CONTENTS

Page
English Literature GCE (A) 9008 1
Aims 1
Assessment Objectives 1
Paper 1 Shakespeare and Other Authors (pre-20th Century) 2
Paper 2 18th and 19th Century Writing 2
Paper 3 20th Century Writing 3
Paper 4 Topic Paper 3
Paper 5 Open Texts 4
Paper 8 Comment and Appreciation 4
Paper 0 Special Paper 5
GCE (AO) 8016 5
Appendix A Poetry Texts for 9008 6
Appendix B Topic Paper (9008/4) 12
Appendix C Band Descriptors for 9008 16

LEVEL OF EXAMINATIONS
(AO) denotes G.C.E. Alternative Ordinary subjects.
(A) denotes G.C.E. Advanced Level subjects.

SUBJECT SYLLABUSES
The availability of all prescribed texts has been checked with the publishers at the date of printing
this Syllabus. The Syndicate cannot be held responsible for the subsequent non-availability of
texts. No special editions are prescribed except those which are mentioned specifically.

Teachers are invited to suggest titles suitable for inclusion as prescribed texts. The following
considerations should be kept in mind:

1. General suitability: quality and substance.

2. Balance and range of the syllabus.
3. Availability. The texts must be generally available. It would be helpful if editions could be
suggested, especially of modern or less well-known texts.
4. Opposing demands on the one hand for the new material and, on the other, for continuity and
especially for economy in setting texts which have been found successful previously and are
held in stock.

ATTENTION IS CALLED TO THE FACT THAT THE ABILITY OF CANDIDATES TO EXPRESS

THEMSELVES CLEARLY AND TO PRESENT THEIR ANSWERS NEATLY AND ACCURATELY
IS TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IN THE ASSESSMENT OF THEIR WORK IN ALL SUBJECTS.
 9008 ENGLISH LITERATURE A LEVEL (2004)

ENGLISH LITERATURE GCE (A)

(Subject 9008)
(November only)

Texts studied for 9008 should be texts originally written in English.

AIMS
To encourage:
(i) an understanding of the nature and methods of literary study;
(ii) the interdependent skills of reading, analysis and communication;
(iii) an appreciation of, and an informed personal response to, English Literature;
(iv) effective and appropriate communication.

ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES
Candidates will be required to demonstrate:
(i) an ability to respond with understanding to texts of different types and periods;
(ii) an understanding of the ways in which writers’ choices of form, structure and language
shape meanings;
(iii) knowledge of the contexts in which literary works are written and understood;
(iv) an ability to discuss their own and other readers’ interpretations of texts;
(v) an ability to produce informed, independent opinions and judgements;
(vi) an ability to communicate clearly the knowledge, understanding and insight appropriate to
literary study.

Scheme of Assessment Summary

Paper 1 (3 hours) 331/3%

Shakespeare and Other Authors (pre-twentieth century)
Paper 2 (3 hours) 331/3%
Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Writing
Paper 3 (3 hours) 331/3%
Twentieth Century Writing
Paper 4 (3 hours) 331/3%
Topic Paper (books in)
Paper 5 (3 hours) 331/3%
Open Texts (books in)
Paper 8 (3 hours) 331/3%
Comment and Appreciation (Unseens)
Rules of Combination
Candidates take any three papers.

Paper 0 (3 hours) Special Paper

This paper will also be available.

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 9008 ENGLISH LITERATURE A LEVEL (2004)

Scheme of Assessment Description

Note: The editions of Chaucer and Shakespeare which will be used for paper-setting purposes will
be those of Robinson (OUP) and of Alexander (Collins) respectively, unless otherwise stated. It is
not intended, however, that these should be regarded as prescribed editions; candidates may use
any edition for study, unless otherwise stated.

Paper 1 Shakespeare and Other Authors (pre-twentieth century) (3 hours)

Candidates will be required to answer one question on each of three different texts.
This paper will be divided into two sections - (1) Shakespeare and (2) Other pre-twentieth century
Authors - and candidates must answer at least one question from each section. Three questions
are provided for each text, one involving appreciation of the literary qualities of a passage taken
from the text, the other two being discursive essays. All questions carry equal marks. Texts will
not be allowed in the examination room.
All three questions require candidates to demonstrate a response showing understanding of the
text and an informed independent opinion, and to communicate these clearly and appropriately
(Assessment Objectives i, v and vi). Questions on the relation of textual parts to their wholes, on
the effective use of narrative methods, and on the style and language of texts are designed to
allow the candidates to show understanding of the ways in which writers’ choices of form, structure
and language shape meanings, and also some knowledge of the contexts in which literary works
are written and understood (Assessment Objectives ii and iii). Candidates’ work should be
informed by some understanding of the ways in which other readers have interpreted the texts
(Assessment Objective iv). Candidates will be assessed on their knowledge of texts, their
imaginative and personal responses to them, as well as the ability to organise and present
information, ideas and arguments clearly and logically, taking into account their use of grammar,
punctuation and spelling.

Section 1
William Shakespeare: Much Ado about Nothing
* William Shakespeare: Othello
* William Shakespeare: Antony and Cleopatra
** William Shakespeare: Measure for Measure

Section 2
Christina Rossetti: Poems and Prose (Everyman)
* George Eliot: Silas Marner
* Geoffrey Chaucer: The Knight’s Tale
Geoffrey Chaucer: The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale
Charles Dickens: Hard Times
* Thomas Middleton: Women Beware Women
* William Wycherley: The Country Wife
John Donne: in Metaphysical Poets, ed. Gardner (Penguin)

Paper 2 Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Writing (3 hours)

Candidates will be required to answer one question on each of three different texts drawn from the
period 1700-1900. Texts will not be allowed in the examination room.
On each text an essay question and a passage-based question will be set. The questions will be
designed to assess candidates’ understanding of the relationship between form and meaning in
literary texts (Assessment Objective ii) and their knowledge of the contexts in which those texts
are written and understood (Assessment Objective iii), as well as the more general skills of
analysis and communication identified in Assessment Objectives i, v, and vi. Candidates will be
assessed on their knowledge of texts, their imaginative and personal responses to them, as well
as the ability to organise and present information, ideas and arguments clearly and logically, taking
into account their use of grammar, punctuation and spelling.

