VJC's H2 Lit Student Survival Guide

DREDGINGTOCRUISINGAH2LiteratureStudent’sSurvivalGuide

PREFACE...........................................................................................................................2CHAPTER1:MINDSET...................................................................................................3Sect1.1FEAR................................................................................................................3Sect1.2LOVE...............................................................................................................5CHAPTER2: CLASSROOM...........................................................................................7CHAPTER3: CONTENT.................................................................................................8Sect3.1GROUND-UP.................................................................................................10Sect3.2TELEGRAM..................................................................................................11Sect3.3TOP-DOWN...................................................................................................13Sect3.4DOCUMENT.................................................................................................15Sect3.5CONCLUSION..............................................................................................15CHAPTER4: PRACTICES............................................................................................16Sect4.1FIRSTMINUTES..........................................................................................16Sect4.2BESTPRACTICES........................................................................................17Sect4.3POINTERSFORSTRUCTURE....................................................................18Sect4.4BESTPRACTICESV2..................................................................................20Final Thoughts............................................................................................................. 2322 byDiegoHelmy,21S43 1

PREFACE ThisGoogledocumentisbyaformerstudent,someonewhowasveryrecentlyinyourshoes.It’smeanttobeasparemap.Itisneithera1for1substituteforlisteningtoyourtutor,norareasontodisregardanyofthewisdomyourtutorsespouse.IthinkthatLittutorsteachaverysentimentalsubject,bynatureofthatsentimentality,theyhavetoputalotoftheirheartintoeachandeverystudenttheytrytosave.There’snotenoughofthemtogoaround. There’snotalotoftime,either.Withtheclocktickingdown,limitedtimetoconsolidate5books,learncomparisonskillsANDsomehowspreadthatwithyourothersubjects,IcansafelysaythatH2LiteratureisdefinitelythemosttaxingALevelsubjecttomaster.Thus,IwantedtohelpanyfutureALevelstudentsteachthemselveshowtorescuethemselves,andprovidethemaprovenefficientmethodforgettingtheirA.SointermsofcommunicatingthebeautyofreadingLiterature,thisguideissparseonthose,leavingthelabourofdevelopingpassionforreadingtothepros,theLittutorsthemselves. WhenIwasdonewithALevelsIthrewalmosteverythingaway.Ididn’tcareanymore,NEAcandowhatitwantswithmychemistrypapers.Iwantedtoretakemyroom,reclaimmylife,butIdidn’tthrowmyH2Literaturefileaway,Icouldn’t.Thatisbecause,evenifupuntiltheveryenditwasan(almostinsufferably)difficultsubject,Icametoloveitinspiteofallofthepainitputmethrough.Forme,theultimatelearningoutcomeofcreatingstructuredargumentsundertimedpressure,aswellaslearningtoanalyseart,outweighedthepain. Inspiteofthepain,something,somewhereinalltheheartyspeechesMrHogaveabout NickCarrawayandhisliminal gardenoutsideof frustratingplaceandtime,theremusthavebeenaspecialsentenceortwothatsavedme.AndIcan’tforthelifeofmenarrowitdowntowhichone. Inthisgoogledocument,IattempttopendownasmanyofthemasIcanrecall.IalsogiveyouacoupleoftipsandtrickstogrindH2Literature,fromtheperspectiveofastudentwithlimitedtimeandenergy. (P.S,ifyoudon’tfeellikeaHelplessSotongOutOfTheWater,IwouldstronglyrecommendskippingtoChapter4,thenmaybereadChapter3.Chapter4isthemostusefulthingIhavetosay,whichIdon’tthinkyourtutorswouldhavealreadytoldyou.) 2

