How To Answer The Unseen Questions

• Paper 4 structure: You answer ONE question from a choice of two — Question 1 (a poem) or Question 2 (a prose extract). Each is worth 25 marks and tests all four Assessment Objectives (AO1–AO4) equally.
• Timing: 1 hour 15 minutes total — roughly 20 minutes reading/annotating, 50 minutes writing, 5 minutes checking.
• The golden rule: Structure your essay around ideas and meaning first, and use the writer's methods (language, structure, form) as evidence for those ideas — never the other way round.
• For poetry: pay attention to form (sonnet, free verse, ballad...), structure (stanzas, enjambment, caesura, rhyme), language (imagery, connotation, techniques), tone, and perspective.
• For prose: pay attention to plot structure, characterisation (direct vs indirect), narrative perspective (1st vs 3rd person), setting, and dialogue.
• Quotations: aim for 6–7 well-chosen, embedded quotations. One strong quote analysed deeply beats five quotes just listed.
• Never retell the story, never "feature-spot" (name a technique without explaining its effect), and never ignore the ending.

Paper 4 gives you two questions: Question 1 is always based on a poem, Question 2 is always based on a prose extract (from a novel, short story, or memoir). You only answer one of them. Both are marked out of 25 and tested against the exact same four Assessment Objectives — so picking poetry over prose (or vice versa) isn't about "easier marks", it's about which text you personally read more confidently.

How the 1 hour 15 minutes should be spent

Every mark you get is really being awarded against four skills at once, blended into one essay — not four separate sections. Think of these as four "flavours" your writing constantly needs, all mixed together in every paragraph.