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GCSEEduqas

English Literature

Exam Questions

Component 1 vs Component 2: sections, timings, weightingsNew What “closed book” means and how it changes revisionNew How AO1, AO2, AO3 and AO4 are assessed across the papersNew Where comparison happens and what examiners rewardNew Using set text lists to confirm your Shakespeare, post-1914 and 19th-century textsNew Set text changes from 2025: what changed and what it means for centresNew Poetry anthology changeover: assessed until 2026; new anthology first assessed 2027New Build a component-by-component revision planNew

Read a whole text for plot, relationships and turning pointsNew Track character development across a whole textNew Track themes across a whole textNew Explicit meaning vs implied meaningNew Write an informed personal response in essaysNew Select short, precise quotations for impactNew Embed quotations smoothly into sentencesNew Analyse word choices for connotations and toneNew Analyse methods: imagery, symbolism and motifNew Analyse methods: sound patterns and rhythm (when relevant)New Analyse structure: openings, endings, shifts and contrastsNew Analyse form: drama, prose and poetry conventionsNew Use subject terminology accurately and naturallyNew Build paragraphs with a clear line of argumentNew Link paragraphs to maintain a through-lineNew Use context as explanation (not bolt-on)New Compare texts and viewpoints effectivelyNew Write accurately under time pressure (AO4/SPaG)New

Shakespeare tasks: extract question vs whole-text essayNew Reading Shakespeare: unfamiliar vocabulary in contextNew Verse vs prose: what the switch signalsNew Stagecraft: entrances, exits, asides, soliloquiesNew Dramatic irony and audience knowledgeNew Build a scene-by-scene plot spine (your play)New Map relationships and power dynamics (your play)New Create a protagonist character arc (your play)New Create an antagonist/opposing force arc (your play)New Identify key conflict moments and why they matter (your play)New Identify key resolution moments and why they matter (your play)New Theme: love and desire (your play)New Theme: conflict and violence (your play)New Theme: power, status and authority (your play)New Theme: deception, appearance and reality (your play)New Theme: fate, choice and consequence (your play)New Imagery patterns: light/dark, nature, disease, time (your play)New How Shakespeare shapes sympathy and judgementNew Plan an extract response: 3 micro-moments to zoom in onNew Write an extract response: AO2-first (no feature spotting)New Plan a whole-text essay: range of play referencesNew Write a whole-text essay: sustain an argument to the endNew Learn “flexible” quotations: short, adaptable, high-useNew Use mark schemes: what lifts an answer up a bandNew

Poetry exam skills (works for any anthology)New The two questions: single poem, then comparisonNew Turn the question into a thesis you can proveNew Build a comparative argument: similarity, difference, significanceNew Choose a comparison poem fast and justify itNew Use context to deepen meaning (AO3 linked to the poem)New Analyse voice and perspective (speaker, persona, address)New Analyse tone and attitude (shifts and reasons)New Analyse structure: stanza movement, volta, contrasts, pacingNew Analyse form: sonnet, lyric, narrative, elegy, dramatic monologueNew Write balanced comparative paragraphs (both poems)New Time the 15-mark and 25-mark responsesNew

