My advice could be reduced to two obvious instructions:
Keep re-reading your set texts
Keep writing essays about them.
We all know this to be good advice, if vague.
The following article contains specific suggestions that I give to students each exam season.
1. Draw up a list of potential exam questions. Ask yourself: 'which of these questions do I most fear having to answer?' Prioritise revising these topics.
It's tempting to offer yourself false comfort by revising topics which you already know well.
It's easy, for example, to write out another list of quotations relating to the relationship between Iago and Othello and ignore less obvious topics. These might include the play's use of setting, its exploration of loyalty and its presentation of violence, all of which might form the basis of exam questions.
Begin revising each text by making a long list of the topics that you most fear having to write about. This allows you to devise a revision schedule which prioritises the topics which need your most urgent attention.
(If you're struggling to do this, I'm happy to offer advice - swlondontutor@yahoo.com.)
For example, in the sixth-form, I always dreaded writing about a writer's use of symbolism. When revising, I therefore prioritised the task of identifying examples of symbolism and practised writing analyses of their effects. At first, I focused on individual symbols and worked up to offering analytical overviews of what these symbols represent across the entire text.
Revision should feel like a challenge – therefore ensure you revise less familiar sub-topics and those that you haven't enjoyed studying.
2. Re-read each text cover-to-cover at least twice.
A clear sign that your revision is working is when you start recalling textual details automatically.
Between the start of study-leave and the exam, read each text cover-to-cover at least twice. This may feel laborious, particularly when studying a long novel, but it gives you a strong sense of the shape of each text, how the writer has structured his or her material etc. Do this with collections of poetry, as well as novels: a writer arranges individual poems in a particular order to achieve deliberate effects.
Listening to audiobooks or watching filmed adaptations, although sometimes a helpful supplement to revision, are not useful substitutes for reading the printed texts themselves.
Another common problem among sixth-form students is that they don't know the endings of their texts particularly well. This is often true when they are studying nineteenth century novels or Shakespeare's plays. I've tutored a number of students who, at a late stage in the course, didn't know that Orsino threatens to kill Cesario at the end of Twelfth Night; others who don't know what happens in the final chapter of Frankenstein; others who continue to confuse the characters of Krogstad and Rank in A Doll's House.
Some students remain uncertain about the roles of relatively minor characters in their texts: Mercy Chant in Tess; Laertes in Hamlet. Focus on the sections in which these characters appear and make notes on their functions within the text and how they are presented.
Knowing the ending of a text is crucially important to securing an A*. I always recommend referring to the ending of a text (and what it implies) in the conclusion of any A Level essay. If you lost patience with a text when you first read it, this is your opportunity to rectify that.
In short – target your revision to fill the gaps in your knowledge,
3. Practise essay-writing regularly.
Most A-Level students understand the plots, characters and ideas of their texts fairly well by this point. Fewer students are able to articulate this as fluently and precisely as they might, because they haven't had enough practice writing the essays themselves.
Getting adequate practice can mean the difference between meeting your UCAS offer and not.
A-Level English measures your ability to express yourself on paper. .Your ability to articulate yourself orally is less important than honing your written expression.
During exam-leave, try to write a full essay every two or three days.
If you need any help with this, I set, mark and offer detailed feedback on essays for a fee of £45. Contact me at swlondontutor@yahoo.com if you're interested.
4. Take a qualitative, not a quantitative, approach to revision.
Before study-leave begins, you might receive some instructions from teachers, advising you to spend at least eight hours a day revising.
Although most students do need to dedicate long periods of time to revision, I've never liked stipulating a fixed number of hours for students to devote to it.
If you're an English student, I recommend structuring a day of revision approximately as follows:
9.00 Begin the day by writing an essay in timed conditions.
10.30 Mark it using the relevant mark scheme, all of which can be found on the exam board's website. Putting yourself in the position of the strictest examiner is useful practice for working out how well you meet the criteria. I can offer advice if you're struggling with how to use the mark scheme.
Read the essay carefully and make a numbered, bullet-pointed list of all the gaps in your knowledge and understanding, e.g. the episodes in the novel that you don't recall clearly, the technical vocabulary you've forgotten, the critical arguments you didn't engage with, etc.
11.00 Look at this bullet-pointed list and begin filling these gaps in your knowledge. This could involve reading class notes, returning to the primary text to look for specific quotations to support your points, having a conversation with a tutor, watching a revision video, etc. Give yourself a time-limit of two hours to address these gaps. Make notes that cement your understanding of the topic, e.g. a list of quotations charting the development of Hamlet's character.
13.00 Break for lunch.
14.00 – 17.00 Use the afternoon to revise another A-Level subject.
18..15 – 19.45 Write an essay on the same title as the one that you answered at 9.00. Mark it using the same mark scheme. Make a note of the improvements that you have made to your essay and the areas you could still improve.
Although this schedule makes for an intense day of study, my students have found it a good way of identifying and filling the gaps in their knowledge and giving shape to their revision.
During study-leave, I recommend following this schedule for two or three days per week.
5. General Advice
Much of this advice will have been communicated to you by teachers over many years, but it still bears repeating:
* Leave the house before you begin a day of revision. Exercise and a change of scene will allow your brain to engage with the task more effectively.
* Don't attempt to rote-learn essays. Examiners want you to think on your feet, responding flexibly and precisely to the question asked.
* Learning mnemonics isn't especially helpful at English A-Level. Examiners want you to respond spontaneously to different types of question so don't apply a rigid, pre-learnt formula to answering each one.
* Eliminate distractions as much as possible. Keep your phone in another room as you revise. If you can revise without any need for the internet, this will allow you even greater focus on the task in hand.
* Give yourself a cut-off point each day beyond which you don't revise. I would suggest about 8pm.
* Take short breaks whenever you need them. Revision should feel like an intellectual challenge, not a physical and emotional endurance test.
* Be absolutely clear when you're revising and when you're at leisure. Listlessly flicking through a copy of York Notes doesn't constitute revision.
* Don't neglect your social life: mutual support is important. Some students isolate themselves during revision which can make revision more stressful.
* Don't fall into the trap of talking exclusively about exams when you're not revising. Maintain your extra-curricular interests and give yourself time to rest and relax.
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If you need any tuition, I'm always glad to assist. I have years of experience helping students achieve the highest grades.
@SwTutor
If you're finding the whole process stressful, the charity Young Minds offers students some excellent advice:
https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/feelings-and-symptoms/exam-stress/
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