AQA English Literature A - Love Through the Ages June 2011 Exam :D
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http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?p=32146163#post32146163
Revision Thread is up if people are willing to wake up at normal time despite study leave and get some work done on Wednesday
Revision Thread is up if people are willing to wake up at normal time despite study leave and get some work done on Wednesday
Does anyone actually structure their essay like: intro (themes) - structure - form - language - either s/f/l again - conclude? I mean, does the mark scheme require analysis of all three in both essays? It's sometimes hard to compare the form of a drama with, for example, a poem.
Original post by Cast.Iron
I have a definite feeling that Drama will come up for the Part A question.
Also, if anybody has any specific questions then feel free to PM me. I got 200/200 last year and I am currently on 80/80 A2 coursework.
Also, if anybody has any specific questions then feel free to PM me
. I got 200/200 last year and I am currently on 80/80 A2 coursework.
Are you being serious?! That's incredible- what's your secret!On a serious note... do you have any pointers for getting an A in the essays?
I achieved B's in my January exams, but am studying AS and A2 in a year, so haven't really had the chance of building on the AS foundation... any pointers would be gratefully appreciated!
Original post by malaikah Are you being serious?! That's incredible- what's your secret!
On a serious note... do you have any pointers for getting an A in the essays?
I achieved B's in my January exams, but am studying AS and A2 in a year, so haven't really had the chance of building on the AS foundation... any pointers would be gratefully appreciated!
Are you being serious?! That's incredible- what's your secret!On a serious note... do you have any pointers for getting an A in the essays?
I achieved B's in my January exams, but am studying AS and A2 in a year, so haven't really had the chance of building on the AS foundation... any pointers would be gratefully appreciated!
Yeah I'm serious
.I don't buy into all of this AO business, I just think abstractly and write my thoughts.
My advice to you, as said by many in this thread, would be to practice timed essays. Do not get stressed about wider reading, really one decent text from each genre should be enough (although I appreciate that two or three can be beneficial). Remember that 70% of the marks come from the unseen text so that is what you need to concentrate on. Be sure to integrate any wider reading into your normal paragraphs as opposed to simply 'bolting it on' at the end. The exam provides you with ample planning time (half an hour for each question) so make sure that you absorb the text.
Prep-wise, I would learn a few select and universal quotes and I would make contextual links between your wider reading as well as making links between similar themes of love.
The key, I find, to Lit is not to treat it so methodically (although I appreciate that this doesn't work for everyone). The subject allows you to be exuberant in your prose. Look at the text from different perspectives and squeeze every possible meaning out of any poignant sentences.
Sorry if this is rather vague, but I do not know how to advise you really! This exam is definitely hard but it is also quite rich so there will always be plenty to write about.
I also have a feeling that it will be drama for the Part A this year and I have a feeling that they will put some Shakespeare in. Might be an idea to read some Chaucer too because if you can understand that then you are sorted as they will not give you anything earlier.
Oh yes and it sounds stupid but treat drama as drama!
Original post by Cast.Iron
Yeah I'm serious .
I don't buy into all of this AO business, I just think abstractly and write my thoughts.
My advice to you, as said by many in this thread, would be to practice timed essays. Do not get stressed about wider reading, really one decent text from each genre should be enough (although I appreciate that two or three can be beneficial). Remember that 70% of the marks come from the unseen text so that is what you need to concentrate on. Be sure to integrate any wider reading into your normal paragraphs as opposed to simply 'bolting it on' at the end. The exam provides you with ample planning time (half an hour for each question) so make sure that you absorb the text.
Prep-wise, I would learn a few select and universal quotes and I would make contextual links between your wider reading as well as making links between similar themes of love.
The key, I find, to Lit is not to treat it so methodically (although I appreciate that this doesn't work for everyone). The subject allows you to be exuberant in your prose. Look at the text from different perspectives and squeeze every possible meaning out of any poignant sentences.
Sorry if this is rather vague, but I do not know how to advise you really! This exam is definitely hard but it is also quite rich so there will always be plenty to write about.
I also have a feeling that it will be drama for the Part A this year and I have a feeling that they will put some Shakespeare in. Might be an idea to read some Chaucer too because if you can understand that then you are sorted as they will not give you anything earlier.
Oh yes and it sounds stupid but treat drama as drama!
