Carl: Hello and welcome to the Bitesize English Literature Exam Skills podcast. This is a series all about giving you tools for success in your exams.

Jean: Whether you want the essentials on essays or you're not sure how to tackle the trickier questions, we want to give you the vital tips to get you through.

Carl: I'm Carl Anka. A journalist, an author and a broadcaster.

Jean: And I'm Jean Menzies, an ancient historian, author and presenter.

Carl: In this episode, we are looking at how you can plan a strong essay answer in the exam.

Jean: When you're faced with a high mark question, you might have a number of thoughts going through your head.What's the question asking? How do I start? What should I write?

Carl: And that's exactly why we are here. We're going to tell you how planning helps to organise these thoughts and gets you ready to begin writing with confidence. We're going to look at why it's important to plan your essays quickly, how to use bullet points and mind maps to organise your arguments and how to ensure your essay answer stays relevant to the question.

Jean: You may want to grab a pen and paper and jot things down as we go along. And don't forget, you can listen to the full series on BBC Sounds and explore loads of helpful GCSE English resources on Bitesize.

Carl: Now planning helps you think about your whole answer and keep focused on the question. It lets you decide your approach before you start writing.So, your answer has a clear flow and everything you include is purposeful and relevant. You do have limited time in the exam, but there is always time to plan. Planning actually helps with time management.

Jean: And planning makes the writing part smoother. When you already know the points you're going to make, you can write with more confidence and you're less likely to get stuck.A tiny bit of planning at the start often creates calmer and more controlled essay writing, with enough time left to finish well.So, here's how you actually start planning.
First, read the question properly and underline, circle or highlight the key words. These might be text specific words, like a character's name, focus words like ‘selfish’ or ‘brave’ or they could be command words like ‘explore’, ‘compare’ or ‘how’.

Carl: Once those keywords are identified, use them as prompts. What are the main ideas that you could give to answer this exact question? This is you thinking before you write and will help you decide the angle, or angles that your essay answer will take.

Jean: Now, jot down those ideas as quickly as you can. It can be single words, short phrases, or a key quote you know fits. This only needs to be rough. It's just you capturing the ideas you will build the essay from.

Carl: You can catch these ideas in different ways. Some people will scribble three to four short bullet points, and some people create a quick mind map with the keywords as a starting point.All methods are acceptable. The point is, it's how you get your ideas clear before you start structuring your paragraphs. So, let's try an example.
Here's a question about Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. If you're not studying this text, that is totally fine. We're focusing on the process of planning an answer, not the story itself.So, in this book, is a man called Ebenezer Scrooge, he's very, very selfish and greedy with money. He's visited by three ghosts who then show him how his behaviour affects other people. Okay, Jean, your challenge here is to identify the key words in this question, which will help you when planning your answer.
You can join in at home too, just pause this episode after the question and then have a go at writing down the key words that you would identify.
Are you ready?

Jean: I'm ready.

Carl: Okay. How does Dickens present the character of Scrooge in A Christmas Carol? Now, how did you get on?

Jean: Here's what I would underline, circle or highlight in the question.How does Dickens present the character of Scrooge in A Christmas Carol?‘How’, when I see the word ‘how’ I know I need to think about the writer's methods. What Dickens has included or done to present Scrooge?
‘Present’ - this is the ideas or impressions of the character in the text. So basically, how Scrooge comes across to us as the readers. So, it's the character of Scrooge, that's the focus, Scrooge specifically, and ‘A Christmas Carol’ - this shows that the evidence should come from across the whole novel. So, range is important.So, the focus of my answer will be to show what Charles Dickens uses to show what type of man Scrooge is throughout the story.
See how just one question or sentence can give you so much direction?

Carl: Exactly. We'll get into more detail about how to use this question breakdown when we're actually writing the essay later in this episode.
So now we have a clear focus, we need to come up with some ideas linked to this question, and this is where techniques like bullet points and mind maps really come in.

Jean: Bullet points are a quick way to help you think in short, clear ideas. Once you've read the question and identified the key words to work out the focus, note down one bullet point, per idea.It could be just one word, a phrase or a sentence.

Carl: And if you have quotes as supporting evidence, jot them down alongside. Your essay might have three to five bullet points, each of which can become a paragraph. You can structure the bullet points in order that you want to write about them or number them afterwards.Remember to keep referring to your plan as you write your essay.

Jean: And don't forget, if you have time, it can be useful to have an introduction and conclusion just to make sure your points are crystal clear.

Carl: Yes, an introduction paragraph addresses the question directly. Either theme or the character, explaining why, it, or they, are important in the whole text and what function they have.This does not need to be long, but it does need to be precise and focussed. Then a conclusion will be a short statement that links the question and the writer's intention together for a brief and clear ending to your essay.

Jean: Excellent. Let's turn our attention to mind maps now. If bullet points aren't your style, then these can also be a great way to organise your thoughts.After you've digested the question, begin by writing the question in the middle and noting the key words. Then note down ideas that stem from the key words that you have identified in the question. These could be themes, characters, scenes or context.