* Set also for 2005

** Set also for 2005 and 2006 2

 9008 ENGLISH LITERATURE A LEVEL (2004)

Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility

* S. T. Coleridge Complete Poems (Everyman) or (Penguin Classics)
Charles Dickens: Our Mutual Friend
* Henry Fielding: Jonathan Wild
* Thomas Hardy: Jude the Obscure
** Edith Wharton: The Age of Innocence
Oscar Wilde: The Importance of Being Earnest
Tennyson: Selected Poems (Everyman) or (Penguin Classics)
Alexander Pope: Selected Poetry (Oxford World’s Classics ed. Pat Rogers)
** Oliver Goldsmith: She Stoops to Conquer
Daniel Defoe: Moll Flanders

Paper 3 Twentieth Century Writing (3 hours)

Candidates will be required to answer one question on each of three different texts drawn from the
period 1900 to the present day. Texts will not be allowed in the examination room.
On each text an essay question and a passage-based question will be set. The questions will be
designed to assess candidates’ understanding of the relationship between form and meaning in
literary texts (Assessment Objective ii) and their knowledge of the contexts in which those texts
are written and understood (Assessment Objective iii), as well as the more general skills of
analysis and communication identified in Assessment Objectives i, v, and vi. Candidates will be
assessed on their knowledge of texts, their imaginative and personal responses to them, as well
as the ability to organise and present information, ideas and arguments clearly and logically, taking
into account their use of grammar, punctuation and spelling.
** Maxine Hong Kingston: The Woman Warrior
Evelyn Waugh: Decline and Fall
Brian Friel: Translations
** R.K. Narayan: The Guide
* Sylvia Plath: Ariel
* Harold Pinter: The Caretaker
Les Murray: Selected Poems (Carcanet)
E.M. Forster: A Passage to India
Doris Lessing: Martha Quest
W.H. Auden: Selected Poems (Faber)
* Edward Albee: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Paper 4 Topic Paper (3 hours) (books in)

Candidates will answer two questions on one topic area.
This paper offers candidates the opportunity to explore a topic in detail through the study of three
texts. It aims to develop candidates’ understanding of the range of literary forms (Assessment
Objective ii) and their knowledge of the context in which literary works are written and understood
(Assessment Objective iii).
Centres must choose one topic from the list below and study the topic through three complete
texts of their own choice. The texts should have been originally written in English. There will be
one compulsory question on a passage related to each topic area and two essay questions of
which candidates must answer one. The passage-based question will enable candidates to show
their skills in analysing and responding to unseen material; they will also be required to relate the
passage to the context of their chosen topic. In the essay questions candidates will explore
central aspects of their topic by discussing the specific texts they have studied. Candidates will be
assessed on their knowledge of the topic, their imaginative and personal responses to it, as well
as the ability to organise and present information, ideas and arguments clearly and logically, taking
into account their use of grammar, punctuation and spelling.
The texts used for open text examinations must be without candidate annotation, but underlining
and highlighting are permitted. The use of dictionaries or other notes will not be permitted.

* Set also for 2005

** Set also for 2005 and 2006 3

 9008 ENGLISH LITERATURE A LEVEL (2004)

Centres must submit their choice of texts for approval. Text Approval forms are available from
Examination Branch. For further guidance see Appendix B.
** Romanticism
* The Gothic Tradition
* The Literature of War
Post-Colonial Literature
Satire
** Utopian Writing

Paper 5 Open Texts (3 hours) (books in)

Candidates will be required to answer one question on each of three different texts. Questions will
direct candidates to examine in detail a passage or passages from each set text, discussing them,
where appropriate, in the context of the whole work. Questions may invite candidates to compare
and/or contrast two passages from the same text.
This paper will give candidates the opportunity to meet all the Assessment Objectives, in particular
Assessment Objective ii (demonstrating an understanding of the ways in which writers’ choices of
form, structure and language express meaning), and Assessment Objective iv (demonstrating an
ability to discuss their own and other readers’ interpretation of texts). Candidates will be assessed
on their knowledge of texts, their imaginative and personal responses to them, as well as the
ability to organise and present information, ideas and arguments clearly and logically, taking into
account their use of grammar, punctuation and spelling.
The texts used for open text examinations must be without candidate annotation, but underlining
and highlighting are permitted. The use of dictionaries or other notes will not be permitted.
** Tourneur: The Revenger’s Tragedy
* Angela Carter: Nights at the Circus
* John Clare: Selected Poetry (Everyman)
** Arundhati Roy: The God of Small Things
** Emily Brontë: Wuthering Heights
* Tom Stoppard: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
* Eugene O’Neill: Long Day’s Journey into Night
** Boey Kim Cheng: Another Place
Seamus Heaney: New Selected Poems (Faber)

Paper 8 Comment and Appreciation (Unseens) (3 hours)

Four questions will be set, of which candidates must answer any two. Each question will be
based on a passage or passages of prose, poetry or drama. There may be a single passage for
comment or more than one passage for comment and comparison. One question will offer the
opportunity for imaginative response. The intention of the questions is to test the candidate’s
ability to read literature critically (Assessment Objective i), and to demonstrate by informed
discussion and opinion (Assessment Objective v) an understanding of the ways in which a writer’s
choices of form, structure and language express meanings (Assessment Objective ii). The
passages will allow the candidate’s sensibility full play and will not be limited merely to
comprehension or paraphrase. The passages will be attributed to authors by name with either the
dates of the author or the date of the passage. Knowledge of the literary or historical background,
or of other works by the named author, is not expected in answers on this paper, though the
candidate's answer will be informed by contextual knowledge of the genre and by the accumulated
experience of the course as a whole. Candidates will be assessed on their imaginative and
personal responses to the passages, as well as the ability to organise and present their
responses, ideas and arguments clearly and logically, taking into account their use of grammar,
punctuation and spelling.

* Set also for 2005

** Set also for 2005 and 2006 4

 9008 ENGLISH LITERATURE A LEVEL (2004)

Paper 0 Special Paper (3 hours) (books in)

Candidates will be required to answer three questions in all: one from Section 1 and two from
Section 2. Questions will carry equal marks.
Candidates will be assessed on their knowledge of texts, their imaginative and personal responses
to them, as well as the ability to organise and present information, ideas and arguments clearly
and logically, taking into account their use of grammar, punctuation and spelling.