.I don't buy into all of this AO business, I just think abstractly and write my thoughts.
My advice to you, as said by many in this thread, would be to practice timed essays. Do not get stressed about wider reading, really one decent text from each genre should be enough (although I appreciate that two or three can be beneficial). Remember that 70% of the marks come from the unseen text so that is what you need to concentrate on. Be sure to integrate any wider reading into your normal paragraphs as opposed to simply 'bolting it on' at the end. The exam provides you with ample planning time (half an hour for each question) so make sure that you absorb the text.
Prep-wise, I would learn a few select and universal quotes and I would make contextual links between your wider reading as well as making links between similar themes of love.
The key, I find, to Lit is not to treat it so methodically (although I appreciate that this doesn't work for everyone). The subject allows you to be exuberant in your prose. Look at the text from different perspectives and squeeze every possible meaning out of any poignant sentences.
Sorry if this is rather vague, but I do not know how to advise you really! This exam is definitely hard but it is also quite rich so there will always be plenty to write about.
I also have a feeling that it will be drama for the Part A this year and I have a feeling that they will put some Shakespeare in. Might be an idea to read some Chaucer too because if you can understand that then you are sorted as they will not give you anything earlier.
Oh yes and it sounds stupid but treat drama as drama!
All very good advice. There won't be any Chaucer on the paper. It says so in the spec.
Original post by carnationlilyrose
All very good advice. There won't be any Chaucer on the paper. It says so in the spec.
Good point. However, if you're familiar with such early writing then it will still work to your benefit if given something from the Medieval Gothic period.
Yes, I'm sure it would, but I highly doubt they would do that. There would be a considerable outcry of unfairness from teachers. If Chaucer, as the best known poet of the era, is judged to be too difficult to spring onto candidates unseen, they will not be bunging Piers Plowman or Medieval English Lyrics on.
Original post by Cast.Iron
Yeah I'm serious .
I don't buy into all of this AO business, I just think abstractly and write my thoughts.
My advice to you, as said by many in this thread, would be to practice timed essays. Do not get stressed about wider reading, really one decent text from each genre should be enough (although I appreciate that two or three can be beneficial). Remember that 70% of the marks come from the unseen text so that is what you need to concentrate on. Be sure to integrate any wider reading into your normal paragraphs as opposed to simply 'bolting it on' at the end. The exam provides you with ample planning time (half an hour for each question) so make sure that you absorb the text.
Prep-wise, I would learn a few select and universal quotes and I would make contextual links between your wider reading as well as making links between similar themes of love.
The key, I find, to Lit is not to treat it so methodically (although I appreciate that this doesn't work for everyone). The subject allows you to be exuberant in your prose. Look at the text from different perspectives and squeeze every possible meaning out of any poignant sentences.
Sorry if this is rather vague, but I do not know how to advise you really! This exam is definitely hard but it is also quite rich so there will always be plenty to write about.
I also have a feeling that it will be drama for the Part A this year and I have a feeling that they will put some Shakespeare in. Might be an idea to read some Chaucer too because if you can understand that then you are sorted as they will not give you anything earlier.
Oh yes and it sounds stupid but treat drama as drama!
.I don't buy into all of this AO business, I just think abstractly and write my thoughts.
My advice to you, as said by many in this thread, would be to practice timed essays. Do not get stressed about wider reading, really one decent text from each genre should be enough (although I appreciate that two or three can be beneficial). Remember that 70% of the marks come from the unseen text so that is what you need to concentrate on. Be sure to integrate any wider reading into your normal paragraphs as opposed to simply 'bolting it on' at the end. The exam provides you with ample planning time (half an hour for each question) so make sure that you absorb the text.
Prep-wise, I would learn a few select and universal quotes and I would make contextual links between your wider reading as well as making links between similar themes of love.
The key, I find, to Lit is not to treat it so methodically (although I appreciate that this doesn't work for everyone). The subject allows you to be exuberant in your prose. Look at the text from different perspectives and squeeze every possible meaning out of any poignant sentences.
Sorry if this is rather vague, but I do not know how to advise you really! This exam is definitely hard but it is also quite rich so there will always be plenty to write about.
I also have a feeling that it will be drama for the Part A this year and I have a feeling that they will put some Shakespeare in. Might be an idea to read some Chaucer too because if you can understand that then you are sorted as they will not give you anything earlier.
