Comparative Analysis of Texts overview quiz - WJEC A-Level English Language and Literature quiz

One text analysed in isolation

Two texts of the same genre

Three texts of different genres, one of which is spoken language

Four texts all drawn from the same historical period

A shared connection of content, theme or style

An identical word count in each text

The same author writing all three texts

The same publisher releasing all three texts

Planning is discouraged because it wastes exam time

Annotating for connections and keying paragraphs to points of comparison keeps the answer connective

It lets you analyse only one of the three texts

It removes the need to read the spoken text

Structuring the answer by point of comparison

Bringing all three texts into dialogue in each paragraph

Weighing similarity against difference

Analysing the three texts one after another, text by text

AO5: exploring multiple interpretations of one text

AO4: exploring connections across texts

AO3: showing how contexts shape meaning, in isolation

AO1: terminology alone, with no analysis of effect

Because they only appear in carefully edited written texts

Because they are mistakes that should be corrected in analysis

Because spontaneous speech is unplanned and unedited, so they reveal real-time planning and stance

Because they have no meaning and can be ignored

Turn-taking and overlaps in dialogue

Chapter headings and page numbers

A justified right margin on the page

A formal bibliography of sources

Analysed in isolation and never linked to the written texts

Compared with the written texts through the spoken-spontaneity versus written-craft contrast

Treated as flawed writing to be corrected

Left out of the answer to save time

Title, length and font of the text

Price, format and place of sale

Author's age, nationality and education

Genre and its conventions, intended audience, and purpose

The level of formality and the variety of language suited to a context

The total number of words in a text

The list of characters in a literary text

The date on which a text was first published

By assuming bias without looking at the language

By counting the paragraphs in the text

From evaluative lexis, modality, selection of detail and pronoun use

By checking the text's publication date alone

So that stance is analysed from evidence rather than merely asserted

Because examiners ignore any discussion of viewpoint

Because bias can only be discussed in spoken texts

Because grounding claims is optional and rarely rewarded

Because all texts should be judged by a single fixed standard

Because each genre's conventions and register shape its handling of the shared concern

Because genre has no effect on a text's language

Because only the literary text's genre matters

Attempt to label every feature in all three texts

Analyse only the first text in full detail

Budget time so no text is neglected and select the most telling features

Spend all the time on the spoken text alone