Prose: reading prescribed stories and essays for argument, not summary
Prose: the prescribed selections
The prose domain tests whether you can read a prescribed short story or essay closely and write about it with evidence rather than opinion. Questions cluster into four types: theme ("What does the story suggest about ...?"), character ("Sketch the character of ..."), technique ("How does the writer create suspense / use the setting / handle the ending?"), and value-based comment ("Do you think X was justified?").
What examiners look for
- A direct answer in the first sentence - the claim - not a plot summary.
- Two or three pieces of textual evidence: a quoted phrase (short, accurate) or a named incident.
- Explanation that links the evidence back to the claim, not merely back to the story.
- Terminology used accurately: narrator, point of view, foreshadowing, irony, symbol, climax, turning point.
Worked example
Question: "How does the writer make the ending of the story both surprising and inevitable?" Reasoning: the word both demands two halves. (1) Surprise: state what the reader expects and the moment that expectation is broken. (2) Inevitability: name two details planted earlier - a repeated object, a remark that only makes sense afterwards - and show how they prepare the end. (3) One closing sentence judging the effect on the reader.
Traps that cost marks
- Retelling the plot for a third of the answer.
- Ignoring the exact verb: "compare" needs both texts; "comment on the title" is not "summarise the plot".
- Confusing the author with the narrator, or a first-person narrator's view with the story's own view.
- Quoting long passages instead of one telling phrase.
- Writing "very interesting" or "beautiful" where an analysis of effect is required.