CONTEXTUAL

CONTEXTUAL LINKING
LINKING
Exam Paper
"Texts in Context"
Option C The Struggle for Identity in Modern Literature

Section A: Contextual Linking - 45 marks

Section B Poetry: "The World's Wife" Carol Ann Duffy - 45 marks

Time allowed 2 hours

Spend one hour on each question

You may text a clean copy of "The World's Wife" into the exam with you.
(No annotations on these texts)

Maximum mark for Paper 90 marks

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You should spend one hour on the contextual linking question for Section A.
Timing for this question:
10 - 15 minutes: reading, annotating, planning,
20 - 25 minutes: on each bullet point.
HOWEVER more confident students might decide to integrate their responses
in which the extract and the wider reading comparisons are interwoven
throughout the answer.

The good thing is that the actual question will always be EXACTLY the same.
Of course the non-fiction extract will change each time.

The Question:
·How does the writer present his thoughts and feelings about the struggle for identity?

(20 - 25 minutes)

·How far is the extract similar to and different from your wider reading about the
struggle for identity in modern literature? You should consider the writer's choices of
form, structure and language. (20 - 25 minutes)

Total(45 marks)
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In this question you must refer to your wider reading across all THREE
genres (prose, poetry and drama)

How many wider reading texts should you refer to?

The exam board say between 3 - 6 texts is plenty! (Not so bad eh?) This is
so that you do a little more than name drop and really consider your
choices.

Remember all the texts you have studied for coursework count as wider
reading. You may also use Duffy, but I strongly advise you to use other
poets as well.
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ANALYSING THE QUESTION

As I said, the wording of the contextual linking question is always the same -
only the extract changes.
The first instruction is "Read the following extract carefully." Use a
highlighter pen to annotate key features of the extract and read actively for
meaning from the start.
The extract will always be introduced with some back ground information
and you must pay careful attention to this. It is designed to steer you in the
right direction with regard to the writer's overarching concerns. The extracts
have been chosen to highlight thoughts and feelings 'typical' of the struggle
for identity.

Have a look at the January 2009 Paper (The whole paper is attached to this
Smart Board)
 Highlight key words
Background What aspects of the gender
information struggle for identity can nationality
Designed to steer you you see here? period
in family relationships
the right direction growing up - youth
religion

1. Read the following extract carefully. It is taken

from It’s a Long Way from Penny Apples (2001) by
Bill Cullen, an autobiographical account of growing
up in an inner city slum in Dublin in the 1940s and
50s. In this extract the young Bill (called Liam by his
family) is asking his mother and Molly Darcy, his Underline the key word
grandmother, about ‘Maggies’ who work in a laundry in the question. The
words are designed to
run by nuns. help access the
assessment objectives

•·How does the writer present his thoughts and

feelings about the struggle for identity?
•·How far is the extract similar to and different from
your wider reading about the struggle for identity?
You should consider the writers’ choices of form,
Bullet points of the
question - ALWAYS
structure and language.
THE SAME
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Underline
The devices key words!
a writer Wider reading
uses and between 3 - 6
the effect
texts
on the
reader
·How does the writer present his thoughts and feelings about the struggle
for identity?
This is asking
you to
evaluate. How ·How far is the extract similar to and different from your wider reading
far do you
agree?
about the struggle for identity? You should consider the writers’ choices
of form, You may
structure and language. Form. Think spend 20 -
about the 25 mins on
effects each bullet
Structure. Think achieved by point or
Language. This
about the order the type of integrate
one is always
of ideas and texts. e.g.
dealt with
poetry, rhyme,
you
words and really well. response so
effects. (How rhythm, sound
Choice of that wider
the texts are etc.
words, images
Drama - stage reading and
put together etc directions etc analysis of
extract are
interwoven.
40 -50 mins
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PLANNING THE ANSWER
As you read the extract focus on tracing the writer's point of view. This is not always
the same as the characters in the extract. Look for any noticeable features of form,
structure and language.
If you can, try to bear in mind the second bullet point about relevant wider reading
texts you might like to include in your answer.

If you plan key areas of comparison and contrast, you will be more likely to produce
methodical and well-organised responses.

Also you will be less likely to start with:

"In this essay I am going to write about..." (YUK!) This tells the
examiner nothing more than your pen is working.

