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AQA AS English Literature A World War One Literature (LTA1B) - Poetry Section?

Hi there,

I have the exam taking place on Monday 23rd of May in the morning.

I was wondering whether there are any tips and advice available for both sections, but especially the poetry question because I have practised 2 questions on the poetry section, and still don't quite get the hang of it.

What I would like to know is, how do you actually answer the poetry question? I am aware of the fact that they give you 2 choices and you answer which ever you feel you know a lot more of, but I do not understand how you actually approach the question itself. How can you speak about each poem in depth whilst making comparisons and contrast to other poems in the selection/anthology, under 45 minutes?

This is from the January 2011 examiner's report:

"They should remember that there are two perfectly acceptable
choices: ranging more widely, or choosing to concentrate on two or three poems in more
detail. If they choose the latter they must be careful to cover depth and closeness of reading.
If they choose the latter, then ?two or three? means just that; covering two poems is fine and
can still enable candidates to gain the highest marks",

Any suggestions/tips/advice would be appreciated.

Furthermore, my teachers recently told me my mark for the coursework and I have gotten 43/60, which is a B. I had a look before, on the grade boundaries for the exam and the coursework, and for January 2011, the exam was 67/90 for an A grade and coursework was 49/60 for an A grade. Seeing that I have a B for the coursework, what is required of me to get an A grade or at the minimum, a good grade B?

Thank you once again.
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 1
I would say that firstly, 2 practise questions is not enough a good grade, unless you are super smart and are a super focused writer.

But still, like me, you have 2 weeks left until this exam, so plenty of 45 minutes slots to practise in :wink:

For the poetry questions, there are two as you know; for the first one, which is more about the anthology as a whole, maybe get a quote from Paul Fussel or from the editor of your anthology from their introduction to put into your introduction or conclusion for a mature, band 4 essay. For example, I'm doing the Jon Stallworthy one, and we know he is a huge fan on Wilfred Owen, having written what is considered the best biography on him. So if you understand your anthology's editor and have a good quote from them to use, the examiners like this as it shows the depth of your knowledge of the anthology as a whole. It depends on the question whether you feel it better to analyse a few perfect poems for that question, or whether a wider selection will fit the question. I suppose it depends on the theme.

Obviously, in this question, there is going to be arguments for and against, and it's usually against but obviously, mention the for too. Examiners never like it if you are dogmatic in your approach, what they really like is a candidate who is able to see many sides to a situation as this shows how you think maturely, but also that you are not short of ideas and are grasping for more paragraphs or repeating yourself.

Try and write 3 pages concisely, but tbh, it doesn't matter how much you write as long as you are concise and tick all the boxes. Check out some mark schemes for the indicative content.

I tend to answer the specific poem question as, if you know your poems relatively well, this question is usually easier.

Like you said, we only have 45 minutes to write in depth, so this means you MUST know your poems, and as this is a lot to ask, pick out the major ones that have a lot to say that can cover a wide range of themes. This will save you time in the exam thinking through your whole anthology of which ones to choose. Choose some great quotes too to ensure that the examiner can see how you're backing up your points which quotes that justify perfectly what you're saying.

Also, in exam conditions, we all write more and write quicker.

I also got a B in my coursework overall, and to get an A, my teachers have told me that for Question 2, the unseen stuff, that we must know the context of the time, such as, if the unseen prose is about women's point of view, then you should mention how they profited, and the irony of how many women became munitionettes that they thought helped the men, but they made the munition that killed them too. Also, it was through the violence and deaths of the war that women's roles expanded and eventually received the vote in 1918. I think 40/50% of this question is about context AND referring this context to your wider reading, whilst also using your wider reading to link to the unseen paragraph. (Making up the 40/50%).

I'm sorry if this wasn't helpful, just remember on the poetry to keep relating it to the question and keep mentioning the effect it has on us, or what effect the poet is trying to create, that is where the AO2 comes from, not just saying "His use of metaphors is effective".

