How to Write About Context (AQA GCSE English Literature): Revision Note

What is context in English Literature?

Context means the ideas and attitudes that a text responds to, and the ways different readers or audiences might react to it. It can include:

• When the text was written: the attitudes the writer was responding to. For example, Victorian gentlemen were expected to protect their reputation at all costs, which helps explain why Dr Jekyll hides his link to Hyde

• When the text is set: if a text is set earlier than it was written, the audience has hindsight (they know what happened next). For example, An Inspector Calls is set in 1912 but was written in 1945, so when Mr Birling calls the Titanic “unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable”, the audience knows it will sink. This makes him look foolish, so they doubt his other views too

• The genre: for example, Macbeth is a tragedy, so the audience expects the hero’s flaw to destroy him

• Universal ideas: ideas that still matter to people today, such as guilt or the cost of ambition. For example, Macbeth’s inability to sleep after the murder still shows a modern audience how guilt can take over someone’s mind

You don’t need to learn lots of historical facts to write about context. Examiners say an answer can still do well without mentioning the Victorian or Jacobean era, as long as it focuses on the ideas in the text and how they link to the question.

How to use context in an essay

Here is how to use context in an essay in four steps:

• Start with the question: its key words, such as poverty, power or gender, point to the ideas you need

• Ask why the writer presents it this way: think about which attitudes the writer was responding to, or trying to change

• Link it to a specific moment: connect the idea to the quotation or moment you are analysing

• Keep it short: a clause or a sentence is usually enough, so your focus stays on the text

The table below shows the same point written three ways, using A Christmas Carol.

Question: Starting with this extract, explore how Dickens presents the suffering of the poor in A Christmas Carol.

The weak version makes a sweeping claim about Victorian times and adds a fact about Dickens’ life, but links neither to the quotation. The better version includes accurate, relevant context, but adds it at the end, so it doesn’t explain Dickens’ choice. The strong version uses the same Poor Law fact as the better version, but in a single clause that explains Scrooge’s exact words. It then analyses how they sound and shows how Dickens wanted his readers to respond.

Where should context go in a paragraph?

Context works best inside your analysis. If you add it as an extra sentence at the end of a paragraph, examiners treat it as the lowest level of context, because it isn’t linked to your point. Put it where it explains a choice the writer has made, for example:

• In your thesis statement: say what the writer wanted readers or audiences to think

• Straight after you analyse a quotation: explain why the writer chose those words for readers at the time

• In your conclusion: zoom out to the writer’s message and why it still matters

What are the common mistakes when writing about context?

• Historical facts: long explanations of historical events take time away from your analysis, and examiners report that they often add little to an answer:

  • For example, in an answer about Macbeth’s ambition: “In 1605, a group of Catholics tried to blow up Parliament and kill King James I. This was called the Gunpowder Plot.”

• Bolt-on context: a sentence of background added to the end of a paragraph, without a link to your point, earns very little:

  • For example: “Mr Hyde attacks with ‘ape-like fury’, which shows he is violent. Victorian London was a crowded and dangerous city.” The last sentence has nothing to do with the point about Hyde

• Biography: facts about the writer’s life rarely help, unless they explain a choice the writer made in the text:

  • For example, in an answer about how Sheila changes: “Priestley fought in the First World War and later presented radio programmes for the BBC.”

• Sweeping generalisations: claims about what everyone at the time believed or did are rarely true, so they weaken your argument:

  • For example: “In Shakespeare’s time, all women did was cook and clean, so Lady Macbeth is very unusual.”

Writing about context (AO3) in your AQA English Literature exam

AQA calls context AO3. It is worth 6 marks on each set-text question, out of either 30 or 34, so it should support your argument rather than take over your essay. This table shows where context is assessed: