đŸ”„Lit Paper 2 - then you're free!

AQA and Edexcel students...

Author

Jen - Primrose Kitten
May 19, 2025

📅 Tuesday 20th May 2025 📅

Guys, you’re nearly free of English Literature!

Paper 2 is nearly here, and whether you're doing AQA or Edexcel, this one's packed with content. But don’t panic obviously. You don’t need to revise everything tonight. You just need to be smart with your time.

Here are three key tips to help you feel in control tomorrow and walk into the exam knowing what you're doing:

🔁 1. Base Your Quote Revision on Themes

You don’t need to memorise 30 quotes per text. Focus on 3–4 key themes (e.g. power, identity, conflict, love), and learn quotes that can be used across multiple themes.

For example, a quote like “We are members of one body” (from An Inspector Calls) hits responsibility, society, class, and morality—all in one.

📌 This works for AQA’s modern texts and for Edexcel’s 19th-century novels too (and of course, your Anthology poetry too.

đŸ–Šïž 2. For Unseen Poetry: Annotate Before You Answer

Jumping straight into writing is tempting, but trust us: it’ll slow you down later.
Spend 2–3 minutes:

  • Underlining techniques

  • Noting feelings, tones, or shifts

  • Identifying structure and language methods

It’ll help your essay stay focused and make comparisons way easier if you get a comparison question.

📝 3. Do a Quick Practice Paper Tonight

You don’t need to write a full response, but take 15–20 minutes to plan answers from a predicted paper. Focus on:

  • Structuring your response

  • Picking flexible quotes

  • Writing one or two clear paragraphs

Use them to quickly test what you know, and boost your confidence.

🧠 Just a Quick Reminder:

  • AQA Paper 2 = Modern text + Poetry + Unseen poetry

  • Edexcel Paper 2 = 19th-century text + Poetry (including comparison)

Whichever one you’re sitting, tomorrow’s paper is your chance to show how well you understand the big ideas, not just the quotes. Use your themes. Stay calm. Be clear.

You’ve done so much already: tonight’s just about polishing it off.
You’ve got this. Go in confident.

– The Primrose Kitten Team đŸŸ