Eduqas A-Level English Language and Literature: the integrated method and assessment objectives overview quiz quiz

Studying language and literature as two entirely separate and completely unrelated subjects

Combining the syllabuses of two different examination boards into one course

Reading every text with one combined toolkit drawn from both language and literature

Writing both creatively and analytically within the very same essay answer

It is written out as exactly one carefully balanced, complete and self-contained sentence

It uses at least three precise technical terms drawn from the toolkit

It quotes the whole of the line rather than a short phrase

You cannot cleanly split it into a 'language half' and a 'literature half'

Name the feature precisely (AO1), read the meaning it makes (AO2), illuminate by context (AO3) and interpretation (AO5)

Read the whole passage closely from start to finish, then summarise its central argument and finally draw a clear conclusion about it

Quote a relevant line from the text, paraphrase what it says and then evaluate its overall effect

Write an introduction setting out the argument, then the main body and then a clear conclusion

Memorising as many quotations as you possibly can and then reproducing them accurately under timed examination conditions

Applying integrated linguistic and literary concepts with the right terminology and coherent, accurate expression

Writing the single longest answer you can manage within the time available in the examination

Analysing the historical and social context of the text and nothing else besides that

AO2

AO3

AO4

AO1

Plot, character, setting, theme, narrative tone and overall authorial style

Metaphor, simile, symbol, imagery, rhythm and rhyme, the figurative devices

Introduction, rising development, central climax, falling resolution, coda and framing device

Lexis and semantics, grammar, phonology and prosody, pragmatics, discourse, graphology

Running a checklist dilutes the answer; reaching for the level that explains the effect keeps analysis precise

Because attempting to cover every single one of the six language levels is strictly against the examination rules

Because in practice only one of the six language levels is ever actually examined in the paper

Because selecting a few levels is simply much faster and easier to write under timed conditions

In a completely separate paragraph that is kept well apart from any of the linguistic analysis itself

Fused with the language levels, so a method and a precise linguistic feature are one observation

By simply naming the genre of the text and then quickly moving on

As a little decorative flourish added on after the main close reading is finished

Whether the context section runs to at least a full paragraph of sustained writing in the essay

Whether it includes a full and detailed account of the author's life and complete biography before the close analysis even begins

Whether the context changes the meaning of a specific feature; if deleting it leaves the analysis unchanged, it was a bolt-on

Whether it carefully lists the key dates and historical events surrounding the writing of the text

By listing as many named literary critics as you possibly can at every opportunity in the course of the whole essay

By boldly asserting a single confident reading of the text and defending it throughout

By avoiding interpretation altogether and sticking only to the plain facts of the text

Hold two or more readings live and use the tension to drive close analysis, deciding what the method supports

You cannot label any paragraph with a single objective; they reinforce one another in each point

Each one of the five objectives is given its own clearly labelled and entirely separate section of the essay

The essay addresses each of the objectives strictly in numerical order from AO1 through to AO5

Every single paragraph explicitly names all five of the assessment objectives in turn

The loading of the objectives is completely identical in every single task across the whole of the course and all of its components

AO4 dominates the comparisons and AO5 the interpretation-led and creative tasks, with AO1 and AO2 underpinning every point

Only AO1 and AO2 are ever assessed anywhere across the whole of the qualification

AO3 alone dominates every single component of the course exactly equally throughout