English Lit AQA Aspects of narrative discussion

Hey, this is really helpful
But if it is based on aspect of narrative then where do you write about narration/voice, setting and tone?
Thanks

Obsidian man, I freaking love you. Thanks for taking the time out to write out all that information.
Do you use MSN/SKYPE/Facebook or any of those by any chance? Please drop me a PM if you do

Hi! I did Gatsby, Kite Runner, Hardy and Auden for my AS so hopefully I can help you out.

Firstly, try not to panic. Not that helpful I know but panicking is just about the worst thing you can do. It is one exam. Not the end of the world if something goes wrong.

Okay, here we go. Learn your AOs (Assessment Objectives) and be able to recall them instantly.

AO1 - Basically answer the question and write a decent essay
AO2 - Structure, Form and Language analysis (Very Very important)
AO3 - Other interpretations - it is not necessary to know critical perspectives but you do need to show an awareness of other views - very easy to hit this AO when writing about ambiguity and responses from readers of different eras.
AO4 - Social and Historical context.

Now, I presume that in your lessons you have been annotating your poems and novels. Have a look, see where your notes correspond to your AOs. AO2 should be everywhere - metaphors, similes, foreshadowing devices, sibilance, alliteration, rhetorical devices.
AO2 (as you probably already know) is the main component for the Section A(i) essay and so you must have references to structure, language and form and most importantly, detailed analysis of these whilst answering the question. The Section A(i) questions are very vague i.e. 'How does F. Scott Fitzgerald use literary devices in the opening chapter of his novel, 'The Great Gatsby?' but all you need to do is answer the question by writing about the devices he uses in that chapter and why they are effective.

Structure - Why did the writer put that chapter there? What would the reader lose if it was not there? How has the writer chosen to open and close the chapter? Are there echoes of previous chapters? How has the poet structured their poem? In one stanza? In four? Why? Does it represent something or highlight something to the reader?

Language - Why has the writer used alliteration? Does it bring the reader's attention to a certain word? Are there words with more than one meaning? Do they use colour symbolism and if so, why? Does the writer's choice of language change the reader's perception of a character?

Form - What is it? Prose? Poetic prose? A ballad? If referring to Kite Runner, you might have the opportunity to talk about Hassan's letter - why does Hosseini include that in the novel at that point?


I hope that gives you lots to think about and if you need any more help, just let me know

Would you by any chance have any resources or exemplar materials or anything helpful for the Kite Runner? I got a C last year for english lit and they're taken 'Curious Incident' off the spec so I have to teach myself an entire novel for my exam in May

Unfortunately I do not have a great deal as the majority of my notes are actually in my annotated copy! I will have a look, but no promises here.

Hello guys

I'm doing AS English Lit and have my first exam in January. I'm petrified, I feel unprepared and worried to hell.

I've done a lot of research and read through the resources on the AQA website, and I've learnt that structure is the most important thing I need to write about. How Writers tell the story? But how do writers tell the story. What do I actually write about? Can you give me any examples, I'm stressed to hell, and my teachers are uselessD:

Btw I'm doing The Great Gatsby, The Kite Runner, Rossetti and Hardy poems...if that helps??

PLEEEEEASE HELLLLPPPP

Hiya, I'm doing Kite Runner (for section A), Gatsby and Hardy and Browning poetry.

Still slightly confused as I recall my teacher teaching us things such as destination and characters, so how would I encorperate that into the exam?

A thing that I've found really helpful is going onto the AQA Lit B part of their website and reading examiner feedback. They basically say things such as "In Section A Part A, the students who achieved well looked at the purpose of the chapter in the novel and related Ao2 to the chapters purpose". So yeah, just make sure you know what the examiner wants - they're too damn demanding sometimes! I got a D and am resitting. My target was an A...

Remember that characters are created in words - what recurring motifs are associated with them? How do the writers position the characters - Gatsby, for example, is spoken about long before we meet him. Why does Fitzgerald choose to do this? Here, you can hit AO2 by talking about structure (and probably language with relevant quotes) as well as AO3 as you can bring in different interpretations - is the reader supposed to like Gatsby? Are we supposed to change our views about the character once we have met him? Does Fitzgerald want us to trust Nick's narrative before Gatsby is introduced?

I believe characterisation/destination/setting etc. are in the section B question.

Hope that this is helpful,
Obsidian