GCE English Literature H472/02: Comparative and contextual study Advanced GCE Mark Scheme for November 2020

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Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations GCE English Literature H472/02: Comparative and contextual study Advanced GCE Mark Scheme for November 2020Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations OCR (Oxford ... Cambridge and RSA) is a leading UK awarding body, providing a wide range of qualifications to meet the needs of candidates of all ages and abilities. OCR qualifications include AS/A Levels, Diplomas, GCSEs, Cambridge Nationals, Cambridge Technicals, Functional Skills, Key Skills, Entry Level qualifications, NVQs and vocational qualifications in areas such as IT, business, languages, teaching/training, administration and secretarial skills. It is also responsible for developing new specifications to meet national requirements and the needs of students and teachers. OCR is a not-for-profit organisation; any surplus made is invested back into the establishment to help towards the development of qualifications and support, which keep pace with the changing needs of today’s society. This mark scheme is published as an aid to teachers and students, to indicate the requirements of the examination. It shows the basis on which marks were awarded by examiners. It does not indicate the details of the discussions which took place at an examiners’ meeting before marking commenced. All examiners are instructed that alternative correct answers and unexpected approaches in candidates’ scripts must be given marks that fairly reflect the relevant knowledge and skills demonstrated. Mark schemes should be read in conjunction with the published question papers and the report on the examination. © OCR 2020H472/02 Mark Scheme November 2020 2 Annotations Annotation Meaning Blank Page – this annotation must be used on all blank pages within an answer booklet (structured or unstructured) and on each page of an additional object where there is no candidate response. Positive Recognition Assessment Objective 1 Assessment Objective 2 Assessment Objective 3 Assessment Objective 4 Assessment Objective 5 Attempted or insecure Answering the question View Relevant but broad, general or implicitH472/02 Mark Scheme November 2020 3 1. Awarding Marks The specific task–related guidance containing indicative content for each question will help you to understand how the level descriptors may be applied. However, this indicative content does not constitute the full mark scheme: it is material that candidates might use. For each specific task, the intended balance between different assessment objectives is clarified in both the level descriptors and the respective guidance section; dominant assessment objectives are flagged, or where assessment objectives are equally weighted this is made explicitly clear. (i) Each question is worth 30 marks. (ii) For each answer, award a single overall mark out of 30, following this procedure: • refer to the question-specific Guidance for likely indicative content • using the level descriptors for the appropriate section, make a holistic judgement to locate the answer in the appropriate level descriptor: how well does the candidate address the question? Use the ‘best fit’ method, as in point 10 above • place the answer precisely within the level, considering the relevant AOs • bearing in mind the weighting of the AOs, adjust the answer within the level and award the appropriate mark out of 30. Note: Mark positively. Use the lowest mark in the level only if the answer is borderline / doubtful. Use the full range of marks, including at the top and bottom ends of the mark range. (iii) When the complete script has been marked: • if necessary, follow the instructions concerning rubric infringements • add together the marks for the two answers, to arrive at the total mark for the script. Rubric Infringement Candidates may infringe the rubric in one of the following ways: • only answering one question • answering two close reading questions or two comparative essay questions, rather than one of each • answering more than two questions. • answering a close reading and a comparative essay from different topics. If a candidate has written three or more answers, mark all answers and award the highest mark achieved in each Section of the paper.H472/02 Mark Scheme November 2020 4 These are the Assessment Objectives for the A Level English Literature specification as a whole. AO1 Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression. AO2 Analyse ways in which meanings are shaped in literary texts. AO3 Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received. AO4 Explore connections across literary texts. AO5 Explore literary texts informed by different interpretations. WEIGHTING OF ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES The relationship between the components and the Assessment Objectives of the scheme of assessment is shown in the following table: Component % of A level AO1 AO2 AO3 AO4 AO5 Total Drama and poetry pre-1900 (H472/01) 10% 7.5% 10% 5% 7.5% 40% Comparative and contextual study (H472/02) 5% 15% 12.5% 5% 2.5% 40% Literature post-1900 (H472/03) 5% 7.5% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5% 20% 20% 30% 25% 12.5% 12.5% 100%H472/02 Mark Scheme November 2020 5 Level Descriptors: Critical appreciation of an unseen passage (close reading) AO2 is the dominant assessment objective for this section. The weightings for the Assessment Objectives in this question are: AO2 – 75% AO3 – 12.5% AO1 – 12.5 % Level 6: 26–30 marks AO2 (75%) • Well-developed and consistently detailed discussion of effects of language, form and structure. • Excellent and consistently effective use of analytical methods. • Consistently effective use of quotations and references to text, critically addressed, blended into discussion. AO3 (12.5%) • Consistently developed and consistently detailed understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received, as appropriate to the question. AO1 (12.5%) • Excellent and consistently detailed understanding of text and question; well-structured, coherent and detailed argument consistently developed; consistently fluent and accurate writing in appropriate register; critical concepts and terminology used accurately and consistently. Level 5: 21–25 marks AO2 (75%) • Developed and good level of detail in discussion of effects of language, form and structure. • Good use of analytical methods. • Good use of quotations and references to text, generally critically addressed. AO3 (12.5%) • Good, clear evaluation of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received, as appropriate to the question. AO1 (12.5%) • Good and secure understanding of text and question; well-structured argument with clear line of development; good level of coherence and accuracy of writing, in appropriate register; critical concepts and terminology used accurately.6 Level 4: 16–20 marks AO2 (75%) • Generally developed discussion of effects of language, form and structure. • Competent use of analytical methods. • Competent use of illustrative quotations and references to support discussion. AO3 (12.5%) • Competent understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received, as appropriate to the question. AO1 (12.5%) • Competent understanding of text and question; straightforward arguments competently structured; clear writing in generally appropriate register; critical concepts and terminology used appropriately. Level 3: 11–15 marks AO2 (75%) • Some attempt to develop discussion of effects of language, form and structure. • Some attempt at using analytical methods. • Some use of quotations/references as illustration. AO3 (12.5%) • Some understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received, as appropriate to the question. AO1 (12.5%) • Some understanding of text and main elements of question; some structured argument evident, lacking development and/or full illustration; some clear writing, some inconsistencies in register; some appropriate use of critical concepts and terminology. Level 2: 6–10 marks AO2 (75%) • Limited discussion of effects of language, form and structure. • Description or narrative comment; limited use of analytical methods. • Limited