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

I thought this exam was easier than I anticipated.

Section A doing Character and Voice I compared River God with My Last Duchess with the theme of control which was quite simple as the speakers in both have a certain set of rules they want others to conform to and that they both try to control women by murdering them. I sort of lost some time on this but was able to make two comparative points (two for each poem) which I believe was good.

Section B was a lot easier to understand than I though it would be. The idea of only a few words on each line linking to how fast she has grown up. Also I though that the "curved path" into the "park" was a representation of childhood with the "curved" showing how life is difficult and not straightforward with some 'bumps' along the way and as this path is only the entrance it could make the "park" symbolic of life as the path is only the entrance showing how the daughter has so much ahead of her in life. Not sure if these points are valid but I am hopeful.

Wish I had an extra 15 minutes or so to fully express my points but overall I think I wrote enough for an A I want but if the grade boundaries are as low as people have been saying I have a feeling I could sneak an A*. Hope you all found it good as well. :smile:

Also good I don't have to do English for A level.

That's what I'm worried about too! I talked about general feelings and attitudes towards growing up and not the mother's feelings :facepalm:

Reply 2701

Jacksnothere

Original post by JustaDreamer

That's what I'm worried about too! I talked about general feelings and attitudes towards growing up and not the mother's feelings :facepalm:

The speaker of the poem is the mother, so I would assume that any analysis of language within the poem related to the theme of Growing Up would be valid but we'll have to wait and see.

Reply 2702

Cynical.

Original post by Catfish1311

Can't speak for unit 4, but for the poetry, for the past 3 series they've stuck with:
37 - A*
30 - A
23 - B
16 - C

Not quite -

Jan 2013:

Spoiler

June 2012:

Spoiler

Jan 2012 - bigger difference here:

Spoiler

June 2011:

Spoiler

Number on left is raw marks, on right is UMS (too lazy to delete them all).

Reply 2703

ryanb97

15

Original post by JustaDreamer

Haha cool how much did you write? I wrote about three pages for the comparison and then a page for the Unseen... :s-smilie:

i wrote about 7.5 pages with 0.75 page plan for the comaprison
and then about 3.5 ages for the unseen :biggrin:

Original post by Jacksnothere

I thought this exam was easier than I anticipated.

Section A doing Character and Voice I compared River God with My Last Duchess with the theme of control which was quite simple as the speakers in both have a certain set of rules they want others to conform to and that they both try to control women by murdering them. I sort of lost some time on this but was able to make two comparative points (two for each poem) which I believe was good.

Section B was a lot easier to understand than I though it would be. The idea of only a few words on each line linking to how fast she has grown up. Also I though that the "curved path" into the "park" was a representation of childhood with the "curved" showing how life is difficult and not straightforward with some 'bumps' along the way and as this path is only the entrance it could make the "park" symbolic of life as the path is only the entrance showing how the daughter has so much ahead of her in life. Not sure if these points are valid but I am hopeful.

Wish I had an extra 15 minutes or so to fully express my points but overall I think I wrote enough for an A I want but if the grade boundaries are as low as people have been saying I have a feeling I could sneak an A*. Hope you all found it good as well. :smile:

Also good I don't have to do English for A level.

i referenced and elaborated the curving bit :cheers:

Reply 2704

Mallory

I mentioned that ghazal contained enjambent when it does'nt!
will I get heavily penalized?

Reply 2705

curved

9

Hmmm I did Relationships and had a bit of a disaster really. I chose the Sonnet 116 question (to be compared with Hour) and wrote something like 5 or 6 sides - I had far too much to say; I planned for 10 minutes alone! I only managed around 2 strong points per poem that offered at least one alternative meaning within and then my conclusion was a bit wishy washy but I included another point. My main point was they both explored love in relation to time but in contrasting ways etc etc Mentioned the sonnet form too and how Shakespeare chose a traditional Shakespearean sonnet form which was ironic because everything he was saying went against tradition as the poem was addressed to a man so he included ambiguous use of the word man (the nor man ever loved bit) to try and withhold an obvious addressee and I said he may have been worried blah blah blah I can't really remember if I'm honest.

