English Literature GCSE?

I have my English Lit GCSE exam in a weeks time, and I couldn't be more nervous. Everybody keeps giving me different advice and I know there isn't a specific way to do well in a subject like English but I really want an A*, so how do you get the highest marks?! Any answers would be greatly appreciated.

Reply 1

Krollo

What texts are you doing?

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Reply 2

Perspective_

Original post by Krollo

What texts are you doing?

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Krollo, I am doing the exam next week too. I've studied Of Mice and Men and An Inspector Calls. Is there anything I should do to promote the chances of me achieving a beautiful A*?

Reply 3

Krollo

Original post by Perspective_

Krollo, I am doing the exam next week too. I've studied Of Mice and Men and An Inspector Calls. Is there anything I should do to promote the chances of me achieving a beautiful A*?

Well, for Of Mice and Men I have made some online flashcards - if you search for "WJEC May 2013 brainscape" you should find a link on that thread to them there.
With analysis, I just look through Shmoop and just regurgitate their analyses. I also use long Englishy words to impress the examiner. I've got full marks in some of my practice papers, so it's worked for me.

Reply 4

CaptainBritain

Original post by Krollo

What texts are you doing?

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It's IGCSE- So Julius Caesar, Stories of Ourselves and Songs of Ourselves. I was really looking for exam technique more than anything else though.

Reply 5

Krollo

I'd refer you to my earlier post. The same techniques can be applied to any essay really. Just remember to be creative.

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Reply 6

PhoebeKnowles

Does anybody have any notes/tips on Of Mice And Men, A Christmas Carol and/or The History Boys? I really want to do well but am struggling :s

Reply 7

Tom190

I did a Year 10 GCSE English Language CA on Of Mice and Men a few months ago, got a mark of 9 (out of 15 I think) which roughly equates to a C Grade. The assessment title was 'How does Steinbeck present an aspect of power in Of Mice and Men?'.

Main bit of feedback I received on my CA was include plenty of analysis at word level- this is where I lost a lot of marks. Pick out an individual word or two words and write a PEE paragraph on it. What I wrote was good, and got me a C grade, though it's the close word analysis that will get you Bs and As.

Good luck!!

Reply 8

BP_Tranquility

I found this video on YouTube which I highly recommend you watch! I'm doing Of Mice and Men and The Crucible but this video focuses mainly on Of Mice and Men :biggrin:

[video="youtube;D-bD2r_S8hM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-bD2r_S8hM[/video]

Reply 9

student@gcse

My cousin came out with an A* and she said that she recorded voice notes and listened to them throughout the day. On the train, car, bus, whilst she was sleeping, at lunchtime ect. :smile:

Reply 10

ScienceConfusion

You only have an hour anyway so don't go wild with knowing loaaads of in depth analysis. I did the exam last year and got a B so I'm repeating it on Monday. Look, don't (and i'm speaking from experience) go in and try to impress the examiner with lovely words and pretty analysis of the book. The WORST thing you can do is go in and talk about WHAT the book is about, they don't care. They already know! It's not about your knowledge of the characters and the book, but instead it's about writer's craft and how Steinbeck presents the characters, eg Crooks as a victim of racial injustice, Candy as pitiable through the use of DEVICES such as adjectives, similes, giving away a lot about the characters through use of dialogue, devices such as foreshadowing etc. Use really basic language, just get your points across as simply as you can. It's literally just point (eg Crooks is presented as a pitiable character by Steinbeck and a victim of his race), evidence (we see this when Steinbeck tells us ''the boss gives him hell'') then most importantly, your explanation - (eg, We clearly see that although Crooks is diligent, independent and an intellectual, ''he's got books in his room'', none of this makes any difference to the way the white ranch hands see him. Because Crooks is a black man living in a prejudicial society, he is always going to be victimized because of his race. We identify the unfair setting of this society and this makes us feel a surge of great sympathy for Crooks.) So just literally repeat this process: point, evidence, explanation the whole way through and go in with about 12-15 quotes (keep them short) and you're guaranteed to get an A*. Good luck!!