AQA A2 English Literature B (LITB3): Elements of the Gothic 11th June 2015

I have history on Monday as well. What topic are you doing?


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Any tips on exam technique and how to structure an answer?

That's exactly what my teacher's been saying. Instead, she said just make sure you're talking about it from different critical perspectives (feminist, psychoanalytical, Marxist). So you should be the one acting like the critic.

Really? That's interesting because my teacher said it is part of the AOs, especially AO3 which wants you to explore connections and comparisons between different literary texts, informed byinterpretations of other readers.

Here is the website http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/subjects/AQA-LITB3-W-MS-JUN14.PDF on page 5, if you want to look at what the examiners are looking for

Thank you! Our teachers have never taught to learn critical opinion and have never had bad results

Once you have decided on your question make sure you write a short introduction, addressing the keyword, such as describing 'obsession', 'supernatural' within Gothic fiction, or, if women then mention what the roles of women in the Gothic typically are. Then, you should be able to integrate that into a simple sentence, whether to a 'large extent' you agree or disagree basing on the text. Same goes for Section B, too! This will show the examiner that you know what the question is actually asking you; it also gives you some time to think about what you're going to write about.

For me, I am going to spend like two minutes writing bullet points for each paragraph I'm going to write in response to the question, this should then help you see how you can get your AO's in, assuming you know them all! As for exam technique, you must make sure to hit all your assessment objectives, but also ensure that you create a debate and offer interpretations.

For structure, start every paragraph in light of the question you are answering, so be able to create a direction of your argument; with this I would make sure to keep mentioning the keyword so I don't lose focus.

You may not have a lot of time, but make sure you try to get a conclusion in, particularly in section A! Whilst section B is still very important for a conclusion, it is very likely to run out of time on that section, so don't fret if you don't but do try! Likewise, your conclusion should not just obviously repeat everything of what you have written in the essay, the examiner should preferably take something new away. (Sorry if that's a bit vague!!)

Not sure what else to say, really! I hope it helps. :-) Have you not done any exam practices yet?
Good luck, everyone :-)

What can I write about for dark humour for Dr Faustus? I dont feel as if I have enough in my notes much appreciated if anyone wants to share some thoughts

It's my teacher's first year teaching A2 English Lit but she knows what she's doing. She found something on youtube that talked about the Marxism feminism and psychoanalytical perspectives so since then, it's all we've been using. I haven't gotten lower than a band 5 with it so far, so it's a good thing

Our teacher has taught for years but she's brill, especially with the homoerotic reading of Frankenstein

Is it important to keep your argument consistent throughout the essay or do you have to acknowledge alternative viewpoints?

Is it important to keep your argument consistent throughout the essay or do you have to acknowledge alternative viewpoints?

Definitely wouldn't get you in the higher mark bands if you keep your argument completely one-sided. If you offer alternative viewpoints that would be great, and 'interpretations' is actually one of the assessment objectives so it's really important. So, although you might agree to a large extent with a view, you should most definitely say, for example: 'However, it can also be argued that...'.
I think the conclusion is a good opportunity to voice your actual opinion though!

Oh wow, that's something new for me. Like, I've heard about it for the great Gatsby but never Frankenstein. make s a bit of sense actually.

Yeah, well if you think of monster as his doppelgänger, he kills all the women (indirectly Justine), Victor destroys the female monster cause he can't bear heterosexual relationships. His obsession with Clerval is interesting, and when he dies he is far more upset than when Elizabeth dies, and the fact Clerval is killed by the monster reveals it as a submissive desire that can never come to fruition. Of course you can argue that this wasn't unusual for male-male relationships to be portrayed like this during Shelley's context (Romanticism etc) but its an interpretation after all

That's really good. A very good point to use as a counterargument if something to do with women comes up.

Yep, I said about the introduction bit earlier; should have said that again!
I agree, in my essays I always put my opinion first as to suggest that is MY opinion, then go on to say 'It can however, be argued that...' within the same paragraph after my opinion... Is that a correct way of 'structuring' interpretations/argument?

That's the plan I hope! Although the character presentation one would be a great question for me haha

Anything to do with characters would be amazing! It's come up every year in section b so I'm hoping it does again. I can talk about it much more clearly for Frankenstein and Macbeth. Wuthering Heights is what I plan to use for section A.