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

Is there separate boundaries for the different set texts in today's exam? Eg would my To Kill a Mockingbird boundaries be different to Of Mice and Men?

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no unfortunately, its the response to the question paper as a whole

but a lot of people do to kill a mockingbird, so you are ok in that respect, that the grade boundaries won't rise too much due to other people's books being difficult

that is, if you found it difficult

Reply 2181

cycahm

Original post by Galileo Galilei

Ohh, cool

good luck mate!

THank you! You too in your poetry exam :smile:

Reply 2182

fezzy_123

what points are predicted to be in the mark schmes for eric in AIC

Reply 2183

Avor

2

Original post by fezzy_123

what points are predicted to be in the mark schmes for eric in AIC

dont worry about MS they are just guidance but i imagine it will be something like

AO1:

alcohol
responsibility
change of character

A02:

stage directions
setting e.g. light brighter & harder
short, blunt language

Reply 2184

scudamoret

For Of Mice And Men (Q21) I only referred to stuff I picked up in the passage referring to the heavy use of royal imagery ('majesty' and Slim being the 'prince' of the farm) and also picked up upon Slim being a character of moral highground, providing a window of opportunity and some sense of hope to his fellow ranch hands.

Part B and I might have panicked for two seconds and this year has really frustrated me with AQA either making questions ACROSS EXAMS so vague or phrased so awkwardly. I, with 15 minutes to spare, answered Part B with:

•

The bunkhouse representing power (8 beds and only 5 made up)

•

Candy's dog being shot and him not really protesting

•

Curley's Wife saying 'they left us weak ones behind'

•

For some reason with three minutes left before time was up I linked the story of the heron eating the snake to the ending for George and Lennie which was, I guess, completely irrelevant, right?

By the way thank you all for making me seem less worried haha. So many found Part B a tough one to answer but I guess if we all answer it difficultly AQA will come to the conclusion that it's their fault in making such an awkward question so challenging. Damn it, I'm writing better here than I was in the exam!

Reply 2185

BP_Tranquility

5

Original post by Avor

yeah i know but the examiner will read and assess your response as a whole, you technically can do a paragraph for part b just so u refer to context and get full marks

I think I did very well in section a but thought I wrote less on section b and my response wasn't as good- will this affect my overall grade or will it be offset by my better performance on section a and how many marks would I drop? :smile:

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Reply 2186

cleveradam

9

poetry in less than 2 days already.

Reply 2187

Avor

2

Original post by scudamoret

For Of Mice And Men (Q21) I only referred to stuff I picked up in the passage referring to the heavy use of royal imagery ('majesty' and Slim being the 'prince' of the farm) and also picked up upon Slim being a character of moral highground, providing a window of opportunity and some sense of hope to his fellow ranch hands.

Part B and I might have panicked for two seconds and this year has really frustrated me with AQA either making questions ACROSS EXAMS so vague or phrased so awkwardly. I, with 15 minutes to spare, answered Part B with:

•

The bunkhouse representing power (8 beds and only 5 made up)

•

Candy's dog being shot and him not really protesting

•

Curley's Wife saying 'they left us weak ones behind'

•

For some reason with three minutes left before time was up I linked the story of the heron eating the snake to the ending for George and Lennie which was, I guess, completely irrelevant, right?

By the way thank you all for making me seem less worried haha. So many found Part B a tough one to answer but I guess if we all answer it difficultly AQA will come to the conclusion that it's their fault in making such an awkward question so challenging. Damn it, I'm writing better here than I was in the exam!

Those points seem really promising!
and i agree the wording was annoying!!
did it mean most important people, or did it also imply less important people, i wasted time trying to find examples of more important, before realising the essence of the question is the word 'prejudice' and 'respect' and then i had lots of points but not enough time to write them in!!

Reply 2188

fezzy_123

im scared for an inspector calls
didnt do so well
however on eric i metioned these points
* his relationship with his father. contradicts his fathers ideas which possibly suggests he has his own ideas however is cut off when voicing them
*consisting of the younger genaration and was willling to open up and change
*his reason to drinking was probably depression due to his affair with eva
* accepted responsibilty and yelled at mother for turning eva away without help
*is ashamed of his family and says 'we did her in all right'

i used many quotes and expanded on these ideas
cant really remember the others, would these be acceptable

Reply 2189

simmy123

7

Original post by jwf13

I hadn't even thought of that, it took me ages to think about something for that quote. Which text did you do in section B?

Section b was of mice and men what was yours??

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Reply 2190

Avor

2

Original post by BP_Tranquility

I think I did very well in section a but thought I wrote less on section b and my response wasn't as good- will this affect my overall grade or will it be offset by my better performance on section a and how many marks would I drop? :smile:

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If you analysed language closely & with 'insight' in section A
responded to ideas/themes in an insightful way
analysed linguistic techniques closely all in section a
the only requirement in section B is then selecting a quote and linking to context

Reply 2191

Avor

2

Original post by BP_Tranquility

I'll be very surprised if that doesn't get you top marks :wink:

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do you think? does it seem convincing?

Reply 2192

fezzy_123

wow i missed out on the ao2 quite a bit :frown:

*crossed fingers*
did u also do this question

Reply 2193

scudamoret

Original post by Avor

Those points seem really promising!
and i agree the wording was annoying!!
did it mean most important people, or did it also imply less important people, i wasted time trying to find examples of more important, before realising the essence of the question is the word 'prejudice' and 'respect' and then i had lots of points but not enough time to write them in!!

Thank you, I just vomited on the page and kind of stated 'this shows there are more important characters than others' A LOT, yikes! My teacher will kill me! Erm... yeah well your last minute ideas probably would have worked - the examiner might have wanted to see all the themes of sexism, racism, ageism etc. in there. I didn't even mention the obvious in my point about Candy (he's old and he's afraid of his future, of course!)

Furthermore, whilst it appears the two parts are linked (dischotomy, I think - word of the day!) is it compulsory to at least write one paragraph about Slim in the context question in which the paper asks you to refer to OTHER CHARACTERS?

Reply 2194

Avor

2

Original post by fezzy_123

wow i missed out on the ao2 quite a bit :frown:

*crossed fingers*
did u also do this question

yes, my points were basically the A01 & 2s i listed

Reply 2195

Avor

2

Original post by scudamoret

Thank you, I just vomited on the page and kind of stated 'this shows there are more important characters than others' A LOT, yikes! My teacher will kill me! Erm... yeah well your last minute ideas probably would have worked - the examiner might have wanted to see all the themes of sexism, racism, ageism etc. in there. I didn't even mention the obvious in my point about Candy (he's old and he's afraid of his future, of course!)

Furthermore, whilst it appears the two parts are linked (dischotomy, I think - word of the day!) is it compulsory to at least write one paragraph about Slim in the context question in which the paper asks you to refer to OTHER CHARACTERS?

what!? were we not allowed to write about Slim in the part b???

Reply 2196

scudamoret

Original post by Avor

what!? were we not allowed to write about Slim in the part b???

Wait, wait, I mean that's what I'm asking: do we have to link Slim into Part B? I don't think I did.

Reply 2197

Avor

2

Original post by scudamoret

Wait, wait, I mean that's what I'm asking: do we have to link Slim into Part B? I don't think I did.

no we didn't

Reply 2198

simmy123

7

For eric in section a i talked about
Responsibilty
Historical context
Links to evas death
I used the idea of write a lot about a little so for one quote i had two different interpretations
I did the same technique fr section b
What grade could this be

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