How to go from a C to an A in aqa alevel English lit

3

Just got my mocks back and got around Cs and Bs on my essay (so around 16-18 marks in each essay) and I’m so distraught and upset because I really need an A. I do the texts othello, the hand maids tale and streetcar, Jane eyre and love through the ages and skirrid hill.
If anyone could help me out on how to improve in around 100 days for my levels in may that would be so awesome

Reply 1

meek-acorn

9

Original post

by Taibtaib

Just got my mocks back and got around Cs and Bs on my essay (so around 16-18 marks in each essay) and I’m so distraught and upset because I really need an A. I do the texts othello, the hand maids tale and streetcar, Jane eyre and love through the ages and skirrid hill.
If anyone could help me out on how to improve in around 100 days for my levels in may that would be so awesome

i do edexcel but othello handmaids and streetcar are the same, i found reading example essays helpful for essay structure and some analysis & phrases that were **academic**
generally it might help to do more practice essays and give them to your teacher for feedback.
discussing the texts by theme is also good for content revision
good luck!!

Reply 2

Taibtaib

OP

3

Original post

by meek-acorn

i do edexcel but othello handmaids and streetcar are the same, i found reading example essays helpful for essay structure and some analysis & phrases that were **academic**
generally it might help to do more practice essays and give them to your teacher for feedback.
discussing the texts by theme is also good for content revision
good luck!!

Thank you so much!!

Reply 3

Luv_e

6

Original post

by meek-acorn

i do edexcel but othello handmaids and streetcar are the same, i found reading example essays helpful for essay structure and some analysis & phrases that were **academic**
generally it might help to do more practice essays and give them to your teacher for feedback.
discussing the texts by theme is also good for content revision
good luck!!

I do edexcel do you have any tips as well

Reply 4

meek-acorn

9

Original post

by Luv_e

I do edexcel do you have any tips as well

of course!
streetcar is quite short so i’d defo recommend rereading it
theres a few filmings of othello and tv adaptations of handmaids tale too which you could watch if you want to recap content/plot

for the prose paper make sure to include context (ao3) which can be biographical, historical, or about genre, write enough in volume, and use comparative language (ao4) throughout

for shakespeare id recommend finding critic quotes which are applicable to multiple themes, and in your essays structuring each point around a critic - for example if the question was on Iago’s character, you’d want each paragraph to centre on a different critics take on iago
for example: coleridge suggested Iago acted with “motiveless malignity” however this can be seen as a shallow interpretation of his role in Othello’s tragic downfall, which seems to stem from his jealousy of Casio’s status xenophobic attitudes to non-venetians. (your paragraph would then go on to explore the reasons Iago acts the way he does and contextual points would be about the tragic genre and venetian society as well as jacobean society)

if you do streetcar, try planning the essay options about stagecraft/plastic theatre/dramatic techniques rather than character/theme as you’ll find yourself thinking about the play as a play rather than a novel, which will help in your essays even if you don’t end up doing that style of question since you need to show awareness of the form of the play

How to go from a C to an A in aqa alevel English lit

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