I know we've moved on from GCSE, but you should still remember that PEEL format of
analysis:
Make a clear POINT
Give relevant supporting EVIDENCE (short embedded quotation and/or reference)
Finish with a clear EXPLANATION (analyse what this reveals)
and LINK your ideas to the question.
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FORM STRUCTURE AND LANGUAGE

The only way to get into the higher mark bands is to compare and contrast the texts in
terms of form, structure and language (the way they are written) as well as content
(the writer's thoughts and feelings).
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Show the examiner that you are building a well structured argument
and writing a cohesive argument in which all your paragraphs and
ideas are linked and well developed.

Use carefully chosen connectives:

•·furthermore,
•·moreover,
•·likewise,
•·in addition,
•·besides,
•·additionally,
•·also....
These words indicate a train of thought and give the impression of a
developing argument.
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Language of COMPARISON

Connectives such as:

similarly, likewise, correspondingly, in the same way, and equally
suggest similarity, but here are some other basic writing frames you
might use:

•·To underline the link between these texts, I would argue that...
•·What unites these two texts is...
•·A fundamental point of connection between the texts is...
•·These texts are connected in that...
•·These texts parallel each other in their focus upon...
•·The texts resemble each other in their responses to...
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Language of CONTRAST

Connectives such as on the contrary, whereas, then again, on the other

hand, in contrast, quite the reverse and contrastingly indicate difference.
Other useful ways of differentiating texts are:

•·To draw a distinction between these texts I would argue that...

•·What separates these two texts is...
•·The texts diverge in that...
•·The texts differ because....
•·The texts are differentiated in that whereas...
•·A key difference of opinion between the writers exists in their attitude
to...
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HOW TO LINK BETWEEN TEXTS

You could start with a typicality of theme e.g. women's roles and their treatment if that is what the
extract contains. Then go on to refer to other wider reading texts which also tap into this area of
the struggle for identity.

Once you have developed a response to the typicality of theme, and mapped out some similarities
and differences in treatment, you need to manage a transition into other aspects of the struggle
for identity. Don't get stuck on women or one single aspect of the struggle for identity.

Having traced where some broadly similar themes have emerged through wider reading, you must
move on to map some key thematic differences.

Like this!
The writer's primary concern in this extract is women's roles and their treatment, but an equally
important aspect of the struggle for identity in modern literature is sexual identity which is not
mentioned in this extract...

Or
Moving on from the subject of women, another key aspect of the struggle for identity in modern
literature which has emerged from my wider reading is the tensions between races. One writer
who was very concerned with this issue was ... Maya Angelou/ Toni Morrison..

Or
Thiswriter is primarily interested in oppression of youth, whereas in Toni
Morrison is more concerned with the oppression of race...

DON'T PANIC!
It is unlikely that you won't be able to find something in the extract which is similar to your wider
reading, but if that should happen and your mind goes blank, don't panic and move on to another
area of the struggle for identity straight away.
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THE FIVE ASPECTS OF THE STRUGGLE FOR

IDENTITY:

GENDER

RACE

SOCIAL/POLITICAL

SEXUAL

RELIGIOUS
 AND HERE IS WHAT EXAMINERS ARE GIVEN TO HELP THEM MARK YOUR
EXAM
This is for the January 2009 exam
FOCUS Extract and all reading in Literature about the Struggle for The 'Indicative
Identity (SFI) Content' lists
some of the
KEY WORDS Thoughts and feelings, wider reading, form, structure connections you
and language might make in
your response.
INDICATIVE CONTENT: Cullen autobiography and wider
reading If you are
Analysis of autobiography. looking at this on
Subject Matter: description of district; habits; behaviour; women’s Smart Board you
roles and their treatment; families and children; emphasis on social can see a copy
of the 2009
conditions; religious values and attitudes towards and between the
paper by clicking
genders; an Irish perspective; appearances and viewpoints; on the paper clip
fascination; revulsion and sympathy; different perspectives of the attachment in
older/younger speakers. the side bar.
Over here
Form, structure and language: conversational, informal, descriptive,
prescriptive, adoption of different tones and registers for different Now try to write
audience; literary and non-literary vocabulary; colloquialism and your own
idiomatic usage; religious terminology; imagery. response to this
question.
Typicality: candidate to find links in terms of both similarity and
difference with wider reading: Good Luck and
enjoy (!)
• Writing about social issues (in prose, poetry and drama) Mrs Sims
x
• Other views of social ostracism, moral censure and repression