Carl: Draw links between these ideas when you see connections.This will help you structure your paragraphs with points and evidence so you can keep your focus on the question. It can also be good to number these links and ideas too, that will help decide on an order for your essay, and to keep it more focussed throughout.

Jean: There are no hard and fast rules with mind maps.You might find that planning like this is enough to give you a structure for your essay.

Carl: Or you may simply prefer bullet points. Basically, have a practise and see what works for you, and then try and do it as much as you can.Okay, so throughout this podcast so far, we’ve been talking to you as your hosts, but now that we’ve got to know each other just a little bit, I think we’re going to share some practical advice as two authors as well.

Jean: When you're planning, what is your preferred method of getting your ideas down?

Carl: Bullet points are really, really important for me. Mostly because I can't draw very well.

Jean: Yeah.

Carl: I know a lot of people like using mind maps and doing more visual diagrams, but I'm really bad at drawing, so I tend to bullet point everything.

Jean: I think it's, as long as it sparks ideas in your brain, right?So, it doesn't have to be Picasso, it doesn't have to be neat. I think sometimes you see people with other fancy stationery and all their colours and their highlighters and you think, mine doesn't look like that!
All you need is a pencil or a pen and a piece of paper. It doesn't need to be neat and perfect, it just needs to exist.

Carl: I was once talking to Marcus Rashford about this, and he talked about how you get better at anything. Because obviously he's a professional football player. He said no one is born able to do loads and nutmegs and loads of tricks, and when you start doing something, you can be quite bad, but you shouldn't be worried about things looking bad.And the example he gave me, he said, you got to think about it like when you make a stack of pancakes…

Jean: The first one's always rubbish!

Carl: The first pancake is always rubbish.

Jean: So true.

Carl: However, the first pancake is the most important pancake because it tells you what you need to do in the two or three or four, and I thought that was a really good way of explaining how you get good at doing anything, and also, I think it's a really good way of explaining how you plan.

Jean: Mm-hmm.

Carl: Because that's your first pancake. Which is, that’s the bullet points of you doing everything, and then you're like okay, this needs to be shorter, or I need to do something here.I hope that was useful to hear us chat as authors about how we plan our writing, and now that we've explored bullet points and mind maps as useful planning techniques, it's on to the next part.
Now, here's the thing that I am still really bad at, even at my slightly older age, but something I'm going to tell you to get better at. When you are planning and writing your essay, it is essential to make sure your answer stays relevant to the question.Okay? That's what we're going to be looking at now.

Jean: Staying relevant means ensuring every point, quotation and bit of analysis you include directly answers the question. Remember, the important first step is to identify keywords in the question so you can understand the focus.

Carl: Let's look at another example question using the novel.My Name is Leon by Kit De Waal. It's about a boy called Leon and his brother who are placed in foster care, and how Leon tries to find safety, love and stability. Just like we practised with a Christmas Carol, you don't have to have read this text. This is merely an exercise to demonstrate how to make sure your answer stays relevant to the question.

Jean: If a question was, 'How does De Waal present the theme of family throughout the novel', the key words are ‘how’ ‘present’ ‘family’ and also ‘throughout’. Your essay should therefore focus on ‘how’ the writer ‘presents’ and ‘explores’ the theme of ‘family’ at various stages throughout the book.

Carl: ‘How’ do we use breaking down the question like this, to ensure that we stay focused on the question.
Make sure you plan every paragraph with the question in mind; each one should make a clear point.

Jean: The evidence you use could be any tools that the writer uses to convey their ideas, word choices and language devices like alliteration or personification.

Carl: It could also be structural techniques like the order in which events are told, and a shift in focus in the story and quotations from the characters which may reveal their perspective.

Jean: The important things to remember here are that whatever evidence you use, must support your argument, and it must stay relevant to the question.

Carl: Finally, make sure that you review as you write. After each paragraph, ask yourself, does this answer the question? Does it stay focused?And of course, check your essay at the end and tweak if necessary. We want to make sure the ideas follow on from each other and that the essay reads logically from start to finish.

Jean: So, let's review what we've discussed today. We've explored the importance of planning an essay, how to do it quickly, and why breaking down the question is so helpful in doing this.

Carl: We've considered techniques like bullet points and mind maps to help you plan your answers.

Jean: And third, we've looked at how to bring everything back to the question.

Carl: Thanks for listening to this Bitesize English Literature Exam Skills podcast.

Jean: Remember, you can find the rest of the series right now on BBC Sounds.

Jean: Hello, and welcome to the Bitesize English Literature Exam Skills podcast. If you want to fine tune your abilities before you open the exam paper, keep listening.

Carl: Whether you are brushing up on essay writing or tackling the questions that feel challenging, we've got simple strategies to help you out.My name is Carl Anka. I'm a journalist, an author and broadcaster.

Jean: And I'm Jean Menzies, an author, ancient historian and presenter.

Carl: In this episode, we're going to be focusing on how to use short and relevant quotations effectively in your essays.

Jean: You might want to make some notes. So, grab a pen and paper and let's get into it.

Carl: So, to get started, we are going to be exploring how you can use and if necessary, how to adapt short, effective quotes, and we're also going to give you some ways of remembering them.

