How to revise for your English Literature GCSE

It's a myth that you can't revise for English Literature GCSE. To pass, you need to know the texts but also have more in-depth knowledge about the themes, literary techniques and language used. All of this will show your understanding of English Literature to the examiners, and this is what your revision plan should be centred round.

Know what you will be marked on

To revise correctly, you need to know what your examination board is marking your exam on and understand how the marking works. Your teacher or a tutor can help here with a guide to the syllabus and what you need. Once you know this, you need to ensure that all your revision revolves around these areas

Make the notes that help

Making notes is key to good revision, and an ideal way to remember the key facts as long as they make sense to the subject. To help yourself:

· Make notes about each essential character and some of the minor ones

· Make notes of the key themes and how they relate to each character

· Makes notes of the broader ideas and literary techniques the author uses

· Make notes and memorise key quotes that emphasis all of the above

Literature study guides can help

Literature study guides do have their place in helping you to revise. They not only summarise everything from the main plot themes and literary techniques but also give your key character analysis. Though these guides should supplement your learning and help you form an opinion not to take the place of reading the text.

Reread critical parts of the text

Don't attempt to reread the whole book, instead, make sure you revisit plot themes and key areas for characters within the text. This will help you to revise themes and also find quotes that will be of use during the exam. For more help with this seek advice and help from an English Literature tutor.The right tutor can help you highlight the right areas to go over and the main themes and literary devices you will need for the exam.

Practice with past papers

Past papers are an ideal way to understand how questions will be asked and phrased during your exam. Attempt to answer questions with your notes on hand so you can make sure you are covering all the areas needed to pass.

Form your opinions about the texts

This is often a neglected area of English Literature revision but one that can help you retain crucial knowledge. and score higher marks in your GCSE. You need to form opinions on the set texts so discuss what you think of characters and plot themes with friends or a tutor.

Don't forget about literary devices

Make sure you also revise the literary devices the author uses in your set texts and focus on your vocabulary and also your grammar. For more on this see our post on revising for GCSE English.