Section 1: Practical Criticism. This section will contain unprepared passages of literary prose and
verse for exposition, comment or comparison. The passages may be drawn from any period of
English Literature after 1300. Candidates may choose either the prose or the verse passage.

Section 2: Questions will be set on literary topics and themes of general interest in the study of
English Literature from Chaucer to the present day. Questions on particular aspects of the work of
Chaucer and Shakespeare will be included. The remaining questions will not be based on the
work of individual writers but will allow candidates to write specifically on their own reading.
Candidates will be asked to discuss issues which might arise from any of the various literary
genres - drama, lyrical poetry, the novel, for instance - without necessarily restricting their attention
to a specified literary period.
Such questions will be pointed towards reading outside the A Level syllabus, and will encourage
the candidate to relate what has been learned by detailed study of prescribed texts to a wider
critical appreciation of Literature.
The texts used for open text examinations must be without candidate annotation, but underlining
and highlighting are permitted. The use of dictionaries or other notes will not be permitted.
Texts selected for study for the Special Paper should be texts originally written in English.

GCE (AO) Subjects 8016

A level paper 9008/1 may be offered as a subsidiary subject.
Paper 8016/1 is identical to Paper 9008/1 (Shakespeare and Other Authors).

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 APPENDIX A

POETRY TEXTS SET FOR 9008

Candidates should study the following:

9008/1: Shakespeare and Other Authors (pre-20th Century)

John Donne in Metaphysical Poets ed. Gardner

Satyre: of Religion The Extasie
Elegie: His Picture Loves Deitie
Elegie: To his Mistris Going to Bed The Will
The Calme The Relique
The Flea The Expiration
The Good-Morrow To Mr Rowland Woodward
Song: 'Goe, and catche a falling starre' Holy Sonnets: Divine Meditations
The Undertaking 1. ‘As due by many titles I resigne’
The Sunne Rising 2. ‘Oh my blacke Soule! now thou art summoned’
The Canonization 3. ‘This is my playes last scene, here heavens appoint’
Song: 'Sweetest love, I do not goe' 4. ‘At the round earths imagin’d corners, blow’
Aire and Angels 5. ‘If poysonous mineralls, and if that tree’
The Anniversarie 6. ‘Death be not proud, though some have called thee’
Twicknam Garden Holy Sonnet: ‘Batter my heart, three person’d God; for
Loves Growth you’
The Dreame Holy Sonnet: ‘Since she whome I lovd, hath payd her
A Valediction: of Weeping last debt’
Loves Alchymie Good Friday, 1613. Riding Westward
A Nocturnall upon S. Lucies day A Hymne to Christ, at the Authors last going into Germany
The Apparition Hymne to God my God, in my sicknesse
A Valediction: forbidding mourning A Hymne to God the Father

Christina Rossetti Poems and Prose

Song: ‘When I am dead, my dearest’ An Apple-Gathering
Symbols At Home
Remember Up-hill
Three Stages Promises like Piecrust
Echo Despised and Rejected
My Dream A Christmas Carol
Cobwebs Goblin Market
Shut Out A Royal Princess
The Convent Threshold The Threat of Life
Memory Monna Innominata
A Birthday

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 APPENDIX A

9008/2: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Writing

Pope Selected Poetry
Eloisa to Abelard
Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady
Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot
Epistle to a Lady

S. T. Coleridge
On the Prospect of Establishing a Pantisocracy Christabel
in America Love
Pantisocracy To Mr Pye
To the Rev. W.L. Bowles To a Critic
Lines (composed while climbing the left ascent Letter to Sara Hutchinson
of Brockley Coomb) Hymn before Sun-Rise, in the Vale of Chamouni
The Eolian Harp The Pains of Sleep
Reflections on Having Left a Place of Retirement Phantom
This Lime-Tree Bower my Prison Constancy to an Ideal Object
Sonnets Attempted in the Manner of [The Indifference of the Heavens]
Contemporary Writers Recollections of Love
Frost at Midnight A Tombless Epitaph
Lewti Limbo
The Nightingale Song (from Zapolya)
The Ballad of the Dark Ladié Work Without Hope
Kubla Khan The Pang More Sharp Than All
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Song
France: An Ode Love’s Apparition and Evanishment
Fears in Solitude Epitaph

Tennyson
The Outcast from In Memoriam A.H.H.
Mariana from Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington
The Lady of Shalott The Charge of the Light Brigade
The Lotos-eaters from Maude: A Monodrama
Ulysses Tithonus
Morte d’Arthur Northern Farmer – New Style
‘Break, Break, Break…’ from Merlin and Vivien (Idyllls of the King)
Locksley Hall To E. FitzGerald
The Golden Year Crossing the Bar
from The Princess June Bracken and Heather

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 APPENDIX A

9008/3:Twentieth Century Writing:

Sylvia Plath Ariel
Morning Song The Rival
The Couriers Daddy
Sheep in Fog You’re
The Applicant Fever 103º
Lady Lazarus The Bee Meeting
Tulips The Arrival of the Bee Box
Cut Stings
Elm Wintering
The Night Dances The Hanging Man
Poppies in October Little Fugue
Berck-Plage Years
Ariel The Munich Mannequins
Death & Co. Totem
Nick and the Candlestick Paralytic
Gulliver Balloons
Getting There Poppies in July
Medusa Kindness
The Moon and the Yew Tree Contusion
A Birthday Present Edge
Letter in November Words

Auden Selected Poems

The Secret Agent The Lesson
This Lunar Beauty The Fall of Rome
'May with its light behaving' In Praise of Limestone
On This Island Streams (Bucolics, 7)
Funeral Blues There Will Be No Peace
Spain 1937 The Birth of Architecture (Thanksgiving for a Habitat, I )
Musée des Beaux Arts Et in Arcadia Ego
Gare du Midi A Mosaic for Marianne Moore
Refugee Blues August 1968
In Memory of W.B. Yeats Aubade
If I Could Tell You Address to the Beasts

