A revision Powerpoint for WJEC Language and Literature

1. Revision session

2. A reminder of the weightings for
the exam
Comparative Textual Analysis and
Review
 Section A: Comparative analysis of
texts
3 unseen texts: one question (40 marks)
 Section B: Reviewing approaches
1 text (poetry/prose – open text)
Choice of one from 6 questions. (40
marks)

3. The Assessment Objectives
AO1
Select and apply relevant concepts and approaches from
integrated linguistic and
literary study, using appropriate terminology and accurate, coherent
written
expression.
AO2
Demonstrate detailed critical understanding in analysing the ways
in which structure,
form and language shape meanings in a range of spoken and
written texts.
AO3
Use integrated approaches to explore relationships between texts,
analysing and
evaluating the significance of contextual factors in their production
and reception.

4. Issues to consider from the
specification
Candidates should prepare for the following
aspects of integrated study:
presentation of characters/people;
themes e.g. family life, power, love;
narrative technique;
influence of contextual factors in the
production and reception of texts;
importance of setting/location;
language variation according to time, place,
context;
different readers’ or listeners’ interpretations of
individual texts.

5. Task 1 – Tweet a poem
 Select 10 poems and a tweet to
summarise these and explain the main
message.
 140 characters is your limit
 Tweet some to @strattonenglish

6. Comments on LL4 - Advice for
the exam
 Wider reading – this can be translated
works – Neruda would work well – read
his 20 Love Poems and A Song of
Despair
You should also use quotations from your
wider reading text so choose some
memorable ones that you can analyse
using the framework

7. Using Plath’s poems
 As with all wider reading, you get marks for
AO3 in this essay and you should ensure
that you contextualise your authors.
 With Plath – there are a number of her
poems with the same title and you don’t
want to confuse an examiner. You should
set the poem in a context.
EG: “Plath’s poem The Rabbit Catcher deals
with the same event however in her poem the
version differs considerably. She chooses to
focus on……”

8. Comments from the Examiner’s
Reports
The attitudes trap
Limiting vocabulary, particularly the repetition of ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ for
attitudes, was very much in evidence this year. These adjectives are useful
as starting points or as part of a concluding link. But candidates who use
them several times on the same page, along with ‘positivity’ and ‘negativity’
are failing to show off their vocabulary (AO1) and limiting the precision they
can achieve when expressing their understanding of texts (AO2).
Issues with some terms (From Section A but still relevant)
Juxtaposition can only happen within a text, and should not be used to
express contrasts between texts.
Lexical sets need to be identified by their semantic field e.g.
architecture and supported by the quotation of relevant words.
Alliteration applies only to the repetition of consonants (so not
‘exulting…emptiness’) which make the same sound (so not ‘chill and
cold’ and definitely not ‘the Thames’).

9. A01/A03: Essay planning and question handling
Many candidates make little use of the introduction which could be used to
establish the direction the response will take or to make links with the partner
text(s). The question should be chosen with the comparative element in mind.
Planning is as essential for this section as there is so much material to
choose from. Those who have studied the novels should select
key passages to provide a sensible range on their chosen topic. These need
not include the opening of the text and there is no requirement to keep to
chronological order. For the other set texts, two really relevant poems or
essays would be sufficient and preferable to several more superficially
discussed.

10. A01/A02: Evidence of integrated study
Quotations need to be chosen to support a relevant argument but also to provide
opportunities for analyzing the writer’s techniques. Candidates should be advised not
to quote without analysis. As this is an ‘open book’ examination for the core text, it is
unnecessary and unwise to invent or guess quotations. The internal context of the
quotation also needs to be made clear: sometimes quotations drift into answers with no
indication of the episode, situation or speaker. When Shakespeare plays are used as
partner texts, examiners frequently notice misquotation and are unable to fully reward
points made in discussion.
The most substantial part of the Section B response should be close analysis of the
studied text with relevant terminology, although it may be less sustained than in
Section A. This requires a thorough knowledge of the text so that the best material can
be found quickly. The most successful candidates find two or three key passages and
provide detailed and relevant analysis of the writing. But far too often, the use of
terminology seems to be an afterthought with superficial discussion of features which
are poorly chosen for the question. In some centres the responses were entirely made
up of narrative, description and quotation without any focus on the language: these
approaches can show what the text has to say, but not how. Candidates must aim to
include a range of linguistic and literary concepts and terms. Practice for Section B
should include finding the most appropriate material for a range of possible questions
and practising the Statement-Evidence-Analysis technique.

11. A03: Links with other texts
Most candidates offered two partner texts and some three or four. Some
candidates choose one substantial partner text and connect it with different
examples from the core text: this is acceptable and using a single partner text
well can produce responses of the highest quality. All but the most able might
have been better off choosing the most suitable of their partner texts for the
question chosen and allowing more time to develop the links and work on the
core text analysis. Trying to make connections where the partner text is not
well chosen, or not sufficiently well-known, often produces the weakest
sections in the Section B responses. Too many give little or no thought to
partner texts when selecting from the core text. It is important to make sure
that links with partner texts keep to the set topic. A small number of answers
included no partner text and several mentioned wider reading only very briefly.
The wider reading element in Section B has produced some very successful
work but candidates need clear guidelines on the use of partner texts.
Although it was encouraging to see a wide variety of partner choices, a few
centres failed to remind candidates that these must be texts which have been
read and studied. For example, in one centre, every candidate referred to the
recent Pryce-Huhne story but not to a particular piece of writing.

12. Advice on partner texts
Don’t attempt too many partner texts as this
usually results in superficial, unconvincing links.
It is better to deal with two texts well than four
too briefly.
Make sure that discussion of any other texts
is relevant to the question set.
Make specific connections between your
studied texts and partner text(s). Contrasts and
similarities are equally valid for discussion.
It is important to provide contexts for core
texts and partner texts

13. AO3: Contextual factors
 Candidates need to select the points from background
and biographical knowledge on their core text which are
most relevant to the question set, rather than presenting it
all in a chunk at the start of the essay. Contextual factors
should also be discussed during the course of the answer
and when partner texts are introduced. It is becoming
more common for partner texts to be contextualized but
this tends to vary widely between centres. We expect
candidates to include the writer, the genre and the time
period at least. Better candidates sometimes use the
different contexts of time and/or place to develop links
between the texts. Other factors include relevant
biographical, social or historical detail and the internal
context of situation or events in a novel or play. For
independent choices which are less well known, it is
sensible to provide an overview of the text.

14. Task 2 Planning Responses

15. A successful introduction on the theme
of marriage ( in Wuthering Heights)

16. Another introduction – this time on the presentation of women
How does
the
candidate
address
the
question
and relate
the context
in?

17. Themes to consider and write a
plan
 Relationship between men and women
 Sense of place
 Parents and children
 Narrative voices
 Different interpretations