AS/A2 English Literature

STUDYREVISE

12

Posted on TheStudentRoom

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 1

EleanorFrost

14

Original post by STUDYREVISE

I achieved an A* in my GCSE English Literature, and I am thinking of carrying it on to A-level along with Biology, Chemistry and Geology.
I was wondering if there is a very big difference between the two stages of GCSE to AS, and if it were likely for a student who achieved an A* at GCSE to perhaps achieve a B or more at AS.
I have read through the prospectus' and would like to ask, the difference between the exams from GCSE to Alevel. It seems as though there is a less of a percentage for Coursework and more for Exams, Are the exams simply based on texts that you have read?
Please share as much as you like!
Thanks! :smile:

I didn't find the jump too big in all honesty and I much preferred A Level English Lit to GCSE; it was simply more interesting! We didn't have exams on texts we hadn't read but in year 13, the exam was closed book so we have to learn the texts off by heart (including 100 of quotes from Shakespeare and then about 50 poems on top of that) as we didn't have copies in the exam hall. It was easier than it sounds, especially if you casually start learning early on.

It's very possible for you to get at least a B, of course!

Reply 2

STUDYREVISE

OP

12

[Posted on TheStudentRoom

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 3

EleanorFrost

14

Original post by STUDYREVISE

Thanks very much for the reply.
Which exam board did you have for it? What was your result?
Also, what did you get in your GCSE English lit, and would you recommend it? Does it take up a lot of time? What other subjects did you do?

My exam board was AQA, I got an A at GCSE and an A* at A Level. I would definitely recommend it, partly because you learn to write more eloquently (which helps in every subject and life in general) and also because you really have to think, analyse, judge etc. You really get to know the texts and even if you don't like one of them (I didn't like the God of Small Things for instance), just going into so much depth is eye opening. With Blake's poetry, we spend many lessons just discussing the situation in England at the time, religion (powers of the church), poverty in cities and the French Revolution. It's rarely just reading books! I reached a point where I found Shakespeare really funny, which I was proud of aha!

I'll be honest, it was quite time consuming. In year 12, I read The Great Gatsby 6 times for instance because we had to know it inside out. There are so many things you can be questioned on, so you have to prepare for everything. In year, we got to choose our own texts for our coursework and create our own question, so it was very independent but it did mean we're interested in those specific texts.

I did History and Religious Studies (dropped Psychology after AS). I'd love to know how many essays I wrote over those two years!

Reply 4

STUDYREVISE

OP

12

Posted on TheStudentRoom

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 5

EleanorFrost

14

Original post by STUDYREVISE

Why did you drop Psychology? I am either going to do:
1) Bio, Che, Geology, Geography
2) Bio, Chem, Geology, Eng lit
3) Bio, Chem, Geology, Psychology
I'm really unsure of what to pick from the above combinations.
I am definitely doing Bio and Chem and I really enjoy GCSE Geography, but the college I would like to go to doesn't do Geology, it does Geography, which I don't mind too much.
So bio, chem and geography/geology is final.
But between English Lit and Psych, I don't really know.
I've never done Psychology before, but it sounds really interesting, people are saying that its too much memorisation at AS.

I basically need a subject that I will get at least a B in at AS, as I will probably be dropping it any way.
However, becoming an author of a novel is a big dream of mine, and if Eng Lit develops my writing skills, it would be of great help.
Do universities really care about WHICH AS levels you did.

I didn't enjoy Psychology at all to be honest. I just found the way to content was taught/assessed was quite dull. I didn't find there was too much memorisation involved, it was easy enough to handle with good notes. If I were you, I would do English Lit - the skills are more transferable in my opinion and it's a respected subject (not that this particularly matters if you're dropping it anyway)

Reply 6

She-Ra

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post by STUDYREVISE

I achieved an A* in my GCSE English Literature, and I am thinking of carrying it on to A-level along with Biology, Chemistry and Geology.
I was wondering if there is a very big difference between the two stages of GCSE to AS, and if it were likely for a student who achieved an A* at GCSE to perhaps achieve a B or more at AS.
I have read through the prospectus' and would like to ask, the difference between the exams from GCSE to Alevel. It seems as though there is a less of a percentage for Coursework and more for Exams, Are the exams simply based on texts that you have read?
Please share as much as you like!
Thanks! :smile:

I've moved this to the english forum for you :h:

Reply 7

batesey96

1

Hey. I found that the jump was not as big as you would have thought in all honesty. Albeit, you do have to write a lot more in your essays but it is an open book exam so any quotations you need, they're available so in that regard it is a tad easier than GCSE.

One piece of advice - utilise the open book rule! At A2, it's back to closed book and memorising quotes!

Reply 8

lauraccc

Original post by STUDYREVISE

I achieved an A* in my GCSE English Literature, and I am thinking of carrying it on to A-level along with Biology, Chemistry and Geology.
I was wondering if there is a very big difference between the two stages of GCSE to AS, and if it were likely for a student who achieved an A* at GCSE to perhaps achieve a B or more at AS.
I have read through the prospectus' and would like to ask, the difference between the exams from GCSE to Alevel. It seems as though there is a less of a percentage for Coursework and more for Exams, Are the exams simply based on texts that you have read?
Please share as much as you like!
Thanks! :smile:

There's a big difference in the sheer volume of content between GCSE and AS/A2 (I'm doing A2 right now). As opposed to one short story anthology, a novel and a set of poems, I had to know two novels and two sets of poetry. I think that for AQA at AS, coursework is actually a higher percentage of the overall grade, though? (I think at GCSE it was a 25:75 ratio; at A Level, it's 40:60.) Some of the people I know got A*s at GCSE, but only Cs or below at AS; equally, if you put in the work and know specific passages of the novels to use for different questions (e.g. a passage about setting, symbolism, a common theme to your texts...), you'll do well. Another thing: the essay questions are generally worth more (there are two 21 markers and one 42 marker in AQA AS). :smile:

Listen to your teachers' advice, they'll know what you're capable of!