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AQA A2 English Literature LITB3: Gothic, 6 June 2014

Hello all! I figured it would be good to make a thread for this year's exam, considering how popular last year's thread was :biggrin:

AQA's marking for this spec seems to be a tad unpredictable to say the least, (one look at previous LITB3 results day posts and you'll see what I mean) so we all need to do everything we can to do well in this exam!

So, if anyone wants to share advice, resources or revision tips then this is the place to do so - I'll also try and post some up on here as I find them. My exam texts are Frankenstein, Macbeth and Dr Faustus, and my target is an A*. Good luck everyone!

EDIT: Very useful site for revision, has tons of resources, exemplars and full UMS scripts - https://intranet.wellingtoncollege.org.uk/english/6th-form/-as2-literature/litb3-gothic
(edited 9 years ago)

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Woo, this should be helpful! :biggrin:

My texts are Macbeth, The Bloody Chamber and Wuthering Heights. I'm predicted an A*; I'll try my hardest to get it but I'm not confident :redface:

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Original post by Lucy96
Woo, this should be helpful! :biggrin:

My texts are Macbeth, The Bloody Chamber and Wuthering Heights. I'm predicted an A*; I'll try my hardest to get it but I'm not confident :redface:

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Hopefully!

So how are you finding your texts? My school did TBC last year but changed it this year to Dr Faustus, no idea why! But I'm enjoying all my texts, and I'm finding essay writing a lot easier than I did at AS to be honest. Still clueless about the structure of this exam but hopefully should be okay :smile:
I'll make sure that I follow this, seems like it'll be helpful! :smile: My texts are Wuthering Heights, Frankenstein and Macbeth and my target is an A*. I'm really enjoying the Gothic part of the course so far, despite it being a lot of work!
Original post by ArsenalObsessed
Hopefully!

So how are you finding your texts? My school did TBC last year but changed it this year to Dr Faustus, no idea why! But I'm enjoying all my texts, and I'm finding essay writing a lot easier than I did at AS to be honest. Still clueless about the structure of this exam but hopefully should be okay :smile:


I really love them! Wuthering Heights can be a bit of a pain sometimes though :tongue: oh I see, I really wanted to do Dr Faustus! That's great :biggrin: I am too, I think it's because I hated the questions like "how does.....tell the story in chapter.....of......" :tongue: you will be :h: I like the way we get a choice of three questions for section B, it's very generous :smile:

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Original post by cliffysbiro
I'll make sure that I follow this, seems like it'll be helpful! :smile: My texts are Wuthering Heights, Frankenstein and Macbeth and my target is an A*. I'm really enjoying the Gothic part of the course so far, despite it being a lot of work!

Yes it seems a lot of people actually enjoy this course, last year's one was really boring I felt - way too formulaic, no room for any creativity or anything like that! Which text are you currently studying in class? I'm doing Frankenstein and I have to say it's a bit dull at the moment. I hope it gets more interesting soon!

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Original post by Lucy96
I really love them! Wuthering Heights can be a bit of a pain sometimes though :tongue: oh I see, I really wanted to do Dr Faustus! That's great :biggrin: I am too, I think it's because I hated the questions like "how does.....tell the story in chapter.....of......" :tongue: you will be :h: I like the way we get a choice of three questions for section B, it's very generous :smile:

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Yes I've heard that Wuthering Heights can be a bit dreary at times :tongue: it is very generous! Section B is where you have a generic "Gothic" question isn't it? I think I need to brush up on that, it's quite easy but it's something that people lose quite a lot of marks on apparently!

By the way, have you seen all the complaints on last year's thread about the exam? I'm really worried that'll happen again :frown: Last year luckily I wasn't affected by any dodgy marking from AQA, so I'm extra cautious for this year! I wonder why so many people didn't do as well as they'd expected?

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Original post by ArsenalObsessed
Yes I've heard that Wuthering Heights can be a bit dreary at times :tongue: it is very generous! Section B is where you have a generic "Gothic" question isn't it? I think I need to brush up on that, it's quite easy but it's something that people lose quite a lot of marks on apparently!

By the way, have you seen all the complaints on last year's thread about the exam? I'm really worried that'll happen again :frown: Last year luckily I wasn't affected by any dodgy marking from AQA, so I'm extra cautious for this year! I wonder why so many people didn't do as well as they'd expected?

