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I think i'm going to fail my English Literature AS Level . . . any tips?

hey, so as the title says, i'm pretty sure i'm goig to fail. I do Edexcel Spec B. Basically, i had a rubbish teacher for 6 months, and now my new teacher is trying to squeeze all that wasted time into the next few weeks (she's given us 5 essays to do over easter). I really want to carry it on at A2 because i want to do a history degree.
I'm really struggling at the moment and i really need some help please :frown:

Reply 1

NinjaRave

You'll be fine! :smile:

I think if you intend to do history, then I'd imagine that your essay writing skills are spot on. English Is basically intrepreting and analysing texts with sufficient back-up. You can literally get marks for any relavent point! If you're having trouble getting a point across/lack of ideas, then research around the topic. York notes are pretty handy :smile:

I would advice you to go and have a read of the Assessment Objectives and look at the key areas you need to mention whenever answering a question. I did AQA, so it may be different but some 'areas' were things like narrative, characterisation, time + place etc. Model answers are useful too.

I did English Lit AS last year, and I didn't even finish the books/poems we were studying (Kite Runner + Pride and Prejudice + Keats :angry:

) and still managed to get a B!

All I could remember from my teacher was Keats was 'AMBIGOUS'. Yep, Lots of analysis there (!)

Reply 2

Mr Inquisitive

English is a lot of skills you develop yourself, so a lack of a teacher shouldn't affect you too badly if you just sit down, read, and genuinely interact with your literature. Follow AO's religiously; they're essentially the key to high grades.

You'll be fine, don't worry about it.

Reply 3

louiseyoung

Thanks for replies :smile:

Reply 4

lilyrawstorne

Original post by louiseyoung

Me too! Exactly the same situation but I want to do a History of Art degree ... the best advice I've been given is to make tables of quotes with page refferences and relate it to themes/techniques.
We've only done one poem from our fourth text so far and it was the shortest. I used to be amazing at English Lit now it's an effort to get above a D :frown:

Reply 5

Ntanya

Original post by NinjaRave

You'll be fine! :smile:

) and still managed to get a B!

All I could remember from my teacher was Keats was 'AMBIGOUS'. Yep, Lots of analysis there (!)

You did keats??? I'm doing keats now and if there's anything you have or can remember that would help me, I would be mooore than grateful!! :smile:

Reply 6

NinjaRave

Original post by Ntanya

You did keats??? I'm doing keats now and if there's anything you have or can remember that would help me, I would be mooore than grateful!! :smile:

Wow, did it over a year ago! I think I mostly just understood/able to justify my interpretations, and did research around the topic. (Poems were The Eve of St. Agnes, Lamia, and La Belle dans la Merci (?)). Most of his poems have some sort of background/religious connotations, and a LOT was based on his life. The good thing about him being ambigious is that there is a range of points to make and so long as you justify yourself, no-one can really say its wrong.

Seriously, just to a bit of legwork and check websites/books etc. Don't know how it is with edexcel, but maybe you can use keats for the shorter/less marks question and discuss the other three/etc texts for the longer questions? :dontknow:

I think if your teacher to give you some mark schemes to previous papers, you can gain a lot from learning the kind of style/points examiners look for.

Sorry I couldn't have been of more help! :colondollar:

Reply 7

damidude

http://chainletters.net/chainletters/71-things-to-do-on-an-exam-you-know-youre-going-to-fail/

Reply 8

almostgolden

Remember PEE is key!

Point
Evidence
Explain!

Reply 9

louiseyoung

Original post by lilyrawstorne

. I used to be amazing at English Lit now it's an effort to get above a D :frown:

OMG, that is actually me! i got an A* in my GCSE, so i thought i was alright at it, but evidently not. I will be lucky (and very grateful) if i get a C.

Reply 10

Fefe

Heyy!
I feel exactly the same :frown:

My teachers suck (they've never taught A-Level before) and have nooo clue as to how to handle it. I'm doing AQA Eng Lit B, so even tho its a different exam board I feel your pain. :frown:

I'm trying to do some revision on my own? Try sparknotes (obvious) and just stuff like that. I was hoping to do well but just try your hardest and if anything - make sure you do really well in your other exams!

If you get any tips lemme know too haha! :smile:

PS. My sister said to just try to remember important parts of a story, key themes or ideas and if we can get over the form structure & language of a poem then that might help too! :/

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 11

Bright

Ditto! I regret taking English soo much! I mean I have an essay due for tomz and even though I know can analyse talk about etc so much I just CAN'T do the essay! Whatever I write I feel like I sound like a 13 year old writing anything that comes to her mind..
Doing WJEC Sylvia Plath and Kinderstransport, the annoying thing is there isn't anything out there for the play/poems I am doing, whereas with GCSE I literally used to read peoples essays and get ideas.. :///
I am depressed now.

Reply 12

Anonyman

Which texts are you doing? If it's Wilfred Owen poetry or The Great Gatsby, I might be able to help.

Reply 13

SecretGarden

The best way to feel tottaly confident before you do your exam is to do as many practice essays as possible in timed conditions. Of course revision is neccessary but through practicing you will learn soooo much about the text as well as developing skills. What texts are you doing?

Reply 14

Dominicque

Original post by Bright

I know the feel, bro. :frown:

Reply 15

sickofALEVELS

Original post by almostgolden

Remember PEE is key!

Point
Evidence
Explain!

You want to be careful! In an examiners report last year they weren't keen on students PEE - ing. That'll get you through your GCSE, but you have to go further than that with A level. They'll want you to show knowledge of the narrative as a whole, as well as possible authroial decisions. 'Why has soandso written GreatGatsby this way?' If you ask a question in your work and then debate possible answers then come to a conclusion, they might like that. Show you've read around and that you can compare the narrative with others work. Pros and Cons are good too!

Reply 16

sickofALEVELS

http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/a-level/english-literature-a-2740/past-papers-and-mark-schemes

This has past papers and mark schemes and reports from examiners saying what they liked and didn't like in exam series! This is very helpful, as the moaning examiners are actually informative about what they expect. it's a bit of a read, but sift through and you'll get some valuable information.

Reply 17

username1210437

I know how you feel... English is so hard to revise for. You just need to know rough points and then wing it in the exam in my opinion. Good luck to you anyway, I'm sure you'll do fine! :smile: