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WJEC English Literature Revision help??

Okay, so literature is my least confident subject. My teacher is trying to convince me that I'll do fine in this exam but honestly I am freaking out about it. I don't know how to revise for it at all.. The books we read were Of mice and men, Heroes and A Taste of Honey. Can anyone tell me the best way of tackling this literature exam, how to revise for it, and also which questions are likely and not likely to come up based on past questions?
Original post by haes
Okay, so literature is my least confident subject. My teacher is trying to convince me that I'll do fine in this exam but honestly I am freaking out about it. I don't know how to revise for it at all.. The books we read were Of mice and men, Heroes and A Taste of Honey. Can anyone tell me the best way of tackling this literature exam, how to revise for it, and also which questions are likely and not likely to come up based on past questions?

Heya, I'm going to put this in the English forum for you as you should get more responses there.

You should also check out the forum to see if there's any other threads there which might be helpful to you!

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=82
Original post by haes
Okay, so literature is my least confident subject. My teacher is trying to convince me that I'll do fine in this exam but honestly I am freaking out about it. I don't know how to revise for it at all.. The books we read were Of mice and men, Heroes and A Taste of Honey. Can anyone tell me the best way of tackling this literature exam, how to revise for it, and also which questions are likely and not likely to come up based on past questions?


Is this for GCSE or A level? I didn't do WJEC at GCSE, but I did study Of Mice and Men. I haven't done either of the other texts, so although I can't help you with tackling the exam or the likely questions, I can offer a few revision tips.

Firstly, the best way to revise for English (in my opinion) is to look at the major themes of the texts. You can start off by looking online, asking your teacher/classmates, or in a study guide - and think of some more if you can. Once you've got some key themes (and often they interlink, as is the way with literature), you can look at the parts of the texts which link to this theme. You could do this in any form you like: mind-map, list, cards...

You could also look at the main characters, something which is particularly useful at GSCE as there may be a question about a character.

If you have no idea where to begin even after that (or if you've finished doing that), take a look at some past paper questions. It might be a good idea to answer a few and get your teacher to mark them, so you can improve your technique. However, it may also help to look at what questions have been asked before and roughly plan what you'd write in the exam. If a similar question comes up, you'll be thankful.

I hope I helped - feel free to ask if you need some more specific help. :smile:
Reply 3
Original post by thewishfulwriter
Is this for GCSE or A level? I didn't do WJEC at GCSE, but I did study Of Mice and Men. I haven't done either of the other texts, so although I can't help you with tackling the exam or the likely questions, I can offer a few revision tips.

Firstly, the best way to revise for English (in my opinion) is to look at the major themes of the texts. You can start off by looking online, asking your teacher/classmates, or in a study guide - and think of some more if you can. Once you've got some key themes (and often they interlink, as is the way with literature), you can look at the parts of the texts which link to this theme. You could do this in any form you like: mind-map, list, cards...

You could also look at the main characters, something which is particularly useful at GSCE as there may be a question about a character.

If you have no idea where to begin even after that (or if you've finished doing that), take a look at some past paper questions. It might be a good idea to answer a few and get your teacher to mark them, so you can improve your technique. However, it may also help to look at what questions have been asked before and roughly plan what you'd write in the exam. If a similar question comes up, you'll be thankful.

I hope I helped - feel free to ask if you need some more specific help. :smile:


Yeah, i'm doing gcse! Thank you!! I will continue to do what you said. I'm aware that last year's question was on Curley's wife, I think. So i think that this year's question will be a theme. Other than the very obvious themes like loneliness, discrimination and fear, what other themes do you think I could revise?
Original post by haes
Yeah, i'm doing gcse! Thank you!! I will continue to do what you said. I'm aware that last year's question was on Curley's wife, I think. So i think that this year's question will be a theme. Other than the very obvious themes like loneliness, discrimination and fear, what other themes do you think I could revise?


A few things to look at might include:

- The American Dream (and the impossibility of it), if you're not sure what this is, definitely look into it as it's a major part of the book's context. As seen through Curley's wife's failed dream of becoming a film star; and George and Lennie's impossible dream of owning their own farm (which was literally the American dream)

- Powerlessness-- you could look at characters like Crooks and Curley's wife - powerlessness to change their social status because of their colour/gender; or you could even look at Lennie. Although he is physically strong, he too is unable to achieve his dream, and is unable to control his strengths, etc...

- Male friendship-- seen mostly obviously through George and Lennie (and you could even look at the tragedy of the ending and the potential relationship between George and Slim (if I remember rightly!!))

- Innocence-- the innocence of Lennie despite what he's done/does due to his mental disability

There are quite a few good summaries on this website: http://www.shmoop.com/of-mice-and-men/themes.html

Good luck! :smile:
Reply 5
Original post by thewishfulwriter
A few things to look at might include:

- The American Dream (and the impossibility of it), if you're not sure what this is, definitely look into it as it's a major part of the book's context. As seen through Curley's wife's failed dream of becoming a film star; and George and Lennie's impossible dream of owning their own farm (which was literally the American dream)

- Powerlessness-- you could look at characters like Crooks and Curley's wife - powerlessness to change their social status because of their colour/gender; or you could even look at Lennie. Although he is physically strong, he too is unable to achieve his dream, and is unable to control his strengths, etc...

- Male friendship-- seen mostly obviously through George and Lennie (and you could even look at the tragedy of the ending and the potential relationship between George and Slim (if I remember rightly!!))

- Innocence-- the innocence of Lennie despite what he's done/does due to his mental disability

There are quite a few good summaries on this website: http://www.shmoop.com/of-mice-and-men/themes.html

Good luck! :smile:


Ah thank you so much!

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