Your approach must be focused and concise to give the impression you know exactly what you are talking about, but remember, not dogmatic, don't be "It is like this, This is definitely, try not to be one sided if appropriate.

After the intro, for either question, keep relating to the key words in the question, "anthology as a whole" etc, first paragraph should directly start to answer question, like "Asquith's presentation of the volunteer in his poem is typical presentation of a soldier's death, to those within the anthology due to willingness for the fallen to be remembered for their brave actions, a notion that even anti-war poets are likely to agree with." And so on, then after examining a similarity or two, find a link that can instantly contrast into the opposite point of view.

It's a bit of a wordy reply, so sorry about that, but I hope it helps a bit. Good Luck! :biggrin:
Reply 2
Hi, I have my exam in a few weeks and I wanted to know if the wider readings are necessary for this exam? I have read the core texts: Oxford book of war poetry, strange meeting and journey's end. However I have only read birdsong from my wider reading. Does anyone know if I HAVE to refer to all wider readings or can I just refer to my core texts and refer briefly to my wider reading book.

Thank you
Original post by Ana9
Hi, I have my exam in a few weeks and I wanted to know if the wider readings are necessary for this exam? I have read the core texts: Oxford book of war poetry, strange meeting and journey's end. However I have only read birdsong from my wider reading. Does anyone know if I HAVE to refer to all wider readings or can I just refer to my core texts and refer briefly to my wider reading book.

Thank you


Hey, yeah you need to read as many books as possible. Strange meeting, journeys end and Birdsong- as long as you can compare and contrast some parts with the extract you're given (section A) I'm sitting it too btw. But you should read more because you don't know the extract beforehand, the 4 books you've read, you might need a more wider response to compare and contrast. 'refer to your wider reading texts' the more you refer to (even if you remember a little part) the more marks, every reference to wider reading counts. Whilst you're reading it's important to make notes in Structure, Form and language, then compare and contrast with extracts from past exam papers, revise the notes bc after all that's what you're asked for in the exam.

hope i kinda helped
good luck to the both of us
xx
Reply 4
Original post by icantexplain
Hey, yeah you need to read as many books as possible. Strange meeting, journeys end and Birdsong- as long as you can compare and contrast some parts with the extract you're given (section A) I'm sitting it too btw. But you should read more because you don't know the extract beforehand, the 4 books you've read, you might need a more wider response to compare and contrast. 'refer to your wider reading texts' the more you refer to (even if you remember a little part) the more marks, every reference to wider reading counts. Whilst you're reading it's important to make notes in Structure, Form and language, then compare and contrast with extracts from past exam papers, revise the notes bc after all that's what you're asked for in the exam.

hope i kinda helped
good luck to the both of us
xx


Hey well thank you so much, that helps a lot! I wasn't sure at all of what to do. I see that you're allowed to bring in your set texts in the exam but I don't know about the wider readings? I don't think I'll be able to quote the texts by memory.

Thanks again and good luck! xx
Original post by Ana9
Hey well thank you so much, that helps a lot! I wasn't sure at all of what to do. I see that you're allowed to bring in your set texts in the exam but I don't know about the wider readings? I don't think I'll be able to quote the texts by memory.

Thanks again and good luck! xx


exactly!! if only we were allowed to bring in some books too... that would help so much. Guess we need to remember some of it :mad:
Hi, I was wondering for the ww1 question 2 when asked to refer to either 2 or 3 poems or range more widely through the sections if I were to mention about 5 poems would that be too much or would that seem acceptable???? Considering the question I asked is about an opinion rather than on a specific poem for example "The most moving and effective poetry is written by young men who were killed in ww1" How far do you agree with the view of the poems in the Stallworthy Selection??

So my plan was

Para 1 - intro look at Rupert Brooke 'Peace'

Para 2- look at Owen' poem 'Dulce et Decorum est'

Para 3- look at May Wedderburn Cannan - Rouen

Para 4 - Vernon Scannel 'The great war'

Para 5 - conclusion look at Sassoon 'the hero' and include my personal opinion

do you think this is good considering I am aiming for the top bands?

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