A-level English Literature Study Group 2023-2024

Original post by user1787

hey i'm a current newbie to a levels...
My exam board is eduqas and i was wondering if anyone has any information on whats the course like? Is it just writing essays? Does anyone know if there is a set essay structure?
Sorry for all the questions i'm just so used to writing gcse essays that are analysis heavy - and i was also wondering can i include some of the same things that i wrote in my gcse essays e.g - through a psychoanalytical lens / marxist lens - the monomyth - the ID/EGO/Superego - the dark triad? - things about like gender conventions and power as like a hierarchical weapon?
Anyways any tips would be helpful :smile:

Thanks.

I’m late, but I also do Eduqas! It is just writing essays, but we have a coursework section (basically a long essay comparing prose) Our drama paper consists of a 15 marker, a 45 marker, and a 60 marker and the other two papers are two 60 markers.

Reply 22

Hi everyone!
Exam board: Eduqas
Texts: Hamlet, The Duchess of Malfi, A Streetcar Named Desire, Rossetti’s poems, The Whitsun Weddings, and Mean Time. For the NEA, I’m doing Heart of Darkness and The Kite Runner
What I enjoy: studying the texts themselves!!
What I struggle with: remembering quotes and scholars :frown:

further information:
- predicted A*
- Year 13

(edited 6 months ago)

Reply 23

Harriette121

Original post by Stacey Louise18

I've gone into my 2nd year of English Lit (OCR) and I'm struggling to get above a C, any tips on getting into the upper bands, I'm doing Hamlet, Doll's House, Coleridge Poems, Then American Lit, so Gatsby and the Grapes of Wrath, I have expressive dysphasia so I struggle a little more (I developed this after I was half way through my 1st year so I didn't have an issue before).

Hey, I'm also studying Hamlet and sit around an A-A* at the moment. I would say try and draw relevant knowledge from other Shakespeare texts and compare them - for example bird imagery is used in both Macbeth and Hamlet (I'm pretty sure). Also think about dramatic effects - how would Shakespeare present a specific moment on stage and how would this look? would this make the audience feel sympathy for a certain character? For example when a character states that they are holding an item try to comment on the fact that Shakespeare hasn't stated the item is there but we know it is because a character is talking about it. Even making a small comment can get you a mark. This works for me, hope it helps!

Reply 24

cinmnsoul

Original post by zu2005

Hi Everyone!

1. Edexcel - victorian poems, handsmaid and Frankenstein
2. I love to write essays - wish we had course work
3. remembering quotes/context mostly.

how does everyone prepare for the exams. I have memorised quotes, and themes but I'm not performing the best on exams. Any tips, We have our mocks in 2 weeks on frankenstein only?

I read a lot of critical essays around my texts, not because I have to include AO5 but because often I find good ideas, analysis or different perspectives in them which I can then include (steal). I like Jstor, EMC etc. I read past students' essays that have been marked highly and note particular turns of phrase, structure etc that I like about them. And then my only other advice is to practice practice practice.

OP

Hey everyone, I thought it might be fun to create study clubs for people who are studying the same text :smile:

I've just done one for Streetcar - if anyone's interested then I'll happily put together clubs for other texts as well. It could be a great place for in-depth discussion of the texts and specific revision resources :smile:

Reply 26

rowan_willow

Original post by Pwca

Welcome to the A-level English Literature Study Group! :hello:

This is where you can chat with other students studying the same subjects as you and support each other as you head towards your exams :grouphugs:

You can post any useful tips and resources that you come across, offer support to others, share your successes, or just have moan when it gets tough! :yes:

Just remember, it’s against the site rules to ask for or offer any copyrighted papers, or to take conversations off-site to do these things. Posts that break these rules will be removed.

A few possible ice breaker questions are:
What exam board are you with?
What do you enjoy most about this subject/ course?
What area do you struggle with in this subject/ course?

