Paper 1 Review and Tips:

Criterion A: the keywords here are literal, interpretation and references. Candidates need to
demonstrate, preferably in their introduction, that they have understood what the text is actually
about. Having done so they then need to focus on the more subtle shades of meaning and draw
reasoned conclusions. It is essential that all of these reasoned conclusions are supported by close
references to the text. Responses that impose unconvincing interpretations and/or make
assertions without close reference are unlikely to score highly under criterion A.

Criterion B: the key aspects in this criterion are analysis and evaluation. Features and/or
authorial choices need to be identified clearly and candidates need to say something specific
about how these shape meaning. Responses that identify features but say nothing about their
effects would seem to meet the descriptor for a 2 under criterion B. It is not essential to produce
a long list of technical terminology but, where such terminology is used, it does need to be
precise and accurate.

Criterion C: key terms under criterion C are organized, coherent and focused. Candidates need
to spend some time planning their response and organizing their ideas. Responses that score
highly under this criterion are likely to have an easily discernible line of argument with clear
transitions. It is important, too, that the argument/analysis is sharply focused. This focus should
be set up early on, preferably in the first paragraph of the analysis. It is likely that the focus will
be guided by the question provided on the paper. Candidates who choose to ignore the guiding
question may not score highly here unless they provide a clear, and clearly stated, alternative
focus.

Criterion D: there is quite a lot to consider under this criterion. Firstly, the language needs to be
clear and accurate. Attention needs to be paid to such aspects as spelling, punctuation and
sentence structure. However, the language also needs to be varied—"monotonous” or "plodding”
language is unlikely to lead to a high score under criterion D.

Candidates also need to adopt a register and style that is appropriate to the task. Clearly this is, at
least in part, a matter of personal style. Candidates need to be careful to avoid too casual a
register or a vague and imprecise style. Equally, candidates need to avoid a very dry or overly
academic or pompous register. Lively writing that demonstrates an interest in, and engagement
with, the texts is likely to be highly rewarded under criterion D.

Organization of Time:

8-10 minutes (read and plan): Read and mark the passage until you feel confident about the
passage and have absorbed its contents. Then analyze and structure your commentary with a
thesis statement.

Easy Thesis Statements:

Turn the guiding question into a thesis statement:

A’s work B shows/reveals C through the following devices D to achieve overall effect(s) E.

Outline:

1. Leave a blank space at the top to add the title (you will probably go back and add it at the
end).
2. Introduction – Opener containing author and title. Discuss the main issues of your
commentary and you are approaching the guiding question: show you are “attempting” to
understand the meaning of the work (e.g. the overall effect). Do not present yourself in
such a manner that you seem entirely self-assured in the introduction, but rather you have
noticed something and plan to explore it further through the commentary. Conclude
introduction with the thesis statement.
3. Each Body Paragraph: Open with the general intent of the paragraph (e.g. A uses archaic
diction to enhance the Victorian setting). Then, discuss the evidence for this, showing the
effects of these devices and the author’s intention with this. The closing sentence should
present what device you were exploring and the overall effect you feel this had for the
passage, and in its heightening of the “overall effect and intentions” of the passage.
4. Repeat this for every group of literary device/element that you are using to support your
thesis statement and to answer the guiding question.
5. Conclusion – state that extent of the author’s effectiveness. Then state the devices that
contributed. Then conclude with a clincher.
6. 60 minutes: Write, using evidence from the text, in accordance with your previously
made outline. Discuss the effects of the devices and show “professional” personal
interpretation. Ensure that your vocabulary is eloquent and coherent.
7. 5 Minutes: Add title, read, revise/correct

Paper 1: General Tips

1. Learn how YOU work best

There are two major areas in which people differ. The first is planning. How much time do you
personally need to plan? You need time to read each extract and to formulate each argument;
whether you then choose to go straight ahead and start writing (usually to maximize the amount
you can write down and give yourself leeway to change things) or whether you like to plan out
exactly what you're going to say when (to make sure you have a good structure and are focused),
it's not a big deal. You have to work out for yourself what the optimum sort of time is going to
be.

The second area is the style in which you deal with the text. This can either be done by theme
(and incidentally tends to pair well with somebody who plans a lot) in which major points of
discussion are stuck into dedicated paragraphs, or line-by-line which is literally dealing with the
text in a linear fashion and therefore tends to require a lot less forethought. Each of these has its
weaknesses -- for the former you can easily find yourself spotting something you should've
discussed earlier but will then need to break your structure in order to include. You're less likely
to come across things as you're writing, can write comparatively 'shallow' essays (i.e. less deep
analysis) and of course you do need to plan things like crazy. An acronym often related to this is
SCASI (Setting/Character/Action/Style/Ideas), where you do roughly a section of your essay on
each of those. Weaknesses related to the line-by-line are largely time management (you end up
writing a lot more) and making sure you pick up on overarching themes as well as structuring it
in a cohesive manner.

