How to achieve an A1 grade in English

lumosteph · 15-08-2015 12:25pm #1

Hey guys :pac: So all of you now have received your results and I saw many of you succeeded really well in English. I consider English to be my best subject, it's definitely one of my favourites but sometimes I struggle to narrow down what actually needs to be done.
As someone who ambitiously wants to achieve an A1/A2 do you have any advice? Study tips? Generally just how to go about attaining top marks in this subject. Any help would be appreciated!

Medicine2o15 · 15-08-2015 1:00pm

I got an A1 in English this year. It's actually a lovely subject that doesn't require much work compared to most other subjects! I would say the most important thing is to answer the question being asked rather than just trying to fit a learnt off answer to the question. Purpose is worth 30% of the marks as far as I'm aware. Other than that I learnt off quotes for the play and general points on each of the characters(there is always a character question), for poetry I learnt 2/3 poets well and just quotes for the other two incase I got caught out. This year I did prepare a short story before I did the exam and this helped greatly for timing as well as for structure. Have characters and a general plot in place that you can adapt to most title( mine was a fire which could be adapted quite easily to a range of titles). For section B in paper 1, I personally loved doing speeches as you received a certain around of marks for intro eg welcome ladies and gentlemen, for referring to audience and conclusion. There is very little you can do for section A other than try and google some good vocabulary eg instead of saying powerful say dynamic or instead of moving say potent. Hope this helps and good luck with it!!

Troxck · 15-08-2015 1:10pm

English is a very difficult subject to get an A1 in since you need to have a flair for it and have a natural aptitude. I wasn't close to being an A1 student (only got a B2) but this was with little study and I am honestly surprised I got higher than a C.

I honestly feel that Paper 1 is the reason why students do better than expected. Learn your writing style and once you find your style, stick to it. I was only ever good at debates and speeches so every month from September I would take an essay title from the papers and plan and write it to be graded. I think planning is the most important part. It keeps you on track if you get flustered in the exam. Don't try to learn essays off on the day. Everyone I know who did this was disappointed with their result.

Paper II is a pain. Just learn five poets, I took the largest risk and learnt one. You have time now. Learn one a month and you'll have 5 done for the Mocks.
The Comparative is difficult, just practice and more practice.
They say quotes are important but I used one throughout both papers and got a B2 so...

The single text can be difficult to study but learn characters and their relationships, major themes and how they control the story and characters and then also the main characters themselves

This info isn't great I know but it helps.

Also, if you don't get your A next August don't be upset, you never really know how the marking scheme was.

Just work consistently from now until June and you'll do very well

lumosteph · 15-08-2015 1:21pm

Medicine2o15 wrote: »

I got an A1 in English this year. It's actually a lovely subject that doesn't require much work compared to most other subjects! I would say the most important thing is to answer the question being asked rather than just trying to fit a learnt off answer to the question. Purpose is worth 30% of the marks as far as I'm aware. Other than that I learnt off quotes for the play and general points on each of the characters(there is always a character question), for poetry I learnt 2/3 poets well and just quotes for the other two incase I got caught out. This year I did prepare a short story before I did the exam and this helped greatly for timing as well as for structure. Have characters and a general plot in place that you can adapt to most title( mine was a fire which could be adapted quite easily to a range of titles). For section B in paper 1, I personally loved doing speeches as you received a certain around of marks for intro eg welcome ladies and gentlemen, for referring to audience and conclusion. There is very little you can do for section A other than try and google some good vocabulary eg instead of saying powerful say dynamic or instead of moving say potent. Hope this helps and good luck with it!!

Thank you and well done on your result!
Regarding the short story did yours contain dialogue? I always try to include some in my stories but I read somewhere that some examiners don't like too much of it etc.

lumosteph · 15-08-2015 1:22pm

Troxck wrote: »

English is a very difficult subject to get an A1 in since you need to have a flair for it and have a natural aptitude. I wasn't close to being an A1 student (only got a B2) but this was with little study and I am honestly surprised I got higher than a C.

I honestly feel that Paper 1 is the reason why students do better than expected. Learn your writing style and once you find your style, stick to it. I was only ever good at debates and speeches so every month from September I would take an essay title from the papers and plan and write it to be graded. I think planning is the most important part. It keeps you on track if you get flustered in the exam. Don't try to learn essays off on the day. Everyone I know who did this was disappointed with their result.

Paper II is a pain. Just learn five poets, I took the largest risk and learnt one. You have time now. Learn one a month and you'll have 5 done for the Mocks.
The Comparative is difficult, just practice and more practice.
They say quotes are important but I used one throughout both papers and got a B2 so...

