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Literary Analysis Skills

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do you analyse the ways meanings are shaped in a literary text (AO2), moving from a named feature to its effect across prose, poetry and drama?

Analysing form, structure and language (AO2): the core close-reading skill of moving from a named method to its effect on meaning, applied to the narrative method of prose, the form and sound of poetry, and the dramatic method of plays.
How to analyse the ways meanings are shaped in texts (AO2) for WJEC A-Level English Literature. Covers the move from a named method to its effect on meaning, and how that close-reading skill applies across the narrative method of prose, the form and sound of poetry, and the dramatic method of plays.
14 min answer →

What are the five assessment objectives AO1 to AO5 in WJEC A-Level English Literature, and how do you know which ones a given question rewards?

The assessment objectives (AO1 to AO5): what each objective rewards in WJEC A-Level English Literature, how they are distributed across the units, and how to read a question to see which objectives it targets.
What the five assessment objectives AO1 to AO5 reward in WJEC A-Level English Literature. Covers the meaning of each objective (response, method, context, connection, interpretation), how they are distributed across the units, and how to read a question to target the right objectives.
13 min answer →

How do you build an integrated comparison between literary texts (AO4), holding both texts against each other rather than describing them in turn?

Comparing literary texts (AO4): the skill of building one integrated argument across two texts, organising by comparative points, weighing similarities and differences in method, and signalling connections explicitly rather than writing two separate accounts.
How to compare literary texts (AO4) in WJEC A-Level English Literature. Covers building one integrated argument across two texts, organising by comparative points, weighing similarities and differences in method, and using explicit connectives, across the poetry comparison, the unseen comparison and the Prose Study.
13 min answer →

How do you engage different interpretations of a text (AO5), using competing critical readings to deepen an argument rather than name-dropping critics?

Engaging different interpretations (AO5): exploring texts informed by more than one critical reading, weighing a quoted 'view' as contested, and using the clash of interpretations to deepen an argument, most prominently in the A2 Shakespeare whole-play essay.
How to engage different interpretations (AO5) in WJEC A-Level English Literature. Covers exploring texts informed by more than one critical reading, weighing a quoted critical 'view' as contested, and using the clash of interpretations to deepen an argument rather than listing critics, most prominently in the A2 Shakespeare essay.
13 min answer →

How do you use the significance and influence of context (AO3) to deepen a reading, without lapsing into detachable historical background?

Using literary context (AO3): deploying the contexts of a text's production and reception - period, social, biographical, literary and the context of reading - to deepen an interpretation, woven into the argument rather than added as background.
How to use the significance and influence of context (AO3) in WJEC A-Level English Literature. Covers the kinds of context (period, social, biographical, literary, context of reception), and the skill of weaving context into an interpretation to deepen it rather than bolting on detachable historical background.
13 min answer →