Jean: A good place to start is to think about questions which might come up in the exam on key themes, characters, settings and so on.It's really useful to learn quotes which link to more than one of these key areas, so you're prepared for different exam questions which could come up.

Carl: To share how this works, we are going to use a line from the play Princess and The Hustler by Chinonyerem Odimba. The play follows Princess, a 10-year-old Black girl living in Bristol in the 1960s during the Bristol Bus Boycott.Now, the Bristol Bus Boycott was a protest against the city's bus company, which refused to hire Black or Asian bus crews. Now remember, don't worry if you haven't studied this text, the skills we're using can be applied to any text or quotation. Here is a quote from Princess and the Hustler:

Nina: ‘I want to be the prettiest girl in the whole of Western-super-mare and Bristol, but everyone in school says I can't be.’

Carl: Thanks again to Nina Cassells, an actor who works with the National Theatre for voicing these lines for us.

Jean: And here Princess is talking about her hopes for the future. The first theme that this quote can illustrate is identity; Princess wants to define who she is, not just accept what others say she is.

Carl: This quotation can also illustrate the theme of racism. The phrase 'everyone in school says I can't be' shows how the discrimination around her limits her sense of what is possible.

Jean: It's so interesting that we can draw so much analysis from this one line just by digging into the writer's choices. So, once you've picked your quotes, how do you remember them?

Carl: There are different methods that you can use to memorise quotes so it's worth trying out several and seeing what works best for you.
Let's take this longer quote from Princess and the Hustler, and this comes from Princess's mother, Mavis.

Nina: 'We are everything that is beautiful on this earth and you, you are the prettiest of them all, because you are my girl'.

Jean: Thanks again to actor Nina Cassells for voicing those for us.

Carl: So, Jean, one way of memorising quotes is to break them down into shorter, manageable chunks. How can we do that here?

Jean: The first step is to split the quotation up. Here you could take the phrase 'We are everything that is beautiful on this earth'.Learn that short chunk first. Then learn the second sentence afterwards.

Carl: Good idea, and then in a few minutes you could repeat each sentence over and over. Repetition can be a useful way to get quotes inside your head.

Jean: Definitely, the more you repeat, 'We are everything that is beautiful on this earth. We are everything that is beautiful on this earth'.And then 'and you, you are the prettiest of them all because you are my girl and you, you are the prettiest of them all, because you are my girl'. The easier it becomes to remember the most important quotes from the text you've studied.

Carl: Right, and after breaking down a quote into chunks and repeating it, we could perhaps think of something visual that'll help us see an image in our minds that makes us think of these words at a later date.
So, Jean, okay. I'm going to picture a warm, loving family together because the quote starts with, 'we are everything that is beautiful on this earth'. Then for the second sentence, I'm picturing Princess on the stage standing on her own, shining because she is the focus of 'you, you, you'.

Jean: That's lovely, and as well as your visual, I've got an idea for remembering based on the rhythm of the words. I've noticed the word ‘you’ repeats in the second sentence…

Nina: 'and you, you are the prettiest of them all because you are my girl'.

Jean: Try to remember the rhythm of 'you, you, you'. This may help you to memorise that sentence.

Carl: I've got one more method - flashcards.

Jean: Good call! Flashcards are a great way to reinforce the techniques we've just described. On one side, write the quote and on the other write what the quote shows, like themes or character traits. You can even add little sketches to jog your memory.

Carl: So, let's list all the ways of memorising quotes once again.We've got breaking them down into chunks, we've got repetition, we've got making visual references, and we've got using the rhythm of the words, and flashcards.

Jean: And you might think of other ways of remembering quotes too, like a song, a poem or any sort of saying. The main thing is to figure out what method works for you.

Carl: Yes. Now once you've got a bunch of short quotes and ways to memorise them, it's a good idea to practise them. Don't just read them, test yourself or team up with a friend or someone at home.
Now, when I was at school, we used to do something called ‘quotations tennis’, where we would just play like it was a tennis game.We'd stand opposite each other, and we would just throw quotes at each other.

Jean: One more really useful piece of advice here, your quotes don't need to be long! You can often just lift the exact couple of words you need. As long as that evidence supports your point, it shows a clear understanding of the text.

Carl: And if you're studying Princess and the Hustler, there's more information and analysis on the Bitesize website.

Jean: And on loads of other set texts too.

Carl: In this series, we've teamed up with the National Theatre because, let's face it, professional actors have to memorise a lot of lines, it's part of the job description after all, so who better to ask for tips on how to memorise quotations?

Nina: Hi, I'm Nina Cassells. I'm an actor. I have worked at the National Theatre, the Globe and the Bridge Theatre.So, a really great way of learning quotes if you need it for an exam, I find movement really helps me, so I always learn scenes or monologues, pacing up and down or walking in circles. So if I was to learn a quote and I needed to remember the word specifically, I might write it on a post it note and put it on a mirror so I can look at it whilst I'm brushing my teeth or put it on my wardrobe so I can see it when I'm getting ready.Just in places that I know I'm going to look at it all the time and those words are going to embed themselves into my brain. I also think with quotes and some larger pieces of text, it's useful to just say them out loud so they're not just in your head. You can say them out loud whilst you are walking to school, whilst you are in the shower, whilst you're helping your mum wash the dishes, just to make sure that they're in there and I find that really helpful.

