Poll on poets and General Advice - English Paper 2

LeavingCertee

A thread to discuss all things English Paper 2!

To start, here's a bit on comparative..
Just to clarify the difference between General Vision and Viewpoint (GVV) and Cultural Context (CC) for people.. GVV is all about the viewpoint of the author, the perception the author had of the world the text is set in. So was it in GENERAL melancholy or joyous, light or dark? To support your answer you could compare key scenes, endings, key actions taken by characters etc. GVV also encompasses the author's view of the characters he/she creates and how these characters are a vehicle for the authors message. Now, CC on the other hand is more to do with society. Things such as morals, what's right and what's wrong, societal taboos, social divide/conflict, religion, the role of family/women/men. It's really a discussion of how the text explores culture. And one key thing to remember for all the modes of comparison is this: keep saying words like similarly, in juxtaposition.. etc. and remember contrasts are valid too.. i.e. where the texts differ!

If anybody has any questions about Macbeth, Poetry or Comparative fire away! I'll help anybody who needs a bit of guidance

b3rnade11e

Just wondering,would it be very risky to have done all female poets and Yeats?I cannot stand Heaney personally,as I find the poems we did bland.Thanks

LeavingCertee

b3rnade11e wrote: »

Just wondering,would it be very risky to have done all female poets and Yeats?I cannot stand Heaney personally,as I find the poems we did bland.Thanks

While the feminist rule of a female poet must come up always seems to come up.. If you're going for good marks I'd cover another poet, just have a look over over him to cover yourself. Say only one woman comes up.. but it's a style question? See the danger there?

MarieAsh

How many poems is sufficient in the poetry answer? I usually write five but always find myself running out of time so is 4 enough?

LeavingCertee

MarieAsh wrote: »

How many poems is sufficient in the poetry answer? I usually write five but always find myself running out of time so is 4 enough?

It depends on how much you write on each poem and the question asked. I never go beyond 4 myself, you could include a fifth, but just a small reference if it fits.

Mayo4sam14

Is lady macbeth most likely to come up?

LeavingCertee

Mayo4sam14 wrote: »

Is lady macbeth most likely to come up?

Lady Macbeth is highly tipped alright but don't put your hopes all on her, while they do like character questions realistically a good bank of quotes on the main characters like Macbeth, lady Macbeth, Macduff etc. will get you through any question.

Osmosis Jones

Got Heaney and the three female poets studied to a decent level. If Heaney comes up I'm sure I can get near full marks. Can do quite well on Dickinson too, the other two however..

LeavingCertee

Osmosis Jones wrote: »

Got Heaney and the three female poets studied to a decent level. If Heaney comes up I'm sure I can get near full marks. Can do quite well on Dickinson too, the other two however..

If you do decide to do Heaney you't want to be a Heaney expert to get full marks!

Shane15

Hoping for Yeats and Bishop, I know them really well.

spurious

There will be an official boards discussion thread on the paper as usual - thread title changed to avoid confusion.

LeavingCertee

spurious wrote: »

There will be an official boards discussion thread on the paper as usual - thread title changed to avoid confusion.

No problem, probably should have thought of that myself sorry

b3rnade11e

How would you divide your time for paper 2?timing was my biggest led down in the mocks as i wasn't able to complete the comparitive.Any tips?:P

LiverpoolLad95

What is everyone studying?????

I'm studying Lady Macbeth, Yeats and V&V. Would be made up if Yeats came up. Any tips for Lady Macbeth? Also, would adding quotes add significantly to the grade??

LeavingCertee

b3rnade11e wrote: »

How would you divide your time for paper 2?timing was my biggest led down in the mocks as i wasn't able to complete the comparitive.Any tips?:P

I'd say 70 for comparative, 60 minutes of writing and 10 mins beforehand to do a quick brainstorm and plan exactly what you're writing, comparative can quickly become incoherent and lose its flow if you're not clear about connecting the three texts. Macbeth 55-60 minutes and poetry give that 60 mins, 45 for seen and 15 for the unseen. That leaves you with time to choose your questions well and also review your work at the end.

LiverpoolLad95 wrote: »

What is everyone studying?????

I'm studying Lady Macbeth, Yeats and V&V. Would be made up if Yeats came up. Any tips for Lady Macbeth? Also, would adding quotes add significantly to the grade??

Quotes are the foundation of any answer, without them it's impossible to get decent marks because you've no way of backing up your points. Lady Macbeth: key things to focus on are her descent into madness, her guilt and remorse at the end of the play, and her influence on Macbeth; would he have killed Duncan without her influence? Also did you feel any pity for her at the end of the play when she commits suicide (supposedly) Does her suicide redeem her or simply condemn her further?

bb1234567

b3rnade11e wrote: »

How would you divide your time for paper 2?timing was my biggest led down in the mocks as i wasn't able to complete the comparitive.Any tips?:P

1 hour each for comparative and macbeth, 45 mins for poetry and 30 mins for unstudied poetry! Leaves 15 mins at the end to add little bits to your answers or fix spelling etc...:)

Heaney, Dickinson, Yeats and Larkin make up 90% of the voters 0:

lcstudent14

Would just doing, Heaney, Dickinson and Yeats have me covered? Sorta starting to panic. What poets does every1 else have done??

LiverpoolLad95

LeavingCertee wrote: »

Quotes are the foundation of any answer, without them it's impossible to get decent marks because you've no way of backing up your points. Lady Macbeth: key things to focus on are her descent into madness, her guilt and remorse at the end of the play, and her influence on Macbeth; would he have killed Duncan without her influence? Also did you feel any pity for her at the end of the play when she commits suicide (supposedly) Does her suicide redeem her or simply condemn her further?

So I got 29/60 in Macbeth and 37/70 in the Comparative. This was with no quotes in either. Would I expect to go up by much? Like 5 marks in each question?

LeavingCertee

LiverpoolLad95 wrote: »

So I got 29/60 in Macbeth and 37/70 in the Comparative. This was with no quotes in either. Would I expect to go up by much? Like 5 marks in each question?

Your marks WILL go up dramatically with relevant quotes, I can't stress the relevancy part enough. IF the quotes back up your statements the examiner has to give you the marks. Try to keep the short and concise. EG: When Duncan speaks of Banquo and Macbeth he says they: "smack of honour both"

LiverpoolLad95

LeavingCertee wrote: »

Your marks WILL go up dramatically with relevant quotes, I can't stress the relevancy part enough. IF the quotes back up your statements the examiner has to give you the marks. Try to keep the short and concise. EG: When Duncan speaks of Banquo and Macbeth he says they: "smack of honour both"

So would quotes make a C3 answer a B answer

robman60

If Dickinson doesn't come up I'll be a very unhappy bunny.

accountname

Unsure if it's the sadist in me or what, but I wouldn't be terribly upset if people studying one or two poets got caught out! Just annoys me that I'm working me arse off to cover 5 and somebody banking on a learnt off Heaney essay will probably beat me.

LeavingCertee

accountname wrote: »

Unsure if it's the sadist in me or what, but I wouldn't be terribly upset if people studying one or two poets got caught out! Just annoys me that I'm working me arse off to cover 5 and somebody banking on a learnt off Heaney essay will probably beat me.

Ah, but while their one poet may appear.. it could be a really dirty style question. In which case they've been caught out. Nonetheless, if you have 5 done fair play.

b3rnade11e

Any ideas how Bishop was answered last year?She is my weakest link so far.

Tesco TripleChicken

I hate English and I haven't studied a bit for P2. Does anyone know which poets might be best to study? I was going to do Heaney but seeing as he came up in P1 he might not be on P2.
Which is the better choice to learn here: Yeats + Plath or Yeats + Heaney?
I only did Mahon recently and Kinsella was my first poet so I don't know either of them. Yeats and Plath I did on Xmas/Mock tests respectively so I have essays prepared. Just looking for a C in English so reproducing an adapted sample essay will do for me.

Daledge

I know it's a bit late to be asking this but can anyone see any flaw in the way I have incorporated this quote, as in are you allowed use dashes;

'Macbeth accepts the consequences of their actions - "To know my deed, 'twere best not know myself" - whereas Lady Macbeth...'

MightyMandarin

Daledge wrote: »

I know it's a bit late to be asking this but can anyone see any flaw in the way I have incorporated this quote, as in are you allowed use dashes;

'Macbeth accepts the consequences of their actions - "To know my deed, 'twere best not know myself" - whereas Lady Macbeth...'

Better to 'weave' it into the text. Could rephrase it, "Macbeth accepts the consequences of their actions, by declaring "Quote". However, Lady Macbeth...."

kierancos

Would I get away with three poets and three poems on each? I hope so anyway!

TheBoss11

Has anyone got yeats notes? Iv learned kinsella Dickinson and heany and panicks are kicking in now, I have a feeling yeats will be a cert!!

gal555

TheBoss11 wrote: »

Has anyone got yeats notes? Iv learned kinsella Dickinson and heany and panicks are kicking in now, I have a feeling yeats will be a cert!!

I'd like to think he's a cert as well!
It depends what poems you want...

Ive studied September 193, The Lake Isle of Innisfree, The Wild Swans at Coole and Sailing to Byzantium.

I don;t know if its just me....but yeats is quite a difficult one to grasp in one night

Aislinggrace

Will I be okay with just Dickinson and Heaney? I'm totally screwed if they don't come up.