AQA Lang&Lit 'Food Glorious Food'

I sat the exam last year and got an A. (I could probably give you general pointers, but organising my notes into a readable and uploadable format would probably be too much of a hassle for me right now - sorry!). My advice would be to read over your notes and the texts before the exam, summarising the main points and interest and making a list of other texts you could compare it with. When writing the essay, start by outlining the purpose, audience and form of each text and this differs or is similar and why you thought the texts you chose would be good for the question. You can then use this to frame the rest of your essay. Remember that it is a comparison and themed piece - so you should not waste time saying something about one text if you cannot then find a connection between that point and the other text or if it is irrelevant to the theme in question. Jot a quick essay plan before you start and keep an on the time. Remember to consistently compare/ contrast, so you don't just end up writing an essay of two halves. Good luck!

Is it possible you could recommend the order of comparison for me please? Thank you

so basically genre, audience, purpose, structure and presentation, lexis should be my paragraphs with comparison to the steer of the question

I'm not really sure what you mean by this - as in a sort of order of contents for the Food question? If so, there's no set way as it will depends on the texts you've chosen; some of the suggested features of interest won't appear in all them (e.g. some have pictures, others don't). But basically start big with overarching themes and features like purpose, then get into really unpicking the language. All of your "smaller" points should link back to your bigger points (e.g. how this helps the text fulfil its purpose) and the theme given in the question.



I think you may have misunderstood me. It's not necessarily about devoting one paragraph to each of those things. I like to use my introduction/ first paragraph for introducing genre, audience, purpose and context if relevant (e.g. Oliver Twist) but then I make a point of referring to these within the body of my essay too - for example, in The Butcher's Shop, personification (quote) is used to make eating meat seem repulsive (possible theme). This helps the poem serve its purpose of encouraging people to become vegetarians. (Side note - try to be as specific as possible with purpose, don't just say entertain, which is rather vague). Read my reply to the other user too.

You shouldn't really be quoting until the main body of the text which yes, is where lexis comes in. But remember, this should include things like figurative language, phonology, grammar etc. - all the things the paper tells you to look for. But yes, you were right about comparison. referring to the question.

EDIT: Sorry if this is a little late, but if you have any more questions in the future about the course, feel free to PM me!

Damn it's too late. Did horrible in it...
Did you do transcripts for A2?

So sorry, I was kept rather busy by own exam woes!

But if it's any consolation, you've probably done better than you think - I panicked after leaving myself under half an hour for the unseen texts bit, completely messed up the structure and made some rather amateur points and still came out with an A. Besides, some of my points should come in handy for next year, as you have another comparison piece to write in the exam.

I think I'm on the same specification as you; we did text transformations for coursework and looked/ are looking at transcripts for the language side of the exam. However, this section also includes other forms of spoken English, such as novel extracts and interviews.

I'm doing transcripts June...basically I'm in A2. I missed my AS exam because of illness so my college allowed me to do a resit in my A2 year.
Any tips for transcripts?

Ah right, sorry to hear it and hope it ll works out okay in the end! I too am sitting the 3rd June exam but seem to doing okay with transcripts. They can be bit difficult to understand when you first see them on the page but if you read them out loud in your head they usually make more sense. My tips would be to not just point out features of speech without then explaining their purpose. So instead of saying Speaker A hedges, say Speaker A hedges because he is embarrassed. You probably wouldn't get many marks just for pointing out features of spontaneous speech. Side note - try to use as much terminology as possible.

Remember to consider the context of the transcript - if it was a conversation between teacher and student, the teacher will generally have more power and longer turns, in contrast to a conversation between friends of equal power. You could also consider gender if relevant. Also consider the purpose of the talk and distinguish between different speakers if necessary.

Also remember you'd never be asked to just analyse a transcript - you'd always have to compare with a piece of talk in literature (be it a play, prose or poetry). So you still need to the whole consistent comparison thing as with AS.

Awww thanks you have been so much help!
Erm yeah i really need to do well in this one because not sure where i stand in the AS. If i somehow get an A in the A2 exam(cough cough) then it would serve me well just incase i messed up the AS!
Are you doing the The Crucible for question one? That's what i am really stuck on!
Also can i ask....you know for transcripts what's the essay plan you are using
my teacher is decent and said....
Discourse features
Lexis
Grammar
and non fluency features....but i am finding that format hard...
How are you answering the transcripts and also when you compare the transcript to the spontaneous are you looking for the same features?

It's a shame coursework isn't worth more, at least we know where we stand with that and can redo it if necessary!

Unfortunately, I'm studying a different play and haven't read/ seen The Crucible so can't help you too much. However, I would recommend you see it performed/ a film version if one exists because I know sometimes when you read plays you don't immediately "get" them or enjoy them as much because they're not designed to be read per se and even if we do a class reading it's not the same because of course not everyone is a trained actor with perfect timing and the ability to master prosodic features. Also, we've been told to use our introduction for writing about context (i.e. how the chosen extract fits into the wider scheme of things, what's just happened before) and show the marker we know where we're going with the essay. In addition, every time you make a point try to say what the dramatic effect is.

I do like my teacher for this side of the course, but they are much better at the discussion side of English than they are at writing things down in essay format. They did give us a comparison grid thing but I don't find it very helpful because the headings basically just repeat what the question tells you to look at (context/ situation/ purpose, features of speech, form/structure (I guess speech features and form are a more elaborated version of "differences between talk in life and literature") and how attitudes and values are conveyed) and because a lot of them overlap it all gets terribly messy.

