A LevelEnglish LiteratureOCRRevision Notes3. Comparative and Contextual StudyHow To Answer The Comparative and Contextual Study QuestionsTask 2: How to Get Full Marks

Task 2: How to Get Full Marks (OCR A Level English Literature)

Revision Note

Deb Orrock

Expertise

English

Task 2: How to Get Full Marks

Regardless of which topic you are studying, the type of question asked for the second task will always be the same. You will be asked to write a comparative analysis of one of the two core texts for your topic with at least one other text from your topic area, in response to a statement or proposition.

It is tempting to jump straight in and start writing immediately. However, following this guide will ensure you answer the question in the way the examiners are looking for.

Below you will find sections on:

What skills are required

Each question on your exam paper has a dominant assessment objective. For this task, the dominant objective is AO3, which requires you to demonstrate a detailed understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received as appropriate to the question. The subordinate assessment objective being AO4, which requires you to also engage in a detailed comparative analysis of the relationships between texts. 

The minor objectives for this task are AO5 and AO1. AO5 asks you to incorporate an exploration of different interpretations of texts in your answer, considering critical approaches and theories in relation to the focus of the question. AO1 assesses you on the way you present your response, in an accurate, well-structured and coherent manner, so as long as you keep your response sharply focused on the question, write fluently and use critical concepts and terminology accurately and consistently, you will hit this objective. The following sections explore the skills you will need to demonstrate mastery of the two most heavily weighted AOs in more detail:

Incorporating context (AO3)

It is important to remember that incorporating context does not mean memorising large chunks of historical material and reproducing this in your answer. Instead, contextual exploration must be woven into your comparative analysis in an integrated manner, and always be linked to both the texts and the focus of the question. 

Remember, the “context” will be given to you in the statement in the question. For example, if the statement relates to “female victimhood” in Gothic writing, then the contexts you are considering are the literary context of Gothic literature, and the associated exploration of the idea of “female victimhood”. If the task asks you to explore the idea of a changing, restless society in American Literature, then the contexts you are considering are the literary context of American literature and the social and political contexts of American society.

Exam Tip

It is a good idea to start your answer by giving the examiner a working definition of the key focus in the question. This means demonstrating to the examiner that you understand what the key focus means. For example, if the proposition suggests that a key feature of dystopian regimes is the process of indoctrinating its citizens into its ideology, then start your response by demonstrating to the examiner that you understand what indoctrination means in the context of dystopian literature.

You should also set out from the start which other text you are going to use for your comparison with the core text, and your position in relation to the proposition.

For example: “As indoctrination means to condition a group of people into believing unquestioningly in a collective idea, then this is indeed a key feature of dystopian literature, and seen in texts such as Orwell’s 1984 and Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. However, whether that process of indoctrination actually works for all of the citizens in these worlds is questionable.”

Literary context

Depending on your chosen topic, you may wish to consider the following “typical” genre conventions, but again with the caveat that concentrating on a pre-prepared list of “features” typical to the genre will not gain extra credit unless you remain specifically focused on the statement given to you in the question.

American Literature

Genre feature

Contextual considerations

Cultural diversity

  • The unseen passage may reflect the cultural diversity and associated issues in America in the time period 1880-1940

  • There may be a sense of a collective or individual ‘American identity’

  • There may also be tensions and/or a sense of the cultural melting pot that was America during this time period

Class

  • In a society where almost everyone is in pursuit of the rewards of capitalism, social divisions will naturally widen

The American Dream

  • This covers a complex group of aspirations and frustrations, and can either be celebrated or satirised

Social mobility

  • This may include the effect of technological progress and new inventions

Historical context

  • The date of the unseen passage should give a clue as to how it relates to broad historical matters, but do not be tempted to focus on this

The Gothic

Contextual area

Contextual considerations

Presence of the past

  • An often-used Gothic approach is to show how the past of a building or community can resonate in the imagination of its present-day inhabitants

