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EnglandEnglish LiteratureQuick questions
Component 02: Comparative and contextual study
Quick questions on Timing and structure for close reading: a complete answer under pressure - OCR A-Level English Literature
6short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is manage the time across the paper?Show answer
The paper is 2 hours 30 minutes for two 30-mark tasks. The clearest discipline is a roughly even split: about 70 to 75 minutes per section, with a few minutes at the start to read and plan and a moment at the end to check. The most common timing error is to over-invest in whichever section you meet first and leave the other rushed; since both are worth the same, neither can be sacrificed. Decide your split before you start and hold to it.
What is a model plan under time?Show answer
"Controlling idea: the passage builds dread through a narrator who notices too much. Plan: (1) opening, the over-precise voice establishes unease; (2) middle, the imagery of slight wrongness intensifies it; (3) end, the structure withholds a confrontation, leaving the dread sourceless. Time: 12 minutes to here, 55 to write, 3 to check, then Section B."
What is a weak approach upgraded?Show answer
A no-plan answer might start writing about the first interesting phrase and wander, then run out of time. Upgraded, two minutes of planning fix a controlling idea and a three-part structure tracking the passage, so the answer builds an argument and finishes on schedule. The wandering becomes a coherent, complete close reading.
What is q1?Show answer
How long is Component 02, and how should you split the time? [2 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
Why should you read the extract twice before writing? [2 marks]
What is q3?Show answer
Analyse an unseen extract, developing its central effect across the passage, in the time available. [30 marks]
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