Literature Exam Discussion Thread 2016

[Coffee]

Literature Exam Discussion 2016

Exam Date: Friday 4 November, 11:45AM - 2:00PM

I hope everyone is churning out practise essays because the exam is in 2 weeks! If not, get started, because it's not too late! Feel free to post any questions, concerns, or anticipations regarding the Literature exam.

What texts are you planning to write on? Vote here: 2016 Literature Exam - Text Selection!

Good luck, everyone!

[MightyBeh]

Super keen. Since there appears to be so many people writing on Heart of Darkness, what do you guys think about ending on 'the horror'? My teacher told me it was super cheesy but at the same time I kinda like it so I'm interested in opinions. Only other downside I can think of is that it reads as a memorised response if you use it in the intro or conclusion.

Not that I'd ever advocate guessing what passages would be on the exam, but what are everyone's thoughts for Antony and Cleopatra? IIRC it's in its last year and they've already done some overlap on passages. Pretty sure we'll be getting hard ones this year

Also a little heads up if there's anyone who didn't know, Heart of Darkness has already been examined; you can find the old passages in the 2004, 2005, and 2006 exams.

[Coffee]

The countdown begins 1 week until the Literature exam!

Excited? Nervous? How is everyone's preparation going?

Anyone else a bit scared about not finishing in time?

[Glasses]

Anyone else a bit scared about not finishing in time?

Yes, absolutely.
Time constraints and I do not mix.

Although I found English to be a bit trickier than Lit with regards to time management, because at least with Lit you can kind of just write without having to adhere to a set structure or tick a heap of boxes.

[Coffee]

Yes, absolutely.
Time constraints and I do not mix.

Although I found English to be a bit trickier than Lit with regards to time management, because at least with Lit you can kind of just write without having to adhere to a set structure or tick a heap of boxes.

Same here! One of the texts I'm writing on is Jane Eyre and I feel like I could write on it forever because I love it so much and have so much to say- which isn't good when you've only got an odd 60 minutes!

I must be weird then because I found English easier. I feel like you can anticipate it a bit more in terms of what examples to use- I already had a few good paragraphs in my head for English. Can't really do that with Lit because you need to be drawing on the passages they give you.

[Coffee]

Guys, does anyone know if a thesis statement is necessary for a high-scoring response? My teacher keeps pushing for one but I'm sure the examples on the assessor's report don't have one- instead they jump straight into the analysis. I feel like I'm wasting so much time coming up with a thesis and I'd rather jump straight into analysing the passages so I can show the assessors what I've got

Thoughts?

[HopefulLawStudent]

Define "thesis statement".

[Elleeen]

Not too worried about time, so long as I get passages I'm comfortable working with.
I'm a bit nervous because I purposely haven't done any practice essays, or "studying" since... October 17th-ish. However, I've noticed that when it comes to Literature, for some reason, I always do my best work when I'm under-prepared. Whenever I genuinely have been prepared for a SAC, I haven't done nearly as well as other times.

My theory is that when I'm "prepared" I'm too comfortable with what I'm writing, and don't tend to explore concerns and the passages as in-depth as I would otherwise force myself to do if I were in a panic and thought I knew nothing. Kind of like, I don't know what I'm saying, so I'm gonna make sure that what I'm telling you is well supported.
Might not be a strategy you can endorse but I'm going to stick with it, even if it causes anxiety. (Of course I'll do a frantic study/prep the night before.)

[Coffee]

Define "thesis statement".

Like a mini-introduction I suppose? Nothing too long, just mentioning some of the concerns raised within the passages and text as a whole so as to demonstrate knowledge of the whole text and not just what's in front of you.

[yakattack]

Like a mini-introduction I suppose? Nothing too long, just mentioning some of the concerns raised within the passages and text as a whole so as to demonstrate knowledge of the whole text and not just what's in front of you.

I say no — come up with one and use it to inform your analysis (it'll help out a tonne with fluency), but, in the words of my Literature teacher, a close analysis is like a striptease; give little glimpses here and there, but show everything at once and they'll think you're trashy.

[Coffee]

I say no — come up with one and use it to inform your analysis (it'll help out a tonne with fluency), but, in the words of my Literature teacher, a close analysis is like a striptease; give little glimpses here and there, but show everything at once and they'll think you're trashy.