or inconsistent use of quotations, uncritically presented. AO3 (12.5%) • Limited understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received, as appropriate to the question. AO1 (12.5%) • Limited understanding of text and partial attempt at question; limited attempt to structure discussion; tendency to lose track of argument; inconsistent writing, frequent instances of technical error, limited use of appropriate register; limited use of critical concepts and terminology.7 Level 1: 1–5 marks AO2 (75%) • Very little or no relevant discussion of effects of language, form and structure. • Only very infrequent phrases of commentary; very little or no use of analytical methods. • Very few quotations (e.g. one or two) used (and likely to be incorrect), or no quotations used. AO3 (12.5%) • Very little reference to (and likely to be irrelevant) or no understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received, as appropriate to the question. AO1 (12.5%) • Very little or no connection with text; question disregarded; undeveloped, very fragmentary discussion; persistent serious writing errors inhibit communication of meaning; very little or no use of appropriate register; persistently inaccurate or no use of critical concepts and terminology. 0 marks = No response, or no response worthy of credit.8 Level Descriptors: Comparative Essay AO3 is the dominant assessment objective for this section. The weightings for the Assessment Objectives in this question are: AO3 – 50% AO4 – 25% AO1 – 12.5% AO5 – 12.5% Level 6: 26–30 marks AO3 (50%) • Consistently developed and consistently detailed understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written, as appropriate to the question. • Consistently developed and consistently detailed understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are received, as appropriate to the question. AO4 (25%) • Excellent and consistently detailed comparative analysis of relationships between texts. AO1 (12.5%) • Excellent and consistently detailed understanding of texts and question; well-structured, coherent and detailed argument consistently developed; consistently fluent and accurate writing in appropriate register; critical concepts and terminology used accurately and consistently. AO5 (12.5%) • Judgement consistently informed by exploration of different interpretations of texts. Level 5: 21–25 marks AO3 (50%) • Good, clear evaluation of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written, as appropriate to the question. • Good, clear evaluation of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are received, as appropriate to the question. AO4 (25%) • Good, clear comparative analysis of relationships between texts. AO1 (12.5%) • Good and secure understanding of texts and question; well-structured argument with clear line of development; good level of coherence and accuracy of writing, in appropriate register; critical concepts and terminology used accurately. AO5 (12.5%) • Good level of recognition and exploration of different interpretations of texts.H472/02 Mark Scheme November 2020 9 Level 4: 16–20 marks AO3 (50%) • Competent understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written, as appropriate to the question. • Competent understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are received, as appropriate to the question. AO4 (25%) • Competent comparative discussion of relationships between texts. AO1 (12.5%) • Competent understanding of texts and question; straightforward arguments generally competently structured; clear writing in generally appropriate register; critical concepts and terminology used appropriately. AO5 (12.5%) • Answer informed by some reference to different interpretations of texts. Level 3: 11–15 marks AO3 (50%) • Some understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written, as appropriate to the question • Some understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are received, as appropriate to the question. AO4 (25%) • Some attempt to develop comparative discussion of relationships between texts. AO1 (12.5%) • Some understanding of texts and main elements of question; some structured argument evident, lacking development and/or full illustration; some clear writing, some inconsistencies in register; some appropriate use of critical concepts and terminology. AO5 (12.5%) • Some awareness of different interpretations of texts.H472/02 Mark Scheme November 2020 10 Level 2: 6–10 marks AO3 (50%) • Limited understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written, as appropriate to the question. • Limited understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are received, as appropriate to the question. AO4 (25%) • Limited attempt to develop comparative discussion of relationships between texts. AO1 (12.5%) • Limited understanding of text and partial attempt at question; limited attempt to structure discussion; tendency to lose track of argument; inconsistent writing, frequent instances of technical error, limited use of appropriate register; limited use of critical concepts and terminology. AO5 (12.5%) • Limited awareness of different interpretations of the text. Level 1: 1–5 marks AO3 (50%) • Very little reference (and likely to be irrelevant) or no understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written, as appropriate to the question. • Very little reference (and likely to be irrelevant) or no understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are received, as appropriate to the question. AO4 (25%) • Very little or no relevant comparative discussion of relationships between texts. AO1 (12.5%) • Very little or no connection with text, question disregarded; undeveloped, very fragmentary discussion; persistent serious writing errors inhibit communication of meaning; very little or no use of appropriate register; persistently inaccurate or no use of critical concepts and terminology. AO5 (12.5%) • Very little or no awareness of different interpretations of the text. 0 marks = No response, or no response worthy of credit.H472/02 Mark Scheme November 2020 11 Question Guidance Marks 1 Write a critical appreciation of the passage, relating your discussion to your reading of American Literature 1880–1940. For the close reading questions, the dominant assessment objective is: AO2. AO2, Analyse ways in which meanings are shaped in literary texts. Answers will also be assessed for AO1, Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression; and AO3, Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received. Answers are likely to note that the passage is written in the third person and that the point of view throughout is that of Studs Lonigan. They may comment on the narrative’s use of free indirect speech drawing on Studs’ vernacular, for example in calling the secretary a ‘dame’, or suggesting the stranger is ‘full of bull’. Answers are likely to register that Studs’ confidence is at a low ebb: he is described as ‘spiritless’ and asks himself a despairing question in the first paragraph. Candidates may note his judgmental attitude towards the secretary with her ‘thickly rouged lips’, and may suggest that he generally assumes his own superiority over women and is uncomfortable seeking her help. Answers may indicate that the stranger, with his damaged shoes, sunken eyes and discoloured teeth, seems to be at or near destitution; they may speculate that Studs, as his competitor, is in similar straits. The stranger’s desire to talk a good game may lead candidates to comment on the importance of success in American culture. Studs’ notion that the man is lying but would ‘make a good salesman’ may be linked to other fictional salesmen, such as Drouet in Sister Carrie. The man’s reference to the depression is likely to lead to useful contextual discussion of the Great Depression. Answers may match this text to others which feature the ‘little guy’, an ordinary character who is down on his luck; they may make links to The Grapes of Wrath, which features economic disaster and suffering in the 1930s. This indicative content is intended to indicate aspects of questions that may feature in candidates’ answers. It is not prescriptive, nor is it exclusive; examiners must be careful to reward original but wellfocused answers and implicit as well as explicit responses to questions. This guidance should be used in conjunction with the Level Descriptors: Critical appreciation of an unseen passage (close reading). 