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 APPENDIX A

Les Murray Selected Poems

Driving through Sawmill Towns Bent Water in the Tasmanian Highlands
The Burning Truck Equanimity
An Absolutely Ordinary Rainbow The Forest Hit by Modern Use
The Breach Shower
Aqualung Shinto Three Poems in Memory of my Mother
The Broad Bean Sermon Machine Portraits with Pendant Spaceman
The Action An Immortal
The Mitchells Second Essay on Interest: the Emu
The Powerline Incarnation A Retrospect of Humidity
The Returnees Flowering Eucalypt in Autumn
Creeper Habit The Smell of Coal Smoke
The Buladelah-Taree Holiday Song Cycle The Mouthless Image of God in the Hunter-Colo
The Gum Forest Mountains
The Future Time Travel
Immigrant Voyage Morse
The Grassfire Stanzas Federation Style on the Northern Rivers
Homage to the Launching Place Easter 1984
The Fisherman at South Head Physiognomy on the Savage Manning River
The Sydney Highrise Variations The Dream of Wearing Shorts Forever
The Aquatic Carnival Letters to the Winner
The Sleepout The China Pear Trees
Louvres The Vol Sprung from Heraldry
The Edgeless Fastness
The Drugs of War Bats’ Ultrasound

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 APPENDIX A

9008/5: Open Texts

Boey Kim Cheng Another Place

I. II.
There, Then Here, Now
The Howrah Station Past Midnight
Sudder Street, Calcutta The Old-Timers
The Missionary Tramps By The River
Varanasi, Dawn The Old Mariners
Two Ashram Poems Two Drunken Portraits
The Guru Latter-Day Evangelists
The Disciples In the Library
By the Cauvery River Backslider
Mahabalipuram Love
Déjà Vu Report to Wordsworth
In Transit Celluloid Gods
Bangkok Blues The Planners
Mount Athos Cloud Of Unknowing
Simono Petra Anger’s Wake
Iviron Truce
Coda Reservist
Velazquez’s Christ Crucified The Addict
Requiem for a Mountaineer Terminal
Letter to a Friend in Leh The One Who Didn’t Leave, After All
Letter to his Brother Fly Away
Letter to His Mother (Unmailed) Death Of The Knowing Listener
Letter to Himself Another Place

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 APPENDIX A

John Clare Poems (Everyman's Poetry)

December from ‘The Shepherd’s Calendar’: Sonnets: The Hedgehog
Christmas Sonnet: ‘One day when all the woods were
Sonnet: ‘The barn door is open’ bare’
The Wheat Ripening Sonnet: ‘I found a ball of grass among the hay’
The Beans in Blossom The Ants
Sonnet: ‘The landscape laughs in Spring’ Little Trotty Wagtail
Sonnet: ‘I dreaded walking where there was Song: ‘The morning mist is changing blue’
no path’ First Love’s Recollections
Sonnet: ‘The passing traveller’ Ballad: ‘I dreamt not what it was to woo’
Sport in the Meadows Song: ‘Say what is love’
Emmonsales Heath Song: ‘Love lies beyond’
Summer Tints Ballad: ‘The Spring returns. the pewit
The Summer Shower screams’
Summer Moods An Invite to Eternity
Sonnet: ‘The maiden ran away’ Love and Memory
Song: ‘She tied up her few things’ Remembrances
The Foddering Boy The Flitting
The Gipsy Camp Decay, a Ballad
Winter Fields Song: Last Day
The Cottager The Fallen Elm
The Crow sat on the Willow The Lament of Swordy Well
from ‘The Parish’ The Moors
St Martin’s Eve ‘I Am’
The Wren A Vision
Sonnet: The Crow To John Clare
Sonnet: ‘I love to hear the evening crows Song: ‘A seaboy on the giddy mast’
go by’ The Peasant Poet
The Skylark Sighing for Retirement
Sonnet: ‘Among the orchard weeds’ Song’s Eternity
The Landrail Glinton Spire
Sonnet: The Nightingale The Eternity of Nature
The Nightingale’s Nest Shadows of Taste
The Yellowhammer’s Nest To be Placed at the Back of his Portrait
The Pettichap’s Nest Memory

Heaney Selected Poems

Digging Bone Dreams
Death of a Naturalist Bog Queen
Blackberry-Picking The Grauballe Man
Follower Punishment
Mid-Term Break Strange Fruit
Poem Act of Union
Personal Helicon Hercules and Antaeus
Sunlight The Ministry of Fear
The Seed Cutters A Constable Calls
Funeral Rites Summer
North Fosterage
Viking Dublin: Trial pieces Exposure

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 APPENDIX B

TOPIC PAPER (9008/4)

Syllabus Description
Centres must choose one topic from the list below and study three texts of their own choice.
There will be one compulsory question on a passage related to each topic and two essay
questions of which candidates must answer one.
Romanticism Post-Colonial Literature
The Gothic Tradition Satire
The Literature of War Utopian Writing

Rationale
The Topic Paper offers an innovative approach to teaching and assessing A level English
Literature. Within the bounds set by the topic areas, Centres will be able to choose the material
they wish to teach and they will be encouraged to look beyond the established canon of set texts.
In doing so, they will be able either to broaden the traditional concept of literary study or to centre
their teaching, as at present, on close study of texts. They should, in either case, be aware that
the aim of the Topic Paper is to develop candidates’ understanding of the range of literary forms
via the topic chosen.

The Questions
In the paper as a whole candidates will be required to refer in detail to their chosen texts. The
related passage question will encourage candidates to apply the skills of close reading and
analysis to a passage or passages of text relevant to the topic. The question will be framed in
such a way as to give candidates the opportunity to explore the passage both on its own literary
terms and in the context of the appropriate topic. The essay questions will normally offer
candidates the opportunity to deal with more than one of the texts they have studied. Wherever
relevant, an understanding of the cultural or historical background will be expected in candidates’
answers.

Choice of Texts
Centres may choose texts from prose, poetry or drama for their chosen topic area. Wider reading
in an anthology is recommended. Non-fictional writing may be studied where appropriate. The
texts chosen should be sufficiently varied to give candidates some sense of the range and breadth
of the area. Single author studies will not normally be approved. Centres must submit their text
choices for approval before beginning the course. Text Approval Forms are available from
Examinations Branch.

