The problem
You remember the idea of the line, not its words.
That is the tragedy of commentary: the analysis is right, but the quotation meant to support it arrives distorted, and the examiner can no longer recognise it. Retaining an idea is easy; retaining an exact wording demands training of another order.
The missing word in the line
Remove the term that carries the image and the quotation stops being decorative and becomes a test again. Precision in a paper is decided there.
Name the device, do not describe it
Anaphora, chiasmus, hypallage: the question asks for the exact name, because the exact name is what counts when analysing.
Movements and their boundaries
A literary movement fits into a few traits, a few authors, a few dates. Those are short, numerous landmarks, made for cards.
From your notes to cards
An annotated text, three cards.
The same page yields a quotation to complete and two definitions to state.
Uploaded excerpt · Romanticism, devices
Romanticism places the self and feeling at the centre of the work, in reaction to classicism. Anaphora consists in repeating the same word at the head of several clauses. The lyric register expresses the speaker's personal feelings.
gives
Fill in the blank
Romanticism places the … and feeling at the centre of the work.
self
Two-sided
What is anaphora?
The repetition of the same word at the head of several successive clauses.
Two-sided
What characterises the lyric register?
The expression of the speaker's personal feelings.
The right shapes
The shapes that serve a commentary
Two shapes are enough, used for what they can do.
Fill in the blank
The only one that demands the exact word of a quotation rather than its general idea.
Two-sided
For definitions of devices and registers, where a full formulation is expected.
Matching
Handy for tying an author to a movement, or a work to its publication date.
Your sources
Texts and handouts
The set work, your annotations, the teacher's handout: anything carrying text becomes cards.
PDF
A chapter, a handout, a past paper with answers.
Word
Your own notes, in .doc as well as .docx.
PowerPoint
The lecture deck, exactly as you were given it.
Photo of your notes
The whiteboard or your notebook, as JPG or PNG.
YouTube video
An online lecture, straight from its address.
Pasted text
Three paragraphs are enough to make a deck.
Anki import
Your old deck finds its place again, in its own window.
On exam day
Before the written paper
With the date known, the least secure quotations come round more often as it approaches. School holidays are given no session at all. The method, in detail →
Frequently asked questions
How do I learn long quotations?
By cutting them up. One line or one clause per card, with the decisive word masked: that is the length a recall can actually handle. A whole speech on a single card never gets revised.
Can I start from my handwritten annotations?
Yes, by photographing the page. Annotated margins often make better cards than the bare text, because they already carry the analysis.
What about retaining literary movements?
Treat them as short landmarks: a few characteristic traits, a few authors, a few chronological boundaries, each on its own card. A summary table reassures, but it is the isolated items that come up in the exam.
Can cards help with an essay?
They supply the material — quotations, devices, references — that the argument will use. Building the essay itself is worked out elsewhere.
Explore the other subjects
Mathematics
Notation typeset inside the card, and fluency kept up.
Physics
Laws with their units, and orders of magnitude that hold.
Chemistry
Balanced equations intact, nomenclature kept up.
Biology
The diagram inside the question, labels to produce.
History
Dates produced rather than recognised, and causes put back in order.
Geography
The map in the prompt, landmarks to name.
Languages
Vocabulary you hear, conjugation you match.
Philosophy
Concepts defined, distinctions held, authors attached.
Economics
Mechanisms explained, indicators known, schools placed.
Computer science
Technical vocabulary and complexities, not keyboard practice.
Law
Provisions cited right, conditions stated in full.
These twelve pages are examples, not a list: every other subject works the same way. Every subject →