'Where was that bit in the book again?'
Successful students re-read; very successful students can take short cuts to the sections they need.
How?
After you've done this once, it will feel like an obvious technique for ALL the texts you study!
In this example from one of my study guides, I've used Robert Cormier's Heroes (WJEC Specification). In September, I'll be asking my Y11 students to complete the table as we work through the novel - chapter one is completed as an example.
I prefer it to the usual 'Post-Its to divide chapters' technique, because it is more active, and helps you remember the story as well as finding important events more easily.
Effective summarising is a key exam skill, applicable to parts of your English language GCSE as well. It's good practice to be able to summarise chapters from your Literature texts in under 50 words - I used just 34 here.
If you are studying Heroes: feel free to download this resource and use it for your own prep. You may need to double-check the page numbers, just in case you are using a different edition to us ...
Studying other texts: you can see that the tables are easy to produce. Sometimes there's even room at the beginning or end of your book. Or why not contact me and see if I have one ready made for your next text?
Finally - as with all my resources - if you can see a way of improving this, please get in touch ... I really value your feedback!