Eduqas GCSE English Literature Information for new centres

Eduqas GCSE English Literature Information for new centres

Ethos • The Eduqas GCSE English Literature is designed to allow learners to engage with a wide range of high quality texts in the genres of prose, poetry and drama. The specification builds on the tradition and reputation WJEC has established for clear, reliable assessment supported by straightforward, accessible guidance and administration. We have a proven track record of successfully setting ‘unseen’ material.

Key features: • Opportunities for flexible teaching approaches • A WJEC produced poetry anthology • Straightforward wording of questions • Accessibility of materials • Analysis of 'unseen' poetry • Opportunities for close analysis of texts • Opportunities for extended essay responses • High-quality examination and resource materials • Free online resources • Exam Results Analysis • Online Examination Review

Specification Content in brief Component 1 Shakespeare and Poetry Section A: Shakespeare (20%) One extract question (15 marks) and one essay question (25 marks). Component 2 40% 2 hours 40 marks Section B: Poetry from 1789 to the present day (anthology) (20%) One question on a given poem (15 marks) and one question comparing 40 marks this poem to another thematically linked poem of own choice (25 marks). Post-1914 Prose/Drama, 19 th Century Prose and Unseen Poetry 60% 2 hours 30 Section A: Post-1914 Prose/Drama (20%) One source based question 40 marks Section B: 19 th Century Prose (20%) One source based question Section C: Unseen poetry (20%) One question on an unseen poem (15 marks) and one question comparing this poem with another unseen poem (25 marks). In common with all exam boards, all examinations are closed book. 40 marks

Text choices for Component 1 Section A: Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet Macbeth Othello Much Ado About Nothing Henry V The Merchant of Venice

Texts for Component 1 Section B: Poetry Eduqas GCSE Poetry Anthology The anthology covers a range of poetry from 1789 to the present day and is designed to introduce learners to the rich heritage of poetry across centuries as well as illustrating how poets explore similar themes in different ways. Anthologies are provided free of charge. The poems in the anthology are: The Manhunt Simon Armitage A Wife in London Thomas Hardy Sonnet 43 Elizabeth Barrett Browning Death of a Naturalist Seamus Heaney London William Blake Hawk Roosting Ted Hughes The Soldier Rupert Brooke To Autumn John Keats She Walks in Beauty Lord Byron Afternoons Philip Larkin Living Space Imtiaz Dharker Dulce et Decorum Est Wilfred Owen As Imperceptibly as Grief Emily Dickinson Ozymandias Percy Bysshe Shelley Cozy Apologia Rita Dove Mametz Wood Owen Sheers Valentine Carol Ann Duffy Excerpt from The Prelude William Wordsworth

Text choices for Component 2 Section A: Post-1914 Prose/Drama William Golding: Lord of the Flies Meera Syal: Anita and Me Kazou Ishiguro: Never Let Me Go Susan Hill: The Woman in Black Jeanette Winterson: Oranges are not the Only Fruit Simon Stephens: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time (playscript) Sheila Delaney: A Taste of Honey J. B. Priestley: An Inspector Calls Alan Bennett: The History Boys Willy Russell: Blood Brothers (not the Methuen edition)

Text choices for Component 2 Section B: 19 th Century Prose Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol George Eliot: Silas Marner H. G. Wells: The War of the Worlds Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre Robert Louis Stevenson: The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Texts for Component 2 Section B: Unseen Poetry Students will be given two previously unseen poems from the 20 th or 21 st Century, linked by a theme.

Assessment Objectives AO 1 Read, understand respond to texts. Students should be able to: • maintain a critical style and develop an informed personal response • use textual references, including quotations, to support and illustrate interpretations. AO 2 Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate. AO 3 Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written. AO 4 Use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate spelling and punctuation. In the specification as a whole, 20 -25% of the marks will require candidates to show the abilities described in AO 1, AO 2 and AO 3 through tasks which require them to make comparisons across texts.

Assessment Objective weightings The assessment objectives and their total weightings are common across all exam boards. However, the percentage allocated to each section may vary across boards. Assessment Objectives can be useful for teachers. However, there is no need for students to memorise them or to remember which AO applies to which question. If students read the questions properly and stick to the focus of the question they will be covering the AOs. AO 1% AO 2& AO 3% AO 4% Total % Component 1 15 15 7. 5 2. 5 40 Component 2 25 25 7. 5 2. 5 60 Overall weighting 40 40 15 5 100

Assessment by component Component 1 Shakespeare and Poetry (2 hours) Section Topic Approach Mark Section A Shakespeare Two part question 40 Response to an extract 15 20 minutes Essay based on the whole text (not linked to extract) 25 (20 + 5) 1 hour 40 minutes Section B Poetry from 1789 to Two part question the present day Response to a given poem (anthology) 1 hour 20 minutes Essay based on comparison of the given poem with a poem of own choice. 40 minutes AO 1 AO 2 Equally weighted AO 4 (5) 40 15 25 AO 1 AO 2 AO 3 Equally weighted

