Edexcel IGCSE English Lit Paper 1 - Last Minute Advice! Good luck from Miss Adams!

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]Hi everyone. Um, I thought I would just uh pop online, do a quick video for those of you revising for the Edexcel International GCSE Literature Paper 1, which is taking place tomorrow, on Monday. Um, so I thought I would just pop online, one to give you a massive, like, good luck, good luck, and two, just a couple of words of guidance before tomorrow. Okay, so again, this is for the International GCSE, not the home board. There is another video for those of you sitting home board Edexcel.

[00:00:31]So, obviously, you got three things to do tomorrow, okay? You've got your prose text that you need to have a little look at, and then you've got your poetry and your unseen, okay? It doesn't matter what order you do them in, okay? So, some people prefer to get like the poetry unseen done and dusted out the way, doesn't matter.

[00:00:52]Just as long as you get all three things done. So, we'll start off with the prose. So, one of the things just to be aware of here, um, is, unlike the other parts of the paper, you don't actually need to analyze. The only things that you're being uh tested on here are is like your knowledge and understanding of the text in line with the question A1, and then context. So, you don't need to get into like the word choices and why that particular word.

[00:01:23]Having said that, looking at big devices and how they operate within the text, things like symbolism, for example, and foreshadowing, and parallels, that's all great stuff because it actually helps you uh demonstrate to the examiner that you know how these ideas or how these motifs, um, connect across the text. So, that's absolutely fine.

[00:01:50]Now, yes, of course, you do need to have quotations for this, and I I that Edexcel have always been like, "Oh, you don't need quotations. You just need textual references." But, who has seen a high-performing essay published by Edexcel that doesn't have quotations in.

[00:02:07]So, you do need them. However, what you can do is you can use a combination of short quotes and paraphrasing. So, for example, if if you're writing about Curley's wife, and you're like, "Ah, I can't think of the exact quote." But, you remember who she wears the color red, um and there's something about her hair that is to do with curl curls and sausages, and um she's got ostrich feathers and red nails. Do you know what I mean? You can you can talk about how she dresses in quite a vibrant or possibly provocative way using those dropping quotes, and then link it to other aspects of her character to you comment on the fact that it's one of the reasons that she's a target misogynistic views of the um other workers, but then again, it might also relate to her unfulfilled ambition of being a movie star. That is actually her way of living out her dream. See what I mean? So, you're taking little bits of quotations, but then you're demonstrating how um the character is presented in a range of ways.

[00:03:11]Now, context is really, really important here. You want to try and integrate it into your paragraphs. Beware of just tacking context on at the end of a paragraph. You know, it's a very useful and straightforward way to be taught it that you go point, evidence, explanation, link to context, and that's great. But, sometimes it means that your context feels just like a little bit of an afterthought.

[00:03:37]So, have a think about um bringing in context earlier on.

[00:03:42]Looking at the way that it is shaped something. So, for example, if you were going to do if you were answering a question I'm sorry, I I I keep doing Of Mice and Men, but that's the one I know.

[00:03:52]Um, if you were doing a question on friendship and you were talking about George and Lennie's friendship and the quality of that friendship, you might in the midst of your paragraph talk about how unusual that is uh for migrant workers in that time period to have friendships, how rare it was because of the way that they moved around. And then rather than finishing your paragraph there, you might actually then develop that idea with saying, "Which is why George is met with so much suspicion from the boss because he assumes that he's stealing Lennie's money, that he's putting one over, he's, you know, what's what are you selling?" Um, so that way you've used the context to actually like inform the rest of your discussion.

[00:04:41]With the prose, it is all about knowledge and understanding. So, do try and get a nice range of ideas across the text. If your quotations go from your brain and you can't think of anything, and therefore you need to paraphrase moments, that's absolutely fine, but make sure that you're um using the author's name and talking about their intentions and like why they craft a moment in this way, you know, Steinbeck crafts this moment to to illuminate da da da da da because then it it it stops you from just like retelling the story, which is one of the things that you don't want to fall into.

[00:05:18]Okay, let's talk quickly about poetry. I am praying that you get a really nice combination, not one of these weird ones where you go, "Why that poem and that poem?" Um, but what I would say to you is really really think about the connections. Yeah, you don't it this is a comparison, so you don't just want to go, "This poem and now this poem." You need to think about joining them up. So, every paragraph needs to start with a comparative topic sentence. So, for example, both the knight in La Belle Dame Sans Merci and the speaker of My Last Duchess seem to want to control the love interests in their lives.

