Did anyone here write on This Boy's Life? I was so happy during reading time because I thought that both prompts were fairly easy and accessible, but now that the exam's over I keep second guessing everything I wrote
That first prompt is clearly designed to throw you off with the word 'pretence,' but it's just basically a way of encouraging you to talk about dreams and Toby's penchant for lies and illusions etc. Once you get to that point, it's a relatively manageable one. The second is probably more straightforward on the surface; 'masculinity' and Toby's growth and understanding are all fairly central concerns. But finding them easy is a really good sign, so don't stress. You'll probably stumble across some evidence a week from now and think 'damn, that would've been great,' but you're not marked on what you don't cover, so don't stress!
Did anybody do any of the I for Isobel prompts? I want to hear some other's thought about it! (I personally thought the second prompt was a tad easy!)
I think the first was definitely worth challenging (i.e. perhaps, she
attempts to control her life, or, she has control over
aspects of her life?) but if you've talked about 'control' at all in previous essays, I imagine this wouldn't be much of a stretch. Plus, the quote gives you a bit of a hint (i.e. she
thought she had control over her life... but didn't?)
As for the second one, it can be tough to strike a balance when asked to discuss "the characters," so that might've been a challenge for some, and "emotions" is suuuuper broad... which is either a godsend or a nightmare depending on your strengths
I'm glad to hear you found it accessible though - hopefully it was easy enough to slot all your quotes/evidence into place