AQA GCSE English Literature Exams - 20th and 23rd May 2013 OFFICAL THREAD

I will try to, I'm on study leave at the moment so I am unable to get the exam script until at least monday. If I am able to take them home or photograph them, I will scan them and upload them here. If I am unable to do that, what I did before my exam was read some student essays online and make short notes on points they made that I liked which I mainly regurgitated in the exam. However, I should be able to get them on monday :smile:

ok thank you =D

Reply 121

JustaDreamer

10

Hey everyone doing SUNLIGHT ON THE GRASS: which short stories do you think will some up? I wish I had a crystal ball right about now... Thanks in advance! :smile:

Reply 122

CD223

10

Original post by JustaDreamer

Hey everyone doing SUNLIGHT ON THE GRASS: which short stories do you think will some up? I wish I had a crystal ball right about now... Thanks in advance! :smile:

I can see My Polish Teacher's Tie and Something Old, Something New coming up. I don't know why but from what I've seen of past papers it looks like its their turn...

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Reply 123

JustaDreamer

10

Original post by CD223

I can see My Polish Teacher's Tie and Something Old, Something New coming up. I don't know why but from what I've seen of past papers it looks like its their turn...

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Thank you! I guess My polish teacher's tie is ok, and I was suspecting Something old, Something new...but it's the one I'm least confident about! :cry2:

Reply 124

goldfish21

Anyone doing the Poetry exam... I sat the January 2013 paper ( don't think the named poems for this exam have been mentioned here yet as this paper isn't currently available on aqa website so people can't see it , but i sat the paper so i know :smile:

lol ). I anwsered the Relationships question and the poems which came up were : 'Hour' and 'The Farmers Bride' in higher tier. I actually got 68/70 (high A*) UMS marks ( nearly full marks) and know pretty well how to do this exam so feel free to quote me if you have any questions on what to include/questions etc :smile:

Reply 125

Sofiane007

I have sent youu my email I really hope you got it and I hope I madee it in time :')

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Reply 126

Sofiane007

Also isit still possible for me to get A overall in literature even though I got 29/40 in my macbeth which I think is a low b or something of that sort. If it is still possible what do I have to get in my conflict poetry and my AIC AND OMAM thank you very much for your time.

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Reply 127

Luna13

Original post by goldfish21

Anyone doing the Poetry exam... I sat the January 2013 paper ( don't think the named poems for this exam have been mentioned here yet as this paper isn't currently available on aqa website so people can't see it , but i sat the paper so i know :smile:

lol ). I anwsered the Relationships question and the poems which came up were : 'Hour' and 'The Farmers Bride' in higher tier. I actually got 68/70 (high A*) UMS marks ( nearly full marks) and know pretty well how to do this exam so feel free to quote me if you have any questions on what to include/questions etc :smile:

Hi! Well done for your grade :smile:

I've been studying relationship poems in school and I'm really nervous for the exam!! I really need help on how to structure the essay, I have no idea on how to plan it out!! Also can you pass on a few revision tips on how to achieve an A/A*! It would be really helpful! Thank you!

Reply 128

username1179455

Original post by grammar12

Strong A borderline A*. To improve, work on single world analysis and multiple level analysis e.g. one one level this can be interpreted as... but on a secondary level... also aim to link factors as this will give your essay a nice flow that the examiners really appreciate. But the biggest thing, make it stand out! examiners read hundreds of responses each season, they want something different so you need to make sure your points are imaginative and unique. For example, in my AIC response, I wrote about how the pink lighting gives the appearance that the audience are looking at the family through rose tinted glass. This parallels with the pretentious and fake portrayal of the family relations. When the inspector arrives, this rose tinted glass is abruptly smashed by the inspector who replaces them with a sharp clear lens which removes the false pretences of the family and allow the audience to connect to the investigation on a more personal level. <----- this took me about 2 minutes and is nowhere near as good as I wrote in the exam but still, you get the idea, good luck!

Ahh ok yay! I will definitely do that last bit. If I send you my email could you send me those omam and aic resources thanks x

Reply 129

ghost_rebel

10

Original post by goldfish21

Anyone doing the Poetry exam... I sat the January 2013 paper ( don't think the named poems for this exam have been mentioned here yet as this paper isn't currently available on aqa website so people can't see it , but i sat the paper so i know :smile:

lol ). I anwsered the Relationships question and the poems which came up were : 'Hour' and 'The Farmers Bride' in higher tier. I actually got 68/70 (high A*) UMS marks ( nearly full marks) and know pretty well how to do this exam so feel free to quote me if you have any questions on what to include/questions etc :smile:

Hey!Congrats on your A*!What do you need to do to get that A*,currently on an A

Reply 130

grammar12

5

Thanks to everyone who asked for the resources, I have sent them to a total of 512 people now, I hope you find them useful but please, if you haven't already asked please do not now. As well as the obvious Ums point I made earlier, I also have exams and sending all those resources took quite a long time and now my examination period is now under way, I need to be completely focussed on them. Anyway, good luck with your exams!!!

