Context is a key aspect of the GCSE English Literature exams and one that tends to stress students out A LOT when essay writing!

Don’t forget to write about context! It is so so important! However, adding it on as a last-minute decision at the end doesn’t always help either. So, let’s get to the bottom of it and get you sorted!

If you need help getting started with writing your essay, check out my guide on structuring your entire essay!

What is context?

Student looking confused about how to use context.

So…let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start!

Context is the situation surrounding the text. What kind of environment was it produced in? In other words, you’re going to look at two key areas:

  1. The world at the time when it was published (What country was it published in? When was it published? What was going on then?)
  2. The writer and their life (What gender were they? What issues did they experience? What did they care about?)

Why do I need to know about context?

So…why does any of that matter anyway?

I’m going to get real with you. If you don’t understand why context is important…you don’t understand why literature is important!

Books are not simply meaningless stories which we simply read and enjoy…okay maybe some of them are! Literature is an exploration of the human consciousness and experience…the good, the bad and the ugly. Most importantly, it prompts us to reflect on our own world. Moreover, it prompts us to adapt our behaviours and to acknowledge universal truths of human experience and suffering. Some of the themes and ideas explored in books are universal. They tap into intrinsic truths of humanity. However, many of them are the result of the time in which the book was written and the individual life experiences of the author.

If we don’t know about context, how can we possibly understand what issues and ideas the writer was responding to? How can we possibly understand what problems the writer was trying to solve and how can we possibly understand what motivations they had for laboriously putting pen to paper?

Most importantly, that is the biggest difference between students who score at pass level or just above and those who get into the top bands. They understand the purpose of literature!

So how do I write about context?

When it comes to context, if it’s not relevant to your interpretation…don’t say it! Simply dropping in the date of birth of the author or where they grew up without saying anything about that will get you nowhere!

In this section, we are going to explore how to write about context. I am going to show you exactly how to do it right!

Context should not be something you just bolt onto the end of your essay because your teacher told you to, it should be something that is integrated into your entire answer and underpins every single one of your interpretations.

So…how on earth am I supposed to do that?

Let’s look at an example:

Example 1

“Charles Dickens had an interesting life. His family were sent to a debtor’s prison and he was forced to work in a factory. He grew up during the industrial revolution when times were hard and later became a writer. I think he sounds like a great man.”

What did you think of that one?

Okay, so this is the kind of ‘bolt-on’ paragraph that a lot of students add onto the end of their essay because they’ve been told they need to mention context. Whilst all of that information is lovely, it is pretty irrelevant to the rest of the essay. It doesn’t tell us why any of that information is important! Instead, context should be something you naturally embed into your interpretations.

Charles Dickens is not presenting us with a series of characters because they randomly just popped into his head. Instead, his characters are an extension of his reality Therefore, we can never just talk about the characters without mentioning context. Every character becomes a symbol for a group of people in society and, after experiencing both poverty and relative success in his life, Dickens knew what life was like for people in range of different classes.

If you need to brush up on your knowledge of Victorian England, check out this website!

Example 2

“Firstly, Dickens presents Scrooge as hard, unfeeling and ignorant because he is a symbol and a caricature of all the middle-class business owners at the time who exploited the lower classes for profit and gain. Dickens is deliberately ambiguous when it comes to the business Scrooge runs, describing it as a ‘counting house’ and a ‘money-changing hole’, perhaps because he wanted it to be universally applicable to all businesses at the time.

Initially, Scrooge is entirely ignorant of the pain he is inflicting on the lower classes due to class segregation that was common in Victorian England. Scrooge, like many Victorian business owners, has no idea what Bob Cratchit’s life is like and is genuinely shocked when he sees the suffering they endure.

Furthermore, Dickens can’t physically take all of the middle-class businessmen on a ghost tour on Christmas Eve to see the realities of the poor but what he can do is to symbolically take them on that journey via the medium of literature. It is not just Scrooge who embarks on a journey through time, we all do and the middle classes are exposed to the harsh realities of the poor just like Scrooge is. Scrooge is a selfish man but by the end achieves redemption and forgiveness from those around him, reminding the middle classes that there is hope for them too.

In conclusion, Dickens was a unique writer in the sense that he experienced both poverty and later success. Due to his experiences, he was able to give others that same insight via his novels – breaking down class boundaries and unconscious stereotypes that had been perpetuated through ‘ignorance and want.”

Why was that one better?

Firstly, we can see here in this answer that the points are entirely integrated with the context. Secondly, the context is only brought up when it is important and relates directly to what is being said.

To learn more about why context is important, check out the AQA Mark Scheme!

In conclusion, context is important! Really important! But, make sure it is adding value to your work and not just a bolt-on at the end! If you’re unsure how to put all of that into an essay check out my free essay templates here!

So how do you feel about context now? Has that helped to clear things up? Have fun experimenting with context in your essays and good luck! I’ll be back soon with more help and guidance!