The unseen poem was beautiful - I don't often appreciate poem as I'm a mathematical person however I thought it was a lovely poem. I only had about 20 minutes to write my answer but I managed to include a point about the poet making the speaker's feelings ambiguous with the handkerchief line as you would interpret it as the speaker needing her daughter back as it was the only thing that would comfort her now that she's growing up and will distance herself, however you could interpret it as the speaker was proud that her daughter had managed to ride a bike on her own and was growing up and was currently proud that her daughter was making a life for her home. I also spoke about enjambment reiterating the confused feelings that conflicted one another because it created a lack of sustained metre in the poem which was also due to the free verse and it made the speaker appear to ramble and struggle to articulate her views in a structured fashion due to her strong feelings etc.,

Reply 2706

sunshinebeem

13

Original post by curved

Technically it should be none as you do not gain marks for terminology so if you explanation was valid and your point surrounding it, the examiner should use their best judgement to understand your point so I'm guessing like 2 at the most if you have a harsh examiner.

Phew! thanks :smile:

Reply 2707

Jennienarwin

What questions came up on the exam?I couldn't do it since I had to be admitted into hospital today.-.-

Reply 2708

Sweaty

5

Original post by ghost_rebel

Yes,i wrote that point aswell!! :biggrin:

Would that be an A* point do u think??

Should be, i'm sure not a lot of people would have thought of that :cool:

Reply 2709

JustaDreamer

10

Original post by Jacksnothere

The speaker of the poem is the mother, so I would assume that any analysis of language within the poem related to the theme of Growing Up would be valid but we'll have to wait and see.

Reply 2710

JustaDreamer

10

Original post by ryanb97

i wrote about 7.5 pages with 0.75 page plan for the comaprison
and then about 3.5 ages for the unseen :biggrin:

*Faints spontaneously*

Reply 2711

HollyW43

Original post by Mallory

I mentioned that ghazal contained enjambent when it does'nt!
will I get heavily penalized?

It does have enjambment! "don't hang- on my lips"

Reply 2712

randlemcmurphy

11

Did anyone do the Born Yesterday question, and if you did what poem did you compare it to? I compared it to nettles as hopes and desires are clearly expressed in that poem

Reply 2713

mattdennis

6

Original post by JustaDreamer

*Faints spontaneously*

Thank God I'm not the only one...

Reply 2714

curved

9

Original post by randlemcmurphy

Did anyone do the Born Yesterday question, and if you did what poem did you compare it to? I compared it to nettles as hopes and desires are clearly expressed in that poem

My best friend did and she compared to Hour which I find bizarre but she siad the whole poem is about wishing for more time etc which I suppose is right...

Reply 2715

JustaDreamer

10

Original post by mattdennis

Thank God I'm not the only one...

Same to you! :biggrin:

*sighs with relief*

Reply 2716

cleveradam

9

Original post by HollyW43

It does have enjambment! "don't hang- on my lips"

I guess Mallory won't lose any marks if he has defined Ghazal but won't gain any.
However will/might lose marks on accuracy section of scheme.

Reply 2717

Mallory

Original post by randlemcmurphy

Did anyone do the Born Yesterday question, and if you did what poem did you compare it to? I compared it to nettles as hopes and desires are clearly expressed in that poem

in my school , like no one did this one , they used the sonnet 116 question
I compared it to Ghazal , but I wish I compared it with nettles now!

Reply 2718

ryanb97

15

Original post by JustaDreamer

*Faints spontaneously*

Original post by mattdennis

Thank God I'm not the only one...

i absolutely crapped myself near the start.. i started my watch at the wrong time... and i wasn't near a clock in the exam room... so i just wrote as fast i could
but i think my handwriting was better for some reason :biggrin:

Spoiler

Reply 2719

Mallory

Original post by cleveradam