1. A Student Guide to Unseen Prose
Unit 1 - Section B
GCSE English Literature

2. What will I need to do? For this part of the exam you will need to:
Read a nineteenth century prose text which is around lines in length;
It is very likely that you would not have seen this text before - so it is ‘unseen’;
You will have to answer one question on this text, there is no choice of extract or question;
You will have approximately 45 minutes to respond.

3. Where could this extract come from?
It could come from any nineteenth century text:
From the whole period e.g.: 1800 to 1899;
From the British and Irish literary heritage or
from any other country such as America, France, Russia, etc.;
From any genre - it could be: science fiction, horror, travel, historical, romance, fantasy, etc.

4. These are the sorts of texts the exam extracts could come from
Robert Louis Stevenson – Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Charles Dickens – A Christmas Carol
Mary Shelley – Frankenstein
Jane Austen – Pride and Prejudice
Arthur Conan Doyle – The Sign of Four
H. G. Wells – The War of the Worlds
Lewis Carroll – Alice in Wonderland
Oscar Wilde – The Picture of Dorian Gray
Bram Stoker – Dracula
Anna Sewell – Black Beauty
Robert Louis Stevenson – Treasure Island
Walter Scott – Ivanhoe
Mark Twain – The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Louisa May Alcott – Little Women
James Fenimore Cooper – The Last of the Mohicans
Victor Hugo – Les Misérables
Leo Tolstoy – Anna Karenina
Alexandre Dumas – The Three Musketeers
Jacob Grimm – The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales
Jules Verne – Around the World in Eighty Days  
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5. To prepare for this unit you will need to:
Read as many nineteenth century extracts as you can;
Read across a range of genres and cultures;
Try to understand how the context of the nineteenth century is different from modern contexts;
Consider what the texts are about and how they have been written.
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6. What will I be asked? You will be asked to:
Show how the writer of the extract engages
the reader.
So you will need to read the extract carefully, and refer to the extract in your answer within the recommended 45 minute period.
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7. Below is an extract from H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds
The fighting was beginning. Almost immediately unseen batteries across the river to our right, unseen because of the trees, took up the chorus, firing heavily one after the other. A woman screamed. Everyone stood arrested by the sudden stir of battle, near us and yet invisible to us. Nothing was to be seen save flat meadows, cows feeding unconcernedly for the most part, and silvery pollard willows motionless in the warm sunlight. 
“The sojers’ll stop ’em,” said a woman beside me, doubtfully. A haziness rose over the treetops. 
Then suddenly we saw a rush of smoke far away up the river, a puff of smoke that jerked up into the air, and hung, and forthwith the ground heaved underfoot and a heavy explosion shook the air, smashing two or three windows in the houses near, and leaving us astonished.

8. Analysis of the extract
What is happening here?
How does the writer use language?
Where is it set?
What genre is it?
Which characters are introduced and developed?
What themes are looked at?
How does it start/end?
Are there any words you do not understand? Underline them and draw up your own glossary.
What is the structure of the extract?
What narrative style is used?
What linguistic devices are used?
What is the mood and tone?
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9. Here is an end of an extract. Can you identify the novel?
"It's not my business," Scrooge returned. "It's enough for a man to understand his own business, and not to interfere with other people's. Mine occupies me constantly. Good afternoon, gentlemen!"
  Seeing clearly that it would be useless to pursue their point, the gentlemen withdrew. Scrooge resumed his labours with an improved opinion of himself, and in a more facetious temper than was usual with him.
  Meanwhile the fog and darkness thickened so, that people ran about with flaring links, proffering their services to go before horses in carriages, and conduct them on their way. The ancient tower of a church, whose gruff old bell was always peeping slily down at Scrooge out of a Gothic window in the wall, became invisible, and struck the hours and quarters in the clouds, with tremulous vibrations afterwards, as if its teeth were chattering in its frozen head up there.
Using the points on the previous slide, begin to analyse this passage.
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10. To be successful in this Unit
What you must not do
What you need to do
Read and practise analysing lots of nineteenth century texts.
Get to know the nineteenth century context.
Bring your own ideas to your analysis.
Spend time reading the extract carefully.
Follow the instructions carefully on the exam paper.
Look at the title of the novel and the introductory brief on the exam paper.
Only read texts from genres, cultures or authors you like.
Make assertions (instead, ensure you support your point with a reference from the text).
Use overlong quotations.
Only look at one interpretation.
Write carelessly. This response assesses quality of written communication as well.
Rush your response.

11. How do I find out more?
CCEA English Literature microsite at The following websites are also useful: – for context – for texts to analyse – for support and resources – for revision Or from your teachers at your schools and colleges.