how to cover all the content when revising for English literature alevel?

hey everyone, so I'm trying to write up a revision timetable for after half term but I'm not sure how to structure it for English, especially with the high amount of content there is to cover. I'm worried i wont be able to cover all the topics/ themes/ characters, and am not sure how to go about writing up a timetable. its so much easier for history as I'm just working chapter by chapter, but for english it seems impossible.

any advice on how to break down the content into chunks to revise? and does anyone have examples of revision timetables they made?

texts i am doing (for reference) - edexcel:
measure for measure
doctor faustus
poems of the decade
victorian poetry
hard times
atonement

Reply 1

username6587531

10

I do poems of the decade. I have a poster for each poem with key themes , quotes and analysis. I do Edexcel as well but not the same texts and having your revision materials already done is such a life saver for when you have mocks and exams. I have posters for every text summarising the plot for each scene for streetcar names desire and othello so I don’t have to reread them and I have a bank of quotes for each scene so I know where to find the quotes for themes. By Victorian poems do u mean Rossetti? If so I do Rossetti and my teacher similarly advises posters in each poem along with which poems you can compare them to by themes and key language and structure. I made my own poster on context as well. Really it’s all posters and summarising and condensing to avoid you having to reread the book.

As for revision timetables I can’t really help you with that as English is heavily unfortunately neglected on my part. English is hard to revise for, you can find ex questions and make plans for them so you have an idea of what you would say. Look at exemplar essays! And choose one of your strongest plannings and under time conditions write an essay or paragraph. It takes practice.

(edited 2 months ago)

Reply 2

dorothygrace06

OP

8

Original post by rrstar

I do poems of the decade. I have a poster for each poem with key themes , quotes and analysis. I do Edexcel as well but not the same texts and having your revision materials already done is such a life saver for when you have mocks and exams. I have posters for every text summarising the plot for each scene for streetcar names desire and othello so I don’t have to reread them and I have a bank of quotes for each scene so I know where to find the quotes for themes. By Victorian poems do u mean Rossetti? If so I do Rossetti and my teacher similarly advises posters in each poem along with which poems you can compare them to by themes and key language and structure. I made my own poster on context as well. Really it’s all posters and summarising and condensing to avoid you having to reread the book

for mine it is just generic mix of victorians, only a bit of rosetti!

Reply 3

dorothygrace06

OP

8

Original post by rrstar

I do poems of the decade. I have a poster for each poem with key themes , quotes and analysis. I do Edexcel as well but not the same texts and having your revision materials already done is such a life saver for when you have mocks and exams. I have posters for every text summarising the plot for each scene for streetcar names desire and othello so I don’t have to reread them and I have a bank of quotes for each scene so I know where to find the quotes for themes. By Victorian poems do u mean Rossetti? If so I do Rossetti and my teacher similarly advises posters in each poem along with which poems you can compare them to by themes and key language and structure. I made my own poster on context as well. Really it’s all posters and summarising and condensing to avoid you having to reread the book

thank you so much i’m gonna make a bunch of posters and quote banks! for your scene posters how do you structure them?

Reply 4

username6587531

10

Original post by dorothygrace06

thank you so much i’m gonna make a bunch of posters and quote banks! for your scene posters how do you structure them?

I usually draw boxes one box for each scene and summarise the key events in bullet points because it’s easier to memorise then a small paragraph and then underneath the key themes. That’s for streetcar however which is a small book. I will see if I can enclose a picture as to what I did for Othello which is a lot thicker

(edited 2 months ago)

Reply 5

dorothygrace06

OP

8

Original post by rrstar

I usually draw boxes one box for each scene and summarise the key events in bullet points because it’s easier to memorise then a small paragraph and then underneath the key themes. That’s for streetcar however which is a small book. I will see if I can enclose a picture as to what I did for Othello which is a lot thicker

ahhh thank makes sense! thank u!

Reply 6

dorothygrace06

OP

8

Original post by rrstar

I usually draw boxes one box for each scene and summarise the key events in bullet points because it’s easier to memorise then a small paragraph and then underneath the key themes. That’s for streetcar however which is a small book. I will see if I can enclose a picture as to what I did for Othello which is a lot thicker

is there any other advice you have?

Reply 7

username6587531

10

Original post by dorothygrace06

is there any other advice you have?

haha I’m the last person to ask when it comes to English literature. I only revise English day before exams because English requires my short term memory because there is no point me trying to memorise content for it now when I will forget it by the exam. That’s what works for me however!! In my recent mock I received an A and I’m predicated an A*.

I heavily rely on my revision materials which took me hours and hours to complete. The hard work really pays off if you do it early. I spend hours day before the exam going through my revision material.

One tip however that I tell people which again works for me maybe not for you but for quotes I don’t remember the quotes I remember where it is in the book. What’s easier to remember? A bunch of quotes or a chapter number? For example I study war of the world for my 1800 text and in the question I needed quotes on survival I knew chapter 14 had quotes on survival of the fittest on the first page like many many quotes which I can use and chapter 7 has evolution and the chapters aren’t that thick so the quotes are easy to find. This only works however if you really know the book which I really recommend. You should be able to find the scene or chapter which an event occurs and the over all plot of the story or you will waste time in exam looking for quotes. For each chapter label its key theme in the front page of your book and then group the chapters on similar key themes and over time you will memorise them

I also recommend looking at examples at essays in the Edexcel exam board as it’s the only way you can get better.

(edited 2 months ago)

how to cover all the content when revising for English literature alevel?

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