167. How to master AQA English Lit B: examiner gives you 15 tips (A-level)

15 tips for successful A-Level essays based on my 10 years' experience as a teacher and examiner for AQA Lit spec B (comedy/tragedy/political and social protest/crime writing).
None of the information in this video comes from top-secret sources but is available for all teachers and examiners to share with their students and comes from AQA training, examining, and/or AQA examiner reports.

[@dalma.peller]

I am not looking forward for paper 2 Jesus 😭😭😭

[@monkeyOxfopands123]

The paper was horrible today :(((

[@jeenieyas]

I agree 😭 section C was atrocious also I literally could barely write 2 1/2 paragraphs ugh

[@englishwithmatt1735]

For comedy or tragedy?

[@jeenieyas]

@@englishwithmatt1735 tragedy for me

[@monkeyOxfopands123]

@@englishwithmatt1735 tragedy

[@ashfiaaa_9254]

@@englishwithmatt1735 Not sure about comedy, but tradegy imo was so hard :(

[@theprovenpilot007]

How do you recommend ways to hit all 5 assessment objectives in the essay? I'm unsure how to hit AO5 especially since using literary theory or including quotes from critics doesn't seem to be viable.

[@englishwithmatt1735]

There are 2 answers:
1) You don't need to think about the AOs at all when writing your essay as students will hit them automatically anyway through their discussion of the task. In other words, it is impossible to write a literature essay without hitting the AOs. It is not so much the student's job to think of the AOs but more the examiner's job to find where the student meets the marking criteria. When students approach the essay with "I need to say something for AO3 or AO5 etc" they become limited in their own ideas and discussion of significance and can try too hard to meet the AOs meaning their essay doesn't flow as well.
2) AO5 is mainly your own ideas and interpretations, so if you are discussing the task you will satisfy AO5. Unfortunately, students who are told that they MUST refer to critics or theory to hit AO5 are more likely to add into their essays irrelevant info which does little to enhance the student's own ideas or discussion of the task/texts.
Good luck!

[@theprovenpilot007]

@@englishwithmatt1735 Thank you for your advice. I’ve been told quite the opposite by my teachers as they’ve said specific things like including quotes from critics for AO5 or including references to other texts. I thought that fulfilling AOs in these ways are the simplest way to gain high marks, so understandably I am at quite a crossroads 😅😅.

[@peteroconnor8812]

The reason students learn frameworks at GCSE is to give them the notion of structure. It's like having stableisers on a bicycle. it gives the students of all abilities a level of confidence. Of course there are students that will quickly move beyond the restriction of a formula and feel able to ride off into the distance, but the notion that scaffolding is always restrictive seems ill advised. What kind of students do you teach?!

[@englishwithmatt1735]

Hello. Formulas may work better for GCSE and practice, I agree. However, to use your analogy, there is no reason students need to use stabilisers if they know how to ride the bike, in which case, formulas begin to restrict students. As an examiner, I see students who use frameworks at A-level are usually less successful. This video is aimed at students who want to achieve the higher marks and, in my experience, who often enjoy being able to have their own voice in their essays rather than fulfilling a 'tick box' approach. I am currently working on a video about this which I will upload later today.
Different things work for different students/teachers and staff have to adapt their teaching to meet the needs of the students before them. If I had a student come to me and say they needed an A*, A,, B or C, I would not ask them to use a formula in their work. If I had a student at risk of failing, a formula may work to get them some marks in order to get an E or D.