blog that nobody asked for

heyyy yall i have my gcses like. now. so naturally im giving myself all sorts of irrelevant projects instead of studying

fav subject: english literature
most important subject for me: physics
least fav subject: geography 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮 srsly why did i take it
my worst subject: maths (((((

anywayy so i will just be using this thread as a lil blog kinda thing and i'll talk abt school and i read books + watch movies a LOT so i guess i will sort of journal those here too... and just life in general yk because why not
hope some of you enjoy this !! if i forget about it and abandon it after like 2 days im so sorry

goodluck with everything!! also, since your fav subject is english lit, please give me some tips on how you revise for it 🙏🙏 english lit is acc my weakest subject and i have no idea how to improve

heyy sorry im so late!! as predicted i totally forgot about this whole thing 😭
well, the biggest reason i do well in english lit is because i am pretty much enamoured with most of the texts we've been set to study. if you let me know which ones you do, i'd be happy to help you out! i do macbeth (love!), journey's end (i like it well enough), and dr jekyll + mr hyde (worst "classic" i've ever read)

don't worryy, that's okay!!
aww the only texts that we have in common is jekyll and hyde, since i do romeo and juliet, and also refugee boy
but if you give me some tips for jekyll and hyde and maybe general tips on the other texts and poetry (i do conflict) i would be more than happy!! sorry if it's too much to ask 🙏

nothing to be sorry for! its a pleasure, ask anything anytime 😊
i do belonging poetry but i really wanted conflict ;-; i really love some of the poems in there.

Although I don't like J&H as a story, the good thing is that it's not super deep(?) or vague in its symbolism and themes so it's pretty easy to get a read on and talk about. I'd really recommend checking out PMTs resources on it if you haven't already: https://www.physicsandmathstutor.com/english-revision/gcse-edexcel/dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/
Most of the exam questions I've seen for J&H deal with character rather than theme, so let's start with that.
With all texts, I like to pick one overarching thing that I can link literally anything back to. I know you don't do Macbeth, but just as an example, I can link nearly any question back to the themes of control and power, because they are the most prevalent in the story. So even if the question is about another theme, i.e guilt, I'd talk about the power and control of guilt over the characters. This works really well for two reasons: one, you can spend a lot of time refining your chosen catch-all theme (of course, never neglect the others though), so you have ideas that you've spent a lot of time with to use in your essay. That means you can be more articulate and have only the strongest points regarding that theme. Two, using a prevailing/dominant theme to look at the given theme from a specific angle can lead to you having more unique ideas than other students, or what the top band of the mark scheme refers to as 'perceptive analysis'.
That's definitely a tip you could use on anything, even your anthology, but let's talk about Jekyll and Hyde for now. I'd likely pick duality and repression as our overarching themes here. Remember, the exam questions for this text tend towards character, so these I've picked two themes that apply strongly to all of the story's cast.
Let's look at this in practise.
Q) How does Stevenson present Mr Hyde as a frightening outsider?
This question is very easy to make points for. The extract given with it is the bit where Hyde tramples that little girl, but it also asks to refer to the whole text, so let's see what we can do using our catch-alls of duality & repression, and how we can turn it into a holistic look at Hyde's character.
In the given extract, Hyde is displayed as a very violent and remorseless individual. This being the first description of Hyde the reader gets, they would immediately pin him as a villain. He's not described physically in much detail, so we are left wanting to know more about this character, a device Stevenson uses to heighten tension in the novel. By not directly describing him but having other characters talking about him he is presented to be elusive.
Okay, this is a great start, but can we link it to any themes?
Mr Enfield describes how he is instinctively repulsed by Hyde from the moment he sees him. Stevenson places emphasis on the innate revulsion of Enfield caused by Hyde in order to draw attention to the difference between Hyde and the upstanding Victorian gentleman. Stevenson wants the reader to understand that Hyde is what remains when a human loses their ability to repress their impulses, when they lose their primal need to fit into a society and instead act as they want to, not as others expect them to. This is also apparent in...[probably a good place to link to somewhere else in the text].
Instantly, we've elevated our answer to be more holistic and insightful regarding the author's choices, and we've opened up some really great avenues to weave in context at the end there too regarding gothic conventions and the fear of 'devolution' at the time of writing.

