reading time for me I would read the text then look at the question, then move on to the next text and do the same thing etc... and in my head im making like rubric connections and getting techniques/quotes out of them. then I had 3 minutes to spare so I reread one text carefully that was really stumping me then I spent 1 minute just glaring over the essay question.
everyone has their own approaches but basically do not overcomplicate it. im so serious if you look at my paper I did the most basic techniques but with really good analysis and it worked really well for me. If you are ever super stumped at a text try to just understand what is this text about? and what is this question asking me to gather from this text? Just know your poetic techniques, literary techniques and your visual techniques (in case they throw you a picture but honestly the max they'll be is 3 marks so just do like salience, focal point or colour.)
REMEMBER deduct 1 from the mark of the question and thats how many quotes/techniques you want in your response as a general rule of thumb. If you get given a larger one like a 5 or 6 marker dont be afraid to go overboard too if you have the time to.
also keep track of your time consistently so that you dont realise that you spent too much time on a question. Be quick when you're answering but do NOT rush it!!! You want to ideally leave at least 5 minutes at the end after you finished the whole paper to look over your responses.
ONE MORE THING DONT START THE ESSAY FIRST AND DO SECTION 1 LAST!
(quality assurance I got 38/40 for my paper 1 trial and full marks for short answers
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