Re-vision – or vision?

It is always scary when you finally respond to the pressure of looming exams, dig out your notes and then realise that they are not as complete / helpful as they need to be!

Revision is meant to be exactly that – looking again at work previously covered. But what to do when you find yourself looking at material for the first time?

At this stage, your teachers simply won’t have time to be wading through the basics – their job now is to help you pull it all together. Luckily, there are many web resources such as Crossref-it.info that provide helpful summaries of texts, scene by scene, chapter by chapter so as to remind you of how events fit together. Good ones should also pose questions that focus your thinking about the text.

In the new The Winter’s Tale guide, for example, you will find sections that give an overview of individual characters, as well as linking themes and sequences of images – great help if you are time poor.

For higher A Level grades examiners want to see that you can draw all your knowledge together into a ‘wide-ranging’ answer – backed up by specific examples too of course.

Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale - new text guide!

We are happy to announce the launch of a new text guide on Crossref-it.info! There is now a full text guide on the site for Shakespeare's A Winters Tale. One of the later plays of Shakespeare, it is a Romance play, and involves stories of loss and reconciliation, love and magical elements. It is a story that shows how faith, hope and unselfish love can overcome self-centred obsession and irrational jealousy. It examines important issues, such as:

• The relationship between parents and children, and between master and servants
• The question of what we mean by nature, and what is natural or unnatural
• The nature and significance of time
• The effects of suffering
• The place of humankind in the universe
• The extent and limitations of human power
• The nature and the significance of love in its various manifestations.
• These issues are addressed in scenes which bring created characters to life through the use of powerful language and extraordinary poetry.

The new text guide, (like all other text guides on the site) offers a Timeline, an Author section, a Context section, Synopsis and commentary, Themes and significant ideas, Characterisation, Essay and exam help, and more.

We do hope you will find this text guide really helpful for your studies - we always love to hear comments or suggestions! Either post your comments here on the blog, or send an email to info@crossref-it.info.