Nineteenth-century novel: the whole-text essay
Section B rewards an argument about the novel, evidenced from anywhere in it. Here is how to build one in fifty minutes without the book.
Lesson overview
What you'll learn in this lesson
Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written.
Key learning points
- • Turn the question into a claim
- • Evidence banks
- • Weaving AO3
- • Accuracy marks
This lesson at a glance
- 35 minutes
- 21 parts to scroll through
- 4 quick checks
- Marked quiz at the end
- Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses
Words to know
Scroll down — the lesson carries on below
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Part 1 of 21
Visual introductionPicture this
Nineteenth-century novel: the whole-text essay
Section B rewards an argument about the novel, evidenced from anywhere in it. Here is how to build one in fifty minutes without the book.
In a nutshell
Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written.
Learning cycle
Part 2 of 21
Learning cycle 1 of 2
Part 1 · Turn the question into a claim
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 3 of 21
Learn
Turn the question into a claim
'How does Dickens present the importance of family?' becomes 'Dickens presents family as the test Scrooge repeatedly fails and finally passes.' The claim gives you a chronology to follow and stops the essay becoming a list of scenes.
Reset break
Part 4 of 21
Pause
That's sitting 1 of 5 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Explore the idea
Part 5 of 21
Learn
Evidence banks
Build a bank of ten to twelve short quotations per novel, grouped by idea rather than by chapter — isolation, money, change, the city. Grouped banks survive exam pressure because the question always names an idea, not a chapter.
Quick check
Part 6 of 21
Quick check
Part 7 of 21
Reset break
Part 8 of 21
Pause
That's sitting 2 of 5 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Learning cycle
Part 9 of 21
Learning cycle 2 of 2
Part 2 · Weaving AO3
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 10 of 21
Learn
Weaving AO3
One context sentence per paragraph is plenty, and it should always follow analysis, never open the paragraph. Analysis first, context as explanation: that order keeps the essay literary.
Explore the idea
Part 11 of 21
Learn
Accuracy marks
Four AO4 marks sit on this paper for vocabulary, spelling and punctuation. Vary sentence openings, punctuate embedded quotations correctly, and spell the writers' and characters' names right — that alone loses marks every year.
Reset break
Part 12 of 21
Pause
That's sitting 3 of 5 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Quick check
Part 13 of 21
Quick check
Part 14 of 21
Explore the idea
Part 15 of 21
Worked example
Essay task
Write about how the writer presents the relationship between wealth and moral responsibility in your studied nineteenth-century novel, and how that presentation develops across the whole text. (30 marks + 4 AO4). Aim for a thesis, four evidenced paragraphs and one context sentence per paragraph.
Reset break
Part 16 of 21
Pause
That's sitting 4 of 5 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Challenge round
Part 17 of 21
Game · Sort it
Which of these are true?
Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.
True
Not true
Challenge round
Part 18 of 21
Game · Fill the gaps
Finish the sentences
Choose the word that belongs in each gap.
Grouped banks survive exam pressure because the ____ always names an idea, not a chapter.
Challenge round
Part 19 of 21
Game · Recall cards
What should a whole-text essay open with?
Card 1 of 4
Mastery quiz
Part 20 of 21
Marked quiz
End of lesson quiz: Nineteenth-century novel: the whole-text essay
4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.
1. What should a whole-text essay open with?
2. Why group revision quotations by idea rather than chapter?
3. Where should a context sentence sit in a paragraph?
4. Which habit protects AO4 marks?
Lesson round-up
Part 21 of 21
Lesson round-up
Ready when you are
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Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?
Ask LunaPart 1 of 21 · Watch & discover