meraisun

[meraisun]

hey ,, was just wondering if you have any examples of your notes? ive tried cornell notes,, mind map notes,, boxed notes,, nd digital notes but i strugle sm bc i can't summarise to save my life nd i end up writing everything on the board down which is inefficient asf - overworked y12 who also studies two stem subjects and a random humanity thrown in for shits nd giggles 😼

sure! also, if you're struggling to take down notes in class, try writing everything in shorthand (ex. if your teacher has a slide that says "the difference between alpha and beta glucose is that, in alpha glucose, the hydroxyl group is below the ring, whereas, in beta glucose, the hydroxyl group above the ring", you can write "diff. -> α vs. β glucose = α - OH ↓ ring / β - OH ↑ ring. if your 6th form/college allows it, you can also ask to take a picture of the board to write down in your own time.

class notes don't need to be neat or structured, you can always write them up/type them up in neat later during a free or at home.

excerpts of my notes below the cut: (the images in the notes are not mine)!

[meraisun]

Hello there. Hope you're having a great day. I read my IGCSEs in January, but moved to the UK to read A-levels at college in September. I've applied to read Classics, Philosophy, Economics and Politics. For Classics, my college is doing Option C - World of the Hero 💪, Greek Theatre and Politics of the Late Republic. Do you think I can read non-prescribed plays for Greek Theatre? I find Sophocles really boring 😭😭 Your blog layout is so pretty btw!

ayy! we almost do the exact same topics except i do greek religion instead of politics of the late republic (i like religion, but i think polr is better in almost every way 💀). congrats on your igcses and good luck with starting your a-levels this autumn!

to answer your question, you have to read the prescribed plays (that's euripides' bacchae, sophocles' oedipus the king and aristophanes' frogs), but you can read other non-prescribed plays and you do get marks for making relevant use of them in your answers. just make sure you don't neglect/completely ignore the prescribed plays, you have to talk about them in your answers!

i think sophocles just takes some getting used to. i'd recommend reading some of his other works (can't recommend ajax enough) to get used to his style of writing. you may also want to listen to his works as audiobook or change the translation you're reading (if you're not already reading the fagles translation, i'd recommend getting it).

aside from sophocles, i'd recommend reading:

hippolytus by euripides (prolly my favourite greek tragedy and has alot of parallels with bacchae).

medea by euripides (it's very different from alot of the surviving tragedies in terms of structure. there's a really good production of it on youtube. the actress that plays medea is perfect).

helen by euripides (a greek tragedy with a happy ending and it features helen and menelaus!)

the oresteia by aeschylus (aeschylus' trilogy is just amazing in every way, but aeschylus is really fond of his choruses which may be boring).

lysistrata by aristophanes (currently reading this and the fact that aristophanes' comedies remain funny 2400 years after he died is crazy).

thesmophoriazusae by aristophanes (produced the same year as lysistrata and just as funny + features aristophanes taking the utter piss of euripides).

[meraisun]

HIII, saw that you did classical civ! I'm one of the 3 ppl in the universe that does a level ancient history so we're basically siblings-in-arms XD. how's y12 going and do you have any tips for dealing/coping with bad teachers. best of luck on your end of year mocks/as-levels 💙

hello!!! i haven't been on socials in two months and i come back to three asks ♡! i think a-level ancient history might be even more underrated than classics, i haven't met a single person who does it (and i know two people who do a-level accounting)! y12 has been mixed for me. the first half was a train wreck, i won't lie, but not even because it was a jump from gcses to a-levels, but rather because my teachers are not the best (ex. chemistry teacher not knowing what exam board we're doing, that same chemistry teacher allowing us to handle concentrated ammonia in an unventilated room with no fume cupboard, biology teacher not knowing viruses are not alive, etc.). it also doesn't help that some of the 6th form policies are draconian asf. i contemplated dropping out.

the second half of y12 has been so much better, i've settled into a schedule that works for me, i've met alot of new amazing people and i just feel way more sure of myself. i'll stop yapping and answer your second question.

