Edexcel IGCSE English Literature thread

Here is the thread to discuss the exam Monday the 23rd, what are your predictions for the poems/prose? I am doing Pride and Prejudice and Importance of Being Ernest, I think Darcy has a possibility of coming up for P&P, possibly Jack on his own or Cecily and Gwendolen for Importance of Ernest. My Last Duchess seems probable for poems.
Sorry if something like this has already be posted.

Reply 1

JessicaAsh

Original post by James Searle

I would love to know others' thoughts on this, also. Unfortunately, I cannot provide any insight relating to your Drama and Prose texts as I've been studying Romeo & Juliet and OM&M. However, as you said, it seems likely that My Last Duchess will pop up in the Poetry exam, in which case I would assume that Percy Bysshe Shelley's Ozymandias would be the most likely choice for the unseen poem. :dontknow:

Wow, I didn't even consider what would be for the unseen poem, I swear if you have somehow predicted that right I will be convinced you have some sort of magical power... :eek3:

Reply 2

raabiasakeena

Themes for IBE
FamilyLove and relationships
Town/country - last occurred in May 2014 though.
Truth/hypocrisy/deception/secrecy - has come up almost every year.
->How does Wilde present earnestness?
Humour - came up in June 2011 and May 2013 but not since.
Satire, irony
Language/style
Portrayal of women, portrayal of men or both - eg, compare and contrast Wilde’s presentation of the different sexes. Maybe a question on gender.
Class and social status (links to name)

Characters for IBE
Jack - on his own or paired with another character, although there was a Jack/Algy question in May 2015 - Paper 1R.
Lady Bracknell - has come up frequently; ?in a question paired with Gwendolyn.
Miss Prism and Canon Chasuble - last set in Jan 2013, although there was the question about characters who work for a living last year.

This is what my class predicted. We went through the past questions in class and these are ideas we came up with.

Reply 3

raabiasakeena

And for P&P

Jane Bennet and Elizabeth Bennet

Roles of Women in Society

Prejudice

Relationship between Mr Darcy and Mr Bingley

Mr Collins?

Theme of friendship

Reply 4

sulaimanali

Original post by James Searle

How are you able to predict the Unseen??

Reply 5

TheNovellist

Original post by sulaimanali

How are you able to predict the Unseen??

You can't unless you're a cheat or an examiner ;D I hope the childhood poems come up, If, Hide and Seek, Half-Past Two and Piano, for anthology. I've heard that My Last Duchess is likely and I hope not - it's hard to focus on key areas that link to the question in such a looong dramatic monologue!

Reply 6

JessicaAsh

Original post by TheNovellist

I actually hope my last duchess comes up, or one like do not go gentle or the Tyger. I really like the harder poems, the childhood ones bore me.

Reply 7

TheNovellist

Original post by JessicaAsh

I actually hope my last duchess comes up, or one like do not go gentle or the Tyger. I really like the harder poems, the childhood ones bore me.

Oh, I love poetry, hard or easy - that's one of the reasons I chose English Lit. (!). I love Do Not Go Gentle and Remember; but Remember isn't that hard I don't think. A hard thing is trying to constrict what you write in the exam because there are so many beautiful things that link to the question to comment on :biggrin:

Poetry is amazing! One of my favourites of section C is Telephone Conversation; does Soyinka have a sense of humour :smile:

Reply 8

sulaimanali

Alright guys - it's done now!

OMAM: Character of Slim (which I did) OR theme of poverty

Unseen poem: 'One Art' by Elizabeth Bishop
Unseen prose: (forgot the name) some extract about Billy though

Anth C:

Women presented in La Belle Dame.. and Poem at 39

OR

Poet's feelings in Sonnet 116 and one other poem of your choice (I did La Belle with Sonnet 116).

Reply 9

JessicaAsh

Original post by sulaimanali

Stupid me! Of course I should have done La Belle Dame instead of Mother in a Refugee camp for the feelings about love. I really like La Belle Dame but had no idea how to write about the way women are presented in poem at 39 so didn't do it. Did you do the unseen poem or text?
Personally I thought the unseen poem was really good, especially for picking out those level 5 points such as structure, form and the deeper meaning.

Reply 10

sulaimanali

Original post by JessicaAsh

Lol!

Don't worry - you should be fine. In fact, my friend also did AMIARC with Sonnet 116. :smile:

I actually thought that would've been a really good comparison because it talks about 2 different types of love: the love between a couple and the love between a mother-child.

It's the same with La Belle though as well in terms of contrast. Sonnet 116 presents love in a positive manner whereas La Belle presents love in a negative light, saying how its dangerous.

I wrote a lot about structure for La Belle and Sonnet 116, as well as language and description.

I agree - I didn't know what to say about women in Poem at 39. I had a few ideas like women are presented positively and they look for inspiration from men who are hardworking etc but I didn't do that qs because I didn't know if I could write those ideas with sophistication.

I did the unseen poem. :smile:

I normally do poems rather than prose for unseen but this time, as I skim-read the prose, I found that both were equally good, as compared to past years. However, I felt it might get boring doing prose for Lit and then having to do prose-type work in the Language paper too (Paper 1 - Section A the unseen non-fiction and even perhaps Anthology A extracts), so I decided to do poetry.

I agree with you! :smile:

I thought the unseen poem 'One Art' was really good for picking out structural devices, form and deeper meanings (analysis). I wrote a lot about that, such as the first five three-lined stanzas having a regular continuity, perhaps reflecting how loss is a continuous thing and how the irregular last verse breaks the flow of the poem. I talked about the different sentence lengths, such as the short ones "I lost my mothers watch" and "I lost two cities, lovely ones" being about experiences, whereas the longer ones were general statements about the subject. The first person and no use of fixed, vivid setting is a more realistic approach and more relatable to the reader to recall a time they have lost something. I talked about how loss is seen as a natural part of life and how fate/destiny is uncontrollable therefore Bishop advises the reader to not weep/regret the loss or the consequences but move on in life as time passes.
I said she approaches the subject of loss in a desensitised manner and fluctuates the tone from being sad to humourous throughout the poem.

I had a few more things too! :smile: