Getting to grips with Christina Rossetti

Last minute revision

We know that this is crunch time – AS students are in the middle of year-end exams whilst A2 papers are just around the corner. Our thoughts are with you!

At this stage, any little helps, so do check out the revision plans that Crossref-it.info have been producing. To date you can get help on each of the following texts:

Drama

• Dr Faustus
• The White Devil
• The Winter’s Tale

Prose

• Frankenstein
• Jane Eyre
• Wide Sargasso Sea

Poetry

• The Pardoner’s Prologue & Tale
• The Wife of Bath’s Prologue & Tale
• NEW The selected poems of Christina Rossetti

All these study plans are available through our Chrome English Literature app - this can be installed into your Chrome browser here: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/english-literature/mchmjdjgeenheaobgcdcmgoajknooalk

The latest study plan, on the poetry of Christina Rossetti, has just been released. For 79p there are questions to direct your understanding of how her poems work, as well as three ‘typical’ essay questions covering theme, mood and language in a wide variety of poems. Have a go at testing yourself on what you would include, then check your response against some expert answers.

Rossetti is not always easy to comprehend unless you get into her world. It’s never too late in the day to look at an excellent guide which specialises in explaining all the background references to the social and religious context with which her original readers were familiar: The Poetry of Christina Rossetti - free text guide.

Before you get to the exam hall

If you are panicking about your exam technique, and can’t recall what your teacher has been telling you, check out the advice about how to do your best in our guide on how to write a good English exam answer. Some questions will be based on an extract you’ll need to analyse – Crossref-it.info also has some handy hints on how to approach passage-based questions.

Get some rest

Next week is half term for most – remember that you need at least some time of refreshment within a revision-packed nine days, and don’t work too late into the night – an exhausted mind is not going to operate effectively when the invigilator starts the clock ticking.

Best wishes, the Crossref-it.info team