focusing for alevels - english lit especially

I’m currently in year 13 doing English lit (the first exam is in about 5 weeks!!) and have been getting A’s throughout, but I literally just cram. I think i’ve also been getting really frustrated with the subject having done it so long, and don’t really have the motivation like I did in year 12! i’ve started procrastinating WAY more. like, i sat down to do an Othello extract and just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I think i just get a bit in my head and then get upset for not being productive since I’ve been pretty productive for most of the easter holidays. Does anybody have any tips for focusing, especially in Eng lit, or how they broke their revision down to make it more manageable, or just focusing and writing essays? I’m doing Othello, Keats, Death of a salesman, then for p2 Wilde Crabbe and Browning poems, Atonement and Brighton Rock

I’m currently in year 13 doing English lit (the first exam is in about 5 weeks!!) and have been getting A’s throughout, but I literally just cram. I think i’ve also been getting really frustrated with the subject having done it so long, and don’t really have the motivation like I did in year 12! i’ve started procrastinating WAY more. like, i sat down to do an Othello extract and just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I think i just get a bit in my head and then get upset for not being productive since I’ve been pretty productive for most of the easter holidays. Does anybody have any tips for focusing, especially in Eng lit, or how they broke their revision down to make it more manageable, or just focusing and writing essays? I’m doing Othello, Keats, Death of a salesman, then for p2 Wilde Crabbe and Browning poems, Atonement and Brighton Rock

Hiii! I'm doing English Lit too- but non of your texts haha. I'm doing Hamlet, Ibsen and Rossetti, Dracula and TBC. However, I can help with revision- I do a 'slow writing technique' for one of my methods, spending time on i.e. Shakespeare Hamlet Section A- critical appreciation, and slowly writing my chain of thoughts, really thinking about it has helped me to improve so much. I've gone from a solid B last year to an A*! I also write essay plan: so t.s for 3 points, and then 6 specific moments (for the comparisons). For Section B in Shakespeare- I, again, do the slow writing technique but heavily focussing on critics and seeing if I can agree and then disagree in regards to the question. I also read model answers and see if I can improve on them. And then yeah I just write essays and give them my teacher to mark- sometimes only doing one paragraph and sending it to them- the 'slow writing technique'. I hope this helps, and I also hope you do OCR... Or else I'm not sure that will all help haha.

pahah i do aqa unfortunately but thank you!! lit is the BANE of my existence - i did the bloody chamber for coursework and HATED it lol!

I'm sure they mostly apply though- slow writing techniques, essay planning, model answers. I'm sure if you give your teacher some essays to mark (not in timed conditions- so you can go in to depth abt it) then that will also help you feel more secure! Hahah, it also the bane of my existence... hence why I've applied for a degree in it...

An A is great, do you have any revision tips?

A lot of it is unfortunately cramming like I said pahah but here’s some things that have helped me!

I’d mainly focus on recall recall recall of quotes, and grouping them into different themes/ characters - eg have a quote bank for Desdemona, Iago, Othello for Othello as a text to start with (if you’re on AQA of course) it makes it so much easier to differentiate the content. And rewriting key quotes onto one single page has helped me in terms of cramming lol - having all the best info on one page to look at before the exam. My teacher makes us always try to identify the best evidence, which often comes in patterns- eg motifs, semantic fields, transitions. Apparently the exam board like patterns as it shows more depth if you pair multiple quotes rather than just one, since it shows more understanding (thats what we got told)
Sorry if this was a bit wordy!! Id just say blurting quotes is key, and decoding questions! Also remembering the elements for each paper - eg if you do AQA revise the dramatic methods for Othello so you can better apply them in an extract, and remember tragic aspects etc so you can understand them quickly if they come up in a question - just ways of easily saving time.

I’m currently in year 13 doing English lit (the first exam is in about 5 weeks!!) and have been getting A’s throughout, but I literally just cram. I think i’ve also been getting really frustrated with the subject having done it so long, and don’t really have the motivation like I did in year 12! i’ve started procrastinating WAY more. like, i sat down to do an Othello extract and just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I think i just get a bit in my head and then get upset for not being productive since I’ve been pretty productive for most of the easter holidays. Does anybody have any tips for focusing, especially in Eng lit, or how they broke their revision down to make it more manageable, or just focusing and writing essays? I’m doing Othello, Keats, Death of a salesman, then for p2 Wilde Crabbe and Browning poems, Atonement and Brighton Rock

heyy im sorry cant help but i also do othello, keats and death of salesman ( tragedy ) and u said u were getting As- i would love to see any essay you have ?
many thanks 🙂 im also in yr 13

ofc! i’ll try and remember tomorrow and dig a few out if possible

thankss ) please pm me !!