Got my exam tomorrow. And i'm just wondering if anyone who's been there and done it could give me some last minute advice. Don't bother with the "Oh, GCSE's were easy.. blah blah." :wink:

drop out.

I wish I could. But I'd rather not spend the rest of my life playing RuneScape and living with my mother.

Im doing it tomorrow too, im predicated an A*, but thats a bit unreasonable..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For top marks try and talk about the language the poets/author uses, and relate it to the question. Also plan your work beforehand, so that you dont ramble on about things. Talk about imagery and advanced techniques they use like assonance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also try to include Cultural, Social, and Historical References that relate to the piece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Out of interest, what poems are you doing and what book did you read?

Bring ice.

 

 

 

I finished my AS Lang and lit paper today and MAN MY HAND HURTS! :cry:

Yeah, i've got it tomorrow too mate. Get up early and have a good breakfast, be as open minded as you can, and do a bit of studying tonight on whichever book you studied.

 

 

 

Dunno about the poetry side though, i'm pretty much screwed too when it comes to that!

read the question

 

 

 

and do make sure you have two pens

 

 

 

i took one and it ran out so i had to scratch what i was writing into the paper with a blank pen

Yeah, i've got it tomorrow too mate. Get up early and have a good breakfast, be as open minded as you can, and do a bit of studying tonight on whichever book you studied.

 

 

 

Dunno about the poetry side though, i'm pretty much screwed too when it comes to that!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Imperative! I've always sworn by Weetabix and banana before exams or rugby, always makes you feel great.

Bring ice.

 

 

 

I finished my AS Lang and lit paper today and MAN MY HAND HURTS! :cry:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know, I was expecting my hands to just drop off--three hours of non-stop writing! Oddly, though, it went fine. Whether or not I did OK remains to be seen, however. Oh, I spotted the most TREMENDOUS opportunity for a joke at the end of my last question. I was too worried that putting it down would get marks docked off. (I don't remember what it was, else I'd say).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advice.... Well, I would suggest that you try and put in a little something above and beyond what you were meant to understand about the subject; they're always impressed when you show them something they aren't expecting--assuming it's good. So, what I'd recomend you do is try and learn something interesting about whatever it is you've been studying; perhaps something about the context in which it was written.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of people say "the GCSEs were easy", but that's just not true: they teach you only a little, and then expect you to write meaningful things. At least at A level they start teaching you what things mean, and not just how to recognise them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, and, if you're dedicated enough to be asking advice, there's no need to worry about doing badly (don't hold me to that).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Off topic (sorta): I'm one of those people to whom it's not so important to have a good breakfast; if I eat anything more than a nibble in the morning, I get REALLY hungry during the day, and it ends up being distracting. Similarly, I'm one of those people for whom it's not important to go to bed early, as doing this just makes me more deeply asleep when comes the time to wake up.

DO they actually call it English Lit. in England, or is it just Lit. there?

Haha, good question. It's "English Lit", probably just to distinguish it from any other language.

Theres English Literature and English Language. Most people just call it English Lit.

 

 

 

Thanks for the advice anyway. I'm going to go for insight and originality, apparently both are extremely good to use. They show you understand the text, and can read between the lines, if you get my meaning.

 

 

 

Also I've been told many times to constantly refer back to the question, and most importantly.. answer it, ie. Don't go off on one. :oops:

 

 

 

As for the texts we're doing; Of Mice and Men, An Inspector Calls and several Pre 1900 poems from Best Words.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lol Futurama, I was planning on an early night and high energy breakfast. :P

High energy isn't always a good idea dude. I drank a load of vodka and redbull before an exam once and found the questions really hard to answer (whoops heh). That, and staying awake - eating something like scrambled egg on toast, had that today and it really helped me through my music exam. Reading between the lines always scores you highly, and i always get A's in english by just writing from the heart and whatever pops into my head. Remember in of mice and men to refer to social and historical context (how the extract reflects what was going on at the time the book was set, ie the abuse of the black guy, the way the guys look down on curley's wife)

Also I've been told many times to constantly refer back to the question, and most importantly.. answer it, ie. Don't go off on one. :oops:

 

 

 

Definately! You seem pretty clued in I think you'll do pretty well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As for the texts we're doing; Of Mice and Men, An Inspector Calls and several Pre 1900 poems from Best Words.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ah brilliant example of Stanislavski and naturalistic theatre. I went to see it at the Lowry Theatre, Salford, last Wednesday and it was done superbly.

 

 

 

I pretty much know that play inside out so if you have any questions on it don't hesitate to ask.

 

 

 

Most of all, Good Luck!

just concentrate on the question. Don't go on tangents. That's the best advice I can give.

I'm doing Blood Brothers and To Kill a Mockingbird. I just went to look for the books earlier because I need to learn some quotes and I can't find either book. :x

 

Also I've been told many times to constantly refer back to the question, and most importantly.. answer it, ie. Don't go off on one. :oops:

 

 

 

Definately! You seem pretty clued in I think you'll do pretty well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As for the texts we're doing; Of Mice and Men, An Inspector Calls and several Pre 1900 poems from Best Words.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ah brilliant example of Stanislavski and naturalistic theatre. I went to see it at the Lowry Theatre, Salford, last Wednesday and it was done superbly.

 

 

 

I pretty much know that play inside out so if you have any questions on it don't hesitate to ask.

 

 

 

Most of all, Good Luck!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the luck. :)

 

 

 

After reading the text and watching the video several times (I know the video itself isn't exactly accurate, but putting words into pictures helps me remember it alot better) so I guess I know the book aswell as I could.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And as for being clued in, well, I remember it all tonight, but my mind is like a blank canvas as soon as I pick up that pen.. I think we've all been there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Futurama: Yeah we've done alot of work on themes, like the racial discrimination, the lonliness theme, doomed to fail, American dream etc.

 

 

 

Oh and, I'll make myself some scrambled eggs in the morning. :o

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well thanks alot guys. It's nice to have some reassurance before an exam. I'm going to head off to bed now, so wish me luck. I'll report back tomorrow and tell you all how it went. I got to keep positive, the only way I'll do it is if I can believe I'll do it. :wink:

So how'd you do?

 

 

 

Luckily i got some good questions come up, and did pretty well.

I had it today too, totally annhiliated of mice and men, but the poetry bit was hard as hell :shock:

 

 

 

Day off tomorrow, wooh! *goes off grumbling something about vodka*

It went as well as expected anyway. I managed to finish every question, each about 1.5-2 pages long. I found An Inspector Calls a walkover, the Poetry wasn't that hard either.. but Of Mice and Men was rather rushed, but I finished. Added to my decent coursework I can maybe.. probably say it's in the bag. But I tryed my best.. I just hope it's good enough.

I done my English Lit. today :?

 

 

 

I did To Kill a Mockingbird & Duffy & Armitage poems.

 

 

 

The TKMB ^^ question went quite smoothly but the poems wern't my strong point so i didn't do too well, i'm just hoping my other exam and my coursework will get me a C :)

Congratulations all, i guess the questions had to be reasonably easy, due to the new rule no annotated texts are allowed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are all you guys off school already, my school is breaking up on Friday ?!(gonna be an emotional time :shock: )

I did ok I think, I know I've missed out on a lot of marks because I didn't know many quotes. I really struggled on the poetry question "A people will sometimes say no to war" what the hell was that about? :?