Responding to a literary text - CCEA

The material on this page is designed to help you with revision and preparation for your CCEA GCSE English Language exams. It applies to Unit 4, Section B, Task 2: Reading literary texts.

• Unit 4 is assessed by a written exam, worth 30% of your final mark
• There are three tasks (numbered 2, 3 and 4) in Section B of the Unit 4 exam, worth 62 of the 150 marks available
• In task two, you will be given two extracts from literary texts (eg novels)
• You will be expected to compare and contrast these two extracts and explain how the writers have achieved something in particular (eg created a sense of excitement, or presented interesting characters)

You can practice for your English Language GCSE exams with a range of CCEA past papers and mark schemes.

• Focus on how writers use language and structure to create meaning, not just what the story is about
• Before you begin writing your answer in an exam, spend five minutes highlighting or underlining important details and planning what to write
• Use short quotations from the text and explain how they support your ideas
• Structure your paragraphs clearly with a main point, evidence and explanation or analysis
• Compare characters by looking at how they’re described, the literary techniques used and the effect on the reader

In an analytical response, you should show how language and structure create meaning. You could also explore the effect on the reader. An analytical response uses evidence from the text to make clear points.

Whatever the focus of the task, aim to focus on HOW the writer has used specific techniques or choices to create meaning, rather than WHAT the text is saying or WHO it is about.

The key to giving a relevant response is to focus on the question. What are you being asked to do? Circle the key words in the question and remember your focus as you start reading the extract.

An exam question might focus on:

• characters
• narrative voice
• themes and ideas
• language
• structure
• the effect on the reader

The next stage is to annotate your extract and find evidence to support your answer. Highlight, circle or underline key parts of the text that you will be able to use as evidence for your response.

When looking at an extract, try and read it more than once. First read the entire extract from beginning to end and annotate any language or structural details that interest you. If you have time, do another read-through annotating other important words and phrases.

Use each paragraph to make at least one main point. A paragraph could contain:

• a link to the focus of the question – try and use the key word or phrase from the question
• some evidence from the text to support what you think – this will probably include something on language or structure
• a discussion of the evidence, and links to any other possible evidence

Using a few connectives could help link your ideas:

• Firstly…
• On the one hand…
• On the other hand…
• Similarly…
• In contrast…
• However…
• Alternatively…
• Finally…

There are lots of different ways to structure a paragraph when analysing fiction, but don’t be too tied down to one formula. It’s important to vary your structure depending on your ideas and how you choose to link evidence together.

Here are just a few common formulas to be aware of:

PEE point/evidence/explain

PEEL point/evidence/explain/link to point

PEA point/evidence/analysis

SEAL state your point/evidence/analyse/link

WET words/effect/techniques

RATS reader’s response/author’s intention/theme/structure

Think about which ones you find useful. What are the limitations of each approach?

To support your points, you need to use quotations and examples. Quotations should be kept short and to the point. Using just a few words is more powerful than copying out chunks of text: it shows you are being selective. You should also be careful to copy accurately.

Put the quotation inside your own sentence, rather than putting it in the middle of a page and then commenting on it. This is called embedding a quotation.

So rather than:

"He flew like a butterfly". This is an example of a simile, which shows that he was light and graceful.

Or:

The author uses similes, eg "he flew like a butterfly".

You would write:

The author uses the simile of the boy flying "like a butterfly" to convey the impression that he is light and graceful.

The words from the text are embedded as part of your sentence – they make sense as a whole.

Making the most of quotations

A close analysis of the language in the quotation can be used to support your point.

There are several ways you can do this:

• Focus on a word from the quotation and write about why it was chosen by the writer.
• Write about the connotationsof the word, eg the word ‘snake’ could have connotations of evil and might be used to create an ominous atmosphere.
• The context of a word will also be important when you are analysing its effect. How the word is used in the sentence and paragraph may affect the connotations of that word.
• The quotation may contain a metaphor, simile, or other language technique – what is the effect of the technique?
• Make sure you name the literary technique as part of your analysis.
• Remember that you don’t need to give a definition of the technique (just focus on the effect).
• Do the language choices in the quotation link to other parts of the extract? Can you see a pattern in the way the writer is using language?
• What is the reader’s response to the language in the quotation?

In Section B, Task 2 of the Unit 4 examination, you will be given two short extracts to read and write about. You will be asked to write a comparison of the texts with a specific focus.

You will have 26 minutes to read and analyse both texts and write a response.

