OCR A-Level English Literature: exam technique overview quiz quiz

It does not change revision at all, since the texts are available in the exam room

Because you are allowed to take in your own annotated notes and a clean copy of the text

Because precise quotations are not needed in the essays, so only a sense of the plot matters

With no text in the room, every quotation and key moment must come from memory

Short, precise quotations organised by theme and tagged with the method each shows

Long passages copied out in full so that the surrounding context is always available

Only the opening lines of the text, since these are the easiest to commit to memory

A detailed summary of the plot, covering the main events of each act or chapter in turn

Lines are enough on their own, because simply reproducing the right quotation earns the marks

The marks are for analysis and argument, so recall must deliver the method and effect, not just words

Analysis simply cannot be memorised in advance at all and must be invented entirely fresh in the exam room

Examiners only want accurate quotations and award no credit for any analysis built around them

Spend most of the available time on the first task and then rush through whatever is left on the second

Spend most of the time on your favourite task and give the one you dislike whatever remains

Roughly evenly, around 70 to 75 minutes per equally weighted task, with reading and planning time

There is no real time limit, so you can take as long as you like on each of the two tasks

Choosing one long quotation to anchor the whole essay around

Writing a long and detailed introduction before any analysis

Listing every technique you can find in the text or extract

Framing a thesis: a clear position the essay will argue

Testing a contestable view across the text and exploring interpretations to a judgement

Simply agreeing with the printed view and gathering evidence that supports it from the text

Summarising the printed view in your own words and then moving on to a general essay plan

Ignoring the printed view entirely and writing the essay you had already prepared in advance

A whole-play essay ranging freely across the whole of the drama text from memory

The Shakespeare passage question: close analysis of the extract, AO2 dominant

A comparison of the set play with a second pre-1900 text studied alongside it

A non-examined coursework task completed and marked outside of the examination

A close reading of a single text with no second text involved at all

A context-led, integrated comparison, AO3 dominant

A passage analysis confined entirely to one printed extract

A multiple-choice task testing recall of context and plot

A clear introduction, a developed body of several paragraphs, and a firm conclusion

A quotation from the text, a paraphrase of what it means, and your personal opinion of it

Evidence (embedded quotation), method (the technique), effect (what it does to meaning)

The relevant context, a summary of the plot, and a description of the main characters

They are not actually any better at all; long, dropped-in quotations are the ones preferred by examiners every time

They look more impressive on the page and so persuade the examiner of wider reading and effort

They fill more space on the page, which helps a candidate reach the expected length more quickly

They keep the prose fluent and the focus on analysis, and are easier to recall and harder to leave unanalysed

Coherent, accurate written expression and the apt, precise use of terminology

The sheer length of the essay alone, regardless of how well it is actually written

The total number of quotations packed into the essay, whether or not they are analysed

An informal, conversational style that reads as though you were talking to the examiner