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Higher English (again)

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Meteorshower

In my opinion you haven't described why ecstacy and fumbling create a sinister atmosphere at all. You've said that they do but not why. IMO you should say what the words mean and why that creates a sinister atmosphere afterwards.

The last sentence is better.

Thanks, and to the poster below :smile:

Argh, so basically, just more explanation of the actual quote and more in depth analysis?

I think it's a metaphor :o:

so should I shove that in and say what the image is?

Reply 81

truthandtragedy

I failed my prelim, but I'm hoping to get an A for the final exam.
I studied Consider the Lilies as the prose text, which is such a crap book!
3 Normal MacCaig poems for the poetry section - Brooklyn Cop, Hotel Room 12th Floor and Last Night In New York
aaand MacBeth for the drama section.
I didn't revise the poems at all, hence the failing of the prelim. (:

Reply 82

Meteorshower

javjamoll

Thanks, and to the poster below :smile:

Argh, so basically, just more explanation of the actual quote and more in depth analysis?

I think it's a metaphor :o:

so should I shove that in and say what the image is?

I would have thought it was just the choice of words, but it's been years since i've looked at that poem.

Reply 83

acas13

Asymptote

The joys of Higher English. I did it last year, but I studied:

3 Poems:
Litany by Carol Ann Duffy
Hotel Room, 12th Floor by Norman McCaig
Assisi by Norman McCaig

1 Prose:
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (I got AMAZING help from my SG teacher the day before the exam which let me get an A knowing only 3 quotes)

0 Drama:
We actually did The Crucible, but I didn't pay attention in class when we did it, and was in no position to be writing an essay on it.

In case anyone wonders, the questions (from the 2008 paper) that I attempted were:

I used Gatsby to show the cruelty of human nature's desires; how we can want something so much that we devote our entire existence to it, but ultimately our goals are inobtainable.
I also used the Valley of the ashes in comparison to the eggs/Gatsby's Mansion to show the cruelty of selfishness and all that.

I used Hotel Room, and just basically spraffed off imagery showing how New York seems dangerous and uncivilised.

Out of interest, what was the great help you got on writing on Gatsby?

We have done the great gatsby which i like and othello which i hate, plus plenty of poems- edwin muir, the horses and childhood, some edwin morgan, valentine by carol ann duffy...

so yeah my plan is to try and write a gatsby essay, and then a poetry one and hopefully avoid othello...

Reply 84

ArcadiaHouse

In my revision guides it says "preparing one novel and one play is a very high risk move and should be avoided." But our teacher has told us to only prepare that! :\ I suppose that an 'Othello' Q comes up every year ...

I wish I could get a 23 for at least one essay; I keep getting 21, which is good, but a girl who got a 2 at Standard Grade got 46/50 for her essays in my class. :eek:

Reply 85

OriginofSymmetry

ArcadiaHouse

Do try and prepare a couple of poems that could have a couple of questions related to them.

You should be ok with a play and a novel. I could've done that for my exam. It was just the small matter of hating the novel....

It's up to you really, I revised a play, a novel and 7 poems... But I over-prepared. :o:

Reply 86

YoSuis

ArcadiaHouse

Yeah origin's right, you should be fine with just a play and a novel, especially with a play with as much scope as Othello, but a few poems really would be wise

I prepared a play a novel and 2 poems and did well

HAving said that I don't know either of my plays for this year, so I'll be braving the paper armed with just my poetry :eek3:

(and I only know like 8 out of the 15 that they can ask about :eek3:

)

Reply 87

ArcadiaHouse

Oh Lord

We did 'Brooklyn Cop' for a while in 4th year, and 'A Meeting' for about two days. I'll need to ask my teacher ...

Reply 88

#Limabean1

I had Hamlet and Assisi all ready for the exam. No good Assisi question came up, so i had to go for one of the ******* Larkin poems. I got a C.

I blame Bronte for making Wuthering Heights so ******* terrible.

Reply 89

lilhunni_jo

ArcadiaHouse

I'm only planning on really preparing a novel and a play, hoping there's enough in them for a question to be certain. Will probably read through the poem I learned last year (much prefer it to the ones we've done this year) but I won't write on poetry unless there's really no other options.

Reply 90

acas13

I like writing on poetry....

Reply 91

Asymptote

acas13

It wasn't as such a solid piece of help which anyone could follow - he just sat and explained to us what we'd not been taught that year (maternity leave teacher). Basically, he showed us how to take a quote and make it fit absolutely any question, extensively using the theme of symbolism. It was in some way an explanation of one of my favourite english teacher quotes ever:

"To get an A in higher english, you just need to talk loads of crap, and be able to justify it slightly."

Reply 92

acas13

Asymptote

fairly sound advice.... moulding questions is pretty easy for gatsby... not as easy for poems though :s-smilie:

so i think i will just not take any risks and learn all my texts (bar a few poems)

Reply 93

wee-treakle

Hello everyone!

Ive just been reading these threads and im seriously panicking now!

I have only studied for drama (A Streetcar Named Desire) and 1 poem (Under the Mountain) now obviously this is NOT nearly enough, so I was wondering if anybody could give me advice on a poem or two that can be learned in under two weeks...?! Is this going to be impossible?

Thanks!

Reply 94

acas13

wee-treakle

Look up the poem valentine with carol ann duffy, if you need any help if you decide to do it just ask but basically the onion becomes an extended metaphor for love. that should do you.

Reply 95

TheUnbeliever

Ted Hughes - Hawk Roosting.

Good for persona/character questions.

Reply 96

TimmyVermicelli

Echoing someone above, Valentine. It's so short you can write about every line under exam conditions, and it's really simple to understand, but you can really get into it much more easily than other Higher level poems.

Reply 97

Meteorshower

Personally I think you shoudl go for ANY text you've done in class over learning one entirely yourself. I'm under the impression those are just two you know, if you've done more in class and have notes, learn them now. It's a lot more reliable than venturing into uncharted territory this late in the game.

Reply 98

Ronar

I've done King Lear, tess of the motherf*n d'urbervilles and 3 poems and 4 sonnets :/

So I'm doing king lear, looking at tess but i'm hoping to just do a poem, idk if this is a bad move but I hate hate hate hate tess of the d'ubervilles and thomas hardy with a passion :| Well I like his poetry.. lol

ahh! I don't know what to revise, i've done most of king lear at home i'm going to finish that completely on friday, then I don't know what to do :biggrin:

help! And I don't know how to cram in close reading on top of the play novel and poems and essay practice haha

Reply 99

acas13

Ronar

help! And I don't know how to cram in close reading on top of the play novel and poems and essay practice haha

Look at past papers to see if their are lots of questions suitable for king lear, if there has been one or more every year i think its quite a safe bet just learning that and poems....