Component 02 Question 4: evaluating and comparing

Component 02 Question 4 (18 marks) on both texts: how far you agree with a statement that both texts present a feeling or situation powerfully, guided by three bullet points, two asking you to evaluate (AO4, 12 marks) and one asking you to compare (AO3, 6 marks), with quotations from both texts.
How the two mark grids are applied and added together, why an answer that discusses only one text gets no AO3 marks, and judging what makes the writing powerful rather than retelling the stories.
The worked example uses two linked stories of fear in a dark house at night, both printed in the lesson: Text 1, the ending of W. W. Jacobs's story 'The Monkey's Paw' (1902), and Text 2, from Algernon Blackwood's story 'The Empty House' (1906).
What separates the levels, in our own words, and a model answer with the level and mark an examiner would give, and why.
A weaker and a stronger answer to the same task side by side, with what lifts the weaker one to the next level.
Sentence starters for the question and a short checklist of the steps, for students aiming at Grade 4 and above.

What you need to know