Question Constellation Sign up for free OCR · GCSE · English Literature · Higher
Discovering how others live
Question 3: Animal Farm by George Orwell and The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. For part a, candidates focus only on the printed extracts.
Compare the ways in which discovering how others live is presented in these two extracts. You should consider: the situations and experiences faced by the characters; how the characters react to these situations and experiences; how the writers' use of language and techniques creates effects.
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Marking points
- 1 Compares both extracts on discovering how others live.
- 2 Explains relevant social or contextual contrasts.
- 3 Uses textual references from both extracts.
- 4 Analyses language, form or structure.
Full-mark answer
A high-level answer would compare the animals' fearful, collective discovery of the farmhouse with the village boy's private thrill at Hundreds Hall. It would use precise references to luxury, caution, trespass and possession, and analyse Orwell's lists and cautionary language alongside Waters's detailed sensory description and retrospective narration.
Why this answer loses marks
The animals and the boy both look inside places where richer people live.
This compares the situation but misses the social contrast and the language of caution, luxury and desire.