The single text can be difficult to study but learn characters and their relationships, major themes and how they control the story and characters and then also the main characters themselves

This info isn't great I know but it helps.

Also, if you don't get your A next August don't be upset, you never really know how the marking scheme was.

Just work consistently from now until June and you'll do very well

There is some really good advice in here thank you!

spurious · 15-08-2015 1:25pm

Read and then read some more. All styles, from different centuries.
Then read a bit more.

BillH93 · 15-08-2015 1:26pm

I did the lc in 2011 and got the A1 in English myself. As said above just practice the style of writing you're good at, short stories speeches whatever suits you. Can't advise much on poetry because I just knew one inside out that was a cert to come up. With the comparitive though the key to a good answer is the phrases used. Use phrase along the lines of "in contrast with" or "conversely" and use a decent sprinkling throughout your answer and it should go alright

Medicine2o15 · 15-08-2015 1:29pm

Yes I did have some dialogue in my short story but not too much as I feel this could get annoying to read

if you want me to send you on the short story let me know.

Doctorhopeful · 15-08-2015 1:37pm

Hi I got an A1 in English and did the vast bulk of the work (poets and new comparatives) in sixth year as we got a new teacher ho changed things around. So it was an incredibly intensive year but here's what I did:

Poetry:
Whenever we started a new poet i read all their poems, i read the poet biography in my text book (poetry now) and then the poem explanations at the back. I aimed to search for general themes and topics and stylistic flairs that would regularly come up.

I supplemented the books explanations and analysis with notes my teacher provided and used both when writing essays. For each poet i wrote at least two very broad essays on that were catch alls (eg what themes does ni chuill explore, what tools does she use to create a fantasy world) and I would aim to write about six poems in each one just to cover all bases.

At the core of poetry is /understanding/ each poem so that you can adapt to a question on the day. Learning quotations goes without saying and i'd always have at least one long quote per paragraph and another shorter one, just to let the examiner know what i was talking about.

Comparative:

I imagine you'll have little option in what texts you study for this but if your teacher is in anyway decent he/she will choose ones that they know will have a lot of scope for discussion.

Read all the texts through at least once, i seriously don't recommend half assing it and reading a synopsis. For a film, watch at least twice. Once just to see it the whole way through, the second to note observations and quotes.

One again search for areas that can be discussed in all three texts. For example in Literary Genre i studied 1) how the title of my texts were important 2) dialogue 3) symbols 4) weather (sort of a symbol) 5) contrast and in Theme & Issue I looked at the theme of self improvement under 1) each had a hard childhood 2) each character was humiliated 3) each character had an overbearing loved one 4) each was motivated by love 5) each had an aide 6) each triumped
Being able to structure it made it easier to study and remember for the exam. Also all the indicidual topics could be realtively intermingled if the quetions were a curve ball.

Shakespeare:

Read the text twice. No ifs or buts. Read analyses on all the characters as there is almost always a charcter question. Look at the values that shakespeare explores in the play (racism, jealousy/envy, how women are treated etc) and how they affect the outcome. Watch a film version or a live version and note all the stage directions and gestures that lend to character development.
Also look out for all the imagery and symbolism that shakespeare uses and extrapolate how you believe that affects the play.

For all the creative writing (story, speech, diary entry, article etc) practise makes perfect. For me i absolutely hated spending an hour or two do any of these because they felt far less important than the studied texts. However at the end of the day your composition is the most valuable part of the whole exam and a short speech is worth as much as all your poetry! So don't neglect it. Before the leaving cert I never prepared a short story but on the day one of the topics was very similar to a mock question I did and i was short on time so i rewrote it. In the end i regretted it and thought it was less spontaneous and honestly just bad but i suppose it worked out in the end.

Final word of advice would be to not be afraid to stray from the beaten path. I believe the examiners definitely reward independent thinking and radical ideas just as long as you can back them up. So i would recommend taking risks and just spice your essays and stories up! English is about self expression after all

good luck!

(Ps accidentally posted half way through so sorry if you only read half and got confused :P )

Doctorhopeful · 15-08-2015 1:53pm

Troxck wrote: »

They say quotes are important but I used one throughout both papers and got a B2 so...

I don't mean to be an ass but quotes really are important and if you had used them i imagine you probably would've gotten an A. You absolutely need to utilise them in bucket loads if you're aiming for an A1 in english, like OP, so that the examiner doesn't even question that you know all your texts and poems inside out.