Unusual narrative voice/viewpoint

  • Writers of Gothic literature often make use of multiple narrators, unusual viewpoints and/or narrative voices

Suspense

  • This style of writing is full of suspense in order to build tension and to strengthen the reader’s emotional response

The supernatural

  • This is often a feature whereby the reader is invited to suspend their disbelief and read the story as a kind of metaphor

Dark humour

  • Human resistance against horror often can involve the use of dark humour as a coping mechanism

Female victimhood

  • These are the stereotypical ‘damsels in distress’

  • However, it is also important to consider any subversion of this feature, such as a male character becoming the victim

Dystopia

Contextual area

Contextual considerations

Setting

  • Is the passage set in the near or the distant future?

  • A more technologically advanced setting suggests a more science fiction-led approach

  • Whereas a setting which seems more plausible suggests a more speculative approach

Dystopia or fallen utopia

  • Sometimes a dystopian society may start out with utopian aspirations or good intentions

Satirical purpose

  • Often this genre satirises a tendency within human nature or an undesirable aspect of society

  • Works of dystopian literature may also include the effects of the advancement of technology on humankind

Narrative approach

  • Dystopian literature often makes use of a limited narrative viewpoint

  • This controls what the reader learns of the world created

Totalitarian regimes, oppression and surveillance

  • Dystopian worlds tend to restrict identity, freedoms and independent thought

  • Being watched, or the threat of being watched, maintains control through fear and suspicion

Women in Literature

Contextual area

Contextual considerations

Attitudes towards women

  • The time span for this topic runs from the early 19th to the 21st century, so the handling of women’s issues will vary

  • You may wish to look for efforts by novelists of either gender to expose the differences in the ways that male sexual promiscuity is treated much less harshly than that of women

  • This may also incorporate consideration of the different waves of feminism

The female viewpoint

  • Consider if the passage offers a female voice or point of view, or provides direct access to a woman’s inner life

  • There may be opportunities to examine inner monologues

Marriage

  • Before the industrial revolution, marriage was the most efficient means of transferring wealth, and therefore became a vocation for many women

  • You might consider the impact marriage and its boundaries have upon any women in the passage

Women in the workplace

  • Consider the fact that generally most of the work done by women in these texts will be unpaid

Women as defined by men

  • Consider the conflict between what roles are sought by women, and what roles are given to them

The Immigrant Experience

Contextual area

Contextual considerations

Linguistic confusion

  • This means the character(s) may be separated by language from the culture they join, furthering a sense of alienation and isolation

Generational conflict

  • There may be conflict between the first generation immigrant not wanting to let go of the culture or identity of their homeland, versus the second generation wishing to (or feeling more pressure to) assimilate with their new, adopted culture

Social mobility

  • Is there any? Are the characters trapped, or moving upwards socially?

Prejudice/discrimination

  • Differences of ethnicity or faith set up tensions with the receiving culture

Staying true to cultural roots

  • There is often pressure to assimilate with the receiving culture, which is at conflict with the desire to remain true to cultural traditions, beliefs and practices

Social, political and historical contexts

AO3 asks you to consider and explore the contexts in which literary texts are written and understood. You might therefore find the following questions useful to consider:

When was the text written?

Where and when is the setting of the text?

What problems (social/economic/political) can you see in the text and do these reflect any social, political or economic problems or issues at the time and place of writing?

Who has the power in this text? What social issues does this represent?

How might the date of publication relate to events in the text or its setting?

What social issues are presented in the passage? How does the author engage with gender, race and/or class?

What are the gender dynamics in the passage? Do these reflect anything about the time of writing? Has anything changed?

How was the text received at the time of publication, versus how is it received today?

Have attitudes towards the text changed over time?

