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As Edexcel English Lit

Hi! I am doing Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea and I am really struggling to compare these. I know that there are some things which are similar but I am not sure how or structure it in an essay. Any one got any advice?
Reply 1
Heya

There are a ton of things you can compare, be it the similarities or differences. Jane and Bertha have very similar characters, they're both attracted by fire and undergo virtually the same events. Tia wounding Antoinette is a direct echo of John Reed hurling the book at Jane, for example. You can talk about Rhys' choices in creating her prequel, how she mirrors many things, but twists others. While their upbringings are similar, Jane's true change came from the presence of Miss Temple and Helen Burns, and Antoinette has no such figure. In her school, God is talked about within the same sentence as the proper treatment of cuticles.

That part was in terms of plot (duh), but you can also compare the writing style and narrative gaps. Like... in the first page of each text, on begins with the definitive statement of "there was no possibility of taking a walk that day", whereas in WSS, Antoinette's language is based on pure hearsay "some say that when the ... close ranks". So just through the language, you can tell the differences within the characters, which you can comment on.

I hope that part helped :tongue:

And for the structure of that within the essay, the main marks go to JE, so work in a 2:1 way. Compare WSS a little during the first 2/3, but focus on JE. For the last 1/3, focus on WSS and the comparison

Good luck!
Reply 2
Original post by miri223
Heya

There are a ton of things you can compare, be it the similarities or differences. Jane and Bertha have very similar characters, they're both attracted by fire and undergo virtually the same events. Tia wounding Antoinette is a direct echo of John Reed hurling the book at Jane, for example. You can talk about Rhys' choices in creating her prequel, how she mirrors many things, but twists others. While their upbringings are similar, Jane's true change came from the presence of Miss Temple and Helen Burns, and Antoinette has no such figure. In her school, God is talked about within the same sentence as the proper treatment of cuticles.

That part was in terms of plot (duh), but you can also compare the writing style and narrative gaps. Like... in the first page of each text, on begins with the definitive statement of "there was no possibility of taking a walk that day", whereas in WSS, Antoinette's language is based on pure hearsay "some say that when the ... close ranks". So just through the language, you can tell the differences within the characters, which you can comment on.

I hope that part helped :tongue:

And for the structure of that within the essay, the main marks go to JE, so work in a 2:1 way. Compare WSS a little during the first 2/3, but focus on JE. For the last 1/3, focus on WSS and the comparison

Good luck!

Aww, thanks sooo much!!! That makes it a bit simpler!! Are you doing this exam as well? :smile:
Reply 3
Original post by Taraqs
Aww, thanks sooo much!!! That makes it a bit simpler!! Are you doing this exam as well? :smile:


Yeah I am^^
I'm fine for JE, but it's the poetry and unseen I'm worried about :c are you any good at those? If so please give me advice xD
Reply 4
Original post by miri223
Yeah I am^^
I'm fine for JE, but it's the poetry and unseen I'm worried about :c are you any good at those? If so please give me advice xD


I am not too bad with them actually. What poetry are you doing? I am doing Land!! Anyway, so for poetry it is about comparing ( I would just do 2 poems p, you are allowed to do more but it is better to do 2 because you can do them in more detail!). You don't get many marks for analysing form, structure and language (only 5 out of 40!!). It is all about making connections within the poem and also you get lots of marks for talking about different interpretations of a poem. For example, in Mushrooms, you could say that it is about feminism, or you could say that it could about the Cold War ("our hammers, our rams" ). So learn about 6 poems really well, and make sure you can make links and also talk about different interpretations of each poem :smile:

For unseen, it is just answering the questions fairly briefly. So if they ask you to talk about sound devices, you would say something about an alliteration, or assonance, or sibilance and then you say the effect it has eg the sibilance of.... Gives it a soft sound and so it gives a peaceful atmosphere. If they ask about language choices you would just write stuff about similes, metaphors or connotations of a certain word etc Just spend 30 mins on the unseen, as the majority of the marks are on jane eyre and poetry. Hope that helps!! :wink:

