How Do I Choose Which Texts I Should Use For My Exam?

When thinking about exam texts, you should first look at past paper examples to get a feel for what kind of questions you will be asked. For example, if the theme of a paper is "love", you will, of course, need a selection of texts that deal with that topic. These topics are purposefully very broad, which means you need to pick texts that are versatile. Keeping with the example of "love", you would need to choose texts that don't just deal with the obvious subject of romantic love, but also things like familial love, and love between friends. This means that texts with family ensembles as well as romantic plots can be used for two different kinds of question, and therefore you are better prepared for the exam. You should also make sure to choose texts you know extremely well, as this makes it easier to remember details and quotations that will assist you in your exam - if you don't know the text well, you may get an example wrong, and therefore invalidate parts of your argument. Examiners like candidates who use a variety of texts, so as well as having poetry and prose, you should also try to use texts from different eras and genres. If you have difficulty with older texts, try using shorter poems, as they are easier to memorise and will score you bonus points for using a text from a different era. Make sure to revise one or two more texts than is required on your exam, as this gives you some choice in your questions, and you can therefore have a more appropriate answer. Lastly, you should pick texts that you are comfortable with, and have practised, analysing, so when you enter the exam, you feel ready and prepared to talk about your chosen texts.