Jean: Thanks so much to actor Nina Cassells. Love that. Such practical advice that we can all use straight away.
Now we're going to explore techniques you can use for weaving quotations smoothly into your analysis.
It's one thing trying to learn a bunch of quotations from your set text, but it's another thing to actually use them well.Why do you think it's important to use quotes, Carl?

Carl: Well, quotes are your evidence. Use quotations to support the points that you want to make in your paragraphs. One really effective way of doing that is to embed the quote so it becomes part of your sentence. If a full or longer quote or your sentence really fits to your point, use it, but your answer will sound smoother and more sophisticated if you weave quotations into your own sentences and the bonus, it saves time.

Jean: When we talk about embedding a quote, this means including it as part of the structure of your sentence. You might not embed every single quote, but it's a really useful technique and there are some simple ways you can learn to do it.

Carl: One good idea is to name the writer, a character, or even both, near the start of the sentence. That gives you a natural way, then you don't need the whole quotation. You can just lift the exact couple of words that prove your point and weave those into your sentence.

Jean: Exactly. Because using short, well-chosen quotes shows you've understood the text rather than just memorised it. You're choosing the key evidence that supports your argument and placing it where it makes sense. You're not just showing you know the quote; you're using it to answer the question.

Carl: For example, in A Christmas Carol, a man called Ebenezer Scrooge is very selfish and greedy with his money. He's visited by three ghosts who show him how his behaviour affects other people.Now don't worry if you've not studied this text. This is just an illustration of how to embed evidence naturally. So if I was answering a question about A Christmas Carol and Scrooge's cruelty, I could say 'At the start of this story, Dickens shows Scrooge's cruelty when he refuses to give to charity and says that if Scrooge's decision means poor people would die, then they had better do it and decrease the surplus population'.The quoted words there were, 'they had better do it and decrease the surplus population'. Do you see how the quote sits naturally inside the sentence?

Jean: That's a really great example of a tiny piece of evidence that can carry a whole point, and the more you practise dropping those little words in, the more natural it gets.It's great to memorise quotes, but remember, the exam isn't a memory test to rattle off as many quotes as you can think of. It's about showing your understanding and analysis of a text in relation to a particular question.

Carl: Exactly, Jean. So, let's look at how we can avoid over-quoting, whether that's using quotations that are too long or simply by using too many quotations, how to avoid just retelling the story instead of analysing how the writer creates meaning.

Jean: Examiners are not looking for essays packed with long passages from the text. They want to see your understanding and interpretation of it. A quotation should never take over your writing.Choose the most relevant word or phrase, and then embed it naturally into your sentence, and it should act as a springboard for your ideas and analysis. So instead of writing out three lines of text, pick a few powerful words that support your point. This makes the focus of your essay remain on your analysis, not the quotation itself.

Carl: Sometimes your quotation may just be a single word.

Jean: Basically, you need to avoid simply describing what happens in the text.
Let's look at an example. Writing 'The character gets angry and leaves the room' shows what happens, but not how the writer creates meaning.

Carl: If you want to gain higher marks, remember to move beyond the summary to analysis, and that way you do that by interpreting language structure and the writer's intention rather than just simply retelling the events.

Jean: Everything comes back to your analysis and your focus on the question. This means you need to have a reason to include the quote - it must illustrate a theme or idea.

Carl: I couldn't have said it better myself, Jean.In this episode, we have looked at how to remember well-chosen quotations and how to embed them smoothly, and finally how to use them in a way that supports your analysis.

Jean: Thank you for listening to the Bitesize English Literature Exam Skills podcast, and we hope you can use this to give you confidence in your exam. Remember, you can find the rest of the series right now on BBC Sounds.

Jean: Hello, and welcome to the Bitesize English Literature Exam Skills podcast. We are here to help you feel confident applying your skills to whatever text you're studying,

Carl: Whether you want clear guidance on analysing texts or practical tips to sharpen your revision skills, this series is going to give you practical advice that you can use in your GCSE exams.

Jean: I’m Jean Menzies, an ancient historian, author and presenter.

Carl: And I'm Carl Anka, a journalist, an author and a broadcaster.

Jean: In this episode, we are focusing on how to compare texts and what comparison really means in the exam.

Carl: We're going to give you some simple sentence starters to structure your clear comparisons.

Jean: And we'll show you how to compare tone, theme and technique in poems and beyond.

Carl: Talking of sentence starters, if I began, 'you might want to make some notes', how would you continue?

Jean: I’d add, 'so go and grab a pen and paper'.

Carl: Excellent idea. Why not do that right now?So, let's get started by looking at what we mean by comparison and how we apply that skill to text.

Jean: When we talk about comparison, we mean looking at both similarities and differences between texts. In a GCSE exam answer, comparison isn't just spotting obvious similarities, such as both poems are about power. What matters is that you can think critically about how and why two writers present their ideas in ways that are similar, but also in ways that are different.

