GCSE English Lit — how are they meant to remember all the quotes??

[tiredyoda]

The Year 11s I work with were struggling with the number of quotes they’re expected to remember for English Lit now — feels like a lot more than I remember needing to learn!?!?

I came up with something which we're using in one school and a youth centre - but love to hear what’s actually working for others- flashcards? Just re-reading? Something else? Thanks! Exams coming up fast now..!?

DS wrote them out over and over again.

I think he might have found a YouTube clip that had them too. He talked a it recording them, but I don’t think he did.

Ah - you mean like voice recording and just playing them back?

It's really tough. I'm doing 5-10 mins every evening, hoping little and often will help. There is so much to retain!

For my O levels, we had a number of poems, plus play quotes to learn, plenty of them! I set some to tunes and learnt them like songs, it did work and I can still remember most of them now.

There really isn't a set 'number of quotes'. They need to know the text well and be able to refer to it.

@Carebeau- What are the best revision tools you've seen/found for that? Thanks!

I’m afraid they do need to know a lot of quotes to get good grades. I have paid for Quizlet for my daughter. You can make electronic flashcards and she finds it really helpful. I think it cost about £30 for a year.

I give each student a key quotation for each text they study and when they answer the register, they say their quotation instead of "here Miss". Soon, they start to remember each other's quotations as well. Even better if they do them in character. A rowdy year 11 boy shrilly yelling "unsex me here" sticks in the mind somewhat.

There is nothing on the mark scheme about memorising quotations and this can actually be detrimental because students try to shoehorn them in when it isn’t really applicable.

Much more effective is to teach them how to paraphrase. So look at this part of Macbeth, for example. Macduff has just heard that his wife and children were killed on Macbeth’s orders. Malcolm urges him to be a man:

I shall do so,
But I must also feel it as a man.
I cannot but remember such things were
That were most precious to me.
Did heaven look on,
And would not take their part?
Sinful Macduff, They were all struck for thee! Naught that I am,
Not for their own demerits, but for mine,
Fell slaughter on their souls.
Heaven rest them now

So say the question is about themes of masculinity in Macbeth. A student remembers Macduff says something about feeling human emotions as a man, eg as a human, but can’t remember the above quotation. They will not lose marks and will in fact gain them for saying just that.

Macduff is critical of Malcolm’s idea of masculinity when Malcolm encourages him to be a ‘man’ and to not display emotion upon hearing about the murder of his wife and children. Macduff gives the audience a different view of masculinity - one of humanity, encompassing loss, grief and emotion.

If it helps, the examiner knows they don’t have the text in front of them and does not expect them to remember the quotes word for word. Even key words will get them credit for reference to the text. Obviously it is better if they know some, but interpretation and analysis are still far more important. Good luck!

It’s ridiculous. I got a decent English lit degree without memorising anywhere near all the things ds had to learn for gcse.

It totally put him off reading, which is such a shame.

Kid records himself reading them aloud and listens to it constantly, as he's falling asleep etc. But more importantly he thinks about how every quote could be used. So quote A could be used for eg historical context, the role of women, use of description or the weather as a metaphor yada yada. Think of every possible question and make sure kid had chosen some quotes he could use.
The student does this himself, not the parent. Also have a few quotes about the piece up his sleeve eg contemporary author claimed....about the work in question, in contrast someone else said something else.
DS used to go online and read the board's marking guidelines to be sure he wrote what triggered the marks.

They can remember the lyrics to thousands of songs - just as we can remember songs from our teens as though it was yesterday that we were getting ready for our GCSEs. They can do this.

The written word is rhythmic. It's poetry. It's song. It's rap. Whatever type of music they like, they can create a version that puts the quotes in a way that will embed them into their heads forever.

I’ve got O level (yep I’m that old) A level and a degree in literature. It’s not so much about quoting verbatim as having an understanding of the text.

Thanks all - really helpful. A few of the students I’ve seen who are doing well are def trying the 'short & daily' memory techniques + trying to know when/how to apply them...

