A-level English Literature B - Hub School Network Meeting - Resources - Preparing for the Unseen Extracts - Spring 2020

Oct 20, 2026

Uploaded by ahduag

Spring 2020 hub school network meeting resources for A-level English Literature B focus on preparing for unseen extracts through disciplined question response, precise narrative argumentation, and authoritative use of textual knowledge. Guidance emphasizes that there are no hidden requirements: students must answer the set question in full detail, keep sharply to the task, and ground arguments in the text. The materials stress that enjoyment and critical thinking depend on entering fictional worlds and knowing both the texts and the un-disputable facts of what happens in the stories, with examples drawn from Paper 1A, 1B, and 2A.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Extracts from the 2019 Report on the exam

Unseen passages

Knowing the texts

Know the ‘facts’ of the text

Specific comments about 1A: Aspects of tragedy

Specific comments about 1B: Aspects of comedy

A-level ENGLISH LITERATURE B Hub school network meeting Resources: Preparing for the unseen extracts Published: Spring 2020 Contents | Contents | Page | | --- | --- | | Extracts from the 2019 Report on the exam | 4 | | Tracking the narrative | 8 | | Passage prompts: Working with genre | 9 | Extracts from the 2019 Report on the exam Unseen passages The importance of students answering the questions set in all their details ‘Answer the question’ is our mantra. There are no hidden requirements. Students need to answer questions that are set in all their details and not respond to the question they wish had been asked. Students do well when they focus sharply, keep to the task and construct a relevant argument which is grounded in the text. Arguments tend to lack direction and can become chaotic when students try to shoehorn in extraneous material, unrelated context and unrelated comments about aspects of genre that are not required by the question. Knowing the texts It is better for A-level students if their ideas come from within the text rather than without. The students who knew their texts well were, of course, in the best position to tackle the questions and it was easy to see the confidence they brought to the exams because they knew their texts. The very best responses were seen from those students who were thinking about which material would best support the arguments they were making, rather than those who tried to use whatever they could remember and then shape their argument around that. Knowing the text should be the first priority of students and the first priority of teaching. The stories that writers tell are fundamental to enjoyment and knowing what happens in those stories enables students to interpret them with authority and engage in discussion about genre and authorial method. But the stories have to come first. There is no point writing about intradiegetic narrators or ‘aspects’ of genre if students haven’t got inside the stories that the narrators are telling. In the same way, although the specification places much emphasis on different ways of interpreting texts and how authors shape meanings, interpretations and discussion of authorial methods have to emerge from sound knowledge of the text. The text is ‘the thing itself’ and for students it is more important than what critics say about it and more important than what theorists have said about the genre to which the text belongs. It is stories which fire the imagination of readers – which is what English literature primarily ought to do. Readers need to be enabled to enter fictional worlds in as three-dimensional a way as possible and only when the story has worked the imagination can readers engage in critical thinking about their reading. Know the ‘facts’ of the text Knowing the text is essential, but perhaps something more specific that students should focus on is their knowing the facts of what happens in the stories they are studying. Facts in stories cannot be disputed (unless the writer invites this to happen or self-consciously undermines what is presented as fact as is the case in Atonement) . If students get the facts of the narrative right, they are in a good starting place and do not go off course in their thinking and writing because of a premise that has not been grasped. If a wrong fact becomes the basis for discussion, it is clear that everything that follows will get the student into difficulty. For readers, the facts of the stories have to be taken seriously. In stories the facts are the characters, what they say and do, what happens to them, who they speak and relate to and where things happen. There cannot be a debate about something that is palpably not evident in a text or a debate about factual inaccuracy. There has to be a responsible observation of what is written by the author and students have to be respectful of and responsive to it. An example here might help. In the Othello extract question on Pap

FAQs

How should students respond to unseen passage questions in all their details?

They should answer the question set in full detail, focus sharply on the task, construct a relevant argument grounded in the text, and avoid adding extraneous unrelated material.

Why is knowing the text itself the first priority for A-level students?

When ideas come from within the text, students can interpret and discuss genre and authorial method with authority. Sound knowledge enables engagement in both imagination and critical thinking.

What happens when students get the factual details of a story wrong?

Erroneous comments follow, and subsequent discussion and writing can quickly go off course. The materials stress that story facts cannot be disputed unless the writer invites it or undermines them.

Oct 20, 2026

Uploaded by ahduag