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 APPENDIX B

The Gothic Tradition

‘The Gothic’ may be both a tendency or feature within texts or their shaping force. Candidates
should consider the ways in which Gothic might be defined.
The following are examples of suitable texts:
Charlotte Brontë Jane Eyre
Emily Brontë Wuthering Heights
Angela Carter Nights at the Circus; The Bloody Chamber
M.R. James Ghost Stories
Matthew ‘Monk’ Lewis The Monk
Charles Maturin Melmoth the Wanderer
Thomas Love Peacock Nightmare Abbey
Mervyn Peake Gormenghast; Titus Groan; Titus Alone
Edgar Allan Poe Tales of Mystery and Imagination
Anne Radcliffe The Mysteries of Udolpho
Robert Louis Stevenson Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Bram Stoker Dracula
Emma Tennant Hotel De Dream
Mary Shelley Frankenstein
Daphne du Maurier Rebecca

Post-Colonial Literature
Literature from or about countries formerly under colonial rule which has been written after
independence and expresses a particular sense of identity.
The following are examples of suitable texts:
Adams & Durham Writing from South Africa (CUP)
Ayi Kwei Armah The Beautyful Ones are Not Yet Born
Andre Brink A Dry White Season
J. M. Coetzee The Secret Life of Michael K; Waiting for the Barbarians
Athol Fugard Township Plays
Keri Hulme The Bone People
Philip Jeyaretnam Abraham’s Promise
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala Heat and Dust
Shirley Geok-lin Lim Among the White Moonfaces
Rian Malan My Traitor’s Heart
Wendy Morgan Writing from Australia (CUP)
O’Sullivan ed. An Anthology of Twentieth Century New Zealand Poetry (OUP)
Paul Scott Staying On

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 APPENDIX B

Satire
Any writing which is intended to attack private or public injustice or to mock institutions or traditions
may be studied, as long as the attack is couched in terms of satire.
The following are examples of suitable texts:
Margaret Atwood The Handmaid’s Tale
Caryl Churchill Serious Money
John Dryden Absalom and Achitophel
Stella Gibbons Cold Comfort Farm
Joseph Heller Catch 22
Ben Jonson The Alchemist
David Lodge Paradise News; Small World
James Reeves ed. A Vein of Mockery
Jonathan Swift A Modest Proposal
Evelyn Waugh Scoop; Decline and Fall

Literature of War
Any literature which takes war as its major theme may be studied. The following are examples of
suitable texts:
Pat Barker The Regeneration Trilogy
Bishop & Bostridge (eds) Letters from a Lost Generation
Vera Brittain Testament of Youth
Rupert Brooke Collected Poems
Edmund Blunden Undertones of War
Norman Douglas Collected Poems
Robert Graves Goodbye to All That
Ivor Gurney Collected Poems
Ernest Hemingway A Farewell to Arms
Norman Mailer The Naked and the Dead
Somerset Maugham For Services Rendered
Wilfred Owen Collected Poems
Isaac Rosenburg Collected Poems
Catherine Reilly (ed) Scars upon My Heart
Siegfried Sassoon Collected Poems
Sherriff Journey’s End
Jon Silkin (ed) The Penguin Book of First World War Poetry
Theatre Workshop O What a Lovely War

14
 APPENDIX B

Romanticism
Any Romantic writing from about 1780-1850 may be studied. The main features of Romantic
writing might be given as visionary originality, wonder, medievalism, emotional self-expression.
Poetry of the English Romantic poets:
William Blake
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
William Wordsworth
John Keats
Percy Shelley
George Gordon, Lord Byron

Thomas De Quincey Confessions of an English Opium Eater

William Hazlitt Political Essays
Charles Lamb The Essays of Elia
Sir Walter Scott The Heart of Midlothian
Mary Shelley Frankenstein
Emily Brontë Wuthering Heights

Utopian Writing
Any writing which descibes an ideal or a nightmare vision of life in the future may be studied.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman Herland
Thomas More Utopia
Francis Bacon New Atlantis
Jonathan Swift Gulliver’s Travels
Samuel Butler Erewhon
Edward Bellamy Looking Backward
Richard Jefferies After London
Aldous Huxley Brave New World
George Orwell Nineteen Eighty-Four
Margaret Atwood The Handmaid’s Tale
Angela Carter The Passion of New Eve
Julian Barnes England, Oh, England
William Morris News from Nowhere

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 APPENDIX C

9008 BAND DESCRIPTORS FOR TEXT BASED PAPERS

(1, 2, 3)
22-25 Excellent work, showing detailed knowledge of texts, understanding of theme,
characterisation, linguistic features and other textual issues, some awareness of literary
conventions and contexts, techniques and genre characteristics, and the ability to address
this knowledge and understanding with sustained relevance to the issues raised by the
questions. Responses to texts will be perceptive, often freshly personal, and may show
originality in approach to and treatment of questions. There will be evidence of sensitive
awareness of the contexts within which the literary works studied were written and
understood. Candidates will express complex literary ideas and arguments with clarity
and fluency. Answer will be coherently structured, with logical progression and effectively
linked paragraphs. Control of written English will be accomplished, with few errors of
grammar, spelling and punctuation.
In passage based questions, work will sustain an appropriate balance between critical
appreciation of given extracts and consideration of the broader textual issues raised by the
questions, and show striking ability to relate part of a text to its whole and vice versa.

18-21 Proficient work, showing secure knowledge of the texts, understanding of themes and
characters, some awareness of literary qualities and contexts, and the ability to address
knowledge and critical understanding in a way relevant to the issues raised by the
questions. There will be evidence of personal response to the texts, straightforward and
vigorously articulated, perhaps, rather than penetrating and subtle. However, candidates
may also express quite complex ideas with reasonable clarity and fluency. Literary
arguments will be coherent, with logical progression of ideas through clearly linked
paragraphs. In general, control of written English will be confident, with only occasional
errors of grammar, punctuation and spelling.
In passage based questions, work will show engagement with both the given extracts and
the wider textual issues but may not always strike the most effective balance between
these related elements. There will be confident ability to relate a part of the text to its
whole.

14-17 Competent work, showing sound knowledge of the texts relevantly addressed to the
questions. There will be intelligent understanding on the levels of theme and character,
but appreciation of literary qualities, contexts, methods and effects is likely to be limited.
Material will be coherently organised with occasional insights, but argument may well lack
critical depth and balance, with failure to see and explore the subtler implications of
questions. Candidates will express intelligent, straightforward ideas clearly, though there
may be occasional loss of fluency with points not always strongly connected. Some errors
of grammar, punctuation and spelling are likely, but not such as to impede communication.
In passage based questions, work will attempt to cover both aspects, but there may be
some lack of proportion and a limited sense of the relationship between the text as a
whole and its constituent parts.

