Exam skills overview quiz - OCR GCSE English Literature quiz

One single component lasting three hours and worth all of the marks

Three separate components of one hour each, every one worth a third

Two components of 90 minutes each, together worth the whole GCSE

Two components, each two hours and 80 marks

AO1 and AO2

AO3 and AO4

AO2 and AO3

AO1 and AO4

Every section of both of the two components on the paper

Section B of each component (the 19th century novel and Shakespeare)

Only the poetry section, where you compare two printed poems

Only the modern prose text studied in Section A of the first component

As a separate paragraph of history bolted on at the end of the essay

Only in the introduction, before you begin any of the actual analysis

As a clause embedded inside analysis where it changes the reading

It is not assessed at all in either of the two written components

On the Shakespeare play studied in Section B

On the 19th century novel you have read in class

On the modern prose or drama text in Section A

On the unseen extract and the unseen poem

Point, evidence, analysis (method and effect), link

Introduction, then a body, then a conclusion, then a short summary

A quotation, then another quotation, then a third, and then a conclusion

Context first, then a plot retelling, then your opinion, then a quotation

It is much shorter, so you can finish the whole answer with plenty of time to spare

It compares both texts in every paragraph, showing the relationship between them

It analyses only one of the two texts in real depth and ignores the other one

It avoids using quotations from either text, which saves you having to memorise them

They simply look more impressive to the examiner than shorter quotations would

They are required by the exam board rules, so any longer ones would lose you marks

They can be reproduced accurately under pressure and serve more than one question

They need no analysis at all once you have written them down in your answer

Using the longest and most complicated words that you possibly can

Writing as fast as you possibly can to get as many words down

Avoiding using any quotations so there is nothing to copy wrongly

Proofreading: reserving time to read back and fix careless slips

It needs no memorising, so timed practice on unfamiliar poems improves the reading skill quickly

It is worth by far the most marks of any question on either of the two written components

It is the only open book question, so you may bring your annotated copies of the poems into the exam

It has no assessment objectives attached to it, so almost any sensible answer will score well