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English Literature flashcards

32 cards covering every topic of the 4ET1 syllabus (For first teaching 2016). Study one topic or mix them all, turn each card, and mark yourself honestly.

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Topic 1: Component 1: Poetry and Modern Prose (examined)

How is 4ET1 Component 1 set out?: 2 hours, 90 marks, 60% of the qualification: Section A unseen poem (20 marks), Section B comparing two anthology poems (30 marks), Section C modern prose (40 marks).
What are the four assessment objectives in 4ET1?: AO1 an informed, textually supported personal response; AO2 analysis of language, form and structure and their effects; AO3 comparison of texts; AO4 understanding of the relationship between texts and their contexts.
What does 4ET1 Component 1 Section A require?: Analysis of an unseen poem printed on the paper, marked on AO2 only: how language, form and structure create meaning and effect. The paper recommends 35 minutes.
What three areas should a Section A unseen-poem answer cover?: Language (imagery, word choice, sound), form (rhyme, metre, stanza shape) and structure (how the poem develops or shifts), each point rooted in a short quotation with its effect.
What is assonance, and what can it do?: Repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words. It links words in the ear and can slow the pace or create a mournful, musical or harmonious tone.
What does 4ET1 Component 1 Section B require?: A 30-mark comparison of two anthology poems (AO2 and AO3), from a choice of two questions. The paper recommends 40 minutes.
How should a two-poem comparison be organised?: By point of comparison, not poem by poem: "both poets use natural imagery, but Poem A does X while Poem B does Y". Without direct comparison the AO3 marks are lost.
What is a dramatic monologue? Give a 4ET1 anthology example.: A poem spoken by a single character to a silent listener, revealing more about the speaker than they intend. Robert Browning's My Last Duchess is an example.
How does "Let me not to the marriage of true minds / Admit impediments" open Sonnet 116?: Shakespeare's speaker defines true love by what it is not, echoing the marriage service. The sonnet goes on to present love as constant and unaltered by time.
What is the effect of the question form in Blake's The Tyger?: The poem is built from unanswered questions about who could create the tiger ("Tyger Tyger, burning bright"), conveying awe and unease about a creator of both beauty and terror.
What form is Dylan Thomas's Do not go gentle into that good night?: A villanelle: nineteen lines with two refrains that repeat throughout. The insistent repetition mirrors the speaker's urgent plea to his dying father.
What does 4ET1 Component 1 Section C require?: A 40-mark essay on the studied modern prose text from a choice of two questions, marked on AO1 and AO4 (context). It is closed book; the paper recommends 45 minutes.
Which modern prose texts are set for 4ET1?: To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, The Whale Rider, The Joy Luck Club, Things Fall Apart, Klara and the Sun, and Western Lane.
How do you track a character or theme in a Section C answer?: At least three distinct points (the beginning, a turning point, and the ending or a late development), with specific evidence at each and context explaining why it develops as it does.
How should context be used in Section C?: Woven into the argument (social, historical, cultural) to explain choices in the text, not bolted on as a separate final paragraph.
How can a setting be used to show a character's state of mind?: Track the same setting, or a contrasting pair, at two points in the novel and use each to make an explicit claim about how the character has developed.

Topic 2: Component 2: Modern Drama and Literary Heritage Texts (examined)

How is 4ET1 Component 2 set out?: 1 hour 30 minutes, 60 marks, 40% of the qualification: two 30-mark essays, Section A Modern Drama and Section B Literary Heritage Texts. Unmarked copies of the set texts are allowed.
Which modern drama texts are set for 4ET1?: A View from the Bridge, An Inspector Calls, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (adapted by Simon Stephens), Kindertransport, and Death and the King's Horseman.
Which assessment objectives does the Modern Drama essay test?: AO1 (a personal response supported by evidence) and AO2 (how the playwright's language, stage directions, structure and form create meaning for an audience).
Why are stage directions worth analysing?: They are the playwright's deliberate choices about what an audience sees and hears, so they are markable evidence, not scenery.
What should you revise for an open-book drama paper?: Fast navigation: where key scenes and speeches sit in the text, so you can find and analyse them quickly. Word-perfect memorising matters less.
Which literary heritage texts are set for 4ET1?: Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice, Pride and Prejudice, Great Expectations and The Scarlet Letter.
Which assessment objectives does the Literary Heritage essay test?: AO1, AO2 and AO4. AO4 (context) is available only in this section of Component 2, so it must not be forgotten.
How do you earn AO4 in every paragraph?: Connect a specific textual choice to a named historical, social or cultural condition of the time it was written, rather than writing vaguely about "the context of the time".
What is the commonest timing failure on Component 2?: Letting the Section A drama essay overrun, which leaves Section B's context analysis rushed. Allow about 45 minutes per essay.
How does Macbeth's "Is this a dagger which I see before me" show his state of mind?: The vision of a dagger before the murder of Duncan dramatises his disturbed imagination and the pull of the deed, blurring what is real and what is guilty fantasy.

Topic 3: Component 3: Modern Drama and Literary Heritage Texts (non-examined)

What is 4ET1 Component 3?: The coursework alternative to Component 2: 40% of the qualification, 60 marks, one essay on a modern drama text (Assignment A, 30) and one on a literary heritage text (Assignment B, 30), centre-assessed and moderated by Pearson.
Which assessment objectives does Assignment A (Modern Drama) test?: AO1 (15 marks: reading, understanding and interpreting) and AO2 (15 marks: analysing language, form and structure and their effects).
What makes a good coursework essay task?: A question that invites an argument about the writer's methods and is narrow enough to explore in depth, rather than a broad topic.
Which assessment objectives does Assignment B (Literary Heritage) test?: AO1 (10 marks), AO2 (10 marks) and AO4 context (10 marks). Unlike Assignment A, context is assessed.
How should a literary heritage essay handle context?: Treat the text as a product of, and response to, its era: link a theme or choice to a real social or historical condition of the time, within the analysis.
Why must coursework be your own work?: It is internally assessed and moderated, so plagiarism or uncredited help can lead to serious penalties. Acknowledge any critic's idea and keep your drafts.

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Written for Pearson Edexcel International GCSE English Literature (4ET1), syllabus 4ET1 (For first teaching 2016).

Cards by Marlbridge Academic Team. This deck has not yet been reviewed as a whole by a subject teacher. Report an error.

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