Journey's End Literature Exam

My exam board is CIE. Anyone got any tips on how much to write, how to pick quotes etc....?

Don't bother with an introduction and aim to write about 3-4 detailed points. The way I picked quotes was by choosing ones that describe each character- 'drinking like a fish, as usual?' for Stanhope and 'He's a genuine sort of chap' for Trotter etc..
Also pick out key quotes for the dramatic climaxes- the letter scene with Raleigh and Stanhope is a good one to choose from, as well as the officer meal after Osborne's death. If you are allowed to bring a blank copy of the text into the exam with you, then just write out cue cards for every key scene and what page it's on and try and remember the page number!

Time?

How is time represented

AQA IGCSE? I am sitting this exam- Unseen Poetry and Journeys End.

Points I will be writing about if time comes up:

-Trotter's 144 circles - shows how boring it must be, just waiting and waiting. Also foreshadowing how Stanhope says "At the end... I'm going to draw a picture of Trotter being blown up"

-References to the past, shows how long they have been there - especially with Stanhope and Raleigh reflecting upon their past.

-How each character has a way of dealing with time - for example, Trotter: eating/circles, Stanhope: drinking, Mason: cooking, Osbourne: reading, etc.

-The watch becomes symbolic of the time the characters have left and foreshadows the oncoming attack - Osbourne "quietly winds it up" and when he leaves the watch it signifies his 'time' is up.

Points I will be writing about if time comes up:

-Trotter's 144 circles - shows how boring it must be, just waiting and waiting. Also foreshadowing how Stanhope says "At the end... I'm going to draw a picture of Trotter being blown up"

-References to the past, shows how long they have been there - especially with Stanhope and Raleigh reflecting upon their past.

-How each character has a way of dealing with time - for example, Trotter: eating/circles, Stanhope: drinking, Mason: cooking, Osbourne: reading, etc.

-The watch becomes symbolic of the time the characters have left and foreshadows the oncoming attack - Osbourne "quietly winds it up" and when he leaves the watch it signifies his 'time' is up.

Thank you!! What quotes will you be using? I still haven't decided!! Also, what should I include in the introduction and how many paragraphs should I write? I'm so unprepared!!

My teacher says we shouldn't do an introduction but always use 'Sherriff presents..' to start each point so you can be awarded higher marks I'm going to aim for 4 paragraphs, a point in each paragraph but realistically will only do three. If it helps, I recommend doing a mind map before answering the question on points you could include and then highlighting the 4 ones you're most confident with and use these in your essay! Don't stress- you should be fine.

As for quotes, it's hard to tell what will come up but I will probably use quotes from the stage directions e.g. 'tall and slim' when describing Stanhope and 'young boy' , 'about forty-five' for Osborne etc..
Also some key ones are:
'could we have some light? it's- it's frightfully dark and cold'
Raleigh to Stanhope
'I love that fellow. I'd go to hell with him' Osborne
'A dugout got blown up and came down in the men's tea'
Hardy
'He's stuck it till his nerves have got battered to bits' Osborne
'Went on going down when it thought it was going up' futility of war- metaphor for the hopelessness of soldiers
ask if you need more

My teacher says we shouldn't do an introduction but always use 'Sherriff presents..' to start each point so you can be awarded higher marks I'm going to aim for 4 paragraphs, a point in each paragraph but realistically will only do three. If it helps, I recommend doing a mind map before answering the question on points you could include and then highlighting the 4 ones you're most confident with and use these in your essay! Don't stress- you should be fine.

As for quotes, it's hard to tell what will come up but I will probably use quotes from the stage directions e.g. 'tall and slim' when describing Stanhope and 'young boy' , 'about forty-five' for Osborne etc..
Also some key ones are:
'could we have some light? it's- it's frightfully dark and cold'
Raleigh to Stanhope
'I love that fellow. I'd go to hell with him' Osborne
'A dugout got blown up and came down in the men's tea'
Hardy
'He's stuck it till his nerves have got battered to bits' Osborne
'Went on going down when it thought it was going up' futility of war- metaphor for the hopelessness of soldiers
ask if you need more

Hey and thanks! So in the introduction, should I include a point that I'm trying to explain or just state the theme in relation to the question?

Also, for the quotes "A dugout got blown up and came down in the men's tea" and "Went on going down when it thought it was going up", can you clarify what they mean? I don't understand what Hardy meant as well as how the 2nd quote shows futility. Anyways, thanks for the help!!

No problem! I would state the theme in relation to the question and you could say something like 'Sherriff's use of ... helps to convey ..' and mention the question in the sentence.

The dugout quote links to the theme of courage and the dramatic device of humour. It's clearly an understatement, something like a dugout being blown up in theory is terrifying and yet in this context it's being treated as a joke. The fact that Hardy can just casually mention it to Osborne in way of making light conversation exposes the true horrors of war and how the constant threat of death is seemingly normal to them- which shows the audience straight away the futility of war. It links to courage because, the dark humour and understatement of serious matters is a device which the characters use to make war seem less threatening so therefore it gives them courage. You could also state that it emphasises the complete madness of war as their idea of humour is vastly different to the traditional audience and it suggests that war changes your idea of normal.

The quote shows futility because by Stanhope and Osborne referencing the worm and how it never seems to know if it's going up or down is a metaphor for the soldier's own lifestyles. They live on constant threat of death and they too never know if they will 'go up or down' (survive or die) which causes them to feel hopeless but they have to keep on going- like the worm does.

Woooooooow! That's such a good analysis! Dayyuuuuuum! Mark my words - you're definitely going to get A*!!!! :P

Also, have you done any preparation for the unseen poetry?

Thank you so much, you made my day! I genuinely don't care if I fail anything else as long as I do well in English

I've done quite a lot simply because I would fail if not- I HATE unseen poetry! Have you?