How to answer a question on a
set text in your exam
Foundation and higher papers
The exam
2 hours
Question
Book
Play
Extract
20 minutes
20 minutes
Question
40 minutes
40 minutes
Total time
1 hour
1 hour
Only answer the extract question and one
question for each book and play you have
studied.
Grade Ranges
Tier
Grades Available
Higher
A*, A, B, C, D
Foundation
C, D, E, F, G
Candidates who narrowly fail to achieve Grade D
on the Higher Tier will be awarded Grade E.
Grade Ranges for your 20 mark
extract question
Higher
20 Marks
Grade
12-13
C
14-15
B
16-18
A
19-20
A*
Foundation
20 marks
Grade
0-4
U
5-9
G/F
10-14
D/E
15-20
C (B)
What does a C Grade mean?
Grade C
• Candidates understand and demonstrate how writers
use ideas, themes and settings in texts to affect the
reader. They respond personally to the effects of
language, structure and form, referring to textual detail
to support their views and reactions. They explain the
relevance and impact of connections and comparisons
between texts. They show awareness of some of the
social, cultural and historical contexts of texts and of
how this influences their meanings for contemporary
and modern readers. They convey ideas clearly and
appropriately.
Grade Criteria – The Reduced Version
G
Very short, or lots copied out, with major parts
missing or wrong.
F
Still general with no real detail.
E
Clearer focus on the question, with more
selection of key parts.
Grade Criteria – The Reduced Version
D
Some awareness and some discussion, of
characters, themes, mood and atmosphere,
and subtext.
C
Selecting and highlighting detail in a thorough
and systematic way.
Grade Criteria – The Reduced Version
B
Really thorough and thoughtful discussion, well
supported with evidence.
A
Analysis of stylistic details. Appreciation of
structure. Sensitivity. Overview. Evaluation.
A*
Every word a gem!
PEE
P
E
E
Point
Evidence
Explanation
If you just make points, you’ll get a D.
If you use points and evidence and explanation and
you are selecting and highlighting you’ll get a C.
Depending on the quality of your PEE you could get
up to an A*.
How to answer the question
Use your time wisely
• 5 minutes planning – spider diagram or bullet
points.
• 30 minutes writing.
• 5 minutes proof reading.
What questions will come up?
Look at the hand out of typical questions.
Which one do you prefer?
Why?
But what do they mean? Character
Questions revealed.
Give advice to the actor questions.
I think that the actor should say his lines
really loudly so people can hear him speak at
the back of the theatre. He should also look up
when he speaks and make sure he doesn’t turn
his back to the audience.
What have you learnt about the character here?
Advice to the actor questions
• Allow you to demonstrate your knowledge of the
character.
• Look at a character’s actions and emotions in
detail.
• By explaining how you think a character should
behave you need to justify your ideas this means
more marks!
You may find it easier to answer these type of
questions as they allow you write about what you
know and to justify your ideas.
Downside to advice to the actor
questions
• You could end up re-writing the story.
Remember
• Focus on the task.
• In your plan pick out 3-5 key scenes that show
you something about that character.
• Focus on the key scenes not the entire story.
Imagine you are____at the end of the
novel/play you think back over events
– Diary entry questions
Well, here I am in Starbucks LOL! What an
adventure PPL. BTW, I’ve sold my story to
the papers and I thought I’d write a diary.
Does this sound like your character? Would
they really sound like this? What have we learnt
about your character?
Diary Questions
• Allow you to demonstrate your knowledge of the
character.
• Look at a character’s actions and emotions in
detail.
• By explaining how you think a character should
behave you need to justify your ideas this means
more marks!
You may find it easier to answer these type of
questions as they allow you write about what you
know and to justify your ideas.
Downside to diary questions
• You could end up re-writing the story.
• You could end up making things up.
• It can be hard to get the “voice” right.
Remember
• Focus on the task.
• In your plan pick out 3-5 key scenes that show you
something about that character.
• Focus on the key scenes not the entire story.
• You will need to examine your relationship with other
characters as well.
General Character Questions
Allows you to show your full knowledge of a
character.
Can be easier to write about than a themebased question.
You can track a character’s changing emotions
in a story which will give you more marks.
Can be easier to use PEE.
General Character Questions
 Don’t re tell the story.
 Focus on your character. When discussing other
characters link back your points to your main character.
 Can be easy not to use all the points of PEE.
Remember the explanation in PEE is what gets you
marks.
 Remember the examiner knows the story so you don’t
need to spend a lot of time explaining events. But you
will be rewarded for social/historical context if it aids
your analysis. Keep it short
Theme-based questions
Can be more tricky to answer. You will need to
have an excellent understanding of the theme in
order to answer the question successfully.
But sometimes they can be easier questions to
answer…..
How does Steinbeck present the theme of
loneliness in Of Mice and Men.
Plan: Show how each character is lonely?
Theme-based questions
Pick these questions if you are confident you
can answer them well.
If you are aiming for a B, A or A* these
questions could give you a marginal
opportunity to produce original analysis.
Sometimes if the theme is obvious you can
write about a lot of characters and explain
how they are linked to the theme.
Theme based questions
Can be harder to answer. It doesn’t mean you
will get more marks for tackling a hard
question. You will loose marks if you don’t
answer it well.
Remember to examine the theme and do not
drift off task.
Specific incidents/events
How is______ important to the novel/play as a
whole?
These questions allow you track events and
moods in the text and as you examine before
and after events you can pick up more marks.
Remember
• Use your 5 minute planning time wisely.
• Select the right question. Read each question,
pick the one you want to do then highlight the
key words and phrases.
• Quickly draw a mind map/bullet point your
ideas.
• Write a focused essay that answers the
question using PEE.
Remember
• You must answer the question. Don’t write down
everything you know about the book/play you
will drift off task and you won’t get marks.
• Keep focused. Keep using PEE and keep focusing
back to the essay question.
Good luck!