📜 The Student Who Quoted Half the Page
📜 The Student Who Quoted Half the Page
In a Year 11 mock, one student copied seven lines from the extract. Then wrote three lines of analysis. The examiner awarded Level 2. Another student embedded six words — “the sea’s blind, blundering fists” — and spent an entire paragraph unpacking each word. Level 4.
The longer quote did not earn more marks. It took up space that analysis could have filled. This is the L2 trap: believing that more quotation equals more evidence.
AQA mark schemes reward judicious use of textual reference (AO1). Judicious means chosen with careful judgement — not copied wholesale. A short embedded quotation is usually stronger than a long block quote because it forces you to be precise about which words you are actually analysing.
Now try it yourself
Quiz · Question 1 of 11
AQA mark schemes reward 'judicious use of textual reference'. Which word best explains what 'judicious' means in this context?
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