The tricky bit seems to be what you said though - there’s ALOT of analysis to retain, on top of the quotes!?! Some remember quotes in isolation, but then struggle to actually use them properly in essays so we have been experimenting with breaking it down into much smaller chunks (just a handful of really flexible quotes + how to apply them), which I THINK is helping to make it all feel more manageable.

The Y11s mentioned - are they focusing on certain quotes/themes or trying to cover everything? How do they decide how much to learn - are schools/teachers guiding this??

I’m afraid they do need to know a lot of quotes to get good grades.

This is luckily not true. At least, learning lots of quotes is not the thing will get you a high grade; and you can still get a high grade without learning lots of great scads of text (although yes, it might be that a student who learned lots of quotes does get a high grade IYSWIM).

I agree with @Revoltingpheasants, it’s about referencing the text and using something from the text – be that a paraphrase, a word or phrase – that illustrates your point.

So, yes “unsex me here” (love that @ShowOfHands) will illustrate how Lady M is prepared to give up her womanhood to achieve her ambitions – relating to ambition, power, evil, the character of Lady M. Or "I defy you stars" – Romeo is fighting the fates but can he really? What do we think about fate today? Does he have agency as a tragic hero or is Sh saying it is all preordained? That kind of thing.

YY the examiner is well aware that they don't have the text. And a good thing too if you ask me. It avoids candidates writing put great reams of quotes to no great purpose.

ETA replying to @tiredyoda last post – it's important to be able to cover all themes as you cannot know what will come up and certainly in AQA you don't get a choice. If you have memorised all there is to know about love and the character of Juliet and the importance of fate – and then the question is about male violence – you will struggle. Remember tho that there is about 45 mins to write the essay. They don't need to say everything on the subject.

What a great idea @ShowOfHands

They need to know the texts really well. Imo, it is far easier to recall a story than memorise reams of words (particularly if they are not able to offer any insightful analysis from said words).

For students who are more visual learners, I help them create a timeline on a long scroll (lots of images plus key words/ quotes) in order to secure the chronology - what takes place just prior and immediately post the supplied ‘extract’ is relevant.

Flash cards are pretty good, quizzing, any kind of active recall. Some of my students pretend to be YouTubers and record videos of themselves describing a theme or character, etc.

Lists of key words/ quotes/ analysis plastered on kitchen cupboard doors. Fridge also. Not allowed to go digging for snack until they have read them out (or, at the very least, had a cursory glance). Ditto for time lines - long scrolls of them, covering corridors walls and walkways.

Hot seating - I have bags of props and fancy dress. My students take it in turns to interrogate each other, in character (works particularly well for ‘An Inspector Calls’!).

Love that, thanks @Cyd4 & @clary. Very clarifying, if somewhat daunting about the amount they have to retain...!

You could try revision mind maps with them - one for each major theme for each text. What might they like to include in an essay (quotes, events, characters involved, context, etc).

Really, at this stage they need to be practising essay writing, to time. Selecting ‘judiciously’ what to include in their essays is half the battle; building a coherent argument, in writing, within 45 mins is the other half!

Good luck to you and them! You sound very caring and invested. These y11’s are lucky to have you!

This is brilliant!

The skill (and tbh it's a bit late to be looking at this but better now than in mid-May) is to find elements of the play that can apply to many situations.

I am kind of assuming from how you are writing @tiredyoda that this is a group of perhaps lower ability DC? Ae they doing ACC? bc if so the structure will get you a long way with that book.

Or "is this a dagger that I see before me" – shows Macbeth's character (uncertainty over what he should do, gradually losing his gip on reality) elements of the supernatural (it's an imaginary dagger), violence in the play (obviously a precursor to the murder). You don't even need to use the actual quote – as a PP says, you can paraphrase to talk about the scene in which Macbeth sees an imaginary dagger which shows xyz and Shakespeare wants us to think abc.

Some excellent advice here. I’d also add that Mr Bruff (YouTube) has some great songs for remembering quotes.

I love this! I might mention it to our English teachers.