Edexcel GCSE English Language Paper 2 Section A: reading non-fiction overview quiz quiz

A single 19th-century fiction extract taken from a classic novel of the period

An anthology of unseen poems linked by a common theme

One complete Shakespeare play studied in advance

Two unseen 20th and 21st century non-fiction texts, thematically linked

56 marks

24 marks

40 marks

96 marks

Every question in the section is set on Text 1, with Text 2 used only for Question 7

Questions 1 to 3 on Text 1, Questions 4 to 6 on Text 2, Question 7 on both

Questions 1 to 5 are all set on Text 2 only, with nothing on Text 1

Question 7 is set on Text 1 by itself, ignoring Text 2

Compare the writers' methods in close detail across both of the linked non-fiction texts

Evaluate how successfully Text 2 achieves its intended effect on the reader

Identify the similarities between the two texts (synthesis), with evidence from both

Write an extended transactional piece in response to the texts

AO1

AO2

AO3

AO4

Setting, Ideas, Themes, Events

Spelling, indentation, tense, expression

Structure, imagery, tone, effect

Sources, integration, theme, evidence

Describe each of the two texts entirely separately in its own block of paragraphs

Draw the two texts together, combining both in each point around a shared idea

Compare the writers' language and structural methods

Analyse just one of the two texts in real depth

Writing far too much and using up time better spent elsewhere

Supporting the point with a short quotation from the lines

Answering a related but different focus (the wrong thing)

Carefully reading only the named lines given

Naming the form of the text correctly is worth a separate mark in itself on the paper

It tells you the name of the author who wrote the text

It completely changes which mark scheme the examiner uses

It predicts the writer's purpose, tone and likely methods, sharpening every answer

Factual writing that uses literary techniques, such as autobiography or travel writing

Invented fiction that simply happens to be set in the real, recognisable present-day world

An extract taken from a published novel

A descriptive poem written about a real historical event

Because the mark scheme deliberately penalises any retrieval answer that is too long

To bank them quickly and protect time for the high-tariff Questions 3, 6 and 7

Because quotations are not allowed in the retrieval answers

Because the retrieval questions are always marked last

Identifying a writer's technique is never relevant or useful at any single point in the whole of Paper 2 at all

Spotting technique belongs only in Question 7a, the synthesis task, and nowhere else on the paper

Question 6 is AO4 (how well the effect succeeds); technique is AO2 and counts only when it supports a judgement

Technique analysis is simply too advanced for this paper