Starting English Literature HL

[poweroverwhelming]

Hello,

 

I'm starting English Literature HL first semester in 2 days. I heard its one of the hardest subjects and its very hard to get a 7 in it. I got an 88 in Grade 10 English and I don't know how I'll be able to manage at least a 6 this year since that's like 93-96%, which is especially hard for an HL subject. Will I be able to survive English HL? Is it as terrifying as people say it is?

 

One of my main issues is that I always saw English as an opinionated subject where you hand an assignment, essay, or whatever in and you pray that you got impressed the teacher, so I have no idea what to do to improve.

 

Sometimes when my teachers add in annotations on mistakes on assignments, I think to myself, "how was I supposed to know that?", and its never a recurring error, so it always seems like I'm writing something out of the blue that I think is good but never seems to be excellent.

 

How can I improve in English? I really want to start doing well in it, and I've started by having purchased a study guide called "How to Study English Literature", so hopefully that will help a lot and give me ideas on what exactly to write. Will I be able to get a 7 if I put in enough effort and hard work, or is it something that only happens to people who like to write stories, novels, that type of thing?

 

Thanks =)

[FChaosi_]

Give a friendly minion +4/+4 until end of turn. Then, it dies. Horribly.

[poweroverwhelming]

Give a friendly minion +4/+4 until end of turn. Then, it dies. Horribly.

 

Not sure what you mean?...

Edited September 7, 2015 by poweroverwhelming

[El :3]

The main thing is to get down your commentaries for Paper 1, and your exam texts for Paper 2. I do SL, so they're more lenient in the marking, however all I know is that if you stick to writing about the effects of a certain literary technique/plot point/characterisation etc., and the author's purpose, you should be fine It's just a case of practice tbh, but you should be okay if you keep on top of the reading and assignments

 

To improve? Write an essay/commentary every week. Get your teacher to mark it and find out your weaknesses. For example, I need to go more into what the actual device is, as I tend to just analyse the effects of a quote. Also, apparently I need to be more pretentious in my writing

 

Keep a journal of various writing styles you like. For example, I keep a bookmark in my browser for any articles, reviews etc. I like the style of, and I try to morph them into my own style. This'll help with your communication.

 

I hope I've helped a bit!

Edited September 7, 2015 by El :3

[luckymousey]

I do HL LIT and personally I find it my easiest HL....Believe me I'm not kidding but I've got straight 7s and it's not as hard as people think - you just need to work smart.

Firstly my biggest advice I could possibly give you is don't take what other people say into your mind too strongly. Everyone has different talents and different strengths or weakness. I actually did Math HL for a few terms before I dropped it and picked up HL english about 2-3 terms after DP1 had started and literally everyone was strongly trying to discourage me from doing it because it was "too hard" and the world load would be intense.

It's not. An 88 in Grade 10 English is very good and I don't think you'll have problems doing HL as long as you're very organised and keep on top of things, especially with the big assessments like IOP, WIT and IOC.

For Paper 1 commentaries you should be aiming at doing one a week and getting it marked by the teacher if possible. I truly still write a commentary once a week under timed conditions and get it marked and it helps you so much in identifying your weaknesses, improving time management and just improving the general quality of your writing. 

Also whenever you get assessments back be sure to go through the feedback very carefully and pick up your weaknesses - I usually see that a lot of people lack in Criterion B (author's choice), and knowing this info is vital because in later exams and assessments you'll be aware of what you need to work on the most.

 

I've probably just went off randomly there but overall HL lit is not at all hard. I'm no genius and didn't get 100% or anything if you're wondering, but I remember being organised and managing my time properly and that helped. For things like WIT if you haven't done it I strongly recommend keeping a journal with things like important themes, stylistic aspects, information on the author etc. so you can keep track. It's things like these that build you up towards a 7.

 

And no, you don't need to be an avid writer or anything to get a 7 in Lit. I hate writing stories because every time I tried I got writer's block and I just never enjoyed it. However I do recommend reading a lot, whether it is fantasy, fan fiction, literature, poems or whatever suits your fancy because the more you read, the more creative you become and you can start to look at literature in many different perspectives. I guarantee you that anyone can get a 7 provided they put in work and effort.