42 replies to this topic

[herbeey]

I figure it would be a good idea to have a list of texts which have the highest pass rates...
Essentially, I am asking for people to speak of texts which people tend to do well or (as people will inevitably talk about) ones which should be avoided.

[Discogirl17]

Ok there is no hard and fast rule about personal studies but whatever book you use must be approved by your tecaher as having a certain level of literary merit- this basically means it can't just be a narrative it needs to include some sort of techniques. In general childrens books whether short-story, novel or even epic-novel should be avoided. Therefore dont do:
*Harry Potter
*Lord of the Rings
etc
and dont do
*the diary of David Beckham or whoever!

[herbeey]

I hear of ease of success from Northern Lights, actually.

[Shaun]

I thought Animal Farm was a great book to do. It isn't too long (something like 100 pages) and has very clear techinques, such as repetition, imagery, irony (that the Animals set out to be different from the Humans but in the end some of the animals ended up exactly like the Humans they originally despised) and so on...

[Paul!"£$%^&*1122]

i done cider with rosie by Laurie Lee. it was a really good book, maybe interesting but maybe not. there was evidently a high levelk of literacy required but for my question (the maturation of the main character) i found it ok to research and analyses effectively at higher english level.

[krazykooki]

im doing The Snapper by Roddy Doyle and found it quite easy there is lots of humour, characterisation, and unusual narrative but ma frien is doing it as well an she didn't find it that easy an decided to swap to her other choice so i think its a book you either find very easy or very hard

[superstar]

I did Pride and Prejudice... it was really good and there is lots of notes on it because its like a classic! Also there is lots that you can write about!

[broughy]

i did "junk" bu melvin burgess. was quite an easy one to do really - as long as you get the right question!

[Discogirl17]

Yeh at our school we had a list of the best books for each genre but also were allowed to choose outside this list as long as the teacher approved it.
I did "The Life and Loves of a She-Devil" by Faye Weldon. Its really interesting and has so many events you could write about. Its basically a narrative with technique aplenty.

[Kirsty]

I did 'Catch-22' by Joseph Heller - the book was really funny and I passed comfortably first time, even though I didn't actually finish the book! lol

[herbeey]

I'm doing horribly on timed essay's in english this year. I have always done... which is why I could easily pass SG.

I asked to borrow 2 shakespeare books, and I'd choose which one I'd use... if any.
I chose Hamlet (Othello SUCKED). Since I've been doing so badly in any timed writing, my teacher was very worried that I coulkd manage it... I think most books are quite passable, as long as you choose a question which enables you to talk about the elements of the book which interest you most.

What was everyone's questions anyway?

Mine was something along the lines of; How does shakespeare employ the use of masks to show *something something* about the characters.

[broughy]

I asked to borrow 2 shakespeare books, and I'd choose which one I'd use... if any.
I chose Hamlet (Othello SUCKED).

you actually chose to read shakepeare? i'm impressed, not many people would!

[Discogirl17]

Yeh I wouldn't recommend that unless ur great at English. I didn't really like Othello. Macbeth is my favourite, despite the nasty Scottish king and the terrible consequences when u say it in a theatre.

[Scott]

"The Catcher In the Rye" by JD Salinger is excellent. Not only is it interesting, but it has great examples of character, themes and structure.

[Vixus]

I passed by using John Wyndham's Day of The Triffids, which has lots of themes on civilisation and mankind. Technology, etc. Basically my essay was on how the novel IS a science-fiction story

[herbeey]

Plays are so much more interesting and easy to do than novels.
Novels can be subtle with stuff, like; rain outside implies impending doom for gatsby's meeting with Daisy, or whatever...
Plays have to be more straight forward, and subtle in ways which people can still subconciously catch on to, but they don't have to be trying so hard to get all the subtlties out of every few lines. Plays can't hide essential stuff between the lines. Stage directions are much easier to find, and do the same job...
Also, with plays, everything is spoken to an audience. There is less room for UBER complicatedness, and irrelevant characters.
My axe hath been ground.

[herbeey]

Also, I understand techniques in plays so much better, and why they are being used, since I am writing a play myself, and therefore have to consider these things too... to a less skilled exent.

[Vixus]

Plays don't have as much meat to them.
Without watching them you really don't get a feel for the character's personalities.

[herbeey]

All plays I study, I see a video of.
Lack of meat is a good thing in my opinion. It makes them easier to evaluate than whole novels.