A Level Urdu: Translation into Urdu and Written Response to Works — Revision Notes

Condensed for the final weeks. For the full explanation, use the Translation into Urdu and Written Response to Works study guide.

Paper 2 at a glance

2 hours 40 minutes, 110 marks, 30% of the A-level — the highest raw mark total of the three papers.

Section	Focus	Marks	Time
A	Translation into Urdu (unseen)	20	~30 min
B	Written response, literary text	45	~1hr 5min
C	Written response, film	45	~1hr 5min

Every candidate produces exactly two extended responses: either two literary-text essays (B twice, skip C), or one literary text plus one film (B once, then C).

Section A: translation into Urdu

Marking is points-based: the passage is divided into 20 chunks, one mark each.

• Non-grammatical misspellings are tolerated if they don’t create ambiguity or form a different word.
• Verb and adjective endings must be correct — these are explicitly not covered by the spelling tolerance, unlike in ordinary spelling.
• Direction is English → Urdu here — the reverse of Paper 1, which translates into English. Do not mix the two up under exam pressure.

Sections B/C: works studied

Prescribed list (Pearson Edexcel, specification Appendix 1) — study two works: two literary texts, or one literary text and one film (never two films).

• Literary texts: Aangan (آنگن), Khadija Mastur, 1999 (novel); five prescribed essays — not the whole book — from Patras Ke Mazameen (پطرس کے مضامین), Ahmad Shah Patras Bukhari, 2011: “Savere Jo Kal Aankh Meri Khuli”, “Urdu Ki Aakhri Kitab”, “Murid Pur Ka Peer”, “Marhoom Ki Yaad Mein” and “Lahore Ka Jughrafia”; Bisaat (بساط), Baseer Kazmi, 1987 (play).
• Films (given in the specification as a name and a year only, with no role label): Bin Roye (بن روئے), Momina Duraid, 2015; Baaghban (باغبان), Ravi Chopra, 2003; Bajrangi Bhaijaan (بجرنگی بھائی جان), Kabir Khan, 2015.

Marked against three levels-based criteria:

• AO4 — critical and analytical response to the work (cultural/social insight)
• AO3 — range of grammatical structures and vocabulary
• AO3 — accuracy of language

Paper 2 carries no AO1 or AO2 marks at all — unlike Papers 1 and 3, this paper is entirely about accurate, analytical Urdu writing about a text or film, not comprehension or research skills.

The five preparation angles

Prepare each studied work (whichever two you have) against the same five angles for every text/film: form and technique, key themes and issues, characterisation, plot structure, social and cultural setting.

Worked example: structuring a works answer

Position → Evidence → Cultural connection. State your overall stance on the question first; support it with two or three specific scenes or lines (not full plot retelling); close by linking the writer’s treatment of the issue to one of the qualification’s four broader social/cultural themes. This structure rewards AO3 (accurate language throughout) and AO4 (the explicit cultural link) at the same time.

Worked example: chunk-marking in Section A

Section A’s 20 marks come from dividing the unseen passage into 20 chunks, each worth one mark for an accurate rendering into Urdu.

Chunk contains a verb ending:      must be grammatically correct --
                                    no tolerance, unlike ordinary
                                    spelling
Chunk contains an everyday noun:   a non-grammatical misspelling is
                                    tolerated PROVIDED it does not
                                    create ambiguity or become a
                                    different word entirely
Chunk contains an adjective
agreeing with its noun:            gender/number agreement must be
                                    correct, treated the same way as
                                    verb endings, not as ordinary
                                    spelling

Working chunk by chunk rather than translating the whole passage in one pass makes it far easier to check each mark-bearing unit individually against this rule before moving on.

Paper 1 vs Paper 2: don’t mix up the direction

	Paper 1	Paper 2, Section A
Direction	Urdu → English	English → Urdu
Marks	20 (within 80 total)	20 (within 110 total)
Time	Part of a longer paper	~30 minutes

Because both papers include a 20-mark translation section, candidates under exam pressure sometimes default to habits from one paper while sitting the other — always confirm the direction stated on the paper before starting.

Exam traps

• Attempting three extended responses, or the wrong literary-text/film combination — only two total are required.
• Treating verb/adjective endings as ordinary tolerated spelling in Section A — they are not.
• Retelling plot in Sections B/C without connecting to a named social/cultural theme, weakening the AO4 mark.
• Confusing Paper 2’s translation direction (into Urdu) with Paper 1’s (into English).

Timing across the paper

With 2 hours 40 minutes and three sections, keep roughly to the recommended splits — about 30 minutes for the Section A translation, and about 1 hour 5 minutes for each extended response — rather than letting one section overrun and squeezing the other. Since Sections B and C carry the bulk of the marks (45 each versus 20 for Section A), a candidate who runs out of time on the second extended response loses more marks than one who rushes the translation slightly, so timing discipline matters more here than in a paper with more evenly distributed marks.

Self-test

1. How many extended responses does every candidate write, and what are the two valid combinations?
2. What is explicitly excluded from Section A’s spelling tolerance?
3. Which assessment objectives does Paper 2 carry, and which two does it not carry?
4. Name the five angles to prepare for each studied work.
5. What structure connects AO3 and AO4 in a single works answer?

Answers: 1. Two — either two literary-text essays, or one literary text plus one film. 2. Verb and adjective endings, which must be grammatically correct even though ordinary misspellings are tolerated. 3. AO3 (accuracy and range) and AO4 (critical/cultural response); it carries no AO1 or AO2 marks. 4. Form and technique, key themes and issues, characterisation, plot structure, social and cultural setting. 5. Position, evidence, cultural connection — stating a stance, supporting it with specific material, then linking to a broader social/cultural theme.