British Novel: How To Get Full Marks (Edexcel GCSE English Literature)
Revision Note
Written by: Nick Redgrove
Reviewed by: Kate Lee
British Novel: How To Get Full Marks
Regardless of which British novel you are studying as part of the Edexcel GCSE English Literature exam, the type of question set in Section B will always be the same. In this section you are required to answer one essay question from a choice of two on your studied text. 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
Some questions on your exam paper have a dominant assessment objective. For Section B the main assessment objectives are AO1 and AO3, but you are also assessed on AO4. AO1 assesses you on the way you present your response: your essay needs to be structured in an accurate and coherent manner and offer interpretations of the text. AO3 requires you to show an understanding of the relationships between the novel and the context in which it was written. AO4 assesses your use of spelling, punctuation and grammar.
The following sections explore the skills required for two of these AOs in more detail:
Interpretation of a text (AO1) - 40%
Context (AO3) - 40%
Interpretation of a text (AO1)
In Section B you are required to focus on the plot, setting(s), character(s), theme(s) of the novel you have studied. For your response, you need to determine which parts of the novel you will refer to in your answer. AO1 requires you to develop an informed personal response while maintaining a critical style throughout. Well selected references should be an integral part of your response.
When approaching Section B, it is important to consider the quotation that you have been given at the beginning of the question. The intention of the quotation is to prompt your thinking and to give you a starting point for your answer. Below is an example of this from the novel Animal Farm:
“Mr Jones, although a hard master, had been a capable farmer, but of late he had fallen on evil days.” Explore how humans are presented in the novel. We will now explore some comments that you might make about this novel, focusing on the following part of the quotation: “Mr Jones… had fallen on evil days.” |
Quotation Prompt | Supporting quote(s) | Interpretations (AO1) |
“Mr Jones… had fallen on evil days” | “He seldom fed them, and let their coats grown thin for lack of attention” “Mr Jones… had locked the hen-houses for the night, but was too drunk to remember to shut the pop-holes” | Mr Jones represents the oppressive human regime that the animals overthrow in their pursuit of freedom and equality. Orwell portrays him as a cruel and neglectful master, who mistreats the animals and exploits their labour. Mr Jones is immediately characterised as irresponsible and self-indulgent and “too drunk to remember to shut the pop-holes”. Further, his fondness of alcohol also signifies his weakness, which ultimately enables the animals to drive him off his farm. Jones is the cause of the revolution and his neglect and brutality towards his animals is portrayed as unpardonable. |
When approaching AO1, you need to ensure your response keeps a clear focus on the question. Your textual references should be accurate and discerning and fully support the points you make. Any quotations you choose to use should always be directly relevant to the focus of the question, but you don’t always need to use quotations to score highly for AO1: referring to plot points can be just as successful. Below is an example of how you might use both direct quotations and textual references to support a wider argument, again using the novel Animal Farm.
“Snowball was a more vivacious pig than Napoleon, quicker in speech and more inventive, but was not considered to have the same depth of character.“ How is Snowball important in Animal Farm? | |
AO1: Interpretations of the novel | Orwell presents Snowball as an important character in Animal Farm as he follows the tenets and thinking of Old Major and devotes himself to developing the animals’ intellectual, physical and moral lives. Snowball is depicted as the animal most in agreement with Old Major’s philosophy. He makes many attempts to use his knowledge to the other animals’ advantage, for example: “Snowball read it aloud for the benefit of the others.” Snowball is an important character as Orwell depicts him as an articulate orator who is skilled at putting his ideas across to the animals. As a character, he is a much more eloquent communicator than Napoleon, as evidenced through the quote: “a more vivacious pig than Napoleon, quicker in speech and more inventive”. The inventiveness of his imagination is evident in both his long-term vision of a golden age and in practical details such as building a windmill, which indicate that he is inspirational and forward-thinking. It is Snowball who suggests the building of the windmill to help aid food production, run machinery, produce electricity and to give the animals more leisure time. |
