AQA English Literature (Exploring Modern Texts)

AIC: talk about stagecraft, stage directions, lighting, entrances and exits, how the character is used to voice priestleys thoughts, always remember the HOW. make sure your points are clear and backed up with a quote. what effect does it have on the audience. emotive language, repitition..

in OMAM you are marked on historical context, but not in AIC although it can help you express your ideas, so perhaps try to include ideas about socialism and capitaism etc.
don't aim to write about everything, make links to different parts of the texts, talk about shifts in character moods. don't worry about your ideas being crazy, you'll get marked for 'insightful' and 'exploratory' responses. (quoting the mark scheme there).

There's probably loads more, hopefully someone can help us some more , im doing the same texts, and I also got a low A on the CA.

Do you think you could run through the mark scheme with me, and explain what each one means with maybe an example sentence that hits that band of the mark scheme? Because I feel like I'm almost beyond help, English is more of a skill and I'm strong at every subject except English, I'm getting a little stressed out

Practice past questions.

Like seriously, it's really useful - as you said english is a skill, and it can only be developed, not learned. So practice is crucial.
If you don't have any questions PM me and I can send you some that I have done.
I regularly get A/A*s on questions but this is because I've put some time in.

On of Mice and Men, get familiar with the novel, know whereabouts the main quotes are etc. Also make sure your quotations are short OR explore a longer quotation and then, to achieve a higher mark, really go into depth with a phrase or just a word from that quote.

Quantity < Quality

Use PEEL - Point (lennie signifies innocence), Evidence (quote here), explanation (expand upon this, how does the quote support your point… this is re-emphasised by (another quote here), link. Also, try to 'embed' quotes into your writing and make it flow, so...

NOT 'Lennie signifies innocence. The following quote shows this;
BUT 'Lennie signifies innocence. Steinbecks conveys this message by what others say about him; (quote)


Hope this helped to some extent, need anything else PM me.



Watch all of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-bD2r_S8hM
and all will be good

Ah Thanks mate that should be really useful! I understand PEEL but I still get low marks and It's hard to see why. What I usually do Is this

1. Point e.g. 'Crooks is portrayed as an Intelligent character'

2. Example 'For example 'A tattered dictionary and a few dirty books'

3. Analysis e.g. 'This shows that Crooks is Intelligent because he possesses 'A few dirty books' we associate people who read with more intellectual people, those more intelligent were more likely to have literacy skills at the time this novella was set, the fact he has a 'tattered dictionary' suggests he wants to learn. It also suggests he has his own personality through showing us his hobby, which is a clever way of developing Crooks as an individual character.'

This would be my typical paragraph. What should I improve on?

This is what understand of the markscheme

6.1 = Unique, In depth interpretations in response to the task, So Very in depth points that answer the question?

6.2 = Showing you know the text, talking about themes, linking together many ideas about the text?

6.3 = Picking out individual words and analysing them closely

6.4 = Saying why the writer has used certain words/techniques, what effect they have on the audience, was it effective, why it was clever to use this

6.5 = I have no idea, It says Convincing/Imaginary response to Ideas/Theme, I don't know what It's asking me for.

If I do all of the things above in my answer, should that be a higher mark? I struggle to fit them all In, but when I've done my marks I haven't understood the mark scheme

If you gave me a full answer to one of your questions I could help you out more, by telling you what you need to do.
going by your provided answer however,

'This shows that Crooks is Intelligent because he possesses 'A few dirty books' we associate people who read with more intellectual people,
those more intelligent were more likely to have literacy skills at the time this novella was set, the fact he has a 'tattered dictionary' suggests he wants to learn.
It also suggests he has his own personality through showing us his hobby, which is a clever way of developing Crooks as an individual character.'

I believe you need to do three main things here to improve:

1. Talk more about what you can infer from the quote - this is not simply what Steinbeck says, but what is suggested by the phrase you have quoted.
A.k.a. 'reading between the lines'; I'm sure you have heard of it before. Remember, any developed idea will gain you marks - doesn't matter whether
it's on the mark scheme or not! You gain points for exploration of the text by using and developing your own insights. The same principle applies here;
Write a lot about a little. This is partly what 6.5 is.

2. What does Steinbeck want to convey through this quotation? How does he want to make the audience feel? What message is he trying to get across
using these words/phrases?

E.g. the description of Curley's wife after she dies makes us question the men's attitudes towards her. It reiterates the point that (I can't remember which character)
made; 'the ranch ain't no place for a woman, especially one like her.' Then EXPAND. Just make stuff up. You can't go wrong;

'Curley's wife had rouged red lips and a red dress. Perhaps Steinbeck's use of the colour red signifies the danger that Curley's wife posed to George and Lennie's dream. On the
other hand, the colour red could represent the harsh, animalistic nature of the ranch world, re-emphasising that the ranch was indeed no place for a woman.'