In your analysis you should comment on and explain the effect of the following:

• Use of different language types – narrative, descriptive, dialogue
• Past or present tense
• First or third person
• Sentence lengths
• Punctuation used
• Tones (and how they change)
• Think about the author’s intention
• Look at specific vocabulary used including verbs, nouns, adverbs, adjectives
• Use of the senses
• Imagery used – simile, metaphor, personification
• Other devices such as repetition, onomatopoeia, alliteration, anaphora, hyperbole, rule of three, contrast

Remember to:

• Use connectives
• Consider both texts equally
• Give quotations from the passages in your answers
• Analyse/explain the effects of the techniques used
• Refer to the key terms of the question

When writing your answer for this task, the DEAL method can be a useful one to try:

DEAL

Device – Evidence – Analysis – Link (back to question)

• Device: Identify the language technique the writer uses, such as metaphor, simile or vivid imagery; you should be specific, not vague
• Evidence: Provide a quotation from the text to support your point; keep it short and precise
• Analyse: This is the most important part; explain the technique's connotations, its effect on the reader and why the writer chose to use it
• Link: Connect your idea back to the question, the overall effect and the writer's purpose

You may be familiar with other frameworks for analysing texts such as SQuID (Statement, Quote, Infer, Develop), which can also be useful.

You can find more detail on the SQuID method in our page on language and structure (part of Unit 1: Reading to access non-fiction and media texts).

Below are some exemplar sentences to help you answer comparison questions. Practising these types of sentences will help you become more confident and organised in your writing.

• Both texts create an air of… through their subject matter.

• Text A begins with… likewise Text B utilises the device of… to create…

• Text A start with… However, Text B differs in how it…

• Both texts use… which engages the reader as…

• Text A is written in the present tense but Text B uses the past tense. The effect of this is that Text A has a sense of immediacy whereas Text B is more reflective.

• Both texts are written in the first person which has the benefit of allowing the reader greater insight to the personal experience.

• The use of third person in both texts allows a broader and more unbiased view of the narrative.

• Text A is plot-driven whereas Text B focuses more on description, using sensory imagery to create an evocative scene for the reader.

• The wide variety of sentence lengths and sentence types in both texts sustain the reader’s interest throughout as each plot hurtles towards its climax.

• Both texts cleverly use punctuation to create an air of suspense. The use of ellipsis and exclamation marks in both (give example) create a tone of mystery.

• The string of questions in Text A lend a sense of uncertainty and confusion, effectively mirroring the character’s turmoil.

• The upbeat tone of Text A is quickly replaced by one of fear when… However, Text B employs a tone of fear from the outset, which is only compounded throughout.

Compare and contrast how the writers of Texts A and B have created their character. Present supporting evidence from both texts.

Text A

Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grind- stone, Scrooge! A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dogdays; and didn't thaw it one degree at Christmas.

External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty. Foul weather didn't know where to have him. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. They often "came down" handsomely, and Scrooge never did.

Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with gladsome looks, "My dear Scrooge, how are you? When will you come to see me?" No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o'clock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge. Even the blind men's dogs appeared to know him; and when they saw him coming on, would tug their owners into doorways and up courts; and then would wag their tails as though they said, "No eye at all is better than an evil eye, dark master!"

From A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens

Text B

This is the history of Silas Marner, until the fifteenth year after he came to Raveloe. The livelong day he sat in his loom, his ear filled with its monotony, his eyes bent close down on the slow growth of sameness in the brownish web, his muscles moving with such even repetition that their pause seemed almost as much a constraint as the holding of his breath. But at night came his revelry: at night he closed his shutters, and made fast his doors, and drew forth his gold. Long ago the heap of coins had become too large for the iron pot to hold them, and he had made for them two thick leather bags, which wasted no room in their resting-place, but lent themselves flexibly to every corner. How the guineas shone as they came pouring out of the dark leather mouths! The silver bore no large proportion in amount to the gold, because the long pieces of linen which formed his chief work were always partly paid for in gold, and out of the silver he supplied his own bodily wants, choosing always the shillings and sixpences to spend in this way. He loved the guineas best, but he would not change the silver - the crowns and half-crowns that were his own earnings, begotten by his labour; he loved them all. He spread them out in heaps and bathed his hands in them; then he counted them and set them up in regular piles, and felt their rounded outline between his thumb and fingers, and thought fondly of the guineas that were only half-earned by the work in his loom, as if they had been unborn children - thought of the guineas that were coming slowly through the coming years, through all his life, which spread far away before him, the end quite hidden by countless days of weaving. No wonder his thoughts were still with his loom and his money when he made his journeys through the fields and the lanes to fetch and carry home his work, so that his steps never wandered to the hedge-banks and the lane-side in search of the once familiar herbs: these too belonged to the past, from which his life had shrunk away, like a rivulet that has sunk far down from the grassy fringe of its old breadth into a little shivering thread, that cuts a groove for itself in the barren sand.