30H472/02 Mark Scheme November 2020 12 Question Guidance Marks 2 (a) F Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby ‘Social gatherings are a significant feature of American fiction.’ By comparing The Great Gatsby with at least one other text prescribed for this topic, discuss how far you agree with this view. For the essay questions, the dominant assessment objective is AO3. AO3, Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received. Answers will also be assessed for AO4, Explore connections across literary texts; AO1, Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression; and AO5, Explore literary texts informed by different interpretations. Answers to this question should employ some kind of working definition of a ‘social gathering’, although this does not need to be explicitly stated. All answers are likely to discuss Gatsby’s parties, and may suggest that the spectacle of these events gives an idea of the hedonism of the Jazz Age; they may question whether the excess on display at such events offers any genuine fulfilment to the characters. Candidates may also include in discussion less formal events such as the impromptu party at Myrtle’s apartment where Nick gets drunk, or the tea party at Nick’s house which Gatsby holds for Daisy; or lower-key events such as Nick’s first encounter with Jordan at Tom and Daisy’s house, or his meeting in the restaurant with Wolfsheim. Answers may demonstrate how these events establish characters early in the novel, or contribute to the picture of an enigmatic figure like Gatsby. Candidates may show how social gatherings act as rumour mills, for example in spreading stories of Gatsby’s notoriety (‘Somebody told me they thought he killed a man…’); they may discuss encounters between people from different social classes at such events; they are likely to note the dramatic function of events such as the trip to the Plaza Hotel, which precipitates the novel’s crisis. Links may be made to other texts such as The Age of Innocence, with its formal gatherings which are often used to bring members of Old New York society into line, or Native Son, which includes scenes such as the awkward meal at Ernie’s Kitchen Shack. This indicative content is intended to indicate aspects of questions that may feature in candidates’ answers. It is not prescriptive, nor is it exclusive; examiners must be careful to reward original but wellfocused answers and implicit as well as explicit responses to questions. This guidance should be used in conjunction with the Level Descriptors: Comparative Essay. 30H472/02 Mark Scheme November 2020 13 Question Guidance Marks 2 (b) John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath ‘The sense of a journey is an important part of American writing.’ By comparing The Grapes of Wrath with at least one other text prescribed for this topic, discuss how far you agree with this view. For the essay questions, the dominant assessment objective is AO3. AO3, Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received. Answers will also be assessed for AO4, Explore connections across literary texts; AO1, Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression; and AO5, Explore literary texts informed by different interpretations. Answers to this question are likely to focus on the great journey west on Route 66, taking the Joads from the devastation of the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma to their hopes of prosperity – or at least a living – in California. They may suggest that there is an epic quality to the journey, and may refer to critics who have seen echoes in the novel of the slaves’ escape from Egypt in the Book of Exodus. The struggles experienced on the journey, including the deaths of both grandparents and of Rose of Sharon’s baby, are likely to feature in answers. Candidates may demonstrate contextual knowledge of the numbers of migrants who made this journey, and refer to Steinbeck’s research relating to the makeshift camps and the exploitation of desperate workers once they arrived in California. Answers may discuss the importance of travel in American literature, possibly even quoting Steinbeck himself in his 1968 travelbook, Travels with Charley, saying that ‘every American hungers to move’; they may show how journeys in American literature are frequently a matter of hope and excitement, but in The Grapes of Wrath are characterised by necessity, disappointment and even despair. Candidates are likely to make links to other texts featuring journeys either literal or metaphorical: for example, Huckleberry Finn’s journey along the Mississippi may appear, but equally answers may reference Carrie’s journey from rags to riches in Sister Carrie, or Bigger Thomas’s less auspicious journey from poverty on Chicago’s South Side to a place on death row at the conclusion of Native Son. This indicative content is intended to indicate aspects of questions that may feature in candidates’ answers. It is not prescriptive, nor is it exclusive; examiners must be careful to reward original but wellfocused answers and implicit as well as explicit responses to questions. This guidance should be used in conjunction with the Level Descriptors: Comparative Essay. 30H472/02 Mark Scheme November 2020 14 Question Guidance Marks 2 (c) ‘Corruption and greed often lie at the heart of American literature.’ By comparing at least two texts prescribed for this topic, discuss how far you have found this to be the case. In your answer you must include discussion of either The Great Gatsby and/or The Grapes of Wrath. For the essay questions, the dominant assessment objective is AO3. AO3, Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received. Answers will also be assessed for AO4, Explore connections across literary texts; AO1, Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression; and AO5, Explore literary texts informed by different interpretations. Answers on The Great Gatsby are likely to reference organised crime, probably mentioning Meyer Wolfsheim, who is supposed to have fixed the World Series, and Gatsby himself, who associates with Wolfsheim and also seems to have got his money by dubious means (‘I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn’t far wrong’). Candidates are likely to refer to the economic opportunities offered by the Prohibition, and to suggest that Gatsby’s idealistic pursuit of his dream is tainted by his less than scrupulous acquisition of wealth. They may also find other characters greedy and/or corrupt, especially Tom and Daisy Buchanan; Nick may stand out in discussion as ‘one of the few honest people’ in the novel. Answers on The Grapes of Wrath are likely to focus less on individuals and more on interest groups in the novel. They may quote Steinbeck’s comment that he wished to ‘put a tag of shame on the greedy bastards who are responsible for this [the Great Depression and its effects]’, and will probably reference the banks responsible for evicting the Okies at the start of the novel, and the big corporate farmers who exploit the needy in California. Candidates may also discuss other novels, for example by referring to Mr Dalton, who poses as a benefactor but exploits poor black people paying rent on the South Side of Chicago in Native Son; or Gilbert Osmond and Madame Merle, who mislead and exploit Isabel Archer in The Portrait of a Lady. This indicative content is intended to indicate aspects of questions that may feature in candidates’ answers. It is not prescriptive, nor is it exclusive; examiners must be careful to reward original but wellfocused answers and implicit as well as explicit responses to questions. This guidance should be used in conjunction with the Level Descriptors: Comparative Essay. 