This document provides an overview of the assessment objectives and structure for the IGCSE English Literature exam. It discusses the four assessment objectives which examine a student's detailed knowledge, understanding of themes and context, appreciation of writing techniques, and personal responses. It then outlines the five exam papers: Paper 1 involves open book questions on drama, poetry, and prose; Paper 2 involves coursework assignments; Paper 3 involves an unseen question; Papers 4 and 5 involve closed book questions on additional texts. The document provides guidance on answering different question types and meeting the assessment criteria.

1. IGCSE Section
3

2. What are we looking for?
• • have a detailed knowledge of the passage or whole text you
are writing about (this will depend on the question)
• • understand the important themes of texts as well as their
basic storylines
• • appreciate the ways in which writers achieve their effects
(for example, to create characters or settings)
• • offer a personal response to the text and the question set.

3. What are the assessment objectives?
• Helps the examiner to see that you covered
everything in the syllabus.
• Are designed to alllow you to show all the skills
for the exam

4. Assessment objective What the full assessment
objective says you must be
able to do
What you need to be able
to do in practice
1. Detailed knowledge show detailed knowledge of
the content of literary texts.
Show that you undertood
the detail of all your texts.

5. Assessment objective What the full assessment
objective says you must
be able to do
What you need to be able
to do in practice
2. Understanding of
deeper meanings
understand the meanings
of literary texts and their
contexts, and explore texts
beyond surface meanings.
Read your texts closely so
that you have a clear
understanding of major
themes and ideas.

6. Assessment objective What the full assessment
objective says you must be
able to do
What you need to be able to
do in practice
3. Understanding of writer’s
methods
recognise and appreciate the
ways in which writers use
language.
Show an appreciation of the
writer’s craft. In their plays,
poems, short stories and
novels, writers make careful
choices about language and
structure in order to achieve
the effects they desire.

7. Assessment objective What the full
assessment objective
says you must be able to
do
What you need to be able
to do in practice
4. Personal response communicate a sensitive
and informed personal
response to literary texts
Give your honest personal
response to the question
you are asked. This is not a
subject where there are
correct answers to be
learned by heart, so don’t
expect your teachers to
‘spoon-feed’ you.

8. Papers:

9. Paper 1: Set Texts – Open Books (2 hours 15 minutes)
Drama Poetry Prose
3 questions
45min
Each part
Must answer
one essey and
one passage-
based question

10. drama
• The passage-based question
• The general essey question
• Enpathic question

11. Poetry
For this part of the exam at each point you will
have 2 different questions:
• Is related to a poem
• You have to offer your personal response to
the poetry
• You must comment on why the poet has used
certain words

12. Prose
• Passage-based question
• The general essey question
• Empathic question

13. Paper 2: Coursework The portfolio
requirements

14. Portfolio Requirements
• 1) Two assignments
• 2) The assignments may be on texts from the
same form
• 3) Essays or emphatic responses
• 4)The text must be written in english.
• 5)600 – 1000 words
• 6) You don’t need to present earlier drafts
• 7)The work should be legible and may be hand
written or by computer

15. Rules of Coursework

16. What will you be rewarded for?
• General essay following qualities:
• Evidence of detalied knowledge
• A clear argument
• Relevant references
• Analyticalcomment
• Informed personal response

17. Paper 3: Unseen (1 hour 15 minutes)

18. Paper 4: Set Texts – Closed Books – A
(2 hours 15 minutes)

19. Paper 5: Set Texts – Closed Books – B
(45 minutes)