Jijsaw · 15-08-2015 2:48pm

I got an A1 in English despite only ever getting an A2 once during my 2 years after the JC. I was mostly a solid B1/B2 student and getting that A was a massive shock, that I never expected!

Like spurious said read, read, read, read- you not only improve your general grammar/spelling but you also improve your vocabulary, you learn not only how to create emotions in a scene but also how to create realistic characters and of course you get ideas your for short stories.

Learn quotes- All throughout 6th year whenever I got fed up of study, I use to pick up my poetry book, pick a poet and read through the 5 poems I'd studied. By the time the exams come around you'll have probably read through each poets' work at least 10 times and quotes will come naturally to you. Do the same with your highlighted quotes in your Shakespeare text.

Reread your comparative and Shakespeare text before your mocks- this was extremely beneficial to me as I picked up on little bits and pieces that I had forgotten from my "class read" and it made me stand out as somebody who really knew the text- for example did anyone remember that Desdemona's handkerchief had strawberries embroidered on it? Also in the month of May, make that your dedicated month to reread all of your English texts and your Irish ones- they'll be more fresh in your head than about 90% of the other LC students who wouldn't have read the text since they studied it!

That's all I can think of at the moment but I found English a nice, refreshing subject to study in contrast with some of the "heavy, bulky subjects" like business and geography!

Troxck · 15-08-2015 2:49pm

Doctorhopeful wrote: »

I don't mean to be an ass but quotes really are important and if you had used them i imagine you probably would've gotten an A. You absolutely need to utilise them in bucket loads if you're aiming for an A1 in english, like OP, so that the examiner doesn't even question that you know all your texts and poems inside out.

You're not being an ass don't worry, you're totally right!

I think I meant try not to worry if you have forgotten to enter a quote or two, it is not incredibly detrimental to your grade!

Peg14 · 15-08-2015 4:34pm

I did all these things suggested but got the B2. I think my paper 1 was where I fell, it must have been. I must have misinterpreted something. Same as my mock grade [A2 in paper 2, C1 Paper 1) thought I put significant effort into paper 1 from then, but sometimes it just doesn't really pay off. I will view the script out of own curiosity, but just shows English is not something you can really aim for an A in. Someone else got 95% in mocks, B1 in real thing. But sure try your best anyway, I didn't end up counting English anyway

Anonymagician · 15-08-2015 4:38pm

As someone said above, find your paper one style. I figured out at the end of 5th year that I had a knack for the articles and enjoyed creating them and always scored B1/A2 in them from there on.

The poetry is not worth as much time as people spend on it. This is probably the only section I was getting regular As in just by learning the main theme of the poem and about two/three quotes per poem.

It's really important that whatever you're saying, you're saying it coherently and in a consistent style. Learned off answers are a major downfall for most people and they're not worth it. You have have HAVE to answer the question. All the time. Even when you sound silly mentioning it so much!

EoghanIRL · 15-08-2015 5:46pm

I'd have to agree with Spurious about reading.

It's a chore to sit down and learn new words but when you read and look up a word you don't know and apply it to the the context in which it appears it really sticks!

I remember studying loads for English paper 2 but basically winged paper 1, it just came natural to me.
If you read a lot of different styles then you should breeze through the comprehensions and personal writing sections.
I always did the speeches in paper 1. It helps to be up to date with current affairs.
Also write about what you know and have an interest in, it really helps.

lumosteph · 15-08-2015 5:54pm

Doctorhopeful wrote: »

Hi I got an A1 in English and did the vast bulk of the work (poets and new comparatives) in sixth year as we got a new teacher ho changed things around. So it was an incredibly intensive year but here's what I did:

Poetry:
Whenever we started a new poet i read all their poems, i read the poet biography in my text book (poetry now) and then the poem explanations at the back. I aimed to search for general themes and topics and stylistic flairs that would regularly come up.

I supplemented the books explanations and analysis with notes my teacher provided and used both when writing essays. For each poet i wrote at least two very broad essays on that were catch alls (eg what themes does ni chuill explore, what tools does she use to create a fantasy world) and I would aim to write about six poems in each one just to cover all bases.

At the core of poetry is /understanding/ each poem so that you can adapt to a question on the day. Learning quotations goes without saying and i'd always have at least one long quote per paragraph and another shorter one, just to let the examiner know what i was talking about.