30H472/02 Mark Scheme November 2020 15 Question Guidance Marks 3 Write a critical appreciation of this passage, relating your discussion to your reading of the Gothic. For the close reading questions, the dominant assessment objective is AO2. AO2, Analyse ways in which meanings are shaped in literary texts. Answers will also be assessed for AO1, Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression; and AO3, Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received. Answers to this question are likely to focus initially on the long descriptive passage at the beginning of the extract, exemplifying its engagement with the readers’ senses (‘deep, damp hollow’; ‘curiously creeping weeds’; ‘vague stench’) and noting its emphasis on age and decay (‘neglect and decrepitude’; ‘lethal silence of centuries’). They are likely to register the disturbing uncontrolled growth of plant material (‘gross luxuriance of unhealthy vegetation’), possibly relating this to the opening of Rebecca. Answers may show that the two explorers are making use of relatively modern technology of the 1920s (‘an electric lantern’… ‘a portable telephone outfit’); they may make a link to texts such as Dracula where characters attempt to employ modern machines to combat ancient threats, often without success. Candidates are likely to suggest that suspense grows throughout the paragraph, especially where the men struggle and finally manage to move the stone slab. The second paragraph aims to shock the reader further, and to emphasise the horrifying quality of the scene by intensifying the language, employing unusual and challenging vocabulary (‘effluence of miasmal gases’; ‘detestable ichor of the inner earth’). The remarkable nature of the experience is contrasted by the surprising calmness of Warren’s voice, and by his concern for Randolph Carter as a man ‘without ironclad sensibilities’. Candidates are likely to consider the effects of the setting as typically Gothic and to analyse the passage’s presentation of ‘terror’, possibly quoting Ann Radcliffe on ‘terror’ and ‘horror’. They may link the text to Dracula and Frankenstein via its interest in the dead. This indicative content is intended to indicate aspects of questions that may feature in candidates’ answers. It is not prescriptive, nor is it exclusive; examiners must be careful to reward original but wellfocused answers and implicit as well as explicit responses to questions. This guidance should be used in conjunction with the Level Descriptors: Critical appreciation of an unseen passage (close reading). 30H472/02 Mark Scheme November 2020 16 Question Guidance Marks 4 (a) Bram Stoker: Dracula ‘Gothic writing places ordinary human characters under extraordinary pressure.’ Consider how far you agree with this statement by comparing Dracula with at least one other text prescribed for this topic. For the essay questions, the dominant assessment objective is AO3. AO3, Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received. Answers will also be assessed for AO4, Explore connections across literary texts; AO1, Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression; and AO5, Explore literary texts informed by different interpretations. Answers to this question are likely to identify the ‘ordinary’ characters of the novel, and may focus in particular on Jonathan and Mina Harker and Lucy Westenra and her three suitors. Between them, these characters have some ordinary professions (solicitor, teacher, doctor), although some are a little more exotic: two are well-born, and one an American explorer. Candidates may differ on their notions of who is ‘ordinary’ (Van Helsing and Renfield probably fail to fit the bill), but examiners should be flexible on the matter as long as they offer a sensible argument to support their choices. Answers may consider the relationship of the text to genres such as the thriller, which often places characters with whom the reader can identify in remarkable situations, partly to assist in the suspension of disbelief. They may show how Dracula grounds its characters firmly in an everyday world with modern concerns and technology such as the telegraph and the typewriter, but makes them face up to the Undead using such tools as wooden stakes, crosses and garlic. Candidates are likely to discuss the masculine courage and strength demonstrated by Jonathan and by Lucy’s three suitors, and also to focus on the strength of character exhibited by Mina in her remarkable ability to withstand the power of the Count despite his direct attacks. Answers may feature other characters who have to combat villainy, such as William Vane in Dorian Gray; they may also discuss novels such as Light in August and suggest that, arguably, all of its characters are presented in an extraordinary fashion. This indicative content is intended to indicate aspects of questions that may feature in candidates’ answers. It is not prescriptive, nor is it exclusive; examiners must be careful to reward original but wellfocused answers and implicit as well as explicit responses to questions. This guidance should be used in conjunction with the Level Descriptors: Comparative Essay.H472/02 Mark Scheme November 2020 17 Question Guidance Marks 4 (b) Angela Carter: The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories* ‘In Gothic writing, settings often reflect the moods of the characters.’ By comparing The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories* with at least one other text prescribed for this topic, discuss how far you agree with this view. For the essay questions, the dominant assessment objective is AO3. AO3, Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received. Answers will also be assessed for AO4, Explore connections across literary texts; AO1, Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associate concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression; and AO5, Explore literary texts informed by different interpretations. Answers to this question are likely to select at least three stories and to discuss ways in which their characters and settings might be linked. The settings are often those of the traditional tales on which the stories are based: for example in ‘The Werewolf’, based on ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, the setting is the forest, and the narrator establishes from the start that we are in ‘the northern country’, where life is hard and dominated by superstition. Candidates may suggest here that the setting is something which reflects the character of the community, but which the central character, the girl, manages both to withstand and exploit. Candidates are very likely to write on the title story, ‘The Bloody Chamber’, and may show how the setting of the castle, initially described as a ‘lovely, sad, sea-siren of a place’, reflects the romantic mood of the seventeen-year-old heroine at the start of the story; they are likely to go on to show how the setting of the forbidden bloody chamber itself reflects both her fascination and her fear at the story’s crisis. Another atmospheric story is ‘The Erl-King’, where the forest suffers ‘introspective weather, a sickroom hush’; here, it might even be argued that the forest setting is a personification of the sinister ErlKing. Answers may draw on Gothic settings such as Dracula’s castle, the remote Arctic setting of Frankenstein’s frame narrative, the obscure attic home of Dorian Gray’s portrait or the grim Spanish Inquisition settings of The Italian. This indicative content is intended to indicate aspects of questions that may feature in candidates’ answers. It is not prescriptive, nor is it exclusive; examiners must be careful to reward original but wellfocused answers and implicit as well as explicit responses to questions. This guidance should be used in conjunction with the Level Descriptors: Comparative Essay. 30H472/02 Mark Scheme November 2020 18 Question Guidance Mark s 4 (c) ‘Gothic fiction feeds on a pleasing sort of terror.’ By comparing at least two texts prescribed for this topic, discuss how far you have found this to be the case. In your answer you must include discussion of either Dracula and/or The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories. For the essay questions, the dominant assessment objective is AO3. AO3, Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received. Answers will also be assessed for AO4, Explore connections across literary texts; AO1, Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression; and AO5, Explore literary texts informed by different interpretations. Answers to this question are likely to consider the Gothic primarily as a source of pleasure and entertainment rather than a manifestation of high art or a vehicle for expressing serious social messages. Answers on Dracula may discuss the novel as popular fiction, and consider its enormous success since publication both as a novel and also more generally in popular culture, especially film. They may consider the page-turner’s use of suspense and its exploitation of both the female victim, a sacrificial lamb to the terror genre, and the femme fatale, a figure inspiring both fear and fascination and embodied in the three vampiric ‘sisters’, from whom Dracula rescues Harker early in the novel. Answers on The Bloody Chamber are likely to consider its origins in the form of literary fairy tales and to comment on its frequently light and witty treatment of material which is sometimes sophisticated and sometimes lurid. They may show how fear in these stories is often fear of one’s own self, and of sexuality and self-expression; they may illustrate this with reference to ‘The Tiger’s Bride’, where fear – whether pleasing or not – is left behind at the end of the story as the tiger licks away the protective skin of his bride. Answers on The Picture of Dorian Gray may comment on the novel’s lavish and rich presentation of beauty which contrasts Dorian’s increasing corruption and violence; those on The Italian may discuss how early Gothic novels traded on stock figures and used them to whip up English fear and fascination with what really goes on in Catholic countries. This indicative content is intended to indicate aspects of questions that may feature in candidates’ answers. It is not prescriptive, nor is it exclusive; examiners must be careful to reward original but well-focused answers and implicit as well as explicit responses to questions. This guidance should be used in conjunction with the Level Descriptors: Comparative Essay. 30H472/02 Mark Scheme November 2020 19 Question Guidance Marks 5 Write a critical appreciation of this passage, relating your discussion to your reading of dystopian literature. For the close reading questions, the dominant assessment objective is AO2. AO2, Analyse ways in which meanings are shaped in literary texts. Answers will also be assessed for AO1, Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression; and AO3, Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received. Answers to this question are likely to note that it is written in the third person, but that the point of view throughout is that of Andrew Gill, whose thoughts are regularly reported in the narrative. Candidates are likely to suggest that Andrew is in a state of shock, apparently reacting to the nuclear explosions; his uncertainty is expressed through the questions he asks himself and his difficulty in deciding what to do. His thoughts about possible further bombs and radiation clouds may lead candidates to contextual discussion of dystopian writing about nuclear apocalypse or environmental disaster. Andrew’s thoughts about his age and his heart problem identify him as a vulnerable and ordinary man; candidates may also reference his family situation, and suggest that his life may have been disappointing to him, or that he has let them down. Answers are likely to consider the end of the passage (‘He did not wish to look’) as ominous in tone. Candidates who read the rubric attentively may note that, at the time of writing, the 1980s date of the setting was still in the future; they may think about the 1960s vintage of the passage, and even consider the novel’s title as a reference to a Cold War context in its echo of Kubrick’s 1963 film Dr Strangelove. Contextual links may be made to other dystopian texts with a vulnerable central figure, including the two core texts, or to novels which deal with environmental issues, such as The Drowned World or The Road. This indicative content is intended to indicate aspects of questions that may feature in candidates’ answers. It is not prescriptive, nor is it exclusive; examiners must be careful to reward original but wellfocused answers and implicit as well as explicit responses to questions. This guidance should be used in conjunction with the Level Descriptors: Critical appreciation of an unseen passage (close reading). 30H472/02 Mark Scheme November 2020 20 Question Guidance Marks 6 (a) George Orwell: Nineteen Eighty-Four ‘Dystopian fiction almost always makes use of bleak settings.’ By comparing Nineteen Eighty-Four with at least one other text prescribed for this topic, discuss how far you agree with this view. For the essay questions, the dominant assessment objective is AO3. AO3, Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received. Answers will also be assessed for AO4, Explore connections across literary texts; AO1, Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression; and AO5, Explore literary texts informed by different interpretations. Answers to this question are likely to suggest that the bleak settings of dystopian novels are intended to reflect or express the difficulties present in the society where the novel is based, whether these arise from the actions of a political regime or from a natural disaster. They are likely to offer some examples of bleak settings from Nineteen Eighty-Four, perhaps including the opening description of Victory Mansions, with its broken lift and smells of boiled cabbage; Winston’s characterisation of Airstrip One, or London, as a place of ‘rotten nineteenth-century houses’ and ‘sordid colonies of wooden dwellings like chicken-houses’; or the featureless cells in the Ministry of Love, where Winston is imprisoned in the later stages of the novel. They may include contextual discussion of post-War Austerity London in the 1940s, which provided the model for Orwell’s descriptions of settings for his fictional society. They may offer by way of comparison to these bleak settings the ‘Golden Country’, an idealised place which exists in Winston’s memory and imagination, and offers an escape from the bleak settings which constitute his daily life. They are likely to draw comparisons with novels such as The Time Machine, which contrasts the ‘ruinous splendour’ of the Upper world where the Eloi live with the dark underground setting of the pugnacious Morlocks’ existence. They may compare Nineteen Eighty-Four with novels where the setting is pleasant, such as Brave New World, or strangely beautiful, like The Drowned World, and provide a rationale for the nature of the settings in these novels. This indicative content is intended to indicate aspects of questions that may feature in candidates’ answers. It is not prescriptive, nor is it exclusive; examiners must be careful to reward original but well-focused answers and implicit as well as explicit responses to questions. This guidance should be used in conjunction with the Level Descriptors: Comparative Essay. 30H472/02 Mark Scheme November 2020 21 Question Guidance Marks 6 (b) Margaret Atwood: The Handmaid’s Tale ‘Dystopian fiction shows that people adapt surprisingly easily to new ideas of what is “normal”.’ By comparing The Handmaid’s Tale with at least one other text prescribed for this topic, discuss how far you agree with this view. For the essay questions, the dominant assessment objective is AO3. AO3, Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received. Answers will also be assessed for AO4, Explore connections across literary texts; AO1, Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression; and AO5, Explore literary texts informed by different interpretations. Answers to this question are likely to offer an outline of ‘normal’ life in Gilead, perhaps describing the different classes of people and their roles and indicating the demands on the Handmaids, which may be characterised as unreasonable or even outrageous. This ‘normal’ life may be compared to Offred’s life prior to the regime, which she describes in flashback and which seems more reasonable and familiar – ‘normal’, indeed – to readers from modern liberal societies. Answers may detail the way in which Offred is dismayed and demoralised when, for example, she no longer has independent access to her own money. Candidates are likely to consider the question of rebellion and resistance, and to discuss characters like Ofglen who seem more determined to seek change; some readers may feel that