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AO1 Literature Mastery Therapy
AO1: Read, understand and respond to texts
Students should be able to:
Maintain a critical style and develop an informed personal response.
Use textual references, including quotations, to support and illustrate
interpretations.
Part of your examination will require you to write a response to unseen material. This can
so eti es e a wo fo stude ts as the af aid of ot k owi g what to do if the a t understand the text.
In this therapy exercise you will look at how to approach unfamiliar material for this section
of the examination. If you want to achieve high grades for Literature, you will need to be
confident in handling and writing about unfamiliar material.
Remember: little and often is better than last minute chunks when it comes to preparation!
Steps to take:
1. The first thing you need to be secure with is the CONTENT of the unseen material.
The uestio ou will e aski g ou self is what is the te t a out? Look fo a clues in the title, the question or the contextual information if it is provided. This will
give you some ideas about what you will find when you read the text.
2. Read the unseen material THOROUGHLY. If it is a prose passage, make notes to
summarise each main paragraph as you read. If it is a poem, try and write down key
words as you go along. You may need to read the text several times to be secure in
understanding.
3. Read the text again and look at the question. What do you notice about the language
and structure of the text in relation to the question? Highlight or underline key
quotations where the writer uses interesting METHODS to convey their meaning.
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT!
It is a good idea to test yourself on unseen material before the examination. Use the
internet to search for prose passages or poems you have not studied or ask your English
teacher if you can have a root around in the English stock cupboard. Your English teacher
may also have copies of past exam papers from legacy specifications with unseen material.
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If you have plenty of examples, you can practise reading and understanding texts you have
not seen before.
There are two examples of texts you are probably unfamiliar with below. Practise the steps
outlined in the first part of this therapy.
POETRY:
How are ideas about nature presented in the poem?
Daffodils by William Wordsworth
I wander'd lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils,
Beside the lake, beneath the trees
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretch'd in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: -
A poet could not but be gay
In such a jocund company!
I gazed - and gazed - but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought.
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills
And dances with the daffodils.
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PROSE:
How are ideas about readers and writers presented in this extract?
An author ought to consider himself not as a gentleman who gives a private or
eleemosynary treat, but rather as one who keeps a public ordinary at which all persons are
welcome for their money. In the former case, it is well known that the entertainer provides
what fare he pleases, and though this should be very indifferent and utterly disagreeable to
the taste of his company, they must not find fault; nay, on the contrary, good breeding
forces them outwardly to approve and to commend what is set before them. Now, the
contrary of this happens to the master of an ordinary. Men who pay for what they eat will
insist on gratifying their palates, however nice and whimsical these may prove; and, if
everything is not agreeable to their taste, will challenge a right to censure, to abuse. And to
d-n their dinner without control.
To prevent, therefore, giving offence to their customers by any such disappointment, it hath
been usual with the honest and well-meaning host to provide a bill of fare, which all persons
may peruse at their first entrance into the house; and, having thence acquainted themselves
with the entertainment which they may expect, may either stay and regale with what is
provided for them or may depart to some other ordinary better accommodated to their
taste.
As we do not disdain to borrow wit or wisdom from any man who is capable of lending us
either we have condescended to take a hint from these honest victuallers and shall prefix
not only a general bill of fare to our whole entertainment, but shall likewise give the reader
particular bills to every course which is to be served up in this and the ensuing volumes.
From Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
Commissioned by The PiXL Club Ltd.
This resource is strictly for the use of member schools for as long as they remain members of The PiXL Club. It may not be copied, sold, nor
transferred to a third party or used by the school after membership ceases. Until such time it may be freely used within the member
school. All opinions and contributions are those of the authors. The contents of this resource are not connected with, nor endorsed by,
any other company, organisation or institution. PiXL Club Ltd endeavour to trace and contact copyright owners. If there are any
inadvertent omissions or errors in the acknowledgements or usage, this is unintended and PiXL will remedy these on written notification.