Before I tell you my personal strategy, I'd like to clarify the word "transcript" because I think we're using different definitions. In my mind, you don't compare transcripts with spontaneous speech per se because they both come under the heading of talk in life (and indeed, can sometimes be the same thing) and so both would always be compared with talk in literature.

In my introduction, I give a brief overview of two texts I am given and how they connect. This ideally should not be a repetition of what we're told by the exam paper, although you should use this information to guide your answer. I usually start with the common theme (e.g. Both texts concern a person seeking employment). Then (still in the introduction) I'd go on to discuss how the fact one is life and one is literature makes their purposes different. So... "As a transcript of spontaneous speech, everything said in A has a superficial, face value meaning whereas in B the speech is deliberately crafted so the author can express his distaste of the stigma surrounding lower classes". I might also point out broader differences and similarities between them, such as "Although both texts concern a job interview, A is ultimately more successful because the interviewer is more supportive and encouraging and the interviewee more assertive".

As with the food anthology, all of my points in the main body of my essay would ideally link back to stuff I've said in my introduction, but I would use quotes and find points of direct comparison. For example: Both interviewees hedge (quotes). However, whilst in A this is likely because of the spontaneous nature of the speaker's talk, in B the interviewee hedges because he feels nervous and uncomfortable. Although the focus should be on speech, I might briefly mention things like paralanguage or prose outside the text if relevant. For example, In B, the interviewee's working class background and lack of education is shown through his use of non standard grammar. This is reinforced by his shabby attire.

I'm bit sketchier on conclusion for this part. As they don't really matter much in the grand scheme of things, if I'm running out of time I tend to just scribble down a summary of similarities and differences. Or make a summary point about how everything I've pointed out helps each respective speaker achieve their purpose

Wow your amazing. Thankyou so much!
You really are talented at English lol! I can just feel it already. You should have no problems getting an A!
Yeah my teacher did mention in the opening paragraph you should mention one of the texts is crafted speech, where the writer will be trying to convert something...whereas the other text is spontaneous speech.

Haha, thanks! I'm actually planning to study it at university next year, so I'm hoping for one on Results Day. *fingers crossed*

Remember not all talk in life possesses the same level of spontaneity (e.g. prepared speeches) so that's something to think about as well. Off the top of my head, functions of talk in literature can be:

- Characterisation
- Furthering the plot
- Introducing key themes to be explored in greater depth
- Social commentary
- Entertaining through humour, suspense etc.

.. and of course, the face value functions within the text as if it was real life - these may not always ne straightforward of you have a scheming character or an unpleasant scenario.

Haha, thanks! I'm actually planning to study it at university next year, so I'm hoping for one on Results Day. *fingers crossed*

Remember not all talk in life possesses the same level of spontaneity (e.g. prepared speeches) so that's something to think about as well. Off the top of my head, functions of talk in literature can be:

- Characterisation
- Furthering the plot
- Introducing key themes to be explored in greater depth
- Social commentary
- Entertaining through humour, suspense etc.

.. and of course, the face value functions within the text as if it was real life - these may not always ne straightforward of you have a scheming character or an unpleasant scenario.

Yeah I can tell! What uni you going?
Also where would you mention purpose and audience of the transcript and literature piece....does that go in the intro?

Haha your too technical for me!
So what your saying in the literature piece may not be trying to develop characters or something....it could have different purposes..?
Sorry I suck at English lol!

I've firmed York for English Literature because the course really stood out to me - what about you?



And no worries, I did word it quite vaguely. What I was trying to say was that the list I made was a list of possible functions of talk in literature - so literary speech could fulfil any of those functions, none or a combination. (So yes, you were right.)

Taking the very highbrow novel Harry Potter, think back to the end of the first chapter where we see Dumbledore for the first time. Dumbledore, Hagrid and McGonagall's speech reveals aspects of their background and personality. For example, Hagrid uses non standard grammar, ellsions and clipping which shows his lack of education in comparison to the others. This is a form of characterisation - or how characters are portrayed. (Side note - so if a character was prone to shouting, exclamatives and insults, then they probably wouldn't be a very nice person.

Going back to Harry Potter, this conversation is also an important plot point as it reveals the downfall of Voldemort and sets up the future conflict between him and Harry which is continually explored throughout the series.

.. and this helps make the book serve its purpose of entertaining because of the tension/ suspense/ foreshadowing of future conflict.

Wow thanks for this....I can't thank you enough.
Erm I'm taking a gap year but hope to go SOAS to study Law...
I can see your talent in English...no surprise your going to York to study English!
How much revision have you don't btw....have you done any past papers....
I feel like I don't know anything and exam is in 2 weeks: (
Also hedges, clippings...we never got taught that....
We were taught just fillers, filled pauses, unintentional repetition, false starts, unvoiced pauses and that's it pretty much : (

Sounds cool! I haven't really done any revision outside of lessons so far, but we do a lot of past papers/ quizzes in class (maybe about six or seven for each section of the paper so far?). I think the best thing to do is practise. I will be probably be on TSR sometimes in the next two weeks if you want a study buddy. (Although we should probably move onto PM like you suggested before...)

I wouldn't worry too much about not knowing certain words, there are probably thousands more technical terms we'll never hear of. :P My teacher likes giving us a lot of handouts which is probably where I get all his stuff from. Hedging is when you weaken the force what you say (e.g. I think maybe you should try a different colour" instead of "Use a different colour. That one's ugly."). Clipping is missing off letters at the start/ end of words, like "sayin'".

I'm sure you'll do fine, it's probably just exam nerves!