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Original poster

GCSE English Literature Contrast Poetry..DD on the edge please help!

33 replies

woesofme · 07/05/2023 11:42

She’s doing Edexcel Conflict Poetry and just had her first breakdown. Says she can’t remember quotes for all 15 poems as well as the quotes for the 3 plays she’s doing. I really don’t know how to help her but could really do some advice as I don’t want her losing the plot this close to the exams.

OP posts:
Original poster
woesofme · 07/05/2023 15:01

Thanks ever so much, you’ve really helped to calm her (and me) down. She’s going to try to learn a few poems really well from a wide selection and restrict the quotes to a word or two. Such a nightmare when they have so many subjects to remember so much for.

OP posts:
BunsenBurnerBaby · 07/05/2023 13:12

Short term memory is her friend. Be comfortable with 5 or 6 poems and know what you could say about them based on one or two words. Night before cram to learn a bit more if she wants.

Felucia · 07/05/2023 13:03

I learned quotes by singing them in silly voices. Things are easier to remember if you sing them and the voices made them more memorable plus alleviated stress!

Pieceofpurplesky · 07/05/2023 13:01

Tell her to concentrate on five poems - she will be given one and needs to compare/contrast one other. One of the five she chooses will fit in

NillyNoMates · 07/05/2023 12:53

Quotes need only be one word. Also, it doesn’t matter if she uses a quote and gets it slightly wrong. I’m a teacher and exam marker.

doglover90 · 07/05/2023 12:37

Focus on learning 5 or 6 poems really well, so you can compare them to whatever comes up in the exam - ideally you'll have a good spread of different 'themes' eg war, nature. Learn 4 or 5 quotes from each of those poems. They can be short eg one or two words. You can also analyse the titles of the poems in the exam.

TheBitchOfTheVicar · 07/05/2023 11:58

They only have 35 mins (recommended by exam board) to write. So five ish ideas: something on themes, one idea on form, three quotes which cross the key themes, something she can say on structure. Lean on the named poem. Something meaningful about the title? If there is, use it!

TeenDivided · 07/05/2023 11:56

Disclaimer: Not a teacher. And DD didn't do Engl Lit in the end.

Does she really have to know quotes from 15 poems?
iirc She'll be given 1 poem and have to pick another to compare it to. So as long as she knows a subsection that she can pick one from to comapre to all the others she doesn't need to know quotes from all of them surely?

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