10-13 Stolid work, showing sound, sometimes very detailed knowledge of the texts, but limited
ability to use it in a discriminating and appropriate way to address the questions.
Understanding is likely to be partial and restricted to the more obvious aspects of texts.
There will be little reference to literary features of form and language. Argument may be
basically coherent but may lack flexibility, and may be simplistic in approach and assertive
in tone. There is likely to be some reliance on paraphrase and narrative summary, with
prepared material insensitively used.
Candidates will articulate simple ideas with clarity but there may be some imprecision and
clumsiness of expression in dealing with more complex concepts. Points will not always
be clearly linked and there may be occasional obscurity in the presentation of ideas and
responses. Errors of grammar, punctuation and spelling will be in evidence, but work in
this category will be free from garbled passages.

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 APPENDIX C

In passage based answers, work may be lacking in balance of approach, with over
emphasis on given extracts and little attempt to explore the broader textual issues.
Conversely, some answers may be in effect general essays, with scant treatment of the
passages. Ability to negotiate between parts of a text and its whole will be strictly limited.

6-9 Work of basically adequate standard, showing acceptable knowledge of the text but very
limited ability to use it selectively to address the questions. There may be occasional
errors of fact and inappropriate and inaccurate reference and quotation. Understanding
will be partial and simplistic with little if any attempt to engage with issues of literary
context, form and language. Argument will contain valid points but may lack coherence,
with repetition, assertion and relapse into narrative summary/paraphrase. There may be a
tendency to drift from relevant discussion into material of tangential significance, with
reliance on prepared answers and received opinion. Writing will be basically clear but
prone to clumsy expression and inappropriate register. Errors of grammar, punctuation
and spelling may be quite common with the occasional confused passage of writing.
However, there will be no sustained loss of communication.
In passage based answers there will be marked lack of balance, a tendency to labour
obvious and superficial aspects and restricted ability to relate textual part and whole.
Treatment of the given extracts may well be sketchy or overlong and undiscriminating.
Comment on the wider textual issues is likely to be general and, at least in part, unrelated
to the passage.

2-5 Work in this category will be unsatisfactory but by no means valueless. Textual
knowledge will be narrative based and may contain errors, some quite significant.
Understanding will be severely limited and generally restricted to levels of plot and
character, the latter treated very much as "real" people. Answers are likely to be partial,
undeveloped, narrative commentary in approach, repetitious, assertive and offering
disjointed points rather than progressive lines of argument. Literary appreciation and first
hand engagement with texts will be minimal. Candidates may demonstrate imprecision
and clumsiness of expression in dealing with the most basic ideas, while some confused,
and even seriously garbled passages of writing are likely to occur. Errors of grammar,
punctuation and spelling will be commonplace.

0-1 This band is reserved for work which is inadequate in all respects. Textual knowledge will
be sketchy, superficial and marked by significant errors and omissions. There will be no
evidence of critical understanding of or personal engagement with texts and acute difficulty
in articulating even the most basic points. In passage based answers, extracts are liable
to be seriously misunderstood and mislocated contextually, with no coherent sense of the
relationship between textual part and whole. Quality of language will be crude with
frequent lapses in tone and register, while control of written English is likely to be
extremely shaky. Errors of grammar, punctuation and spelling will occur passim, while
confused and even garbled passages may well be common. However, it is important to
note that work of this very low quality is rare at Advanced level.

Notes on the implementation of the mark bands

(i) The descriptors are intended as a guide to the likely characteristics of work in a particular
mark band. It is not expected that all the listed characteristics will be present or that they
will exist in equal proportions. It is essential that examiners exercise flexibility in mapping
the descriptors on to the work they are assessing.

(ii) Examiners’ approach to the assessment of work should always be positive, based on what
the candidate has written and never on what s/he has not written. In other words, work
should not be penalised for failure to make points or adopt critical approaches and styles
predetermined by examiners. However, where a candidate’s execution of his/her chosen
approach to and treatment of questions involves significant errors or omissions, these will
be noted and will legitimately influence the grade awarded.

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 APPENDIX C

9008 BAND DESCRIPTORS FOR TOPIC PAPER 4

22-25 Work at this level will be confident, coherent, freshly personal and discriminating in
response both to the topic and to the question, grasping the significance of the texts in
relation to the topic and its period, literary context and range. The writing will be lively and
accurate. The candidate will handle critical terms with ease and should be able to blend
reference to the texts comfortably into the flow of the argument.

18-21 Proficient work, soundly argued with some genuine insight into the context and
significance of the topic studied. The candidate should be capable of meeting the
challenge of the question fully and should be able to support an argument by appropriate
and effective reference to the texts. There may be some signs of a genuinely original
approach to the topic; other answers may be very thorough though more predictable.

14-17 Essays at this level will display competence in framing an argument in response to a
question and in showing some appreciation of how texts studied illuminate major areas of
the topic. Sensible discussion in a generally sound style with occasional moments of
personal insight; however, candidates who do not stray from the more obvious features of
the question and the topic may still achieve marks in this band.

10-13 Stolid and possibly uneven work, marching determinedly through topic and question
though failing to perceive some of the implications of both. Nevertheless, there will be
occasions when ideas or personal response seem to be developing. Candidates at this
level may well focus on only part of the question and their arguments will be presented in a
fairly basic form.

6-9 More than just a minimal grasp of the significance and context of the topic area, with
powers of expression adequate to communicate this - however plainly. There should be
the beginnings of a relevant response to the topic and the question through discussion of
the texts chosen. There is likely to be a fair amount of paraphrase and narrative, but there
must be more than just this. Stylistic effects may be noted even if not fully analysed.

2-5 Often literal minded, candidates at this level may struggle to frame statements and to put
an answer together but at least some part of the question should have been grasped.
There may be evidence of misinterpretation and inaccurate reference. Essays may show
signs of occasional incoherence, disorganisation and repetition.

0-1 These marks should be reserved for essays which do not begin to engage with the
question or with the topic, alternatively they may show signs that the key aspects of the
topic have not begun to be understood. Work which is too short, misguided, incoherent or
irrelevant to merit classification should be placed at this level.

THE RELATED PASSAGE

22-25 Essays at this level should show real discrimination: candidates must demonstrate that
they are at ease with the techniques of close reading and have responded to most of the
challenges presented by the passage in relation to the topic and the question. Handling of
quotation and critical terms will be assured; expression will generally be thoroughly fluent,
economical and accurate.

