Panicking about GCSE English Literature revision

The best thing you can do as a parent is look at the past papers yourself, look at what they are asking for each text and then look at the mark scheme and understand the different parts she has to hit to get top grades. I am assuming like most of the country she is sitting AQA, so look at descriptions for Level 6, 5 etc and what comes under AO1, AO2 etc then look at how those apply to say the Macbeth question. This includes language AO2, I am not sure when some posters had children sit their GCSEs but some suggestions on here are a bit off kilter.

There are themes for Macbeth which my children didn't study, Ds2 is now year 12 so this is relatively fresh in my head, but looking at Mr Salles on YouTube (fantastic resource) the main themes are listed as Ambition (hamartia), Masculinity and cruelty, Divine Right of Kings, Tyranny, Fate, Violence, Psychology of Guilt and Reality and Appearance. There will be a quote bank on these themes, either school will have given her one or you can google, there are plenty out there. Some quotes cover more than one theme. Themes should have more than one character referencing the theme.

Essay planning is simply knowing what you will write for each theme or character, a very short list. Also if it is AQA, Salles recommends not "starting with this extract" there is nothing in the mark scheme to suggest you have to do this, it is merely given for the lower ability students to have something to write about rather than sitting there writing nothing. Start with the start of the book, where do we see the theme/character in the question, work through the book with key moments for theme/character, then hit the extract, where does it fall in the book? But as it is given in front of you, you are better off using your knowledge of the rest of the text so only talk a little bit about it. Also the end, how does the end leave you? What does the author/playwrite want? These are made up, fictitious characters and events, it is a manipulation of the reader/watcher. AO3 -context in which it was written, if Lady Macbeth -role of women in society at that time, beliefs in supernatural, stars, etc.

I will be honest, Ds2 hated English Lit, he was very high grades for everything else except English. In November mock he scraped into a 5. He didn't re-read the books they had done them to death in school, this was exam technique, we (and I mean we) looked at mark schemes, past papers, watched Salles, essay planned, flash carded for what happens when ie Act 1 sc 1 brief outline. Especially important for the Shakespeare stuff, but also A Christmas Carol etc what order do things happen in. He got an 8 in the actual GCSE.

I think that would be a waste of time. She should look at past papers and talk through her answer. Lots of them seem to involve a lengthy chunk of text you’re asked to read and answer a question on — like Lady M’s ‘the raven himself is hoarse’ speech from early in the play, and to show how Sh depicts her as dangerous in (1) that speech and (2) in the play as a whole. Can she talk that through?

If she is feeling depressed let her watch these! "Titanic is peng" always makes me laugh!

I still love Bitesize and I like Sparknotes key quotes
A fantastic version of A Xmas Carol with Mark Gatiss is still available on iplayer
I would remember you can learn one word quotes like fiddlesticks and unsinkable for an inspector calls
Themes - Macbeth: Kingship/Appearance vs reality/Supernatural/Order vs disorder
An inspector calls and A Xmas Carol: accountability/collective responsibility/Scrooge and Sheila's redemption arcs

Macbeth - GCSE English Literature Revision - AQA - BBC Bitesize
silver skin laced with golden blood
look like the innocent flower,/But be the serpent under't'
I am in blood / Stepped in so far
BBC Sounds - Bitesize GCSE English Literature - Available Episodes

An Inspector Calls - Plot summary - Plot summary - AQA - GCSE English Literature Revision - AQA - BBC Bitesize
Fiddlesticks
Unsinkable
A Christmas Carol - GCSE English Literature Revision - AQA - BBC Bitesize
Malthusian quote about the "surplus" population
Scrooge being solitary as an oyster

She must re read the books - nothing replaces that. There's no option not to have time to read the books!

I said if she didn't have time to re-read the books!

No she should not read the York notes instead of re reading the book. That's a terrible idea.

If she doesn't have time to re-read the books, the York notes revision books are excellent as they outline all the basics - the themes, the characters, the important quotes, synopsis of the story etc.

Fair comment on the curriculum. The exam board my school did was known for being very academic (despite my school being an inner city state one, God only knows why they insisted on it). Out of 60 of us who sat the GCSE English exam in my year, only 7 of us passed, the teachers had omitted to tell us we had to answer five questions, not four. The only reason I passed was because I'd read a book outside the core curriculum. So I did add "SOMETIMES" as a caveat.

Younger members of the family are taking their GCSEs in English in a couple of months' time and it's the only subject they're finding difficult. They will be absolutely ecstatic when they can move into a world where they don't have to worry about the current (Gove-inspired??) approach and can go back to the science subjects they enjoy far more where answers are more clear cut.

It's fine! They were quickly corrected and their other ideas were great.

^ Yes, comparing a work with others from the same author or time period at GCSE gets no extra marks in the exam. I get that people are trying to be helpful but unless you know the current specifications and mark schemes, it's probably best not to weigh in on these threads so as to avoid confusing the OP's DD.

if you could compare a work with a couple of others from the same time period or author that sometimes got extra brownie points.

Asked dd about this (she got tippy top marks in her Eng lit in2017) and she says no need, she didn't. She says you do need an argument for a top grade. To what extent do you agree...

I asked about her grade bc if she was hoping for a 4/5 then that woukd be a different way of working. If she is looking for a 7 the ideas here are good. Was thinking about Macbeth - if you take Lady M's big speech "unsex me" and "direst cruelty" are two quick quotes which would cover Lady M, supernatural (she is appealing to the underworkd), violence, power and ambition (why she is asking this).

Planning out several essays on each book is great as the chances are when she gets to the exam she will be able to use or at least adapt one.