Carl: Imagine two writers that are exploring the same theme. For example, power, family, love, conflict or identity. Then throughout your answer, your job is to explain what each writer says about that theme, how they show it, and crucially whether they represent that theme in a similar way, or in a different way and what effect that has on you as the reader.

Jean: For example, a comparison question might ask, 'compare how two writers present ideas about conflict'…

Carl: …or 'how do the two writers present their views about family relationships?'

Jean: Exactly, questions like these test how well you can compare the themes, techniques, purpose and effects across the text being asked about.

Carl: Make sure you don't simply write down a list of ways in which the texts are similar or different. A useful way is to think in steps. Firstly, what themes and what ideas are each writer highlighting?

Jean: Then think about how both writers present that theme or idea through the form, such as a type of poem, the language they choose or the way they structure events or ideas.

Carl: In this episode, we are going to be exploring comparison questions with help of two different poems, Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley, and London by William Blake.Don't worry if you are not studying these poems. The skills that we're about to unpack here are just going to help you with any comparison question.

Jean: To give you an overview of these poems, if you are unfamiliar. Shelley's poem, Ozymandias is about a ruined statue of an ancient king. The statue is broken and half buried in the desert. It shows that power doesn't last forever. Even the biggest, most famous leaders are forgotten in the end.

Carl: Blake's London is about walking through the streets of London and seeing sadness, pain and unfairness everywhere. Blake blames powerful people and institutions such as the government, the church and the monarchy for causing suffering and controlling ordinary people's lives.You're about to hear one short line from each poem, each voiced by Nina Cassells, who is an actor who has worked with the National Theatre.

Jean: As you listen, and you might want to jot this down, keep this comparison question in mind. 'Compare how Shelley and Blake present ideas about power and control in their poems'.

Carl: So, listen out for what each writer is showing you about power and control, and notice how even a few keywords can show very different ideas.

Jean: As a quick reminder in Ozymandias, Shelley describes a ruined statue of a once powerful king in the desert.

Nina: 'My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings'.

Jean: He calls himself King of Kings, but the statue is broken. The power has gone.

Carl: I remember in London, which we'll hear a line from next, Blake shows a speaker walking the streets of the city and seeing how the government, monarchy and church hold the power that still controls people's lives.

Nina: ‘The mind forged manacles, I hear.’

Carl: Here, power traps people in their thinking, like metal handcuffs, because manacles refer to chains that are typically used to tie a person's hands or indeed, their feet.

Jean: Shelley shows power as something that used to be impressive but now feels trivial or empty. When Ozymandias calls himself ‘King of Kings’ this title sounds huge and regal, but later in the poem, the statues are described as 'a colossal wreck'. Shelley is deliberately showing the collapse of this power to prove how temporary it always was, whereas Blake shows power that is still active and damaging in the present.He hears the 'mind forged manacles' everywhere in London, an image suggesting invisible handcuffs or chains created by society. Blake is showing that power still traps ordinary people right now.

Carl: And that is comparison. Not just noticing a difference but explaining how each writer presents that idea in their own unique way.

Jean: If you want to explore more on those poems, you can find guides to both Ozymandias and London on the BBC Bitesize GCSE English Literature pages.

Carl: One practical thing that can make your comparison much clearer is the language that you use to link your points, certain words and phrases called connectives or connective phrases, show the listener or reader how your ideas relate to one another.For example, connectives or words like, both, similarly, however, or on the other hand, these words can help you signal whether you're showing a similarity or a difference.

Jean: Right. For example, to show similarities, you might say: 'Writer A presents strong emotions, through their use of emotive language. Similarly, Writer B highlights intense emotions in the poem through the language they use'. Did you spot the connective there? ‘Similarly!’

Carl: And to show differences, you could say 'One writer focused on the past, but on the other hand, the other looks ahead to the future'. The connective phrase there is, ‘on the other hand’, you could also use ‘however’ or ‘whereas’ or one of my favourites, ‘conversely’.

Jean: ‘Meanwhile’, has been another favourite of mine recently.

Carl: ‘Meanwhile’, is a very, very good connective phrase.

Jean: Carl is going to give us an example opening of a comparison paragraph using our two poems and the comparison we touched on just now about power. If you've got your pen and paper to hand, write down any connectives that you hear.

Carl: Are you ready? Here we go. 'Power is a key idea in both poems. In Ozymandias, Shelley suggests power fades and becomes meaningless over time, whereas in London, Blake suggests power is active right now. In contrast to Shelley's poem, it traps ordinary people in their everyday lives.’

Jean: So, what connectives did you spot there? I heard two. Carl used ‘whereas’ to shift to the second poem and then ‘in contrast’, to make the difference even clearer.

Carl: You can also use connectives of cause or explanation. Words like, ‘because’, and ‘so’, to show why a comparison matters. Let's try another short example, listen out for those cause connectives and jot them down if you can.

Jean: 'Shelley shows power fading over time because the statue in Ozymandias has crumbled. Blake shows power continuing in the present, so the people in London are still trapped by it.'

