AQA GCSE English Literature: Shakespeare and the 19th-Century Novel (8702)

This guide covers Paper 1 Shakespeare and the 19th-century Novel, one of two papers in AQA GCSE English Literature (8702), first teaching September 2015. The qualification is untiered and closed book – candidates do not have access to the set texts during the exam, so secure textual knowledge is essential.

Where this fits in 8702

Paper 1 tests close, detailed knowledge of two whole texts studied in full: a Shakespeare play and a 19th-century novel, both drawn from prescribed lists. It pairs with Paper 2 (Modern Texts and Poetry), which shifts to more recent prose or drama and poetry.

Syllabus coverage

AQA GCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE (8702) — PAPER 1 SHAKESPEARE AND THE 19TH-CENTURY NOVEL

• Section A: Shakespeare — a detailed study of one Shakespeare play, including character, theme, context and dramatic method
• Section B: The 19th-century Novel — a detailed study of one novel from the 19th century, including character, theme, context and the writer’s methods

How to approach it

Because the exam is closed book, memorising precise, well-chosen quotations for both the Shakespeare play and the novel is essential – build a compact bank covering major characters and themes rather than trying to memorise the whole text. Both sections reward integrating context (historical, social) into analysis rather than treating it as a separate add-on, since AQA’s assessment objectives explicitly credit this integration. Because Shakespeare is studied as drama, keep performance and staging in view alongside language – how a line is spoken or staged is often as significant as what it says – while the novel section rewards tracking how a theme or character develops across the whole text, not just in a single extract.

Assessment at a glance

Paper 1 (Shakespeare and the 19th-century Novel) is a 1 hour 45 minute closed-book exam worth 64 marks – 40% of the GCSE. Both sections follow the same pattern: write in detail about a set extract, then write about the whole text, once for the Shakespeare play and once for the novel. Paper 2 (Modern Texts and Poetry) is longer and worth more – 2 hours 15 minutes, 96 marks, 60% of the GCSE – covering a modern prose or drama text, the poetry anthology, and two unseen poems.

That 40/60 split is worth factoring into revision time: Paper 2 alone is worth half as much again as Paper 1, and adds unseen poetry – a skill that cannot be prepared for with quotation banks the way the studied texts can, so timed unseen-poetry practice deserves its own place in a revision plan rather than being treated as a late add-on.

Building a quotation bank

Because no text is available in the exam room, quotation recall strategy matters as much as content knowledge. A compact bank per text – covering two or three major characters, two or three central themes, and a handful of pivotal moments – built to serve multiple possible questions is far more efficient than attempting to memorise either whole text or preparing for one imagined question type only. Precision matters more here than on an open-book paper too: since there is no text to check a quotation against on the day, an imprecisely recalled quotation cannot be corrected or verified on the spot. What the mark scheme actually rewards is apt, precisely chosen textual reference in support of an argument, not verbatim accuracy for its own sake – but a vaguely paraphrased reference is harder to make apt, which is the practical reason a well-drilled quotation bank still matters.

Shakespeare technique in more depth

Because the Shakespeare text is studied as drama rather than prose, strong answers comment on staging, performance choices and how a line might be delivered, not just on what a line means on the page – this is worth building directly into a quotation bank, with a brief staging note alongside each memorised line. Both the extract-based question and the whole-text essay question expect a candidate to move fluently between the printed extract and their knowledge of the play as a whole, so practising starting an answer from the extract and reaching outward to the wider play, rather than treating the extract and the whole-text discussion as two disconnected halves, is a skill worth deliberate rehearsal.

Novel technique in more depth

For the 19th-century novel section, tracking how a theme or character develops across the whole text consistently outperforms an answer that only analyses a single scene in isolation, so organising a quotation bank chronologically across the novel, rather than by theme alone, makes that development easier to trace and articulate under exam conditions. Context – historical or social – should also be woven directly into the analysis of a specific quotation rather than reserved for a separate paragraph at the end of a response, since AQA’s mark scheme explicitly credits this kind of integration over a standalone context section that sits apart from the actual argument.

Why closed book changes revision strategy

Nearly every revision decision for Paper 1 flows from a single fact: no text is available in the exam room. This is why quotation banks must be built and memorised well in advance rather than assembled close to the exam, why precise recall is prioritised over general familiarity with the text, and why practising extract-based analysis on unfamiliar passages matters more here than it would on an open-book paper, where a candidate could locate supporting evidence during the exam itself. Treating quotation recall as a discipline to be built deliberately, rather than assuming it will emerge naturally from general reading of the set texts, is one of the more reliable ways to improve performance on this specific paper.

Official syllabus

AQA GCSE English Literature (8702) specification, for first teaching 2015 — aqa.org.uk.