GCSE AQA English Literature - June 2016 *Official Thread*

Heya ! I'm doing crucible too and I got full marks on my mock so I'll just write some of my best points down that you can probs include in lots of different question (this will help my revision too haha)

There are a number of key themes throughout the pay (remember when talking about the effects talk about the audience and not the reader as this shows you are aware of the style of the text as whole).

The danger of ideology and puritanism - the crucible is set in a strict theocratic society where the church and state act as one ,allowing religion and the expectations that come with it to be used as a weapon of manipulation in the corrupted court scenes. For example "a person is either with this court or they must be counted against it" (Danforth Act 3) which suggests that you are either with God or the Devil and there is no in-between. Miller is therefore implying that people who act independently and don't conform to established moral laws are a threat to society and subsequently God. The witch trials are the ultimate expression of intolerance, not only from society as a whole, but from individuals who use these trials to express personal grievances behind the shield of supposed christianity (like the Putnams and of course Abigail who plots against Elizabeth).

Reputation- (another extremely important theme- try and get this in your essay in some way!!) It seems that those who are most concerned with their reputation in society are the biggest threat to Salem (e.g Parris and Danforth who despite realising the girls are all telling lies continue with the hanging of innocent people to ensure that there position in the engrained social hierarchy doesn't change). Miller uses John to explain how difficult it is to withdraw yourself from the obsession over reputation and replace it with personal integrity and morality. Proctor's battle with his own conscience is significant and shifts throughout the play - from refusing to tell the courts about Abigail's lies, to admitting adultery to save Elizabeth (huge expression of love and devotion- the apology that she was waiting for), to admitting to witchcraft and then finally choosing truth over life - ultimate judgement will come from God and not Salem.

I could literally go on forever so if you (or anyone else) want any more themes (hysteria, power etc.) or characters (Tituba, Hale, Danforth, John etc.) or OMAM just reply to this and i will write some more hahah !!

Oh and also, even though context isn't tested in this section, I advise mentioning (only a sentence or two) about the parallels between Salem and 1950's America (era of McCarthyism) where both societies are overtaken with paranoia and corrupt legal systems- it helps you to have a more sophisticated analysis as it links in with writer's ideas and themes.

Hope this helps you, sorry its so long !! Good luck with your exams, you will smash it !!

So I haven't really done much prep for this exam but just wondering how much time you have for each question? I'm doing of mice and men and the woman in black btw. Also there are 2 questions you get to choose from for the question about the woman in black right? I feel much more confident in writing more general things about the themes of the book rather than specific things like how the house is presented ect.

Hey I'm doing The Crucible too! Right now i'm just doing a plan of 4 points with quotations for each character as I will probably do the character question. Just look over some sample answers and practise writing paragraphs in timed conditions. Do you have any predictions for what will come up?

That's literally the best prediction i've heard so far. Even if it isn't Candy they might do that technique. I am praying for Candy! They did ask about "importance" in 2013 but maybe those themes could come up. UUh this is stressing me out so much because there's no real way of knowing. Last year it was brutality and no one would have ever guessed that :/

What points and quotes would you use for candy?

Haha thanks! It's a pretty common prediction so I'm gonna run with it! So am I. And I know - it could be something completely different. English is my worst subject. At least with brutality I suppose you could just relate it to the brutality faced by victims of oppression in society at the time. But AIS stresses me the most to be honest. What grade you hoping for?

I prefer Mr Salles, he goes into more detail

I've never thought about weaknesses myself though so thanks for introducing the theme I'd love if Candy came up for part B but I think it's most likely to be theme instead of character. And for the extract, I reckon it will be Candy's dog's death/crushing curley's hand/george killing lennie. Same, I just can't be bothered with it. I revise loads for science and geography because that's important for the world but for english I see no point in it (sorry to all those English lovers out there). AIS? What's that? And well my teacher thinks I can get an A* but it's just so hard... I don't think I'll get there. I usually do well in poetry and alright in inspector calls but just omam lets everything down!

Heya ! I'm doing crucible too and I got full marks on my mock so I'll just write some of my best points down that you can probs include in lots of different question (this will help my revision too haha)

There are a number of key themes throughout the pay (remember when talking about the effects talk about the audience and not the reader as this shows you are aware of the style of the text as whole).

The danger of ideology and puritanism - the crucible is set in a strict theocratic society where the church and state act as one ,allowing religion and the expectations that come with it to be used as a weapon of manipulation in the corrupted court scenes. For example "a person is either with this court or they must be counted against it" (Danforth Act 3) which suggests that you are either with God or the Devil and there is no in-between. Miller is therefore implying that people who act independently and don't conform to established moral laws are a threat to society and subsequently God. The witch trials are the ultimate expression of intolerance, not only from society as a whole, but from individuals who use these trials to express personal grievances behind the shield of supposed christianity (like the Putnams and of course Abigail who plots against Elizabeth).

