Component 2 — Post-1914 Prose/Drama, 19th-Century Prose and Unseen Poetry

Overview

Component 2 is a 2-hour 30-minute written examination worth 60% of the total GCSE mark. It is divided into three sections.

Total: 120 marks. No access to texts.

Section A — Post-1914 Prose/Drama (40 marks)

Structure

You answer ONE question on ONE text. Each question is in two parts:

Part (i) — Extract question (typically 20 marks):

• A short extract from the text is printed
• Analyse how the writer creates specific effects in the extract
• AO1, AO2 and AO3 — equally weighted
• Stay in the extract; do not write about the whole text

Part (ii) — Whole-text essay (typically 20 marks):

• A thematic or character question about the whole text
• AO1, AO2 and AO3 — equally weighted
• Note: AO4 does NOT apply in Section A (only Shakespeare and 19th-century prose)

Available texts (choose one to study):

• An Inspector Calls — J. B. Priestley
• Lord of the Flies — William Golding
• Anita and Me — Meera Syal
• Never Let Me Go — Kazuo Ishiguro
• Blood Brothers — Willy Russell
• A Taste of Honey — Shelagh Delaney

Key strategies for Section A

• Know your text well enough to quote accurately from memory
• For the extract: annotate before writing; identify three or four language/structure features; consider AO3 context
• For the essay: plan quickly using three moments from the text (beginning, middle, end)
• Aim for integrated AO3 — link context to specific authorial choices

Section B — 19th-Century Prose (40 marks)

Structure

Same two-part structure as Section A:

Part (i) — Extract question (20 marks): AO1 + AO2 + AO3; Victorian prose conventions and context are crucial

Part (ii) — Whole-text essay (20 marks): AO1 + AO2 + AO3 + AO4 (up to 4 marks for SPaG)

Available texts (choose one):

• Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde — Robert Louis Stevenson
• A Christmas Carol — Charles Dickens
• Pride and Prejudice — Jane Austen
• Jane Eyre — Charlotte Brontë
• War of the Worlds — H. G. Wells
• Silas Marner — George Eliot

Victorian context is essential

For 19th-century prose, AO3 is particularly rich because the social and historical context is very different from today:

• Class (rigid hierarchy, social mobility limited)
• Gender (women as property; the "angel in the house"; limited education and legal rights)
• Science vs religion (Darwin, evolution, degeneration — particularly relevant to Jekyll and Hyde)
• Poverty (the Poor Law, workhouses, industrialisation — particularly relevant to Christmas Carol)
• Gothic conventions (relevant to Jekyll and Hyde, Jane Eyre)

AO4 in Section B

AO4 (SPaG) applies here — up to 4 marks in Part (ii). Vary vocabulary, sentence structures, use formal register, and write accurately.

Section C — Unseen Poetry (40 marks)

Structure

Question 1 (typically 20 marks): Analyse a single unseen poem. AO1 + AO2.

Question 2 (typically 20 marks): Compare the poem from Question 1 with a second unseen poem. AO1 + AO2 + AO3 (AO3 applied to both poems).

Note: No anthology poems in Section C — both poems are unseen. This is different from Component 1, Section B, where one poem may be from the anthology.

Key strategies for Section C

• Read both poems before writing anything
• Question 1: a single-poem analysis — AO1 and AO2 (no AO3 required, but you can include context if relevant)
• Question 2: an integrated comparison — both poems in every paragraph; AO3 for both
• Time: 50 minutes total — allow 5 minutes reading + 20 minutes Q1 + 25 minutes Q2

Component 2 — Full Exam Strategy

Time plan (2 hours 30 minutes = 150 minutes):

• Section A: 50 minutes (25 per part)
• Section B: 50 minutes (25 per part)
• Section C: 50 minutes (5 reading + 20 Q1 + 25 Q2)

Priority order

All sections carry equal marks (40 each). Do not sacrifice Section C — many students run out of time. Set a strict time limit for each section.

What to prepare for Component 2

Section A (post-1914 text):

• At least 6–8 quotations per major theme
• Key character analyses
• Context: when written, what was the social/historical moment?
• Literary techniques specific to prose (narrator, structure, setting) or drama (stage directions, dramatic irony, Act structure)

Section B (19th-century text):

• Richer context required — Victorian society, specific legislation, scientific/religious debates
• Gothic or Victorian genre conventions
• AO4: prepare sophisticated vocabulary and sentence variety

Section C (unseen poetry):

• Practise with unseen poems weekly
• Use SMILE systematically
• Write integrated comparisons under timed conditions
• Focus on AO2: form, structure, language analysis