How To Write In Your Literature PAPER 1 Exam: A Step By Step Guide, by Mr Everything English on YouTube. 54 min 42 s.
- Video length
- 54 min 42 s
- Time to do it
- 1 hour 45 minutes
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Steps
- 10
What you need
Steps
Check which texts your paper covers. On AQA Paper 1 that means Shakespeare and the 19th-century novel, with 1 hour 45 minutes to write both answers.
Read the printed extract twice. On the second read, underline words that show mood, repeated images, and anything that shifts, such as a change in tone.
Spend five minutes planning. Write three or four points that answer the question directly and pick one short quote for each. Cross out anything that only retells the plot.
Open with a short introduction that states your argument in one or two sentences. Name the extract and the whole text, and answer the exact wording of the question.
Start each paragraph with a clear point that uses the question's key words. Then give your evidence: a quote of three to five words, woven into your own sentence.
Zoom in on one or two words from the quote. Say what they suggest, what image they create, and how they make the audience or reader feel or react.
Add context that fits the point, such as Jacobean views on gender or Victorian attitudes to poverty. Link it to the question rather than dropping in a fact.
Refer to elsewhere in the text to show the whole play or novel, then move to your next point with a linking word such as however or similarly.
Repeat the point, evidence, analysis pattern for each plan point. Aim for four or five paragraphs, then finish with two sentences on what your argument shows overall.
Keep an eye on the clock. Leave five minutes at the end to check spelling, punctuation, and that every paragraph answers the question.
Tips and common mistakes
Learn five to eight short quotes for each text, including one from the opening and one from the ending.
Never spend more than about 50 minutes on one question, or you will lose marks on the second.
Avoid long quotes; a three-word phrase you can analyse closely scores better.
Write about the writer's choices, not about characters as if they were real people.
Questions
How long should each answer be?
For AQA Paper 1, plan around 45 to 50 minutes on Shakespeare and the same on the novel. That usually means four or five detailed paragraphs each.
Do I have to include context?
Yes, it is assessed. Weave short, relevant points about the time the text was written into your analysis instead of bolting on a separate paragraph.
What if I cannot remember a quote?
Use a short phrase from the extract, or paraphrase the idea in your own words, then analyse the language you do remember.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
