English Literature Textbook, worth buying?

[meowchelle]

Hello there!

So today I went into my local bookstore to find a couple of study guides to help me understanding my subjects better, and I came across two English Literature "course companion", or textbooks. I take English Literature HL and as of now my results is fluctuating between 5 and 6, and I would like to have a good 6 or even a 7 to boost my overall points.

The textbooks I saw are by Cambridge Press and Pearson Baccalaureate. Does anyone have either one or both of them? How are they like, are they useful in any way in guiding all the IAs and P1 and P2? My teacher didn't make us buy one, instead just asking us to get the 13 works we're studying. I know it's not essential, but is it helpful? I understand that essays are best honed by lots of practice, but are there any good advice/info/techniques in the textbooks that may help me along?

Should I get one, or spend my money someplace else?

Thanks!

[twilight]

I had the course companion by Oxford. I used it quite often in the beginning, like maybe first 3 or 4 months because I had no idea what to do and my teacher had little idea of what is expected as well (with regards to the written assignment, not so much the other parts of the course). I stopped using it because I found that the paper 1 and paper 2 guidelines they give did not suit my style at all, and I just thought that it was too difficult for me to change my style in 2 years. So I went searching for other reference books that gave guidelines that I could at least make use of better. I ended up going to the library borrowing a few reference books, and then took notes of a few chapters from a few books because I didn't find everything in a single book to be useful.

Other than that, my resources came from the internet, the subject report, classmates, and the most helpful one was my teacher. So if you want, you can get it. Couldn't you read like a few pages and see how useful it is? Or you could check it out from your school library? My school library has many textbooks for us to borrow. If you don't think it's value for money, there are other avenues to get help.

As a side note, I ended up never or barely using any other subjects' reference books that I bought as well.

[Maple]

I think it would be a waste of your money to buy those textbooks. Doing well in English Literature is more of a skill you acquire through constant reading and knowing what to find. I think most people would agree that literature is the one subject for which you don't need a textbook.

[Sandwich]

I also don't think a textbook is helpful for Lit. What can they really tell you? It's a skill (analysis) not something factual. Most helpful really is reading the essay marking criteria and maybe reading some essays to get an idea of what is expected. And of course, doing your own essays and having them marked with feedback! A combination of these things should help you.

It's sort of like asking about buying a book to help you count. It could have a chapter on "1 to 10" or a chapter on "using-your-fingers", but at the end of the day YOU still have to learn to count, and the best way to learn is by counting things A book is only going to parrot the criteria back to you, and they're out there anyway, or give you their particular idea of how to structure an essay - but the structure that works best for YOU is going to get you a 7, not trying to follow the advice of a book to help you read other books!