Assessment by component Component 2 Post-1914 Prose/Drama, 19 th Century Prose and Unseen Poetry (2 hours 30) Section Topic Approach Mark AOs Section A Post-1914 Prose/Drama Essay on the whole text, including a source (given extract). 40 (35 + 5) AO 1 AO 2 Equally weighted AO 4 (5) Essay on the whole text, including a source (given extract). 40 AO 1 AO 2 AO 3 Equally weighted Two part question 40 Response to a given poem 15 45 minutes 19 th Century Prose 45 minutes Section B Unseen Poetry 1 hour 20 minutes Essay based on comparison of the given poem with a second given poem. 40 minutes 25 AO 1 AO 2 Equally weighted

How the marking works For all questions, each response is marked in five bands with band 5 being the highest. Some of the key words in each band are shown below: Band 5 Sensitive, evaluative, critical, perceptive, original, assured, pertinent Band 4 Sustained, thoughtful, secure Band 3 Focused, straightforward, engaged, relevant Band 2 Some focus, understanding, engagement and support Band 1 Limited focus, understanding, engagement and support

Key approaches • Students should know their set texts well and should ensure that they are familiar with key moments from across the whole text. • Students should recognise the key features of the three genres (drama, poetry and prose). • Students should read questions carefully TWICE before starting a response and should ensure a focus on the task throughout. • Terminology or ‘feature spotting’ should never drive responses- answers should ‘lead with meaning’.

Lead with meaning Rather than starting sentences like this: ‘Shakespeare uses the [technique/word class] to show…’ They should begin more like this: ‘Lady Macbeth’s anguish is clear when…’

Relevant Subject Terminology • The most relevant subject terminology will be literary and will be relevent to the genre. It includes the ‘bigger picture’ terminology such as narrative voice, dialogue, characterisation, setting (prose); stanza, persona (poetry); and, soliloquy, interaction, dramatic irony (drama). • Just like in GCSE English Language, word class terminology is only a label unless used to develop an idea.

Sample questions The following slides use example questions from the Summer 2019 past papers. You can use the search facility to access all previous past papers and mark schemes. Make sure that students are familiar with seeing a whole paper and locating the texts they have studied.

Sample questions: Component 1 Section A Shakespeare (extract) Read the extract on the opposite page. Then answer the following question: What does the extract show an audience about Juliet’s thoughts and feelings at this point in the play? Refer closely to details from the extract to support your answer. [15] (The given extract is Juliet’s soliloquy in which she is worried about carrying out the plan to fake her own death)

Approaching the Shakespeare extract questions • Read the question TWICE to identify the key focus. • Read the extract carefully before starting to write, highlighting key pieces of evidence to suit the question focus. Don’t start writing and going through the extract at the same time. • Start your answer by referring to where this extract happens and its significance (this does not have to be an exact Act Scene location). • Track the whole extract and make sure there is evidence from the whole piece. • Be aware of whether the extract is a soliloquy or an interaction between two or more characters: if it is a soliloquy, you will be tracking the thoughts, feelings and emotions of the individual. • Look for changes in mood, atmosphere, relationships across the piece. • Make sure that the text is seen as drama and that there is reference to the audience. • AO 2 should be focused on the language used for drama texts and on Shakespeare’s rich uses of imagery. • Context is not assessed here. Any contextual references should be brief and only used when they can support AO 1

Sample questions: Component 1 Section A: Shakespeare (essay) How does Shakespeare present love in Romeo and Juliet? Refer to characters and events from the play in your answer. [25] *5 of this question’s marks are allocated for accuracy in spelling, punctuation and the use of vocabulary and sentence structures.

Approaching the Shakespeare essay questions • Read the question TWICE to identify the key focus. • Plan the answer to include the beginning, key moments and endings of the play. • Tracking the play chronologically is the best approach: track the development or ‘journey’ of characters or key themes throughout • If relevant, try to include range. For example, in this sample question ‘love’ can be looked at from the perspective of family and friendship as well as love between Romeo and Juliet. • Make sure that the text is seen as drama and that there is reference to key elements of drama texts. • AO 2 should be focused on the language used for drama texts and on Shakespeare’s rich uses of imagery. • Students should use quotations explicitly for AO 2 (as well as to illustrate a key element of character or theme). • Context is not assessed here. While contextual references may be relevant to support AO 1 in some questions, they should be brief. • Spelling, punctuation and grammar are assessed in this question. Proof read and pay attention to spelling of names.

