How do you answer the OCR Section C comparison, the extended comparison of two unseen texts in different modes or contexts?
Comparing and contrasting texts (H470/01 Section C): the extended comparison of two unseen texts in different modes, genres or contexts, assessing AO1, AO3 and AO4, worth 36 marks, structured by idea with the texts woven together.
How to answer the OCR A-Level English Language Section C question (H470/01): the extended comparison of two unseen texts in different modes, genres or contexts, assessing AO1, AO3 and AO4, worth 36 marks, structured by idea with both texts woven together rather than handled one after the other.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
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What this dot point is asking
OCR Component 01, Section C, Comparing and contrasting texts, prints two unseen texts (often in different modes, genres or contexts) and asks for an extended comparison. It is the largest task on Paper 1 at 36 marks, and it adds AO4 (connections across texts) to the AO1 and AO3 of close analysis. This dot point covers the task, the decisive skill of structuring by idea rather than text by text, and how to keep both texts live so AO4 is genuinely satisfied.
The answer
Section C succeeds when it compares two texts by idea, grounding every comparative point in precise analysis (AO1) read against context (AO3) and holding both texts in view at once (AO4). The unifying idea is integrated comparison: the texts must be in dialogue throughout, so the reader sees how they are alike and different and why, rather than reading two separate analyses bolted together.
Structure by idea, not by text
The single biggest lever on the mark is structure. A text-by-text answer (all of Text A, then all of Text B) describes two texts but barely compares them, and AO4 is the casualty. An idea-led answer organises around points of comparison, and each paragraph holds both texts: how each handles audience, how each represents the subject, how each is structured. Within the paragraph the texts are woven together, with features from both as evidence.
Use context to explain the comparison (AO3)
A comparison is more than spotting that both texts use questions. The marks come from explaining what a similarity or difference reveals, and context is the key. Two texts may use direct address differently because one is an intimate letter and the other a public broadcast; the difference in mode explains the difference in language. Always read the comparative point against the texts' audiences, purposes, modes and genres.
Ground every point in features (AO1)
Comparison must rest on close analysis at the language levels, or it floats into generalisation. Each comparative point names features from both texts with precise terminology and reads their effect. The same feature-to-effect discipline as elsewhere applies, doubled across two texts.
Examples in context
The texts in the exam are unseen, so the moves below are illustrative.
A model comparative paragraph. "Both texts address their readers directly, but the relationship each constructs differs with its mode. The blog post uses inclusive deixis and colloquial lexis ('we have all been there') to build a peer-to-peer intimacy suited to an online readership choosing to read, whereas the public-health leaflet uses imperatives and formal Latinate vocabulary to construct an authoritative, institutional voice addressing a mass audience it must instruct. The shared strategy of direct address thus produces opposite relationships, because the contexts, voluntary reading versus official instruction, pull in different directions." This holds both texts live and explains the difference by context.
A weak approach upgraded. A text-by-text answer might analyse the blog's features in full, then the leaflet's. Upgraded, it is reorganised by idea, so each paragraph compares the two on a single axis (address, representation, structure), and AO4 is satisfied by sustained, integrated comparison.
Try this
Q1. Which objective is unique to Section C on Paper 1, and how is it satisfied? [2 marks]
- Cue. AO4 (connections across texts), satisfied by genuine, integrated comparison with both texts live in the same paragraph, not text-by-text analysis.
Q2. Why is "both texts use rhetorical questions" a weak comparative point? [2 marks]
- Cue. It notes a shared feature but does not explain what the similarity or difference reveals about how each text makes meaning in its context.
Q3. Compare and contrast how two unseen texts use language to represent their subject, in relation to their different contexts. [18 marks]
- What the marker wants. An idea-led comparison weaving both texts together (AO4), grounded in precise analysis at the language levels (AO1) and read against each text's context (AO3).