SO, dealing with bad teachers. i'd say the number one piece of advice i have is that pre-reading is your best friend! before a lesson, i spend thirty minutes to an hour (either at home or during a free period, but usually at home), reading through the pages that cover the topic in the textbook and making quick shorthand notes and drawing diagrams to help me visualise the information. if we're also doing a required practical, i'll spend an extra 15 minutes reading the method on pmt (physics and maths tutor) and maybe watch a video of someone doing the practical.

even if your teacher doesn't do a good job at explaining the information to you or straight up skips over entire topics (as my teachers do 🧍‍♀️), by pre-reading, you already show up to the lesson with an understanding of the content which can be consolidated either in class or at home. even if your teachers are good, everyone should pre-read if they can find the time.

[meraisun]

OCR CLASSICS GANG????? oh my god hi i did not this i would see a fellow classicser on tumblr 🫡

hello!! same, honestly, i'm always pleasantly surprised to see a-level classicists. how are you liking the course?

[meraisun]

I MADE A GAME! it's a short little walkaround adaptation of Sophocles' Antigone, set in a dying apartment tower, with a whole host of characters who you may or may not recognize. Music, art, and writing all by me - you can play it here, either in-browser or downloadable (although I've been informed that if you download it, the fonts may not function correctly).

It may receive updates in future - I made it in about a month for a class assignment, so I didn't have time to include everything I wanted to, and the music is all taken from various other projects of mine - so stay tuned for whenever that happens! For now, enjoy a 30-40 minute game with a single, inevitable conclusion. And do let me know what you think.

[meraisun]

RIP tree at sycamore gap you were an icon

[meraisun]

Go slow, but go

[meraisun]

Listen I'm a little drunk but... yarn crafts are so important. Textile arts are the backbone of society. All of us take our clothing and accessories and upholstery for granted and it's honestly shocking

I used to buy affordable t-shirts and they were comfy and nice, now I buy them in the same price range and they're sandpaper. They don't wick away moisture and the print comes undone after two washes. I buy denim and the crotch falls apart in months. I read about how modern Singer sewing machines are disappointing and then look at the delicate machining and the beautiful finishes on my 1857 machine and wonder if this is progress?!

Reblog if you're desperate for clothing that doesn't feel like sandpaper or if you like machines that go thunk instead of going obsolete in two years

[meraisun]

The Venus girdle (Cestum veneris) is a comb jelly in the family Cestidae. The colorless species are transparent when suspended in water, except for their iridescent rows of comb plates. In other words, they majestic as fuck. Love to sea it 🌊

[meraisun]

"he's my sweet pookie bear" and it's a man covered in blood

[meraisun]

[meraisun]

here’s my revision plan for the next couple days until my finals end!! hope i can stick with it!!

[meraisun]

gcse revision resource dump! (from an ex-gcse student)

╰— had a few gcse revision resources (incl. online textbook scans, useful websites, etc.) saved on my laptop that i'll never be using again so i figured i'd make a dump post of everything for the gcse class of 2024 and beyond. none of these are mine, i just compiled all of them together. enjoy!

here are the subjects i did and the exam boards that assessed me so you can see if these links are relevant to you and the components/modules that i did. i did higher tier for everything.

— aqa english language. — aqa english literature (romeo and juliet, a christmas carol, an inspector calls & power and conflict). — edexcel mathematics. — aqa biology (triple). — aqa chemistry (triple). — aqa physics (triple). — edexcel history (crime and punishment, anglo-saxon and norman england, superpower relations and the cold war & weimar and n*zi germany).

note: i did french and health and social care as well, but the specifications for those have been revamped so what i used for gcse isn't relevant/useful anymore.

the dump:

dropbox link

[meraisun]

crouches uncrouches like minecraft. classics gang

a fellow classics student! hello! i swear, classics is too cool of a subject to be so underrated.

[meraisun]

MARS' STUDYBLR. ╰— y12. uk. seventeen.

about me!

names: mars or merai

age: seventeen

pronouns: she/xe

sexuality: pansexual

hobbies: video games (fallout series, my beloved), crochet, writing, reading, linguistics, history, herpetology, gardening, watching old movies, tennis, fashion

goals: planning on studying molecular biology at university

my a-levels!

biology (aqa)

chemistry (aqa)

classical civilization (ocr)

what to expect!

short daily "blogs" (i.e. ramblings), accountability posts, random study tips, a-level resources, gcse resources.

reblog/like/follow to be mutuals!