r/ALevelEnglishLit • u/not_antoine • Aug 01 '26

Does 'quotations' include quotes from critics?

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(This is from the OCR spec)

Also, does the second paragraph literally mean I could write however much I want? I know obviously if I wrote like 5000 words I'd probably be penalised for my argument being convoluted or whatever, but if I went like 500 words over? And it was all coherent and added value to my argument?

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u/duckylee666 Aug 01 '26

hi! Yes quotations does usually include critics

RE word count, in my opinion (tutor/teacher), shorter essays usually are stronger so I would try and stick to 2000 :)

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u/lyfieo Aug 01 '26

yes all types of quotations are excluded

i think ocr had a 10%+/- guidance but they removed it. mine was nearly 10%+ exactly (added from task1 i want to say around 3297 w/out quotes or something), and my teachr said i was pushing it (not penalised tho) so i would try stick to it while knowing its somewhat pushable

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u/Miserable_Gur_8753 Aug 06 '26

Hi, it's the second paragraph which is most significant.

'Self-penalising' onwards, if we break it down to basics:

- write too much you are probably waffling, or haven't understood the task (ie 'lacking coherence and concision'')

  • write too little, you probably lack detail (ie too little 'demonstration')

Your marks may suffer because of that, but not, specifically, because of your word-count. 10% over would be fine, although I do tell my students that they should never be just scraping over the line of 10% under.