GCSE English Literature examiners will award the highest marks for answers which demonstrate an understanding, supported by relevant quotations from the text, of aspects of the novel including the events, characters, themes and historical context. You might be asked, for example, to refer in depth to main and minor events and how they contribute to the development of the plot, or explain how Russell has carefully ordered or revealed events for particular effects or to analyse in detail the way themes are developed and presented across the play.