A-level english literature notes or not

Make notes in your own words as the process of writing things down helps with retention, and translating it in your own words helps develop genuine understanding and essay writing skills.

Revision guides only cover the surface. To reach high-level, insightful inferences, you need to take the time to think for yourself - you won't regret it!

thanks---i was just thinking i could do summary notes (like key points from rev guide) and analysis ideas on the revision guide directly via posticks........in terms of notes for each text- i do plan and have started summarizing each chapter along with my ideas.....and in class my folder has notes-messy ones but they do exist......what do u think?

I like the thought process but you will end up with your ideas in 3 separate places. Here's a step-by-step of what I would do:
1. Shorten class notes to the absolute bare minimum so it should fit half a page. No paragraphs, just bullet-points.
2. Below this copy key points, quotes, themes, etc. from the revision guide, again in bullet-points.
3. Below this, write the ideas for analysis.
4. Optional: Create a mindmap that answers a specific question [e.g. the portrayal of the American Dream in Great Gatsby]. From there I would branch out at least 4 of my ideas for analysis [e.g. the hollowness of the upper class]. From there I would branch out again with quotes and relevant context.

By step 3 you will have something that is easy to revise from and I do recommend you practice active recall method. But by step 4 you will have your own essay plan with everything already split up logically. This helps you memorise essays which is crucial as the UK educational system is mostly a memory game.

This setup got me an A in English Lit & Lang, my only regret is not doing active recall method! Let me know if you need more help.

thanks so much...i will def use ur advise...i appreciate that and ill make an eng lit rev plan hopefully today or tmrw and if u dont mind i would like to have ur opinion on how effective and doable it sounds--i am going to adjust using ur help----its the end of hols now and i am going into y13---i aim to finish most of the notes this term....for the texts i havent done fully in class -less/some but the ones i am doing/done-all....i wouldve done it earlier but i didnt know how to go about it---which was dum of me--especially as i have a lot to do now....