AS-Level English Literature OCR Exam

For timed essays, where would you find the titles? There are about 6-7 past paper titles to look at but surely that's not enough practice?

If I aim to have 1 AO3 point per paragraph (which would make around 4 in total), then would you say each one has to be a critical view which you disagree with? How about sometimes debating another interpretation which you yourself came up with - would that get you the AO3 points for that paragraph?

And would you also advocate the proposed structure of "link to question, make points/evidence to support your claim, critical argument/debate, context from the author's life, link all this back to the question" (for prose), and "link to question, make points/evidence to support your claim, context from other poems and how this backs up the point, link back to question"?

AO3: explore connections and comparisons between different literary texts, informed by interpretations of other readers;

Be careful how you use AO3 - Argument is good, but argument for the sake of arguing will end up making your piece look forced and rather weak.

You need to make sure that your AO3 points are directly related to the question being asked; our Head of English said he spoke to a Chief Examiner who said the vast majority of marks lost by Lit students are due to irrelevant points which are not related to the question. Make sure you have relevant points which you can deploy.



That is what OCR state AO3 is marked on; in other words, make sure you can cite relevant critics or critical movements (remember, if you develop a Marxist, Freudian or Feminist reading of the piece it is relevant AO3) If you have the opportunity to argue, even better, if not - you will not lose marks for not arguing.

Also look for allusions within your text and other novels which you can briefly relate to when you are backing up a point made.

AO3 should be used to support your overall argument and help add depth to your essay; don't let it dictate the content of your essay

OK, so pick a relevant critical quote to the question and then describe its flaws - this should do the trick each time. So would it also do the same to say "a Marxist interpretation of the novel might suggest ...", relevant to the question, etc. and then point out (just mention, really, a couple of short sentences) why this interpretation is incomplete/not as accurate as the one I'm offering in my essay?

Yes, saying, "A Marxist reading would suggest..." Is just as relevant as quoting a critic.

You can either use a critic to back up your own argument or to argue with. Both are valid; you don't always need to disagree with the critic.

As I said earlier, if you genuinely disagree then argue but don't argue for the sake of arguing.

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But as the poster above said, wouldn't it be easier for the examiner to identify disagreement as the candidate engaging with the critic? Or is it not necessary that you "engage", merely that you mention the critic's point of view?

No I don't agree with that. If you make a point and then cite the name of a critic and a quote from that critic that is more than enough.

Argument is good but not necessary to achieve the top band

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What do we do to revise for poetry? Is just knowing the themes of each poem and language, poetic terminology, and thematic/linguistic/structural links between poems, enough? Or is there something else too? Given that there's no context or critical opinions in poetry - or at least the context they have in AO4 means referencing other poems (and that's all AO4 means for poetry) ...

More than anything it is a close critical analysis; that is to say, you need to learn - in detail - the effects of language, style, structure and poetic techniques within all the poems. To fulfill both AO1 and AO2 you need to make sure you can use poetic terminology like Iambic Pentametre, rhythm and enjambment in a fluent manner and, most importantly, you need to be able to link these techniques into the remit of the question.

You should probably learn a little about your poet and the circumstances surrounding the authorship of some of the poems you are studying. For example, what is the poem about? Does this reflect a loss of life or love in the poets real life? I know many of the poems I study cannot be understood fully without first exploring the contextual information surrounding the actual authorship of the poem.

Also, you need to learn quotes from each of the poems. To reach the top band, and impress the examiner, you should be able to quote other poems in your essay; not simply say, this is similar in poem X. Rather, you should be able to say this is similar in poem X, as illustrated by the line, "Blah."

Hope that helps!

You should probably learn a little about your poet and the circumstances surrounding the authorship of some of the poems you are studying. For example, what is the poem about? Does this reflect a loss of life or love in the poets real life? I know many of the poems I study cannot be understood fully without first exploring the contextual information surrounding the actual authorship of the poem.

Thanks, this is really helpful!



And would you then drop in these details when answering the question? Even though AO4 mainly refers to drawing on and referencing other poems ...

Yes, you should drop in small bits of contextual information. Have you looked through the exemplar scripts that OCR have on their site which are marked by examiners? They show you how to lay out and write an essay.

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Not at all! Where could I find these scripts? Do they apply for our specification/exam?

Yes, they are directly relevant to our course: http://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/72163-unit-f661-exemplar-scripts-june-2012.pdf

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Thanks.

It's worth noticing that these have colossal paragraphs. Some of the paragraphs on the Emily Dickinson essay would be verging on the full length of a written page in my handwriting, and they are not atypical of the overall length in the first few essays. Do you really think this is a good way to write essays for our exam?

(Another difference between literary criticism and story-writing, I suppose - authors will usually recant from massively long paragraphs.)

When bringing in other poems from outside the main one to support your argument, is it decidedly better to draw on just a couple more poems consistently throughout your essay to support the points of the main one (as in the Emily Dickinson example), or would it be better to make loads of little points from several other poems instead?

AO1 - How fluent is your piece? Dies it have good SPG? Does it tackle the question directly

AO2 - Text based analysis. How well have you analysed the text using literary techniques and effect on reader. Linked back into the question

AO3 - Critics and other readers interpretations of the text discussed and woven into question

AO4 - Relevant contextual information which does not include any critics or critical analysis

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Heyyy what does SPG stand for? Thankssss

Hey, I'm really in need of help with structure for Dorian Gray and Yeats (which is my poetry)

How many paragraphs should I aim to write? How should I set them out or organise them?

1) Write in whatever manner suits you. Everyone writes in a different way, perhaps that is why no one piece of writing is ever the same and there can never be a right answer for English. As long as you structure the essay correctly you will not lose AO1 marks. The rule of thumb is, when you are introducing a new point start a new paragraph; but there is no correct or incorrect way to paragraph. Personally, I have a new paragraph for every point I make - some points are longer than others.

2) Make sure you don't use huge quotes in your Novel essay. Short quotes embedded into the discussion are much better.

3) It is much better to have two or three well developed comparisons rather than six or seven short comparisons. Quality always presides over quantity. Have three or four well developed comparisons and, if you have time, feel free to stick in several less detailed comparisons; it won't do any harm. But make sure you have several well developed comparisons and not just statements like, "This poem has a free verse structure, much like poem Y." You should instead state, "This poem is written in free verse form, similar to poem Y. The effect of this on both poems..........[Include a quote from the other poem too]"

Hope that helps!