Competition - post a photo you've taken of nature >>

AQA A Level English Literature & Language Study Group

Hey, i'm in year 13 and i'm doing AQA English Language & Literature. Not a lot of people are doing this course so if anyone wants to share revision notes or exam techniques feel free to do so.
I am doing Carol Ann Duffy poetry, Lovely Bones, Street Car and Paris anthology

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

TSR Jessica

Sorry you've not had any responses about this. :frown:

Are you sure you've posted in the right place? :smile:

Here's a link to our subject forum which should help get you more responses if you post there. :redface:

Reply 2

CinnamonSmol

heeey, I'm year 12, lit/lang. I'm doing Paris Anthology, Heaney Poems, Handmaids Tale + next year Gatsby and Streetcar :smile:

does anyone have any tips on how to set out my notes/ how to study?
and for anyone whose done the NEA, and what sort of things do you suggest I read/watch to help me beforehand?

Reply 3

Blancosdos

y13

Doing Carol Ann Duffy, Handmaids, Paris, Streetcar and Kite Runner

Reply 4

Pareet_b

Original post by CinnamonSmol

heeey, I'm year 12, lit/lang. I'm doing Paris Anthology, Heaney Poems, Handmaids Tale + next year Gatsby and Streetcar :smile:

does anyone have any tips on how to set out my notes/ how to study?
and for anyone whose done the NEA, and what sort of things do you suggest I read/watch to help me beforehand?

I love street car, for my coursework I got 42/50 I did 1984 and compared it to north korea

Reply 5

Pareet_b

Original post by Blancosdos

y13

Doing Carol Ann Duffy, Handmaids, Paris, Streetcar and Kite Runner

Dont know why but i just cant get the hang of carol ann duffy, how u finding kite runner??

Reply 6

Blancosdos

Original post by Pareet_b

Dont know why but i just cant get the hang of carol ann duffy, how u finding kite runner??

Easy.

Really.

(I generally enjoy recreative recasts though)

Reply 7

Pareet_b

Original post by Blancosdos

Easy.

Really.

(I generally enjoy recreative recasts though)

I find it harder if the question is broad like write an account I ptefer it to be specific

Reply 8

CinnamonSmol

Original post by Pareet_b

I love street car, for my coursework I got 42/50 I did 1984 and compared it to north korea

omg well done thats incredible damn :biggrin:

thats actually so weird though because I was actually considering of doing 1984 too -may read some other books though, just in case I like something else

I think we're starting it next week, what do you wish you knew/did during ur coursework and do you have any tips generally?

Reply 9

Pareet_b

Original post by CinnamonSmol

omg well done thats incredible damn :biggrin:

well i would tell you to pick a topic that has lots to talk about and choose your secondary text carefully and make sure it has literary techniques because you will need to talk about them. Also take the word count into consideration, its very strict and you can not go over!
If you need any help you can message me and i'll try my best

Reply 10

Alicezworld

Yes I'm doing the same spec too - am struggling to write perceptive and assured essays (Band 5). I always seem to get the same mark and so if anyone has any advice they're willing to share - please do as I would be grateful!

I'm doing The Handmaid's Tale, Streetcar, Gatsby...

Reply 11

Pareet_b

Original post by Alicezworld

which mark/band do you usually fall in?

Reply 12

Untitled99

Hi, how did you structure it? Like can you give us some examples or maybe a pic of aspect of your coursework? I’m doing it on immigration crisis with White Teeth and Political speeches.

Reply 13

Pareet_b

Original post by Untitled99

Hi, how did you structure it? Like can you give us some examples or maybe a pic of aspect of your coursework? I’m doing it on immigration crisis with White Teeth and Political speeches.

Okay this was the structure I used, ill give some examples but you can substitute them to match with ur own texts.

Introduction:
I first spoke about the genre and a bit of background on the book, such as the time it was written in and then giving a very brief overview. You have to keep refering to your text and link it to the theme youve chosen, I did opression. Then talk about your non literary text, introduce it and link it to theme and then to conclude the intro talk about the chalters you have chosen to focus on and why and also why youve chosen that specific literary material.

Review:
Define your themse to begin with, so I gave a definition of opression, try to find more than one definition so you can compare then link back to your literary or non literary text. I also spoke about totalitarianism because it linked to my novel. Then talk about what other people say about the book,find critics and make sure you reference them. Also contextualise the book in the novel and maybe talk about what the author would have taken into consideration e.g. when Orwell wrote 1984 he would have been influence by the naxi regime.

Analysis:
In this you make up 4 questions to do with your theme that looks at specific terminology. E.g. "How is adverbial language used to depict power over people" you then answer it, one paragraph for each text. Focus on the terminology but remember to link it to your theme, you need good sophisticated analysis for this. I only did 3 questions because my teacher said my analysis was good. Also remember there is a word count.

Conclusion:
Here your basically evaluating both texts by using the information in your analysis. So you just compare and constant but very brief out can be a maximum of 500 words, mine was a little over 200 words

I hope this had helped!

Reply 14

Untitled99

Thank you so much!! That makes so much sense now in terms of the structure. Quick question, in my analysis, I came to realisation that some of my language levels from my lit text didn’t match with my Lang levels from my non- lit text (which is inevitable) - does this matter though? - like I know this coursework isn’t a compare and contrast essay question but still. However, I paragraphed them into a much more broader subheading - like for example, the use powerful language, emotive language etc ...

Reply 15

Pareet_b

Original post by Untitled99

To be honest I’m not 100% sure about that because my teacher told us to pick specific terminology. But you can ask your teacher to email the AQA advisor to look at your questions and confirm whether they are acceptable

Reply 16

Alicezworld

Original post by Pareet_b

which mark/band do you usually fall in?

band 4

Reply 17

Pareet_b

Does anyone have any good examples of poetry essays that they have done? The way my teacher explains the structure is confusing so if anyone could upload any examples it'd be really helpful, thanks
I'm doing Duffy poetry

Reply 18

Pareet_b

Original post by Alicezworld

band 4

I would just say stay consistent with your work, and make sure you expand on all your points, sometimes I find myself talking about something but then my teacher tells me if I expanded on it I could have got more marks and get context in wherever possible especially for streetcar

Reply 19

bluebells1

WAIT YOU COULD CHOOSE THE LIT TEXT FOR YOUR COURSEWORK?
My school is making us do Great expectations and I HATE IT 😂😂

Oh well!
I'm also doing Duffy, handmaids, kite runner, Paris and streetcar