Paper 2 · GCSE English Language
Summary and synthesis
Condense two sources into a comparison of content: infer differences or similarities without drifting into full language analysis.
Summary is what they say, not how they dress it. Infer the difference; do not unpack every metaphor.
The important bits
What you need to know
- 1
Read the question: some papers ask for differences, some for what you learn, some for a synthesis of both sources on a focus such as “conditions” or “attitudes”.
- 2
Work in pairs of points. Lift a content idea from Source A and match or contrast it with Source B.
- 3
Inference is allowed and expected: if a writer describes children sleeping in shifts, you may infer overcrowding. Do not invent facts from nowhere.
- 4
Keep quotations short or use tight paraphrase. This question is not the place for a paragraph on personification.
- 5
Use your own words for the connective tissue. A summary that is only copied clauses is not a summary.
- 6
Cover both sources. A one-source summary cannot show a difference.
- 7
Stay on the named focus. If the question is about food, do not wander into the writer’s childhood unless it is about food.
- 8
Order the answer by idea, not by source. Idea-by-idea comparison is clearer than all of A then all of B.
Go deeper
Inference sits one step from the text
If Source A mentions “a tin of soup between four”, you may infer that food is scarce and sharing is enforced. That is synthesis: you have turned a detail into a general statement about conditions. If you then write that the family are “definitely going to die”, you have left the text. Match the inference with Source B: perhaps B describes a banquet, or a different kind of hunger. Phrase it as a difference: “A presents food as rationed and communal, whereas B presents meals as plentiful and private.” You have summarised content, inferred attitude, and compared, without analysing the word “tin”. Save “tin” for the language question if that source is set there.
Go deeper
Own words mean you have understood
Examiners can see copy-out. If half your answer is a clause from the insert with a capital letter added, you have not shown understanding. Paraphrase the idea, then pin it with a three-word quotation if you need an anchor. Nineteenth-century sentences especially need unpacking: turn a long period into a modern clause you control. You are not being asked to improve the writer’s style; you are being asked to report it. Comparative verbs help: emphasises, downplays, ignores, celebrates, condemns. Those verbs are already viewpoint, which is why a good summary often looks like a younger sibling of Question 4. The difference is depth of method. Here, one content pairing per paragraph is enough. Three such pairings, clearly focused, will usually be plenty for the marks available.
See the idea in action
Focus: attitudes to crowding. Source A describes “eight to a room” and coughing at night — infer cramped, unhealthy housing. Source B describes “the crush of the exhibition hall” as “electric” — infer crowding as excitement. Difference: A treats density as a danger to bodies; B treats density as a thrill. No need, in this question, to analyse “electric” as a metaphor beyond that inference.
Exam technique
Turn knowledge into marks
Write three short comparative paragraphs, each starting with the focus idea. If you only have time for two well-paired points, that is better than five copied sentences from Source A.
Common mistakes
Do not give these marks away
- 01
Turning the summary into a language essay packed with subject terminology.
- 02
Covering only one source, so no difference can be shown.
- 03
Copying long phrases from the insert instead of inferring in your own words.
A strong Paper 2 summary of differences should mainly
AAnalyse similes and personification in both sources
BCompare inferred content and attitudes from both sources, in your own words
CSay which writer is a better journalist
DRetell Source A in order, then retell Source B in order
Show the answer
Compare inferred content and attitudes from both sources, in your own words. The summary question rewards synthesis of what the texts show, with inference and comparison. Full language analysis belongs in the language question.
Quick questions
If this is the bit you searched
Can I use quotations in a summary?
Yes, briefly, as anchors. The bulk of the answer should be your own sentences that infer and compare.
What if the two sources seem to say the same thing?
Look for a difference of emphasis, scale or attitude. Both may describe poverty; one may blame landlords and the other may praise charity.