2. Have a line of argument

This gives your essay purpose, direction and is something for you to constantly refer back to. It's
easier to do an analysis if you treat the whole essay as building up the case for WHY your
analysis is correct. Imagine that you've announced "this poem is about X and now I'm going to
show you why". This way you'll analyze, you'll give examples and you'll have cohesion because
your essay will keep returning to the same central points. At no point in the exam should you be
sitting scratching your head wondering where on earth to go next. You have an introduction
(your declaration and brief overview of why you believe X to be the case) and a conclusion
(briefly how you believe you've proved it to be so).

3. Make sure your argument makes sense

It is extremely important that you project your own 'vision' or interpretation of the poetry/prose.
What this does NOT under any circumstances mean is that you see one bit of a line and start
inventing things or deciding that the word 'interpretation' is an excuse for making mystical-
sounding comments. World Literature is an analytical subject at heart, and whilst there's no
technical right and wrong in that several versions of something can be correct, there's definitely a
wrong and the word for that is misinterpretation. You do not want to misinterpret the whole
thing. Some people are lucky and will never misinterpret because it comes naturally to them; for
other people, no worries, there is a litmus test. Decide what you think the main theme of the
poem/prose is and then with your decision in mind, and prior to writing anything, go through the
whole text and think at every point "does my interpretation DEFINITELY make sense in light of
this section?". Sometimes you might find something contradictory -- for instance a note of joy in
a poem which is otherwise quite depressing. In that case, your argument can no longer be that the
whole poem is centered around bitterness but rather you'll have to alter your argument to the
poem being about the randomness of fate (because on reflection it turns out that the contrast
between the depression and the joy makes this the message you receive). Always make sure that
your main line of argument fits everything, or your entire essay will be out.

4. Use language you understand

If you don't know what a word means, don't know how a phrase is used (and this happens to
some native speakers as well as non-native speakers) for the love of whatever higher being may
or may not be out there… don't do it! Please. If you've been exposed to a lot of phrases around
you in everyday life, and read a lot of books, you'll probably find this kind of thing like second
nature to you, and you're very lucky. If not, please don't try and impress anybody. It's better to
use straightforward sentences and make sure you're definitely getting your point across. You will
not be rewarded for using complicated words. They're going to be more impressed by the whole
thing making sense than by you using verbs in conjunction with the wrong prepositions etc.
5. PEEE!

PEEE is the best way to approach anything. Point, Example, Explanation, Elaboration! Live by
the code of PEEE and you should never make a point without explaining it:

Point: Seamus Heaney (a poet) uses potato-based puns to enforce his love of potatoes.

Example: He says: "Without potatoes/I would not be rooted in this life"

Explanation: The word "rooted" refers back both to the author's roots and also to the nature of
potatoes themselves which are root vegetables.

Elaboration: He also uses a very effective sentence structure to emphasize the significance of
potatoes by making them the start of the phrase, the verb in the middle and then with "life" as the
last word in the phrase, the stresses fall in such a way that the two seem linked.

6. Manage your time wisely

Know when you're going to have to complete by and keep an eye on the clock. An essay is not
an essay without a conclusion and all of its contents, and these things cannot be put into place if
you run out of time! Leave 5 mins at the end to conclude, have 5 mins at the start to plan, and
intend to be finished with the first extract halfway through the total time.

7. Make points, don't score points!

You should realize you get marks for making points. Not for using special words. Obviously you
want to use some special words throughout (genre-relevant terminology) but they should be used
to make a point. I use to fit them in as part of the second E in my PEEE. When explaining why
my point was valid I would casually mention that it was effective because of the simile and so
on.

What you should avoid is attempting point scoring. Just because you know a word to describe a
literary feature and what it means, it doesn't mean it's always going to be there! The major victim
of people trying to point score is "irony". In actual fact, irony is not all that pervasive in
literature. DO NOT say something is 'an example of irony' unless you

A) are sure it's definitely an example of irony and that you know what irony is

B) are willing to explain how it's an example and why this is effective

This goes for any special word. If you know something is effective but don't know the special
word for it (and often there isn't one), there's no harm in explaining it out. It is better to do this
than to invent things or to go out of your way to include literary features just for the sake of them
being there! If something if effective, just explain why. You don't need a technical term for it
every time, and if you see something you know the technical term for but it isn't really
effective... don't go out of your way to mention it.