I am predicted an A in this exam, but since january we have had a new teacher, and he is lovely but we have hardly done any WSS stuff so I have no notes on them :frown:
Reply 5
I'm doing land too! Thanks for that, and if you want I can help you with WSS? My teacher is amazing, and we have great notes
Reply 6
Original post by miri223
I'm doing land too! Thanks for that, and if you want I can help you with WSS? My teacher is amazing, and we have great notes

OMG, yes please!!! And you are sooo lucky!!! :biggrin::biggrin:
Reply 7
What would you like to know/ ^^
Reply 8
Original post by miri223
What would you like to know/ ^^

Like pretty much everything!!! we are soo behind on jane eyre and WSS :frown: like main themes ( is post coloniasm one? ) and just important sections of the bool etc... I am getting sooo stressed right now :confused::frown:
Reply 9
Original post by Taraqs
like pretty much everything!!! we are soo behind on jane eyre and WSS :frown: like main themes ( is post coloniasm one? ) and just important sections of the bool etc... I am getting sooo stressed right now :confused::frown:

Main themes;
Fire and ice
Captivity
Landscape - west Indian vs british
Gardens, like Lowood vs Thorn field, compare to Bewicks book of birds
Religion

Readings:
Feminism
Post colonial


You can message me on Facebook if you like, I can explain in more detail /miri223
Im doing Land poetry too! What poems have you decided to focus on?
Original post by Taraqs
I am not too bad with them actually. What poetry are you doing? I am doing Land!! Anyway, so for poetry it is about comparing ( I would just do 2 poems p, you are allowed to do more but it is better to do 2 because you can do them in more detail!). You don't get many marks for analysing form, structure and language (only 5 out of 40!!). It is all about making connections within the poem and also you get lots of marks for talking about different interpretations of a poem. For example, in Mushrooms, you could say that it is about feminism, or you could say that it could about the Cold War ("our hammers, our rams" ). So learn about 6 poems really well, and make sure you can make links and also talk about different interpretations of each poem :smile:

For unseen, it is just answering the questions fairly briefly. So if they ask you to talk about sound devices, you would say something about an alliteration, or assonance, or sibilance and then you say the effect it has eg the sibilance of.... Gives it a soft sound and so it gives a peaceful atmosphere. If they ask about language choices you would just write stuff about similes, metaphors or connotations of a certain word etc Just spend 30 mins on the unseen, as the majority of the marks are on jane eyre and poetry. Hope that helps!! :wink:

I am predicted an A in this exam, but since january we have had a new teacher, and he is lovely but we have hardly done any WSS stuff so I have no notes on them :frown:


Im doing Land poetry too! What poems have you decided to focus on?
Reply 12
Original post by Hannah196
Im doing Land poetry too! What poems have you decided to focus on?


I'm doing Nutting, Binsey Poplars, Crossing the water, and the Flood. What about you?
Reply 13
Original post by Hannah196
Im doing Land poetry too! What poems have you decided to focus on?


Hey! I am doing The flood, A survey, mushrooms, binsey poplars... Not sure which other ones, probably Interruption to a journey or crossing the water! What about you? :smile:
Reply 14
Original post by miri223
I'm doing Nutting, Binsey Poplars, Crossing the water, and the Flood. What about you?

Hey Miri! :biggrin:

I am still confused about the celine Verons section, I don't really understand how you could compare that to Rochester eating fruit ( probably me just beind stupid!!:biggrin:).

Thanks!!
Reply 15
Hey! I'm doing Pride and Prejudice with the Yellow Wallpaper, with the Land poetry anthology. How's revision going for everyone? I'm pretty much done with prose, just need to brush up on poems' analysis. Anyone got useful tips or notes? :smile:
Reply 16
Original post by Navo D.
Hey! I'm doing Pride and Prejudice with the Yellow Wallpaper, with the Land poetry anthology. How's revision going for everyone? I'm pretty much done with prose, just need to brush up on poems' analysis. Anyone got useful tips or notes? :smile:

Hey! Revision is not going too bad, I am getting there!!! and yeah, I need to revise poems as well!! I am just getting each poem and putting them in themes so I could see which ones would go well together but it's quite difficult... For some poems it's hard to know what's what :frown::frown: Have you got any ideas?

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