Oh yes and it sounds stupid but treat drama as drama!
That's really, really helpful- thankyou so much! I'd wish you luck, but considering those marks, I'm sure you'll ace the exam anyway
Ahh I've done my poetry wider reading revision for the day
For my essay structure, I usually do the following - say what each of the poems is ABOUT. My teachers keep drilling in that you can't analyse how the techniques compliment the writers ideas/tone etc if you can't actually sum up what the extract says.
Then I compare form and structure in a paragraph or two, and if I have wider reading with similar or different forms/structures bring that in if relevant.
Then the bulk of the essay is on language analysis, where I usually bring in 1/2 wider reading references if I haven't in the form and structure.
If I have time, I try and save a really good language point for the end, which sums up what each of the poems is about!
Context manages to weave itself in somehow haha, either if its a typical form of the time (i.e. Tis Pity She's a Whore is a sensationalist Jacobean tragedy, which became popular with audiences who enjoyed seeing gory battles on stage etc...) or language (Metaphysical poets often employed conceits or extended metaphors as a form of logical argument, complimented by the use sophistry which reflected the influence of philosophy and logic in the 17th-century at explaining the world...), I find structure quite difficult :/ But I guess things such as sentence structure and the way words are placed would count?
It works for me I guess
For my essay structure, I usually do the following - say what each of the poems is ABOUT. My teachers keep drilling in that you can't analyse how the techniques compliment the writers ideas/tone etc if you can't actually sum up what the extract says.
Then I compare form and structure in a paragraph or two, and if I have wider reading with similar or different forms/structures bring that in if relevant.
Then the bulk of the essay is on language analysis, where I usually bring in 1/2 wider reading references if I haven't in the form and structure.
If I have time, I try and save a really good language point for the end, which sums up what each of the poems is about!
Context manages to weave itself in somehow haha, either if its a typical form of the time (i.e. Tis Pity She's a Whore is a sensationalist Jacobean tragedy, which became popular with audiences who enjoyed seeing gory battles on stage etc...) or language (Metaphysical poets often employed conceits or extended metaphors as a form of logical argument, complimented by the use sophistry which reflected the influence of philosophy and logic in the 17th-century at explaining the world...), I find structure quite difficult :/ But I guess things such as sentence structure and the way words are placed would count?
It works for me I guess
Original post by carnationlilyrose
Yes, I'm sure it would, but I highly doubt they would do that. There would be a considerable outcry of unfairness from teachers. If Chaucer, as the best known poet of the era, is judged to be too difficult to spring onto candidates unseen, they will not be bunging Piers Plowman or Medieval English Lyrics on.
Just because he was the most renowned poet of the era does not necessarily make him the most difficult to analyse. For example, Shakespeare was the most renowned poet of his era but Marlowe is widely considered to be more accessible.
However, I take your point.
Original post by malaikah
That's really, really helpful- thankyou so much! I'd wish you luck, but considering those marks, I'm sure you'll ace the exam anyway
No worries. Don't say that, this is the exam which I am hoping for my A* in
!Original post by Cast.Iron
Just because he was the most renowned poet of the era does not necessarily make him the most difficult to analyse. For example, Shakespeare was the most renowned poet of his era but Marlowe is widely considered to be more accessible.
However, I take your point.
!
However, I take your point.
!No, it doesn't make him the most difficult to analyse. He is one of the easier ones, which is my point. If they have said they won't put Chaucer on, they will not put on anyone harder, which pretty well covers everyone else from that period of literature. You are, after all, only A level students. Marlowe is considerably more accessible than Shakespeare and has been a set author over many years and many syllabuses (I have been teaching him at various times for 23 years and he certainly predates my A level teaching career as a set author by a long way), so he is certainly fair game and could easily come up.
Original post by lolly21
is anyone else slightly freaking for this exam or is that just me?
I'm absolutely bricking it. So scared.
I feel like whenever i look at extracts i can't seem to find anything to analyse, let alone write a 40-mark essay about.
oh my.
I'm absolutely bricking it. So scared.
I feel like whenever i look at extracts i can't seem to find anything to analyse, let alone write a 40-mark essay about.
oh my.
