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How do I not fail English!

I'm trying to get prepared for my GCSE English exam next year as I am really worried about it! I have been predicted a grade 8+ and I really want to do well but I have no idea where to start! I don't find English naturally easy so I want to do some work, but I'm not sure what ways of revision are the best.

I mainly need help with:
English Literature- Great Expectations and Lord of the Flies.
English Language
Poetry Anthology- Relationships.

I'd like to know what the best methods of revision are (except re-reading the book as I've already done this and it hasn't helped), and if there are certain things that I should focus on or if there are any topics that aren't worth revising.
Thank you!
Reply 1
I did mine this year and I was predicted a 4/5 and came out with a 7. English is not naturally my strongest subject and ngl I didn't even revise that much but if you do revise you will be less stressed out, so do. I did books Macbeth, and frankenstein and poetry: anthology. For the books jus learn the story of events and the order they come in, would be helpful if you learn a new key quotes of the characters and themes. For the anthology learn the main idea of each poem and pair some of them up with their similarities and differences. Annotate the poems and keep them stuck around your room, you don't have to start learning quotes but some will just naturally stick out to you and write these down which will make it easy for you to interpet. Hope this helps:smile: x
i did mine this year and was predicted a 5 but came out with a 9! with english it always feels like you know nothing but trust me you know more than you think, for me it was fully understanding what your text was about. i did macbeth, a christmas carol, an inspector calls and conflict poetry. i found having a set of quotes for each theme helpful and then whatever the exam threw at me i always tried to link it to one of my themes thus i could use my quotes. with the poems i had 15 to learn (they say) but i picked 4/5 (a bit risky but it paid off) which were my strongest that i focussed on as it was a lot easier to remember 5 than 15! i'd say don't stress too much as i was panicking thinking i knew nothing and i couldn't even tell you a quote before exams as i believed i couldn't do it- you can! yes, there's a lot to learn for english but if you break it down into sections it seems more manageable :smile:
One of my main problems was structuring essays (for English language especially), so make sure you're confident in that. Do a lot of past papers, and find the predicted questions online or from your teacher so you know how to answer the harder stuff. Revising with your friends is good, because it's more fun and engaging than being by yourself.

Make mind maps or cue cards for the main themes and characters in all the books/ poems. Write down main quotes that match the themes and characters, then write short explanations for both the language and structure of them. For most quotes you'll be able to bend them so they fit the question, this will be super useful for if you get stuck!
Reply 4
Well done with your result! Did you learn quotes for each chapter or the key events? Also, did you compare the poems to others in the booklet or one online?:smile:
Reply 5
Original post by xellebee123
i did mine this year and was predicted a 5 but came out with a 9! with english it always feels like you know nothing but trust me you know more than you think, for me it was fully understanding what your text was about. i did macbeth, a christmas carol, an inspector calls and conflict poetry. i found having a set of quotes for each theme helpful and then whatever the exam threw at me i always tried to link it to one of my themes thus i could use my quotes. with the poems i had 15 to learn (they say) but i picked 4/5 (a bit risky but it paid off) which were my strongest that i focussed on as it was a lot easier to remember 5 than 15! i'd say don't stress too much as i was panicking thinking i knew nothing and i couldn't even tell you a quote before exams as i believed i couldn't do it- you can! yes, there's a lot to learn for english but if you break it down into sections it seems more manageable :smile:


Wow well done with your result that's amazing! Did you look online to find out what your text is about or is it the themes? Also, did you learn quotes just for themes or the characters as well? How did you decide what poems to learn, as I would be worried that but pick the wrong ones!
Reply 6
Original post by crocodile_ears
One of my main problems was structuring essays (for English language especially), so make sure you're confident in that. Do a lot of past papers, and find the predicted questions online or from your teacher so you know how to answer the harder stuff. Revising with your friends is good, because it's more fun and engaging than being by yourself.

Make mind maps or cue cards for the main themes and characters in all the books/ poems. Write down main quotes that match the themes and characters, then write short explanations for both the language and structure of them. For most quotes you'll be able to bend them so they fit the question, this will be super useful for if you get stuck!


Should I learn an essay template for English Language or is every question different? Thank you!
Original post by kate12321
Should I learn an essay template for English Language or is every question different? Thank you!


Every question is different but you use the skills from the previous questions in the last one. I'd ask your teacher about that though, because they'll teach your class a certain method and it'll be easier if you're doing the same as everyone else.
Original post by kate12321
Wow well done with your result that's amazing! Did you look online to find out what your text is about or is it the themes? Also, did you learn quotes just for themes or the characters as well? How did you decide what poems to learn, as I would be worried that but pick the wrong ones!


thanks! i found reading summaries of the texts super helpful and i picked versatile quotes that i could talk about both themes and characters with it- most quotes should have this crossover and remember english lit is all about how you interpret things so whatever point you have as long as you back it you should be good! with the poems i tried to ones that had different themes within the main cluster e.g i picked one from racism/discrimination, war, nature etc. they were the ones that stuck in my head the most as some of the poems were either so long i couldn't remember any lines or they didn't say much so i just forgot them as soon as i'd read them!
Reply 9
Original post by kate12321
Well done with your result! Did you learn quotes for each chapter or the key events? Also, did you compare the poems to others in the booklet or one online?:smile:


Thank you, I only learnt the quotes for the key events not every chapter but it's helpful to know what happens in each chapter or at least the order of the key events. I compared the poems to others in the booklet. I didn't learn any of the poems word for word only a few quotes which stuck on to me but a few of my friends learnt some and it helped.
Original post by kate12321
Well done with your result! Did you learn quotes for each chapter or the key events? Also, did you compare the poems to others in the booklet or one online?:smile:


heya i got a nine when predicted a 7/8- definately learn quotes for themes and characters rather then 3 from every chapter/verse/etc. Know where abouts the quotes are in relation to each other though.

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