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Haha yup :tongue: and it is! I do too, and I need to work on my timing a bit. Yeah I've heard the same :eek:

I have, and it's terrifying :frown: as am I! Thankfully neither was I; I came out of the exam nearly in tears because I didn't finish the last question, but it wasn't bad at all :tongue: I am too :frown: I really have no clue, but I don't trust AQA :colonhash:

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Reply 8
Hi everybody! I'm doing Frankenstein, The Bloody Chamber and The Pardoner's Tale. :smile: Predicted an A* as well (and need it for my firm) so hopefully AQA won't be doing dodgy marking this year.


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Original post by ArsenalObsessed
Yes it seems a lot of people actually enjoy this course, last year's one was really boring I felt - way too formulaic, no room for any creativity or anything like that! Which text are you currently studying in class? I'm doing Frankenstein and I have to say it's a bit dull at the moment. I hope it gets more interesting soon!

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I agree, though last year's exam seems to be a lot more straightforward from what I've heard! It seemed difficult enough at the time, but my English teachers are always going on about how 'nearly impossible' it is to get an A in this Gothic one. I'm hoping to prove them wrong. :tongue:
I'm currently studying Macbeth in class, we've covered Wuthering Heights so Frankenstein is the only one we've not started! I haven't even read it yet so I'm not sure what to expect. I keep hearing conflicting opinions, but the majority do seem to think that it's pretty dull! I've always loved Macbeth though and I've actually really enjoyed studying Wuthering Heights, which surprised me! :smile:
Original post by dlaiden
Hi everybody! I'm doing Frankenstein, The Bloody Chamber and The Pardoner's Tale. :smile: Predicted an A* as well (and need it for my firm) so hopefully AQA won't be doing dodgy marking this year.


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Fingers crossed! Where's your firm? :smile:
Reply 11
Original post by cliffysbiro
Fingers crossed! Where's your firm? :smile:


Fingers crossed indeed! I firmed Cambridge for English, though if I miss it I still get to join York's lovely department. :h: You? But either way I'd like to get an A* at A-level to make up for missing out on one at GCSE (by one UMS...still hurts).
Original post by dlaiden
But either way I'd like to get an A* at A-level to make up for missing out on one at GCSE (by one UMS...still hurts).

Haha this!! This is honestly what I tell myself whenever I feel lazy and start to think that an A at A-level is okay. I need to make up for my lack of A*s at GCSE English!
Original post by cliffysbiro
I agree, though last year's exam seems to be a lot more straightforward from what I've heard! It seemed difficult enough at the time, but my English teachers are always going on about how 'nearly impossible' it is to get an A in this Gothic one. I'm hoping to prove them wrong. :tongue:
I'm currently studying Macbeth in class, we've covered Wuthering Heights so Frankenstein is the only one we've not started! I haven't even read it yet so I'm not sure what to expect. I keep hearing conflicting opinions, but the majority do seem to think that it's pretty dull! I've always loved Macbeth though and I've actually really enjoyed studying Wuthering Heights, which surprised me! :smile:

Teachers will always say that ._. my English teachers are honestly the least inspiring teachers I have :frown: which is a shame as I love English and am going to be doing it at uni. But I'm going to prove them all wrong obviously :wink:

I studied Macbeth for the first time this year and I love it! Faustus is also great, but Frankenstein I'm just finding so, so tedious. I don't know how I'm going to memorise a load of quotes for it! In fact I'm dreading the whole memorising-quotes thing :eek:

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Original post by dlaiden
Fingers crossed indeed! I firmed Cambridge for English, though if I miss it I still get to join York's lovely department. :h: You? But either way I'd like to get an A* at A-level to make up for missing out on one at GCSE (by one UMS...still hurts).


Argh 1 UMS, that's a killer! I kind of know the feeling, I was 1 UMS off an A in AS geography :mad:
I did get my English A*s at GCSE, but according to my *official* predicted grades I'm actually only targeted an A at A Level. :rolleyes:
...But I'm counting it as an A* target 'cause that's what my teachers for the subject have targeted me, and it's what I'm personally aiming for! I just need an A for uni though. :smile: Wow, great choices! I'm doing English with Creative Writing, I'm currently torn between UEA and Warwick (though I have an offer for the first and an interview for the latter, so I suppose I might not get into both yet anyway).
By the way, what's The Pardoner's Tale like to study?
Original post by ArsenalObsessed
Teachers will always say that ._. my English teachers are honestly the least inspiring teachers I have :frown: which is a shame as I love English and am going to be doing it at uni. But I'm going to prove them all wrong obviously :wink:

I studied Macbeth for the first time this year and I love it! Faustus is also great, but Frankenstein I'm just finding so, so tedious. I don't know how I'm going to memorise a load of quotes for it! In fact I'm dreading the whole memorising-quotes thing :eek:

