| Preparation | How to answer | The Texts
Students must study one major text on its own, analysing it in detail. Texts from the Stand Alone list are also available for study in a comparative manner, so long as they are not studied as Stand Alone texts.
You are expected to have an in-depth knowledge of the text you have studied, as the question you answer could require you to write at some length on any of the following:
- Theme
- Plot
- Characters and relationships
- Social setting
- Narrative style
- Imagery and language
Preparation
- Know the main features or characteristics of the central characters well.
- Study the plot and how it develops in the text.
- Know how language and imagery are used to serve the writer's purpose.
- Study the principal quotations that describe the motivation of the characters, and the attitude of the writer to the characters and to the issues that are treated in the text.
How to answer a question on the study of a single text
- Rephrase the question. Sometimes it can help to formulate the task as a direct question.
- Take a definite stance on the question. Decide clearly whether you agree, partly agree or disagree with the question. You are free to take whatever stance you like, as long as you support it clearly with evidence and reference to the text.
- Your opening paragraph should state clearly, in one or two sentences, your position on the question and the direction your essay will take.
- Begin to organise your ideas before you start to write the essay. Jot down several points - six or seven - in note form. These will deal with different aspects of the question and will be constructed in paragraphs.
The Texts
Common level
Ordinary Level only
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