This document provides an overview of the format and requirements for an English Literature exam. It will be 2 hours long and worth 50 marks, covering 50% of the total grade. Students will answer two questions, one on poetry and one on prose or drama. The exam will test understanding of literary techniques and forming independent opinions on two assigned texts that cannot be brought into the exam. Questions will focus on language, structure, narrative methods, and how parts relate to the whole. Grades range from A to U based on bands of demonstrated knowledge and skills.

1. A General Overview

2.  2 hours
 50 marks
 50%
 You answer two questions: one question from each
section (so one question from poetry and one from
prose)
 An essay question and a passage-based question
are set on each text
 In all answers, you must show understanding of
the text and an informed independent opinion;
you must communicate these clearly and
appropriately

3.  Questions will test your understanding of:
- The ways in which writers’ choices of form,
structure and language shape meanings
- The language and style of texts
- The effective use of narrative methods
- How parts of the text relate to the work as a
whole
Texts are not allowed in the exam

4. - 30 poems by Wilfred Owen
- 34 poems by Ted Hughes

5. - Half of a Yellow Sun, by
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- A Passage to India, by E.M.
Forster
- 24 stories from Stories of
Ourselves

6.  2 hours
 50 marks
 50%
 You answer two questions on two plays
 An essay question and a passage-based
question are set on each text
 In all answers, you must show understanding
of the text and an informed independent
opinion; you must communicate these clearly
and appropriately

7.  Questions will test your understanding of:
- The ways in which writers’ choices of form,
structure and language shape meanings
- The language and style of texts
- The effective use of narrative methods
- How parts of the text relate to the work as a
whole
- The dramatic qualities of play texts
Texts are not allowed in the exam

8. - A Man for All Seasons, by Robert
Bolt OR Absurd Person Singular,
by Alan Ayckbourn
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by
Shakespeare

9. AO1: The ability to respond to texts in the three main
forms (Prose, Poetry and Drama) of different types and
from different cultures
AO2: An understanding of the ways in which writers’
choices of form, structure and language shape
meanings
AO3: The ability to produce informed, independent
opinions and judgments on literary texts
AO4: The ability to communicate clearly the knowledge,
understanding and insight appropriate to literary
study

10.  Grades A-E (+U)
 Bands 1-5 (+6)
 Very loosely, it follows:
1 = A
2 = B
3 = C
4 = D
5 = E
6 = U

11.  Band 1 (22-25) = excellent work
 Band 2 (18-21) = proficient work
 Band 3 (14-17) = competent work
 Band 4 (10-13) = solid work
 Band 5 (6-9) = work of a basic standard
 Band 6 (0) = unrateable