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..!?

There are some (often truly awful) songs on youtube which really helped them stick for my DDs (and me!).

God I’d have died on the spot having to do that!

My youngest is bright but very STEM based. Hates English with a passion, which he delights in telling his sister who is studying English!

He will be able to learn quotes as he has a good memory but he just doesn’t get analysis or inference.

Any tips? Not looking for an 8/9 but maybe a 6 if he wants a good uni later.

I can't believe how much content there is a across all the subjects They seem a lot harder than when I did my GCSEs.

My ds has literally been revising every day/eve pretty much since his mocks in November..

For him it is just repetition repetition repetition.

Id let them pass though if they really didn’t want to do it?

To add my ds is very STEM based so for him learning English and quotes in a formulaic fashion is his best bet at getting a decent grade.

Ideally it would be more intuitive but he HATES it and thinks its pointless so parrot fashion is the way forward.

Repetition is key. If actors can learn lines episode after episode then our kids can too.

BBC sounds GCSE bitesize English Lit got my two through their exams.

I used to play it in the car on long journeys.

It's such a waste of time for everyone insisting kids memorise quotes (and formulae in science). Surely what is useful, relevant and proof of intelligence/ability is to be able to write intelligently about your understanding of the text, or how to use the formulae correctly.

I wish they would do open book exams. I remember doing them. If you don't know the text really well you're not going to have time to read it and choose relevant quotes during the exam. So you'd still need a good knowledge of the book to find the bit you want to quote.

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.

Yes exactly! They can assimilate them into their memory, just like we always had to do. Spending a bit of time checking they understand precisely what it all means is the most helpful thing parents can do to cement the words in

He won't need an anything in Eng lit tbh (unless looking for medicine or Oxford or econ at Warwick or Bath (or similar very competitive courses that look at all your GCSE grades)).

Some unis require a 6 in Eng lang for every course (UCL for example) but most are fine with a 4 in Eng lang tbh especially for a STEM course .

It's better for those who struggle to focus on the story and the reason it was written. It's much easier for them to recall what happened, or how an interaction came across, than loads of lines of text. A few words (or a word) is sufficient really if they can comment on the significance.

I'd rather read about how Scrooge generally behaves and speaks, what this represents about Victorian society to the reader and how this links to what what Dickens thought, than see "Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner!" plonked on the page.

I agree with your first para about the proof of understanding and that is what will win you marks.

I am not a fan of open book bc IME weaker students will spend ages trying to find the right quote which won't ultimately get them a decent grade. and for stronger students, there will be an expectation of a much higher level of quoting – but I am really not sure what the point is of being able to find and transcribe a paragraph of Shakespeare.

ETA @Carebeau yes very much agree about ACC. The structure of the story takes you through the essay in many cases for a weaker student. What happens and what does that mean? That's what you need to get a good grade 4/5/6.

Thank you. Tbh, English full stop is a bit of an issue as he seems to have a bit of an irrational hatred. He is y10 so hopefully we have a bit of time.

They do NOT have to memorise a bunch of text - memorising short quotes may help jog their memories to specific parts of a piece - but that is it.

In my experience, students tend to waste precious writing minutes fruitlessly fluttering through pages and pages, during ‘open book’ exams. I don’t think knowing a few set texts very well need be so terribly daunting, though it does require the full circa two year course to properly nail it/ do the writing at least a sprinkling of justice!

I completely get that some students struggle with the volume of content. Learning can be challenging, we are not all wired the same.

I think spider diagrams on themes/characterisation/form are a good starting point because a quotation can be used as evidence or a demonstration of that point. So they're categorised in your head. I have the kind of brain that cannot remember to drink a cup of tea before it cools but can recall three sentences in a row for no good reason but I think maybe that's why it was easy.

Ah yes plenty of time. Eng lang is the one that matters as I say for the vast majority of unis.

Back in the dark ages, when I had to be able to quote from two Shakespeare plays, Yeats’ poems, two modern novels and a Chaucer tale for A Level English Lit, I recorded quotes on to a cassette tape recorder (remember those?) and played them over and over again - most especially in the evenings as I was going to sleep.

Exactly this. To reproduce quotes from the text doesn’t show any understanding of the meaning. You need to show that you’ve been immersed and that a light has come on and that you are able to articulate the writer’s intention.