Here I have talked about 2 different possible explanations - this is called evaluation. It is an A/A* skill. By including even one point like the above in your writing
you are automatically showing the application of A/A* skills. I also said 'Steinbeck's use of' - this answers 6.4.

try and consider different possible explanations when considering a quote, and say why Steinbeck used these words/phrases - what did he want to convey? what
message did he want to get across?

3.Ideas/theme - this links in with 2. Steinbeck portrays certain ideas/themes about the characters, e.g. Lennie is often compared to an animal - 'dabbled his
paws'. Then expand this idea, by using other quotes etc.
Develop the idea of the ranch being of an animalistic nature - almost like a hierarchy. Slim is at the top (this is
a whole other idea which I'm not going to get into right now, it would take ages and I have to learn all of R.E. for a tuesday exam ), whilst others like Curley and
Carlson are at the bottom - Steinbeck presents Carlson as having simple values and instincts; this is made clear when he insists on shooting Candy's dog. He is only
concerned about killing, as can be seen by his possession of the 'Luger' and his constant referral to it. You could then go on to say that Carlson represents the basic
primitive values that all men on the ranch have, however rules suppress these values - without rules all men would be like this (this is just a suggestion - make something up which
you can write a lot about!)

4. Social/historical content - this is very important as this is often what is specifically asked of you in part B of the question. You need to know (vaguely) the historical context of the time; Depression meant
no jobs, men couldn't settle down, had to travel all the time to find jobs. Nomadic lifestyle meant they couldn't develop relationships - this is contrasted by George and Lennie.

Our teacher taught us about the social attitudes to black people, women and the disabled (e.g. Candy), but the way I see it, everything you need to know is actually included in the novel. E.g. curley's wife having no name, being called a 'tart' etc.
Crooks - casual racism, constant use of '******', white people not allowed into his room, even Curley's wife of a higher social standing - 'I could get you strung up so easy'
Candy- will be thrown out when he can't swamp bunkhouses anymore. Curley's wife also insults him

You need to then develop ideas in part B of the question and link them in with the social/historical context. E.g. you could say Crooks crooked back reflected the weight of the racism on his shoulders, or Steinbeck's comparison of Lennie to an animal
suggests people with mental difficulties were treated similarly to animals.



Hope this helped to some extent. Took me really long to write

Oh my god, Thank you so much! I can't begin to tell you how helpful this is, You should be my English teacher you're much better than the one I have. Amazing, thanks man!

So to summarise, You think I should just 'Sophisticated' So just go into it in depth, even If it's a really far fetched Idea? My English teacher has really put me off doing this, when I got 11/30 on an Of Mice and Men question, she said 'Your points are a not very secure' she seemed to makr me down because she disagreed with my points... Which I thought twas wrong and It appears to be too

And talking about Steinbeck's desired effect, how its effected the audience, the message he's tried to get across etc. Is something I never knew I had to do to get higher marks, so I can't thank you enough for bringing that to my attention. Is it fair to say Multiple Interpretations is what you were getting at the the several explanations? We've always been told to give an Alternative interpretation of an Idea, but I didn't think it was relevant for this exam, so If I say for example referring back to my example earlier on.

The fact Crooks has many 'tattered dictionaries' and 'Dirty books' implies that he wants to learn, which tells us he is intelligent, and has a hobby which is an effective way Steinbeck attempts to develop a personality in Crooks, to shape his unique character which as a result helps the audience feel sympathy for Crooks as we can feel closer to his character now we understand his personality. This way of developing his character helps us later understand the difficulties for Crooks and how he is mistreated 'The boos is always givin him hell' As a result of his developed character, the audience are encouraged by Steinbeck to think about his situation, helping Steinbeck get his message across about the racist society in the 1930's, where racial violence was common and racial segregation was a major theme in society. On the other hand, It could be said that these books tell us Crooks needs to learn because he lacks Intelligence, for an Intelligent person would have no need for a dictionary, they would have a good grasp of The English language.'

I realise a lot of that was far fetched, and probably a load of nonsense, but as you said, a developed point is acceptable whether it's on the mark scheme or not. Is this kind of answer better? I've linked themes by adding in his treatment to his intelligence, I've added in Steinbeck's intentions by saying he tries to develop a character to allow the audience to feel closer to him, I've used context and I've used a second interpretation. I know it's not perfect, but If I maintained this sort of quality throughout, would I be looking at Band 5 maybe?

x1000 better


and yes, giving multiple interpretations is A/A* content, really helps bump up your grade.