Question about AQA GCSE English Literature

10

helloo~ imma currently stuck at 6 and 7s in English Lit and I rlly wanna push it to a 9 in the real thing…but I’ve rlly basically tried all the ways to study like quotes, planning, thesis, essays etc and still no improment, so I’m wondering maybe there’s smth that I’ve always done wrong and not realising (btw I’m doing Macbeth, A Christmas Carol, An Inspector Calls, Power and Conflict poetry) —> I have raised some questions along w my answers:

- How do you usually plan before you start writing? — (I simply jot down some vocabs and quotes)

- How many paragraphs do you write per essays? — (I try to do 4 + intro + conclusion but sometimes I run out of time, but I’ve heard some ppl doing 6 which overwhelmes me)

- What type of writing structure you use? — (I use PEEL and Im rlly not sure whether it’s even good or not)

- How many quotes do you take from the extract (except from AIC since there’s no extract)? — (I only use 1 bc most of the times I just can’t find good quotes in the extract plus idk how to analyse it so I prefer to use 3 of my own, but Ive heard many ppl use 2 quotes and does it matter or not?)

- When linking back to the writer’s message, I’ve always found that I’m repeating myself, like bc there can ever be sm ideas like patriarchy, capitalism etc. So how can I avoid that?

- How long does it take you to write one paragraph? (Ik I only have 10 mins per paragraph but realistically takes me at least 15 which is why I always run out of time)

- Do you ever analyse on specific structural devices in a quote? (I never since I’ve never got taught that and don’t have time but apparently it gets u higher grade?)

QUESTIONS SPECIFICALLY ON An Inspector Calls:

- Do you usually choose the theme or character question? (I usually go for theme unless the character is about Sheila)

- What character you think is the best to study about? (I always only focus on Sheila Birling since she can be apply on any theme rlly like change, responsibility, women etc)

- Do you or can you preplan since there’s no extract given for this play? (No, but if there’s any way, then yes!)

QUESTIONS SPECIFICALLY ON Power and Conflict Poetry:

- What poems are your mains? (Mine is ozy and kamikaze since them both can be compared to any other poems rlly)

- What poems you hate the most? (Tissue 1000000000%!!)

- What are your predictions for this year? (Exposure, chekcing me out history??????)

Pleaseee answer as much questions for mee as possible, I’ll appreciate it!
And feel free to judge on my answers asw! :biggrin:

Reply 1

username7511100

6

Hey I’ve posted all of my grade 9/8 notes on my tiktok account @ayxsh_bee if you’re interested!

Reply 2

nikiiiiiii

10

Original post

by Aimee_5

helloo~ imma currently stuck at 6 and 7s in English Lit and I rlly wanna push it to a 9 in the real thing…but I’ve rlly basically tried all the ways to study like quotes, planning, thesis, essays etc and still no improment, so I’m wondering maybe there’s smth that I’ve always done wrong and not realising (btw I’m doing Macbeth, A Christmas Carol, An Inspector Calls, Power and Conflict poetry) —> I have raised some questions along w my answers:
- How do you usually plan before you start writing? — (I simply jot down some vocabs and quotes)
- How many paragraphs do you write per essays? — (I try to do 4 + intro + conclusion but sometimes I run out of time, but I’ve heard some ppl doing 6 which overwhelmes me)
- What type of writing structure you use? — (I use PEEL and Im rlly not sure whether it’s even good or not)
- How many quotes do you take from the extract (except from AIC since there’s no extract)? — (I only use 1 bc most of the times I just can’t find good quotes in the extract plus idk how to analyse it so I prefer to use 3 of my own, but Ive heard many ppl use 2 quotes and does it matter or not?)
- When linking back to the writer’s message, I’ve always found that I’m repeating myself, like bc there can ever be sm ideas like patriarchy, capitalism etc. So how can I avoid that?
- How long does it take you to write one paragraph? (Ik I only have 10 mins per paragraph but realistically takes me at least 15 which is why I always run out of time)
- Do you ever analyse on specific structural devices in a quote? (I never since I’ve never got taught that and don’t have time but apparently it gets u higher grade?)
QUESTIONS SPECIFICALLY ON An Inspector Calls:
- Do you usually choose the theme or character question? (I usually go for theme unless the character is about Sheila)
- What character you think is the best to study about? (I always only focus on Sheila Birling since she can be apply on any theme rlly like change, responsibility, women etc)
- Do you or can you preplan since there’s no extract given for this play? (No, but if there’s any way, then yes!)
QUESTIONS SPECIFICALLY ON Power and Conflict Poetry:
- What poems are your mains? (Mine is ozy and kamikaze since them both can be compared to any other poems rlly)
- What poems you hate the most? (Tissue 1000000000%!!)
- What are your predictions for this year? (Exposure, chekcing me out history??????)
Pleaseee answer as much questions for mee as possible, I’ll appreciate it!
And feel free to judge on my answers asw! :biggrin:

Hey I got a 9 in aqa English lit GCSE so I hope this helps!

•

for planning, I would write a rough topic sentence for each paragraph so I know where I'm going with the argument and I've got the structure of the essay planned.then around each topic sentence I'd note down some quotes, context, and ideas that I want to cover in that paragraph. Sometimes I'd swap around the order of the paragraphs to make the structure better. then I'd write a rough thesis statement that brings all the points together. I'd usually spend around 5-10 mins on planning.

