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how to get a 9 in english literature and language

this doesnt apply to everyone nor is it a guarantee, just some help for those that are struggling.

This is mainly a guide on technique for getting a 9 in english.

Your priority for revision should be what and how you revise not how long you revise.

thats not to say it doesnt matter how long you revise, it does, but make sure you understand that you are revising correctly first because no one wants to waste time revising useless stuff.

below is a link to my english language essay that was awarded grade 9.
https://cognitate.co.uk/2020/06/grade-9-gcse-english-language-essay/

Section 1: what to revise

quotations are amongst the most important things in english literature, that being said, examiners dont care if you can memorise a quote. they care that you can analyse it.

You should be learning atleast 15 quotations for each book you are doing, and the crucial part of this is that you not only need to learn what the quotation is, but you need to know how to analyse it and adapt it to atleast 2-3 of the possible questions, to get a sense of what i mean here is an example in jekyll and hyde.

quotation - "i unleashed my alter ego Hyde"

Analysis - what does this tell you about Hyde? What does this tell you about Jekyll? What does this tell you about what other people think of Hyde? what does this tell you about duality?

those are 4 questions that you need to be able to answer with that specific quote, as the question in your exam could ask you to talk about duality, talk about hyde, and talk about jekyll etc... When learning to analyse these quotes, make sure you use fancy vocabulary. An easy way to do this is to think of a word you are going to say, and then type it into https://www.thesaurus.com/ and use another word instead.

Atleast 50% of what I wrote in both english literature and language was all from memory.

Another important thing for the books is to keep things relevant to the question, and to do this, only learn things that answer a question you think can be asked.
I did WJEC and its different for each exam board so be sure to research the type of questions that can be asked, just remember that everything you learn, you need to know what question they will ask when you describe, that way it can be much more accurate and straight to the point.


You also need to research obscure meanings that will surprise the examiner, for instance with jekyll and hyde, the author wanted us to believe that they were gay, and obviously homosexuality was frowned upon and stevenson wanted to convey that message in a more hidden way.
https://youtu.be/Bhq4x5CTA58

that youtuber makes alot of videos on obscure meanings like that. and you can incorporate this into every question, the question I had was to talk about how evil is presented. With this meaning you can say that society itself was evil etc.

All of this also applies to the poems, and make sure you know everything you can compare every poem with.

For english language you need to have a strong idea on what your story is going to be about and what happens, you need to make it simple and able to adapt to what the question asks.




Section 2: how to revise


main rule to get a 9 in english and almost every subject, is repetition in short bursts of revision is much better than revising for 6 hours+ per day. its not necessary and most people who think it is are not revising correctly.

I only used revision cards when it came to actually revising for english, it started by reading over revision guides and writing down relevant and concise information onto revision cards and then from youtube videos.

I never read any of the books at all, I especially didn't understand jekyll and hyde at all, but with the use of the internet you can find out evertyhing about it without having to even read it. If you understand it and think that its helping you, then sure read it. But if you are having doubts that its just a waste of time, then put the book down and use other methods of revision instead.

Revision cards was virtually the only thing I used, my teacher was useless and I never did a practice question.

From january up until the exams I only did a maximum of 30 minutes revision for english a day, but that was everyday.
thats the most important thing with revision. I didnt take a day off for over half a year.
i never ever revised for some ridiculous amount of time like 6+ hours per day, if you're doing that and you're not getting 100% in every exam you are revising wrong.

In addition to 30 minutes of revision, I read over a batch of revision cards in any random order once every hour or so while I was at home. it doesnt require any effort and because I did it for so long I didnt have to try and remember it, it just eventually happened and I didn't forget the stuff I wrote down.
doing this I made an entire "revision card holder" filled with just english by about april and just kept on reading them over.

part of my paper for english language, writing an article about a trip, informal. dont use fancy vocab when your task is to write for a magazine! https://imgur.com/a/P2jM82a
Extras:

reply to a user that others might find useful:

its hard to give alot of advice because of different exam boards. the main thing i can advise for that is learning loads of fancy vocabulary.
I dont know if your exam does this, but for wjec we have a non-fiction writing task where we are asked to write either a report, an article, a letter, or a review, you need to use the language that you would in that situation, so for an informal letter i can make purposeful spelling mistakes and say "yo" and "wassup", in that instance you wouldnt use any fancy vocabulary. so its important to understand what makes them different, heres a link to my one last year, it was to make an article in a local newspaper about a visit with your family to a city.
https://imgur.com/a/P2jM82a (order is the wrong way round)

also for the analysis of the texts, write something about everything line by line, it doesnt matter if you think its a bad comment or not, you can make some abstract claim that no one would agree with but it still gets marks.