18-21 Proficient essays showing good understanding of the demands of the question and of the
passage in relation to the topic, together with a fair degree of critical awareness.
However, they may not be consistently well focused. They should reveal either genuine
freshness of argument or thorough and methodical awareness of the issues for discussion.
The techniques of close reading will be generally well applied with appropriate use of
quotation and critical terms.

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 APPENDIX C

14-17 These essays should show competent understanding and response: appropriate emphasis
will be given to the demands of the passage, before a wider discussion of the topic is
broached. Conscientious essays which pursue a well focused but rather unsophisticated
argument are likely to fall within this band. Expression and use of quotation should be
accurate but may lack some subtlety.

10-13 Essays in this grade will be stolid and may be rather uneven, containing some evidence of
critical response in relation to the passage and its context within the topic area. However,
there will also be material which may rely too much on narrative or paraphrase. More
demanding aspects of the passage may be avoided. At this level the capacity to shape an
effective and well expressed argument, or to discuss subtleties of tone and style, may be
restricted.

6-9 Candidates must still show a relatively clear understanding of the passage and how to
respond to it, but analysis and evaluation will be very limited. There may be some
significant misreading but not enough to undermine the general ideas put forward.
Expression may be hampered by occasional lapses of coherence.

2-5 These essays will struggle to demonstrate a basic grasp of the passage or of the topic
area. There may be significant mis-readings; however, there should still be the clear
beginnings of a response to the demands of the question. Expression and coherence may
not always be adequate.

0-1 These marks should be reserved for work in which the candidate has struggled
unsuccessfully to show sufficient signs of response or understanding. The demands of the
passage, the topic and the question will have been scarcely faced.

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 APPENDIX C

9008 BAND DESCRIPTORS FOR OPEN TEXT PAPER 5

Since annotated texts are present in the examination room, mere rehearsal of prepared notes or
essays will always fall seriously short of fulfilling the task, which is to delve thoughtfully into the
resource which the text offers in response to the set question’s particular challenge.
This is not a paper where the presence of the text is simply a ‘bonus’. The examination offers
opportunities of a kind which differ from those of other papers, but which also challenge the
candidate in a different way. The very best kind of preparation develops responsiveness to varied
question types and approaches. The question ‘how far’ is too often ignored: it demands an
argument and a conclusion.

22-25 Excellent work, showing detailed knowledge of texts, understanding of theme,

characterisation, linguistic features and other textual issues, some awareness of literary
conventions and contexts, techniques and genre characteristics, and the ability to address
this knowledge and understanding with sustained relevance to the issues raised by the
questions. Responses to texts will be perceptive, often freshly personal, and may show
originality in approach to and treatment of questions. There will be evidence of sensitive
awareness of the contexts within which the literary works studied were written and
understood. Candidates will express complex literary ideas and arguments with clarity
and fluency. Answers will be coherently structured, with logical progression and effectively
linked paragraphs. Control of written English will be accomplished, with few errors of
grammar, spelling and punctuation.

18-21 Proficient work, showing secure knowledge of the texts, understanding of themes and
characters, some awareness of literary qualities and contexts, and the ability to address
knowledge and critical understanding in a way relevant to the issues raised by the
questions. There will be evidence of personal response to the texts, straightforward and
vigorously articulated, perhaps, rather than penetrating and subtle. However, candidates
may also express quite complex ideas with reasonable clarity and fluency. Literary
arguments will be coherent, with logical progression of ideas through clearly linked
paragraphs. In general, control of written English will be confident, with only occasional
errors of grammar, punctuation and spelling.

14-17 Competent work, showing sound knowledge of the texts relevantly addressed to the
questions. There will be intelligent understanding on the levels of theme and character,
but appreciation of literary qualities, contexts, methods and effects is likely to be limited.
Material will be coherently organised with occasional insights, but argument may well lack
critical depth and balance, with failure to see and explore the subtler implications of
questions. Candidates will express intelligent, straightforward ideas clearly, though there
may be occasional loss of fluency with points not always strongly connected. Some errors
of grammar, punctuation and spelling are likely, but not such as to impede communication.

10-13 Stolid work, showing sound, sometimes very detailed knowledge of the texts but limited
ability to use it in a discriminating and appropriate way to address the questions.
Understanding is likely to be partial and restricted to the more obvious aspects of texts.
There will be little reference to literary features of form and language. Argument may be
basically coherent but may lack flexibility, and may be simplistic in approach and assertive
in tone. There is likely to be some reliance on paraphrase and narrative summary, with
prepared material insensitively used.
Candidates will articulate simple ideas with clarity but there may be some imprecision and
clumsiness of expression in dealing with more complex concepts. Points will not always
be clearly linked and there may be occasional obscurity in the presentation of ideas and
responses. Errors of grammar, punctuation and spelling will be in evidence, but work in
this category will be free from garbled passages.

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 APPENDIX C

6-9 Work of basically adequate standard, showing acceptable knowledge of the text but very
limited ability to use it selectively to address the questions. There may be occasional
errors of fact and inappropriate and inaccurate reference and quotation. Understanding
will be partial and simplistic with little if any attempt to engage with issues of literary
context, form and language. Argument will contain valid points but may lack coherence,
with repetition, assertion and relapse into narrative summary/paraphrase. There may be a
tendency to drift from relevant discussion into material of tangential significance, with
reliance on prepared answers and received opinion. Writing will be basically clear but
prone to clumsy expression and inappropriate register. Errors of grammar, punctuation
and spelling may be quite common with the occasional confused passage of writing.
However, there will be no sustained loss of communication.

