click on image to enlargePreparing Students for WJEC English Literature Paper 1: Different Cultures Prose and Contemporary Poetry
Note: This guide refers to the current specification, being examined for the final time in 2014.
This closed book examination assesses students’ understanding of a set “different cultures? text and their ability to analyse and compare a pair of unseen contemporary poems. The set prose texts for the “different cultures? aspect are: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Anita and Me by Meera Syal, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou and Chanda’s Secrets by Allan Stratton.
To prepare for this unit, students will study their set prose text and a selection of contemporary poetry (at least fifteen poems) in preparation for the unseen poetry comparative question. The poetry is studied in order to familiarise students with the principles of poetry analysis, and to expose them to a wide range of styles and poetic techniques, so that they are equipped to comment on whichever poems they are given in the exam.
This paper represents 35% of students’ GCSE in English Literature and provides them with up to 70 UMS marks. It is marked out of 50 raw marks.
- Please note that the additional requirement for English Literature specifications to assess Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar has not been applied to this unit (the additional SPaG marks have been allocated to Unit 2a or 2b).
Assessment Focus and Objectives
All four English Literature AOs are assessed on this paper.
AO1 (assessed in all questions)
Respond to texts critically and imaginatively; select and evaluate relevant textual detail to illustrate and support interpretations
Students’ ability to choose appropriate quotations and to engage with texts is assessed here.
AO2 (assessed in prose extract and poetry questions)
Explain how language, structure and form contribute to writers’ presentation of ideas,...
