How to Revise Remember — OCR GCSE English Literature
Remember is a topic in the OCR GCSE English Literature specification. This guide covers learning objectives, examiner tips, common mistakes, and key terminology to help you revise effectively.
Examiner Tips for Remember
- Always structure your essay around the assessment objectives: show understanding (AO1), analyse methods (AO2), and link to context where relevant (AO3).
- Use short, integrated quotations embedded in your sentences to support points rather than long block quotes.
- Plan your response to ensure you address the whole poem, including the octave, volta, and sestet.
- When comparing, choose a poem with a clear thematic link (e.g., 'Walking Away' for parental love) and focus on differences as well as similarities.
- Remember to discuss the effect on the reader – how does Rossetti’s language make you feel?
Common Mistakes in Remember
- Misinterpreting the final shift as merely a rejection of remembrance, rather than a selfless act of love.
- Overlooking the significance of the Petrarchan form and how it reinforces the thematic conflict.
- Assuming the speaker is Rossetti herself without considering the persona and its dramatic function.
- Neglecting to analyse the semantic field of death and silence, leading to superficial readings.
- Failing to link contextual knowledge directly to the poem’s content, instead bolting on irrelevant facts.
Key Marking Points
- Award credit for demonstrating a clear understanding of the poem’s narrative and emotional shifts.
- Award credit for detailed analysis of language choices, such as the repetition of 'remember' creating an insistent tone.
- Award credit for thoughtful consideration of the sonnet form, including the octave-sestet structure and volta.
- Award credit for connecting the poem to its Victorian context, such as attitudes towards death and the idealisation of feminine self-denial.
- Award credit for using subject terminology accurately to discuss poetic devices.
- Award credit for a balanced argument that evaluates the speaker’s changing perspective across the poem.