How to Write About Context (Edexcel IGCSE 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, in the Victorian society Dickens was writing for, a gentleman was judged by his money and manners. This helps explain why Pip feels ashamed of Joe when Joe visits him in London in Great Expectations

• 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 that “Context should not outweigh evidence from the novel”, and that you should only include contextual detail “if it enhances your line of argument and is relevant 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 Great Expectations.

Question: ‘Pip wants to become a gentleman to show that he is worthy of marrying Estella.’ Explore the significance of social advancement in the novel. You must consider language, form and structure and refer to the context of the novel in your answer. (Paper 2, June 2024)

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 fact about class as the better version, but in a single clause that explains Estella’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 say it works less well than weaving context into your essay, because it isn’t linked to your point. The top level of the mark scheme rewards context that is “integrated convincingly into the response”, so you need to know how to embed context in this way. 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 in weaker answers context can “take over too much”:

  • 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: “Miss Havisham’s watch and clock have both ‘stopped at twenty minutes to nine’, which shows she is stuck in the past. Victorian London was a crowded and dirty city.” The last sentence has nothing to do with the point about Miss Havisham

• 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 (AO4) in your Edexcel International GCSE English Literature exam

Edexcel calls context AO4, which asks you to “Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written”. AO4 makes up 20 of the 40 marks on the Modern Prose question and 10 of the 30 marks on the Literary Heritage question, so it should support your argument rather than take over your essay. Examiners say they mark the Modern Prose essay as a whole, and they don’t split it into 20 marks for knowledge and 20 for context.

You can spot an AO4 context IGCSE question by its last line. Modern Prose questions tell you to “consider the context of the novel”, and Literary Heritage questions tell you to “refer to the context” of the play or novel.

This table shows where your AO4 English Literature marks come from:

If you take the coursework option (Component 3) instead of Paper 2, context is assessed only in Assignment B: Literary heritage, where AO4 is worth 10 of the 30 marks. Moderators report that weaker assignments included “bolt-on random historical facts – often in the introduction”.