Aqa english lit paper 2 help

Hi, I'm doing DNA - I've been pretty stuck on a 7 but I'd love to push it up to an 8 so any advice would be appreciated!

Do you include context? Context for DNA is quite difficult since it’s a modern play. Usually, it will be sufficient to talk about increasing gang culture, leadership of teenagers, newly emerging ideas like the previous ones ^

Maybe it’s how well your analysing quotes...?? Perhaps send me a quote from DNA and I’ll analyse it and then you can compare my annotations with your annotations to see the level difference/new analysis

I probably don’t include it enough - I tend to go for character questions but find it harder to talk about context for them, I included a bit of context in my last mock but still didn’t do very well

Um I haven’t actually started learning any quotes yet oops 😬 I’ll go with the classic ‘I’m in charge now, everyone’s happier. What’s more important, one person or everyone?’ Even though I’ve probably not remembered that correctly and it’s not the most unique quote 😂

That’s a decent quote, you can link that to “what plastic bag?..you break in...DNA nightmare”

Some analysis (I’ll write them in note format so not full sentences but some will b)

Phil orchestrates a plan to steal. Kelly’s use of imperatives to question “what plastic bag?...you break in...DNA nightmare” suggests that he’s instructing the gang on what to do - he has established absolute authority. The semantic field of leadership and confusion employs the idea that Phil is uniting the gang and he has an expectation of them to follow, rendering this newly emerging brotherhood. Perhaps he is trying to get the others in trouble, notice how he is evading responsibility - “you” demonstrates how he will not be involved. Phil leadership is adaptable as he changes his response/attitude according to who he’s dealing with. This juxtaposes phils silence to absolute control. Yet, this contrasts with the stage direction “Phil walks away” which adopts the idea that the ‘gang’ are starting to deteriorate, which is phils cue to leave (his gradual removal from the group). The questioning tone of “what plastic bag?” Juxtaposes phils knowledge to Cathy’s confusion, implying that this has been planned all along. Additionally, “DNA nightmare” suggests that they have experienced something like this before. Readers shocked that a youth is so intelligent with forensic activity. Gang culture increasing. Kelly suggests that ‘gangs’ do not care for each other, especially for teenage trouble.

Well...it turned out as a mini paragraph tbh...useful?

Yes definitely! And very far off anything I could come up with which is why I’m struggling 😂😂 With the questions, I tend to go for a character question if there is one because I can think of more to say, but my teacher thinks that to get higher grades you should be doing theme questions so things on gangs etc - would you agree with this or does it not really make a difference?

Which ever you feel comfortable in answering...its your choice.

I would agree with her in answering the theme question, but not for the same reason. I would say answer the theme question because that allows you to talk about more than 1 character, which shows the examiner you have explored the text. If you answer the character question, your response could be quite limited as your not exploring different ideas.

Essentially, the theme question just gives you more to write about as it is so broad. Whereas the character question is designated to one specific question.

I can’t remember exactly, but you could get 2 character questions, or 2 theme questions. I might be wrong though

Ah okay! So maybe I can try turning a theme question into a character question because I never have enough to write about just one character How much would you say the language you use matters? As in is there any fancy vocabulary I can throw in that might impress the examiners or will it not make a difference?

I think the language you use does affect your marks. However it varies from teacher to teacher.

Definitely use fancy vocab to impress the examiner. Not only to impress them but to make your writing more professional. Use language (synonyms for show) like: hosts, employs, adopts, renders, conforms, accentuates, tributes, heightens, exposes etc...

Use different techniques too. I don’t think I ever wrote about the classic simile/metaphor at GCSE. I used techniques like: synecdoche, metonymy, clipping, diction, symbolism, dysphemism, euphemism etc...

100% research some new techniques you can apply to your texts

Okay thank you! How do techniques like that apply to DNA? Also, what's your advice for when you're struggling to find anything interesting to talk about in unseen poetry?

For example when Leah says something about getting a screwdriver and killing it. That would be dysphemism, which is a technique used when there is extra information that did not need to be added and in this case, makes it uncomfortable. Synecdoche could be used for the “coke” in phils hand.

If you research new techniques like the ones above, there will always be something to talk about. They have given u the poem for a reason which means there’s plenty to talk about.

If you are still really struggling to find techniques because the pressure is on, group language features into semantic fields and use that as a technique. Look at any structure. Count how many caesuras there are. Count how many lines there are/how many stanzas. All can be used to talk about. Length of the lines= regular? Irregular? Rhythm and rhyme = how many pieces of punctuation are there that slow the rhythm down? Talk about enjambment and themes. Anaphora= where the start of a sentence is repeated e.g. “what she did, what I never said, what happened next”. They all start with the same letter.

Thanks so much! I should probably stop putting off geography for now but I'll definitely have a look later. Are you doing english lit at a level?