Tips for Lit 3/4 2012?

[Fink]

Those who studied it this year, do you have any tips for someone who is borderlining B+/A at the moment? I enjoy Lit and I think I'm relatively capable of analysing and forumalating ideas, so I'd appreciate any help or suggestions you have to offer!

[Menang]

There are three posts that are stickied in the Literature Boards:

1. EZ's Guide to Succeeding in VCE Literature
2. Literature Essay Compilation Thread
3. Advice for Literature Students

#1 and #3 would answer your question while #2 offers a host of model essays you can use to pick up vocab, essay structures and even ideas if you're studying the same texts!

[cyrus_atlantis]

recognize and work on your weaknesses throughout the year.
Grammar?
Expression?
Vocabulary?
...etc

[VivaTequila]

All I can basically say is UNDERSTAND THE TASK!

I never bothered writing a practice excerpt analysis properly, despite being asked to hand in a few throughout the year. It was half a problem of a lazy teacher who didn't spoon feed us, but rather expected the eager students to come forward and prove themselves (much like University) which I didn't have the maturity to deal with. I relaxed way too much in lit. As a consequence, I never really learned how to write proper EA's by the end of the year.

All I can say is work on it throughout the year. You seriously won't regret it at the end of the year.

[Rhettski999]

Develop a personal and complex interpretation for every aspect of the text, so when you get language in the exam which invites you for a in depth analysis, you will be able to provide one to blow the examiner away. I scored 20/20 for my Hamlet exam mark because I did so, This Boy's Life didn't turn out so great..haha

[VivaTequila]

20/20... that's impressive as man good job

considering getting back my statement of marks, not sure if i should...

[Rhettski999]

Thanks and congrats on your awesome ATAR

Statement of marks are the shiz!

[Envisionation]

Communicate well. Think lots. Pro essays are worth their weight in gold, especially for something as complex and open to interpretation as Hamlet. On that note I recommend reading anything by Leggatt on Hamlet, he's bloody amazing. Carroll's worth checking out, too, and the Freudian reading, if you're into that (Hamlet and Oedipus is a good one, by Jones).

Don't expect to do well with half-assed regurgitated readings or responses. My biggest advice is to get really passionate about your texts, join in on lots of class discussions, and talk about it as much as you can. Truthfully the writing becomes almost secondary to an understanding of the text; because Literature has less structural restrictions than English, you can afford you muscle your way through with the strength of your ideas alone, provided you also back it up with solid language analysis.

[Incommensura]

Have fun! The last period before the exam will be pretty awful no matter what so it might as well be preceded by really enjoying the subject. That is also the best way to get into a good position - like my umbrella-buddy says, if you are getting involved in class discussions, thinking about the texts a lot and actually enjoying the ideas in them then writing readings will be kind of spontaneous (it always was for me) instead of something you have to labour through.

I would actually avoid professional essays at least until you've developed your own ideas about the texts. My guide: if you don't find yourself yelling in exasperation at how dumb some of the stuff in professional criticism is, you probably haven't gone into the text yourself enough yet.

More specifically, if you're borderline B+/A then the most likely thing you're short on is language analysis (though obviously this is a huge assumption and it may not be - in my experience though, that's the way it goes.) Analysis like you need to do in Lit pretty much doesn't come up in any other subject, it's also one of the most annoying things in Lit. That is the thing you should probably work most on, especially early in the year - the good thing about this is you can practise it even on texts which aren't going to be on the exam or which you don't want to write on. Think about the language, how it's been constructed and how that construction is conveying the deeper ideas of the text. Failing that - at the risk of sounding like a jaded hack - look at the construction and how you might link it to the ideas, even if you think that link is tenuous or not central to the way the idea is coming across. Obviously the first way is better, but the second is usually fine (and often less tenuous than you think)

If as you say you enjoy Lit, you're capable at analysis and good at formulating ideas, then you basically have all the building blocks so it's just a matter of refining. Lit is great fun, make sure you keep enjoying it!