okay this is advice given by me (granted I haven't completed the course yet, but I've done well in assessments etc) combined with stuff I've picked up from other students, plus teachers, plus my mum (who falls into the teachers category)
1 - memorising essays works for some people if you're good at adapting, but in many cases, it binds you. what I personally do is learn topic sentences off by heart, which then sets off the information in my head concerning that topic sentence... ie, for Mod A, a topic sentence will be "The primary concern of both Brave New World and Blade Runner is the disintegration of man's relationship with the world in place of scientific and technological advancement", which will then set off different ideas relating to the composer's comments on said advancements and disintegrations... therefore I have in a sense memorised it, but not in any binding way - ie, I have room for new ideas as well as room to forget things
nb-quality of topic sentence is irrelevant in this case
2 - on to study itself... look at the rubric and make notes for the text(s) in concerns to the rubric... make sure your notes are really comprehensive and you know the texts inside out... this means looking at what you're actually meant to be studying... ie using mod a (into the wild) as an example again... it's not good reading some generic summarising crib and using that as your only guide... those things are okay to get content down if you're really having trouble getting thru the text (prime example: me and the tempest
)... but you need to constantly link back to your module/aos... for example, into the wild... there are SO many things you can say about both texts, individually and combined, but unless you can say exactly how it ties back to into the wild... you won't get the marks. so going through your notes and deciding what relates back to the module you're actually doing is REALLY important, cuz teachers/markers hate reading stuff that is really well developed, original and thought out... but doesn't relate back to the topic, because ultimately they can't give it good marks
3 - practising writing papers is REALLY important, learning structure et al will give you extra marks in and of itself... especially do this with forms you might not be as overly familiar with (ie, if you've written lots of essays and feature articles, try writing in the interview/script form)...
4- wide reading is v v important... also is having a wide vocab... if you see a word in your reading and you're not entirely sure what it means, grab a dictionary and write it down... i have my own little dictionary that i've made while studying and it's improved my vocab no end, garrulous little chicky that i am
those are my tips... relating to both study and the end result... hope they help some