Offred is disappointingly passive. Answers may consider the behaviour in society as a whole, and look at the way people have adjusted by creating a life they can tolerate and even enjoy in Gilead: the Commander, for example, organises private meetings with Offred and even takes her out to illicit social gatherings which flourish under the radar. This acquiescence and partial cooperation with the Gilead regime seem to work for some of the characters in the novel, and contrast with the extreme cooperation required of citizens in Nineteen Eighty-Four, where even thoughts are monitored. Comparisons may be drawn with Orwell, as suggested, or with novels like The Road, where adjustments to a new way of living represent a constant struggle. This indicative content is intended to indicate aspects of questions that may feature in candidates’ answers. It is not prescriptive, nor is it exclusive; examiners must be careful to reward original but wellfocused answers and implicit as well as explicit responses to questions. This guidance should be used in conjunction with the Level Descriptors: Comparative Essay.H472/02 Mark Scheme November 2020 22 Question Guidance Marks 6 (c) ‘Societies in dystopian fiction often develop elaborate systems of social class.’ By comparing at least two texts prescribed for this topic, explore how far you agree with this view. In your answer you must include discussion of either Nineteen Eighty-Four and/or The Handmaid’s Tale. For the essay questions, the dominant assessment objective is AO3. AO3, Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received. Answers will also be assessed for AO4, Explore connections across literary texts; AO1, Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression; and AO5, Explore literary texts informed by different interpretations. Answers on Nineteen Eighty-Four are likely to deal with the three different classes of people described in the novel: the upper-class Inner Party, the elite ruling minority; the middle-class Outer Party; the lowerclass Proletariat, who make up 85% of the population and represent the uneducated working class. Candidates may discuss O’Brien as a member of the elite, and Winston as one of the Outer Party; they may point out that the proles are not individuated in the novel, but that Winston takes the view that ‘if there is hope [of overthrowing the Party], it lies in the proles’. They are likely to suggest that the class system is closely based on the British system in the 1940s. Answers on The Handmaid’s Tale are likely to show how the women of Gilead are elaborately divided into groupings and follow a strict dress code, ranked highest to lowest: the Commanders' Wives in blue, the Handmaids in red with the exception of white veils around their faces, the Marthas (cooks and maids) in green, ‘Econowives’ in stripes, and young and unmarried girls in white. Candidates may argue that the categories correspond fairly closely to traditional social roles for women, but that the restriction to domesticity and the requirement to dress uniformly make this society particularly sinister. Answers may draw on other novels from the list in discussion, including The Time Machine, where the Eloi and the Morlocks form distinct classes, and especially Brave New World, where society is based on cloning and conditioning groups of people to fulfil specified roles. This indicative content is intended to indicate aspects of questions that may feature in candidates’ answers. It is not prescriptive, nor is it exclusive; examiners must be careful to reward original but wellfocused answers and implicit as well as explicit responses to questions. This guidance should be used in conjunction with the Level Descriptors: Comparative Essay. 30H472/02 Mark Scheme November 2020 23 Question Guidance Marks 7 Write a critical appreciation of the passage, relating your discussion to your reading concerning Women in Literature. For the close reading questions, the dominant assessment objective is AO2. AO2, Analyse ways in which meanings are shaped in literary texts. Answers will also be assessed for AO1, Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression; and AO3, Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received. Answers to this question are likely to note that the passage is written in the third person, and that the viewpoint starts with Alix but shifts quickly to Basil. Candidates may identify the use of free indirect speech in the narrative (Alix thinks Basil ‘rather cross’; he is ‘finding life something of a bore just now’). They may suggest that both characters seem quite privileged, basing their judgement on the vocabulary of the passage and on the reference to Alix’s family (‘The Sandomirs never wore mourning’). Candidates are likely to focus on Basil’s sense of the sort of girl he wants: his craving for ‘the beautiful and the whole and the healthy’ may be found reasonable, given the problems of the time, or unreasonable, given that he is expecting the hypothetical girl to be receptive to his own damaged state. Candidates are likely to discuss Basil’s wish that life should compensate him for his bad experiences, and should do so by giving him an undemanding woman to love; his sense that Alix once was quite a rewarding companion because she was ‘clever, and nice to look at’ may suggest that he sees women to some extent as commodities. Candidates may point out that, in this passage at least, Alix’s desires are not considered. Answers are likely to discuss the wartime context of the passage, possibly making a link to Mrs Dalloway, which may also feature in discussion of the importance of memory; they may also consider the relative powerlessness of women, linking to novels like Tess of the D’Urbervilles. This indicative content is intended to indicate aspects of questions that may feature in candidates’ answers. It is not prescriptive, nor is it exclusive; examiners must be careful to reward original but wellfocused answers and implicit as well as explicit responses to questions. This guidance should be used in conjunction with the Level Descriptors: Critical appreciation of an unseen passage (close reading). 30H472/02 Mark Scheme November 2020 24 Question Guidance Marks 8 (a) Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility ‘Secrecy is an important part of the female role in literature.’ By comparing Sense and Sensibility with at least one other text prescribed for this topic, discuss how far you have found this to be the case. For the essay questions, the dominant assessment objective is AO3. AO3, Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of contexts in which literary texts are written and received. Answers will also be assessed for AO4, Explore connections across literary texts; AO1, Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression; and AO5, Explore literary texts informed by different interpretations. Answers to this question are likely to focus on secrecy in relation to romantic feelings and relationships. They may look at the subplot concerning the secret engagement between Lucy Steele and Edward Ferrars, explaining the need for discretion because of the risk of offending Mrs Ferrars; they may suggest that Lucy seems to enjoy her secret and the deceptive behaviour it entails. They may indicate that she has secured the commitment of a man’s promise of marriage but that her feelings are not engaged, so she can move on to Robert Ferrars at the end of the novel without pain. In contrast, Marianne has all of the sincere feelings for Willoughby without the promise; her passionate nature leads her to be too open about her feelings given the social norms of the time (‘Good God! Willoughby, what is the meaning of this?’). They may suggest that Marianne risks her reputation and her health as a result of her incautious attachment and lack of discretion. Candidates may suggest that secrecy about feelings is a key theme, focusing on Elinor’s silent suffering for much of the novel; they may also show that secrecy is not just a woman’s burden, since Edward Ferrars’ honour demands that he remain discreet and loyal to Lucy, despite having no love for her. Links may be made to other novels where secrecy plays a part, such as Tess of the D’Urbervilles, where the emergence of Tess’s secret past all but destroys her marriage, and Jane Eyre, where the secret presence of Bertha is an important element. This indicative content is intended to indicate aspects of questions that may feature in candidates’ answers. It is not prescriptive, nor is it exclusive; examiners must be careful to reward original but well-focused answers and implicit as well as explicit responses to questions. This guidance should be used in conjunction with the Level Descriptors: Comparative Essay. 