So would you say no to something like this? "In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte examines the growth and development of her protagonist into adulthood, providing a criticism of the orthodox conventions and expectations that she encounters within the Victorian era. Followed up by:
BP1: Passages 1 + 2 (Development of Jane and Bronte's endorsement of breaking away from restrictions/constraints of society)
BP2: Passages 1 + 3 (Criticism of the upper-class)
BP3: Passages 2 + 3 (Classism and marriage)
Conclusion

Just wondering if it's ok to write an introduction like that or should I jump straight into analysing the passages

Also, what is everyone else doing to prepare? I've been writing some mini analyses but I'm feeling pretty good for the exam; I've been doing this all year so I feel like all that's left to do is smash the exam. But, I also feel incredibly guilty for not spending the entire day studying

[MightyBeh]

Getting prepared by doing spec exams tbh, whose idea was it to have them on the same day??

For real tho, gonna do another reread tonight and maybe do a few passage annotations. Nothing heavy because like you said, we've been doing this stuff all year. No need to worry, hopefully.

I'd nearly put the classism and marriage as bp2 and the crit as bp3 to provide more of a narrative arc to your essay, ya feel? Like obviously the paragraphs are meant to stand alone but when you begin with the kind of exploration of the authour's contention through Jane you have a really solid foundation to bring in/build up the roast on Bronte's criticism of her contemporary society or whatever. But I also haven't read Jane Eyre so my thoughts are based totally on your plan and not on any knowledge of the text.

[Coffee]

Getting prepared by doing spec exams tbh, whose idea was it to have them on the same day??

For real tho, gonna do another reread tonight and maybe do a few passage annotations. Nothing heavy because like you said, we've been doing this stuff all year. No need to worry, hopefully.

I'd nearly put the classism and marriage as bp2 and the crit as bp3 to provide more of a narrative arc to your essay, ya feel? Like obviously the paragraphs are meant to stand alone but when you begin with the kind of exploration of the authour's contention through Jane you have a really solid foundation to bring in/build up the roast on Bronte's criticism of her contemporary society or whatever. But I also haven't read Jane Eyre so my thoughts are based totally on your plan and not on any knowledge of the text.

Good luck with your spesh exam! Be glad they're not on at the same time! Someone from my school had an exam clash; two words: solitary confinement.

I totally see your point, I think the reason I ordered them that way though was because that was the order they showed up in the text, and since I was looking at Jane's development, it seemed like the logical set-up. Is a small introduction like the one above appropriate though? Or should I just jump straight into the analysis?

[gurungi]

Good luck with your spesh exam! Be glad they're not on at the same time! Someone from my school had an exam clash; two words: solitary confinement.

I totally see your point, I think the reason I ordered them that way though was because that was the order they showed up in the text, and since I was looking at Jane's development, it seemed like the logical set-up. Is a small introduction like the one above appropriate though? Or should I just jump straight into the analysis?

I'm in the same predicament as you - I've heard conflicting ideas from everywhere. I think the mini-introduction as you call it gives a good focus to your essay; it's something you can refer back to and anchor yourself to in case your interpretations begin to skew and meander away from your focus. I believe lit is a very open-ended subject, and there are only 6 essential criteria. As long as you are analysing the language I feel like two or three sentences at the begin of your essay isn't going to compromise your mark. If you feel strapped for time, perhaps scratch the intro, to ensure you do as much analysis as possible. The reality is the extreme bulk of your marks will come from analysis, and the views and values you extract from the language analysis.
Personally, I will be writing an introduction 

[Elleeen]

I don't see anything wrong with a mini-introduction (like the one you posted) before you jump into your analysis, so long as it isn't excessively bloated and long. If it's short, and concisely sets you up for the rest of your essay, it's a brilliant way to start. It's also much easier and cleaner, in my opinion.
I'm pretty sure the majority of essays in the examination report contain a mini-introduction/thesis, so I don't think there's any fault in it.

As long as you don't start waffling on about irrelevant information such as the background of the author, the period of time, etc. it shouldn't be an issue. If you stick to just quickly stating what your "contention" is within the context of the passages, you're fine.

Mind you, there's no set writing structure in Literature, so the examiner isn't going to open up your exam and look at the introduction and be like, "well, guess you've lost 5 marks for that." It's just about your ability to coherently express an analysis/view on the passages, regardless of how you structure it, because that's solely up to you and however you choose to do it. So long as its effective, you get the points.