English Advanced Question Thread

[elysepopplewell]

For Mod B (I'm doing Yeats' poetry, which I know is your favouite), do i construct an essay choosing two poems and just hope that they align with the one given in the question? Or do I constuct a few essays using all poems?

Yeats <3
My approach was to understand all of the poems really well, and be able to at least plan a bunch of different responses. By this I mean - I hated writing practice essays, so I'd just construct lots of different plans in dot points. I'd include the exact techniques or points of the poem I'd talk about in the plan - it was very detailed.

So I'd understand alllll of the poems and know which parts of some poems linked to other poems, or which parts I could draw similarities between. Then I'd apply them to different essay questions and see how I'd go organising my thoughts in different plans.

I don't think it's wise to rely on two poems, because they could specify one that you're really weak on because you've focused so much on the other two. For me, The Second Coming and Wild Swans at Coole were fantastically versatile so I did privilege them in my study, but with good reason

[philgee]

Hello i am struggling a bit with finding linking themes for The Tempest and The Boat by Nam Le. Could you please help me find links between these two texts in terms of discovery?

[elysepopplewell]

Hello i am struggling a bit with finding linking themes for The Tempest and The Boat by Nam Le. Could you please help me find links between these two texts in terms of discovery?

I love SBS's Interactive Graphic Novel version of The Boat!

I haven't studied the Tempest in detail - but I think you could make strong comparisons about quests and journeys - the intentions behind them between the two texts are more contrasting than complimentary I think, but worth a look at I think!

[SpanishPear]

Yeats <3
My approach was to understand all of the poems really well, and be able to at least plan a bunch of different responses. By this I mean - I hated writing practice essays, so I'd just construct lots of different plans in dot points. I'd include the exact techniques or points of the poem I'd talk about in the plan - it was very detailed.

So I'd understand alllll of the poems and know which parts of some poems linked to other poems, or which parts I could draw similarities between. Then I'd apply them to different essay questions and see how I'd go organising my thoughts in different plans.

I don't think it's wise to rely on two poems, because they could specify one that you're really weak on because you've focused so much on the other two. For me, The Second Coming and Wild Swans at Coole were fantastically versatile so I did privilege them in my study, but with good reason

Im just a lazy english student trying to find all the shortcuts oops
xD

[elysepopplewell]

Im just a lazy english student trying to find all the shortcuts oops
xD

You don't want it to bite you on the bum when you get into an exam and they specify a poem! Good luck

[Victorious]

Hi!

I was wondering if anybody has any advice on how to go about finding critics opinions for the ModB essay?

Thanks

[Kim_842]

Hey!

I am beginning to start preparation for a half-yearly exams - a comparative essay consisting of an unseen question. I was just wondering if/how I should match up quotes from both texts to specific syllabus points? This is in hope that I would be prepared for any sort of question thrown at me on the day, but I'm having trouble distinguishing which syllabus points would be relevant...

Thanks so much in advance!

[owidjaja]

Hey!

I am beginning to start preparation for a half-yearly exams - a comparative essay consisting of an unseen question. I was just wondering if/how I should match up quotes from both texts to specific syllabus points? This is in hope that I would be prepared for any sort of question thrown at me on the day, but I'm having trouble distinguishing which syllabus points would be relevant...

Thanks so much in advance!

Hey there!

Considering how you mentioned comparative essay, I'm assuming you're being assessed on Module A? Or is it AOS? Nevertheless, what I would do is to set out your notes in a table with columns for: technique, quote, analysis. Don't force a technique on your quotes- sometimes, your quote just embodies an idea that the composer wants to express. Do this for both of your texts and take note of the themes explored in the two texts. If it's AOS, take note as to how the process of discovery is being explored. Did the composer display positive or negative aspects of discovery? Short term and long term ramifications of discovery or was it only long term? Compare and contrast the themes of the texts and you should be able to form ideas under your thesis (which should be malleable).

As for Module A, although I'm doing Module B first, I would suggest setting out your notes like I mentioned previously, except this time, explore the different perspectives presented between the two texts. For example, I'm doing 1984/Metropolis so I discuss how both themes critique on contrasting issues (fascism vs democracy) and via different contexts but both texts critique this in similar ways- this is where techniques come in. The whole purpose of Module A is to show despite the different context, the themes presented are universal so showing the connection between these ideas are important in your essay.

TL;DR- I would suggest matching up ideas rather than quotes because these quotes are used to support the composer's and your ideas.

Hope this helps!

[Kim_842]

Hey there!

Considering how you mentioned comparative essay, I'm assuming you're being assessed on Module A? Or is it AOS? Nevertheless, what I would do is to set out your notes in a table with columns for: technique, quote, analysis. Don't force a technique on your quotes- sometimes, your quote just embodies an idea that the composer wants to express. Do this for both of your texts and take note of the themes explored in the two texts. If it's AOS, take note as to how the process of discovery is being explored. Did the composer display positive or negative aspects of discovery? Short term and long term ramifications of discovery or was it only long term? Compare and contrast the themes of the texts and you should be able to form ideas under your thesis (which should be malleable).