Carl: Listener, how did you get on? I spotted two cause connectives ‘because’ and ‘so’.

Jean: Exactly! Using cause connectives like those helps you explain why your comparison matters instead of just stating a difference.It's often helpful when you see a comparison question to jot down two or three connectives that can be used for a similarity and two or three that can be used for a difference to help with planning your answer. A good sentence starter can really help you compare texts with more confidence, so here are some clear ones you can use when writing about tone, theme, purpose and technique.

Carl: It can really help to organise your comparison around those four areas, they’re some of the most common ways writers could differ or overlap across two texts.

Jean: Tone is the writer's attitude or feeling towards a subject. It might be angry, reflective, proud or sorrowful. When you compare tone, focus on the mood the writer creates and notice if that mood changes within the text, or if it's different from one writer to the other.

Carl: The theme is a big idea or message such as power, love, or loss. Think of how writers tackle that idea differently or in a very specific way.

Jean: Purpose is what the writer is trying to make the reader think or feel, what message or view they're putting across.

Carl: And technique covers what the writers do to get their meaning across through imagery, text structure and language. So instead of just talking about in theory, let's make this useful. Now as promised, we're going to give you some simple sentence starters that you can actually drop in to a comparison answer.

Jean: Let's begin with tone. Here are two starters you can borrow straightaway.
‘Both writers create a tone of…’ and in contrast, ‘the tone in A feels more …’

Carl: Next, we're going to go to theme.
You could start like this:
‘The key theme in both texts is …’ or we could say something like ‘whereas one writer presents A as …’ and so on and so on and so forth, ‘the other shows …’

Jean: Now, purpose.
Try, ‘both writers want the reader to recognise …’ or in contrast, ‘one writer aims to make the reader feel… while the other…’

Carl: That's a lot of dot, dot, dots!
We got one more for you, technique.
These two work well. ‘By using A the writer shows…’ Or we can say ‘while one writer uses A the other uses…’Are you getting it?

Jean: And don't forget to replace those dot dot dots with words!

Carl: Yes. Good ones. Strong ones. Descriptive ones.

Jean: So those are eight short sentence starters you can use at the beginning of your comparative paragraphs with your own ideas and evidence. Feel free to go back and listen a few times and write them down if you need to.You can also find more about sentence starters on BBC Bitesize.

Carl: Now that you have a bunch of comparison sentence starters for tone, technique, theme and purpose, you can start pulling your comparisons together.Taking tone as our focus, Jean has a full example to show you how this all fits.

Jean: Right. ‘Both Shelley and Blake show negative feelings towards power. However, while Shelley's tone in Ozymandias feels mocking and ironic towards the ruler's arrogance, Blake's tone in London is sorrowful and angry about social suffering.’

Carl: See that, that's why she is a brilliant writer. Lovely stuff.

Jean: Haha, hey, we are a team. You're a part of it too, and remember, the comparison skills we've looked at today can be applied to any comparison of any text you're asked to do, not just poems.

Carl: So, listener, today we've looked at what comparison actually means and how to think about similarities and differences in a really focussed way. We've explored different types of connectives, including comparison connectives and connective phrases. We've also discussed cause connectives and how they can help you link your ideas clearly.

Jean: And we've taken that further by building comparisons around tone, theme, purpose and technique and we also explored sentence starters.

Carl: Thank you for listening to the Bitesize English Literature Exam Skills podcast.
Nothing compares to it.

Jean: I see what you did there.

Carl: And remember, you can find the rest of this series right now on BBC Sounds.

Jean: Hello, and welcome to the Bitesize English Literature Exam Skills podcast. If you want the skills to tackle those texts when it matters most, this is where it's at.

Carl: So, whether you're determined to ace that essay or perfect your analysis of poetry, we are here with practical advice to help you with your exams.

Jean: I’m Jean Menzies. An ancient historian, author and presenter.

Carl: And I'm Carl Anka, a journalist, author and broadcaster.

Jean: And in this episode, we are delving deeper into analysis so you can explain why writers make the choices they do, whether that's writers from today, the 19th century or way back to Shakespeare.

Carl: We're going to have loads of useful information along the way too, so it's a good idea for you to grab a pen and paper now, in case you want to make notes.

Jean: Let's get started on analysis. We're now moving away from simply describing what happens in a text to investigating why the writer chose specific techniques. This is sometimes called the writer's intention.

Carl: Here's a good starting point, think of every detail in a text as a deliberate choice by the writer, that means everything from a single word to the timing of a major plot event. Writers use language structure and form to guide the reader's thoughts and feelings.

Jean: Before we jump in, let's do some quick definitions.

Carl: So, when we say language, we literally mean word or phrase choices.

Jean: When we say structure, we mean how the text is organised and ordered, such as its punctuation and flashbacks.

Carl: And form is the type of text, whether that's a play, a poem, a gothic novel, whatever it may be.

Jean: Great. To help explain what we mean, we'll use examples from a range of texts starting with Shakespeare's Macbeth. Don't worry if you're not studying this play, the methods we'll show you can be used to analyse any text at all, whether it's a Shakespeare play, a romantic poem or a modern novel.

