GCSE AQA English Literature Paper 1 and 2 Revision and Study Chat

Welcome to GCSE AQA English Literature Revision and Study Chat! :hi:

The exam timetable is:
Wednesday 13th May: Paper 1 (2484381)
Thursday 21st May: Paper 2 (2484412)

How are you feeling about these exams? Do you feel prepared? What have you started doing to prepare for your exams? Comment down below! :h:

How to prepare for exams (general tips)

This thread is for anyone studying GCSE English Literature(AQA)
. Chat below and find other students in the same situation as you! Help each other revise, study and share resources. Good luck everyone :goodluck:

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Reply 1

Evil Homer

TSR Community Staff

Will keep updating this post with all the recommended resources, links and useful posts that are mentioned in this group :smile:

Specification: GCSE AQA English Literature Specification

Recommended resources:

Recommended TSR resources:

Useful posts:
Mrs Birling Quotes

Reply 2

Khnz

Anyone doing blood brothers, Romeo and Juliet or a Christmas carol. :smile:

Reply 3

PizzaMan2989

Original post by Khnz

Anyone doing blood brothers, Romeo and Juliet or a Christmas carol. :smile:

Nope, doing Lord of the flies, Macbeth and Jekyll and Hyde and power and conflict

Reply 4

Dedication69

Original post by Khnz

Anyone doing blood brothers, Romeo and Juliet or a Christmas carol. :smile:

im doing romeo and juliet, jekyll and hyde, an inspector calls

Reply 5

Khnz

Original post by PizzaMan2989

Nope, doing Lord of the flies, Macbeth and Jekyll and Hyde and power

Oh no worries. The books seems far more interesting to what I'm doing. Good luck anyways.

Reply 6

PizzaMan2989

Original post by Khnz

Oh no worries. The books seems far more interesting to what I'm doing. Good luck anyways.

Yes I really like the books and I find them interesting...but i don't like English lmao

Reply 7

Dedication69

i just done my mocks and for english literature paper 2 i didn’t complete section c, unseen poetry. Any advice on how to analyse your own texts?

Reply 8

Khnz

Original post by PizzaMan2989

Yes I really like the books and I find them interesting...but i don't like English lmao

Lol same english lit is a pain for me sooo much to revise

Reply 9

JoeAmo15

I have my mock on Wednesday. English lit paper 2. Inspector Calls and power and Conflict poems. Anyone else

Reply 10

Khnz

Original post by Dedication69

i just done my mocks and for english literature paper 2 i didn’t complete section c, unseen poetry. Any advice on how to analyse your own texts?

Were only learning about unseen poetry today so don't know how u would go about it but would like to know.

Reply 11

PizzaMan2989

Original post by JoeAmo15

I have my mock on Wednesday. English lit paper 2. Inspector Calls and power and Conflict poems. Anyone else

Yeah same paper 2 on Wednesday too - just different books

Reply 12

toedchicken1989

Original post by Khnz

Anyone doing blood brothers, Romeo and Juliet or a Christmas carol. :smile:

im doing christmas carol

Original post by PizzaMan2989

Nope, doing Lord of the flies, Macbeth and Jekyll and Hyde and power and conflictim

Reply 13

Endola

I'm doing Macbeth, A Christmas Carol, An Inspector Calls, Power and Conflict poetry

Reply 14

PizzaMan2989

Does anyone mind giving feedback on this question, please

Compare ‘London’ and one other poem about power from the power and conflict anthology

Notably, both poems ‘London’ and ‘Checking Out My History’ explore how patriarchal society and those in power can cause problems, showing the damaging effects of exploited children.

