LC English flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Paper 1 time and marks

Paper 1 composing and comprehension together carry 150 marks and run 170 minutes. Candidates divide time between the 100-mark essay and the 50-mark comprehension and functional writing tasks.

Composing marking criteria

Examiners reward relevance to the prompt, coherence and development, vocabulary and style, accuracy of language, and paragraph structure. All five qualities are assessed together on the 100-mark scale.

Discursive essay structure

A discursive essay states a thesis, develops at least three points with evidence, acknowledges an opposing view, and concludes by resolving the argument. Balance and logical progression matter more than emotive language.

Personal essay requirement

A personal essay is assessed on reflection and shaping. One experience analysed in depth, with its significance drawn out, scores higher than a list of unrelated events recounted without insight.

Short story essentials

A short story needs character, setting, conflict, climax, and resolution within a compressed time frame. A title suggesting a twist still requires a coherent narrative with cause and effect.

Paragraph as marked unit

Each paragraph carries one controlling idea, opens with a topic sentence, and links to the next by connective or repeated key term. Paragraphing is explicitly rewarded in the composing mark scheme.

Register and audience

Register must match purpose and audience. A persuasive speech uses direct address and rhetorical patterning; an informative article stays impersonal; a letter to a principal avoids slang and contraction.

Comprehension mark counting

Marks indicate required points. A 15-mark question usually needs three developed points worth about five marks each. Counting marks before writing prevents under-answering and wasted time.

Question verb signals

'Quote' or 'identify' requires lifted wording. 'Explain in your own words' forbids copying and requires paraphrase. 'How does the writer' requires technique plus effect on the reader.

Context vocabulary questions

Context questions ask for the meaning of a word as used in the passage, not its primary dictionary sense. Supply a synonym that fits the surrounding sentence and check it substitutes cleanly.

Style question method

Name the device, quote it precisely, and state its effect on the reader or the argument. Devices include metaphor, hyperbole, repetition, rhetorical question, irony, and sentence variation.

Functional writing formats

Format marks depend on convention: letter needs salutation and sign-off, article needs headline and byline, report needs headings, review needs a verdict. Each prompt names its audience and purpose.

Quotation in comprehension

Quotation should be brief and embedded in the candidate's own sentence. Long lifted passages without comment earn little credit because they do not demonstrate understanding or analysis.

Paper 2 structure

Paper 2 carries 200 marks in 200 minutes. Candidates answer three sections, drawn from single text study, comparative study, and poetry, choosing one question from each section.

Single text evidence

A strong single-text answer states an argument, supports it with four or five specific textual references, and returns to the question. Quotation should be short, accurate, and integrated.

Character development answer

Character questions require tracing introduction, change, and significance across the whole text. The answer must explain what the change reveals about a theme, not merely describe events.

Theme traced through text

A theme answer must trace the idea through at least three separate moments in the text. Asserting the theme once and illustrating from a single scene keeps the response in a lower band.

Answering the exact question

Answers must address the precise wording of the question. A prepared essay on the same text but a different angle usually scores lower because relevance is a marked criterion.

Personal response in single text

Personal response is marked. Candidates should state and justify a view of the text, agreeing or disagreeing with a critical reading, rather than summarising plot without evaluation.

Three comparative texts

The comparative study requires three texts, at least one of which is a film. The comparative question in Paper 2 draws on all three, and evidence should span them.

Sustained comparison method

Comparison is sustained when each paragraph treats the same idea across two or three texts. Block treatment, where each text is discussed fully in turn, prevents genuine comparison.

Modes of comparison

The three comparative modes are general vision and viewpoint, theme or issue, and cultural context. The question names the mode, and the answer must stay inside that mode.

Key comparative moments

Openings, turning points, and closings are the standard comparative moments. Comparing how two texts open or resolve is a frequent question shape and rewards close textual knowledge.

Film language evidence

Film evidence uses camera angle, lighting, sound, editing, and mise-en-scène. Describing plot as though it were prose does not demonstrate knowledge of the film medium.

Comparative connectives

Links between texts must be explicit. Connectives such as 'similarly', 'in contrast', and 'whereas' should name both texts in the same sentence to make the comparison visible.

Comparative conclusion function

The conclusion states what the comparison reveals about the mode, not a restatement of each plot. It should synthesise the similarities and differences established in the body.

Named poet requirement

The poetry section examines a named poet studied in depth. Questions ask about themes, feelings, and language across several poems, so answers must range beyond a single poem.

Poetic device analysis

A technique point has three parts: name the device, quote it precisely, and explain the effect on meaning or feeling. Naming without effect analysis earns limited credit.

Sound device effects

Sibilance often creates a hushing or sinister effect; plosives create hardness or abruptness; assonance can slow or soften a line. Effect depends on context, not a fixed rule.

Form and rhythm analysis

Rhyme scheme, line length, and line breaks carry meaning. Enjambment can enact movement, hesitation, or overflow of feeling; caesura can arrest or emphasise a phrase.

Poetry theme question

A theme question asks how the poet explores an idea, so the answer traces the idea from poem to poem. Summarising each poem in turn does not answer the question asked.

Poetry personal response

Personal response to poetry is marked. State which poem or image affected you and analyse the technique that produced that effect, linking feeling to craft rather than to opinion alone.