English literature a level help

I'm currently stuck on Band 2 so I get D/E. I can never improve. I just want to get Band 4 for A Levels or atleast a C. It's only a month away...
I've read the books, made flashcards on quotes, AO's (with yorknotes), currently doing character profile. Why don't I ever improve? My teacher always gives me the same feedback 'some good points made...but you need to refer back to the question'. How can I fix this problem?

Thank you

Reply 1

zws

10

do u use the PEEL structure in your paragraphs? I know a lot of people think its overrated but I used that and I got an A*.
I think judging from your teachers feedback, just make sure that when you're writing each point, you should be CONSTANTLY thinking about how what you're writing is relevant to the question. I know its a lot easier said than done but everything should be kept in context to the question so you're not going off on tangents and have a really tight leash on your argument. so you P(make your point) E(use evidence to back it up) E(expand on this, explain why its relevant, use context here etc) and then L (bring your paragraph back around to the original point you're making and how it is relevant to the question)

Reply 2

r16z

OP

11

Original post by zws

do u use the PEEL structure in your paragraphs? I know a lot of people think its overrated but I used that and I got an A*.
I think judging from your teachers feedback, just make sure that when you're writing each point, you should be CONSTANTLY thinking about how what you're writing is relevant to the question. I know its a lot easier said than done but everything should be kept in context to the question so you're not going off on tangents and have a really tight leash on your argument. so you P(make your point) E(use evidence to back it up) E(expand on this, explain why its relevant, use context here etc) and then L (bring your paragraph back around to the original point you're making and how it is relevant to the question)

Thank you for replying (sorry for the late reply)

I don't think I use the PEEL structure and I don't think its overrated. In fact, that gave me hope now, it looks structured and organised also made me view literature differently now.

Would the structure look like this?
Introduction
3 paragraphs (using the PEEL structure)
Conclusion

So if I use the PEEL structure where do I add the AO's? Like the critics

Reply 3

zws

10

yeah so the structure would look like that. (if you can do more than 3 paragraphs that's good, but having 3 great paragraphs is always better than having 5 mid ones.)

you could weave critical quotes anywhere that it could come in naturally as a way to back up a point, and I'd say having it in the explain bit (second E) would probably be good as not only are you analysing evidence which is your own personal interpretation, but you also have a real critic's opinion to back up your point too. you could also add ao3 (contextual knowledge) in the explain bit as well

Reply 4

beefreya

16

Original post by r16z

I'm currently stuck on Band 2 so I get D/E. I can never improve. I just want to get Band 4 for A Levels or atleast a C. It's only a month away...
I've read the books, made flashcards on quotes, AO's (with yorknotes), currently doing character profile. Why don't I ever improve? My teacher always gives me the same feedback 'some good points made...but you need to refer back to the question'. How can I fix this problem?

Thank you

you just need to plan loads of essays, just anything that could come up, look at all past questins and figure out things they havent asked about. if you need AO5 (other readers) find transferrable articles that can be used for lots of themes. everytime you say a point, think about how is it relavant to the question, how is the quote you used relavant to the question. also remember context, why is this point relavant in the context of the book/play. memorise pages instead of quotes as you get the book in the exam, remember what pages have lots of quotes in them...
i hope this helps! (i went from and E to a A with this :smile:

)

English literature a level help

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