An extended literary argument

You write a formal essay of 1,200–1,500 words on one literary work previously studied in class. It contributes 20% of the final course result. Choose a literary line of inquiry, then build an argument that answers it through detailed reference to the work.

This isn't an analysis of an unseen passage. The assignment develops over time: as you read, plan, draft and redraft, you can test an interpretation rather than simply record your first response. Independence comes from making your own choices and supporting your conclusions—not from avoiding discussion with your teacher.

Keep the focus literary. If you explore a novel's treatment of responsibility, for example, examine how narration, characterization or structure constructs that treatment. Discussing whether the characters behave morally is not enough by itself.

Broad knowledge, precise analysis

A focused argument still needs to show knowledge of the work as a whole. There is no conflict here. The inquiry limits what you investigate; evidence drawn from across the work gives that investigation depth.

Close reading remains essential. Each passage you examine, though, must contribute to the larger argument. The relationship diagram below connects the inquiry, the whole work, selected passages and the developing argument.

Use detailed references to the primary work. Select quotations carefully and interpret them; don't leave them to stand as proof without explanation. Secondary sources are optional. If you use them, acknowledge borrowed ideas as well as quoted words. Citations and references are part of the essay's academic framework.

What the assessment values

The essay has four criteria, each worth 5 marks, giving a total of 20 marks. These assess connected aspects of one argument, not four separate tasks.

Knowing what happens helps you interpret the work. Recounting events, however, cannot replace interpretation. Naming a technique counts towards analysis only when you explain how it contributes to meaning. To evaluate a choice, judge its significance within your reading rather than simply praise the writer.

Independence and teacher guidance

From the selection stage onwards, your teacher advises you and discusses your plans. They also set developmental stages and check that the work is authentic. Even with this guidance, you must choose the work and inquiry yourself.

A teacher may offer comments, questions and suggestions on a first complete draft. They may not edit or rewrite it. The next version you submit to the teacher must be the final version, so feedback leaves you with decisions to make rather than replacement sentences.

Start an assignment record with your proposed work, inquiry, evidence locations and source details. Keep this record as your argument develops so you can trace your thinking and your acknowledgements.

Eligibility comes before preference

Choose a work you have already studied in class. Neither of the works used for your individual oral is eligible, and you cannot choose a work you plan to use for Paper 2. Think through the other assessment components before deciding: once you allocate a work to the essay, it is no longer available for Paper 2.

The choice is yours to make independently, but you must consult your teacher. The flowchart below distinguishes eligibility from literary suitability. Even a favourite work has to meet both conditions.

Literary suitability

Choose something complex enough to sustain a developed argument. Your interest matters—you'll return to the work repeatedly—but knowing it well does not, by itself, make it a productive choice. Look for patterns worth investigating, or tensions and changes that raise questions.

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818), for example, could support an inquiry into the relationship between competing narrative accounts and responsibility. The subject matter alone would not make it useful. What matters is the opportunity to connect individual accounts with the novel's larger narrative arrangement.

Test possible works against concrete evidence:

• Sustained interest: identify a question you still want to investigate after class discussion.
• Literary substance: find authorial choices that complicate that question rather than simply repeat one message.
• Whole-work reach: locate relevant material across the work, including evidence that might challenge your first interpretation.
• Manageable scope: identify an aspect you can explore properly within 1,200–1,500 words.

An extended text or a collection

If you choose a single extended text, don't confine your investigation to one scene, chapter or extract. You need not discuss every part of it. Your essay should, however, show an understanding of the work beyond the passages you select.

A collection of poems, short stories, song lyrics or other short literary texts requires discussion of more than one text from the chosen work. Use the relationship between those texts to develop your inquiry. Placing several miniature commentaries together does not automatically produce a broad argument.

With this collection-based approach, you may also explore texts by the same author that were not studied in class, provided at least one of the texts was covered in class.

Use the portfolio to make the decision

The learner portfolio is not separately assessed. Use it to record interests that keep resurfacing and explore why particular passages matter. You can connect works with the central concepts there, track how your thinking changes, and keep source references alongside reflections on difficulties you encounter.

Before settling on a work, write a short selection rationale. Establish that the work is eligible, then identify the literary problem that interests you. Locate evidence from different parts of the work or multiple texts in the collection. Take this rationale into your consultation with your teacher.

From a subject to an investigation

A line of inquiry sets out what your essay will investigate about the work. You may phrase it as a question, but it needs to invite an arguable interpretation—not a factual answer or an inventory of techniques.

Responsibility, for example, is a topic: it identifies an area of interest. It isn't yet an investigation. To turn it into a literary inquiry, connect that interest to the writer's choices and the meanings they produce.

The progression below uses Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818). Each stage gives the investigation a clearer purpose without limiting it to a single passage.

Treat the provisional argument as an initial answer, not a conclusion you must defend regardless of the evidence. As you read further, differences between the accounts might lead you to qualify it.

Use the central concepts as starting points

The seven central concepts can help you generate an inquiry. You don't have to use one, though, or identify one in the finished essay. Here, they open up possibilities; they aren't labels to use in place of literary analysis.

One feature may support different conceptual approaches. Narrative framing in Frankenstein, for instance, could lead to an inquiry about perspective or communication. Decide what you want to argue about how the framing works, rather than which concept is easiest to name.

Keep the inquiry focused but broad enough

If answering an inquiry requires a survey of almost everything in the work, it's too broad. If a brief commentary on one passage can exhaust it, it's too narrow. Aim for a specific literary problem that needs evidence from across the work.

Don't build the answer into the wording. Asking how a writer proves that a character is entirely innocent closes down evidence before you've examined it. A question about how competing accounts complicate responsibility leaves room for ambiguity and disagreement.

A list of features won't do the job either. An essay organized as narration, imagery and symbolism may remain disconnected unless those choices develop a shared argument. Use the inquiry to establish why each choice matters.

State the inquiry and work explicitly

Identify both the line of inquiry and the selected work at the beginning of the essay. Give the text type and author; if you're using a single extended text, include its title too. For the example above, you could identify the work as Novel, Mary Shelley, Frankenstein.

Beneath your inquiry, write a provisional answer and attach relevant evidence from across the work. Include a passage or moment that resists your answer. Before drafting, use the tension between the supporting and challenging evidence to refine the inquiry.