Three sections, one modern text, 15 anthology poems and two poems you've never seen before. You can't out-read this paper in three days, but you can out-drill it. Here's the order that gets you the most marks.
One focus per day, building to a timed run. Work it in order.
Ranked from analysed past papers. Start at the top: if you run out of time, you will have covered the most-tested ground.
The Inspector is the character examiners return to most, because he carries Priestley's own argument. Extract questions on him come up almost every series.
Priestley structures the whole play around the contrast between the older Birlings and the younger Sheila and Eric. Questions on change and responsibility depend on this contrast.
This is the play's central argument and the most-asked theme. Know how Priestley uses each character's confession to build his case for collective responsibility.
The gap between when the play is set and when it was performed IS the context question examiners want integrated, not bolted on. Always link a fact from 1945 to a specific line.
The comparison question names a theme and lets you choose the second poem. Knowing your clusters in advance is the difference between a confident 5 minutes of planning and a panicked one.
One of the most frequently paired poems in the comparison question. Its argument about power's decay pairs naturally with nature poems, war poems and conflict poems alike.
Blake's poem on suffering and power appears constantly in past comparison questions. Know its argument about control, not just its imagery of the city.
Section C tests skills you cannot revise by memorising a text. You need a repeatable method for reading, understanding and comparing poems cold, under time pressure.
PrepWise has a one-page Knowledge Organiser for every topic above, built around the quotes, terms and exam questions each one actually needs. In your final 3 days: cover the page, recall everything from memory, uncover and check what you missed, then repeat tomorrow.
Rules specific to Paper 2. On this paper, structure earns as many marks as knowledge.
One quote gives you a single point of evidence. Two lets you build an argument: trace how an idea develops, or contrast two moments. Never build a paragraph on one lonely quote if you can help it.
Weakest answers describe Poem A, then describe Poem B. Strongest answers open with a one-sentence thesis about what the two poets argue differently, then move between the poems constantly, not sequentially.
Read the poem twice before annotating anything. If you can't say in one sentence what the poem is about, any technique-spotting you do afterwards will float free of meaning and score low.
If the question asks how Priestley presents responsibility, don't write everything you know about the Inspector. Select only the material that serves this specific question. Examiners reward relevance over volume.
A fact about 1945 audiences or the First World War only earns AO3 marks when it explains a specific textual choice. 'Priestley wrote this in 1945...' on its own earns almost nothing. Link it to what a specific line means because of that timing.
The errors examiners see most on this paper. Each one is an easy mark you already know how to keep.
Summarising both poems instead of comparing them → After every paragraph, ask: have I mentioned both poems in the last three sentences? If not, you've drifted into single-poem summary. Force a comparative connective ('whereas', 'similarly', 'in contrast') into every paragraph.
Spotting techniques in the unseen poem without saying what they achieve → Never name a technique as the end of a sentence. 'The poet uses enjambment' must always continue: 'to mirror the character's breathless panic' or similar. The effect is where the marks live.
Writing about the Inspector as if he's a real detective → The Inspector barely behaves like a real policeman. He appears and disappears too conveniently for that. Write instead about what Priestley uses him to represent: a mouthpiece for the play's moral argument.
Choosing a poem pairing at random under panic → Walk into the exam already knowing your 3-4 thematic clusters and which poems sit in each. Choosing blind under time pressure wastes minutes you don't have.
Running out of time before Section C (unseen poetry) → Time all three sections before you start: roughly 50 minutes for the modern text, 45 for the anthology comparison, 25 for unseen poetry. Set checkpoints and move on even if a section feels unfinished.
The 60 minutes before you walk in. Review what you know and settle your nerves.
You cannot revise Literature by reading about it. Practise exam-style questions in PrepWise, get marked instantly, and test whether your quotes and analysis actually land.
Open the English Literature Knowledge Organisers, quiz every priority topic and walk in ready. Free during alpha.
Get started with your personalised revision