The examiner is looking for you to present a personal judgement on your novel, and this needs to be evidenced by references to the novel. Throughout your response you should aim to adopt a critical and mature style so that you demonstrate a perceptive understanding of your text. You should also aim to add your own interpretations and ensure that all of your points are fully developed. Below is an example of how you can extend your point to add your own interpretations and judgements:
AO1: Interpretations of the novel | Snowball is also an important character within the novel as Napoleon uses him as a scapegoat, blaming him for anything that goes wrong on the farm: “Snowball had… introduced poison into Napoleon’s food”. Further, the events of The Battle of the Cowshed are rewritten and Snowball’s legacy is almost entirely forgotten. Napoleon convinces the animals that Snowball was never brave during the battle and was actually on Mr Jones's side. Napoleon ensures that Snowball’s ideas become misappropriated and his character denigrated. While Orwell presents Snowball positively, he is not an idealised character and he has his own flaws. He exploits the other animals for his own gain when he fails to say anything about taking the milk and apples for the pigs. However, his importance as a character lies in the fact that he is still intended to be presented as a better alternative to Napoleon. |
Context (AO3)
It is important to keep in mind that the Post-1914 question has a maximum of 16 marks available for context. Therefore, you must integrate contextual comments throughout your response. If you understand how to incorporate contextual understanding of your studied novel effectively into your essay, it can boost your mark in AO1 and help you create a more sophisticated and conceptualised response. There are different kinds, or categories, of context which affect a writer’s work and the reader’s response to it.
How to approach context | |
Understand that context is about understanding ideas and perspectives | Ensure your exploration of context is linked to the themes and ideas the writer is exploring in the novel and the question you have been set |
Imbed social, cultural and historical contextual comments throughout your response, rather than including them as a bolt-on section at the end of your paragraph | Context needs to relate to the point being discussed |
Examiner Tips and Tricks
It is important to remember the way in which texts are received and engaged with by different readers, at different times. When you consider context, you may wish to consider the similarities or differences within social and cultural contexts or the literary context of the novel, such as literary movements or genres. The historical setting, time and location of the text can also be significant and could form part of your response.
It is important that your approach to context illustrates how that character or event in your chosen novel reflects or challenges social, political or historical perceptions. Your textual analysis and discussion of context need to be balanced and relate to each other.
As an example, we will explore the same question above (“How is Snowball important in Animal Farm?”) and consider contextual points which could be included in your response to this question.
How is Snowball important in Animal Farm? | |
AO3: Context | Orwell uses Animal Farm as an allegory for the Russian Revolution. The animals’ dissatisfaction with their lives represents the struggle of the working-class, which leads to the Rebellion and a brief period of equality. Snowball is important in the novel as Orwell uses his character to signify the senselessness of electing principled figures to positions of power and he serves as a reminder that it is power itself that corrupts. The treatment of Snowball and Napoleon’s abuse of his power echoes the historical reality of Stalin killing Trotsky, creating a dictatorship. While Stalin continued his authoritarian rule, the Russian people suffered greatly. Furthermore, the dystopian nature of the novel shows that the Rebellion and subsequent control by Napoleon not only failed, but destroyed many of its central characters, including Snowball. |
Examiner Tips and Tricks
AO2 (language analysis) is not assessed in Section B. Setting aside AO2 gives you a greater opportunity to build and sustain a discussion focusing upon the meaning, context and interpretations of your chosen novel, without having to interrupt the continuity of your response in order to “step aside” and demonstrate AO2. However, if you discuss, for example, narrative devices or structure in your chosen texts, such discussion will be rewarded under AO1.
Integrating AO1 and AO3
In responding to the question, it is vital that you imbed social, cultural and historical contextual comments throughout your response. Context must always be interspersed throughout your response and it must relate to the point being discussed.
Below is an example of separate AO1 and AO3 comments which you might make in reference to the theme of propaganda in Animal Farm and how it is used to control the other animals on the farm.