30H472/02 Mark Scheme November 2020 25 Question Guidance Marks 8 (b) Virginia Woolf: Mrs Dalloway ‘Independence of thought and action is often the goal of female characters in literature.’ By comparing Mrs Dalloway with at least one other text prescribed for this topic, discuss how far you agree with this view. For the essay questions, the dominant assessment objective is AO3. AO3, Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received. Answers will also be assessed for AO4, Explore connections across literary texts; AO1, Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression; and AO5, Explore literary texts informed by different interpretations. Answers to this question are likely to focus on Clarissa Dalloway, and may well quote the opening of the novel where she says ‘she would buy the flowers herself.’ This may be regarded as a limited kind of independent action, and is likely to lead candidates into a discussion of the limitations of Clarissa’s role as a wife and mother with domestic staff. They may suggest that ‘thought’ is more Clarissa’s province than ‘action’ in this novel, which focuses on one day in the characters’ lives but follows their thoughts especially into past experiences, in Clarissa’s case mainly at Bourton where she grew up. Answers may show how Clarissa’s decision to marry Richard Dalloway, turning her back on more adventurous options such as Peter Walsh and even Selly Seton, is a turning point which leads her into conventionality, and a life which has narrowed as she has aged: ‘It was over for her. The sheet was stretched and the bed narrow. She had gone up into the tower alone and left them blackberrying in the sun’. Answers may follow Clarissa to the novel’s conclusion and suggest that independence of thought does ultimately take her to a more satisfying place. They are also likely to consider other female characters in relation to the idea of independence, such as Miss Kilman, the History teacher, and Elizabeth Dalloway, who is a more adventurous spirit than her mother. Links may be made to other novels which deal with female independence, such as Jane Eyre and The Bell Jar. This indicative content is intended to indicate aspects of questions that may feature in candidates’ answers. It is not prescriptive, nor is it exclusive; examiners must be careful to reward original but wellfocused answers and implicit as well as explicit responses to questions. This guidance should be used in conjunction with the Level Descriptors: Comparative Essay. 30H472/02 Mark Scheme November 2020 26 Question Guidance Marks 8 (c) ‘Female characters are shown to be more emotional and expressive than their male counterparts.’ By comparing at least two texts prescribed for this topic, explore how far you agree with this claim. In your answer you must include discussion of either Sense and Sensibility and/or Mrs Dalloway. For the essay questions, the dominant assessment objective is AO3. AO3, Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received. Answers will also be assessed for AO4, Explore connections across literary texts; AO1: Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression; and AO5, Explore literary texts informed by different interpretations. Answers on Sense and Sensibility are likely to focus on the effusions of Marianne, who seems the most emotional and expressive character in the novel. They may refer to some of her extreme emotional statements (‘Leave me, leave me, if I distress you; leave me, hate me, forget me! But do not torture me so’), and compare her with her more composed sister, Elinor. Answers may argue that Elinor is deeply emotional too, but more self-disciplined than Marianne. The men in the novel may be judged too in terms of feeling and expression, especially Willoughby (expressive but superficial?), Edward Ferrars (sincere but reserved) and Colonel Brandon (the most emotional of the three). Answers on Mrs Dalloway may equally find that the central characters are often reserved, but may suggest that Peter Walsh is more open and passionate than some, and that all of them seem to be more free and open in the parts of the novel which recreate the past at Bourton. There may be discussion of Septimus, whose shell-shock has robbed him of masculine composure, and Rezia, whose struggles to support her husband through his mental health problems leave her emotional and vulnerable. Contextual discussion of both novels is likely to focus on social expectations of controlled behaviour in both men and women. Answers are likely to bring in characters from other novels, such as Maggie Tulliver, the passionate heroine of The Mill on the Floss, and Jeanette, the feisty protagonist of Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit. This indicative content is intended to indicate aspects of questions that may feature in candidates’ answers. It is not prescriptive, nor is it exclusive; examiners must be careful to reward original but wellfocused answers and implicit as well as explicit responses to questions. This guidance should be used in conjunction with the Level Descriptors: Comparative Essay. 30H472/02 Mark Scheme November 2020 27 Question Guidance Marks 9 Write a critical appreciation of the passage, relating your discussion to your reading concerning the Immigrant Experience. For the close reading questions, the dominant assessment objective is AO2. AO2, Analyse ways in which meanings are shaped in literary texts. Answers will also be assessed for AO1, Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression; and AO3, Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received. Answers to this question are likely to note that it is written in the third person in quite an informal style. The central figure is Lillie, and the narrator characterises her to the reader in rather a chatty, familiar way (‘But Lillie had made it through, not like most’). Lillie seems to be a survivor, and her philosophy comes over as making the best of things. Selling real-estate seems to be a kind of vocation for her, because the job consists of helping people – often immigrants – to move on as and when necessary. Candidates are likely to point out that Lillie has held on to her roots in some easily perceptible ways, such as her accent (‘pipples’) and her gifts of cookies, which are distinctively European. The account of Lillie’s past seems to be written partly in her own words, and is probably based on a conversation with her (‘he’d made it through as well, it was a blessing’). Answers are likely to focus on the final paragraph, which reveals more about Lillie’s losses (‘Dead was not an absolute concept for her’). Candidates may find some poignancy in Lillie’s insistence on her good fortune (‘She’d been so lucky’), given that she seems to an outsider to have had an unusually hard life. In contextual discussion, links may be made to other texts where characters take their past experiences with them, such as Call it Sleep; they may also discuss the need for immigrants to make the best of things in texts like The Secret River. This indicative content is intended to indicate aspects of questions that may feature in candidates’ answers. It is not prescriptive, nor is it exclusive; examiners must be careful to reward original but wellfocused answers and implicit as well as explicit responses to questions. This guidance should be used in conjunction with the Level Descriptors: Critical appreciation of an unseen passage (close reading). 30H472/02 Mark Scheme November 2020 28 Question Guidance Mark s 10 (a) Henry Roth: Call it Sleep ‘The life of the immigrant offers a rich mixture of competing experiences.’ By comparing Call it Sleep with at least one other text prescribed for this topic, discuss how far you agree with this view. For the essay questions, the dominant assessment objective is AO3. AO3, Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received. Answers will also be assessed for AO4, Explore connections across literary texts; AO1, Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression; and AO5, Explore literary texts informed by different interpretations. Answers to this question are likely to focus primarily on David, who provides the point of view for the whole novel. They are likely to point out that the story is one which deals with rites of passage, and that the young David is educated in a wide range of ways which may be described as ‘competing experiences’. Answers may suggest that David gives himself completely to the different things which life offers, including his devotion to his mother, Genya, his interest in the other children he encounters and his diligent and imaginative attention to his lessons at the cheder where he studies Hebrew. Candidates may point out that David does not always understand his experiences, but that he feels them deeply; they may show how the vivid descriptions of events such as his father’s violent attack on the milk-thief and the electric shock he receives from the live trolley rail typify this vivid Modernist novel. They may develop discussion of the remarkable representation of dialogue, where phonetic spellings give a clear sense of the different accents around David. They may discuss the importance of David’s approaching puberty and the significance of his faintly developing awareness of sex, which is triggered by Leo’s assault on Esther and David’s confused sense of his parents’ complicated relationship. Answers may show how the young David is especially open to new experiences, where older characters are more closed. Candidates are likely to make links to other novels which offer vivid descriptions of host nations, such as Small Island and The Secret River. This indicative content is intended to indicate aspects of questions that may feature in candidates’ answers. It is not prescriptive, nor is it exclusive; examiners must be careful to reward original but well-focused answers and implicit as well as explicit responses to questions. This guidance should be used in conjunction with the Level Descriptors: Comparative Essay. 30H472/02 Mark Scheme November 2020 29 Question Guidance Marks 10 (b) The Reluctant Fundamentalist: Mohsin Hamid ‘Immigration narratives show a shifting balance between losses and gains.’ By comparing The Reluctant Fundamentalist with at least one other text prescribed for this topic, discuss how far you agree with this view. For the essay questions, the dominant assessment objective is AO3. AO3, Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received. Answers will also be assessed for AO4, Explore connections across literary texts; AO1, Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression; and AO5, Explore literary texts informed by different interpretations. Answers are likely to chart the developing attitudes of Changez during the novel, showing how he starts out as a model immigrant, pursuing an Ivy League academic education and securing a top job in financial services at Underwood Samson, a firm which apparently symbolises the United States. Candidates may find that Changez is treading a well-worn path here and that he is firmly in the area of ‘gains’ rather than ‘losses’. They may suggest that his developing relationship with his adopted country is reflected in his difficult courtship of Erica, and that he seems to be risking a loss of happiness and security in his attempt to become close to her. When he encourages her to pretend that he is her dead boyfriend to enable their sexual relationship to develop, he loses hope in their partnership and perhaps also in his sense of identity as a Pakistani American; he has lost the foothold in American culture which the relationship gave to him. Answers may suggest that Changez becomes increasingly aware of the challenges to his identity once he develops doubts about his host country which are exacerbated by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. From this point, he loses interest in the material rewards which his financial career can bring him, and ultimately returns to Pakistan where he perhaps gains the reward of a stronger purpose and recovered sense of identity. Links may be made to other texts which deal in the losses and gains associated with immigration, such as Brick Lane and Sour Sweet. This indicative content is intended to indicate aspects of questions that may feature in candidates’ answers. It is not prescriptive, nor is it exclusive; examiners must be careful to reward original but well-focused answers and implicit as well as explicit responses to questions. This guidance should be used in conjunction with the Level Descriptors: Comparative Essay. 30H472/02 Mark Scheme November 2020 30 Question Guidance Marks 10 (c) ‘Immigrants in literature are shown to be in danger of losing sight of their cultural origins.’ By comparing at least two texts prescribed for this topic, discuss how far you agree with this view. In your answer you must include discussion of either Call it Sleep and/or The Reluctant Fundamentalist. For the essay questions, the dominant assessment objective is AO3. AO3, Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received. Answers will also be assessed for AO4, Explore connections across literary texts; AO1, Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression; and AO5, Explore literary texts informed by different interpretations. Answers on Call it Sleep are likely to suggest that these first generation immigrants, the Schearl family, are keenly attached to their roots, and are inclined to take important aspects of their culture with them, such as the religious practices in which David is schooled at the cheder. They may point out that the various immigrants to New York tend to stick to their own national groups, but that the children are more inclined than the adults to forge relationships with others through simply playing in the street; answers may give the example of David’s friendship with Leo, who is from a Catholic family and who gives David a rosary. Answers on The Reluctant Fundamentalist may consider ways in which Changez seems initially to be prepared to leave his cultural values behind him, and adopt the high achieving material values of the US culture he has joined. They are likely to show that once he understands this new world more fully, disillusion sets in. They may indicate that Changez ultimately returns to Pakistan and rejects the American dream, which is ironically seen as its own kind of fundamentalism, relating to financial rather than religious imperatives (‘his days of focusing on the fundamentals were done’). References to other texts may draw a distinction between those concerning first generation immigrants, such as Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, where cultural origins are often foregrounded, and those about the second generation, where origins are more likely to fade into the background, such as Philip Roth’s Goodbye Columbus. This indicative content is intended to indicate aspects of questions that may feature in candidates’ answers. It is not prescriptive, nor is it exclusive; examiners must be careful to reward original but well-focused answers and implicit as well as explicit responses to questions. This guidance should be used in conjunction with the Level Descriptors: Comparative Essay. 30H472/02 Mark Scheme November 2020 31 APPENDIX 1 Assessment Objective weightings for this component are given as percentages. Assessment Objectives Grid Question AO1% AO2% AO3% AO4% AO5% Total% 1 2.5 15 2.5 0 0 20 3 2.5 15 2.5 0 0 20 5 2.5 15 2.5 0 0 20 7 2.5 15 2.5 0 0 20 9 2.5 15 2.5 0 0 20 2(a) 2.5 0 10 5 2.5 20 2(b) 2.5 0 10 5 2.5 20 2(c) 2.5 0 10 5 2.5 20 4(a) 2.5 0 10 5 2.5 20 4(b) 2.5 0 10 5 2.5 20 4(c) 2.5 0 10 5 2.5 20 6(a) 2.5 0 10 5 2.5 20 6(b) 2.5 0 10 5 2.5 20 6(c) 2.5 0 10 5 2.5 20 8(a) 2.5 0 10 5 2.5 20 8(b) 2.5 0 10 5 2.5 20 8(c) 2.5 0 10 5 2.5 20 10(a) 2.5 0 10 5 2.5 20 10(b) 2.5 0 10 5 2.5 20 10(c) 2.5 0 10 5 2.5 20 Totals 5% 15% 12.5% 5% 2.5% 40%OCR (Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations) The Triangle Building Shaftesbury Road Cambridge CB2 8EA [Show More]

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