Cambridge IAL English Literature study plan

Map the Prose assessment objectives onto a single working document, restating each AO in your own words and noting which ones reward close textual quotation versus contextual argument.

Read the set prose text once at pace for narrative shape, then annotate chapter or section boundaries with one-line plot and turning-point summaries.

Build a character-and-relationship chart that records each major figure's function, key scenes, and shifts in power or sympathy, citing page references.

Draft ten practice analytical sentences that each embed a short quotation and name a technique, then revise them for precision.

Analyse how narrative voice and point of view shape reader judgement, selecting three passages and writing a paragraph on each.

Compare two critical interpretations of the set text's central conflict, summarising each in under 100 words before judging which is better supported by the text.

Practise integrating short quotations into argument by writing five paragraphs where no quotation exceeds one clause.

Time a full prose essay under exam conditions and mark it against the assessment objectives yourself.

Catalogue every poem in the set collection with form, stanza pattern, rhyme scheme, and metre noted in a single comparison table.

Annotate each poem for voice, address, and tonal shift, marking the exact line where the turn occurs.

Identify recurring imagery clusters across the collection and trace at least three poems that share a motif.

Write one 150-word close reading of a single stanza, quoting at the level of individual words rather than whole lines.

Write two comparative poetry responses pairing poems you have not previously linked, arguing a specific similarity and a specific difference.

Revisit your weakest prose AO from week 2 and rewrite one paragraph to close that gap.

Memorise a bank of twelve short quotations, six from prose and six from poetry, and test recall without notes.

Draft thesis statements for six unseen-style questions, each stating a position in one sentence.

Read the set drama text aloud by act, tracking staging possibilities, entrances, exits, and any stage directions that carry interpretative weight.

Map the play's structure onto a tension graph, marking climaxes, reversals, and the moment audience sympathy shifts.

Analyse how dramatic form, including soliloquy, aside, and dialogue rhythm, creates meaning that prose could not.

Compare two productions or directorial choices you have read about and assess how each reshapes a key scene.

Write two timed drama essays, one on character and one on theme, each completed in 45 minutes.

Practise writing about performance without inventing staging details the text does not support, checking every claim against a line reference.

Integrate one piece of contextual argument per paragraph and verify each fact against a reliable source.

Self-mark both essays against the AOs and log recurring weaknesses in a single error list.

Rotate through all three domains in single sittings, writing one 45-minute essay per domain across the week to rebuild switching stamina.

Drill unseen-text skills by responding to two unfamiliar extracts, one prose and one poetry, in 20 minutes each.

Revise your quotation bank down to the twenty most versatile quotations and practise embedding each in a sentence.

Rewrite your three weakest past paragraphs from weeks 2 to 6 using the error list as a checklist.

Sit one full mock paper under strict timing and mark it cold before rereading any notes.

Review every AO grid from weeks 2 to 7 and identify the single objective that most limits your marks.

Write four targeted paragraphs attacking that weakest objective, then have them checked against the mark scheme.

Compress all three texts into one A4 revision sheet of structure, key quotations, and thesis templates, then test recall from memory.