As a side note, if you are a fast typer, definitely try and use a laptop in the exam by nagging your school for one.
(edited 3 years ago)

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Thank you! Thats really useful! Any tips for English language specifically? x
Original post by natasha4902
Thank you! Thats really useful! Any tips for English language specifically? x


its hard to give alot of advice because of different exam boards. the main thing i can advise for that is learning laods of fancy vocabulary.
I dont know if your exam does this, but for wjec we have a non-fiction writing task where we are asked to write either a report, an article, a letter, or a review, you need to use the language that you would in that sitatuation, so for an informal letter i can make purposeful spelling mistakes and say "yo" and "wassup", in that instance you wouldnt use any fancy vocabulary. so its important to understand what makes them different, heres a link to my one last year, it was to make an article in a local newspaper about a visit with your family to a city.
https://imgur.com/a/P2jM82a (order is the wrong way round)

also for the analysis of the texts, write something about everything line by line, it doesnt matter if you think its a bad comment or not, you can make some abstract claim that no one would agree with but it still gets marks.
Original post by Gent2324
its hard to give alot of advice because of different exam boards. the main thing i can advise for that is learning laods of fancy vocabulary.
I dont know if your exam does this, but for wjec we have a non-fiction writing task where we are asked to write either a report, an article, a letter, or a review, you need to use the language that you would in that sitatuation, so for an informal letter i can make purposeful spelling mistakes and say "yo" and "wassup", in that instance you wouldnt use any fancy vocabulary. so its important to understand what makes them different, heres a link to my one last year, it was to make an article in a local newspaper about a visit with your family to a city.
https://imgur.com/a/P2jM82a (order is the wrong way round)

also for the analysis of the texts, write something about everything line by line, it doesnt matter if you think its a bad comment or not, you can make some abstract claim that no one would agree with but it still gets marks.


Ok thank you x ( I’m WJEC too ahaa)
Thanks for this! I do WJEC too but it's too late for me to do sort burst everyday lol since my exam is in 3days
I wish I’d found this sooner; my first exam is on Thursday.
Is it a major concern that in my last mocks I went from an 8 to a 6 eventhough I’ve been getting 8s in previous exams??
Original post by Gent2324
this doesnt apply to everyone nor is it a guarantee, just some help for those that are struggling.

This is mainly a guide on technique for getting a 9 in english.

Your priority for revision should be what and how you revise not how long you revise.

thats not to say it doesnt matter how long you revise, it does, but make sure you understand that you are revising correctly first because no one wants to waste time revising useless stuff.


Section 1: what to revise

quotations are amongst the most important things in english literature, that being said, examiners dont care if you can memorise a quote. they care that you can analyse it.

You should be learning atleast 15 quotations for each book you are doing, and the crucial part of this is that you not only need to learn what the quotation is, but you need to know how to analyse it and adapt it to atleast 2-3 of the possible questions, to get a sense of what i mean here is an example in jekyll and hyde.

quotation - "i unleashed my alter ego Hyde"

Analysis - what does this tell you about Hyde? What does this tell you about Jekyll? What does this tell you about what other people think of Hyde? what does this tell you about duality?

those are 4 questions that you need to be able to answer with that specific quote, as the question in your exam could ask you to talk about duality, talk about hyde, and talk about jekyll etc... When learning to analyse these quotes, make sure you use fancy vocabulary. An easy way to do this is to think of a word you are going to say, and then type it into https://www.thesaurus.com/ and use another word instead.

Atleast 50% of what I wrote in both english literature and language was all from memory.

Another important thing for the books is to keep things relevant to the question, and to do this, only learn things that answer a question you think can be asked.
I did WJEC and its different for each exam board so be sure to research the type of questions that can be asked, just remember that everything you learn, you need to know what question they will ask when you describe, that way it can be much more accurate and straight to the point.


You also need to research obscure meanings that will surprise the examiner, for instance with jekyll and hyde, the author wanted us to believe that they were gay, and obviously homosexuality was frowned upon and stevenson wanted to convey that message in a more hidden way.
https://youtu.be/Bhq4x5CTA58

that youtuber makes alot of videos on obscure meanings like that. and you can incorporate this into every question, the question I had was to talk about how evil is presented. With this meaning you can say that society itself was evil etc.

All of this also applies to the poems, and make sure you know everything you can compare every poem with.

For english language you need to have a strong idea on what your story is going to be about and what happens, you need to make it simple and able to adapt to what the question asks.

below is a link to the first 2 pages of my english language essay.
https://imgur.com/a/5gxQrvI
I've highlighted everything that I just googled before hand and memorised. You can see that some of the comments can be applied into any story, so its well worth learning stuff like that and it can get you easy marks, even if you don't understand it all that well.

Section 1: how to revise


main rule to get a 9 in english and almost every subject, is repetition in short bursts of revision is much better than revising for 6 hours+ per day. its not necessary and most people who think it is are not revising correctly.

I only used revision cards when it came to actually revising for english, it started by reading over revision guides and writing down relevant and concise information onto revision cards and then from youtube videos.

I never read any of the books at all, I especially didn't understand jekyll and hyde at all, but with the use of the internet you can find out evertyhing about it without having to even read it. If you understand it and think that its helping you, then sure read it. But if you are having doubts that its just a waste of time, then put the book down and use other methods of revision instead.

