OCR AS level for English Literature tips

Hey so this is aimed at anyone who took the ocr english lit AS level paper last year... Basically I am studying Rossetti's poems and I'm not really sure how many poems to link the main poem you are given in the exam to. I've asked a few teachers at school and they've all said different things! (2 or 3)

Also do you think critics are needed (some teachers say yes, others no) and roughly how much context do you think is necessary to add in?

I'm also studying Hamlet, A Streetcar Named Desire and The Bloody Chamber so if anyone has any tips for those exams as well it would be greatly appreciated, since there's only been one proper exam so far for the new spec!

Thank you so much to anyone who answers, any help is appreciated because i really want to try and get an A this year (also sorry if this is in the wrong section i only just joined today and couldn't find the as level section)

same problem

Oh damn, what books/plays are you studying?

Almost same as you! Hamlet, Street Car, Rossetti and The Great Gatsby.

There's so much context, critics and quotes to remember and I get mixed up between them all :'D

So do I! All my context is literally just "patriarchal society", "women are inferior" and whatnot for everything oops..

I get good marks on essays when I have the books with me but I'm honestly struggling a bit without the books. Guess it didn't help that last year my english lit exams were open book D: how're you finding it?

Same! If we don't get a Rossetti poem about women then I have no idea what I'll talk about :'D. My context for Gatsby and Street Car is also never enough- 30% is just so much! I don't have that much detail damn it :'D

I'm struggling to remember so many quotes as well as context and critics... never mind the 3 other subjects we do! I'm really nervous for the question too because it's only the 2nd year with this spec so anything can come up. I really just hope we don't get Goblin Market for Rossetti! :'D

I'm hoping to drop it next year though, so I just want a decent grade to put on my UCAS really. But remember that for English the AS grade doesn't go towards the final A2 grade so try not too worry too much this year

Wow oh my gosh I've just seen where you've edited your other post with all the breakdowns of the AO's thank you so much honestly it's all so helpful! Quick question about Rossetti, with whatever poem that comes up in the exam do you analyse it stanza by stanza in your essay? So like a paragraph on each. I'm feeling that's the way to go but i did a mock recently too and didn't do it that way woops

And yep I agree! Gender for Rossetti would honestly be so great as a question. I would probably struggle with Goblin Market too if it comes up to to be honest... I hate that there's only one past exam paper to look at, i agree it makes me nervous too D:

Yeah I'm trying not to worry but I really want to take it at Uni and where I want to go needs AAA for A level... I guess what I'm thinking is if I get a good grade in AS level it'll prove to them I can get it at A level too! What other subjects do you take?

Your welcome! No, I don't do stanza by stanza in my essays, I look at the question and think of separate points for my answer for separate paragraphs. You in no way need to use quotes from every stanza or need to look at every stanza. Just as long as you remember to talk about structure

So for the one past paper that we do have (It's so annoying we only have one), for Shut Out the question was 'Discuss Rossetti's presentation of the speaker's sense of loss' or something like that. So I looked at the techniques she used and used each technique as a separate paragraph. Example:

First paragraph: I talked about her use of imagery. I contrasted her imagery used to describe the garden to the first stanza of 'iron bars' which brought in structure. i talked about iron bars representing the prison women were in due to the Victorian social restraints to bring in context. I compared her use of imagery to her use of it in 'in The Round Tower' then link back to question.

Second paragraph- talked about her use of repetition, compared to her use of repetition in 'from the antique'- how it created a fairytale, unrealistic feel and the use of the rhyme scheme (which created a monotonous tone) supported this. I drew in context about her work with 'fallen women' in this paragraph and finally linked back to the question.

So that's how I do it- pick out two or three points as my answer (usually these points are just the techniques used by the author) and then hit every AO in every paragraph (or try to) which is context, compare to other poem/s, analyse language, form and structure. With an intro and conclusion. It usually gets me a decent grade but I know every one writes their essays differently.

Yer I get you! I really want good predicted grades to apply to Unis with, but I have no idea where I want to go or even do at Uni so not sure what grades I need yet. It's cool you want to do English Lit! Where you looking at going? The other subjects I do are Psychology, ICT and Biology what about you?

