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EnglandEnglish Language & LiteratureQuick questions
Component 02: The language of poetry and plays
Quick questions on Commanding the set play - OCR A-Level English Language and Literature
7short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
how does it fit the structure, develop a character, advance a theme, echo or contrast another scene?Show answer
This rehearsal embeds the play in memory and trains the balance the exam demands, so you neither stay trapped in the extract nor abandon close analysis for general comment.
What is build a tagged quotation bank?Show answer
Closed text means you quote from memory, so build a bank of short, precise quotations. Tag each by character (so you can evidence characterisation), by theme (so you can evidence a topic), and by the method it shows (so you know what each quotation lets you analyse). Favour brevity and method-bearing lines: a short utterance that carries a pragmatic or grammatical feature is worth more than a plot-summarising line. Rehearse the bank until recall is reliable under pressure.
What is rehearse the extract-to-whole-play move?Show answer
The strongest Section B answers anchor close analysis in the extract and reach across the play, so rehearse that move. Practise taking a scene, analysing its dramatic language and method closely, then connecting it outward: how does it fit the structure, develop a character, advance a theme, echo or contrast another scene? This rehearsal embeds the play in memory and trains the balance the exam demands, so you neither stay trapped in the extract nor abandon close analysis for general comment.
What is a method-bearing quotation?Show answer
"My bank tags a short line not just under 'the protagonist' but under 'face-threatening act', so when I deploy it I know at once what to analyse: the way it humiliates its target in the discourse. Tagged only by character, it would give me content; tagged by method, it gives me analysis." Tagging for analysis.
What is q1?Show answer
Why is mapping the whole play essential for a closed-text exam? [2 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
Why tag quotations by method as well as character and theme? [2 marks]
What is q3?Show answer
Explore how the playwright presents a central relationship, considering contexts. [32 marks]
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