Select precise evidence and explain what it supports
Distinguish quotation from paraphrase · Choose details that answer the actual question · Avoid invented words and overlarge claims
Section AO1 · Accurate whole-text knowledge and textual evidence
Exam scope and assessment notes
0408 preparation for exam year(s) 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028, 2029, 2030. The assessment changes in 2028; follow the component and selected texts for your year. Original StudyForA teaching and practice, with fictional examples labelled. Other well-supported literary readings can be valid. Model answers are for self-checking and do not award Cambridge marks or grades. Full set-text reading and text-specific teaching, complete timed papers and qualified literature-teacher assessment remain unfinished. Coursework must be the candidate’s own work, assessed through the centre and moderated by Cambridge.
Before you begin
- Confirm your exam year and centre-selected full texts. Coursework and both papers are compulsory; private candidates cannot enter 0408.
Work on paper. Try each question before revealing help, and explain why your method works.
Quick readiness check
What should support a claim about a literary text?
What you will learn
- Distinguish quotation from paraphrase
- Choose details that answer the actual question
- Avoid invented words and overlarge claims
A quotation is a responsibility
Use exact wording from the edition you are reading. If you cannot recall it exactly, make an accurate reference or paraphrase without quotation marks rather than inventing a quotation. A short relevant phrase can support analysis more effectively than a long passage left unexplained.
Evidence needs a purpose
In the original sentence “She placed the unopened letter beneath the cup”, the adjective unopened suggests withheld access, while placing it beneath another object suggests concealment or postponement. Neither proves who wrote it or why she fears it. State what the detail supports and what it does not establish.
Sources for this lesson
Pause and explain
If you are uncertain of exact wording, should you invent a plausible quotation?
Worked example
Explain how “unopened” contributes to the original letter sentence.
Show the worked solution
- It identifies a message whose contents have not been accessed.
- In combination with hiding the letter, it can suggest avoidance or delay.
Answer The unopened letter makes the withheld message part of the tension, without establishing its contents.
Try a topic test
Choose Easy, Normal or Difficult. Save your answers and open worked review after finishing.
Test this topic →From guided practice to a new situation
Write your answer and reasoning first. Use a hint only if you are stuck. The model solution is for self-checking; your written work is not automatically marked.
Use one word from “She placed the unopened letter beneath the cup” to support a claim about delayed knowledge.
Give me a hint
Choose the modifier of letter.
Compare my reasoning
- Unopened indicates that its contents have not been read.
- Connect that withheld information to the proposed delay.
“Unopened” supports delayed access to the message; it does not reveal the message itself.
Look for these in your work
- Quote accurately
- Limit the inference
Improve “The story is sad because it uses a letter” using the same original sentence.
Give me a hint
Use the actions and modifier, not the object alone.
Compare my reasoning
- The letter remains unopened and is placed out of sight.
- These details can suggest avoidance or unresolved tension rather than automatically proving sadness.
The hidden, unopened letter suggests an unresolved message that the character postpones confronting.
Look for these in your work
- Use specific details
- Explain an effect rather than a fixed object meaning
You remember a studied character refusing to open a door but cannot recall the sentence. How can you support a whole-text claim accurately?
Give me a hint
Refer to the action and its location without pretending to quote.
Compare my reasoning
- Identify the relevant scene or event.
- Paraphrase the refusal and connect it to the claim; verify exact words later if needed.
Use a precise, honest reference to the refusal, with no invented quotation.
Look for these in your work
- Preserve accuracy
- Connect the reference to the argument
Common mistakes
- Do not fabricate quotations.
- Explain the relevance of each selected detail.
What can you explain now?
If you are uncertain of exact wording, should you invent a plausible quotation?
Compare with the explanation
No; use an accurate reference or paraphrase and identify it honestly.
Quotation marks claim fidelity to the source wording.
After trying it yourself, choose your next review. This is your self-assessment.
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Make it stick
If you are uncertain of exact wording, should you invent a plausible quotation?
If you needed the solution, close it and solve the problem again from a blank page. A correct answer is stronger when you can explain the reason for each step.