This is a bit out there, but for short quotations has she tried singing them to a memorable tune? I'd also be a bit wary of relying on film and TV adaptations too much as it's surprising how far some stray from the text itself. Less so An Inspector Calls maybe as that's a relatively modern play, but even Shakespeare gets messed around with an awful lot....

When I studied literature the dinosaurs were still about but we were taught a standard essay layout, introduction, 3 to 5 points answering the exam question, conclusion.

Look at themes, character development and comparisons, settings (world building as it's known now in some areas), plot, use of language including dialogue, description, pathetic fallacies, comic relief juxtaposed with serious scenes and themes etc. Our Shakespeare teachers loved a bit of iambic pentameter and/or sonnet structure and for everything we studied we also looked at the context and historical setting although not in great depth, and if you could compare a work with a couple of others from the same time period or author that sometimes got extra brownie points.

My son's school recommended these flash cards - he has actually been using them over the Easter holidays which is a miracle!! They are really cheap and contain lots of bitesize information on the characters and themes from the books and poetry he is studying. They also arrived the day after I placed an order. Highly recommend and wish they did them for other subjects.

Also take some time on the poetry - but it's not just learning the poems off - go through all the terms that they've used and the kinds of questions on past papers for both the anthology studied and for the unseen poetry question. The point is not to show memory of the text, presumably, but ability to answer questions asked on previously read and unread poetry, and to be able to use poetry words and terms - what poetic form and devices are being used and to what effect, that kind of thing.

I'm also worried about DS1 in his English and all the written answer exams - on Maths and Science he's already getting good greades - but in English, RS and Sociology they all think he's very clever and has the potential to do well but needs to get the exam technique right. My understanding is that for the good grades, assuming a student has the basics, it's actually more important that they get down an answer for each question - that divvying up time across the paper according to the marks involved and doing your best at each question then moving on is most important. If there's time to spare at the end, sure, go back, but don't spend 5 minutes more on a question if by doing so you'll end up with no time for a final question.

I'd also think it's probably more important to actually make sure about understanding the questions and practising good answers, and getting quotes and textual references into answers in context, than worrying about rote learning. DS1 is doing the same texts.

My DS is very much organising his own studies - I would think watching versions of plays might well be useful in terms of seeing how it all fits together, so long as this isn't instead of reading and being familiar with the texts. I borrowed vinyl records of my Shakespeare play texts at A level and made tapes which I listened to on repeat. Someone in my French class very clearly hadn't read our A level French literature set texts even in English translation, but I don't think anyone was trying that in Eng Lit. Though of course it's a bit different when for most students Eng Lit is something nearly everyone does rather than an option choice at GCSE - I didn't do it at O level because I had to make difficult choices.

She must also trust what she already knows and understands - she has been studying the texts for two years and could probably have a good go at the exams questions today if she had to! She is not starting anew with these characters and themes. Use Mr Salles etc to help clarify and consolidate understanding but do not see it as a whole tranche of new information that must now be learnt. Learn some key quotations and practise, practise, practise using essay plans and paragraphs.

That's good. Why don't you get a copy of the books as well and highlight the themes and telling character moments yourself so you can discuss them with her.

Mr Salles is a good start - I also really rate Mr Dowling's padlet (google) as a resource. Doesn't matter hugely whether it's AQA or Edexcel, the texts are the same!

My advice to students is always - what is your answer to the QUESTION? What is the writer trying to DO with that character/theme? Don't get bogged down trying to learn the names of literary devices; we don't care that you know the names of 7 types of repetition. We DO want to know how well you know the text and how you can use the text to answer the question set. Practise planning as many essays as possible at this point.

I'd echo the advice around linking quotations to character and theme- you will quickly find there are some that are really helpful and come up over and over again.

Spend time in the exam planning 3 "big ideas", outline a thesis statement in your 1st 2 sentences (writer explores the theme of in order to make the point that OR writer uses character in order to demonstrate ) but don't get bogged down in massive bits of contextual info. Don't bother with a conclusion. Don't stress if quotations aren't learnt exactly correctly.

Reading examiner reports is really helpful - easily found online.

Source: senior English examiner, HOD English, teacher for 12 years, BA + MA in English lit.

Yeps @annaistrying I meant if you take Macbeth for example, there are the characters (Lady M and M mainly) then the main themes of violence, supernatural, power/ambition and appearance vs reality. It's not hard to come up with some short (and I mean a few words max) quotes which illustrate these, some will work for more than one theme.

What is her target or likely grade btw,? That might help target people's advice tbh.

I did a BA and MA in literature. Although it's been a while since school.

Learn a few of the most poignant quotes - they'll have been discussed a lot in class - and a few more short ones of a few key moments/ symbols.

Then learn to be flexible with them. Put the word/quote in the centre of a mind map. Then put various common themes around this and figure out how the quote could work for each.

That way whatever the Q is you can kind of spark off into an argument from a good number of the same learnt quotes.

Also learn a bit about the historical and political situation around each text. This can add context and much more interesting answers.

Apart from knowing texts -

Practice keeping calm, focused and adrenalin at good rate. Do this immediately before exam and during exam but keep adrenalin going. Don't focus on friends or any distractions.

Practice past papers. To include: -
Get timings right for each question paper in exam according to marks.
Do a quick essay plan. Write keywords to write a paragraph on.

Use literary terms https://englishatwmat.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/english-literature-glossary-of-terms.pdf

To ensure points are not missed create mnemonics.
SEE Statement Example Explanation
Make a point/give an example and or quote/explain