Any point in revising for English Literature?

[RevisiontipsGCSE]

Trying to help DD who is in year 10 with a revision timetable as MOCKS are in a few weeks.

Last Mocks: English Language:4. English Literature: 2 Teacher said they are hoping for a 5 in both. Maths: 3. Science: 5

I am thinking we should simplify and focus all energy in Maths and English Language. The upcoming mocks will be for English Literature not Language mock until December. There will be Mocks for maths and science too.

Shall we just forget about English literature? She has lots of coursework in her main subject/qualification too.

Will the school let her drop English Literature?

Obviously no one can tell you what the school will allow but why is she revising Eng Lang if the mock isn't until December?

Personally I'd say do some for all subjects, it's good discipline to keep everything going along

Have you got an exam timetable?
The school should have told her what she needs to revise. That would normally include the literature text which she has studied this half term? Do you know what that text is?
If the mock is for Lit, she should be revising for Lit. The textual analysis that is needed for Lit is also applicable to Lang.
It seems a bit late for mocks. A lot of schools are heading towards 'wind down' time.

She is not revising for English Language yet, but got lots of catching up to do in Maths and her main subject course work/portfolio. I think she should put all energy and time on this.

Exactly what I was going to say. Part of the purpose of mocks is so they become accustomed the the not-insignificant rigours of revising, organising their time and determining from the results what they might have done better. If she has no real experience of what it takes to revise for each subject efficiently then it may come as a shock for the real thing.

And best of luck- it's a hard time for them all, and parents also!

It is McBeth. Not sure why they are doing Mocks again when the kids are exhausted.

She has an exam timetable and topics she needs to revise; but as I said she needs to put all her energy in math which she is failing and her main subject which has lots of coursework to do

Embracing English Lit will help her with English language. Interpreting texts and confidently discussing them is a skill in both Lit and Lang.

Is her main subject Art? Art can be caught up over the summer holidays.

What is her main subject?

As a bare minimum she should be watching a video of Macbeth. Lots on iplayer and YouTube. She needs to be able to tells you who all the characters are, what some of the language is about and what the themes of the play are? For example, what is the significance of the witches saying 'Fair is foul, and foul is fair..' in the opening scene of the play?

A study guide would be useful too.

Thank you. That is helpful

Doesn’t help when your mother isn’t English and didn’t study or grew up here.

I'm in that situation too @RevisiontipsGCSE . DS1 doing GCSEs now. It's hard t get to grips with the requirements as they are SO different to when I was at school.

Hope it all goes well.

I am sure; there are just not enough hours on the day. Unless you want to drop everything and just study. Also, there is just so much your brain can absorb.

What are her main subjects? Can she not do the courseworks over the summer?

It is not art. She needs to deliver something in the next 4 weeks.

English Teacher replied she is not allowed to drop it. Whether she has time to revise is another thing.

Cant wait to see the end of year 11. I didn’t realise it was so stressful. I would have hated all that pressure when I was 15/16.

BBC Bitesize has some good basic pages on Macbeth characters, themes etc:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zgq3dmn

And flashcards of quotations:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z83wg2p

Thank you

I wasn’t stressing about GCSE but school is ensuring I do 😂

If you are in school 6 or 7 hours per day why can’t you cover everything while there including revision?

Maths and English are the main core things she'll need to pass, so a 4 minimum. It is tough, I have a Year10 and he's struggling to fit it all in and he has barely any extra curricular anymore, plus he sees a maths tutor once a week. We are aiming for 5s and he's told me how stupid he feels, his friends get 7/8/9s in the mocks, etc. and I've told him he isn't stupid. If he's doing his best (and I do feel he is most of the time) that's what's important and its his future we are focussing on. The pressure the teachers are under by the DofE and that is passed down to kids is scary.

You saying that you're not being English is the root of this I think , schools can't teach everything and have time for the students to also do all of their revision.

That would be impossible, everyone needs to be studying out of school doing the revising element

You grew up in a different system but your daughter needs to do it the way her system works

Not every hour outside of school but you need to be realistic if she wants good grades and accept the home element of public exams

@RevisiontipsGCSE is it your DC who you wrote about on another thread where they are doing a performing arts qual as about half their KS4 time, alongside Eng, Maths and science? Apols if not.

Either way, I agree with others that she needs to revise for Eng lit and it’s very unlikely that she will be allowed to drop it. Can she find out which texts the exam will cover – or is it just Macbeth? Could you watch a film of it together (as PPs say, lots available – I suggest one that stays close to the text) and get her to tell you about the themes, characters, storyline?

To gain a 4/5 at Eng lit GCSE there is no need to go massively in depth. A grasp of some of the basic themes of Macbeth – supernatural, guilt, murder/death, violence, ambition, kingship, characters of M and Lady M – and a few examples for each of how they are shown will be a good start. Some will work for multiple – eg Macbeth’s invisible dagger works for guilt (about killing the King), supernatural (it’s not really there) character of Macbeth (dare not do what he needs to do), murder/death/violence (obviously).

What does she need to do for her CW? Is it possible to break it down into manageable chunks?

It is completely mental. I feel like burying my head in the sand which wont help 😂

As an English teacher she should absolutely be revising for English Lit if that’s what her mock is in. Lots of transferable analysis skills for language and the amount of subject knowledge/content they need for lit is huge. She will not pass lit if she leaves it until right before her GCSEs to revise Lit. She should be doing this regularly.

The reason mocks are placed in this term is to get an accurate picture of where the students are for setting in year 11 and they can’t take place until actual GCSEs are done for year 11 as the hall/sports hall used for them is being used for GCSEs.

Because in the school time they will be covering new work – DC then need to go over it to ensure they have remembered it and can recall it in an exam situation. Did you not do work outside school hours for any exams you did?

I’m sorry but that’s making a lot of excuses for her. They have to be able to juggle lots of subjects/topics and manage their time.

I remember I had two exams on one day more than once for my GCSEs - not mocks; the actual exams!