ask me anything: gcse english literature & language

Hiya,
I am currently at a 9 in eng lit(y11), but I feel like it's just because of luck :> My writing style and levels of analysis/development are definitely at the right level, however I feel like I am just not well prepared enough for any question they could throw at me... this is likely because I don't have many quotes just ready to go in my head a lot. May I ask how you revised, and how that may have made you be able to approach any question given fairly confidently. I'd also appreciate if you have any resources you could send over like quote banks, etc.
I know this was probably aimed at students in Year 10 who achieved a bit lower, but I'd imagine this would also help them out! Many thanks

Heyyy
I’m yr11 and English is probably my worst subject ngl
I’m not bad at it rn by any means and am hoping for a 9 but literally any advice on how you got your grade from a 6 to a 9 would be great I just want all the help I can get
One of my biggest issues is timing I just can’t seem to get everything I want to say down in time, but obviously there are other problems I have as well so please lmk any advice you have 🙏🙏
Thanks youuuu

Heyyy
I’m yr11 and English is probably my worst subject ngl
I’m not bad at it rn by any means and am hoping for a 9 but literally any advice on how you got your grade from a 6 to a 9 would be great I just want all the help I can get
One of my biggest issues is timing I just can’t seem to get everything I want to say down in time, but obviously there are other problems I have as well so please lmk any advice you have 🙏🙏
Thanks youuuu

heyyyy, i was really worried about english too as i thought it was my worst subject but i wasn’t horrible at it, so you’re in the same situation that i was. i did use the lightup hub but do not waste money on using it from now if you are thinking about getting it.. get it around march or april and find a discount code bc it isn’t worth the crazy money, as they have a yt channel too. however, i do think it did help to expand my ideas that i needed developing! i struggled with timing in both lit exams and i don’t get to finish some of my questions!! my advice would just be to set aside some time to plan, so that if you are running out of time but haven’t included a key part of the question, leave space and start writing, so that you can still show the examiner that you have attempted this. also in the exam, in my head, i would tell myself the time that i needed to finish the question by, so i didn’t lose precious time on the other questions! for revision methods, flashcards were my go to!! make sure to find really strong key quotes with overlapping themes so that you can include them in anything!!! also, closer to the exams, make small essay plans on things that haven’t come up yet, so that you’re ready for everything ! one thing i did was pair the poems that hadn’t come up yet together (although i didn’t end up comparing the poem to my original plan) but you’ll be okay so don’t stress!! lmk if you want me to go into more depth!!

hi, wow that’s really good that you’re at a 9 already !! this was actually aimed for year 11s no matter which working at grade but year 10s can also ask for help! i did feel like my grade was luck as well due to my prep a few days before the exam, but please don’t think like this. for me, my proper revision (i only really used flashcards) didn’t start until i got the lightup hub (THIS ISNT NECESSARY AT ALL!) which was around early april (i know a long time away).
other resources such as pmt and some youtubers would work just as well! i would advise you to make some flashcards (online or by hand) and use as many good quotes as you can with multiple characters, acts, and themes! use the analysis from these quotes and apply them to previous exam questions, so that you can see which quotes work well with these Qs, even just by bullet pointing the key parts of the quotes and analysis (you DO NOT need to be wetting full essays at this time! i didn’t write one full essay by hand before the exams, but please try atleast one in the weeks leading up to the exams!) i can’t write a lot on here bc if cuts me off, but let me know if you want me to go into depth for each paper. also, what books and poetry do you do? so that my help is less vague and so i can send resources!

Ahh bless you!! That’s super helpful thanks!! Idk what texts you studied but I do aqa Macbeth, aic, j+h, and the power+conflict poetry. If we have any overlaps here, would it be at all possible for you to give me some text-specific tips, and possibly even revision materials you made i.e. lists of quotes you learned, essay plans etc? Ofc no worries if not, you’ve already been an angel and I wish you luck in whatever path you’re now following, a levels or otherwise!

I feel like idk anyone who does my exact combo but I do: Jekyll-Hyde, Animal Farm, Romeo-Juliet, Love&Relationships anthology
I like the idea of trying to see how many kinds of themes/questions you can adapt a quote to, that seems like a really good strategy!! This is so helpful, thank you

hii, thank you so much! you’re so sweet and i’m glad that my tips were helpful!! i did macbeth, aic and p+c also, so i can see if i can send over my quote list to you, i kinda gave up with poetry flashcards, but i had on average 22 flashcards for macbeth an aic! instead for poetry, i just annotated my anthology and i used those ideas from annotations to make essay plans (e.g pairing exposure with SOTI, emigree & COMH) ! obviously, for aic you get two questions and no text, so it’s best that you memorise quotes for themes and characters. i decided to chose the theme question (i think it was power) as i could apply the characters i knew the most quotes of (inspector, sheila and mr birling) and you can also overlap with other themes too (power of social class, power of older gen). for macbeth, my question was on ambition, which again is a theme, so you can involve multiple characters: (i only spoke about macbeth, lady mcb and i think i included a bit about banquo and how he was the foil as he had good ambition). but, best of luck and i will try and send over my quote list!!

hi guys, i got a grade 9 in aqa lit and lang this year, receiving a mark of 156/160 in my lit paper and only dropping marks on the last question of paper 2 (unseen comparison 4/8). in my language, i got 30/40 in p1 q5 and 33/40 in p2 q5 but kinda flopped in the others (i can still help with those if needed though!). as the first set of mocks have happened for you guys (i think) and the new year begins, i just wanted to help you guys with any struggles as i was not confident in my english (lit) abilities this time last year and was working at a 6!

Tysm that would be great!!