English Lit As

In all the essays we have been set, i can't seem to get higher than a B grade. I don't understand why but the teacher always writes comments like "not the best way of expressing", or "not very clear", she marks my work as if she's playing dumb, i mean if I write to directly my writing will look simplistic.

Can anyone help me out, how do i reach the A standard, and do i really have to write so clearly, that it dumbs my writing style down. Btw i'm doing AQA.

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Reply 1

canthardlywait

Please, any help would be much appreciated.

Reply 2

Groat

Original post by canthardlywait

Are you able to give us some examples of points you make in essays? It might be easier to give advice on how to make your points more concise after seeing them.

Reply 3

canthardlywait

Original post by Groat

Are you able to give us some examples of points you make in essays? It might be easier to give advice on how to make your points more concise after seeing them.

For example: I may say ,In enduring love Joe rose's character normally occupies a rationalist attitude, however in the library scene, we see him make decision from percieved idea, thus contradicting his rationalism. Consistency certainly fails to be miantained.

I would normally give a quote for evidence aswell. But my teacher constantly pecks my head randomly like, not enough evidence, too compilcated for simplistic matter, doesn't make sense, what does this achieve,and i'm thinking what on earth will be sufficient.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 4

Helloworld_95

just keep on practicing, I went from D grades at the beginning of year 10 to A* and sometimes full marks nearing the end of Year 11 in the same spec as you're doing.

Is this GCSE or AS?

Do what she tells you to, it's all about jumping through hoops.

Reply 7

ByronicHero

Original post by marieparis22

Is this GCSE or AS?

It says AS in the title....

Reply 8

marieparis22

Original post by paddy__power

It says AS in the title....

I thought so, but then someone was talking about year 11 and I got confused :colondollar:

. I thought maybe As meant A grade.

Reply 9

Groat

Original post by canthardlywait

I haven't studied Enduring Love, but this is standard for all texts.

•

For a start, where would you be placing your evidence? I'm assuming this isn't an actual excerpt from an essay, as I see no quotes. Make sure you imbed your quotes.

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Ensure you focus on the question, it seems some of your response is just re-telling the story. Ask yourself why the author chooses to make that happen, rather than just saying it happens.

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Make it clear to the examiners that you know the characters are constructions of Ian McEwan. This is easily done, for example: Ian McEwan has Joe Rose's character have a rationalist attitude to ensure the reader perceives him as a reliable narrator. (I have no clue what the book is about, so that sentence may be utter rubbish)

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I have always been taught to structure my essays using PEEL: Point Evidence Explain Link. In your excerpt you are lacking any clear purpose, especially with your last sentence!

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Your sentence structure is a bit jumbled, I would try and make them more concise:
In Enduring Love, Joe Rose's character normally occupies a rationalist attitude, yet this seems to change during the library scene. His once consistent attitude is broken as he makes a misjudged decision. I'm not saying that sentence would be an A grade, as it's lacking everything I have mentioned above, but you could just work on making your points clearer.

I hope that helps. I'm not an expert but just telling from my previous experiences!

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 10

canthardlywait

Original post by Groat

I haven't studied Enduring Love, but this is standard for all texts.

•

For a start, where would you be placing your evidence? I'm assuming this isn't an actual excerpt from an essay, as I see no quotes. Make sure you imbed your quotes.

•

Ensure you focus on the question, it seems some of your response is just re-telling the story. Ask yourself why the author chooses to make that happen, rather than just saying it happens.

•

I have always been taught to structure my essays using PEEL: Point Evidence Explain Link. In your excerpt you are lacking any clear purpose, especially with your last sentence!

•

I understand what you mean, Thank you :smile:

Btw did you do Lit at AS?

Reply 11

Groat

Original post by canthardlywait

I understand what you mean, Thank you :smile:

Btw did you do Lit at AS?

I'm taking the exam in June! I've scored pretty highly on coursework, so I'm hoping the exam won't let me down. Let me know how you get on!

Reply 12

canthardlywait

Original post by Groat

I'm taking the exam in June! I've scored pretty highly on coursework, so I'm hoping the exam won't let me down. Let me know how you get on!

Right kwl. Will do. I got a B in the coursework, 3 mark of an A, is it still possible for me to get a A overall dya know?

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 13

marieparis22

Original post by canthardlywait

Right kwl. Will do. I got a B in the coursework, 3 mark of an A, is it still possible for me to get a A overall dya know?

I have people in my class who got Ds in the coursework and As overall :smile:

Reply 14

Groat

Original post by canthardlywait

Right kwl. Will do. I got a B in the coursework, 3 mark of an A, is it still possible for me to get a A overall dya know?

Yeah, of course it is! Coursework is only 80 UMS out of 200. You're probably looking at roughly 60/80 UMS, so you'll need to get 100/120 UMS in the exam.

Original post by marieparis22

I have people in my class who got Ds in the coursework and As overall :smile:

They must've got some very high Ds, as getting 40/80 UMS would mean you've had to get 120/120 in the exam . . .

Reply 15

canthardlywait

Original post by Groat

Yeah, of course it is! Coursework is only 80 UMS out of 200. You're probably looking at roughly 60/80 UMS, so you'll need to get 100/120 UMS in the exam.

They must've got some very high Ds, as getting 40/80 UMS would mean you've had to get 120/120 in the exam . . .

Kwl i appreciate the advice. Thank you

Reply 16

jhubbert

I'm surprised your teacher doesn't give you more helpful comments that give you some guidance in what you need to do.

Reply 17

Hazular

If you're doing AQA you might as well just quit now-.- Their exams are ridiculous- national average for January exams was one mark into the D range.

Reply 18

canthardlywait

Original post by jhubbert

I'm surprised your teacher doesn't give you more helpful comments that give you some guidance in what you need to do.

Dont get me wrong she's a good teacher. Just seems that she points out where we're going wrong, but not showing how to get to grades. I have a feeling she picks and chooses who she gives the most help to.