Edexcel A-Level English Literature: coursework and core skills overview quiz quiz

Five

Three

Four

Six

A closed-book timed examination answering a single question on one prescribed set text from the anthology

An independent comparison of two texts you choose, on a focused question, assessed on all five objectives

A multiple-choice test on plot details, character names and dates drawn from a list of compulsory set texts

A short spoken oral presentation delivered to the class and marked only by your own classroom teacher

It is far quicker and easier for an examiner to mark, so it tends to attract more generous marks overall

It lets you write about fewer texts, which means there is much less reading and preparation to do beforehand

It allows depth and integrated comparison within the word count, whereas a broad question forces a thin survey

It removes the need for close analysis, letting you summarise the plots of both texts rather than examining method

The sheer number of quotations packed in, since more textual evidence automatically demonstrates wider connections

The length of the introduction, because a longer opening signals to the examiner that comparison will follow

The choice of font and presentation, as a clearly formatted essay reads as a more sophisticated comparison

An integrated, idea-led structure that compares both texts within each section

Deploying a defensible interpretation to develop your argument and testing it against the evidence

Naming as many critics and theorists as possible, since a longer list of authorities widens the range of readings

Asserting that every possible reading is equally valid, so no interpretation can ever be challenged by the text

Avoiding any mention of other readings, keeping the essay focused on a single fixed meaning for both texts

Critics are not allowed in coursework at all, so any reference to one will lose marks under the assessment rules

AO5 credits using the interpretation against the text, not attaching a name to a point

It simply uses too many words, eating into a tight word count that should be spent on quotation and analysis

Critics are almost always wrong about the texts, so citing one weakens rather than strengthens your own argument

A particular type of embedded quotation chosen to show off the range of textual evidence in an essay

A concise summary of the plot that frames the essay by establishing what happens in each of the two texts

An interpretive framework, such as feminist or Marxist criticism, that supplies questions to ask of a text

A grammar and punctuation rule that governs how quotations from primary texts must be set out in the essay

AO3 and AO4

AO4 and AO5

AO2 and AO3

AO1 and AO2

The significance and influence of the contexts in which texts are written and received

Only the precise date a text was first written, with no attention to how later readers received it

The plot of the text, retold in detail so the examiner can follow the events of the narrative

The number of characters and settings, counted up to show the scale and ambition of each chosen text

To avoid writing too much, since decoding the task lets you work out the minimum length you can get away with

Different components emphasise different AOs, so knowing the emphasis tells you where to direct your effort

To work out which objectives you can safely skip, concentrating only on the two most heavily weighted ones

To decide which texts to choose, because the wording of the task secretly tells you the set books to compare

Only a single similarity between the texts, since a thesis built on shared features keeps the comparison tidy

The exam board and component code, to confirm the essay is being written under the correct specification

A genuine connection and a difference, plus the line of argument

The number of texts being compared, signalling to the examiner the scope of reading behind the essay

As separate self-contained sections at the end, so each objective can be addressed cleanly one after another

Only in the introduction, where naming the context and a critic up front frees the body to focus on close analysis

Never, to save space, so the tight word count can be devoted entirely to quotation and method instead

Integrated into the comparison so each supports the argument