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

where is your essay?

poetry is pretty much what you make of it. Just as long as you back up your own interpretation of the poem with plenty of quotes with word-level analysis you should be fine. Poetry is all down to your own interpretation - make it up if worst comes to worst good luck

I'm nervous about this exam - really, really want an A* and have been getting them in mocks, but you can never really tell with English.

I'd love it to be Hale but it probably won't be as yes, he did come up. I have a feeling it's going to be Danforth as well... He's ok to write about. I guess I'd talk about his motives (wanting to be a 'Boston Judge'), coldness of manner. Actually, having said that, I think I need to revise the judges

It might be Mary Warren too. Fairly easy character? Definitely clear points to be made as she appears at different places in the play and sort of changes by going up then down - scared of Abby/Proctor at the start, then she gets authority and goes against Abigail, then she's brought down again - Abby's too strong for her.

Edit: did Mary come up in Jan 2013?

If Proctor or Hale come up I will be so happy.

Is anyone doing to Kill a Mockingbird? What do you think the passage might be? (hard to tell I know)

Good luck everyone!

I'm doing LOTF, OMAM and the Relationships cluster. Am I the only one who is both really excited and terrified for the exam?

Excited because.... well, it's English and terrified because I have tremendous difficulty with timing, so often never finish and conclude

I'm doing LOTF, OMAM and the Relationships cluster. Am I the only one who is both really excited and terrified for the exam?

Excited because.... well, it's English and terrified because I have tremendous difficulty with timing, so often never finish and conclude

OMAM, AIC and Character and Voice cluster, haven't even started revising lmao

Hi there teacherforall, and thanks for the information above. I have been reviewing past papers too, but I am unable to access the January 2013 one - do you have access to that at all, or do you know anywhere online where it appears? It is the OMAM and an Inspector Calls that I am interested in. Thank you again, best wishes.

leave it yeah

Hi,

I'm a teacher of English, at GCSE and A Level. The English department, at my school, have been with the AQA Exam Board, since 2011, and, as I have seen, nearly, all of the past papers for the Unit 1 Exam, I have a strong feeling of the questions that may come up.

Short Stories Anthology:

I believe that one of the questions will ask you about how a character is developed throughout one of the short stories - my feeling being drawn towards Sandra from The Darkness Out There. For the second part of the question, I believe that you will have to choose another short story in which you believe a character is developed and analytically evaluate the text, so that you are able to justify why you have this interpretation.

At my school, we don't study any of the other books, in Section A, so I am unable to predict a question for those texts. Apologies.

Of Mice and Men:

Many candidates on this thread are predicting that Curley or Slim may appear in the question, but I don't think that this will be the case. I have a feeling that AQA may ask you to analyse another character, that they have asked before, or, possibly, ask you to look at a passage and analyse the difference between two characters.

Setting is also another possibility. You may be asked to reference the Barn or you may have to analyse how Steinbeck uses language to introduce themes, on the opening page, for example.

Also, as a teacher and examiner, I know how to apply the mark scheme, so I would be more than happy to check your answers to previous questions, if that would be beneficial to you. If you would like me to mark one of your responses and provide you with detailed feedback, then message me!

Good luck with the exam,
Mr Derby.

Hi,

I'm a teacher of English, at GCSE and A Level. The English department, at my school, have been with the AQA Exam Board, since 2011, and, as I have seen, nearly, all of the past papers for the Unit 1 Exam, I have a strong feeling of the questions that may come up.

Short Stories Anthology:

I believe that one of the questions will ask you about how a character is developed throughout one of the short stories - my feeling being drawn towards Sandra from The Darkness Out There. For the second part of the question, I believe that you will have to choose another short story in which you believe a character is developed and analytically evaluate the text, so that you are able to justify why you have this interpretation.

At my school, we don't study any of the other books, in Section A, so I am unable to predict a question for those texts. Apologies.

Of Mice and Men:

Many candidates on this thread are predicting that Curley or Slim may appear in the question, but I don't think that this will be the case. I have a feeling that AQA may ask you to analyse another character, that they have asked before, or, possibly, ask you to look at a passage and analyse the difference between two characters.

Setting is also another possibility. You may be asked to reference the Barn or you may have to analyse how Steinbeck uses language to introduce themes, on the opening page, for example.

Also, as a teacher and examiner, I know how to apply the mark scheme, so I would be more than happy to check your answers to previous questions, if that would be beneficial to you. If you would like me to mark one of your responses and provide you with detailed feedback, then message me!

Good luck with the exam,
Mr Derby.