AQA English Literature Paper 2
AQA English Literature Paper 2 covers your modern text (An Inspector Calls), the poetry anthology, and Unseen Poetry. It lasts 2 hours 15 minutes and is worth 60% of your GCSE. Here is how the paper is structured, and how to spend your time.
An Inspector Calls
18 revision pagesPower and Conflict
20 revision pagesUnseen Poetry
9 revision pagesWhat's in AQA Paper 2?
Paper 2 is the bigger paper, with three sections and four answers, worth 96 marks in total. Like Paper 1, it is closed book. Yet, because there is a lot to write, timing is even more important here than in Paper 1.
Section A: Modern Text
This is An Inspector Calls. For this section, you will select one essay question from a choice of TWO. There is no extract, so having a range of quotes from different parts of the play is paramount.
Usually (but not always!) one question will have a character focus, and the other a theme focus. This is why it is so important to understand not just the characters but how they embody key themes. Check out the character profiles and key themes pages to get started.
Like Macbeth, this essay is worth 30 marks, with an additional 4 for spelling, punctuation and grammar, so 34 marks in total.
Section B: Poetry Anthology
This is Power and Conflict. For this question, you are given one poem, printed in its entirety, which you must compare to another poem of your choice. The question will ask you to explore a certain theme or idea within these poems, such as conflict, identity, power, or nature. It is worth 30 marks.
The skill is choosing a strong second poem and comparing methods, which you can practise with the comparison guide.
Section C: Unseen Poetry
This is Unseen Poetry. Unseen Poetry is split into two parts, Part A and Part B. In Part A, you are provided with an unseen poem, and must write a short essay answering the provided question. This is worth 24 marks.
In Part B, you are given another unseen poem, which you must compare with the first. This is worth 8 marks, so, in my opinion, it is best to leave this until last!
Check out the how to answer page for guidance and tips in preparing for the unseen section!
Timing strategy
With three sections and four answers in 2 hours 15 minutes, the timings on this paper can be difficult to manage.
A rough split is around 45 minutes on the modern text, 45 minutes on the anthology comparison, and 45 minutes on unseen poetry, spending far more of that last block on the 24 mark question than the 8 mark one.