Blake demonstrates the effect of patriarchal society and its damaging effects in “Blight with plagues the marriage hearse.” The oxymoronic device used, emphasis the corrupt nature of the time and perhaps criticises Christanitys views on marriage. A marriage which is meant to be a symbol of love, that represents happiness and joy is tarnished with the sexually transmitted diseases Blake hints at(“plagues”). It suggests to the reader that the life of “new-born infants” are “cursed” due to male-dominated society of the 1800s, creating pathos for the poor and vulnerable children.The cyclic and monotonous lives of those living in London is explored through the use of a regular ABAB rhyme scheme and regular quatrains. Perhaps Blake is acknowledging the repetitive suffering that the exploited “Chimney sweepers” and “Youthful harlots” were forced into whilst living in London during the Industrial revolution. Furthermore, it is clear by all the emphasis on suffering children that his purpose was to demonstrate the damaging impacts on child exploitation and reveal the effects of male sexual desire within a highly patriarchal society. Ultimately it also being the last line of the poem offers no hope further adumbrating the suffering. This idea that society exploits children is also evident in Agard’s ‘Checking Out Me History’: “Dem tell me bout Lord Nelson and all that..Dem tell me...Shaka the great Zulu.” The use of Agard's colloquial spellings and references to important black historical figures forces readers to acknowledge his identity; which is similar to how Blake wished for the monarchy, at the time of his writing, to acknowledge the suffering of children in London. Moreover, the repetition of the collective noun “Dem”(them) emphasises his idea that people in power can corrupt others' knowledge - evident where children in French and British Imperialist countries fail to learn about and embrace Afro-Caribbean culture. Structurally, Agard's use of enjambment reflects the angry tone of the poem where he is unable to control his emotions and in retrospect to Blake tries to show how people in power can be resisted by those being oppressed.

Ultimately, both Blake and Agard wish to express their anger towards the highly patriarchal society of the times they were writing and illustrate how they can corrupt and exploit children's lives. They both demonstrate the damaging effects of it, to the point where Blake feels as if there is no sense of hope for their futures. Agard, on the other hand, wishes to make a statement about how it is possible to fight back.

Reply 15

fxwzxyxh

Original post by Dedication69

i just done my mocks and for english literature paper 2 i didn’t complete section c, unseen poetry. Any advice on how to analyse your own texts?

When completing the unseen poetry the examiners are aware of how much you have already done, so writing a lot about a little is important in this section! The section is split into two; 24 marks for analysis (question 27.1) and 8 marks for comparison (question 27.2) I think.

In the 24 mark question it is important you analyse language,structure&form and what the poem is saying- in the mark scheme you get marks for answers that are 'conceptualised'; in reference to the poem as a whole. My advice for this question would be to spend a few minutes annotating features that STAND OUT or you can write a lot about instantly. Even if it is one simile, it is better than picking a mediocre argument about many quotes. I also recommend you split your work into paragraphs, (language, the significance of title etc) and another for (structure, form, sounds) this way you won't get carried away writing too much. Then talk about effects on the reader and why you think the poet chose to present the image/theme in this way.

For question 2 in the section you get almost no marks for a 'conceptual' response- it isn't in the mark scheme; eg. The writer creates a sense of fear in this poem gets 0. Instead talk about the writers choice of language/structure and how they are similar or differ eg; the writer uses caesuras frequently in the poem to create...blablabla. Try and construct your answer in relation to the whole poem since you have no time to make individual statements. You should spend 10 MAX 15 minutes on this answer. Make sure you compare the poems and don't worry looking for both language and structure. Just like the language paper, if you can't find anything to say about structure don't waste time and write about 2/3 language comparisons instead

I hope this helps, I am also a y11 student so I am not perfect! If you need more help feel free to message me. Also I know this did not really answer 'how do I analyse my own texts' but is more exam help :smile:

Reply 16

RandomHumanBeing

Hello, how are we feeling about this subject in general?

Reply 17

JoeAmo15

I would say a 5/10. I just need help on my structure for each question and remembering quotes for each character.

Reply 18

jayydah

im sorry but can someone explain how i can improve my analysis of poems and the books? my teacher says my ideas are high levelled ideas but i don't write it down that well. also 've only doen like 7 poems is that bad?