task-2-mark-scheme-and-model-answer

Task 2: Mark Scheme and Model Answer

The best way to improve any essay is to know how you are assessed, and what skills you are being assessed on. This page has been created to give you a sense of what examiners are looking for in a full-mark response. It contains:

• Overview

• Mark scheme

• Example task

• Model answer

• Unannotated model answer

Overview

Component 2 Task 2 will require you to write a comparative essay which considers the contexts in which texts are both written and understood, as well as different interpretations of texts. Although the dominant assessment objective for this task is AO3, you are required to write a coherent, well-argued response which integrates your wider reading in your chosen topic area in a sophisticated way. Your response must also be supported with direct quotations or close reference to the unseen text.

Mark Scheme

The mark scheme in English Literature is quite broad and can seem difficult to understand. This is because there is no ‘correct answer’ for any essay: the exam board does not provide points that need to be included in any essay, and instead, examiners have to use the mark scheme to place an answer into a level. For Task 2, AO3 is the dominant assessment objective. The weightings for the Assessment Objectives in this question are:

AO3 – 50%

AO4 – 25%

AO1 – 12.5%

AO5 – 12.5%

In simple terms, to achieve the highest marks (Level 6 = 26-30 marks), this means:

Example task

The following task is based on the Dystopia topic area, and the task is taken from the June 2019 paper. However, the commentary is designed to highlight how to structure your response and integrate all aspects of the assessment objectives, and therefore the model could be applied to any of the topic areas. For candidate exemplars from this exam series for the other topic areas, please follow this link to the resources available on OCR’s website (opens in a new tab). 

Applying the Steps for Success from the previous topic, the following is an example of how you might plan your answer to the above question:

• Define “indoctrination” in relation to 1984 and The Handmaid’s Tale

• Main point of comparison – indoctrination fundamental to 1984, but less successful in The Handmaid’s Tale

• 1984 – use of propaganda, The Ministry of Truth, context of threat of nuclear conflict, interpretation of Andrew Bernstein regarding acceptance of truth

  • Compare to Atwood – religious right-wing fundamentalism

• Compare control of language and access to information – link to Brave New World

• Compare use of Two Minutes Hate and Particicution

• Compare how successful process of indoctrination is – examples of resistance

• Explore context and the use of a “scapegoat” in totalitarian regimes

• Conclusion – can complete indoctrination be achieved?

Model Answer

Below you will find a full-mark, A* model answer for this unseen extract task. The commentary labelled in each section of the essay illustrates how and why it would be awarded an A*. Despite the fact it is an answer to a Dystopia question, the commentary is relevant to any of the topic areas, because it is modelling how to structure an answer incorporating the relevant assessment objectives. AO1 is demonstrated throughout in terms of the coherence of the overall response.

Thesis statement

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