Task 1: How To Get Full Marks (OCR A Level English Literature)

Task 1: How to Get Full Marks

Regardless of which topic you are studying, the type of question asked for the first task will always be the same. You will be asked to write a critical appreciation of a passage taken from a piece of literature from your topic’s genre, and relate it to your wider reading in your chosen topic area.

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

• Steps for success

What skills are required

Each question on your exam paper has a dominant assessment objective (AO). For this task, the dominant objective is AO2, which requires you to analyse the ways in which the writer of the unseen passage has used language, form and structure to shape meanings. The minor objectives for this task are AO3 and AO1. AO3 requires you to link your analysis of the passage to your wider reading and understanding of your chosen topic area. AO1 assesses you on the way you present your response, in an accurate and coherent manner, so as long as you keep your response sharply focused on the question and the unseen passage, you will hit this objective. The following sections explore the skills you will need to demonstrate mastery of in more detail:

• Critical analysis (AO2)

• Incorporating context (AO3)

Critical analysis (AO2)

Being able to confidently engage in a critical analysis of a piece of unseen prose material takes practice. You are being asked to apply everything that you have learnt in your study of English Literature so far to new material. A critical analysis goes beyond just spotting elements of language, form and structure, although these can be used as a springboard for explaining the impact of such choices the writer has made. Essentially, ask yourself how the writer evokes certain feelings or meanings by manipulating language, structure and form.

To begin with, you might find the following questions useful to consider when reading the unseen passage for the first time:

You may also wish to consider:

• How the author might give prominence to certain events by their position in the passage

• How the author builds suspense, tension or drama

• Whether there are any shifts in tone

• Whether the presentation of the character(s) is realistic, unrealistic, reliable or unreliable

• The writer’s use of symbolism or motifs

• Whether the passage presents events from different points of view

In addition, critically analysing language means that you consider the deliberate choices a writer has made to include specific words or phrases in their writing, and why. In order to do this, you should consider both the denotation and the connotations of particular words:

• Denotation = the literal meaning of a word or phrase

• Connotation = the associations or implied meanings of the word or phrase

When commenting on words and phrases from the text, you should always try to consider why you think the writer has chosen that particular word to use in their sentences. Below are some questions which you might ask yourself when analysing the words and phrases in a text:

Incorporating context (AO3)

It is important to remember that any commentary on context should be secondary to your analysis of the unseen passage. Links to the set texts can be credited as an exploration of context, but these texts should not be discussed in their own right. Your response should always be primarily focused on the unseen passage. While it is expected that you bring some of your contextual knowledge of the studied topic area to bear in your answer, pre-prepared chunks of historical material will not get you high marks. Instead, any contextual issues must be woven into your discussion of the unseen text.

Depending on your chosen topic, you may wish to consider the following 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, and may be detrimental to your overall critical appreciation of the passage given to you in the exam paper.

American Literature

The Gothic

Dystopia

Women in Literature

The Immigrant Experience

Steps for success

To do well in this task, you need to respond to the passage you are given in the exam paper as an interesting example of a piece of literature from your topic area, but the examiners also want to see evidence of your genuine knowledge and wider reading. Excellent answers will be able to see the passage as a whole and respond to its unique and interesting qualities. It is important to not just hunt for what is “typical” of the genre.

It is tempting to jump straight in and start analysing the extract 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 question carefully and highlight the focus of the question

• Read the contextual information given to you about the unseen passage, and read the passage in full first (without highlighting or annotating):

1. This is important to get an overall sense of the passage, rather than jumping straight into “feature spotting”

2. This will give you the opportunity to consider your first impressions

• Then read the passage carefully and critically, annotating in the margins:

1. Identify any key themes

2. Pick out any interesting or striking details

3. If you don’t understand a single word, don’t worry - just look to other parts of the text for clues as to what it might mean

4. Ask yourself the questions suggested earlier in this guide

• Plan your answer:

1. Start by placing the extract in the context of the information you have been given about it

2. Develop a thesis statement (AO1)

3. For example: The passage is set in a totalitarian society in which individual identities appear to be replaced with numbers, and in which reproduction is tightly controlled by the patriarchy.

4. Decide specifically what you will be referring to from the passage (AO2)

5. Get a sense of what contextual factors give further insight into the ideas and themes in the passage (AO3)

• Follow your plan and write your response:

1. Ensure each paragraph starts with a confident topic sentence

2. Then make sure you “prove” your topic sentence in each paragraph

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

The illustration below shows an example of how you might start annotating the unseen passage (which will essentially form your plan). This is taken from the June 2022 exam paper, on the topic of Dystopia, but the method applies to any of the topic areas: