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Frued: id for English literature

Is the freudian id theory actually useful/applicable context for *GCSE* english literature? My exam board is Edexcel and for AO3 i know there is the understanding of context. The literature i’m doing for y11 is A Christmas carol, Macbeth, and An Inspector Calls.

Some videos i’ve seen go into depth on how you can apply this context to part B answers for macbeth and ACC, but when i looked at other forums nowhere seemed to put much emphasis on it or say it is useful for high mark bands grades 8-9.

Is it useful for the specific books i am doing? Or should i focus more time on other context/writers intentions and in the case of AO3 and GCSE literature as a whole; am i supposed to be applying “context” as writers intentions or as context of the time or period? (like my original question.)

I’ve asked my english teacher about context of the time and included it in some work i’ve done in class, but she has told me it’s more effective to focus on the writers intentions which don’t overlap (always) with context.

Other teachers online (mr everything english) praise it a lot - and side note any other context which will help me achieve those top marks?

Reply 1

Original post
by user33713469
Is the freudian id theory actually useful/applicable context for *GCSE* english literature? My exam board is Edexcel and for AO3 i know there is the understanding of context. The literature i’m doing for y11 is A Christmas carol, Macbeth, and An Inspector Calls.
Some videos i’ve seen go into depth on how you can apply this context to part B answers for macbeth and ACC, but when i looked at other forums nowhere seemed to put much emphasis on it or say it is useful for high mark bands grades 8-9.
Is it useful for the specific books i am doing? Or should i focus more time on other context/writers intentions and in the case of AO3 and GCSE literature as a whole; am i supposed to be applying “context” as writers intentions or as context of the time or period? (like my original question.)
I’ve asked my english teacher about context of the time and included it in some work i’ve done in class, but she has told me it’s more effective to focus on the writers intentions which don’t overlap (always) with context.
Other teachers online (mr everything english) praise it a lot - and side note any other context which will help me achieve those top marks?

No, maybe for inspector calls but completely anachronistic for the other two.

Reply 2

I second what @offshore-cauldro said - it's useful for AIC and it helped me get a 9 for mocks but you can use other forms of context instead and still get high grade.
(edited 2 months ago)

Reply 3

Original post
by 𝕷𝖆𝖎𝖇𝖆
I second what @offshore-cauldro said - it's useful for AIC and it helped me get a 9 for mocks but you can use other forms of context instead and still get high grade.
Thank you and do you know what the question format for AIC is? I was looking at past papers and for macbeth and christmas carol, there is always 2 20 mark questions.But for an inspector calls there is always an option of picking between two 40 mark questions

If it is like that in the exam it would explain why none of the eng teachers in my school have mentioned or taught anything AIC related in the last half year, as we learned it in year 10.
Past papers were all edexcel (i checked 2018 & 2024 specimen)

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