Flashcards · A Level English Literature · Topic 1

Literary genres flashcards

10 cards on Topic 1, subtopics 3.1.1 to 3.1.2. Pick a subtopic or study them all.

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How is AQA English Literature B Paper 1 (Literary genres) set out?: 2 hours 30 minutes, closed book, 75 marks, 40% of the A-level, on one option (Tragedy or Comedy): Section A a Shakespeare passage, Section B a Shakespeare essay, Section C an essay linking two further texts. 25 marks each.
What are the five assessment objectives in AQA English Literature?: AO1 an informed, accurate, well-expressed personal response; AO2 how meanings are shaped in texts; AO3 the significance of contexts; AO4 connections across texts; AO5 different interpretations.
What is a tragic hero?: A protagonist of high standing whose downfall arises from their own choices or flaw as well as circumstance, arousing the audience's pity and fear.
Hamartia, hubris and catharsis: what does each mean?: Hamartia: the tragic flaw or error of judgement. Hubris: excessive pride that defies limits. Catharsis: the release of pity and fear the audience feels at the end.
What does a genre-led answer do that a text-led answer does not?: It debates how the text uses, subverts or complicates the genre's conventions (does the ending really achieve catharsis?) rather than summarising plot and features.
What does the Section C linking essay require?: An essay connecting two further texts within the genre option, from a choice of two questions. One text must be drama and one must be written before 1900.

Which conventions belong to the Aspects of Comedy option?: Comic resolution, misunderstanding or mistaken identity, social correction, and the restoration of order by the end.
What is the comic resolution, and why question it?: The ending that restores order, often through marriage. Strong answers ask whether it is fully satisfying or leaves some characters excluded or uneasy.
What is the role of disguise and mistaken identity in comedy?: They create misunderstanding and confusion that drive the plot and allow the text to play with identity, gender and status before order is restored.
Why does Paper 1 need a memorised quotation bank?: It is closed book, unlike Paper 2, so quotations for the Shakespeare play and the further texts must be learned in advance.