As for Module A, although I'm doing Module B first, I would suggest setting out your notes like I mentioned previously, except this time, explore the different perspectives presented between the two texts. For example, I'm doing 1984/Metropolis so I discuss how both themes critique on contrasting issues (fascism vs democracy) and via different contexts but both texts critique this in similar ways- this is where techniques come in. The whole purpose of Module A is to show despite the different context, the themes presented are universal so showing the connection between these ideas are important in your essay.

TL;DR- I would suggest matching up ideas rather than quotes because these quotes are used to support the composer's and your ideas.

Hope this helps!

Thank you so much this definitely helps! And yes, I am doing module A. In preparation for the exam, would you recommend organising the composer's ideas (supported by quotes as a deeper layer) under/according to syllabus points in order to prepare for the unseen question? And if so, how?

Thanks for all of your help.

[owidjaja]

Thank you so much this definitely helps! And yes, I am doing module A. In preparation for the exam, would you recommend organising the composer's ideas (supported by quotes as a deeper layer) under/according to syllabus points in order to prepare for the unseen question? And if so, how?

Thanks for all of your help.

Hey there!
And yes, I'd say organising quotes into the composer's ideas would be useful. Looking at the syllabus, take note of key terms such as context, perspective  and the audience- taking into account of these factors can shape the way ideas are presented. Going back to the 1984/Metropolis example, Orwell was conveying ideas of fear towards domination towards an audience who had just experienced WW2- you're taking into account of the audience, purpose and his perspective on the notion of total domination. When organising your quotes, you'd need to do a bit of background research of the text in order to understand what's happening, albeit you need to be careful when writing your essay, don't put too much emphasis on the context- the purpose of Module A is to discuss the universality of the ideas explored.

On top of this, summarise your texts into three ideas that were explored- through this, you're already planning your essay (I follow an integrated essay structure so I do three body paragraphs). Therefore, when planning your essays, it should look something along the lines of this:

Text 1:
Theme:
Explanation:
Technique:
Quote:
Influence of context:

And then you repeat the structure with Text 2. Of course, you can include as many quotes as you need.

Hope this helps!

[elysepopplewell]

Hi!

I was wondering if anybody has any advice on how to go about finding critics opinions for the ModB essay?

Thanks

Hey there! I did some pretty intensive googling to look for these. I'd type things like "Yeats scholar" and "Yeats academic" and "Yeats university essay" and "Yeats critic" and then I'd just follow the academic trail, which is when you pull up one great resource and then follow through to look at who they referenced, and who they referenced, and so on. Depending on who you study, there might even be some books on your composer and their work.

[owidjaja]

Hey guys,
Just a question on structuring essays on Yeats' poetry, how would you structure an integrated essay if you had to analyse three poems?

Thanks in advance!

[jamonwindeyer]

Hey guys,
Just a question on structuring essays on Yeats' poetry, how would you structure an integrated essay if you had to analyse three poems?

Thanks in advance!

Hey! If you are going full integrated, you'd cover all three poems in all paragraphs. However, nothing says you can't do two poems in one paragraph, then one of those and the third in another, and so on. The key is balance, not to let one poem shrink away while the other two dominate

For what it's worth, I do think essays tend to work better when you cover every poem in every paragraph, but that's more to make organising your ideas easier. Three themes, all poems for each, a tad simpler imo

[owidjaja]

Hey there,
Going back to Module B and critical study, are you allowed to include a bit of first-person in your response? Throughout prelim year, my teacher encouraged us to include how it influences our understanding because the question says 'your understanding' so I tend to regurgitate the sentence of 'this has impacted my understanding of *insert theme*'- is this looked down in Module B essays? I was going through some exemplar essays and they don't usually include first person.

Thanks in advance!

[SpanishPear]

Hey there,
Going back to Module B and critical study, are you allowed to include a bit of first-person in your response? Throughout prelim year, my teacher encouraged us to include how it influences our understanding because the question says 'your understanding' so I tend to regurgitate the sentence of 'this has impacted my understanding of *insert theme*'- is this looked down in Module B essays? I was going through some exemplar essays and they don't usually include first person.

Thanks in advance!

Hey!
I think it's definitely important to include a first person pesrpective, the markers want to see how the critical study of texts has resonated with your personal beliefs.
If you look at the past couple years of yeats' questions for Mod B they all have a similar line
2017:
"To what extent does this statement align with YOUR view of Yeats' poetry?"

2015:
"To to what extend does this perspectve align with YOUR understanding of Yeat's poetry?"

2012:
"To  what extend does YOUR interpretation of Yeats' The second Coming and at least one other poem align with this view?"

and so on

So TLDR: Yes