For all the creative writing (story, speech, diary entry, article etc) practise makes perfect. For me i absolutely hated spending an hour or two do any of these because they felt far less important than the studied texts. However at the end of the day your composition is the most valuable part of the whole exam and a short speech is worth as much as all your poetry! So don't neglect it. Before the leaving cert I never prepared a short story but on the day one of the topics was very similar to a mock question I did and i was short on time so i rewrote it. In the end i regretted it and thought it was less spontaneous and honestly just bad but i suppose it worked out in the end.

Final word of advice would be to not be afraid to stray from the beaten path. I believe the examiners definitely reward independent thinking and radical ideas just as long as you can back them up. So i would recommend taking risks and just spice your essays and stories up! English is about self expression after all good luck!

(Ps accidentally posted half way through so sorry if you only read half and got confused :P )

Wow thank you so much for your reply. Your advice, especially regarding poetry, is really helpful!

lumosteph · 15-08-2015 5:56pm

Jijsaw wrote: »

I got an A1 in English despite only ever getting an A2 once during my 2 years after the JC. I was mostly a solid B1/B2 student and getting that A was a massive shock, that I never expected!

Like spurious said read, read, read, read- you not only improve your general grammar/spelling but you also improve your vocabulary, you learn not only how to create emotions in a scene but also how to create realistic characters and of course you get ideas your for short stories.

Learn quotes- All throughout 6th year whenever I got fed up of study, I use to pick up my poetry book, pick a poet and read through the 5 poems I'd studied. By the time the exams come around you'll have probably read through each poets' work at least 10 times and quotes will come naturally to you. Do the same with your highlighted quotes in your Shakespeare text.

Reread your comparative and Shakespeare text before your mocks- this was extremely beneficial to me as I picked up on little bits and pieces that I had forgotten from my "class read" and it made me stand out as somebody who really knew the text- for example did anyone remember that Desdemona's handkerchief had strawberries embroidered on it? Also in the month of May, make that your dedicated month to reread all of your English texts and your Irish ones- they'll be more fresh in your head than about 90% of the other LC students who wouldn't have read the text since they studied it!

That's all I can think of at the moment but I found English a nice, refreshing subject to study in contrast with some of the "heavy, bulky subjects" like business and geography!

This is all really useful, especially in regards to rereading my chosen texts. Congrats on your result!

d1234 · 15-08-2015 6:01pm

Some general tips...

Print off some word sheets with nice big fancy words for p1 (i used the sat sheets http://www.majortests.com/sat/wordlist.php) Learn one new word every night. Read a good newspaper once a week also.

For the comprehensions, aim 1 page for 15m and 1.5 pages for 20m. Use nice phrases such as there are a multitude of reasons why..., there are a myriad of reasons ... instead of there are lots of reasons, when starting a new point say in addition to, furthermore etc.
Remember its point, quote, explain - state your point, find a relevant point in the text (never more that 1 to 2 lines) and most importantly explain its impact on you.

For the section B, make sure you choose which one your going to do first (as in before choosing your comprehension). Practise different writing styles - they are fairly straightforward. Stick to the task and highlight the key phrases in the question. Find what they are looking for e.g. blog would have a search bar with

.blogspot.com or something similar, admin name (make up) and time and date at top, letter - either formal or informal so register is vital.

For the essay, know in advance what choice you will go for e.g. speech, personal essay. Don't pre learn one off - they really are not looking for a Man Booker prize entry, just a quality piece of writing. We were told to write about 4-5 pages. Planning is really the key to a good solid piece. Spend about 5-10 mins doing so.

Shakespeare - quotes quotes quotes! Learn general quotes for King Lear which can fit any essay. I can still rhyme off loads of quotes for Othello!! Again, answer the question which is being asked. Don't get caught in the trap by learning off an essay someone from Leeson St thinks will come up! They are liable to put anything on the paper.

Comparative study - this is the most challenging part of the paper and lets many students down. Do at least 2 modes. Then decide if you would prefer to do the single q or the two part q. Comparative language is a must - key moment, comparisons e.g. similarly, in contrast, equally etc. They take quite a while to master but get easier as you go.

Unseen poem - I did it before the actual poetry question in order to make sure I got it covered. Approx a page and a half. It really is a battle against the clock!

Poetry - please make sure you are able to write about 5 poets. Study them broadly first and then make sure you can quote them etc. Know the techniques and other traits.

Good luck - hope this helps! Got an A this year and I was in shock

lumosteph · 15-08-2015 6:24pm

d1234 wrote: »

Some general tips...

Print off some word sheets with nice big fancy words for p1 (i used the sat sheets http://www.majortests.com/sat/wordlist.php) Learn one new word every night. Read a good newspaper once a week also.