Carl: And let me give a little context about this play too, because it's one of my favourites.Macbeth is a respected Scottish warrior. Hi Jean…

Jean: Just like me.

Carl: …who after hearing a prophecy that he shall be king hereafter chooses to commit evil deeds to pursue power, and everything collapses as a result of his own choices. So not just like Jean.

Jean: I hope not anyway, but that's a great summary, and crucial point, we're not revising Macbeth here. We're using Macbeth moments as a kind of showcase for how to think like an analyst in a text.

Carl: Excellent. So, let's zoom in on one of Shakespeare's language choices. His recurring imagery of blood. It's not a theme in itself, but Shakespeare uses it again and again to symbolise themes like guilt, violence and fate.

Jean: Yeah. There's a lot of blood in Macbeth,

Carl: A lot of blood, exactly, Shakespeare uses imagery of blood throughout Macbeth. From this point on, we are doing two different things in our analysis, we are going to look at how and why?
‘How’, we'll look at the technique the writer chooses, for example, metaphors, symbols, structural shifts.

Jean: ‘Why’ looks at the effect or purpose this has - what does the writer want us to think about or understand here? So, let's apply those…When Macbeth says, ‘Will all great Neptune's Ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?, the ‘how’ is that Shakespeare is using blood as a metaphorical symbol. The ‘why’ is to show Macbeth's psychological guilt. It's the idea that this sin can't ever be washed away even by the ocean.

Carl: Later on, Macbeth says ‘It will have blood, they say: blood will have blood’. So, the ‘how’ is that Shakespeare deliberately repeats the word blood, building up blood imagery. The ‘why’ is to show how the cycle of violence continues, signalling to the audience that more brutal events are to come - ‘Blood will have blood’.

Jean: So, by connecting the ‘how’, which is the technique, to the ‘why’, which is the effect or intention, you're moving beyond just describing what happens and towards explaining and analysing the writer's craft.

Carl: And it's not just language that you can analyse, writers also make structural choices for a reason.For example, ending a chapter on a cliffhanger is a choice.
Why does the writer do this? To build suspense and to keep the reader hooked, so they want to turn the page.

Jean: Or in poetry, if the rhythm or imagery shifts halfway through, that’s a choice. ‘Why’ is often to mirror a change in the speaker's emotions or understanding and that change affects how we respond as readers.

Carl: Now we are going to see how this works in practice. Okay Jean, I'm going to invite you to take off your host hat for a moment so we can tackle this as two writers. We're going to hear two different quotes, one from Macbeth and then one from A Christmas Carol. Both of these are GCSE texts.And once you've heard these quotes, we are going to try and work out what the writer is doing and why, and you can join in too.
Okay, so let's look at a couple of quotes. One from Macbeth and one from A Christmas Carol and then let's look at the language.
‘Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires.’

Jean: This is one of my favourite quotes, it's beautiful, but also dark.

Carl: Tell me more.

Jean: Contrast. You know, it's very poetic, but we're actually learning about someone doing something quite horrific. So, Macbeth at this point, we know wants to be king. He thinks he should be king, but in order to be king, other people have to die.So, you know, his brain's working away and he's coming up with some plans, and he realises that there is perhaps something to be ashamed of, so he doesn't want the universe, the stars, to observe him.

Carl: Yes. It's this idea that he has evil intentions, but he doesn't want to reveal them to the world yet. And also it sounds like he's afraid of them, just a little bit.

Jean: He recognises in himself there is something wrong here, even if he's letting it drive him.

Carl: Mm. And now for A Christmas Carol. This is a quote describing Scrooge…‘secret and self-contained and solitary as an oyster.’I love that one because it’s Dickens doing something that I'm especially fond of, which is loads of alliteration - ‘secret’, ‘self-contained’ and ‘solitary’. Triple ‘s’.A very good way of getting people to remember anything is if you just keep repeating the same letters or noises. If you are listening to this and you are a fan of hip hop music, loads of rappers do this too.And then also, ‘as solitary as an oyster’. Simile is slightly different from metaphor, if it's ‘as’ something, that's a simile.So you use the triple ‘s’ - ‘secret’, ‘self-contained’ and ‘solitary’ to help create a very, very vivid picture and help it root in your mind and in ‘solitary as an oyster’, if you've ever encountered an oyster or you’ve ever seen an oyster, be it in real life or in a TV show or anything, you know, oysters live very lonely lives and the only rarely ever really open up, well they’re not really supposed to open up.

Jean: No and they’ve got a hard shell that protects them but also isolates them.

Carl: There you go. That is good language. I hope it was useful to hear us change our thinking about what writers do to why writers do it. Did you join in too and think about why the writers were using those words and those ways? You could try analysing quotes with a friend. It's good practice.

Jean: ‘Stars, hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires’, I have said that quote so many times and it never gets old. You can find out more analytical tips for Shakespeare, Dickens, and other set texts at the Bitesize website.
But right now, let's take a look at some techniques you can use to deepen your analytical response.