Good luck with the next few months. Remember, ask for help, support where you can and together we can do this! :yeah:

Hey! I'm Rowan a year 13 Eng lit student :biggrin:

Exam Board: AQA A

I LOVE POETRY!! I used to hate it but the more im doing it the more I love it.

I need to get better at conciseness in my essays lol.

I study:

Paper 1:

Othello
Love through the ages post 1900
Wuthering Heights
Unseen poetry!

Paper 2:

Cat on a hot tin roof
Oranges are not the only fruit
Feminine Gospels (Carol Ann Duffy)

Excited to be here!

Reply 27

cinmnsoul

Is anyone else doing beloved for coursework?

Reply 28

eenie_49

Exam Board: Edexcel
Texts: The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dracula, Poems of the Decade, Doctor Faustus, Larkin's Less Devieved Collection and for my NEA, The Great Gatsby and A Streetcar Named Desire!
What i enjoy: it a great contrast to the other maths-based subjects i take!
struggling: essays!

Reply 29

medrbg

6

Hi, I’m doing English Literature for A-Level under Edexcel. As I previously didn’t do Edexcel in GCSEs, i am massively struggling with essay structure and format (am currently doing dr Faustus and poems of the decade). I would say my analysis is pretty decent but I find it hard to articulate myself without copying the same GCSE style writing. Can anyone please help me with essay structuring or recommend any resources?

(edited 5 months ago)

Reply 30

Original post by medrbg

Hi, I’m doing English Literature for A-Level under Edexcel. As I previously didn’t do Edexcel in GCSEs, i am massively struggling with essay structure and format (am currently doing dr Faustus and poems of the decade). I would say my analysis is pretty decent but I find it hard to articulate myself without copying the same GCSE style writing. Can anyone please help me with essay structuring or recommend any resources?

I’m not really sure about your specific exam board, but reading exemplar essays from your exam board, really helps with style. For my work, I usually write 5 paragraphs for the main body, and start with a clear topic sentence for each one, then link different points in. For A-level, tentative judgements get you the most points, so anything that the text *might* mean. I also struggle with articulation, and counter this by writing as much as I can haha

Reply 31

medrbg

6

Original post by waffelton

I’m not really sure about your specific exam board, but reading exemplar essays from your exam board, really helps with style. For my work, I usually write 5 paragraphs for the main body, and start with a clear topic sentence for each one, then link different points in. For A-level, tentative judgements get you the most points, so anything that the text *might* mean. I also struggle with articulation, and counter this by writing as much as I can haha

Ok, tysm for the advice. I think the clear topic sentence is rlly helpful as it acts as an umbrella statement.

Reply 32

staticsocks

2

does anyone have any good free sites where you can search for critical analysis essays in the style of e-magazine?

Reply 33

hxnnxh_13.11.06

18

Original post by staticsocks

does anyone have any good free sites where you can search for critical analysis essays in the style of e-magazine?

There's English and Media Centre e-magazine if your school/college has a subscription to it :smile:

Reply 34

cinmnsoul

Original post by staticsocks

does anyone have any good free sites where you can search for critical analysis essays in the style of e-magazine?

jstor

Reply 35

beapbloop23

2

Doing OCR english! Any tips on how to balance content vs context vs analysis?

Reply 36

cherriestn

3

hello
Exam board: Edexcel
What I most like about the course: reading through material especially the poetry part
What area do I struggle with: the essay writing especial the novel and play part... despite having the relevant information of the texts i still struggle
Unit 1: Poems of the decade & purple hibiscus
Unit 2: Othello & Deaths of a sales man
Unit 3: Mrs. Dalloway & Wuthering Heights
Unit 4: Metaphysical poetry & Hamlet

doing my exam in Jan 2024

(edited 5 months ago)

Reply 37

emaanqur

Original post by Writing pro

Am good at writing all types of essays, reach to me for any assistance

can I ask about gcse English literature here?
how should I structure my essays effectively and revise in order to get a 9?

thanks!!

Reply 38