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how is the english literature exam set out?

i would like to know how the exam works. i have studied macbeth, an inspector calls and dr jekyll and mr hyde. will there always be questions on all 3 texts in a single exam that we can choose from or is it only 1 text that is chosen?
if it is all 3, is it okay to only study 1 text but in great detail?
(edited 6 years ago)
What is your exam board?
Reply 2
You will have two exams with each exam having at least 2 questions, one for each text and another for seen and unseen poetry. So you need to know all texts in depth.
Reply 3
Original post by jackh57
i would like to know how the exam works. i have studied macbeth, an inspector calls and dr jekyll and mr hyde. will there always be questions on all 3 texts in a single exam that we can choose from or is it only 1 text that is chosen?
if it is all 3, is it okay to only study 1 text but in great detail?


I'm going to assume ur doing AQA

The exam paper for Literature is split into 2 papers.

Paper one will have the Shakespeare and the 19th century novel(la).

Section A is the shakespearan question, and it will have all of Shakespeare books that can be done by the schools. Section B contains all the 19th century books you could have learned. You're school has done 1 section A book and 1 Section B book.

To find out your question, theres a content page at the front, which tells u the page number to go to and the book that page is for. For example, Macbeth was the first question this year, in page 1 and in the front of the book in the contents page, it tells u where all the questions are like

Macbeth 1
R/Juliet 3
Othello 4

and so on.

This repeats for Section B. You're advised to spend 45-50 minutes on each section.


Then paper 2 contains the poetry and the modern text. You're modern text is Inspector Calls and like paper 1, it tells u in the content page where the question for Inspector calls is in. Then it also tells u wher the poetry question is, which is either love or conflict.

Returning to your previous question, YES you can choose to do the other questions, however you cannot answer 2 questions from the same section, and even if u do, only the first one is marked. Therefore, its not recommended to study 1 text in great detail.

All three books which u study along with the poetry is tested on.
(edited 6 years ago)
Reply 4
Original post by mxttymitch
What is your exam board?


aqa
Reply 5
Original post by Pretish
I'm going to assume ur doing AQA

The exam paper for Literature is split into 2 papers.

Paper one will have the Shakespeare and the 19th century novel(la).

Section A is the shakespearan question, and it will have all of Shakespeare books that can be done by the schools. Section B contains all the 19th century books you could have learned. You're school has done 1 section A book and 1 Section B book.

To find out your question, theres a content page at the front, which tells u the page number to go to and the book that page is for. For example, Macbeth was the first question this year, in page 1 and in the front of the book in the contents page, it tells u where all the questions are like

Macbeth 1
R/Juliet 3
Othello 4

and so on.

This repeats for Section B. You're advised to spend 45-50 minutes on each section.


Then paper 2 contains the poetry and the modern text. You're modern text is Inspector Calls and like paper 1, it tells u in the content page where the question for Inspector calls is in. Then it also tells u wher the poetry question is, which is either love or conflict.

Returning to your previous question, YES you can choose to do the other questions, however you cannot answer 2 questions from the same section, and even if u do, only the first one is marked. Therefore, its not recommended to study 1 text in great detail.

All three books which u study along with the poetry is tested on.


my 19th century novels are an inspector calls and dr jekyll & mr hyde. will there be questions on both of these in one paper? so i can only focus on learning 1 (e.g. only learning an inspector calls)
Reply 6
Original post by jackh57
my 19th century novels are an inspector calls and dr jekyll & mr hyde. will there be questions on both of these in one paper? so i can only focus on learning 1 (e.g. only learning an inspector calls)


Yes. There will a question on both of the texts.
Reply 7
Original post by Pretish
Yes. There will a question on both of the texts.


so will it be fine to only revise one text?
It depends on which exam board you are with! I studied Jekyll and Hyde and An Inspector Calls with Edexcel and I found them reasonably easy! You need
to revise all texts you study and all in full details such as quotes, setting, characters etc. The new system works as a singular booklet for questions and
another for answers. You have to answer questions on an extract from Shakespeare, An Inspector Calls and Jekyll and Hyde - and then have questions based off of your own understanding towards the books. I managed to get an A* in English Lit so feel free to ask any more questions!
Reply 9
Original post by whitneeyle
It depends on which exam board you are with! I studied Jekyll and Hyde and An Inspector Calls with Edexcel and I found them reasonably easy! You need
to revise all texts you study and all in full details such as quotes, setting, characters etc. The new system works as a singular booklet for questions and
another for answers. You have to answer questions on an extract from Shakespeare, An Inspector Calls and Jekyll and Hyde - and then have questions based off of your own understanding towards the books. I managed to get an A* in English Lit so feel free to ask any more questions!


thanks for the help.
what did you do to revise for the exam? any helpful websites or textbooks?
Original post by jackh57
so will it be fine to only revise one text?

Short answer: No. Long answer: Nooooooooo.

If you only revise one text, you can only get 50% of the marks at most. If you revise both texts, you can theoretically get all of the marks. Revise everything you have to study, and revise it well.
Reply 11
Original post by Carbon Dioxide
Short answer: No. Long answer: Nooooooooo.

If you only revise one text, you can only get 50% of the marks at most. If you revise both texts, you can theoretically get all of the marks. Revise everything you have to study, and revise it well.


what if i revise 1/1 of the shakespear text and 1/2 of the 19th century novels?
Original post by jackh57
what if i revise 1/1 of the shakespear text and 1/2 of the 19th century novels?

I don't see why you think that... Consider that you have eight months to prepare for your GCSEs. About 250-300 pages of Shakespeare and a Victorian-era novel (the full editions of both) isn't really that hard to revise, in the grand scheme of things. You just need to absorb the stuff several times over, learn the key quotes, and - importantly! - learn your exam timing and technique. When I said what I said above, I run under the assumption that both texts would be revised fully.
Original post by jackh57
i would like to know how the exam works. i have studied macbeth, an inspector calls and dr jekyll and mr hyde. will there always be questions on all 3 texts in a single exam that we can choose from or is it only 1 text that is chosen?
if it is all 3, is it okay to only study 1 text but in great detail?


To put it simply:

Paper 1 will have questions on Macbeth and Jekyll and Hyde. You answer both questions.

Paper 2 will have questions on AIC, the poetry anthology and also unseen poetry. You answer all three questions.
Reply 14
Original post by thegalaxy
To put it simply:

Paper 1 will have questions on Macbeth and Jekyll and Hyde. You answer both questions.

Paper 2 will have questions on AIC, the poetry anthology and also unseen poetry. You answer all three questions.


ok. thanks a lot

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