Flashcards · 4ET1 · Topic 1

Component 1: Poetry and Modern Prose (examined) flashcards

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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.