King Lear

I am really struggling with how to study King Lear and how to do essays. My teacher has really underprepared us for the exam, I feel, so I am really lost. I just dont know how to learn and what to learn.

Reply 1

Pwca

TSR Community Staff

Are you sitting the AQA exam?

Reply 2

raspberry4444

Original post by Pwca

Are you sitting the AQA exam?

I am actually not, I am from Northern Ireland under exam board CCEA but both exam boards do King Lear.

Reply 3

Pwca

TSR Community Staff

Ah, okay! Maybe worth checking out some of the existing exam threads that will be having similar discussions, if you don't get many responses here :smile:

Reply 4

raspberry4444

Original post by Pwca

Ah, okay! Maybe worth checking out some of the existing exam threads that will be having similar discussions, if you don't get many responses here :smile:

I don't really know how to work this website, but I will try, thank you

Reply 5

Pwca

TSR Community Staff

A directory of A-level exam threads can be found here.

And the one for GCSE exam threads is here. :smile:

Reply 6

Qariad

Original post by raspberry4444

Idk if you've had ur exam yet but if not:

Split the play into themes and characters
Start with mindmaps- figuring out how things link to each other

Literally type anyt theme/ charcater into chat gtp- it saves a lot of time
Be careful tho cause it's told me things that are just plain wrong lol

For quotations flashcards are defo the best- just do them as many times as possible
If you need to include critical quotes- quizlet has loads of sets

Try and learn 2/3 quotations for each character/ theme
also memorise page numbers if you get the book in the exam

if you need to analyse language/ literary techniques you can start with:
animalistic imagery- descriptions of Goneril and Regan
Edmund's "nature art my goddess" speech- repeated use of plosive 'b' with base
focal word switches from base/ ******* to legitimate
Look for examples of iambic pentameter/ blank verse- also places when iambic pentameter is broken is usually signifcant

For essays figure out a generic structure you like eg.

Intro
Para 1
Para 2
Para 3
Conclusion

then try and fit as many assessment objectives in each para as you can- using your introduction as a thesis that you can argue for or against in the essay can help
its probably best if each para has a topic sentence to keep it focused
make sure you use the wording for the question in the intro and throughout the essay
eg. if the essay is on madness, you keep dotting that word about so you know you're definitely answering the question

don't spend too long on the conclusion as they rarely get you extra pints- and you generally don't add new points in the conclusion either

Im on the edexcel exam board- so this all really applies to that, but hopefully you find some of it useful

good luck!!