really really really NEED help - english literature

i have around THREE solid days (i'm talking 7am until 11pm..) to prepare for my english literature exam. nothing seems to go into my brain. i am doing frankenstein, lord of the flies, conflict poetry and romeo and juliet. so far, i've read the texts and understand the stroyline and that's.. literally it. so far, i'm planning on remembering 1-3 quotes from each book which encompass all the themes, i'm planning to study each character, the context, and that's all i've got so far. i need a b in english to go to college, i'm not sure what that equates to in the new gcse but i'm hoping for a 6 at minimum. 7 would be great. essay's do tend to come natural to me, i seem to ramble and get a good grade but anyway, i'm asking: what is absolutely everything i need to study from these books and poems? for example, with lord of the flies i've read the book. i will now study the context, plot, characters in detail, themes, structure, form, language, is that all? is there anything else? also, when i actually write the exam, what do i need to include to hit the higher marks? does anyone have the spec/ao's that i need to include in paper 1&2? and for the poetry, how do i compare poems? i'm stuck on this. thank you :smile:

Reply 1

Storm29

5

To compare poems I would first create a table of what's the same and what's different between two poems. You may want to think about several poems to start with. Personally I would look at tone, message and structure. Do they have a similar tone? How do I know? What quotes can I use to support that? And so on until you run out of things to say or time, but remember to add a conclusion on to the end.

Reply 2

studentdying999

9

Remember you don't always have to compare and contrast poems - you can talk about them individually in relation to the theme, and use key comparing words like 'contrastingly...in comparison...similarly...however...'etc. Hope that helps! :smile:

Reply 3

mriel22

3

youtube videos also help me a lot. watch Unjaded Jade's video on how to write an A* essay.

Reply 4

mdnvmpr

15

Original post by abbie559

i have around THREE solid days (i'm talking 7am until 11pm..) to prepare for my english literature exam. nothing seems to go into my brain. i am doing frankenstein, lord of the flies, conflict poetry and romeo and juliet. so far, i've read the texts and understand the stroyline and that's.. literally it. so far, i'm planning on remembering 1-3 quotes from each book which encompass all the themes, i'm planning to study each character, the context, and that's all i've got so far. i need a b in english to go to college, i'm not sure what that equates to in the new gcse but i'm hoping for a 6 at minimum. 7 would be great. essay's do tend to come natural to me, i seem to ramble and get a good grade but anyway, i'm asking: what is absolutely everything i need to study from these books and poems? for example, with lord of the flies i've read the book. i will now study the context, plot, characters in detail, themes, structure, form, language, is that all? is there anything else? also, when i actually write the exam, what do i need to include to hit the higher marks? does anyone have the spec/ao's that i need to include in paper 1&2? and for the poetry, how do i compare poems? i'm stuck on this. thank you :smile:

If your writing style comes naturally to you, then you don't need to focus so much on themes and storyline or context, as long as you have a basic understanding and can link to it in your writing you'll be fine. Probably the most important thing to do at this stage is to revise quotations. Write them down and draw pictures next to them to help you to memorise them.

In terms of poetry the best way to compare poems is to find similarities between the poems, but write about how the writers use these ideas differently. This can be any link from themes to a language technique, just anything they have in common.

Best of luck for your exam :smile:

))

Reply 5

Dysf(x)al

20

In the mark scheme, you can use "textual references" rather than quotes. For example, you could say "When Romeo first sees Juliet..." (can't think of a better example - I'm doing Macbeth) rather than saying the exact words. It won't get you a 9 - you'd have to use actual quotes for the top grades, but it can get you out of a desperate situation.

For poems, you don't need to learn quotes from all of them - you just need to know enough about the poem so that if it came up (as in, it was the one given to you), you'd be able to write about it. For example, London (William Blake) is a fairly easy one to learn and could be compared to lots of things (other anti-establishment poems or poems about suffering for example). On the other hand, Tissue (Imtiaz Dharker) is a rather difficult one so you probably only want to write about it if you're forced to, so don't waste loads of time learning it. Just learn enough quotes from enough poems to prepare for every eventuality.

Finally, remember that Language is where the biggest stakes are. If all you want is a pass in Language (say you're not planning to study anything that really depends on Literature at A-level), you might be better off revising methods and analytical techniques - these can be applied to both subjects.

really really really NEED help - english literature

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