A Student Guide to Unseen Prose Unit 1 - Section B GCSE English Literature What will I need to do? For this part of the exam you will need to: Read a nineteenth century prose text which is around 40-50 lines in length; It is very likely
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A Student Guide to Unseen Prose Unit 1 - Section B
GCSE English Literature<br>
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What will I need to do? For this part of the exam you will need to:
Read a nineteenth century prose text which is around 40-50 lines in length;
It is very likely that you would not have seen this text before - so it is ‘unseen’;
You will have to answer one question on this text, there is no choice of extract or question;
You will have approximately 45 minutes to respond.<br>
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Where could this extract come from? It could come from any nineteenth century text:
From the whole period e.g.: 1800 to 1899;
From the British and Irish literary heritage or
from any other country such as America, France, Russia, etc.;
From any genre - it could be: science fiction, horror, travel, historical, romance, fantasy, etc.<br>
Below is an extract from H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds The fighting was beginning. Almost immediately unseen batteries across the river to our right, unseen because of the trees, took up the chorus, firing heavily one after the other. A woman screamed. Everyone stood arrested by the sudden stir of battle, near us and yet invisible to us. Nothing was to be seen save flat meadows, cows feeding unconcernedly for the most part, and silvery pollard willows motionless in the warm sunlight.
“The sojers’ll stop ’em,” said a woman beside me, doubtfully. A haziness rose over the treetops.
Then suddenly we saw a rush of smoke far away up the river, a puff of smoke that jerked up into the air, and hung, and forthwith the ground heaved underfoot and a heavy explosion shook the air, smashing two or three windows in the houses near, and leaving us astonished.<br>
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Analysis of the extract What is happening here? Where is it set?
What genre is it?
Which characters are introduced and developed?
What themes are looked at?
How does it start/end?
To be successful in this Unit What you need to do Read and practise analysing lots of nineteenth century texts.
Get to know the nineteenth century context.
Bring your own ideas to your analysis.
Spend time reading the extract carefully.
Follow the instructions carefully on the exam paper.
Look at the title of the novel and the introductory brief on the exam paper. What you must not do Only read texts from genres, cultures or authors you like.
Make assertions (instead, ensure you support your point with a reference from the text).
Use overlong quotations.
Only look at one interpretation.
Write carelessly. This response assesses quality of written communication as well.
Rush your response.<br>
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How do I find out more? CCEA English Literature microsite at www.ccea.org.uk
The following websites are also useful:
www.victorianweb.org – for context
www.gutenberg.org – for texts to analyse
www.teachit.co.uk – for support and resources
www.bbc.co.uk.bitesize.englishliterature – for revision
Or from your teachers at your schools and colleges.<br>