CHAPTER1:GETTINGINTOTHERIGHTMINDSET Sect1.1Who’sAfraidOfH2Literature? IcantalkallIwantabouttheCraftofCloseReading,aboutcontentmemorisationstrategies,aboutreadingmodelessays,butifwedon’ttalkaboutthis,thenitdoesn’tmatterhowmanypagesyougooutofyourwaytohighlight,itwillnotmatterhowmanygoogledocumentsyoumake.AtthelastminuteinNovember,itcouldturnouttoallbefornothing. Instead,let’stalkabitabouthumanpsychologybeforewejumpintotheweeds.Let’stalkabouttheideaof TheLizardBrain. HumanshaveevolvedfromourancestorstothinkinabstractconceptsinsteadofsimpleA=Astatements.Literatureisathinkingsubject,about arguingandaboutdiscerning,sothispartofyourbrainisintegraltoyoursurvival. Forexample,itisbecauseofthismodernbrainthatyouunderstandimagerymakesanideamorevisceraltoareader.YouknowthatFitzgeraldincludescertainimagesintohisnovelonpurpose,becausedescribinganabstractconceptwithphysical,beautiful,strikingimagescanmovethereadermuchmorethanunimaginativelyspellingtheabstractconceptout.Thishelpshimgethismessageacross,andasastudentofLiteratureyouaremeanttodiscusswhatthesemessagesareandhowtheyarebroughtacross. InsteadofFitzgeraldsaying“Hewassadthatalotoftimehadpassed”,Fitzgeraldcanemploytheseimagesofrottingflowers,thepathofbrokenrindsattheendofChapter6,toemphasisethepassageoftimeinawaythatisprovocativeandbeautiful.Theflowerswerealiveinthesummer,nowthey’reallcrumpleduponthefloor.Thesignificanceisthattimedestroysallthebeautifulthings. Yourbrainhasevolvedandisabletointerprettheliteralflowerasasymbolofadeepermeaning.Yourmodernbraincaninferandponderthesignificanceofthewaysomethingissaid,yourmodernbraincanthentalkabouttheeffectithasonyou,whatitprobablymeans,thenlinkthosethreeideastogether.Ifithadn’tevolvedthisway,youwouldhavejuststoppedtalkingattheflowers.Whenthesedeeperinsightsarepresent, 3

whentheyareaccurateandwhentheyarephrasedandstructuredwell:YougetyourA. Here’sanotherexample:sayawriterwantstoexploreideasofself-perception,andthentheydecidetodosousingthesymbolofamirror.AsstudentsofLiterature,weuseourbrainstothinkaboutthewaysomethingissaidandwhat effectithasonyou.Wedon’tstopatsaying“ThewriterrepresentAston'smindandselfinsidemirrorbecausehecanseehimself,ehehe”. Maybethiswriterdoessomethingdeeperwiththemirror.Maybeit’sanuncleanmirror,thedirtcontaminatinghisimagebeingasymbolofthesacrificestohismoralcharacterhehashadtomaketogettowhereheis.Maybeit’stheperpetuatedsilenceassaidcharacterstaresintothismirror,anauditoryimageofoblivion,astarkreminderofhishauntingsolitude,whereinheonlyhashimself.Maybethesymbolofthemirrorhasshownupforthesecondtimeinthisstory;firsthehadappearedsophisticatedinfrontofit,wellkeptandcomposed,butnowcoveredinbruisesandhisworkwearrippingattheedgesheisunkempt,emphasisingtheideathatheishalfthemanbothvisually,andbyimplication,figuratively. Andtherearesomanyvalidinterpretationsforwhatthehypotheticalmaninthehypotheticalmirrorcouldrepresent.Ifyou,foramoment,decidetotraveldownthatpath,ifforamomentyouletgoofthefactthatH2Literatureisasubjectthathasadangerousbearingonyourfuture,ifforamomentyouletyourselfhavefun,letyourselfbounceplayfulideaswithyourtutor,thehardestALevelsubjectquicklyturnsintothemostpersonallyrewarding. ThegoodnewsisthatyouandCambridgeareonthesamepagehere.Thesedeeperobservationsyoumake,thefunonesthatyoucanlearntoenjoyexploring,thesearepreciselywhatmodelessaysaremadeof.I’mtryingtosaythatinH2Literature,yourgrademightactuallybelinearlycorrelatedwiththeamountoffunyoucanhavewiththissubject.Ithinkthat’sawesomethatitcanbefun,butIalsowishitwaseasy,becauseitisn’t. Iknowthatyoucan’tjustdecidetohavefun,notundertheseconditions.3hours,3essays,5paragraphseachessay,15intotal,nostopping.Analysisisimperative,failtoreadthequestion,andyoudie.Planningisanessentialtooltonotgettingstuck,failtodosoandyoualsodie.Bothofthosetakeevenmoretime, timeisyourenemy.Icansayall 4

thatIwantabouthowbeautifulthissubjectcanbe,itdoesn’tmakeitanylesstruethatyouarestillplayingadangerousgame,whereyourimmediatefutureisontheline. Theinstinctneedtoescapedeathterrifiesyou,cloudsyourbetter