From Silas Marner, by George Eliot

Before you start writing your answer you should spend five minutes reading the extracts, highlighting/underlining anything you feel is important and planning what you will write. Think about how you can break down your answer into logical paragraphs and remember the importance of comparing the texts.

A good approach to begin with is to highlight any language or narrative techniques which relate to the key terms of the question. In the sample question above, the key terms you must think about are ‘compare’, ‘contrast’, ‘how … Texts A and B have created their character’.

Make sure you address each of these three areas and use the key terms throughout your answer. This helps to keep your response focused as you create your argument.

Here are some questions which may guide your reading of the texts:

• What are the extracts about?
• Where are the extracts set?
• How do the extracts start?
• What is the structure of each extract?
• Are there any links between the texts?
• How do the extracts engage the reader?
• How is character developed in the extracts?
• What is the tone and mood of the extracts?
• What narrative style is used? Is there an authorial voice?
• What linguistic devices are used in the extracts and why?
• What style of language and form is adopted by the writers?
• How do the authors use punctuation? What is the effect?
• How do the extracts end?

It is also important to include comments on the effects of the writer’s craft and the use of language and stylistic devices. Here are some ideas to look for:

• structure of the text - for example beginnings, climax, sequential/chronologicalordering, flashback, conclusion
• descriptive techniques - for example vocabulary choices, use of imageryand the senses
• creation of character - for example through narrator’s descriptions, use of dialogue, actions
• narration - for example omniscient narrator, first person narration, multiple narrators’ use of persona, autobiography
• cohesive elements - for example repetition of words or ideas, climax, suspense,sequential ordering
• disjunctive elements - for example cliffhanger endings, flashbacks
• use of punctuation and other typographical effects - for example italics, capitalisation, suspension points

You should use short quotations from the extract to support your ideas.

When responding to the sample question above, you could include some of the following points in your answer:

Text A

• The writer uses diction associated with coldness and hardness to reveal the character of Scrooge – “the cold within him froze his cold features”, “A frosty rime was on his head”, “Hard and sharp as flint” (simile).
• The writer uses a simile to reveal Scrooge’s desire to be alone – “solitary as an oyster”.
• The extract begins with a list of onomatopoeic verbs to reveal Scrooges harsh character – “squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!”
• The writer opens with a metaphorrevealing the hard nature of Scrooge’s character – “he was tight-fisted at the grindstone”.
• The writer uses pathetic fallacy to reveal the character of Scrooge and show the lack of influence the weather had upon his character – “External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge”, “No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill”. No wind that blew was bitterer than he”.
• The writer reveals that other characters avoid Scrooge – “Nobody ever stopped him in the street”, “no man or woman ever once … inquired the way”, “Even the blind men’s dogs … would tug their owners into doorways”.

Text B

• The writer uses the contrast between his day and night to create the character of Silas.
• The writer ensures that Silas’ days appear dull and boring by the use of the adjectives “livelong”, “monotony” and “repetiion” and the phrase “the slow growth of sameness in the brownish web”.
• The writer juxtaposes Silas’ evening activities to reveal how the character appears to come alive with excitement, “at night came his revelry”.
• The writer almost personifies the money and the storage bags to reveal their importance to the character, “the guineas shone as they came pouring out of the dark leather mouths!”
• The writer ensures the reader understands Silas’ love of his money and how the character has an emotional connection with his possession as if it was a real person – “he loved his guineas best”, “begotten by his labour”, “he loved them all”, “thought fondly of his guineas … as if they had been unborn children”.
• The writer uses a metaphor to reveal the enjoyment Silas gets from his wealth – “bathed his hands in them”.
• The writer uses a simileto show how limited Silas’ life was now that he was only obsessed with his wealth – “his life had shrunk away, like a rivulet … in the barren sand”.

Text A and B

• Both text A and B are solely narrative focusing on description with effective use of adjectives, adverbsand descriptive phrases to create the two characters.
• Both writers use the omniscientnarrator to reveal the characters of Scrooge and Silas through description.
• Text A uses weather (pathetic fallacy) to create character – “no wintry chill could chill him”, “no wind that blew was bitterer than he”. In addition, “pelting rain”, “snow” and “hail” are all used to create the character of Scrooge. Text B uses obsession and actions to create character - “closed his shutters”, “made fast his doors”, “he felt their rounded outline between his thumb and fingers”.
• Text A creates character through the use of harsh diction - “squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching”, “sharp as flint” “cold within him froze”, “shrivelled”, “stiffened”, “thin”. Text B uses diction associated with tenderness and passion - “he loved his guineas best”, “begottenby his labour”, “he loved them all”, “thought fondly of his guineas … as if they had been unborn children”.