•

I'd always write 3 paragraphs per essay +into and conclusion (although I usually ran out of time to actually write the conclusion). For the comparative essay (poetry) I'd include both poems in each paragraph, so a total of 3 comparisons.

•

I didn't use a specific writing structure as I found it restrictive and unnecessary. I always just wrote however was natural. I feel like the PEEL structure was more confusing than helpful.

•

I'd use around 3 quotes from the extract, but I'd also use multiple quotes per paragraph so I didn't have to structure a whole point around each quote. I feel like 1 may not be enough though as it should be more balanced. If there aren't many good quotes in the extract, just make sure to still talk about the events/overall themes in the extract in your essay.

•

To avoid repeating yourself, you could try building on the argument throughout your essays. Eg paragraph 1 - Shakespeare uses Lady macbeth to show a powerful woman which is unusual at the time paragraph 2- Lady Macbeth's rejection of femininity shows how femininity is seen as weak in patriarchal society paragraph 3- Perhaps the downfall of lady m was a warning of what happens to women who try to gain power. All of these points are about Shakespeare showing a message about the patriarchy, but they gradually build on each other rather than saying everything at once. Also, incorporating different contextual points into the authors message can make them more distinct.

•

idk how long I took but id always run out of time and still managed to get a 9 (I genuinely think I only fully finished 1 essay in the entire GCSE)

•

For structural devices in specific quotes, I'd talk about the metre, rhyme, alliterations etc but also analyse how the quote uses symbolism from the wider play- lady m with light for example.

I didn't do power and conflict pr inspector calls so can't help with those unfortunately but hope this helps and good luck!

Reply 3

Aimee_5

OP

10

Original post

by nikiiiiiii

Hey I got a 9 in aqa English lit GCSE so I hope this helps!

•

for planning, I would write a rough topic sentence for each paragraph so I know where I'm going with the argument and I've got the structure of the essay planned.then around each topic sentence I'd note down some quotes, context, and ideas that I want to cover in that paragraph. Sometimes I'd swap around the order of the paragraphs to make the structure better. then I'd write a rough thesis statement that brings all the points together. I'd usually spend around 5-10 mins on planning.

•

I'd always write 3 paragraphs per essay +into and conclusion (although I usually ran out of time to actually write the conclusion). For the comparative essay (poetry) I'd include both poems in each paragraph, so a total of 3 comparisons.

•

I didn't use a specific writing structure as I found it restrictive and unnecessary. I always just wrote however was natural. I feel like the PEEL structure was more confusing than helpful.

•

I'd use around 3 quotes from the extract, but I'd also use multiple quotes per paragraph so I didn't have to structure a whole point around each quote. I feel like 1 may not be enough though as it should be more balanced. If there aren't many good quotes in the extract, just make sure to still talk about the events/overall themes in the extract in your essay.

•

To avoid repeating yourself, you could try building on the argument throughout your essays. Eg paragraph 1 - Shakespeare uses Lady macbeth to show a powerful woman which is unusual at the time paragraph 2- Lady Macbeth's rejection of femininity shows how femininity is seen as weak in patriarchal society paragraph 3- Perhaps the downfall of lady m was a warning of what happens to women who try to gain power. All of these points are about Shakespeare showing a message about the patriarchy, but they gradually build on each other rather than saying everything at once. Also, incorporating different contextual points into the authors message can make them more distinct.

•

idk how long I took but id always run out of time and still managed to get a 9 (I genuinely think I only fully finished 1 essay in the entire GCSE)

•

For structural devices in specific quotes, I'd talk about the metre, rhyme, alliterations etc but also analyse how the quote uses symbolism from the wider play- lady m with light for example.

I didn't do power and conflict pr inspector calls so can't help with those unfortunately but hope this helps and good luck!

tysmm this does help and kinda give me new ideas on how to structure an essay. But according to u for not using a writing structure, wont that feel very pressuring and overwhelming in an exam like you hv absolutely no directions on what you're gonna write, just freestyling (I say that since my skl force us to use not only specific writing structure, but also specific sentence starters and sentence stems and that makes our essays very identical and restricted I must admit). Also just wondering whether u hv any of ur essay or essay plans that I can have a look at, since I'm rlly curious on how u can structure it well overall (its fine if not).
But thanks for your advice anyways and congrats on ur perfect grade! ^^

(edited 9 months ago)

Reply 4

nikiiiiiii

10

Personally, I always found sticking to a specific structure more stressful as I felt like I couldn't say everything I wanted to say/couldn't structure things how they made more sense to me. Also I did still have some structure - always starting with a topic sentence and ending with linking back to the big picture/how it relates to the question. However, as I liked to use multiple quotes and make multiple smaller points in each paragraph I couldn't really do that with the specific PEEL/PEAZ structure. I was also always confused about how to include context in the PEEL structure.
I don't think I have any GCSE essays anymore but I should have some A-level lit ones I could send you- I structured my essays very similarly for both but A-level just has the addition of critical theory/critic quotes.

Reply 5

Aimee_5

OP

10

I mean that totally makes sense cuz tbh sometimes i just feel like the flow of the essay isnt rlly that good using the structure but since thats the only way I got taught so Ive to stick w it..
And also yess! I would still love to see how u structure ur essays even I wont understand the content :smile:

) At least its gonna give me a clue of what alternative way i can write in if the structure rlly dont fit by the time in the exam. Thanks!

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