Author
NickThe 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:
In Section B, you are required to have knowledge of the whole text and you will need to demonstrate your comprehension, critical reading and analytical skills. You must also make links to the context in which the novel was written and you are required to write with clarity and coherence using accurate Standard English. You are more likely to perform well on the paper if you keep in mind the dominant assessment objectives for Section B. For this section you are assessed on AO1, AO3 and AO4: you are awarded 16 marks for AO1, 16 marks for AO3 and 8 marks for AO4.
The mark scheme for the Edexcel GCSE English Literature specification can seem intimidating at first. However, it is crucial that you have a thorough understanding of the mark scheme because, in doing so, you will know exactly what you are being assessed on and how to improve.
AO1, AO3 and AO4 are assessed as part of Section B. The weighting for this question is:
Here is a simple version of the Edexcel mark scheme for the Post-1914 question:
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AO1 |
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AO3 |
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AO4 |
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The following task is based on the November 2020 Edexcel GCSE English Literature Paper 1 exam on Animal Farm. 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 novels in the examination.
In Section B you need to draw on your knowledge of the text and give examples from the novel. You must also make links to the context in which the novel was written.
We will now explore how you can create an informed and coherent argument using an example of a question from Section B. First, let’s read through the question below:
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Question: “No animal must ever tyrannise over his own kind. Weak or strong, clever or simple, we are all brothers.” (Old Major) How is power significant in Animal Farm? |
When structuring your essay, the most important thing to do is to have a clear introductory sentence (also known as a “topic sentence”) at the beginning of every paragraph. This topic sentence must make one clear point that is directly related to the focus of the question. Here are a couple of great topic sentences that explore different aspects of power, and the way in which Orwell explores it within Animal Farm:
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Question focus |
How is power significant in Animal Farm? |
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Topic sentence |
Power is one of the most important themes in Animal Farm as it determines who governs the farm. |
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Topic sentence |
Squealer’s use of rhetoric and propaganda is also used to establish and maintain power over the other animals. |
When writing the rest of your paragraph, all your points then should relate to your topic sentence. It is also a great idea to maintain a focus on the key term of the question (here, “power”) throughout your argument. Here, the word power is included in the topic sentence, but also three more times in this paragraph:
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Question focus |
How is power significant in Animal Farm? |
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Topic sentence |
Power is one of the most important themes in Animal Farm as it determines who governs the farm. |
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Analysis |
Mr Jones, the owner of Manor Farm, uses his men and their physical power to keep the animals under control, frequently employing the “bit and spur”. However, following the Rebellion, Orwell presents Jones as a character who loses his power and is driven off the farm. Subsequently, it is Old Major who encourages the animals to use their collective power to take control of the farm. Through the power of his respected position and inspirational speech, he describes the evils perpetrated by humans and rouses the animals into rebelling. |
Below you will find a full-mark, Grade 9 model answer for this task. The commentary labelled in each section of the essay illustrates how and why it would be awarded grade 9. Despite the fact it is an answer to a question on Animal Farm, 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.
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In Animal Farm, power is one of the central themes of the novel and Orwell uses it to explore ideas such as manipulation, authority and corruption. Through the farm animals’ struggle for power, Orwell critiques authoritarianism and the importance of maintaining freedom and equality. Power is one of the most important themes in Animal Farm as it determines who governs the farm. Mr Jones, the owner of Manor Farm, uses his men and their physical power to keep the animals under control, frequently employing the “bit and spur”. However, following the Rebellion, Orwell presents Jones as a character who loses his power and is driven off the farm. Subsequently, it is Old Major who encourages the animals to use their collective power to take control of the farm. Through the power of his respected position and inspirational speech, he describes the evils perpetrated by humans and rouses the animals into rebelling. Orwell uses the character of Old Major to explore ideas about power, control and inequality. He attempts to present the animals with values in order to inspire them, for example: “All animals are equal.” He is also used to warn the animals from becoming like humans or adopting their vices, for example when he warns “that in fighting against Man, we must not come to resemble him". The consequences of Old Major’s speech are far-reaching. In some ways, his speech could be viewed positively as it leads to the eviction of Jones and enables Animalism to become a reality for a short period of time. However, it also becomes the catalyst for Napoleon’s rise to power and the subsequent brutality on the farm which follows. Despite Old Major’s best intentions, his admirable and principled ideas are subject to corruption by others for their own benefit. For Orwell, it is not necessarily merely the doctrine which is at fault, but the individuals who occupy positions of power and authority within it. Power is also significant in the novel as evidenced through the character of Napoleon. He increases his power by his own prestige and by separating himself from the other animals, thereby heightening his importance. Orwell portrays Napoleon as successful in attaining the support of the animals prior to Squealer’s use of propaganda and the use of his dogs. Through his powerful and highly persuasive speech, he unites the animals and causes the Revolution and declares that “Man is the only real enemy we have”. However, in order to maintain his power and authority, he uses violence and propaganda as methods of control. He resorts to using force (through his army of dogs) to silence any opposition and to protect himself. Furthermore, he controls information (mainly through Squealer) to discredit opponents such as Snowball and to falsify information. As a character, Napoleon is a ruthless dictator, solely concerned with his own power. He will stop at nothing to gain absolute control and his amendments to the commandments illustrate his willingness to subvert the laws for his own gain. His final act of propaganda is to rewrite the seventh commandment to: “All animals are equal but some are more equal than others.” Orwell portrays him as a character who rules through fear and his slogan “Vote for Napoleon and the full manger” is used to instil fear into the animals, as they may starve without his leadership. In the novel, Orwell uses the animals to represent the peasant workers of Russia who were exploited by Tsar Nicholas II. They never earned enough money to pay for food or accommodation and the Revolution of 1917, and the changes it brought, only led to more hardship and starvation under the power and rule of Lenin and Stalin. Similarly, as a dictator, Napoleon’s brutality and determination are clearly evident and he utilises propaganda to persuade the animals that he is powerful and without fault. Similarly, Squealer’s use of rhetoric and propaganda is also used to establish and maintain power over the other animals. He gradually twists and distorts information to justify the pigs’ behaviour in order to keep most of the other animals ignorant. While Orwell condemns the leaders on the farm, he also condemns the other animals who are complicit in this corruption through their inaction, fear, and ignorance. Squealer is able to convince the animals that Napoleon is working in their best interests and in many ways, it could be viewed that Squealer is fundamental to Napoleon remaining in power as he can manipulate language extremely well. Throughout Animal Farm, Orwell uses the theme of power to explore authoritarianism and ideas such as manipulation, authority and corruption. Orwell’s novel ends with the pigs becoming indistinguishable from the humans they originally rebelled against. Orwell uses this to symbolise the cyclical nature of power and the tendency for all power to descend into tyranny. |
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Nick is a graduate of the University of Cambridge and King’s College London. He started his career in journalism and publishing, working as an editor on a political magazine and a number of books, before training as an English teacher. After nearly 10 years working in London schools, where he held leadership positions in English departments and within a Sixth Form, he moved on to become an examiner and education consultant. With more than a decade of experience as a tutor, Nick specialises in English, but has also taught Politics, Classical Civilisation and Religious Studies.