AQA Critical anthology approaches common mistakes

Common mistakes

• Confusing Narrator with Author

  Students often conflate the narrator's perspective with the author's intentions.

  Fix itAlways distinguish between the narrator (the voice in the text) and the author (the real person who wrote it).

• Confusing narrator with author

  Students often conflate the narrator's voice with the author's perspective.

  Fix itRemember that the narrator is a constructed voice within the text, distinct from the author's personal views.

• Overgeneralizing Feminist Themes

  Assuming all feminist texts share the same themes without considering the specific context of each work.

  Fix itFocus on the unique aspects of the text you are analyzing and how they contribute to feminist discourse.

• Overgeneralizing Feminist Criticism

  Assuming that all feminist criticism has the same perspective or approach.

  Fix itAcknowledge the diversity within feminist criticism, including various schools of thought like liberal feminism, radical feminism, and intersectionality.

• Overgeneralizing Marxist Theory

  Applying Marxist concepts too broadly without specific textual evidence.

  Fix itFocus on particular examples from the text that illustrate Marxist themes, ensuring your analysis is grounded in the text.

• Overlooking Context

  Failing to connect the text to its socio-economic background.

  Fix itAlways consider how the historical and cultural context influences the themes and characters in the text.

• Ignoring the role of setting

  Failing to analyze how the setting contributes to eco-critical themes.

  Fix itAlways consider how the environment influences characters and plot.

• Ignoring textual evidence

  Students often make claims about eco-critical themes without supporting them with specific examples from the text.

  Fix itAlways back up your interpretations with direct quotations or detailed references to the text.

• Overgeneralizing Post-colonial Themes

  Students often apply post-colonial theory too broadly without specific textual evidence.

  Fix itFocus on specific characters, events, or symbols in the text that illustrate post-colonial themes.

• Overgeneralizing post-colonial themes

  Students often apply broad post-colonial concepts without specific textual evidence.

  Fix itAlways ground your analysis in specific examples from the text to support your claims.