2-5 Work in this category will be unsatisfactory but by no means valueless. Textual
knowledge will be narrative based and may contain errors, some quite significant.
Understanding will be severely limited and generally restricted to levels of plot and
character, the latter treated very much as "real" people. Answers are likely to be partial,
undeveloped, narrative commentary in approach, repetitious, assertive and offering
disjointed points rather than progressive lines of argument. Literary appreciation and first
hand engagement with texts will be minimal. Candidates may demonstrate imprecision
and clumsiness of expression in dealing with the most basic ideas, while some confused,
and even seriously garbled passages of writing are likely to occur. Errors of grammar,
punctuation and spelling will be commonplace.
0-1 This band is reserved for work which is inadequate in all respects. Textual knowledge will
be sketchy, superficial and marked by significant errors and omissions. There will be no
evidence of critical understanding of or personal engagement with texts and acute difficulty
in articulating even the most basic points. In passage based answers, extracts are liable
to be seriously misunderstood and mislocated contextually, with no coherent sense of the
relationship between textual part and whole. Quality of language will be crude with
frequent lapses in tone and register, while control of written English is likely to be
extremely shaky. Errors of grammar, punctuation and spelling will occur passim, while
confused and even garbled passages may well be common. However, it is important to
note that work of this very low quality is rare at Advanced level.
Notes on the implementation of the mark bands
(i) The descriptors are intended as a guide to the likely characteristics of work in a particular
mark band. It is not expected that all the listed characteristics will be present or that they
will exist in equal proportions. It is essential that examiners exercise flexibility in mapping
the descriptors on to the work they are assessing.
(ii) Examiners’ approach to the assessment of work should always be positive, based on what
the candidate has written and never on what s/he has not written. In other words, work
should not be penalised for failure to make points or adopt critical approaches and styles
predetermined by examiners. However, where a candidate’s execution of his/her chosen
approach to and treatment of questions involves significant errors or omissions, these will
be noted and will legitimately influence the grade awarded.

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 APPENDIX C

9008 BAND DESCRIPTORS FOR COMMENT AND

APPRECIATION PAPER 8
In assessing the quality of individual answers the following questions need to be addressed:
- how well has the candidate met the specific demands of the question?
- how well has the candidate understood the passage/poem, and how far have any difficulties
been confronted rather than avoided?
- how sensitive has the candidate been to the language, the tone, and the distinctive literary
qualities of the writing?
- how aware has the candidate been of the narrative perspective or the writer’s point of view
in the passage/poem?
- how clearly has a genuinely informed personal response to the passage/poem been
communicated through the candidate’s writing?
- how far does the candidate's commentary illuminate the creative process of the
passage/poem?

Drama: candidates should always be given credit for exploring the specifically dramatic and/or
theatrical qualities of a passage or scene (though specialist Theatre Studies skills or
knowledge are not expected, and may indeed be unhelpful).

Poetry: although little credit should be given for simple or mechanical discussion of poetic form,
candidates should always be rewarded for showing an awareness of the aptness and
effectiveness of poetic form and technique in a given poem.

Prose: where appropriate, candidates should be given credit for showing an awareness of the
character of the passage in relation to its genre (fiction, biography, essay, reportage etc.)

22-25 Excellent work, showing discrimination and sometimes originality, responding vigorously
and personally to all or most of the key issues presented in the text(s). There is an
ability to identify, analyse and evaluate tone, attitude, argument character, and to
evaluate genre, form, structure and language. Quotation and critical terminology are
used appositely and economically. The work is consistently relevant and often subtle,
concise and sophisticated, with a fluent and accurate expression of complex ideas,
which at the upper end may be elegant and allusive.

18-21 Proficient work, showing clear understanding of all or most of the key issues presented in
the text(s), but the writing, although personal, may not be consistently well focused.
Clarity of perception may be less well supported by detailed textual reference and
analysis. There is a clear grasp of themes and issues, but less certainty on the literary
use of language or on textual detail. At the upper end the writing is consistently relevant
and well structured with fluent and accurate expression of complex ideas, and few, if
any, technical errors. At the lower end moderately complex ideas are likely to be
expressed clearly and reasonably fluently, and the writing is relevant and generally well
structured, though balance may not always be good. On the other hand, work that is
less personally engaged but critically very competent may also reach this grade.

14-17 Competent work showing a sound understanding of the text but some subtleties of form
or style may not be fully explored. There is likely to be a slightly insecure sense of the
relationship of the part to the whole, but there may be evidence of the beginnings of an
informed personal response which, if more sustained, would be worthy of a higher mark.
Arguments which are conscientious and thorough but perhaps inflexible, over-simplified
or over-emphasized will also be found in this grade. At the upper end the writing is
generally relevant and well-structured although there may be occasional technical errors.
At the lower end arguments may sometimes stray from the point, but straightforward
ideas will be clearly expressed, if not always fluently.

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 APPENDIX C

10-13 Stolid work, showing some clear but uneven evidence of critical awareness and personal
response to implicit meaning, but which may also contain rather pedestrian passages.
Form is often ignored or misunderstood, and work is typically satisfied with partial
understanding and/or assertion. The argument is visible but is often inflexible and/or
over-simplified. Relevance is sometimes achieved only by implication and tone is often
ignored. Expression is adequate for relatively simple ideas.

6-9 Basically adequate work, showing a generalised understanding, often focused rather
mechanically on the surface features of the text. Form is generally ignored or
misunderstood. There is a tendency to rely on assertion and repetition and arguments,
while valid, may lack coherence and/or illustrative support. Misreadings may occur,
though not sufficiently to undermine the general ideas put forward, but there may also be
a tendency to wander, and only a partial understanding of the question. There will be
occasional technical errors and expression is often laboured and clumsy, showing a
limited vocabulary and an inappropriate register. More promising work that is seriously
incomplete could appropriately receive this grade.

2-5 Some attempt to hold to text and question showing a simplistic approach to the task.
The response is often expressed in terms of the candidate's own life. The work is often
brief, undeveloped, and exists as a series of points rather than as a line of argument.
Expression is simple, technical errors are recurrent, and the work relies on narrative
rather than analysis, although description is sometimes valid.

0-1 Utterly inadequate work. Candidates are unable to understand the passage or to
articulate a response to it. Work of this poor quality will be rare.

Notes on the implementation of the mark bands

(i) The descriptors are intended as a guide to the likely characteristics of work in a particular
mark band. It is not expected that all the listed characteristics will be present or that they
will exist in equal proportions. It is essential that examiners exercise flexibility in
mapping the descriptors on to the work they are assessing.

(ii) Examiners’ approach to the assessment of work should always be positive, based on
what the candidate has written and never on what s/he has not written. In other words,
work should not be penalised for failure to make points or adopt critical approaches and
styles predetermined by examiners. However, where a candidate’s execution of his/her
chosen approach to and treatment of questions involves significant errors or omissions,
these will be noted and will legitimately influence the grade awarded.

23