Revision session

A reminder of the weightings for

the exam

Comparative Textual Analysis and Review

Section A: Comparative analysis of texts

3 unseen texts: one question (40 marks)

Section B: Reviewing approaches

1 text (poetry/prose – open text)

Choice of one from 6 questions. (40 marks)

The Assessment Objectives

AO1

Select and apply relevant concepts and approaches from integrated linguistic and

literary study, using appropriate terminology and accurate, coherent written

expression.

AO2

Demonstrate detailed critical understanding in analysing the ways in which structure,

form and language shape meanings in a range of spoken and written texts.

AO3

Use integrated approaches to explore relationships between texts, analysing and

evaluating the significance of contextual factors in their production and reception.

Issues to consider from the

specificationCandidates should prepare for the following aspects of integrated study:

presentation of characters/people;

themes e.g. family life, power, love;

narrative technique;

influence of contextual factors in the production and reception of texts;

importance of setting/location;

language variation according to time, place, context;

different readers’ or listeners’ interpretations of individual texts.

Task 1 – Tweet a poem

Select 10 poems and a tweet to

summarise these and explain the main

message.

140 characters is your limit

Tweet some to @strattonenglish

Comments on LL4 - Advice for

the exam

Wider reading – this can be translated

works – Neruda would work well – read

his 20 Love Poems and A Song of

Despair

You should also use quotations from your

wider reading text so choose some

memorable ones that you can analyse

using the framework

Using Plath’s poems

As with all wider reading, you get marks for AO3 in this essay and you should ensure that you contextualise your authors.

With Plath – there are a number of her poems with the same title and you don’t want to confuse an examiner. You should set the poem in a context.

EG: “Plath’s poem The Rabbit Catcher deals with the same event however in her poem the version differs considerably. She chooses to focus on……”

Comments from the Examiner’s

ReportsThe attitudes trapLimiting vocabulary, particularly the repetition of ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ for

attitudes, was very much in evidence this year. These adjectives are useful

as starting points or as part of a concluding link. But candidates who use

them several times on the same page, along with ‘positivity’ and ‘negativity’

are failing to show off their vocabulary (AO1) and limiting the precision they

can achieve when expressing their understanding of texts (AO2).

Issues with some terms (From Section A but still relevant)

Juxtaposition can only happen within a text, and should not be used to

express contrasts between texts.

Lexical sets need to be identified by their semantic field e.g.

architecture and supported by the quotation of relevant words.

Alliteration applies only to the repetition of consonants (so not

‘exulting…emptiness’) which make the same sound (so not ‘chill and

cold’ and definitely not ‘the Thames’).

A01/A03: Essay planning and question handling

Many candidates make little use of the introduction which could be used to

establish the direction the response will take or to make links with the partner

text(s). The question should be chosen with the comparative element in mind.

Planning is as essential for this section as there is so much material to

choose from. Those who have studied the novels should select

key passages to provide a sensible range on their chosen topic. These need

not include the opening of the text and there is no requirement to keep to

chronological order. For the other set texts, two really relevant poems or

essays would be sufficient and preferable to several more superficially

discussed.

A01/A02: Evidence of integrated study

Quotations need to be chosen to support a relevant argument but also to provide

opportunities for analyzing the writer’s techniques. Candidates should be advised not

to quote without analysis. As this is an ‘open book’ examination for the core text, it is

unnecessary and unwise to invent or guess quotations. The internal context of the

quotation also needs to be made clear: sometimes quotations drift into answers with no

indication of the episode, situation or speaker. When Shakespeare plays are used as

partner texts, examiners frequently notice misquotation and are unable to fully reward

points made in discussion.

The most substantial part of the Section B response should be close analysis of the

studied text with relevant terminology, although it may be less sustained than in

Section A. This requires a thorough knowledge of the text so that the best material can

be found quickly. The most successful candidates find two or three key passages and

provide detailed and relevant analysis of the writing. But far too often, the use of

terminology seems to be an afterthought with superficial discussion of features which

are poorly chosen for the question. In some centres the responses were entirely made

up of narrative, description and quotation without any focus on the language: these

approaches can show what the text has to say, but not how. Candidates must aim to

include a range of linguistic and literary concepts and terms. Practice for Section B

should include finding the most appropriate material for a range of possible questions

and practising the Statement-Evidence-Analysis technique.

A03: Links with other texts

Most candidates offered two partner texts and some three or four. Some

candidates choose one substantial partner text and connect it with different

examples from the core text: this is acceptable and using a single partner text

well can produce responses of the highest quality. All but the most able might

have been better off choosing the most suitable of their partner texts for the

question chosen and allowing more time to develop the links and work on the

core text analysis. Trying to make connections where the partner text is not

well chosen, or not sufficiently well-known, often produces the weakest

sections in the Section B responses. Too many give little or no thought to

partner texts when selecting from the core text. It is important to make sure

that links with partner texts keep to the set topic. A small number of answers

included no partner text and several mentioned wider reading only very briefly.

The wider reading element in Section B has produced some very successful

work but candidates need clear guidelines on the use of partner texts.

Although it was encouraging to see a wide variety of partner choices, a few

centres failed to remind candidates that these must be texts which have been

read and studied. For example, in one centre, every candidate referred to the

recent Pryce-Huhne story but not to a particular piece of writing.

Advice on partner texts

Don’t attempt too many partner texts as this

usually results in superficial, unconvincing links.

It is better to deal with two texts well than four

too briefly.

Make sure that discussion of any other texts

is relevant to the question set.

Make specific connections between your

studied texts and partner text(s). Contrasts and

similarities are equally valid for discussion.

It is important to provide contexts for core

texts and partner texts

AO3: Contextual factors

Candidates need to select the points from background and biographical knowledge on their core text which are most relevant to the question set, rather than presenting it all in a chunk at the start of the essay. Contextual factors should also be discussed during the course of the answer and when partner texts are introduced. It is becoming more common for partner texts to be contextualized but this tends to vary widely between centres. We expect candidates to include the writer, the genre and the time period at least. Better candidates sometimes use the different contexts of time and/or place to develop links between the texts. Other factors include relevant biographical, social or historical detail and the internal context of situation or events in a novel or play. For independent choices which are less well known, it is sensible to provide an overview of the text.

Task 2 Planning Responses

A successful introduction on the theme

of marriage ( in Wuthering Heights)

Another introduction – this time on the presentation of women

How does

the

candidate

address

the

question

and relate

the context

in?

Themes to consider and write a

plan

Relationship between men and women

Sense of place

Parents and children

Narrative voices

Different interpretations