How To Get a 9 In English GCSE: Our Oxbridge-Educated GCSE English Tutors’ Top Tips for 2024
1) Wider Research/ Reading for English Literature GCSE Set Texts
The best English students will explore around their set texts: poetry, plays and novels. This may involve a first glance at literary criticism, researching context to provide coverage of the period and introduce you to the critical and cultural concerns that may be at play, as well as reading related texts (or watching plays). E.g. If one of your set texts is Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, reading Bronte’s Villette, will enable you to gain a better understanding of Bronte’s empowering portrayal of women in 19th Century patriarchal society, and you could compare the two briefly in your exam essay.
Important Note: Ensure you don’t stray too far from the question at hand. You don’t want to turn your essay into a history piece with too much context, nor do you want to spout a critic’s opinion, losing sight of your own. It is also not expected that you should cite a critic in your essay - you should use criticism predominantly to inform your understanding of the text at hand.
With this in mind, here’s how you can get started with some wider exploration:
Literary Criticism:
Students typically begin to engage more with secondary texts and academic articles as they progress to A-Level, but the very best students at GCSE will have started to research and engage with academic discussion of texts. Where to start?
The British Library has a range of excellent, accessible articles on many major works, including a number of GCSE set texts. E.g. If you are studying Romeo and Juliet, check out the BL’s articles on the play, from ‘The Violence of Romeo and Juliet’ to ‘Character analysis: Benvolio, Mercutio and Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet'’.
At GCSE, you will be expected to form an argument in answer to an essay question that offers a balanced view on the text. E.g. If asked, “To what extent do you consider Romeo to be ‘a one-dimensional character only driven by an idealised romantic love?’”, you will want to show an awareness of both sides of the argument - Romeo as driven solely by lofty romanticism vs Romeo as a complex character who matures as the play progresses. Reading articles will give you exposure to a high level of academic debate and some of the critical questions to explore - e.g. The BL’s article on violence explores the debate as to whether R&J should be considered a love story, and also how the conflict central to R&J has kept the play relevant even today (referencing performance & context will add complexity to your analysis).
JSTOR: JSTOR is a go-to for A-Level and University English students. A first gentle foray into the secondary article treasure-trove will also serve a 9-seeking GCSE student well. The academic journal articles differ in levels of complexity and you may find you can learn enough just by reading the abstract, introduction and conclusion of a piece. Search for a theme, writer, or text in Google, followed by ‘JSTOR’ and it will suggest a range of relevant articles. Even examining the titles and themes tagged will give you an idea of themes and debates to explore.
E.g. Say you are taking iGCSE English and your set text is Charles Dickens’ Hard Times. You could simply type ‘Charles Dickens Hard Times JSTOR’ into Google and you will receive ideas of articles to explore including: 'Dickens' "Hard Times": The Lost Childhood’, ‘"Hard Times" and Dickens' Concept of Imagination’ and ‘The Politics of "Hard Times": Dickens the Novelist versus Dickens the Reformer’.
Have a quick perusal of the first page of each relevant article, and choose only the most accessible to read. A quick skim read should give you an idea of some of the critical debate surrounding the text, and may give you some useful context and ideas for analysis.
Abstracts are also extremely useful. E.g. Take the abstract for the article, ‘Fettered Fancy in "Hard Times"‘ - the writer offers insight into the juxtaposition between fact and fancy in Hard Times, and draws our attention to Dicken’s use of “images of life (horses, flowers, the sun, and fire) with images of lifelessness (pits, destructive violence, artificiality)”. You could then revert back to the text and see if you can find examples of this.
Don’t get too bogged down in the criticism however, remember to form your own opinion on the text. At GCSE, close linguistic analysis is far more important than wide, broad statements on argument or theme.
N.B. If you need access to JSTOR, ask your school or contact U2 if you have a particular article you would like to download.
