GCSE Literature Revision Guide 2009
CONTENTS 1 Introduction 2 The Literature Exam 3 Poetry Duffy / Armitage (& Pre-1914) Heaney / Clarke (& Pre-1914) 4 Prose Of Mice and Men Lord of the Flies 5 What Next?
Tuesday 19 May OR Heaney/Clark/Pre-1914 Poetry
ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES For both sections of your literature exam, the examiners will be looking for evidence that you can: Respond to texts critically, picking out and commenting on detailed examples Comment on the effects of language, structure and form on the reader and consider different possible interpretations Make comparisons within and between texts showing that you can explore ways in which two or more texts can be linked together / contrasted The best way to prepare for the exam is to make detailed notes and to test yourself by doing some practice questions. We ve included some past papers and mark schemes on the intranet site don t forget, if you want more help, you can always ask your teacher!?
POETRY: Duffy / Armitage or Heaney/Clarke and Pre-1914 Poetry Check out the next page for a full list of the KEY POEMS you should have studied for Literature. The list shows which poems the exam board are most likely to name in the questions they set so it s well worth making sure you are confident about all of them!
The exam board recommend that students study all 8 of the poems by their chosen poets (Duffy/Armitage or Heaney/Clarke). The list of Key Poems is intended to pinpoint the poems that offer the most opportunities for comparison and which should therefore be the focus of your revision. Seamus Heaney / Gillian Clarke & Pre1914 Foundation Mid term break Baby Sitting Tennyson The Eagle On the train Yeats Song of the Old Mother Follower Digging Catrin Ben Jonson On My First Sonne Death of a Naturalist The field Mouse John Clare Sonnet Higher At a potato digging Cold Knap Lake Walt Whitman Patrolling Barnegat Storm on the Island A Difficult Birth Wordsworth The Affliction of Margaret Digging Catrin Ben Jonson On My First Sonne Death of a Naturalist The field Mouse John Clare Sonnet Carol Ann Duffy / Simon Armitage & Pre1914 Foundation Stealing My father thought it Thomas Hardy The Man he killed Salome November Yeats Song of the Old Mother Elvis Twin Sister Kid Ben Jonson On My First Sonne Havisham The Hitcher Browning The Laboratory Higher Anne Hathaway Mother, any distance Shakespeare Sonnet 130 Before you were mine Homecoming Browning My Last Duchess Stealing Kid Ben Jonson On My First Sonne Havisham The Hitcher Browning The Laboratory
Carol Ann Duffy & Simon Armitage Seamus Heaney & Gillian Clarke
PROSE: Of Mice and Men Lord of the Flies Now, what was it they said? Ah yes, SPEND 45 MINUTES on this section what do I for the rest of the time then?
In SECTION A you will have a choice of 2 questions about the PROSE text that you have been studying in class When you open the question paper, you will have to look for the questions based on the text you have been studying This will be either Of Mice and Men, or I m the King of the Castle or AQA Short Stories DO NOT ANSWER QUESTIONS ON BOOKS YOU HAVE NOT STUDIED! (you d be amazed how many people do!?) Whichever text you have been studying, the examiners will be asking you the same kind of questions. You will need to know your book really well as you will be expected to have a clear understanding of: Characters / characterisation Themes / ideas Structure Writer s use of language Start by writing a summary of each chapter (or story if you re doing the AQA short stories) and make sure for each one you have made notes on each of the topics listed above! You will NOT be allowed to take your own copy of the text into the exam. A CLEAN COPY will be given to you in the exam hall!
JOHN STEINBECK The best laid schemes o mice and men Gang aft agley And leave us nought but grief and pain For promised joy To a Mouse Robert Burns
William Golding Fancy thinking the Best was something you could hunt and kill! said the head. For a moment or two, the forest and all the other dimly appreciated places echoed with the parody of laughter. You knew, didn t you? I m part of you? Close, close, close! I m the reason why it s no go! Why things are what they are! Chapter 8, Gift for the Darkness
Poetry (Higher) Sample Exam questions
Poetry (Foundation)
Prose (Higher)
Prose (Foundation)
Now that you have worked your way through the activities in this booklet you should test your progress by logging on to the BBC Bitesize website at www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize A full copy of the current specification for GCSE English Literature (3712) and complete mark schemes are also available from www.aqa.org.uk where you will also find a student zone which is dedicated to answering any last minute questions you might have. Good luck!