How do i revise for English Literature ....

Basically my english lit exam is on tuesday (ocr) and i have no idea how to revise for this subject

it is my most marginal subject and since i have done little revision i am quite worried

my texts are: death of a salesman (miller), old man and the sea (hemingway) and the touched with fire poetry anthology

i would greatly appreciate any hints / suggestions / methods of how to revise for this exam - thanks in advance!

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any suggestions?

GCSE english is not that bad :P you dont really need to revise
But if anything do practise essays and go through your notes :smile:

Reply 3

crrrrrash

i'm finding quotes for different themes of the novel
and just like looking at poems

Reply 4

The Nightingale

Revise all the main themes, characters, plot points using York notes AND think of your open interpretations (as originality is important). If I were you I’d write all of these down using bullet points and memorise them. You could also use the flashcard thingies.

Look at essay structures from past essays you’ve done on the subject, as this might help you prepare if similar questions come up. Make sure you know all the literary terms as well—you should have the list in your notes, or your teacher could give you a copy.

Remember the following when it comes essay writing:

Analysis> Evidence> (quotes) Implications> Criticism> Evaluation

You won’t necessarily be able to include all of the above in your essay, as this is just a general thing. However, you could adapt certain areas of that to suit the question.

You could also use the PEEL thing (Point, Evidence, Explanation, and Link (link back to the question). Try and use some of the words from the question in your introduction, so the examiner knows that you’ve seen the point of the question.

You need to basically map out where you are going with the question in the introduction. From then on, in each paragraph, build on this as you analyse and develop each point.

With conclusions you could do the following:

·Summarise the main points
·Pick up the theme of the introduction
·Suggest wider implications
·Give your opinions as long as they match the strength of your discussion/argument.

I usually go with the second option… but the choice is entirely yours! As for putting this all into practice—do past papers. Ideally between 6-10 in the week before the exam, then use your mark scheme to check the answers.

If you’re getting 80% + then you’ve cracked it!

Good luck!

Reply 5

solihp

Bull**** bull**** bull****.

Reply 6

Mr Nonsense

The Nightingale

Good luck!

thank you so much nightingale. just one other question - how much time do you spend planning and what sort of detail do you have in your plan (if one at all)?

my teacher has been saying a lot about having clear 'topic sentences' at the start of each paragraph - how do i go about doing this? i don't really know what she means ....

thank you so much again - it is really helpfuls tuff

Reply 7

The Nightingale

solihp

Bull**** bull**** bull****.

Urm... what? Are you saying my advice is bs?

how much time do you spend planning and what sort of detail do you have in your plan (if one at all)?

Per question? 5 minutes if possible, a bit more if you need it. There should be two stages to the actual planning of question. Firstly analyse the question, analyse the key aspects: what is the question getting at, what are the key concepts at the heart of the question? Once you've outlined this in the plan, use it as a structure to 'brainstorm' ideas. So 'brainstorm' around the key concepts-- ideas, quotes, various interpretations, cross references, contrasts etc. Continue until you can reach a measured conclusion. Do it in pattern note form, as this enhances the brain's creativity and will help the flow of ideas.

Once finished follow these notes as you write.

Topic sentences introduce the topic and establish it in the context of one of the major issues of your plan. I've got an example here. With reference to advertisers' overt manipulation of their consumers, you might introduce the topic like this:

Advertisers have developed still more effective forms of manipulation, particularly in their exploitation of the sex, status and prejudice of the consumers.

Sorry I couldn't find a better example. :redface:

But I hope it puts the points across. A clear topic sentence = a clear introduction of the central concept/theme you are about to talk about. It is important because it mentally prepares the reader for where you are going to take them and adds fluidity to your essays.

Hope that helps! :smile:

Reply 8

Mr Nonsense

thank you again nightingale.
in my introductions i've been told not to just rephrase the question but i really don't know what i should write instead in an introductionn and never know how to start (i.e. the first sentence). any help would be really appreciated. thanks

Reply 9

veggie4life

pracice questions and read the book as many times as you can - it'll save you waddling through it in the exam looking for quotes which takes up precious time.

Also remember to identify the keywords in the question and try to remember them with every point you make.

Reply 10

andy_cole2

sparke notes, key themes characters key quotations etc. thats the way to do wel iMo.

Reply 11

[m a a r i.]

remember the themes, wts the story about of course, characters in the play - their personality and stuff, important quotations

Reply 12

Ashes_to_Ashes

solihp

Bull**** bull**** bull****.

How is that advice bs? :s-smilie:

It sounds really good to me.

Reply 13

Ashes_to_Ashes

The Nightingale

If you’re getting 80% + then you’ve cracked it!

Good luck!

All of the her advice is really good OP, however, I wouldn't get bogged down in exam papers. If I were you I'd just look at the questions to try and predict what they'll ask you and kind of plan out how you'd do each question. Also, from looking at the papers you can then find quotes that may be useful in the exam and memorise/learn the page numbers of them. Believe me, most of my revision for English Literature was 1 week before hand and what I've mentioned, including what she mentioned, is basically what I did, and I got an A* so it does work :redface:

. Most of my exam practise was throughout the year.

Good Luck. :smile:

Reply 14

monkee

Can anyone who did Short Course PE please hop over to my post and help me? Thanks.

Don't forget to revise extract questions if you're doing WJEC, and the unseen poem. And remember, originality without tenuous remarks is your key to an A*!

Reply 15

Mr Nonsense

thanks forn all your help everyone - it is really helpful!

the thing i hate about an exam like this is that your success / failure is so dependent on what extract / question / poemsm, etc. comes up.

Reply 16

Rubberband

hughey

the thing i hate about an exam like this is that your success / failure is so dependent on what extract / question / poemsm, etc. comes up.

To some extent it is, but bear in mind that if it is an awful question, far more people will do badly and the grade boundaries will probably be lower that year as a result. As long as you know the text and some basic context/critical opinions, don't worry about it too much!

Reply 17

solihp

The Nightingale

Urm... what? Are you saying my advice is bs?

Lol, no. Sorry, I didn't mean that at all. I meant the secret to doing well in English Lit is to bull****...Works for me anyway!

Reply 18

nothingspek

I say this a lot, but find thematic links :idea:

Also, do some further reading that is related to your topics, and you could link them in too, shows you've read beyond the text.

Reply 19

alfie sandall

I mean what I do is I write a short story and assess it as if it is someone else's. this is really affective and im getting good grades good luck in
your exams :smile: