A Level Study Notes and Revision Guides

The Bloody Chamber: AS & A2 York Notes

Angela Carter

Study contents
Revision contents

Study Tools

How to study The Bloody Chamber

How can these Notes help you?, Reading the collection, Interpreting or critiquing the collection, References and sources, Revising for and responding to an assessed task or exam question

The Bloody Chamber in context

Angela Carter, Fairy tales re-told, The stories and their sources, Key issues, Symbolism, Settings, The Gothic

Timeline

Literary terms

Plot & Action

The Bloody Chamber: synopsis

Study focus: A tale of seven episodes, The journey, Arrival, The keys, The dilemma, The chamber, The return, The end

The Bloody Chamber, pp. 1–14

Summary, Analysis, Extended commentary

The Bloody Chamber, pp. 14–26

Summary, Analysis, Extended commentary

The Bloody Chamber, pp. 26–8

Summary, Analysis

The Bloody Chamber, pp. 28–42

Summary, Analysis

The Courtship of Mr Lyon

Summary, Analysis

The Tiger's Bride

Summary, Analysis

Puss-in-Boots

Summary, Analysis

The Erl-King

Summary, Analysis

The Snow Child

Summary, Analysis

The Lady of the House of Love

Summary, Analysis, Extended commentary

The Werewolf

Summary, Analysis

The Company of Wolves

Summary, Analysis

Wolf-Alice

Summary, Analysis

Characters & Themes

Characters

Characterisation, The narrator protagonist, The predatory patriarch and the absent father, The innocent male, The matriarch, The victim, The independent woman, The human animal

Themes

Marriage, Sexuality, Metamorphosis, Beauty and wealth, Man, woman and nature

Structure, Form & Language

Structure

A patchwork collection, Narrative techniques

Form

The Gothic tradition, Origins

Language

Rich, visual language, Vocabulary, Study focus: The five senses, All in the detail, Poetic language, Metaphor, Imagery, Literature, art and beyond

Contexts & Critical Debates

Historical background

Post war, 1950s and 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, 1990s and beyond, Study focus: Twentieth-century women

Literary background

Medieval influences, Postmodern and Mannerist influences

Critical debates

Reading critically, Original reception, Later criticism, Contemporary approaches

Grade Booster

Assessment focus

What are you being asked to focus on?, What do these AOs actually mean?, What does this mean for your revision?

Targeting a high grade

Improving your grade, Typical C grade features, Typical features of an A or A* response

How to write high-quality responses

How you write, Five key areas

Questions with statements, quotations or viewpoints

Example questions, Key skills required, Answering a 'viewpoint' question

Comparing The Bloody Chamber with other texts

Example question, The task, Writing your response

Responding to a general question about The Bloody Chamber

Example question, Structuring your response

Writing about contexts

Assessment Objective 4, The context for The Bloody Chamber, Targeting a high grade

Using critical interpretations and perspectives

The 'meaning' of a text, Writing about critical perspectives, Targeting a high grade

Working through a task

What you should do, Task title, Decode the question: key words, Plan and expand, Conclusion, Develop further

Further questions

Mark scheme

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