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I suppose so, though no-one at my school has ever got an A in this exam! :s-smilie:
Aw that must suck - my English teachers are my absolute favourites, despite their negativity over this they're usually so supportive.
Ah god the memorising quotes thing is just the worst, isn't it? :frown: I had a mock exam for a Wuthering Heights Section A question a few weeks ago, and even though I'd done tonnes of quotes revision I just totally fell apart after reading the question and none that I knew seemed at all relevant. I'll get my mark back tomorrow and am just sincerely hoping that it won't be representative of my final grade! I only wrote just over a page so I'm not expecting good things :colondollar:
Original post by Lucy96
Haha yup :tongue: and it is! I do too, and I need to work on my timing a bit. Yeah I've heard the same :eek:

I have, and it's terrifying :frown: as am I! Thankfully neither was I; I came out of the exam nearly in tears because I didn't finish the last question, but it wasn't bad at all :tongue: I am too :frown: I really have no clue, but I don't trust AQA :colonhash:

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Oh man, haha. For me the LITB1 exam last year was quite an experience, for me! I thought it went okay, but I came out of the exam and realised I had written something so inexplicably stupid I couldn't even believe, and so I was sure I'd dome badly. But then I somehow came out with 120/120, Lord knows how!

I haven't done a full mock yet so I have no idea what my timing is like D: I've only done timed individual essays, and they were okay-ish. But last year exam timing was my nemesis so I'll really have to work on it this year!

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I'm studying Macbeth, Wuthering Heights and The Bloody Chamber. I'm hoping to get an A. I had a real disaster in the AS exam, so I need to do well this year! :smile:
Reply 18
Original post by cliffysbiro
Argh 1 UMS, that's a killer! I kind of know the feeling, I was 1 UMS off an A in AS geography :mad:
I did get my English A*s at GCSE, but according to my *official* predicted grades I'm actually only targeted an A at A Level. :rolleyes:
...But I'm counting it as an A* target 'cause that's what my teachers for the subject have targeted me, and it's what I'm personally aiming for! I just need an A for uni though. :smile: Wow, great choices! I'm doing English with Creative Writing, I'm currently torn between UEA and Warwick (though I have an offer for the first and an interview for the latter, so I suppose I might not get into both yet anyway).
By the way, what's The Pardoner's Tale like to study?


I know, it's the worst feeling. Especially since I was too poor/cheap to pay for a remark. :tongue: I hate that stupid computer-generated targeting system! My official target was a B before my teacher changed it, even though I got an A last year. The scariest thing about an A* target is the exam...I love coursework but I'm scared about remembering quotes. :frown:

Wow, I know UEA is amazing for Creative Writing, what with the award-winning graduates from their MA course (I was looking into the same course for awhile as well - another aspiring creative writer here!). But then Warwick also has it's own reputation so it's definitely a bit of a struggle seeing as those are pretty much the best unis for the subject (and I'm sure you'll get an offer from Warwick ^_^). Have you visited both, or talked to students on both courses?

Studying The Pardoner's Tale...the first time you look at it, it's almost completely incoherent. :tongue: But then after listening to it being read out (especially by the so-called Chaucer Man) and reading a few passages, you'll start to get a feel for Middle English. The text itself is actually pretty witty, and it's really interesting from an historical and religious viewpoint, so once you get past the language you'll probably really enjoy it. I find the language really helpful for remembering quotes, actually, as the strange spellings of things tend to stick out in your mind. And it's likely to be the shortest text you'll read this year, so that's another bonus!
Original post by cliffysbiro
I suppose so, though no-one at my school has ever got an A in this exam! :s-smilie:
Aw that must suck - my English teachers are my absolute favourites, despite their negativity over this they're usually so supportive.
Ah god the memorising quotes thing is just the worst, isn't it? :frown: I had a mock exam for a Wuthering Heights Section A question a few weeks ago, and even though I'd done tonnes of quotes revision I just totally fell apart after reading the question and none that I knew seemed at all relevant. I'll get my mark back tomorrow and am just sincerely hoping that it won't be representative of my final grade! I only wrote just over a page so I'm not expecting good things :colondollar:

My English teachers are lovely people but they just don't have a lot of faith in me, which is frustrating. Back in October I had to fight them (literally, obviously :wink:) to get predicted an A*, despite the fact that I had the highest AS mark in my entire year. They're a bit more supportive now I guess, but they still don't believe I'm capable, which sucks.

I haven't done an actual mock yet, but I did a sort-of mock a few months back on Macbeth - we were told the exam question beforehand, but still had to memorise all our quotes etc. Ended up getting 37/40 in that but I doubt it's an indication of anything as it wasn't really a proper one. Good luck! :smile:

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