Reputation- (another extremely important theme- try and get this in your essay in some way!!) It seems that those who are most concerned with their reputation in society are the biggest threat to Salem (e.g Parris and Danforth who despite realising the girls are all telling lies continue with the hanging of innocent people to ensure that there position in the engrained social hierarchy doesn't change). Miller uses John to explain how difficult it is to withdraw yourself from the obsession over reputation and replace it with personal integrity and morality. Proctor's battle with his own conscience is significant and shifts throughout the play - from refusing to tell the courts about Abigail's lies, to admitting adultery to save Elizabeth (huge expression of love and devotion- the apology that she was waiting for), to admitting to witchcraft and then finally choosing truth over life - ultimate judgement will come from God and not Salem.

I could literally go on forever so if you (or anyone else) want any more themes (hysteria, power etc.) or characters (Tituba, Hale, Danforth, John etc.) or OMAM just reply to this and i will write some more hahah !!

Oh and also, even though context isn't tested in this section, I advise mentioning (only a sentence or two) about the parallels between Salem and 1950's America (era of McCarthyism) where both societies are overtaken with paranoia and corrupt legal systems- it helps you to have a more sophisticated analysis as it links in with writer's ideas and themes.

Hope this helps you, sorry its so long !! Good luck with your exams, you will smash it !!

It's fine! Yes I think you're right. Haha yes I'm definitely more about the academic subjects as well. I'd love to spend my time revising for Geography, maths and Physics this weekend but I know English is the one I'm least prepared for. AIS is An Inspector Calls. Funnily enough I find OMAM much easier than AIS. I'm sure you'll get the grade you want - if you have a look at some A* examples you'll realise they really don't have to be a masterpiece anyway. Goodluck!

Lol good. I know... I will have to cram all the geography revision Monday night ffs :/ English gets in the way ooh right I usually call it AIC so i got confused, sorry. Really? I love AIC characters but I hate talking about context in OMAM, it never fails to throw me. Damn you Steinbeck!! (jk) If I got an A i'd be happy. Yup and you're right. What grade do you want? (;

So will I - including case studies! And this is awkward for some reason I've been referring to it as AIS all this time but I've literally just realised the last word is calls and that doesn't begin with an S in anyway. I'm unsure what the thought process behind that was I've been doing it for so long. And well I'd like an A but I'd settle for a B - it really isn't very important to me haha.

Well it seems like we'll both be doing that monday night then... fun! *sigh* Hahaha don't worry it doesn't really matter. just think, in 2 days you'll never have to write 'AIS' again, yay good for you, i like how chill you are about it. My mum pressures me to do well in english because she did it at Uni & it's really frustrating. I can't believe how late it is (the day's flown by) do you think I should try to memorise more tonight?

Haha very true! And yeah when it comes to English I'm pretty calm, but with maths and science it's an entirely different story. Ah that's unlucky but in all honesty if the academic subjects are your strengths you're better off worrying about them. And jesus yeah it is. Sleep is important so maybe call it a day and get up early tomorrow. Not that I'm following my own advice - I'm attempting an all nighter to learn this crap

Haha very true! And yeah when it comes to English I'm pretty calm, but with maths and science it's an entirely different story. Ah that's unlucky but in all honesty if the academic subjects are your strengths you're better off worrying about them. And jesus yeah it is. Sleep is important so maybe call it a day and get up early tomorrow. Not that I'm following my own advice - I'm attempting an all nighter to learn this crap

Literally, i'm doing the same exams as you guys, including Geography! Im trying to get all of Section B of Unit 1 done right now and then banging out AIC and OMAM all night and day! LOL! If you need any help for geography a edexcel, i found this youtube channel that has a bunch useful videos - here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/user/RiddlesdownGeog/playlists - there's also a extremely useful website, geobytesgcse.files.wordpress.com
Also, for monday's english literature exam, I'm thinking of just memorising the a* essays people have made on mr salles' channel - of course mainly the ones that are predicted to come up, i.e. Candy and Gerald.
Anyways good luck in your exams!

Wow! I freak out so much about english but in my maths mock exam I thought about anything other than maths. Yeah, i guess. Geo is my fav and I have to do well in science. Haaah i can't believe it's past 1:00am, what am i even doing with my life. I think I'll do the same thing as you tbh. I'm gonna learn Gerald for AIC now keep updated on what you're learning (: