English literature AQA A level help!!!!

Okay, I'm doing different texts but the same exam and here is how I revise.

If you go on the specification, you will find a big list of themes - these are what you'll be asked about. However, there's usually a couple more like brotherhood, sacrifice, horrors of war, futility, the home front etc etc. Collate all of these themes and colour code them. Then, get a whole load of those sticky notes that look like arrows (they're cheap on amazon). Go through the books, skim read them, and every time that theme comes up stick a sticky note in and underline a quote.

This will take a while but it's totally worth it as you are left with a bank of quotes/moments for any theme - put all of these into a word document so they are easy to refer to. If you want, go through and analyse a few of them so you've got some solid AO2.

For AO3, you wanna just compile as much information and statistics on the war that you will remember. This can all be done in like 2/3 hours with a google search. Also, find some information out about the authors as you can put this in the exam too.

For AO4, get some wider reading done. For WW1, I recommend Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks, the poetry of Siegfried Sassoon (or any other war poet, I just like him), All's Quiet on the Western Front etc. There's loads for war literature. Note a couple quotes down or a theme they explore which you can refer to in the exam.

For AO5, you can go the step further (if you're reaching for top grades) by looking for some literary criticism on the books. Just google search for them, and something will come up. You can use these to back up or dispute your argument.

If you're struggling with the poetry, my best advice would be to choose 10-15 poems to focus on as you'll never need the whole anthology. Copy and paste them onto separate sheets/word documents. At the bottom, give a little section for context, significant quotes and links to A Long Long way. Print these all out and begin to fill in what you can answer. If you need help with analysis, there will usually be people who have already analysed them online that you can look at. If there isn't, make sure you remember to look at language (so what imagery does it use, any semantic fields, specific choice of words) and structure (rhyme schemes, form ie. sonnet, isolation and enjambment and what effect this has).
I hope this helps, it has really helped me and I'm looking at getting an A* X

Okay, I'm doing different texts but the same exam and here is how I revise.

If you go on the specification, you will find a big list of themes - these are what you'll be asked about. However, there's usually a couple more like brotherhood, sacrifice, horrors of war, futility, the home front etc etc. Collate all of these themes and colour code them. Then, get a whole load of those sticky notes that look like arrows (they're cheap on amazon). Go through the books, skim read them, and every time that theme comes up stick a sticky note in and underline a quote.

This will take a while but it's totally worth it as you are left with a bank of quotes/moments for any theme - put all of these into a word document so they are easy to refer to. If you want, go through and analyse a few of them so you've got some solid AO2.

For AO3, you wanna just compile as much information and statistics on the war that you will remember. This can all be done in like 2/3 hours with a google search. Also, find some information out about the authors as you can put this in the exam too.

For AO4, get some wider reading done. For WW1, I recommend Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks, the poetry of Siegfried Sassoon (or any other war poet, I just like him), All's Quiet on the Western Front etc. There's loads for war literature. Note a couple quotes down or a theme they explore which you can refer to in the exam.

For AO5, you can go the step further (if you're reaching for top grades) by looking for some literary criticism on the books. Just google search for them, and something will come up. You can use these to back up or dispute your argument.

If you're struggling with the poetry, my best advice would be to choose 10-15 poems to focus on as you'll never need the whole anthology. Copy and paste them onto separate sheets/word documents. At the bottom, give a little section for context, significant quotes and links to A Long Long way. Print these all out and begin to fill in what you can answer. If you need help with analysis, there will usually be people who have already analysed them online that you can look at. If there isn't, make sure you remember to look at language (so what imagery does it use, any semantic fields, specific choice of words) and structure (rhyme schemes, form ie. sonnet, isolation and enjambment and what effect this has).

I hope this helps, it has really helped me and I'm looking at getting an A* X

Hi.

I’m in year 13 studying English literature love through the ages. I’m finding it difficult to revise for the A2 content which is on WW1 and its aftermath. I’m studying ‘Oh What A Lovely War’ as a stand alone text and ‘A Long Long Way’ compared with poems from ‘Scars Upon My Heart’. One out of my two English teachers is so terrible and I’m very worried about the exams. All he does is just convert the poems I’m studying to simpler terms without looking at any language techniques or even how to write on it. Oh, and we haven’t even started the ‘A Long Long Way’ text by Sebastian Barry. So I really need someone’s help / advice on what I could do to revise effectively in order to attain decent marks in the exams, preferably a B or an A. I would also be ever so grateful if anyone could share any notes / essays.

Thank you so much!