Things to Consider

Try to revise by noticing links across the texts as much as possible. The most obvious links are the similarities or differences that exist between the texts but this is an over-simplified way of looking at things. The best candidates will realize that, although similar, now two texts are exactly alike or, while different, there is almost always some common ground between texts which at first glance appear quite disparate. So don’t force the texts to be exactly the same or completely different if they are not. Instead, keep your mind open for differences that exist within the similarities that immediately jump out at you or the similarities that are present despite the large and obvious differences between the two texts you are considering.

Remember also that these links don’t just have to be made between two different texts. The more successful candidates will also be able to draw links and make comparisons within the texts that they have studied, for example this might take the form of comparing the way in which a character was presented at the beginning of a text with the way they are presented by the end.

You should also try to actively revise. Simply reading the texts again won’t do much good. You should do something as you read. This might be constructing a timeline, a character web, jotting down key quotations or the themes that each chapter deals with. Not only will this provide you with useful details that you can refer to in the exam but it will help the texts to stick in your mind.

Here are some aspects that you can focus on when revising

Characters:

• How are they presented and what are relationships between them?
• What are their strengths & weaknesses and how are we encouraged to think of them?
• What drives or motivates them?
• How do they change, develop or grow as we progress through the text?
• What is their power status relative to other characters?
• How does author make them interesting? Are we allowed inside their head? Why / why not?
• How do they relate to their surroundings?
• Do they represent a theme, a whole group or a caricature of something?
• Which key incidents are used to illustrate that character’s personality?
• What situations does the writer put the character into to provoke a reaction?
• Are the characters used to convey the author’s message? How?
• Are there any obvious contrasts between characters? What do we learn from this?
• What draws a character together and what pulls them apart?
• To what extent are characters victims of themselves or of circumstances?
• Do we care about this character?

Themes:

• How are major themes demonstrated, through characters, events, setting, symbols, motifs etc?
• Are themes presented differently by different authors?
• Are the same themes treated in the same way by different authors?
• How valid is a comparison of the suffering of Offred and Sethe?
• What conclusions do the writers come to about the themes they present?
• How do writers manipulate our response to key ideas in books? (Morrison said she invited readers in with their own emotions and they then provide what they take away)
• Are the same ideas revisited and reworked across different texts? Are themes universal - do they transcend time and place?

Story:

• What kind of story is being told? Does it fit into a genre?
• What are the main threads of the story? What is it about? Does it have a universal message?
• Who is telling the story and what effect does this have on the reader?
• What is relationship between reader and the written material? Is the reader always aware that this is a story, is the author intrusive?
• What are key incidents in your opinion? Is there a climax? How do we know where it is?
• What is the balance between contrived and realistic incidents, do they make the story more credible?
• Is the author’s attitude to the subject matter clear? If so, how? If not, why not?
• What is the attraction of the story? Is it a story worth telling?
• How does story unfold? Is the order of telling of the story important? Is it important that we know (or don’t know) some facts before others? Why? Is it chronological or do the past / future intrude into the present? Why?
• Look at beginnings and ending and consider how effective they are? How do they introduce themes, characters, setting? What have the authors have chosen to tell us or not to tell us?
  
  

Setting:

• Where and when does the story take place?
• In what ways is the setting more than a mere backdrop? How does it influence the characters, plot and mood of the story?
• How detailed is the information about setting? Why?
• Do houses and landscapes take on a personality?
• Compare the different styles that the authors have used to write about setting. What differences or similarities exist? Why?

Mood:

• What emotions are we meant to feel and how are these evoked in the audience?
• How does the audience’s mood change and develop as we progress through the text? What key incidents are responsible for changing and shifting the mood?
• How has mood or changes in mood been used by the author to convey their larger themes or ideas?