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Secondary education

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GCSE English Literature, how does DS know he’s learning the right quotes?

15 replies

tophatface · 23/04/2023 07:46

DS is spending ages trying to get his head around the ins and outs of the characters and themes for all the plays and book he’s doing for English literature. He’s trying to learn a couple of quotes per character but considering anything could come up on the exam papers, what if the ones he’s learning aren’t relevant to what he’s asked? He’s trying so hard I would be gutted for him if he’s unable to show what he knows because of this.

OP posts:
CaptainMyCaptain · 23/04/2023 08:02

Don't they give suggestions at school?

Defaultsettings · 23/04/2023 08:06

He needs to pick the themes of the book.

For Pride and Prejudice, choose quotes that show the main characters’ pride or prejudice.

Study guides will help with themes if he can’t recall them from his class.

Defaultsettings · 23/04/2023 08:08

Also it’s not about the quotes per se. Writing them down doesn’t prove that he understands them. He needs to know why he writing them.

mynameiscalypso · 23/04/2023 08:10

I agree with learning themes rather than characters. School should normally give some clue as to which themes they expect to come up on the paper and he can use past papers to get a feel for the types of questions

ThinkTheresBeenAGlitch · 23/04/2023 08:12

It's what he can say about the quotes that matters - what they reveal to the reader about the characters/plot/context. He won't be able to use absolutely everything he's learned in the exam; one of the skills is filtering the information and selecting what's relevant. Quotes can, and should, be short - he might use a one or two word quotation that allows him to show insight into the text.

willow7612 · 23/04/2023 08:21

My DS is learning a number of quotes which can be used across several themes, as I believe it is the application of the quotes to demonstrate understanding that is important.

His teacher is also going to provide a list of what they consider to be the most important and adaptable quotes for them to prioritise - could your DS ask for or create something like that?

clary · 23/04/2023 08:24

Which books us he doing OP?

PPs are right- it's about how he uses the quotes. So in Jekyll and Hyde, "ape-like fury" is much used as it can show how Hyde is changing, links to how he is an animal, the dichotomy between humans and animals.

Quotes can be short and it's good if they point up themes; if this is AQA the only guaranteed character question is 20th century (so inspector calls or animal farm).

Prescottdanni123 · 23/04/2023 08:45

Are they not allowed to take the book in? In my English Literature exam, we were allowed to have the book in with us which did help somewhat. If you could remember what happened in each chapter you had a good idea of where to find certain quotes to back up what you were saying.

user4750 · 23/04/2023 09:02

No, they have to know any quotes. They don’t take the books in

tophatface · 23/04/2023 09:43

He’s doing an inspector calls, Macbeth, a Christmas carol and conflict poetry. The board is Edexcel which is quite annoying as everything seems to be based on AQA.

OP posts:
whattodo2019 · 23/04/2023 09:49

You need the revision guide books. They are all in there.

MoonARisingHigh · 23/04/2023 21:52

@tophatface sorry this is a long answer. How high a grade is he looking at? If it is grade 7-9 it isn't about quoting a whole quote but embedding parts of quotes in a sentence, showing an understanding of the book/play. As a parent look at the past papers (all online) and look at the questions so you know what they are asking. ie 2019 Edexcel paper for A Christmas Carol asks about fear and gives the extract where Scrooge meets the Ghost of Christmas yet to come. So where else in the novel is fear? Can your child do that? Start at the beginning, mentally work through where fear is shown, which characters? Which scenes? What words can he put in to quote? Always the beginning of the books, the extract and the end. This is a work of fiction, contrived to make you think or feel a certain way.

Here is a section of the mark scheme and a link to the full thing, for the ACC extract on fear, look at how the quotes are embedded in the answers

"the adjective ‘shrouded’ links with death and immediately suggests that the Spirit is totally enveloped in its ‘deep black garment’. This is confirmed with another triplet when the Spirit is described as having ‘its head, its face, its form’ concealed by the covering"

Main themes for ACC are (high level) Poverty (social dissatisfaction with The Poor Laws ie imprisoned for debt just like Dickens' father was), Generosity (Fezziwig invites everyone to the party, the charity collectors trying to make a difference but a decent living wage makes all the difference ie when Scrooge increases Bob's salary, Tiny Tim lives) Greed (does it bring Scrooge joy? No. Marley warns him of his own misery in the afterlife), Regret (Belle, carol singer at door) Moral responsibility (improve the working conditions of the poor, those buying the book were very wealthy, aimed at them, Bob's salary, Bob's name is money) Christmas Spirit, Family (Fred and family at Christmas, lively, fun, Mr and Mrs Fezziwig, The Cratchits poor but happy to be with each other, but also Scrooge becomes a second father to TT, we see Scrooge as a child with the ghost of Christmas past, why? Because this is about Fathers and sons) Redemption (the joy of buying the goose for the Cratchits, the joy of giving) and Time. Google things like quote bank a Christmas Carol etc but school should have provided one already.

None of this is my work, I must credit the incredible Mr Salles and his amazing YouTube channel but most of all his book The Ultimate Guide to A Christmas Carol. Sadly we are now very close to exams so time is against your son, but I do recommend the books/YouTube videos but also the past papers and mark schemes. Mr Salles covers all the books mentioned plus the poetry, he can be watched on at least 1.5 speed if not 1.75 speed to breeze through them. These include quotes.

https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/GCSE/English%20Literature/2015/Exam-materials/1ET0_02_rms_20190822.pdf

https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/GCSE/English%20Literature/2015/Exam-materials/1ET0_02_rms_20190822.pdf

MrsHamlet · 23/04/2023 21:56

There are no "right" ones.
I give my students s selection abc then expect them to come up with their own linked ones. They need to be able to analyse them and say something about them

redskylight · 24/04/2023 09:19

tophatface · 23/04/2023 09:43

He’s doing an inspector calls, Macbeth, a Christmas carol and conflict poetry. The board is Edexcel which is quite annoying as everything seems to be based on AQA.

The key quotes in the books (that can be used for answering questions about themes) will be the same though.

If you google you will find any number of sites providing key quotes. depending on how many quotes he wants to learn/what grade he is aiming for, he just need to pick quotes that can be used to support a variety of points. There is no such thing as a bad quote if it's one you can use! However, some quotes will be more applicable to multiple situations than others.

Plasmodesmata · 24/04/2023 11:49

See if you can find a revision guide for the books, they will have a list.

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