English Literature 5110 考試技巧

常見錯誤

1. 1high涉及分數: 8Analytical method (AO2) across all three essays

   Essays across poetry, drama and prose describe plot or narrative events instead of analysing the writer's methods, which restricts the response to Band 1 or Band 2.

   如何避免: Every paragraph should make a point about how the writer achieves an effect, backed by a short quotation, not a summary of what happens next in the text.
2. 2high涉及分數: 10Context (AO3) in all three essays

   An essay with no biographical or historical context, or only a token mention of it, is capped at the top of Band 4, a maximum of 40 out of 50, regardless of how strong the rest of the analysis is.

   如何避免: Learn the context that is genuinely relevant to your text and use it to explain a specific choice in the text, not as a recited introduction before the real analysis begins.
3. 3medium涉及分數: 4AO5: interpretations

   Candidates believe that quoting named literary critics is required to reach the top band for AO5, so they force in unexplained quotations from memorised critics.

   如何避免: The mark scheme confirms full marks are achievable through your own independent, well-reasoned argument. If you use a critic, make the quotation do real work in your argument rather than dropping it in for its own sake.
4. 4medium涉及分數: 3Essay control and focus

   Candidates write long, repetitive essays on the assumption that length alone secures a higher mark, when verbose or unfocused answers score lower than concise, well-controlled ones.

   如何避免: Cut any paragraph that repeats a point already made. A shorter essay that answers the question directly at every stage outperforms a longer one that drifts into summary.
5. 5high涉及分數: 5AS 1 Section B: Drama

   Drama essays discuss characters as if they were people in a novel, leaving out stagecraft, proxemics, lighting, props and stage action.

   如何避免: Bring the theatrical dimension into your argument wherever it supports the point you are making, not as a single paragraph added at the end.
6. 6medium涉及分數: 4AS 1 Section A: Poetry comparison (AO4)

   In the poetry comparison, one poem receives detailed analysis while the second is dealt with in a few closing sentences, breaking the balance the mark scheme expects.

   如何避免: Plan both poems side by side before writing, matching point for point, so neither poem dominates the finished essay.
7. 7high涉及分數: 4AO5: engaging with the question's stimulus

   Essays agree uncritically with the question's stimulus statement, especially when it contains absolute words such as 'entirely' or 'completely', instead of testing the statement against the text.

   如何避免: Treat words like 'entirely' or 'always' as an invitation to push back. Explore where the statement holds and where it does not before reaching your own judgement.
8. 8medium涉及分數: 3Integrating context (AO3)

   Context is presented as a separate, bolted-on paragraph of biographical or historical fact that does not connect to the specific line, image or scene being discussed.

   如何避免: Name the context in the same sentence as the textual detail it explains. Context that does not touch the text in front of you does not move you out of the lower bands.