Read the thread, 95% of us are bricking it
I think we just need to accept that this exam is heavily dependant upon what we get on the day. It's luck of the draw. There's only so much preparation we can do as students, so try not to worry too much.
(I'm saying that, but I'm just as worried!)Original post by Pthaos
Read the thread, 95% of us are bricking it
I think we just need to accept that this exam is heavily dependant upon what we get on the day. It's luck of the draw. There's only so much preparation we can do as students, so try not to worry too much. (I'm saying that, but I'm just as worried!)
I think we just need to accept that this exam is heavily dependant upon what we get on the day. It's luck of the draw. There's only so much preparation we can do as students, so try not to worry too much.
(I'm saying that, but I'm just as worried!)okay, well that does certainly cheer me up a bit (: thanks for the words of encouragement!
i am also bricking it ! you are deffo not alone lol
D:
I know a couple of you helped earlier but im still struggling with context..
There is something wrong with my brain where it rejects all historical info especially when there is too much...!!
Would anyone please be able to give me BRIEF details on the literary periods and any general stuff we should know about it.. I've been trying to do it all day and just switch off cos there's always too much info..
I think i have narrowed it down correctly to these being the eras:
Medieval
Elizebethan & Jacobean
Augustan (?! lol)
Romantic
Victorian & Edwardian
Modernist
Post Modernist
Feel free to correct me if i'm wrong ??
All i really need is to know what periods there are (if my list was wrong), Know when the periods were eg 1600-1700 and the century or w/e.. and just a brief couple sentences about what was going on that would be relevant to this exam??
For example.. Victorian age... strict social codes, men were the earners women were the housewives .. 'a dolls house' goes against this which is why the audience of that time would be shocked! (the only point i can really make on context - v basic at that :P)
just breif stuff i can memorise and mention in exam in relevance to the unseen extracts (i'm not aiming for an A so this is all i think i need considering how little context is worth)
would realllly appreiciate it if someone could respond, im sure a lot of you clever clog english genius's know all this off the top of your heads and could write in in a 'context for dummies' form pleeeeassee . english is driving me crazy :P can't wait till exam is over! xxx
D:
I know a couple of you helped earlier but im still struggling with context..
There is something wrong with my brain where it rejects all historical info especially when there is too much...!!
Would anyone please be able to give me BRIEF details on the literary periods and any general stuff we should know about it.. I've been trying to do it all day and just switch off cos there's always too much info..
I think i have narrowed it down correctly to these being the eras:
Medieval
Elizebethan & Jacobean
Augustan (?! lol)
Romantic
Victorian & Edwardian
Modernist
Post Modernist
Feel free to correct me if i'm wrong
??All i really need is to know what periods there are (if my list was wrong), Know when the periods were eg 1600-1700 and the century or w/e.. and just a brief couple sentences about what was going on that would be relevant to this exam??
For example.. Victorian age... strict social codes, men were the earners women were the housewives .. 'a dolls house' goes against this which is why the audience of that time would be shocked! (the only point i can really make on context - v basic at that :P)
just breif stuff i can memorise and mention in exam in relevance to the unseen extracts (i'm not aiming for an A so this is all i think i need considering how little context is worth)
would realllly appreiciate it if someone could respond, im sure a lot of you clever clog english genius's know all this off the top of your heads and could write in in a 'context for dummies' form
pleeeeassee . english is driving me crazy :P can't wait till exam is over! xxxOriginal post by carnationlilyrose
No, it doesn't make him the most difficult to analyse. He is one of the easier ones, which is my point. If they have said they won't put Chaucer on, they will not put on anyone harder, which pretty well covers everyone else from that period of literature. You are, after all, only A level students. Marlowe is considerably more accessible than Shakespeare and has been a set author over many years and many syllabuses (I have been teaching him at various times for 23 years and he certainly predates my A level teaching career as a set author by a long way), so he is certainly fair game and could easily come up.
Oh I see what you mean.
I was never contesting that Marlowe wouldn't come up in the exam.
My original premise was that were one to acquaint oneself with some Chaucer then they would be less likely to be phased by older texts, which is common amongst a lot of candidates and I am sure that you would agree.
Also, this exam is notorious for throwing curve-balls and as a result AQA has been complained to on more than one occasion, so although they wouldn't put Chaucer as an unseen text as you said, they might put in an extract which isn't that long after Chaucer. I only suggested it as a precaution.