Revision cards was virtually the only thing I used, my teacher was useless and I never did a practice question.

From january up until the exams I only did a maximum of 30 minutes revision for english a day, but that was everyday.
thats the most important thing with revision. I didnt take a day off for over half a year.
i never ever revised for some ridiculous amount of time like 6+ hours per day, if you're doing that and you're not getting 100% in every exam you are revising wrong.

In addition to 30 minutes of revision, I read over a batch of revision cards in any random order once every hour or so while I was at home. it doesnt require any effort and because I did it for so long I didnt have to try and remember it, it just eventually happened and I didn't forget the stuff I wrote down.
doing this I made an entire "revision card holder" filled with just english by about april and just kept on reading them over.


As a side note, if you are a fast typer, definitely try and use a laptop in the exam by nagging your school for one.
Original post by iamlasagne
I wish I’d found this sooner; my first exam is on Thursday.
Is it a major concern that in my last mocks I went from an 8 to a 6 eventhough I’ve been getting 8s in previous exams??

What English Lit exam do you have on Thursday? Also what are you doing to revise for it?
Macbeth and A Christmas Carol.
I’ve been revising quotes and I’ve answered a few exam questions. I just need to remember to analyse but i can’t seem to do analysis and context at the same time
Original post by Hiro2468
What English Lit exam do you have on Thursday? Also what are you doing to revise for it?
Original post by iamlasagne
Macbeth and A Christmas Carol.
I’ve been revising quotes and I’ve answered a few exam questions. I just need to remember to analyse but i can’t seem to do analysis and context at the same time

Mine's on Wednesday and I'm doing Macbeth and Poetry. For Macbeth what do you think are the main themes that you must know? I'm doing last minute revision
wait... I think mines on Wednesday.... oops
umm.. i got a sheet in revision on Friday let me just see if i can find it and i'll get back to you
Original post by Hiro2468
Mine's on Wednesday and I'm doing Macbeth and Poetry. For Macbeth what do you think are the main themes that you must know? I'm doing last minute revision
Fifty per cent from memory? Bloody hell.
if only the English Lit exams were open book.
although one of the history papers you get sources and stuff and you only need to remember probs 50% for geography paper 3
Original post by Tolgarda
Fifty per cent from memory? Bloody hell.
Original post by iamlasagne
if only the English Lit exams were open book.
although one of the history papers you get sources and stuff and you only need to remember probs 50% for geography paper 3

I know that. Even so, almost nothing that I wrote was from memory. I scored a little over 95% in both yesteryear. The only thing I remembered was quotes. That was it. I'm happy the exams are closed book though, so as to differentiate students better.

Also, your comment about the history papers is void for Edexcel, since there are sources for papers one and three.
huh? i'm confused
Original post by Tolgarda
I know that. Even so, almost nothing that I wrote was from memory. I scored a little over 95% in both yesteryear. The only thing I remembered was quotes. That was it. I'm happy the exams are closed book though, so as to differentiate students better.

Also, your comment about the history papers is void for Edexcel, since there are sources for papers one and three.
Original post by iamlasagne
huh? i'm confused


Why would you be confused? What did I say that was confusing?
Original post by Tolgarda
Why would you be confused? What did I say that was confusing?

i don't understand what you mean by my comment about history being void? please can u explain
Original post by iamlasagne
i don't understand what you mean by my comment about history being void? please can u explain

Edexcel has sources in more than one of its history papers. You said that you get sources in 'one of the history papers', but those taking Edexcel don't just have that.
oh right! thats coz we haven't gone through one of the papers yet in class so I didn't realize. sorry
Original post by Tolgarda
Edexcel has sources in more than one of its history papers. You said that you get sources in 'one of the history papers', but those taking Edexcel don't just have that.
Reply 18
I do WJEC Eduqas too. How many paragraphs should I write in my 15 marker and then also in my 25 marker and how might I incorporate context into my essays, e.g poetry anthology. Also how might I bump my grade up in the next 3-4 days?
Original post by iamlasagne
I wish I’d found this sooner; my first exam is on Thursday.
Is it a major concern that in my last mocks I went from an 8 to a 6 eventhough I’ve been getting 8s in previous exams??



its not abnormal to make a few mistakes to go down a few grades, its a major concern if you dont know why you got a grade 6 instead of an 8. if you know, correct the mistakes and you should be ok, good luck.

Original post by Mansorr
I do WJEC Eduqas too. How many paragraphs should I write in my 15 marker and then also in my 25 marker and how might I incorporate context into my essays, e.g poetry anthology. Also how might I bump my grade up in the next 3-4 days?



depends if you are on a laptop. if you have a laptop you can write 2x more. if on paper, about a page and a half for 15 marker? its not a huge deal though as if your writing is **** you need more, if its good you need less.

you can incorporate context by thinking of something at the time that could be linked to the subject. it can be pretty much anything as long as you can justify it. good luck

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