• Other descriptions of environment

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HERE'S WHAT THE EXAMINERS SAID ABOUT STUDENT RESPONSES TO THE JANUARY
2009 PAPER
The Examiner's Report on this exam:
Some good responses were seen as well as a few very perceptive and mature ones.
Weaker
answers usually revealed students. limited exposure to and understanding of
contextual issues and poor assimilation of the themes of the struggle for identity,
such as community, the home, gender, religion, class, sexual identity, ethnicity and
socio-historical factors.

With wider reading recognised as the crucial underpinning of this specification, it is

to be expected that students should be able to make reference to all three genres
of writing when responding to Question 1 in order to make relevant links and
developments.

It was noticeable that some students were unable to refer to all three genres and
also tried to rely on references to Owen, Angelou or Duffy as sufficient evidence of
their study of poetry.

Most students were able to write in adequate length to address the challenges of
the questions and to budget their time wisely between the two questions. However,
a few were not and some brief responses were seen, suggesting that some year 12
students were insufficiently prepared for the examination or had insufficient
stamina for a two-hour paper.
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Many students were able to recognise and engage with interesting linguistic choices
and features but were neglectful of observations and analyses of form and structure
both in the extract and in the poetry: a serious and limiting omission.

It is worth repeating that the appropriate Assessment Objectives are embedded in the
wording
of the questions and, as long as students write relevant answers using the key words
of the
questions they will meet these objectives. The majority of students showed some
awareness of
the Assessment Objectives tested in this paper and wrote accordingly.

When responding to Question 1 students do need to apply themselves to both the

directed tasks but there does not need to be a sharp division between the two areas
of response and answers certainly do not benefit from being subtitled as 1a) and 1b)
or 1(i) and 1(ii).

It is also not unreasonable to expect students who ignore the information offered in
the preamble to Question 1 to disadvantage themselves.
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The extract from It's a Long Way from Penny Apples by Bill Cullen was chosen for its relatively
simple expression of some vexing but ubiquitous issues of stereotyping, oppression and
discrimination, set against a backdrop of clearly defined family, community and wider social
factors.

There were different voices and discernibly different viewpoints within the extract as well as
some interesting and subtly-expressed differences between male and female presentations
and perceptions.

An informed, thorough and sensitive reading of the extract yielded much material for
appreciation and comment. Students who skimmed the surface and offered paraphrased
versions of the content would not be able to offer perceptive responses to the writer's
thoughts and feelings and would find those of the speakers and the subject of their
conversation, the Maggies, difficult to discern or differentiate.

Without recourse to observations on form, structure and language choices, much would be
missed in terms of the ways writers express themselves both in the extract and in students.
wider reading.

The similar to/different from phrase allows students to comment on well-chosen wider
reading drawn from all three genres but the answers of better students were characterised
by the quality and development of those links.

Weaker students also seemed to take comfort in .off-loading. information of a general

nature loosely pertaining to context and SFI issues, without anchoring their points into close
textual references or matters of structure, form and language choice.

Whilst, to a degree, the extract is chosen to act as a .springboard. into relevant exploration
of students. wider reading, it does require some careful comment and analysis in its own
right and stronger
responses showed this attention to the detail of the piece.
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It was pleasing to note variety in the choices of wider reading cited in students. responses.

Most students seemed happiest when exploring prose, whether it was non-fiction or fiction
with poetry
and drama sometimes being eclipsed by this. No text should have been merely .name-
dropped as appropriate evaluation requires specific engagement with aspects and features of
those texts.

Successful students:
• Explored the extract with confidence and insight
• Made effective links between the extract and their wider reading and were able to explore
across poetry, drama and prose
• Paid attention to the language and style of the extract as well as those of their wider
reading.

Less successful students:

• Wrote general paraphrases of the content of the extract
• Made few or .forced. links to their wider reading, sometimes ignoring the breadth of genres
• Struggled to engage with form, structure and language choice.