Edexcel iGCSE English Literature

I'm set for two 9s in my English GCSEs if I can put the work in, but where I find it ok to get on the laptop and grind out some language work (non-fiction passages and transactional writing? Consider it done), literature is the bane of my revision life right now. Like, What do you mean I have to learn this book? And poems? I just can't motivate myself to do it, or find good enough resources for the days when I'm a bit ill or really tired and just want a little task, like drilling vocab for languages. I know I can't really complain, since other exam boards have to so much worse, but can anyone help me with this?

Reply 1

Ncndbdbdndkdvdb

I have the same problem and I feel I’m really going to struggle
In general this is what I suggest though
For the poems try and make plans from other poems with common themes like for example halfcaste and search for my tongue on the theme of language or culture or isolation.
Also familiarise yourself with each poem and it’s best pairings because you can also choose the question where u decide the second poem.
For the book, my school does things fall apart.
I also know that of the two questions one will always be a character and the other a theme.
Try plan essays for each theme and character and read articles for context .
For the character questions it can be more difficult especially if the character only comes in a small part of the text and also for themes you should plan the essay by beginning middle and end and how that theme is presented throughout

For example for things fall apart:
If the question is on fear then you could do
1)okinkwos fear of change
-context- European theory of tragedy
2)okonkwos fear of rituals
-context - how the writer uses culture to write back to Heart of Darkness
3) okonkwos fear of weakness
-context - how Achebe uses a 4 d characterisation
For the last question context is really really important and my teacher said that that’s where most people loose marks so just be careful of that
For the first question my teacher said that while preparing for q2 you automatically end up gaining the practice for the first question

Hope this helps!

Reply 2

s_kh3

Original post

by Ncndbdbdndkdvdb

I have the same problem and I feel I’m really going to struggle
In general this is what I suggest though
For the poems try and make plans from other poems with common themes like for example halfcaste and search for my tongue on the theme of language or culture or isolation.
Also familiarise yourself with each poem and it’s best pairings because you can also choose the question where u decide the second poem.
For the book, my school does things fall apart.
I also know that of the two questions one will always be a character and the other a theme.
Try plan essays for each theme and character and read articles for context .
For the character questions it can be more difficult especially if the character only comes in a small part of the text and also for themes you should plan the essay by beginning middle and end and how that theme is presented throughout
For example for things fall apart:
If the question is on fear then you could do
1)okinkwos fear of change
-context- European theory of tragedy
2)okonkwos fear of rituals
-context - how the writer uses culture to write back to Heart of Darkness
3) okonkwos fear of weakness
-context - how Achebe uses a 4 d characterisation
For the last question context is really really important and my teacher said that that’s where most people loose marks so just be careful of that
For the first question my teacher said that while preparing for q2 you automatically end up gaining the practice for the first question
Hope this helps!

do you have any advice on how to structure the answers for the unseen, comparision, and the tfa essay?

Reply 3

princesschip

Original post

by s_kh3

do you have any advice on how to structure the answers for the unseen, comparision, and the tfa essay?

Wasn't to me but I'll try to help out anyway: I like to structure poem comparisons the same way as the non-fiction ones (if you do edexcel iGCSE). If you are comparing, for example, Piano and Remember, imagine that everything you write about piano is blue, and everything about remember is red. So then each paragraph should go purple-blue-purple-red-purple. A purple sentence is one referring to both texts with a comparative bit like 'in a similar vein' or 'while both poems... piano...'. You want your topic sentence and concluding sentence(s) to be purple, and link you analysis with a purple sentence too. I like to aim for three paragraphs in one answer. At my school we don't do things fall apart, but we do of mice and men and I imagine the essay style is the same. Write a small introduction going over what the book is and explicitly state how the author uses your character or theme overall (they love this). So for example, for me an introduction on the theme of dreams in of mice and men would say that it is a novel written by John Steinbeck which explores the harsh realities of life for migrant workers in the great depression, and that he uses the dreams of the characters to express the futility of dreams, and in particular the unattainability of the American Dream. Then do three or four paragraphs exploring important points where the theme/character is shown in a way which tells you something important about them, get in some language analysis (metaphors, adverbs etc), and make sure to keep thinking about purpose. Saying that the author uses a character to show the reality of prejudice will net you a higher grade than just saying that the character is lonely, for example. Hope that helps a little!