The Manhunt (Armitage)New First read: narrative situation and relationshipNew Speaker/perspective: intimacy and distanceNew Themes: trauma, memory, healingNew Language: tenderness, violence, contrastNew Structure: movement through body and relationshipNew Context: conflict, aftermath, personal costNew Best comparison angles in the anthologyNew Sonnet 43 (Barrett Browning)New First read: what kind of love is presentedNew Form: sonnet conventions and effectNew Language: scale, measurement, intensityNew Structure: accumulation and emphasisNew Themes: devotion, faith, permanenceNew Context: Victorian ideas and personal voiceNew Best comparison angles in the anthologyNew London (Blake)New First read: what the speaker witnessesNew Voice/tone: condemnation and urgencyNew Language: oppression, imagery of controlNew Structure: repetition, rhythm, bleak progressionNew Themes: power, inequality, corruptionNew Context: industrial city, institutions, protestNew Best comparison angles in the anthologyNew The Soldier (Brooke)New First read: patriotic beliefs and assumptionsNew Voice/tone: idealism and certaintyNew Language: purity, ownership, sacrificeNew Structure: sonnet movement and persuasionNew Themes: nationalism, death, meaningNew Context: early WWI attitudesNew Best comparison angles in the anthologyNew She Walks in Beauty (Byron)New First read: admiration and descriptionNew Language: light/dark imagery and balanceNew Structure: how the portrait is builtNew Themes: beauty, virtue, idealisationNew Speaker: gaze and interpretationNew Context: Romantic aestheticsNew Best comparison angles in the anthologyNew Living Space (Dharker)New First read: place, poverty, resilienceNew Voice/tone: observant, respectful, criticalNew Language: geometry, instability, “crooked” beautyNew Structure: description shifting to judgementNew Themes: survival, dignity, inequalityNew Context: global poverty, housing, perspectiveNew Best comparison angles in the anthologyNew As Imperceptibly as Grief (Dickinson)New First read: what is compared and whyNew Language: abstraction made concreteNew Structure: quiet shifts, understated endingNew Themes: loss, time, changeNew Voice/tone: controlled, reflective, elusiveNew Context: Dickinson’s style and introspectionNew Best comparison angles in the anthologyNew Cozy Apologia (Dove)New First read: domestic scene and interruptionNew Voice/tone: intimate, conversational, self-awareNew Language: myth, fantasy, everyday detailNew Structure: movement between real and imaginedNew Themes: love, safety, fearNew Context: public events vs private lifeNew Best comparison angles in the anthologyNew Valentine (Duffy)New First read: rejecting clichés, offering truthNew Voice/tone: direct, teasing, threateningNew Language: extended onion metaphorNew Structure: mood shifts and escalating intensityNew Themes: love, honesty, possessionNew Context: modern relationships and anti-romanceNew Best comparison angles in the anthologyNew A Wife in London (Hardy)New First read: story and emotional turnsNew Voice/tone: observation to heartbreakNew Language: weather, sound, shockNew Structure: irony and timing of informationNew Themes: war, grief, communicationNew Context: war and the home frontNew Best comparison angles in the anthologyNew Death of a Naturalist (Heaney)New First read: fascination to disgustNew Voice/tone: innocence lostNew Language: sensory detail, menace, vivid verbsNew Structure: turning point and transformationNew Themes: nature, fear, growing upNew Context: rural childhood and memoryNew Best comparison angles in the anthologyNew Hawk Roosting (Hughes)New First read: who speaks and what they believeNew Voice/tone: arrogance and controlNew Language: violence, certainty, ownershipNew Structure: monologue-like dominanceNew Themes: power, nature, tyrannyNew Context: interpretations and allegoryNew Best comparison angles in the anthologyNew To Autumn (Keats)New First read: celebration with subtle melancholyNew Form: ode and sensory richnessNew Language: abundance, personification, soundNew Structure: seasonal progression and closing toneNew Themes: time, beauty, changeNew Context: Romantic nature writingNew Best comparison angles in the anthologyNew Afternoons (Larkin)New First read: ordinary life and loss of selfNew Voice/tone: detached, bleak, judgingNew Language: emptiness and routine imageryNew Structure: narrowing focus to final judgementNew Themes: ageing, identity, social expectationNew Context: post-war Britain and realismNew Best comparison angles in the anthologyNew Dulce et Decorum Est (Owen)New First read: the experience describedNew Voice/tone: bitter, accusatory, shockingNew Language: sensory horror, irony, brutalityNew Structure: narrative to direct addressNew Themes: war, propaganda, truthNew Context: trenches and anti-war writingNew Best comparison angles in the anthologyNew Ozymandias (Shelley)New First read: frame story and messageNew Voice/tone: detached ironyNew Language: ruins, power, prideNew Structure: sonnet with disrupted controlNew Themes: power, legacy, timeNew Context: empire and Romantic critiqueNew Best comparison angles in the anthologyNew Mametz Wood (Sheers)New First read: discovery and rememberingNew Voice/tone: reverent, haunting, mournfulNew Language: nature imagery, bodies, tendernessNew Structure: revelation and lingering aftermathNew Themes: memory, war, respectNew Context: battlefield and later discoveryNew Best comparison angles in the anthologyNew Excerpt from The Prelude (Wordsworth)New First read: moment and emotional shiftNew Voice/tone: awe to fear and guiltNew Language: sublime nature and intimidationNew Structure: build-up, turn, aftermathNew Themes: nature, imagination, selfNew Context: Romanticism and the sublimeNew Best comparison angles in the anthologyNew

2027 anthology: what changes, what stays the same about the exam taskNew The Schoolboy: meaning, voice, methods, contextNew I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud: meaning, voice, methods, contextNew Sonnet 29: meaning, voice, methods, contextNew Cousin Kate: meaning, voice, methods, contextNew Drummer Hodge: meaning, voice, methods, contextNew I Shall Return: meaning, voice, methods, contextNew Disabled: meaning, voice, methods, contextNew Decomposition: meaning, voice, methods, contextNew Catrin: meaning, voice, methods, contextNew Blackberry Picking: meaning, voice, methods, contextNew War Photographer: meaning, voice, methods, contextNew Dusting the Phone: meaning, voice, methods, contextNew Kamikaze: meaning, voice, methods, contextNew Remains: meaning, voice, methods, contextNew Origin Story: meaning, voice, methods, contextNew

Post-1914 task: source-based responseNew Read the extract: what to annotate firstNew Link extract detail to whole-text knowledgeNew Build a plot timeline with key turning points (your text)New Build a character web: motivations and conflicts (your text)New Build a theme map: key moments and quotations (your text)New Prose methods: narrative voice and viewpointNew Prose methods: setting, atmosphere, descriptionNew Drama methods: stage directions and staging choicesNew Drama methods: dialogue, pace, entrances/exitsNew Explore social issues and messages (your text)New Context shaping choices (only where relevant)New Plan: extract focus + whole-text linksNew Write: balance evidence, analysis and argumentNew Use mark schemes: what top answers do consistentlyNew

19th-century task: source-based response with contextNew Narrator: reliability, viewpoint, distanceNew Read the extract: what it reveals about the whole novelNew Build a plot timeline: causes and consequences (your novel)New Build character arcs with “before/after” moments (your novel)New Theme: morality and responsibility (your novel)New Theme: social class and power (your novel)New Theme: fear, secrecy, identity (your novel)New Period language: diction, formality, toneNew Structure: chapters, contrasts, parallels, foreshadowingNew Context: key social/historical ideas shaping the novelNew Link context to a quotation or method (AO3 done well)New Plan a source response with integrated AO3New Write: stay anchored in the extractNew Use mark schemes: avoid common AO3 and AO2 pitfallsNew

Unseen tasks: single poem, then comparisonNew First read: gist, speaker, situation, moodNew Annotate meaning: what happens and what’s suggestedNew Find the big idea and write a thesisNew Select best evidence: short quotes for deep analysisNew Analyse language fast: patterns, imagery, word classesNew Analyse structure fast: shifts, contrasts, endings, pacingNew Analyse form only when it mattersNew Write a single-poem essay under time pressureNew Second poem: similarities, differences, significanceNew Write a balanNew

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