Context
Assessment Objectives across the GCSE English examination boards will include Context as a key element. E.g. iGCSE English: ”AO2 - Understand the meanings of literary texts and their contexts, and explore texts beyond surface meanings to show deeper awareness of ideas and attitudes.” Students who are not aiming for an 8 or 9 will include limited, basic context. Students aiming for a 9 can stand out from the crowd by demonstrating a clear and sophisticated understanding of the context of the text they are studying, inserting context when relevant to back up their points.
This excerpt from an essay on Orwell’s 1984, provides an example of how to subtly weave context into your argument:
Winston’s hollow and inevitable surrender to his fate at the end of the novel seems to embody in microcosm the fatalism of Orwell’s political philosophy in Nineteen Eighty-Four. Newspeak prevents any opportunity for Winston to even imagine – let alone to complete - such an act of autonomy as is committed finally by Bernard. As explained by Alinsky, “he who controls the language controls the masses”, a theory which Orwell amplifies in order to portray a society where all conflicting and individual perceptions of reality are censored and subordinated to the government’s one singular and changeable version of ‘truth’.
Note - Context does not only refer to historical context - it can include social, cultural, biographical and literary information. The example above goes above and beyond - you could do less and achieve a 9 (e.g. the quote is not necessary!), but it gives you an idea as to how you can weave context into your writing to make your argument more convincing. Again, make sure you do not impose contextual information onto a text if it isn’t actually relevant.
Engaging in Background Reading
There are a number of useful online resources to provide you with the background of the period/ literary genre of the text you are studying. E.g. If you are studying Austen or Bronte, The Victorian Web provides a valuable introduction to Victorian thought and other key writers of the period. If you are studying Shakespeare, you could revert to the British Library, or read a good companion text such as The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare on Stage (this is focused on performance & dramaturgy).
Some Key Context Questions to Consider:
Reading Related Texts (/ Watching Plays)
Reading other works by the writer you are studying or another author writing at the same time/ on the same theme(s), will enhance your contextual understanding and allow you to make thematic/ stylistic comparisons across works. Some initial exploration into key movements and periods in literary history will help you with this as you will be able to ascertain where your author/s fit into the background. How do the writer's ideas and style relate to those of other writers of the time? What distinctive features can you highlight in your writer’s works? You could also think about works that may have influenced the writer you are studying, to see how they respond to their ideas. Think about stylistic trends and characteristics e.g. In the Elizabethan era, the Petrarchan sonnet was popular, hence Romeo’s constant profusions of his love written in Petrarchan verse.
Note - At GCSE level, don’t veer too far away from your set text in the exam - a mention of another text should be brief and used only to back up a point you are making or provide a useful contextual point/ comparison.
Here’s another example using Orwell:
In Orwell’s Animal Farm, the same damning political commentary of total authority that is proposed Nineteen Eighty-Four is evident in its juvenile and embryonic form. In Animal Farm, Orwell envisions an apparently inevitable and continual cycle of repression and revolution. The crucial difference is that in Nineteen Eighty-Four, the repression imagined is so complete and perfect in its execution, that the result is a society entirely devoid of individuality, by which the capacity revolution itself is made inconceivable.
For plays, watching productions (many are available online) will also help you to deepen your understanding and equip you to make comments about the playwright’s dramaturgy. It’s crucial to remember that plays are not designed to be read, they are written to be performed. If you get bogged down in analysing the text only in text form, you may forget to explore its dramaturgical elements (staging, props, actor/ actress choice etc.). For Shakespeare, the RSC and the Globe have some great online resources/ productions to watch. For other plays, you should find productions or clips of productions to watch with a quick Google, search on YouTube, or glance through online resources on theatre websites e.g. The National Theatre, the Old Vic.
2) Use of Complex Terminology & Close Analysis
It’s time to graduate from solely using well-known literary techniques such as simile, metaphor, personification etc. etc. These are still great to use, but learn about some more complex terms and try to identify uses of them in your set texts/ unseen analysis to ensure your writing stands out to the examiner. The strongest English GCSE students for both English Language and English Literature will engage in close analysis, quoting regularly and paying attention to specific word choice/ use of literary devices/ grammatical structures. The closer your analysis the better - dissect individual words and read up on some more complex terminology e.g. polysyndeton/ asyndeton, anaphora, ambiguity, chiasmus, epigraph, metonymy, synecdoche.