For the comprehensions, aim 1 page for 15m and 1.5 pages for 20m. Use nice phrases such as there are a multitude of reasons why..., there are a myriad of reasons ... instead of there are lots of reasons, when starting a new point say in addition to, furthermore etc.
Remember its point, quote, explain - state your point, find a relevant point in the text (never more that 1 to 2 lines) and most importantly explain its impact on you.

For the section B, make sure you choose which one your going to do first (as in before choosing your comprehension). Practise different writing styles - they are fairly straightforward. Stick to the task and highlight the key phrases in the question. Find what they are looking for e.g. blog would have a search bar with
.blogspot.com or something similar, admin name (make up) and time and date at top, letter - either formal or informal so register is vital.

For the essay, know in advance what choice you will go for e.g. speech, personal essay. Don't pre learn one off - they really are not looking for a Man Booker prize entry, just a quality piece of writing. We were told to write about 4-5 pages. Planning is really the key to a good solid piece. Spend about 5-10 mins doing so.

Shakespeare - quotes quotes quotes! Learn general quotes for King Lear which can fit any essay. I can still rhyme off loads of quotes for Othello!! Again, answer the question which is being asked. Don't get caught in the trap by learning off an essay someone from Leeson St thinks will come up! They are liable to put anything on the paper.

Comparative study - this is the most challenging part of the paper and lets many students down. Do at least 2 modes. Then decide if you would prefer to do the single q or the two part q. Comparative language is a must - key moment, comparisons e.g. similarly, in contrast, equally etc. They take quite a while to master but get easier as you go.

Unseen poem - I did it before the actual poetry question in order to make sure I got it covered. Approx a page and a half. It really is a battle against the clock!

Poetry - please make sure you are able to write about 5 poets. Study them broadly first and then make sure you can quote them etc. Know the techniques and other traits.

Good luck - hope this helps! Got an A this year and I was in shock

Thank you very much! I actually downloaded a 'Word of the Day' app a few weeks ago and have been learning "decorative" words on it that I'll hopefully get to use in an exam

spurious · 15-08-2015 7:04pm

For an author you really like, try and fit in the time to read a biography of theirs. It's not surprising the influence life events have on a person's work and being able to throw in a reference to the person's life and tie it in with an aspect of their work will really make your answer stand out.

lumosteph · 15-08-2015 7:12pm

spurious wrote: »

For an author you really like, try and fit in the time to read a biography of theirs. It's not surprising the influence life events have on a person's work and being able to throw in a reference to the person's life and tie it in with an aspect of their work will really make your answer stand out.

Thanks spurious! I actually just finished reading one of my favourite poets, T.S Eliot, biography that I got from the library and it made me all the more fascinated in him and his poetry. My book from school does include a short bio about him but I found reading a whole 300 pages much more influential. :rolleyes:

gryfothegreat · 15-08-2015 7:40pm

I've always been good at English - I've been writing consistently and publishing online for the past 5 years - but in the mocks I got a B3 and I took a severe hit in confidence. It was probably that they were corrected by an extremely lazy external examiner who gave everyone roughly the same mark, but eh. In any case, I went to a few grinds (our teacher was useless), learned a few tips, and I got an A1! Here's what I learned:
ANSWER THE QUESTION. Keep on point at all times. There will be code words in the question (like lyrical beauty, mysterious quality) and refer to them constantly. Do not rephrase them, use the actual words. It makes for awful reading, but it's what the examiner wants. They will box every time you code to ensure you're staying on point. This will ensure that you'll get good marks in Purpose, which is really important, as your mark in Purpose will determine your maximum mark in Coherence and Language, e.g. if you only get 12 in P, you cannot get higher than 12 in C and L, no matter how well structured your essay is or how good your vocabulary is.
As for Coherence, simply structure your essays logically and coherently - in the comparative, link your points with comparisons. Go to a new paragraph for each new point. Language is simply your vocabulary and using words correctly. Mechanics of Language is worth less, but is no less important, as you will be judged by the standard of your grammar and spelling. I'm lucky - I've been reading constantly since the age of 5 so my spelling and grammar are naturally pretty good. spurious is right - read, read, read!
Try to think in points and paragraphs, not pages. People here on Boards often brag about writing 6 or 7 page essays, but that's simply not required. I made up my Songle Text essay on the day; it was only 3 pages but I still got an A1. Aim for 4 pages in the Single Text and Poetry, and try for five good points, each a page, in the Comparative. Use quotes to illustrate your points - don't go overboard. Quotes are not required in the Comparative. Don't learn your prepared essays off by heart - you will sound wooden and the examiner will know and mark you down, but knowing the key points and general structure and filling in from there is a good way to go and will save you time.
To be honest I only studied two poets two days before the exam, two comparative modes and two Single Text essays - again, my teacher was awful. Don't do that, it was very, very stressful!
As for Paper One, know the defining features of each style of narrative and know how to identify them for Part A. I got brilliant notes on these from a grinds college where I did an Easter revision course, so see if you can't hunt down some. Aim for two pages each for A and B. B is basically a more specialized essay, so go for something you like - I was able to give tips about writing fiction, which suited me. As for the essay, aim for five pages, choose something you're good at, and try to prepare an essay before hand. I like creative writing, so I had an essay (based on a comic book character!) planned in my head and I fleshed it out better on the day. Again, do not regurgitate essays on the day - just know general points and rewrite them out again.
I know this is very exam focused, but if I'm being honest I did very little work in English for the past 2 years - our teacher was a lovely woman but she wasn't used to higher level and she spent half of every class giving out. I just read books from the library in class! I did end up doing a lot of work just before the exams, but that was the case in all my subjects! In any case, good luck in the exam, I hope you get good comparative texts and nice poets on the day, and get that A1 and join the exclusive 3.2%!

