A-Level English Literature ASND/Drama help please!

Hi!

I'm currently in year 12 and have just finished studying A Streetcar Named Desire, which I loved!

If anybody has any tips or an essay structure or anything I would be very thankful! I can't remember what the exam board is, all I know is that I'm only required to write about assessment objectives 1, 2 and 3. So no critics (AO5) needed.

I really struggle with consistency in structure and constantly sticking to the question (I get sidetracked). I also find exemplars very useful but haven't really had any luck finding any, please share if you've found any good ones!

Thanks in advance for any responses.

(edited 2 months ago)

Reply 1

Lx_chxrlx_2004

6

Original post by svt13

Hi!

I'm currently in year 12 and have just finished studying A Streetcar Named Desire, which I loved!

If anybody has any tips or an essay structure or anything I would be very thankful! I can't remember what the exam board is, all I know is that I'm only required to write about assessment objectives 1, 2 and 3. So no critics (AO5) needed.

I really struggle with consistency in structure and constantly sticking to the question (I get sidetracked). I also find exemplars very useful but haven't really had any luck finding any, please share if you've found any good ones!

Thanks in advance for any responses.

Hey hun!
I studied ASND at a level and it was so much fun! There's so much in that text to discuss, it's easy to get carried away.

The best thing you can do is plan plan plan! Plan past essay questions, write your own, if you have a study group get them to write some for you and plan! And don't just focus on one thing if it's relevant- use of color, sound, language, costume is all very important and can be said for nearly any question!

Ask your teacher to provide a range past paper answers of different grades so you can analyse and critique them as if you'd annotate a text- what went well and what could be better, then give it a go yourself! And keep handing them to your teacher for marking too. The best thing you can do is write answers (even just one paragraph) and look back a week later and remove what you felt wasn't necessary. This will help stop you from going on a tangent!

Reply 2

Lx_chxrlx_2004

6

Original post by svt13

Hi!

I'm currently in year 12 and have just finished studying A Streetcar Named Desire, which I loved!

If anybody has any tips or an essay structure or anything I would be very thankful! I can't remember what the exam board is, all I know is that I'm only required to write about assessment objectives 1, 2 and 3. So no critics (AO5) needed.

I really struggle with consistency in structure and constantly sticking to the question (I get sidetracked). I also find exemplars very useful but haven't really had any luck finding any, please share if you've found any good ones!

Thanks in advance for any responses.

As well as this, using a paragraph structure works to keep things concise. At a level it's more about fluidity than at gcse, but it still helps to ensure you've included everything you need!

I know a lot of people use PEEL at college, and while this was useful for some of my subjects it didn't for English.

I used PEARCoW
Point
Evidence
Analysis
Reader
Context
Writer

This ensures you have everything you need to mention.

Reply 3

svt13

OP

1

Original post by Lx_chxrlx_2004

As well as this, using a paragraph structure works to keep things concise. At a level it's more about fluidity than at gcse, but it still helps to ensure you've included everything you need!

I know a lot of people use PEEL at college, and while this was useful for some of my subjects it didn't for English.

I used PEARCoW
Point
Evidence
Analysis
Reader
Context
Writer

This ensures you have everything you need to mention.

Hey!

Thank you so much for your reply with the great advice!

Just one more question, with the PEARCoW structure, how many sentences are we looking at for each criteria? This may seem like a stupid question, but even when I'm using the PEEL structure for other essay subjects it ends up taking up nearly a whole page when I've only written one paragraph. Am I writing in too much detail do you think? Should it be like a sentence for each? (a sentence to state my point, a sentence for my evidence and so on).

Oh and also when it comes to quoting the play, are quotes meant to be long? Or would it be easier to make them shorter? (like 5 words?)

Thanks again!

Reply 4

Lx_chxrlx_2004

6

Original post by svt13

Original post by Lx_chxrlx_2004

As well as this, using a paragraph structure works to keep things concise. At a level it's more about fluidity than at gcse, but it still helps to ensure you've included everything you need!

I know a lot of people use PEEL at college, and while this was useful for some of my subjects it didn't for English.

I used PEARCoW
Point
Evidence
Analysis
Reader
Context
Writer

This ensures you have everything you need to mention.

Hey!

Thank you so much for your reply with the great advice!

Just one more question, with the PEARCoW structure, how many sentences are we looking at for each criteria? This may seem like a stupid question, but even when I'm using the PEEL structure for other essay subjects it ends up taking up nearly a whole page when I've only written one paragraph. Am I writing in too much detail do you think? Should it be like a sentence for each? (a sentence to state my point, a sentence for my evidence and so on).

Oh and also when it comes to quoting the play, are quotes meant to be long? Or would it be easier to make them shorter? (like 5 words?)

Thanks again!

Hey hun,

I normally did one or two sentences for your point and then another 1 for your main piece of evidence. Remember to embed evidence in your analyisis- this should be short and sweet, even just 1 word. You don't have to analyse ever quote you use as well when they're embedded but it'll boost you AO2 (I think) marks. For example if your discussing Stanley's working class attitudes and behaviour

'his aggressive yet passionate character is shown through the use of stage directions, such as when he smashes the light bulb with his slipper showing
his 'sub-human' nature, particularly influenced by his social class throughout the play. His focus is his work, taking on traditional masculine norms in order to provide, though he neglects love and care. This foreshadows....'

Analysis is the longest part of your paragraph. Honestly there is no right or wrong number of sentences for each, and the more fluid your essays become the more you embed points and context (which is also something loved by examiners). When you get to a level, these structures become much more like a guide/ticklish than a rigid structure, so don't feel obligated to stick to everything and be specific. Play around with it.

The above sentence as an example (I know it's not great, working on memory from 2 years ago) ticks off point, evidence, basic analyisis, key terminology and context, which would already give me a good few marks. Don't knowledge dump, but don't shy away from showing off what you know!

As for quotes, shorter quotes that you can say a lot about are a lot easier to remember. Longer quotes make sure to remember where they are in the text (I'm pretty sure you get a copy for this exam). Remember you're timed, you don't want to waste it writing a long quote if you're only going to analyse 4 words. For longer quotes, use an elipses between the words you need to support your point or break it up into individual quotes. This will be more beneficial for both time management and your memory.

The abive

A-Level English Literature ASND/Drama help please!

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