Comparative analysis (Edexcel A-Level English Language and Literature) quiz

AO1, AO2 and AO5 (creative writing)

AO4 and AO5 only, with no AO3

AO3 (context) on its own

AO1, AO2, AO3 and AO4

Connections across texts, informed by linguistic and literary concepts and methods

The quality of a candidate's own original creative writing produced for the exam

Spelling, punctuation and grammar only, with no attention paid to comparison at all

The overall length of the essay and how many words the candidate manages to write

Analyses one text fully on its own, then briefly mentions the other afterwards

Holds both texts in view in the same sentence and compares their methods

Only describes the topics the two texts happen to share, without their methods

Avoids comparative connectives so the two texts are never linked in a sentence

The shared subject matter or content of the two texts

The number of pages each of the two texts runs to

How the texts make meaning (methods)

The birthplaces and biographies of the two authors

When and by whom a text was originally written and first published

The typeface and font in which a text happens to be printed

The plot of a text and the sequence of events that it narrates

How audiences, then and now, encounter, interpret and value a text

Weaving context into the analysis of a feature where it changes the reading

Writing a separate, detached paragraph of historical background near the start

Listing the relevant dates and events at the very beginning of the essay

Avoiding context altogether and focusing only on the words on the page

One text analysed fully on its own first, and only then the other text afterwards as well

Points of comparison (aspects of the theme), analysing both texts together at each

The plot order of the longer of the two texts, following its events in sequence

A list of the literary devices found, taken one device at a time in turn

Ignore the difference in form between the prose text and the poem entirely

Only analyse the prose text in close detail and leave the poem almost entirely to one side throughout

Be alert to how each form shapes the theme (narrative method versus formal and figurative method)

Compare the page counts and word lengths of the prose text and the poem

Examiners simply prefer shorter answers and mark them more generously

Only the first of the two texts actually matters to the final mark awarded

Balance is just a stylistic preference of the marker, and not a genuine requirement

Section B assesses both texts equally, so under-covering one weakens the comparison

The comparative sentence that holds both texts together

The whole essay taken together as a single unit of comparison

The introduction on its own, where the comparison is set up

A single quotation drawn from just one of the two texts