Carl: Right then, a very effective place to start is close and purposeful reading, where you carefully work through a passage to see how the words, phrases, sentences and any other choices add to the overall meaning.

Jean: Don't forget to also look at the writer's structural choices when doing this. For instance, who is narrating the text? When is certain information revealed, delayed or withheld? Because those choices shape how the reader sees things and what the text means.

Carl: So, here is a simple three step process that you can actually use. Number one, identify the technique. What is the writer doing? For example, are they using imagery? Are they using repetition or sentence length?

Jean: Number two, explain the effect. What impact does that choice have on the reader or audience?

Carl: And thirdly, explore the writer's intention. Why has the writer made that choice? What message or emotion are they trying to create?

Jean: Let's try that process with an example. For some context, An Inspector Calls is a play by JB Priestley and is about the wealthy Birling family whose dinner is interrupted by Inspector Goole. He reveals that each of them has played a part in a young woman's death.
Let's look at a quote from An Inspector Calls when Mr. Birling confidently calls the Titanic ‘unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable’.

Carl: Now, here Priestley is using dramatic irony. We, as the audience know that the Titanic sank, so the effect here is that Mr. Birling immediately loses credibility. You're not supposed to trust his judgment.

Jean: And the writer's intention is to make the audience question the values and opinions of the older generation. Priestley wants us to think more socially and take more responsibility for others.

Carl: And did you notice how we both use the writer's name when we explained our points?That's a really powerful habit. If you start your sentences with ‘Priestley shows’ or ‘Priestley chooses’ or swap in the name of the writer whose text you're studying, your analysis becomes more purposeful because you're keeping the focus on the writer and their intention.

Jean: And often there's more than one technique happening in one small quotation. That's why there can be more than one valid interpretation and that's actually a strength to demonstrate, it shows your thinking.

Carl: Exactly. So, let's lock in this big message. Every single thing that a writer does in a text has a purpose. Our job is to draw a clear line between the evidence we select and the writer's purpose behind it.

Jean: So, whenever you quote, zoom in on a keyword phrase or structural choice, and explain what ideas or feelings it suggests, how that shapes the reader's perspective and why the writer might want that effect.

Carl: Alright then, I think our analytical brains have been switched firmly on. Now, let's move on.

Jean: Now we're going to show how that same three step approach we just used, technique, effect and the writer's intention, works with any GCSE text.

Carl: As we've seen by taking evidence from a text and analysing the language structure and form that writer uses, we can explore the effect on the reader and the writer's reasons for doing this.And it's true, you can take these elements and apply them to any written work.

Jean: In a play, you might look at where scenes are placed and how the writer uses moments like entrances and exits to guide the audience's understanding.

Carl: In a poem, you might analyse why the lines are a specific length or a number of syllables.

Jean: And in a novel you might look at how the focus shifts in the story or how we see the plot from a particular character's perspective.Writers do everything for a reason, and your job in analysis is to connect a specific choice you can see in the text, to the effect it creates and the writer's likely intention.

Carl: One important factor for the writer - now, this is one we really want you to note down - is the context of the work. Context essentially means what was happening in the world when the text was written and why this is relevant.

Jean: An easy way to do this is, you can ask yourself three quick questions. When was the text written? What was happening socially, politically, and historically at that time? And how might that have influenced the writer's message or purpose?

Carl: Let's apply those questions to An Inspector Calls. Priestley wrote this in 1945, just after the Second World War had ended. At the time, Britain was questioning old social attitudes and there was a new push towards fairness and rebuilding society.

Jean: So, Priestley uses the play to criticise selfishness and class inequality. His intention is to get the audience to think differently about responsibility, especially shared responsibility.

Carl: So, context isn't just extra knowledge, it helps you explain why a writer believed what they believed and why they wanted their audience to think or feel in a certain way. Each writer responds to the world around them and uses their work to reflect or critique the society they inhabit. It's also important to know what was going on in the writer's life as they were reading it.It should also bear in mind who the writer is. If we're talking about social changes, and it's written by a woman, that might be interpreted differently than that compared to a male author.
Isn't that right, Jean?

Jean: Yeah, absolutely. Who they are, where they lived, what they did, their experiences in life are all going to impact the writing they produce.Let's finish with a couple of quick-fire questions. You can answer along with us.

Carl: Okay then, question number one. What do we mean when we say writer's intention?

Jean: It means what the writer wants a reader to think or feel.

Carl: Exactly.

Jean: Next one. When analysing a quotation, what should you always do?

Carl: You should explain how it supports your argument. Don't just drop it in.

Jean: And here's another: Fill in the blank - Writers use language form and … to create meaning.

Carl: Ah, I know that one - structure - the trio creates meaning!And I'll give you the last one Jean, what does context refer to in text analysis?

Jean: Context refers to the time and circumstances in which a text was written and how that influences the writer's message.

Carl: Nice. A bit of fun to test ourselves as we round things up. So listener, how did you get on?

Jean: Thanks so much for listening to the Bitesize English Literature Exam Skills podcast.

Carl: And remember, you can find the rest of this series right now on BBC Sounds.