AQA AS Literature June 2015 LTA1A

I got 23/30 for one of my coursework pieces what grade do you think that is?

That's still really good Do you have the mark back from the other one?

Going from last year's grade boundaries, you need:
A- 24.5/30 (49/60)
B- 21/30 (42/60)
C- 17.5/30 (35/60)

So you're into the B, but you could pull your mark up enough on the other one to get into the A
How is your revision going?

yeah not too bad, I really wanted to bank an A in coursework though!:-( I haven't got my other piece back yet, but i'm pretty sure I did better in that one :-) its not going too bad, just finding it really hard to find ways to revise. I need to memorise some more quotes for prose and drama. how do you revise and how is your revision going?:-)

if i git a b in coursework how much do i need in the exam to get an A overall

Let us know how you got on with the other one when you get it back What coursework texts did you study?
Have you memorised all of your quotes for poetry? I haven't really revised the poetry section of the exam yet, but for the wider reading I'm copying all of my quotes out onto colour coded post it notes for each context. I go over them with a friend, for example writing the quote down on a whiteboard and saying it, then rubbing off one word and saying it again, until eventually you know it without any words on the whiteboard If you make a big table of all of the contexts on one side with the titles poetry, prose and drama across the other, then try and fill it in, then you can see where the gaps in your knowledge are

It depends how far into a B you were; it's done on UMS score rather than just the grade alone So if you got a low B in the coursework then you'd need more in the exam than if you got a high B

lets say im on a high b what do i need in the exam if i want an A - fairly certain im on a high for coursework since before moderation i was on an A-poetry and a B - drama

start with picking 3 poems. not 2, not 4, 3 only.

1 yes poem (e.g agrees with the statement)
1 maybe poem (e.g some aspects agree, some don't)
1 no poem (e.g completely disagrees with the statement)

structure:

para 1: intro and statement of answer

para 2: analyse yes poem

para 3: analyse maybe poem and explain why it agrees with the statement (link to yes poem)

para 4: analyse maybe poem and explain why it DOESN'T agree with the statement (contrast to yes poem)

para 5: analyse no poem and compare to yes and maybe poem.

para 6: conclusion

FOR EXAMPLE:
"A sense of loss pervades all of Tennyson's poetry, how far do you agree?"

yes poem = in memoriam
maybe poem = the lotos eaters
no poem = The northern farmer

heres how I would write this essay (obviously not in note form and with more sophisticated language)

para 1: I agree to an extent, as "In memoriam" is riddled with a sense of loss bc it was written for his friend who died, the lotos eaters is kind of about loss, as they physically get lost at sea but this loss is not depicted in the same tone as in memoriam, and finally the northern farmer does not talk about loss, but about gain.

para 2: In memoriam is perhaps the poem that resembles a sense of loss the most, due to how dramatic the language is [analyse loads of language here]. it was written to express grief and loss (elegy),(this is all you need to allude to - remember not to go on about Tennyson's life and how his friend died, there are NO marks for context so you're wasting time and you're already annoying the examiner) The focus on loss in this poem is significant enough for him to question God and religion, it is an epic which implies importance of this event in his life -supports statement as loss pervades the length of this poem. lots of rhetorical questions, unanswered questions. his loss has no closure. questions of religion.

para 3: The lotos eaters supports statement to an extent, loss of "Courage!" (trochee - stands out - makes loss of this more significant/noticeable) very passive language (analyse this) loss of self/character - they are swayed by the ambiance of the island. same theme of loss of self in this poem and in memoriam (analyse 2 quotes to compare this)

para 4: lotos eaters not about 'sense of loss' as loss is not the underlying tone. theme of loss is not consistent. larger focus on nature and its beauty. their loss is not a bad thing because they don't want to go back. they're very accepting "sweet to dream of wife, child, slave" sense of gain pervades. in dramatic form instead of monologue like in memoriam - not a personal account of grief. mention something about structure of lines/punctuation and intertwine this with language analysis.

para 5: northern farmer is about gain of "proputty" and the fight for an economically favourable marriage. more about the priorities of low social classes than loss. expressing Tennyson's view on the idea of not marrying for love. analyse language about greed and gain (or horse - symbol of wealth) to language about loss in in memoriam. dramatic monologue form - gives one sided view so makes the reader feel bad for the son. father so obsessed with gain, he can't remember if he thought his wife was pretty when he met her. compare obsession with gain to obsession with loss.

para 6: in conclusion, it is clear that Tennyson uses the theme of loss as a basis of expression in some of his poetry - particularly in personal accounts of grief. however it is unfair to say that loss itself pervades it, as there are different types of loss and he describes these in different ways.

hope this helps! it certainly helped me writing it all out! haha. if anyone has any tips for writing intros and conclusions they would be gratefully received as I have no idea what to include in them! this essay structure is the structure my teacher has drilled in to us for the past year and it really works for me, especially if I have a nasty question! please let me know what you think of this brief plan and if ive missed anything important out.
thanks!

Hi thank you! This really helped! Do you have any tips on question 1 or how to structure it? I'm awful! x

That's okay! For question one, all I do is analyse what's in front of me, then make my 3 links (drama poetry prose), and trying to intertwine context between them, there are only 3 marks available for context and links, so make sure the quality of your writing and language analysis is on point cause that's where the marks are😊 the quality of your links are not that important, so where you put them in your essay isn't important either. Also if you get stuck for links, just go with the shabbiest link you can think off, it won't matter, where's in question 2 your links matter😊

I'm sure there's around 17 marks for Ao4 which is context

Oh no.. Maybe I have it mixed up ������

Thanks! Yeah I'm pretty sure context is worth the most marks on this question but thanks for the tips

Guys does anyone having any tips on question 1 of the exam? I keep getting 25s and it's my second time doing the exam

can anyone run me through how to structure my essays?

You're right, context is very important in this question, as are the links. The least important in this one is AO1. The way I structure my essays is:
- Analyse the extract for FSL, make sure you do this in depth and that you already know what you can link it with.
- Link to your wider reading (either poetry, prose or drama), talking about a similar point and comparing and contrasting them.
- Include references to context in this, using it to develop your points.
- Repeat this until you've done all three of poetry, prose and drama, making sure you talk about a different point of the extract each time.


See the above comment for question one.
For question 2:
- I make a little plan at the start, with the main theme in the middle and find three poems I can reference. Each poem has it's own branch, then I write the basic points for each poem coming off them, then I can make branches between each poem so I can clearly see the links I'm going to make
- First have a small introduction, explaining your interpretation of the question and the poems you're going to refer to
- First half of the first paragraph I talk about how one poem links to the question, analysing FSL (you can include context but you don't get marked on it)
- The second half I link this point to another one of the poems, with more FSL
- Then in the next paragraph, I start with the poem I just talked about and link it to the next one following the same structure, effectively making a circle of links, finishing with the poem I started with
- I then finish with a conclusion about my overall interpretation

I hope this helps

Thank you!

you can also do:Intro

Comparative point 1

PEE poem 1

Pee Poem 2

comparative point 2

Pee poem 1
Pee poem 2

Counter Arguement

Conclusion

Doesn't it say on the question to include at least 3 or 4 poems?

should bave said counter arguement is the third poem

ah, makes more sense