A note on the task
This guide is AI-written and not individually human-reviewed. The exact format and mark allocation of Section C are set out in the current OCR H470 specification and its sample materials and past papers, so revise from those. The idea-led comparison method transfers across every pair of Section C texts.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of OCR exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
OCR H470/01 2019, Section C18 marksCompare and contrast how the two texts use language to represent their subject, in relation to their different contexts. [the 18-mark half of a Section C task]Show worked answer →
This models Section C, the extended comparison of two unseen texts. (Section C is worth 36 marks; this question scopes a self-contained 18-mark version for practice within the schema cap.) The assessed objectives are AO1 (methods and terminology), AO3 (how context and features construct meaning) and AO4 (connections across the texts).
AO4 is the distinctive objective here and the one most often underdone. It rewards genuine comparison: the texts must be woven together around shared ideas, not analysed one after the other. Every comparative point should hold both texts in view ("where Text A does X, Text B does Y, because their contexts differ in Z").
AO1 and AO3 supply the analytical substance: precise analysis at the language levels, read against each text's audience, purpose, mode and genre. A strong answer is organised by points of comparison, each grounded in features from both texts.
The discipline is to compare, not to summarise two texts in turn. A text-by-text structure starves AO4 and caps the mark, however good the individual analysis.
OCR H470/01 2021, Section C18 marksCompare the ways the two texts construct a relationship with their audiences. [the 18-mark half of a Section C task]Show worked answer →
A second Section C comparison, steered towards audience relationship. AO1, AO3 and AO4 are assessed.
A high-band answer is built on points of comparison about how each text addresses and positions its reader (mode of address, formality, deixis, pragmatic strategies), weaving the two texts together within each paragraph and explaining differences by reference to context (a private letter versus a public broadcast, say). The comparison is led by ideas, with features from both texts as evidence.
Reward AO4 for sustained, integrated comparison; AO3 for reading the construction of meaning against context; AO1 for precise method and terminology. Weaker answers compare superficially ("both use questions"), analyse one text fully then the other, or list shared features without explaining what the similarity or difference reveals.
Related dot points
- Language under the microscope (H470/01 Section A): the close analysis of an unseen text in two directed parts (a and b), each targeting a specified language level, AO1 and AO3 assessed, 10 marks per part (20 total).
How to answer the OCR A-Level English Language Section A question, Language under the microscope (H470/01): the directed close analysis of an unseen text in two parts, each targeting a specified language level, assessed on AO1 and AO3, worth 10 marks per part.
- Context, audience, purpose and mode: how contextual factors shape language, the spoken-written mode continuum, and using context to analyse the construction of meaning (AO3, the dominant analytical objective across H470).
How contextual factors shape language for OCR A-Level English Language (H470): audience, purpose, genre and the spoken-written mode continuum, and how to use context to drive AO3 analysis of the construction of meaning, the analytical objective that underpins every task.
- Representation and meaning: how language constructs representations of people, groups, events and ideas through lexis, grammar and pragmatics, and analysing representation as a made, ideological choice (AO3 across H470).
How language constructs representations for OCR A-Level English Language (H470): how lexis, grammar and pragmatics represent people, groups, events and ideas, the concept of representation as a made and ideological choice, and analysing it as central to AO3 across the qualification.
- Pragmatics and discourse: implicature and Grice's maxims, politeness and face, speech acts and deixis, and discourse structure including cohesion, turn-taking and adjacency pairs, and reading their effect (AO1 and AO3 across H470).
How to analyse a text at the level of pragmatics and discourse for OCR A-Level English Language (H470): implicature and Grice's maxims, politeness and face, speech acts and deixis, and discourse structure including cohesion, turn-taking and adjacency pairs, with the move from feature to effect.
- Lexis and semantics: analysing word choice, word classes, semantic fields, connotation and denotation, formality and register, and moving from a lexical feature to its effect on meaning (AO1 and AO3 across H470).
How to analyse a text at the level of lexis and semantics for OCR A-Level English Language (H470): word classes, semantic fields, connotation and denotation, formality and register, and the move from a lexical feature to its effect on meaning, the core of AO1 and AO3 in every analytical task.
Sources & how we know this
- OCR A-Level English Language (H470) specification — OCR (2015)
- OCR H470/01 Exploring language mark scheme (June 2017) — OCR (2017)