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Love Through The Ages - English Literature A-Level

Hi,

I do AQA A English Literature 'Love through the ages' pathway and I'm a little confused by the specification.

The specification outlines that we have to study literary themes over time and engage in the two main historicist perspectives (diachronic and synchronic). And the fact we should read texts written in different time periods.

How would we incorporate this into an answer? Is it simply through use of critics, context, how readers of that era would interpret the text and our own interpretations? Just a little confused about how we would write about love differing over time in a question solely focusing on one text (Shakespeare section A for example.)

It also asks us to carry out 'wider reading.'

Out of curiosity, what is the purpose of wider reading? Is it to understand the genre better or e.g does it mean I should read other texts relating to that author e.g Shakespearen texts such as Hamlet and Macbeth to incorporate into my Othello answer? I'm a little confused by the concept of wider reading and the sole purpose of it.

Thanks.

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 1

English2001

Hi, I’ve genuinely never heard of having to take diachronic and synchronic approaches. Don’t focus on that too much. Just make sure that you consider a Jacobean audience perspective compared to a modern day audience perspective. Eg, it would not shock a Jacobean audience that Brabantio has a preconceived idea of what Othello would be like due to his race, whereas a modern day audience would be far more accepting towards Othello. Wider reading ticks off A04 (or A05, I don’t remember which one). It’s where you cross reference texts as long as it’s relevant. So you could make a point in your essay and then say “this idea is mirrored in Romeo and Juliet...”. But only do that if what your saying is relevant. If it’s not completely relevant, don’t bother

Reply 2

English2001

Original post by cheerIeader

Thank you so much, this is really helpful. I'm doing my A-Level externally so it's quite difficult without anybody to mark my essays/counsel me. Do you think it'd be a good idea to incorporate a comparison between a Jacobean/modern audience both in one point (as you've done above almost?)

But genuinely appreciate this! Thank you. Also do you have any tips when approaching unseen poetry? I don't know how to incorporate 'love through the ages' terminology when describing the poems and fell short with only 7/25 in my exam but maybe also with directly answering the question.

Definitely beat to compare audiences of the time it was written and modern day perspectives yeah as that it falls under one of the assessment objectives (definitely read those if you haven’t already)

What type of terminology? Literary devices? Every single time you quote something from a text, analyse the hell out of it - and that’s where you use terminology

Reply 3

cheerIeader

Original post by English2001

Literary devices but also types of love eg maternal, marital love. Would it be good to incorporate them into the answer in accordance to the question?