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AO1 Mastery Test
AO1: Read, understand and respond to texts
Students should be able to:
• Maintain a critical style and develop an informed personal response.
• Use textual references, including quotations, to support and illustrate
interpretations.
Choose whether you want to attempt an unseen poetry or prose question.
Answer one of the questions below:
Poetry:
A Divine Image by William Blake
How are ideas about human beings presented in this poem?
Cruelty has a human heart,
And Jealousy a human face;
Terror the human form divine,
And Secrecy the human dress.
The human dress is forged iron,
The human form a fiery forge,
The human face a furnace sealed,
The human heart its hungry gorge.
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Prose:
An extract from Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
How are the characters of Heathcliff and Lockwood presented in this extract?
1801. ‐ I have just returned from a visit to my landlord ‐ the solitary neighbour that I shall be
troubled with. This is certainly a beautiful country! In all England, I do not believe that I could have
fixed on a situation so completely removed from the stir of society. A perfect misanthropist's
heaven: and Mr. Heathcliff and I are such a suitable pair to divide the desolation between us. A
capital fellow! He little imagined how my heart warmed towards him when I beheld his black eyes
withdraw so suspiciously under their brows, as I rode up, and when his fingers sheltered themselves,
with a jealous resolution, still further in his waistcoat, as I announced my name.
'Mr. Heathcliff?' I said.
A nod was the answer.
'Mr. Lockwood, your new tenant, sir. I do myself the honour of calling as soon as possible after my
arrival, to express the hope that I have not inconvenienced you by my perseverance in soliciting the
occupation of Thrushcross Grange: I heard yesterday you had had some thoughts ‐ '
'Thrushcross Grange is my own, sir,' he interrupted, wincing. 'I should not allow any one to
inconvenience me, if I could hinder it ‐ walk in!'
The 'walk in' was uttered with closed teeth, and expressed the sentiment, 'Go to the Deuce:' even
the gate over which he leant manifested no sympathising movement to the words; and I think that
circumstance determined me to accept the invitation: I felt interested in a man who seemed more
exaggeratedly reserved than myself.
When he saw my horse's breast fairly pushing the barrier, he did put out his hand to unchain it, and
then sullenly preceded me up the causeway, calling, as we entered the court, ‐ 'Joseph, take Mr.
Lockwood's horse; and bring up some wine.'
'Here we have the whole establishment of domestics, I suppose,' was the reflection suggested by
this compound order. 'No wonder the grass grows up between the flags, and cattle are the only
hedge‐cutters.'
Joseph was an elderly, nay, an old man: very old, perhaps, though hale and sinewy. 'The Lord help
us!' he soliloquised in an undertone of peevish displeasure, while relieving me of my horse: looking,
meantime, in my face so sourly that I charitably conjectured he must have need of divine aid to
digest his dinner, and his pious ejaculation had no reference to my unexpected advent.
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Wuthering Heights is the name of Mr. Heathcliff's dwelling. 'Wuthering' being a significant provincial
adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather.
Pure, bracing ventilation they must have up there at all times, indeed: one may guess the power of
the north wind blowing over the edge, by the excessive slant of a few stunted firs at the end of the
house; and by a range of gaunt thorns all stretching their limbs one way, as if craving alms of the
sun. Happily, the architect had foresight to build it strong: the narrow windows are deeply set in the
wall, and the corners defended with large jutting stones.
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Commissioned by The PiXL Club Ltd.
This resource is strictly for the use of member schools for as long as they remain members of The PiXL Club. It may not be copied, sold, nor
transferred to a third party or used by the school after membership ceases. Until such time it may be freely used within the member
school. All opinions and contributions are those of the authors. The contents of this resource are not connected with, nor endorsed by,
any other company, organisation or institution. PiXL Club Ltd endeavour to trace and contact copyright owners. If there are any
inadvertent omissions or errors in the acknowledgements or usage, this is unintended and PiXL will remedy these on written notification.
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