Making comparisons (AO4)

AO4 requires an integrated comparative analysis of the relationships between texts. This means that you are required to explore contrasts, connections and comparisons between different literary texts within your chosen topic area, including the ways in which the texts relate both to one another and to literary traditions, movements and genres. The best responses pick up on the prompt words within the quotation given in the task and then select material accordingly. In this way, by sustaining a coherent, question-focused argument throughout, comparison becomes a technique through which the texts can be used to shed light on each other, both in terms of similarities and differences.

Exam Tip

It is better to choose one other text, as well as the core text, to form the basis of your response, and allow references to others to appear briefly as literary context. If you try to write in detail about too many texts you will struggle to produce a coherent, detailed and sustained argument. It is also a good idea to set out your main points of comparison in your introduction.

The example below shows how you might begin to approach comparing Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale with one other prescribed text, based on the following past paper question proposition:

Proposition

The imagined settings of dystopian novels reflect the social and historical contexts in which they were written

Similarities and differences

The Handmaid’s Tale

1984

Atwood sets her novel in a fictional Cambridge, Massachusetts, indirectly linking the fictional setting of Gilead with the historical Puritan society which existed there hundreds of years earlier

The setting of Oceania and a totalitarian regime are reflective of Orwell’s experiences of the Spanish Civil War and consideration of Hitler’s Germany during WWII

Many of the practices of Gilead are reminiscent of those of 17th-century Puritanism in New England

The citizens of Oceania are indoctrinated into an alternative version of history which fits with the Party’s political narrative, similar to Nazi Germany

Being watched, or the threat of being watched, is ever present via the “Eyes”, with the fear of being deported to the Colonies or hanged used as a way of suppressing any active or thought of resistance

Orwell’s protagonist, Winston Smith, lives in a world of constant surveillance, via giant television screens and Big Brother “watching you”

Atwood wrote her novel in the 1980s, and the use of CCTV had become a more popular solution from the 1970s onwards to manage business security

Although written before the advent of CCTV, Orwell’s form of speculative fiction imagined a world in which increased surveillance would be a key feature

Steps for success

To do well in this task, you need to identify the focus of the question and decide to what extent you agree with the proposition. The most important part of the question is the statement or quotation, because this gives you a clear proposition on which to base your argument. You also need to identify the main points of comparison you can make, in relation to the question’s focus, with the two texts you will be using.

It is tempting to jump straight in and start writing your response immediately. However, completing the steps below first will ensure you answer the question in the way that examiners are looking for:

  • Ensure you are answering the question on your chosen topic area:

  1. This may seem obvious, but this is one of the most common reasons for a rubric infringement in this part of the exam

  • Read the proposition and the question carefully and highlight the focus of the question:

  1. Ensure you have identified both what the proposition is suggesting, and your position in relation to it (how far you agree)

  • Plan your answer:

  1. Start by deciding on your argument in relation to the focus of the question

  2. Develop a thesis statement (AO1) which demonstrates to the examiner that you have understood the focus of the question

  3. Ensure that this is placed in the context of your chosen topic (AO3)

  4. Also set out which texts you will be primarily comparing in your answer and the main points of comparison (AO4)

  5. Note down the main points of comparison you will be making - these should become your paragraph topic sentences

  6. Include any quotations or close textual references you will be using in your response

  • Follow your plan and write your response:

  1. Ensure each paragraph starts with a confident, comparative topic sentence

  2. Then flesh out each paragraph with a series of “sub-points” which “prove” your comparative topic sentence

  • Re-read and check your work for overall sense and accuracy (AO1)

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    Deb Orrock

    Author: Deb Orrock

    Deb is a graduate of Lancaster University and The University of Wolverhampton. After some time travelling and a successful career in the travel industry, she re-trained in education, specialising in literacy. She has over 16 years’ experience of working in education, teaching English Literature, English Language, Functional Skills English, ESOL and on Access to HE courses. She has also held curriculum and quality manager roles, and worked with organisations on embedding literacy and numeracy into vocational curriculums. She most recently managed a post-16 English curriculum as well as writing educational content and resources.