AO1 Comments | AO3 Comments |
Orwell depicts the animals being manipulated by common propaganda techniques, including songs, slogans and ever-changing information. Squealer is portrayed as a skilful orator and he manipulates language to oppress the other animals on the farm, for example: “The others said of Squealer that he could turn black into white.” Squealer is presented as a propagandist for the pigs and his function in the novel is to spread misinformation. He deceptively limits the animals’ understanding of events on the farm and tries to mitigate any potential challenges to the elite’s authority. He is also used to create and maintain distance between the animals and Napoleon. Orwell portrays him as adept at dealing with lies, half-truths or deliberate omissions and his propaganda is used to instil fear so that the animals conform. Orwell uses his character to create self-doubt and a sense of hopelessness among the animals. | During the 20th century, governments increasingly began to explore the possibility of influencing public opinion for their own gain. Orwell was very critical of the use of propaganda and censorship to persuade the masses, as he believed it could be used to manipulate and suppress information. This theme is explored in the novel principally through the character of Squealer, who is adept in the art of propaganda and spreading misinformation. Further, the continuous alteration of the Seven Commandments demonstrates how those in control of information can manipulate the rest of the population. |
Below is an example of how you might form these AO1 and AO3 points into an integrated and coherent paragraph:
Orwell depicts the animals being manipulated by common propaganda techniques, including songs, slogans and ever-changing information. Squealer is portrayed as a skilful orator and he manipulates language to oppress the other animals on the farm, for example: “The others said of Squealer that he could turn black into white.” Squealer is presented as a propagandist for the pigs and his function in the novel is to spread misinformation. During the 20th century, governments increasingly began to explore the possibility of influencing public opinion for their own gain. Orwell was critical of the use of propaganda and censorship to persuade the masses, as he believed it could be used to manipulate and suppress information. This theme is explored in the novel principally through the character of Squealer, who is adept in the art of propaganda and spreading misinformation. He deceptively limits the animals’ understanding of events on the farm and tries to mitigate any potential challenges to the elite’s authority. He is also used to create and maintain distance between the animals and Napoleon. Orwell portrays him as adept at dealing with lies, half-truths or deliberate omissions and his propaganda is used to instil fear so that the animals conform. Orwell uses his character to create self-doubt and a sense of hopelessness among the animals. Further, the continuous alteration of the Seven Commandments demonstrates how those in control of information can manipulate the rest of a population. |
Below is another example of how you might form AO1 and AO3 points (using the question about Mr Jones above) into an integrated and coherent paragraph:
Mr Jones represents the oppressive human regime that the animals overthrow in their pursuit of freedom and equality. Orwell portrays him as a cruel and neglectful master, who mistreats the animals and exploits their labour. Mr Jones is immediately characterised as irresponsible and self-indulgent and “too drunk to remember to shut the pop-holes”. Further, his fondness of alcohol also signifies his weakness which ultimately enables the animals to drive him off his farm. Mr Jones symbolises the oppressive Tsarist regime in Russia before the Revolution of 1917, and his character embodies the exploitation and mistreatment of the working class by the ruling elite. Orwell uses Mr Jones to demonstrate how leaders become irrelevant once removed from their position of authority. Mr Jones is the cause of the revolution and his neglect and brutality towards his animals is unpardonable. |
Examiner Tips and Tricks
It is worth remembering that AO3 (context) carries a notional 40% of the marks. This does not mean that nearly half of your response needs to be solely contextual material. Context should be used sparingly to inform and support a literary response, rather than being included in “bolt-on” chunks for its own sake.
Further, the emphasis on context can enable you to write about popular contemporary issues of particular interest to you. Such an approach is recommended, as long as it remains relevant and focused on the terms of the chosen question and on the requirements of the assessment objectives.
Steps for success
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:
Read the question carefully and highlight the focus of the question:
Ensure you have identified what the theme is and your position in relation to it
Plan your answer:
Start by deciding on your argument in relation to the given quotation and the focus of the question
Write an introductory statement which demonstrates to the examiner that you have understood the focus of the question (AO1)
Select any quotations or close textual references you will be using in your response
Consider different interpretations of the text
Include comments on context in your plan in order to integrate these throughout your response (AO3)
Follow your plan and write your response:
Ensure each paragraph starts with a confident sentence which sets out the main idea discussed in that paragraph
Then flesh out each paragraph with a series of “sub-points” which develop your argument
Re-read and check your work for overall sense and accuracy
Ensure you have used accurate spelling, punctuation and grammar throughout your response (AO4)
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