ENGLISH

LITERATURE
NEW SPECIFICATION
B
 NEW AOs IN BRIEF
• AO1: different types of response, quality of
writing, terminology
• AO2: analysis of form, structure and language
• AO3: connections and comparisons between
different literary texts, informed by
interpretations of other readers
• AO4 : significance of contexts in which
literary texts are written and received
 A Note on Context (1)
• In this specification we see contexts arising out of the
text and its interpretation rather than being introduced
in addition to it
• In this specification we look especially for the
cultural, literary, linguistic contexts that come out of
studying genres
• We also look especially for contexts of reception
 A Note on Context (2)
• Where contexts are needed they will arise
from the questions being asked
• We do NOT want ‘bolted on’ context which
gives irrelevant authorial biography
• We do NOT want ‘bolted on’ context which
gives generalised and ‘wrong’ notions of
history and historical periods
 At a glance: Unit 1
Aspects of Narrative
• Examination: 2 hrs Open Book
• 60% of total AS marks : 30% of total A Level marks
• All AOs tested
• 4 texts for study: 2 x novel ( at least one post 1990)
and 2 x poetry 1800-1945
• 2 sections, one question from each section.
• Section A will involve close analysis of aspects of
narrative in one text. One question per text in two parts.
• Section B will involve writing about an aspect of
narrative across three other texts. Choice of two
questions.
 UNIT 1

ASPECTS OF NARRATIVE
 Questions

• Questions in Unit 1 will follow a recognisable

format, but will not be written to an absolute
formula.

• All AOs are tested but not equally or at all

times

• The four AOs follow on the next slide

 The Assessment Objectives
AO1: Articulate creative, informed and relevant responses to
literary texts, using appropriate terminology and concepts, and
coherent, accurate written expression

AO2: Demonstrate detailed critical understanding in analysing the

ways in which structure, form and language shape meanings in
literary texts

AO3: Explore connections and comparisons between different

literary texts, informed by interpretations of other readers

AO4: Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence

of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received
 Exam: Section A
In Section A there will be questions on each of
the Prose texts (11) and Poetry texts (7) . This
is an Open Book exam. Students will answer
one question from 18.
 Exam: Section A
The Section A questions will be in two parts.
The first part will focus on a specific part of
the chosen set text. The second part will look
at a wider aspect of the text as a whole.
Each part will be marked separately out of 21.
Each part has different emphasis in terms of
AOs.
 Exam: Section A
• In part (a) AO2 is tested, with three descriptor
lines.
• In part (b) AO1, AO3 and AO4 are all tested
with one descriptor line each.
• As is always the case with this specification,
students do not need to be too concerned about
AOs. What they need to do is answer the
question.
Section A: question on a novel
Khaled Hosseini: Kite Runner

a) Write about the ways Hosseini opens the

story in Chapter 1. 21 marks
b) Some readers see the title Kite Runner as
representing a journey. What meanings can
you find in the title of the novel?
21 marks
Section A: question on poetry
text
Hardy (named poems)

a) What methods does Hardy use to create

settings in ‘The Darkling Thrush’ and ‘At
Castle Boterel’? 21 marks
b) ‘Hardy’s poems reveal a morbid
fascination with death.’ Write about this
view. 21 marks
 Poetry ‘texts’

Poetry ‘texts’ differ from prose in that they

range in number of poems within the text,
from one long poem, to several much shorter
ones.
There is no set rule as to how the poems will
be covered in the exam, beyond the guiding
principle that Section A will be specific and
Section B more general.
 Section B
In Section B there will be two questions, with
students choosing one. This time the AOs are
as follows:

• AO1 has one strand

• AO2 has two strands
• AO3 has three strands
• Note the absence here of AO4
 Section B: example
Write about the ways that writers aim to
make the beginnings of their texts exciting.
Refer to three texts you have studied.
42 marks
 Section B: method
With three texts to write about, students are
not expected to write equally about each one.
Note too that there is no requirement explicitly
to compare texts, so students are free to write
about each separately. The mark scheme
strand which mentions connections between
texts is being covered in the ways in which the
student writes about an aspect of narrative
across three texts.
 What do we mean by aspects of
narrative?
• Story: all the various events that are going to be shown

• Plot: the chain of causes and circumstances which

connect the various events and place then into some sort
of relationship with each other

• Narrative: involves how the events and causes are

shown, and the various methods used to do this showing.
Exploring aspects of narrative involves looking at what
the writer has chosen to include or not include, and how
this choice leads the reader to certain conclusions.
 Representation
You will notice above that the word ‘shown’ has
been used to describe the events in a story. This is
because all stories are a form of representation.
In terms of studying literature at AS level
students must grasp the idea of representation.
Characters in literary texts, whether novels, plays
or poems are not real. Nor are the things that the
characters do or say real. They are representations
of people living in a representational world.
 Some aspects to consider

• Settings refers to where the action is set, and

its significance beyond just being a place
where something happens.

• Time and sequence refers to the order in

which events are shown and so is a key part
of how narrative works.
 Some aspects to consider

• Characters and characterisation refers not just

to the people in the story but, much more
importantly, their character traits and how they
are revealed.

• Voices in stories can help to establish character

traits, and so are part of characterisation, but also
they enable authors to give information.
 Some aspects to consider
• The term point of view is used to help with the idea
that a story is told from certain standpoints or
perspectives. (Note here that the words used to
describe narrative are often derived from visual
metaphors)

• Destination can be used to mean that the story

reaches certain conclusions. Working out that the
story has moral messages, ideas which we are
expected to believe in, can lead to looking at the
ideology in the story.