Useful Resources:
The Poetry Foundation has a great Glossary of Poetic Terms, which includes commentary on literary effect and often gives examples:
Cambridge's Virtual Classroom on Practical Criticism - gives a step by step tutorial on how to analyse a poem without context, which will be especially useful for the Unseen element of your English GCSE. The Classroom also includes a glossary of critical terms for analysis of verse, with extremely useful explanations on metre and form. Remember, the best students will not only analyse word choice and imagery, they will pay closer attention to more difficult aspects of structure, form, rhythm and rhyme.
Here is a handy Glossary of Dramatic Terms for analysis of plays.
3) Note Creation, Revision, Essay Planning & Structure
When it comes to examinations, your life will be a whole lot easier if you have comprehensive notes to look back on when revising. In an ideal world, you would do this as you go. In a less ideal world, you could build a document as part of your revision.
How to Build Effective Notes
You will want to keep a file either in paper form or on your computer, which you use alongside your school book/ file. Here’s what to do for each of your set texts:
Have a section or separate file for each set text.
Keep chronological notes with short (1-2 sentence) plot summaries for chapters of novels and scenes in plays. For a poetry anthology, you will want notes on each poem, with close analysis in bullets.
This is the most important part - Create sections of notes on: Context, Character Crib Sheets (for plays/ novels), Key Themes, Language, Form & Structure, Practice essay questions and Essay plans/ Exemplar essays. You could do part of this work by grouping points from your chronological notes into the sections on context, character, themes, language etc.
Add to the file as you go with anything you have covered at school that is relevant to each section, but also that you have garnered through your own research and reading e.g. further quotes, context & criticism.
In each section, try to include some key quotes to remember. If you need to memorise the quotes for the exam, remember that short quotes are just as effective as long quotes and easier to remember. Once you have highlighted key quotes for each section, you could compile them into a large bank to memorise for each set text.
When it comes to revision, try to condense your notes on to flashcards - for some students, rewriting and rewriting helps consolidate the material, for others, reciting out loud or to a friend is more effective - choose whatever method best suits your learning style. Using your notes to plan and write practice essays will also help you to remember key material. We have a blog on How to Revise Effectively.
Essay Planning & Structure
Having a clear essay structure with a logical narrative/ argumentative flow will bring you one step closer to securing that elusive 9. The key to this is planning. Planning is the bane of many a student’s life and many choose to ignore it entirely, or plan ineffectively. The best students will follow these steps when tackling an essay:
Brainstorm key points that are relevant to the question and bullet-point them.
Group the bullets into themes/ categories.
Jot down a plan that maps out each paragraph:
Introduction: What is your thesis/ argument?
P1: The first paragraph of the main body is often a counter-argument. If not, begin with your first main point. Write out an abbreviated topic sentence that summarises the paragraph.
P2: If your previous paragraph was a counter-argument, counter the counter argument in this paragraph with a “whilst”, “nevertheless” or “however”. Provide your first main point as above, or summarise your second main point if you do not have a counter-argument.
P3/ P4: Again, write out a topic sentence that summarises the paragraph.
Conclusion: This can be just a few lines in the main essay - summarise in your plan in one line.
For each paragraph, you may like to think about how you will tick the boxes for each Assessment Objective. E.g. In which paragraph will you interweave context? Comments on form?
Now you have your plan, make sure you stick to it. If you read your essay back, you should be able to map the essay’s argument just by reading the first sentence of each paragraph (the topic sentence).
If you take all of this advice, you should have all of the tools you need to achieve a 9. If you would like any additional English tutoring from our Oxbridge-educated English tutors to guide your preparation, see below, if not, we wish you the very best of luck!
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