lumosteph · 15-08-2015 9:01pm

gryfothegreat wrote: »

I've always been good at English - I've been writing consistently and publishing online for the past 5 years - but in the mocks I got a B3 and I took a severe hit in confidence. It was probably that they were corrected by an extremely lazy external examiner who gave everyone roughly the same mark, but eh. In any case, I went to a few grinds (our teacher was useless), learned a few tips, and I got an A1! Here's what I learned:
ANSWER THE QUESTION. Keep on point at all times. There will be code words in the question (like lyrical beauty, mysterious quality) and refer to them constantly. Do not rephrase them, use the actual words. It makes for awful reading, but it's what the examiner wants. They will box every time you code to ensure you're staying on point. This will ensure that you'll get good marks in Purpose, which is really important, as your mark in Purpose will determine your maximum mark in Coherence and Language, e.g. if you only get 12 in P, you cannot get higher than 12 in C and L, no matter how well structured your essay is or how good your vocabulary is.
As for Coherence, simply structure your essays logically and coherently - in the comparative, link your points with comparisons. Go to a new paragraph for each new point. Language is simply your vocabulary and using words correctly. Mechanics of Language is worth less, but is no less important, as you will be judged by the standard of your grammar and spelling. I'm lucky - I've been reading constantly since the age of 5 so my spelling and grammar are naturally pretty good. spurious is right - read, read, read!
Try to think in points and paragraphs, not pages. People here on Boards often brag about writing 6 or 7 page essays, but that's simply not required. I made up my Songle Text essay on the day; it was only 3 pages but I still got an A1. Aim for 4 pages in the Single Text and Poetry, and try for five good points, each a page, in the Comparative. Use quotes to illustrate your points - don't go overboard. Quotes are not required in the Comparative. Don't learn your prepared essays off by heart - you will sound wooden and the examiner will know and mark you down, but knowing the key points and general structure and filling in from there is a good way to go and will save you time.
To be honest I only studied two poets two days before the exam, two comparative modes and two Single Text essays - again, my teacher was awful. Don't do that, it was very, very stressful!
As for Paper One, know the defining features of each style of narrative and know how to identify them for Part A. I got brilliant notes on these from a grinds college where I did an Easter revision course, so see if you can't hunt down some. Aim for two pages each for A and B. B is basically a more specialized essay, so go for something you like - I was able to give tips about writing fiction, which suited me. As for the essay, aim for five pages, choose something you're good at, and try to prepare an essay before hand. I like creative writing, so I had an essay (based on a comic book character!) planned in my head and I fleshed it out better on the day. Again, do not regurgitate essays on the day - just know general points and rewrite them out again.
I know this is very exam focused, but if I'm being honest I did very little work in English for the past 2 years - our teacher was a lovely woman but she wasn't used to higher level and she spent half of every class giving out. I just read books from the library in class! I did end up doing a lot of work just before the exams, but that was the case in all my subjects! In any case, good luck in the exam, I hope you get good comparative texts and nice poets on the day, and get that A1 and join the exclusive 3.2%!

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply. Hopefully this time next year I will be becoming a member of the elite group

How to achieve an A1 grade in English

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