Eduqas resources to support teaching of Shakespeare Ways into Shakespeare Approaches to Shakespeare GCSE English Literature Component 1

Sample questions: Component 1 Section B: Poetry (given poem) Read the poem below, A Wife in London, by Thomas Hardy. A Wife in London is a poem about loss. How does Thomas Hardy present loss in the poem? Remember to refer to the contexts of the poem in your answer. [15] (The poem is printed on the page and a list of all the anthology poems is printed on the facing page)

Approaching the Poetry anthology question (given poem) • Read the question TWICE to identify the key focus. • Tracking the poem chronologically is the best approach. This should include reference to the title and should go right through to the final line, selecting the most important ideas for the question focus. • Make sure that the text is seen as poetry and that there is reference to key elements of poetry texts. While linguistic features such as word classes may sometimes be useful, it is not necessary to label every quote with a word class. • Context is assessed here: include a reference to context in the introduction and then integrate contextual references into the rest of the response. Context needs to be specific and accurate.

Sample questions: Component 1 Section B: Poetry (comparison) Choose one other poem from the anthology in which the poet also writes about loss. Compare the way the poet presents loss in your chosen poem with the way Thomas Hardy presents loss in A Wife in London. In your answer you should compare: • the content and structure of the poems – what they are about and how they are organized • how the writers create effects, using appropriate terminology where relevant • the contexts of the poems, and how these may have influenced the ideas in them [25]

Approaching the Poetry anthology comparison question • Think carefully about your choice of poem before starting to write and make a brief plan so that there are enough points of connection/contrast to make. • Ensure the question focus is maintained throughout- comparisons can’t be about anything, they must be linked to the question focus. • Students should use quotations explicitly for AO 2 as well as to illustrate a key aspect of the question focus. • As in the first part question, context should be specific, accurate and integrated throughout. • Plan for a structured response to enable the best comparative approach e. g. a key point of comparison should be the topic sentence for the start of each paragraph. • It is fine to repeat elements of the response to the first part question where this is being used to illustrate a given connection/comparison with the chosen poem.

Eduqas resources to support teaching of the poetry anthology Eduqas Poetry Anthology Resources Using contexts effectively in response to poetry GCSE English Literature Component 1

Sample questions: Component 2 Section A: Post-1914 Prose/Drama (source based question) Lord of the Flies You are advised to spend about 45 minutes on this question. You should use the extract below and your knowledge of the whole novel to answer this question. Write about the relationship between Ralph and Jack and how it is presented at different points in the novel. In your response you should: • refer to the extract and the novel as a whole • show your understanding of characters and events in the novel (followed by an extract of about half a page) [40]

Sample questions: Component 2 Section B: 19 th Century Prose (source based question) The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde You are advised to spend about 45 minutes on this question. You should use the extract below and your knowledge of the whole novel to answer this question. Write about Dr Jekyll and how he is presented at different points in the novel. In your response you should: • refer to the extract and the novel as a whole • show your understanding of characters and events in the novel • refer to the contexts of the novel (followed by an extract of about half a page) [40]

Approaching the source based questions • As you will see, these questions work in the same way. The only difference is that Section B (19 th Century Prose) includes AO 3 (context) as an Assessment Objective. • Read the question carefully TWICE to identify the key focus. • The focus of these questions is on the whole text. • The extract is to enable a way in and to provide material for AO 2. • A brief plan should focus on the whole text and include the beginning, key moments and endings of the texts. • The extract can be discussed where it best fits (in terms of the chronology of the text). Other approaches include covering the extract first before moving on to the whole text or integrating evidence from the extract throughout the essay on the whole text. All of these approaches are valid. The most important thing is that students spend less time on the source and more time on the whole text.

Approaching the source based questions • The texts should be seen as their respective genres and relevant terminology should include terms related to that genre. As the focus of these questions is on whole text study, terminology is more about elements of the ‘bigger picture’ of how texts create meaning rather than close analysis of individual words (and their word class labels) • As before, Students should use quotations explicitly for AO 2 as well as to illustrate a key aspect of the question focus. • Spelling, punctuation and grammar is assessed in Section A. Proof read, paying attention to spellings of names.

Approaching the source based questions (context) • Context IS NOT assessed in the post-1914 text. While it may be relevant to some of the texts in this section, and may help discussion of A 01, it should not be a main focus of the response. • Context IS assessed in the 19 th Century text. It should be mentioned in the introduction and integrated throughout the response where it supports discussion of meanings/ideas/character development or AO 2. • The development of characters/themes/ideas in relation to the question should drive the response. Context should be used as a supporting reference rather than to drive responses.

Sample questions: Component 2 Section C: Unseen Poetry Read the two poems, Yesterday by Patricia Pogson and Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden. Both poems describe the relationship between a parent and a child. Write about the poem Yesterday by Patricia Pogson, and its effect on you. [15] You may wish to consider: • what the poem is about and how it is organised • the ideas the poet may have wanted us to think about • the poet’s choice of words, phrases and images and the effects they create • how you respond to the poem

Sample questions: Component 2 Section C: Unseen Poetry Now compare Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden, and Yesterday by Patricia Pogson. [25] You should compare: • what the poems are about and how they are organized • the ideas the poets may have wanted us to think about • the poets’ choice of words, phrases and images and the effects they create • how you respond to the poems

Approaching the unseen poetry questions • The structure of this section is the same as that for the Poetry (anthology) section in Component 1 and students should approach it in the same way. • The introduction to the question gives a clear focus on the topic of the poems, in this case, ‘the relationship between a parent and a child’. Read this carefully, TWICE. • As these poems are unseen, students must spend time reading the poems carefully. On the first reading, try to get the ‘gist’ of the ideas in the poems. It will probably need two further readings to understand some of the ideas in the poem and then to select the best evidence for the question. • The approach should then be as for the anthology poetry questions: in the first part, track the poem chronologically being sure to include reference to title, opening and ending as well as key ideas throughout and to make explicit reference to AO 2 when quoting; in the comparison, plan briefly by key points of comparison. • Poetry answers can be prone to ‘feature spotting’ approaches. Students should lead with meaning rather than device in order to avoid this.

Eduqas resources to support teaching of Component 2 Approaches to 19 th Century Texts Approaches to Unseen Poetry GCSE English Literature Component 2

Students should… • Know their texts well and be able to track or map the development of key characters and events. • Have a small bank of key quotes for each text, including key quotes for main characters and themes. • Be able to recognise the key features of each genre. • Stick to the focus of the question and plan briefly so the answer remains focused. • Lead with meaning and avoid ‘feature spotting’. • Remember to include context where asked. • Manage their time wisely.

The best students will also… • Understand that characters and events are constructions of their authors and that there is an authorial intention behind each text. • Use key quotes concisely and effectively to cover more than one AO. • Be able to use features of each genre effectively to develop ideas and use terminology associated with that genre. • Integrate various contexts in a way which supports (but does not overtake) analysis of characters and ideas. • Plan a response that has an overview and develops an argument or key train of thought. • Write precisely and concisely using apt vocabulary so that they can cover a wide range of the text in each response.

Focus and concise writing Example extract from a student response: ‘Othello’s monologue as he prepares to murder Desdemona is pitiful for the audience to hear as the psychological torment he is under is evident. ’ This student manages to tell us how Othello feels, how the audience feels and to use relevant dramatic subject terminology in one sentence.

Make the most of learned quotes Example extract from a student response: ‘Desdemona is presented as heavenly when Cassio exaggeratedly describes her to Montano by calling her, “the divine Desdemona”. This epithet highlights the treatment of Desdemona and women as a whole in the play. Women are presented as either super-humanly virtuous, like Desdemona, or are demonised due to promiscuity (or perceived promiscuity). At the start of the play, Desdemona is presented as one of the former group. The epithet ‘divine’ also contrasts interestingly with Iago’s hellish motif (“Hell and night”) presenting her as the paragon of good to his embodiment of evil. ’

Teaching the course Because teachers of GCSE English work in varied scenarios, and may have to balance the demands of both Language and Literature courses, this specification is being delivered in many different ways. For GCSE English Literature, it is a good idea revisit texts frequently. It is also important to explicitly teach revision skills such as character journey maps and the learning of key quotes. The Guidance for Teachers has comprehensive advice and ideas for teaching. We also have resources with activities designed to show students how the skills they are developing apply to both Language and Literature. In Eduqas Digital Educational Resources, we have a number of resources including teaching guidance, suggested course plans and interactive activities for classroom use. This page is where you will find all the resources mentioned throughout these slides along with other resources such as knowledge organisers and customisable ‘text tools’ for use with any text.

Using Online Exam Review (OER) to help your assessment OER allows you to look at student responses to past exam paper questions. You can view these as unmarked and marked. The statistical table shows you have many students answered each question, the mean mark for each question and how ‘accessible’ that question was (the ‘facility factor’). It can also be interesting to see the percentage attempt which indicates how many students didn’t attempt particular questions and/or ran out of time. The left hand menu bar has a range of responses at different levels of achievement. There are instructions for accessing OER on the home screen.

Resources overview Guidance for teaching: starting point for activities, resources and advice to help plan the course Past papers and mark schemes Resources and key documents: including examiners’ reports, assessment grids, exemplar responses, grade boundaries, key dates, FAQs etc Digital resources for classroom use CPD materials from all previous CPD sessions Online exam review WJEC Secure website for your results data and access to additional NEA exemplars and guidance

Any Questions? Contact our specialist Subject Officers and administrative team for your subject with any queries. Julia Harrison: Subject Officer Matt Oatley / Lewis Beecham: Subject Support Officers gcseenglish@eduqas. co. uk 029 2240 4288 eduqas. co. uk