A level English Literature coursework title checker

Look at the title below. If a title is ready to use, you should be able to answer ‘yes’ to
each question.

Example

Title: ‘Anybody who’s had to contend with mental illness, actually has a fair amount of
resilience in the sense that they’ve had to deal with suffering already, personal
suffering.’ (An Unquiet Mind, Kay Redfield Jamison.)

In the light of this statement, compare the presentation of mental health in Ian
McEwan’s Enduring Love and Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar.

The title includes/flags: Yes/no Comments

1. Full title of 2 texts (in Y
inverted commas or
italics) and author names
2. If a contextualising N ‘Mental illness’ in the quote but ‘mental
quotation is used, is there health’ in the title itself. Will the coursework
a direct link between the consider the relationship between personal
quotation and the rest of suffering, resilience and mental illness or ‘the
the title? presentation of mental health’ or both?
3. Title has 1 focus which is ? The problems with the quote mean the focus
not too broad e.g. ‘the is not clear.
presentation of violence’
rather than ‘the
presentation of violence
and aggression’
4. Title flags AO2 (how Y ‘Presentation of’ but there’s a risk you might
meanings are shaped) focus on Plath’s biography or consider the
such as ‘how does the characters in the McEwan as if they are real
writer present’ people.
5. Title flags AO3 (contexts) N Add a phrase.
with phrases like ‘the
contexts of the texts’
production’
6. Title flags AO4 Y
(connections) with words
like ‘compare’
7. Title flags AO5 (different N Add a phrase.
interpretations) with words
like or ‘critical views’ or
‘the different ways in
which these texts have
been read’
8. Is the title ready to use in N This title needs some revision before you go
this format? ahead with the coursework.

Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in English Literature – NEA title checker – Issue 2 – December 2020 – Author and
Approver: GQ Product Management – DCL1 © Pearson Education Limited 2020
An improved version of the title might be:

‘Anybody who’s had to contend with mental illness, actually has a fair amount of
resilience in the sense that they’ve had to deal with suffering already, personal
suffering.’ (An Unquiet Mind, Kay Redfield Jamison.)

In the light of this statement and with reference to your wider critical reading, compare
the presentation of resilience in Ian McEwan’s Enduring Love and Sylvia Plath’s The Bell
Jar.

Please note, there is no requirement to use a quotation in a title and using one
can make a title unnecessarily complex.

Now you try:

Title:

The title includes/flags: Yes/no Comments

1. Full title of 2 texts (in
inverted commas or
italics) and author names
2. If a contextualising
quotation is used, is there
a direct link between the
quotation and the rest of
the title?
3. Title has 1 focus which is
not too broad e.g. ‘the
presentation of violence’
rather than ‘the
presentation of violence
and aggression’
4. Title flags AO2 (how
meanings are shaped)
such as ‘how does the
writer present’
5. Title flags AO3 (contexts)
with phrases like ‘the
contexts of the texts’
production’
6. Title flags AO4
(connections) with words
like ‘compare’
7. Title flags AO5 (different
interpretations) with words
like ‘critical views’ or
‘the different ways in
which these texts have
been read’
8. Is the title ready to use in
this format?

Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in English Literature – NEA title checker – Issue 2 – December 2020 – Author and
Approver: GQ Product Management – DCL1 © Pearson Education Limited 2020