[00:05:59]Then you go to one poem, explore, analyze, link to the other poem, quote, analyze, okay? Lots of analysis, please, for the poetry. So, really, really focus in on language, structure, and form because form is like the gold star analysis. You can tackle form um as a kind of paragraph topic in itself.

[00:06:21]So, for example, Do not go Gentle is a villanelle, da da da da da da, um whereas um Remember is a sonnet, da da da da da.

[00:06:33]Very, very important when you're commenting on form, do explore the effect, like the impact of the form, okay? So, you want to make sure that you're saying something sensible. I've got loads of videos in all these poems. So, if you want a bit of revision there, um do go and have a quick look, okay? So, like, for example, um if you were doing poem number 39, you might say that it's free verse and Alice Walker has chosen free verse because it reflects the sort of almost spontaneous nature of her memories popping to the surface, for example, okay? Unseen poems, oh, you're so lucky you only have to do one, you don't have to compare like the other examples. It makes life so much easier. Um so, first things first, what is the poem about? I know everyone has like your I mean, I've done them myself like unlock.

[00:07:29]Everyone has their little kind of way in like twirl or whatever to to figure out how to study a poem. But, I'm telling you now, the first thing you have to do is read that poem, read it for meaning.

[00:07:39]What's happening? Literally go through stanza by stanza, what's being described here, what's being described here, what's being described here. Get your head around it.

[00:07:47]Then, when you're looking at the question, so for example, if the question is, "How do they present strong feelings?"

[00:07:52]Um then you need to identify, maybe four, five if you're quick, um moments in the poem where you can really clearly see strong feelings. So, they feel anger here, or they feel regret for their actions here. That's the basis of your topic sentence, and then everything else is pulling apart. But, if you approach that unseen, where you go and sit in the exam, and you just look down, you go, "Oh, there's some alliteration." and start writing, you're going to get lost, and you're potentially going to lose the meaning of the poem. So, meaning first, all the time.

[00:08:26]If you can say something sensible about form, that is amazing, right? If you can look at a poem and go, "Mm, all right, that's a rhyme scheme.

[00:08:38]That's got a regular like meter. Oh, I wonder why that might be. Oh, cuz it's a poem about control."

[00:08:43]Mm.

[00:08:44]That's why. Or, "This poem is in free verse. What's it about? Oh, it's about breaking boundaries." Oh, that connects.

[00:08:51]But, if you're looking at the your poem, and you can't think of anything sensible to say about form, don't worry about it.

[00:08:57]Don't worry about it, because the last thing you want to do is come up with something like, "Oh, the poem has a rhyme scheme to make it flow better."

[00:09:05]Mm-mm. [clears throat] Examiners don't want to see that, okay?

[00:09:08]And obviously, in your analysis, if you haven't done a kind of paragraph on form, in your analysis, you can still focus on a rhyming couplet, an internal rhyme, some caesura, some enjambment. You can still hit form analysis without knowing that the poem is a Petrarchan sonnet, you know?

[00:09:26]Um [snorts] make sure that you're reading your work through as you go to ensure that you're hitting your assessment objectives. So, if you read a power read a paragraph of your poetry analysis, and think, "Oh gosh, I've not used any terms. Like, I don't have any words like metaphor or alliteration." Well, go back, sort it out, and then do better in the next paragraph. Likewise with your prose, if you read a paragraph and you're like, "Ooh, hang on a minute. I've I've retold the story there." Just rewrite a little bit of it, or haven't used any context, add a little bit in, and then move on.

[00:09:59]If you do it every paragraph, then it means that you you're not going to write a whole essay with the same mistake is what I basically mean. Right, that's it for me. I think I've waffled on long enough. Um massive, massive good luck. Like I said, there are videos on all of your poems.

[00:10:15]There's something on how to write a top-grade essay. Um I think there's a video on unseen. It is comparative, but there are still parts of it that apply, so it's worth a look. The only thing I don't have is of my semen. I'm really sorry, but there's so many materials out there. You'll find. Okay.

[00:10:31]Let me know how it goes. Uh you know, message me on my prediction videos and tell me what comes up, because I'm really interested to know.

[00:10:37]Okay, that's it for me. Good luck. Good luck. Good luck.