I hope this is a helpful start! I used to always stress about learning tons of points for every theme for every text, but this technique really took the edge off the pressure. Please ask questions if you have any, or lmk if there is something else specifically you'd like advice on. I'd be glad to talk more with you 😊

THANK YOU SO MUCHHH OMG, you have no idea how helpful this is and you literally sound like my english tutor (which is a compliment) 😭😭🙏
you're probably going to be my go-to english advice person hehe because this was acc so helpful, hope that's okay with you 🤍🤍

no worries! i'm so glad to be of help and very much honoured to be your english advisor <3

Yesterday I started watching season 3 of The Mandalorian. I'm a huge Star Wars fan and I have to say it's better than I expected. I was kind of scared that it would be a huge quality drop from the previous seasons seeing as disney can't seem to go anywhere but down, but it's actually pretty good. I will say the scripting is a lil weird in some places and physics has gone totally out the window. But other than that, I'm enjoying it! And I'm super excited for s3 of the bad batch too!
I also really need to start revising properly. I feel like I waste way too much time on my hobbies like drawing, reading and writing. I always promised myself that I'd never study myself to death, and look after myself while studying, but maybe I've taken it too far and made a habit of prioritising recreation > work. I seriously need to level up in maths since I want to take it at A-Level, and I need a 7 to do that at my ideal sixth form (and most others I think).
Having said that, I think I'll go and make good on my own advice 🥲
until next time

am i missing out if i say i've never watched star wars before..
omg but at least you spend time on hobbies, the only thing i waste my time on is binge watching anime which isn't healthy at all 💀
and you seem to have a strong resolution on having a good work-life balance so i'm sure you'll soon be able to find the balance where you can prioritise BOTH your hobbies andd your revision, good luckkk 🤍

you're missing out big time! i honestly find it so surprising how few people have seen/read things i consider Big Deals like star wars, lord of the rings, even harry potter... you should definitely check out star wars someday 👍
bingeing your favourite shows is still a hobby imo. its been a while since i've found a good long series to marathon. hopefully we can both continue having fun while not failing gcses thanks for the luck!! (i need it)

i woke up at like 2pm today and took the longest shower of all time, i've done no work 😭😭 time to belatedly get to it i guess

oh and i watched star trek: into darkness yesterday... what the heck is benadryl cucumberpatch doing as a character called Khan Singh??? bro is the whitest white man ever! hes whiter than king charles!! how did the casting director manage this????

goodluck with everything!! also, since your fav subject is english lit, please give me some tips on how you revise for it 🙏🙏 english lit is acc my weakest subject and i have no idea how to improve

goodluck with everything!! also, since your fav subject is english lit, please give me some tips on how you revise for it 🙏🙏 english lit is acc my weakest subject and i have no idea how to improve

I did my English lit exam last year and got a 5, not great but deffo wasn’t my lowest grade (June 2023) and the thing I did the most in remembering quotes and themes was quizlet and I think it was canvas (not sure on that but I’ll let you know if i remember the name)

Question for you all: If you could be the author of any book, which one would it be? Which book do you deeply wish had been your idea, which you wrote and published?

For me, it has to be The Martian by Andy Weir. It's funny, it's gripping, it's geeky and smart. It's nearly 100% scientifically accurate, so even though the premise itself is highly unlikely, everything that the MC does would actually work, which is just insane. They should give it out as a survival guide to astronauts imo. The thought that some self-published lil sci-fi book could genuinely happen, or could actually save a life (granted, they'd need to get themselves into a pretty far-fetched situation, but still!) is just crazy and I love that. I'm an astrophysics nerd, and I'd love to go to space someday... it's such a perfect read. It even influenced my A-Level choices ever so slightly (I swapped out FM for Chemistry because 1: I suck at maths and 2: MC proved that chemistry is hella useful).
Even if you're not into sci-fi, you'll love this book!

Anyway, rant over- lmk which book (or a few top contenders if you can't pick one) you would've liked to have written!

haha i have absolutely no idea how to answer this question since i literally haven't read in years 💀💀 buut i remember when i did used to read i LOVED sci fi, so i'll check out the martian if i ever get back into the habit of reading!!