Reply 131

goldfish21

Hey to all who quoted me, well basically what I would start doing is to go through each of the poems in your anthology for the cluster you are studying, and make sure you understand each poem in depth especially the poems which are likely to come up. Then , on lined paper make a sub-heading for each poem and clearly make a neat list of each point you want to make and reference it to other poems you would want to compare it to under the sub-heading. If you are in need of more points/annotations I would recommend buying a Philip Allan revision guide or watching "Mr Bruff's" you tube videos which include in depth analysis if most of the poems. Also I would include key quotations for each point so you won't waste time in the exam finding and picking out quotes from the poems.
Concerning how to structure the actual answer in the exam , I would just do what the question says as simple as that, as each question is different i.e if it asks you about structure, talk about structure of the poems. However my main point about exam responses would be to TALK A LOT ABOUT A LITTLE AND DO NOT FEATURE SPOT lol, our teacher rammed this into our heads and it works! Anyway , good luck , you can do really well in this exam if you put the revision in , with most people in our class getting above there target grades in the Jan 2013 exam.

Reply 132

HASSANATOR

Original post by grammar12

Just an update on the revision materials, thank you for the interest that you have all shown and I have tried to send them to as many people as possible. I am going to limit the amount that I send to 500 because if I let out any more, the UMS may heighten which disadvantages not only you but also other people. I have already sent the same resources to 122 people in two days which is crazy! I have mentioned to the majority of you that everyone (previously) who have used these have all gained above 90% in the exam (around 50 people in my school and 20 in the school near mine where I gave them to some friends). However, please remember that these people may be at a higher academic level in terms of their english. So please, do use the notes and techniques to their full potential, but don't hold me accountable for less than 90%! I wish you the best of luck in your exams, anyone on the thread that has the resources, please mail me your result as I would be REALLY keen to know! Thanks!

Hi, could you please also send me the OMAM resources and I would be totally grateful. I am aiming for an A*

Reply 133

goldfish21

Is anyone doing "The Crucible" and "Purple Hibiscus" for Unit 1 modern texts exam on 20th May? If so what do you is likely to come up? Character ? Setting? etcc

Reply 134

grammar12

5

Original post by HASSANATOR

Hi, could you please also send me the OMAM resources and I would be totally grateful. I am aiming for an A*

Im sorry, I keep on giving into people who ask but I did say only 500 despite now being on the 548 mark. At the moment I'm really in revision mode so I will try to get round to it if you send me your email but I am not making any promises

Reply 135

Kalm

so you reckon that there will not be hour and farmers bride on it (poetry) because that was Januarys poems... what was on the 2013 JAN Short story one? what two stories were mentioned> (aqa anthology -sunlight) thanks, kiz.

Reply 136

goldfish21

Original post by grammar12

Im sorry, I keep on giving into people who ask but I did say only 500 despite now being on the 548 mark. At the moment I'm really in revision mode so I will try to get round to it if you send me your email but I am not making any promises

Hey I have wondered this for a long time and you seem as you might know the answer. You know in the paper there are MULTIPLE questions, on different books etc, there must be just as much difference in the hardness of the questions WITHIN a paper as to between DIFFERENT papers, lol. So i was wondering are grade boundaries specific to the question. Ie if 'The Crucible" questions are harder than "Of mice and men" does that mean the grade boundaries could be higher for OMAM? Thanks alot :smile:

Reply 137

grammar12

5

Original post by goldfish21

Hey I have wondered this for a long time and you seem as you might know the answer. You know in the paper there are MULTIPLE questions, on different books etc, there must be just as much difference in the hardness of the questions WITHIN a paper as to between DIFFERENT papers, lol. So i was wondering are grade boundaries specific to the question. Ie if 'The Crucible" questions are harder than "Of mice and men" does that mean the grade boundaries could be higher for OMAM? Thanks alot :smile:

No, the questions are not separated in terms of UMS. They usually try to moderate questions before printing to ensure that they all ask you the the same caliber of information (they aren't usually too complicated) and don't make it really difficult for one question and not the other. Another factor to consider is that it's the responses to the questions that give you your grade. They could give you a really simple question and you could score worse than with a more complex question, it is ALL down to the points you make and how thorough your understanding of the book is. A simple question could be something such as: Name one theme in of mice and men and explain how steinbeck uses it to full effect throughout the novel, and how it influences the audiences view of the novella? However, they don't do this because they like to give students a starting point, they are more likely to give you a question for example, The american dream is a recurring theme throughout OMAM, how does steinbeck use this theme to describe the state of america in the 1920's? Either question would result in equal distribution of marks, but they would always go for the second because it gives a direction to the essays which make them easier to mark. It is the same with all the books in the paper, they all have a starting point. However, ultimately, it is the response from the student that gives them their mark, If people write poor essays for the crucible, that is tough luck and no fault of AQA as the questions all ask pretty much the same thing. In terms of equality, they only have uniform mark distribution between separate exam boards/papers. If edexcel lit is harder, the UMS for AQA will be very high (few extra UMS per mark) whereas edexcel will be low. I think that the books should be sat in different papers to ensure that everyone is treated fairly, because I know that studying Macbeth (the hardest book on the paper) is much more difficult than all the others which makes it unfair for people like me having to battle through the paper! Anyway, I hope I helped with minimal amounts of waffling! :biggrin:

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 138

tc-j

Any chance? Or am I too late?
C-J

Reply 139

JustaDreamer

10

Oh yeah for those doing OF MICE AND MEN, how do you answer the part b questions where they ask you to relate to the whole story or context? Thanks in advance :smile: