1. GCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE J360
UNIT A663 – PROSE FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES

2. Preparing for the exam
Know your text – you will not have time in the exam to keep referring to your clean copy of the text.
Revise pre-taught material but be prepared to adapt it to focus on the question set.

3. DO: structure your answer
TASK
Understand, respond, evaluate, personalise
TEXT
Consider context and overview
LANGUAGE
Analyse the detail

4. A663 – Prose from Different Cultures
There are TWO Assessment Objectives: AO2 Explain how language, structure and form contribute to writers’ presentation of ideas, themes and settings. You must incorporate comments on how the playwright uses language and structure to enhance/explore character, themes and ideas in the play.

5. A663 – Prose from Different Cultures
AO4 Relate texts to their social, cultural and historical contexts; explain how texts have been influential and significant to self and other readers in different contexts and at different times.
You must explore the cultural setting of the text. How different readers may respond to the text over time, what the writer’s attitude is, and how the setting of the text influences the events and characters.

6. Weightings of AO2 & AO4
AO4 has a higher weighting in the mark scheme than AO2. This means that you must make sure that you include many references to the cultural context of the text in your exam response.
We are now going to consider how you can do this effectively.

7. What is AO4?
AO4: relate texts to their social, cultural and historical contexts; explain how texts have been influential and significant to self and to other readers in different contexts and at different times

8. Practicalities
AO4 ‘quality’ is required, rather than just ‘coverage’ – examiners don’t want ‘bolted on’ information.
FOCUS and RELEVANCE are key – only include references to cultural context in your comments on the question set, as relevant to that question.
AS APPROPRIATE TO TEXT AND TASK
The key terms are ‘relate’ and ‘explain’ - not just ‘know about’.

9. So what is ‘context’? ‘Context’ = exploring the SETTING of a text
How is the setting significant in the narrative of the text?
How does the setting relate to the ‘real world’?
How do these things influence the way we respond to the text?

10. SETTING and THE NARRATIVE In the text, to what extent:
because of when/where the story takes place?
do things happen as they do
are characters like they are
Consider (eg):
In a ‘different cultures’ text, any or all of these may be unfamiliar to the reader
Time / Period
Place
Culture / Community
You couldn’t teach a Different Cultures text without addressing this unfamiliarity: the ‘context’.

11. Setting and the ‘real world’
Setting becomes ‘context’:
when we link the setting in the text and a setting in the ‘real’ world
when we start to explore the relationship between them.
To do this, we need some knowledge from outside the text:
the social cultural historical . . .
CONTEXT of the text

12. ? Exploring setting How does exploring / understanding ‘context’:
the characters
their relationships
what happens
…etc
help us to understand
make us think more carefully about
alter our view of
… etc
These are the areas A663 tasks will tackle.

13. The context of the reader
. . . explain how texts have been influential and significant to self and to other readers in different contexts and at different times
For example -
how/why a text may influence views/ attitudes/ circumstances
how/why responses to a text may change over time
how/why a text may provoke different reactions in different readers
Any relevant response to these aspects WILL be credited
If there is no reference to these aspects, the whole mark range will still be accessible – for example, they may not have been relevant to the extract or question set

14. Linking text and context
You need to learn how to:
select from your contextual knowledge what is relevant
explain how the contextual material helps to shape the text itself
explore how the contextual material helps to shape the way we respond to the text
integrate all this into a response to the task set
‘Bolt-on background’ is not what examiners are looking for. Never begin with an introduction about the cultural context of the text – your understanding of this element must be fully integrated into your response.

15. THE TASK
AO4 in the questions

16. The Texts The specification prescribes the TEXT to be studied:
a prose text ‘from Different Cultures’
so, by definition, setting and ‘context’ will be significant
and any reading / teaching / study can’t help but address these aspects

17. AO4 Preparation (ii)
The Exam Board does NOT prescribe the ‘CONTEXT’ to be studied.
Your teacher will guide you to relevant ‘context’ as it arises in the novel. So, as events happen, you will learn about how the cultural context of the text has determined or influenced the events and characters.

18. BUT Any / all of these might be helpful – if used constructively.
AO4 Preparation (iii)
So, for example in Of Mice and Men, the specification does not prescribe:
the Great Depression of the 1930s
the ‘American Dream’
the experience of black Americans
…etc
BUT Any / all of these might be helpful – if used constructively.
Ask - at key points, what ‘context’ will help to ‘open up’ the text to the reader ?
if it helps when reading, it should help when answering an exam question

19. Exam Questions – the P T R structure
A663 questions will:
PROMPT an exploration P
of a specific TOPIC or issue in the text T
and of a way of RESPONDING to this R

20. [something in the text]
So – generically -
PROMPT
What makes (F)
How does the writer make (H)
TOPIC
[something in the text]
RESPONSE
so [adjective]?
N.B. – there will also be:
a reminder about AO2 – ‘LANGUAGE’ etc.

21. TASKS – an example of P T R
The task asks the candidate:
What makes the ENDING of the novel so POWERFUL and MOVING?
The candidate asks him/herself:
How does my KNOWLEDGE / UNDERSTANDING OF ‘CONTEXT’ help me to explain what makes the ENDING of this novel so POWERFUL and MOVING?
The task also reminds the candidate about ‘language’ - eg at F tier:
You should consider . . .
the words and phrases [the writer] uses

22. P T R PROMPTS FOUNDATION TIER HIGHER TIER What makes . . .
What are your feelings about . . .
What are your impressions of . .
What do you think . . .
What do you find . . .
How does [ ] bring home to you
How does [writer]
How does X’s writing . . .
Explore the ways [writer] . . .
Explore the ways X’s writing . . .
Explore how [writer] makes . . .
In what ways does [writer] . . .

23. P T R TOPICS and RESPONSES
FOUNDATION /
HIGHER
FOUNDATION / HIGHER
the ending of the novel
the way [character] is treated
how the relationship changes
what to admire / pity
the harshness of everyday life
powerful
moving
tense and exciting
entertaining
horrifying

24. A Summary of the Importance of AO4
You couldn’t learn a Different Cultures text without addressing the ‘context’
What ‘context’ will help to ‘open up’ the text to the reader?
AO4 performance will directly affect outcomes
Key terms are ‘relate’ and ‘explain’ - not just ‘know about’
‘Bolt-on background’ will not gain credit

25. A Summary of the Importance of AO4
DON’T underestimate - AO4 has teeth
DON’T overload - a little AO4 can go a long way
DO ask - how does ‘context’ help understanding / affect response ?
DO emphasise - keep it relevant to the task

26. Some Simple Examples from “Of Mice and Men”
pp6–8: Lennie and his pockets: what we learn about him and his relationship with George.
pp23–25: the boss’s reaction to them.
pp56–58: livin off the fatta the lan’.
pp75–77: the truth about Crooks.
pp86–88: Curley’s wife and her dreams

27. Over to you
Find some more examples which put a moment/ character/ conversation in the novel first and the context second.

28. Passage-based Questions
There are two common problems:
Lack of focus on the passage
Lack of focus on the question
AVOID:
An introduction about the author, historical or cultural setting/background.
Excessive detail when putting the passage in the context of the rest of the novel.
Detailed reference to the rest of novel outside the passage.

29. Passage-based questions continued....
DO:
Read the question carefully and focus on the key words – highlight them.
Quote briefly and frequently from the passage to support your points.
Refer briefly to other points in the novel, tethering your comments firmly to the passage.
Think carefully about your point – don’t just include pre-taught points unless you have made them relevant to your response.

30. General/Discursive Essay
Make sure that you have understood the demands of the title.
Choose the sections of the novel that you look at carefully, ensuring that they are the most relevant moments.
Include brief, frequent quotations to keep your answer firmly rooted in the text.
Make sure that references to cultural context are fully integrated into your comments, not bolted on.