struggle on the creative writing - I hate how subjective the AO5 is for originality and flair!!! Any comments on how to do a good recreation would be much appreciated!
Do you have any more advice or suggestions for the recreation as I always seem to struggle on the creative writing - I hate how subjective the AO5 is for originality and flair!!! Any comments on how to do a good recreation would be much appreciated!
Who was the character that was chosen for the recast?
Has anyone got tips for poetry? I'm really struggling here ( doing Seamus Heaney)
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