Hi guys
my structure for the essays tends to follow what people have been putting on here (i.e. intro-theme-form/structure-lang-wider reading lang-wider reading f/s-conclusion) But i was just wondering f you could give me some advice.
for my form/structure section, my teacher keeps saying i lose marks as i am not including quotes for my form/structure points. How are you guys tackling this? i find it hard to quote for form and structure without going into language. what evidence do you incuded?
i also have a strong feeling that Q A willl be on drama. (The Glass Menagerie and Translations are good drama's for people to use with alot of 'challenges to love' in it ) Additionally, i am too focusing on maybe two/three dramas, about 4 poems, and about 3 novels in detail.
thanks for any help! it is appreciated
my structure for the essays tends to follow what people have been putting on here (i.e. intro-theme-form/structure-lang-wider reading lang-wider reading f/s-conclusion) But i was just wondering f you could give me some advice.
for my form/structure section, my teacher keeps saying i lose marks as i am not including quotes for my form/structure points. How are you guys tackling this? i find it hard to quote for form and structure without going into language. what evidence do you incuded?
i also have a strong feeling that Q A willl be on drama. (The Glass Menagerie and Translations are good drama's for people to use with alot of 'challenges to love' in it ) Additionally, i am too focusing on maybe two/three dramas, about 4 poems, and about 3 novels in detail.
thanks for any help! it is appreciated
Original post by ElizaM
not including quotes for my form/structure points.
not including quotes for my form/structure points.
Honestly, I don't see how you can be expected to quote form and structure. Form and Structure aren't lines you can quote, they're the make-up of the piece of text. Unless anyone else can decipher this, I'd have to declare that your teacher is talking ****.
Quoting for language points is very important, perhaps they mean that you need to quote from your wider reading more? But I really can't see how it would even be possible to quote form or structure, that's something you describe such as there being rhythm, or the text being a ballad/bildungsroman/building to a climax etc.
I too expect the first question to be comparing two Drama extracts. I've heard that Shakespeare sounds promising, but likely not Romeo and Juliet. However I've also heard that AQA likes to throw curveballs, so just because the last two exams were 2x Prose and 2x Poetry doesn't mean that we're 100% certain of getting 2x Drama. I am however, counting on that and revising for that outcome. I figure it will take me 5-10 minutes of planning max to re-order things in my mind if it's wrong.
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by Cast.Iron
Oh I see what you mean.
I was never contesting that Marlowe wouldn't come up in the exam.
My original premise was that were one to acquaint oneself with some Chaucer then they would be less likely to be phased by older texts, which is common amongst a lot of candidates and I am sure that you would agree.
Also, this exam is notorious for throwing curve-balls and as a result AQA has been complained to on more than one occasion, so although they wouldn't put Chaucer as an unseen text as you said, they might put in an extract which isn't that long after Chaucer. I only suggested it as a precaution.
I was never contesting that Marlowe wouldn't come up in the exam.
My original premise was that were one to acquaint oneself with some Chaucer then they would be less likely to be phased by older texts, which is common amongst a lot of candidates and I am sure that you would agree.
Also, this exam is notorious for throwing curve-balls and as a result AQA has been complained to on more than one occasion, so although they wouldn't put Chaucer as an unseen text as you said, they might put in an extract which isn't that long after Chaucer. I only suggested it as a precaution.
I do agree that students are phased by older texts, but you can rest assured that Chaucer won't be one of them and I really don't think they would go back before Marlowe - that really would be too specialist for A level. Anything much earlier than that would be in Middle English and far too difficult to tackle unseen.
Early days to say the exam is notorious for curved balls, as it's only the third paper this time, but it certainly is challenging. However, as I said earlier in either this thread or the other one one on the topic, if they pitch it wrong, then although you will have an unpleasant two and a half hours in the exam room, the outcome will merely be the adjustment of grade boundaries to maintain the same number of grades as usual. The first paper last June was, indeed, an absolute stinker, but my students got A*s and As out of it when at first glance it seemed impossible that they should do so. It is unfortunately possible that they may go the other way this time and underpitch it, although the January paper didn't suggest that, and if they do, then the grade boundaries will go up. However, the overall outcome will still be that those people at the top of the pile will get their A*s even if they wouldn't have done so on last year's grade boundaries.
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