Ahhh okay makes sense thank you! I've just read specification essays and with the question on Twice (how is love presented) they went through each stanza and i thought that was a bit weird. I do it the same way as you so I'm glad to see someone else does it too, thank you (:

I really want to go Warwick, it's one of the few really good unis that do an English Literature with creative writing course. It's really hard to get into (only like 25 places) so i'll probably apply for purely english lit as well; I don't really mind which one I get if I'm honest, either one will be great! And I do English Language, Maths and Computing as well (:

Oh yer I read those example essays too but it just stressed me out because I don't write mine like that :'D
Wow, good luck! I'm sure you'll do great and be accepted

We still have 6 poems to go through before exams, as well as going through all the other stuff so pretty stressed right now - have you finished all the content? I still need to start remembering quotes- haven't started yet!

btw. For comparing poems, do you have a list of what poems to compare each poem to, o are you just going to wing it in the exam?

Yep same with me!
And aw thank you (:

Oh my gosh, I finished all the content like a month ago! Don't get stressed though because worst comes with the poetry exam you can just analyse the poem given and you'd still pick up some marks. I haven't learnt many quotes either from the plays/book D:

I have some notes my teacher has given me ( i can type them up for you if you want them?) but personally I'm just going to wing it with the comparisons oops. I'm trying to learn all her poems off by heart though because idk how to pick out the most important quotes from them..

Really, a month ago!? Damn that's so good, you have time to revise. We'll probably finish a lesson before the exam :'D Yer, that's why poetry is my favorite exam- they give you the extract to analyse

Oh, if you think they're helpful then it would be so cool if you could write them up (or take a pic of them and email me if it's easier) but don't worry if your don't have time

Wow, I could never learn them off by heart, I'm just trying to learn three key quotes from each and hope that they'll be relevant :'D

Yeah same if I'm honest!

And here are the notes I have (they're copied up from revision cards I have so I couldn't really take a pic, the order isn't very good sorry it's a bit messy, I hope it helps in some way)

- Song; links to Remember (direct address, same themes; remembrance etc), No Thank You John (direct address again), natural imagery (a lot of the poems have this).
- Remember; links to Song, From the Antique (reference being forgotten), has a volta like A Birthday
- Maude Clare; male has a lack of voice (Thomas) just like John's voice isn't heard in No Thank you John
- Winter: My Secret; violent verbs like "clipping"/"nipping" etc links to Goblin Market with violent verbs "claw'd" etc, empowerment of a narrator who is in control like in No Thank You John.
- Devotional poems to God (religion): Twice, Up-Hill, Good Friday and A Birthday (not obvious but i still class it as one).
- characteristics of Rossetti's poems; natural imagery which reflects the influence of the Romantics, open with life and death and the barriers between them (like in Echo).
- barriers between Heaven/references to it; Shut Out: ("The door was shut.", Up-Hill: ("they will not keep you standing at that door" and Echo ("Watch the slow door..." and Remember ("the silent land".
Caesura: used in Shut Out to show physical separation ("The door was shut. I looked between its iron bars;", Winter: My Secret (physical barrier in the title and "only, my secret's mine, ...", In The Round Tower at Jhansi (" 'Goodbye.' - 'Goodbye.' " could reflect gun shot, end of their lives.)

Awesome! Thanks so much!

You're welcome! Good luck with your exams! (:
(also just noticed there's loads of winky faces in my last message that wasn't intentional it was probably just how i wrote some of the punctuation haha sorry!)

Same! If we don't get a Rossetti poem about women then I have no idea what I'll talk about :'D. My context for Gatsby and Street Car is also never enough- 30% is just so much! I don't have that much detail damn it :'D

I'm struggling to remember so many quotes as well as context and critics... never mind the 3 other subjects we do! I'm really nervous for the question too because it's only the 2nd year with this spec so anything can come up. I really just hope we don't get Goblin Market for Rossetti! :'D

I'm hoping to drop it next year though, so I just want a decent grade to put on my UCAS really. But remember that for English the AS grade doesn't go towards the final A2 grade so try not too worry too much this year

Omg haha this is the exact same for me! Do you have your Rossetti and Shakespeare exam tomorrow?

Yep! Really nervous- need to learn all my quotes still so I'm mega cramming today