Free flashcards · OxfordAQA A Level · 9675

English Literature flashcards

32 cards covering every topic of the 9675 syllabus (Version 5.3, for International AS exams from May/June 2018, A-level from May/June 2019). Study one topic or mix them all, turn each card, and mark yourself honestly.

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AS Topic 1: Unit 1 – Aspects of Dramatic Tragedy

How is OxfordAQA 9675 Unit 1 (Aspects of Dramatic Tragedy) set out?: 2 hours, closed book, 50 marks: 50% of the International AS and 20% of the A-level. Section A a passage-based question on an Elizabethan or Jacobean tragedy (25), Section B an essay on a later tragedy (25).
Which plays are set for 9675 Unit 1 Section A?: One of Othello, King Lear, Hamlet, Doctor Faustus (B text) and The Duchess of Malfi.
What does Unit 1 Section A require?: Close reading of the given extract's language and dramatic method first, then connecting outward to how that moment works in the play's tragic structure.
What does Iago's "the green-eyed monster" show about jealousy in Othello?: Iago warns Othello against jealousy while deliberately provoking it; the image presents jealousy as a devouring creature, and the irony shows his manipulation.
What does Lear's "Nothing will come of nothing" reveal in the opening scene?: Lear's angry reply to Cordelia's refusal to flatter him shows his pride and his blindness to true love, the error of judgement that sets his downfall in motion.
What is the tragic significance of Faustus's pact in Doctor Faustus?: He sells his soul for twenty-four years of knowledge and power. His pride and refusal to repent, despite chances, drive the morality-play structure to damnation.
Which plays are set for 9675 Unit 1 Section B?: One of Death of a Salesman, A Streetcar Named Desire, Hedda Gabler, Waiting for Godot and Translations.
What does Unit 1 Section B require?: A sustained, genre-focused essay on the whole play, with memorised evidence from several points in the text.
What are hamartia and catharsis?: Hamartia: the tragic hero's fatal flaw or error of judgement. Catharsis: the release of pity and fear the audience experiences through the tragedy.
Why does Unit 1 set tragedies from two different periods?: To test whether your understanding of tragic convention (flawed protagonists, pride, blindness and insight, pity and fear) transfers across eras.
What makes a genre-focused answer stronger than a plot-and-theme answer?: It debates whether the play uses, complicates or subverts each tragic convention, rather than only identifying that the convention is present.

AS Topic 2: Unit 2 – Place in Literary Texts

How is OxfordAQA 9675 Unit 2 (Place in Literary Texts) set out?: 2 hours, open book (clean copies), 50 marks: 50% of the International AS and 20% of the A-level. Section A an essay on a prose text (25), Section B an essay on a poetry selection (25).
Which prose texts are set for 9675 Unit 2 Section A?: One of Heart of Darkness, The Great Gatsby, Americanah, Small Island, Last Man in Tower and The Remains of the Day.
Name some angles on "place" that a Unit 2 essay can explore.: Specific locations; the setting in place and time; the natural world; social identity and class; place as a setting for relationships; place as a political space; home and homeland; the language used for place.
Why should a Unit 2 essay range beyond geography?: "Place" is left deliberately open, so strong essays use several angles, such as class, home or politics, not location alone.
Which poets are set for 9675 Unit 2 Section B?: A selection by one of William Wordsworth, Robert Frost, Thomas Hardy or Seamus Heaney.
How do poets use the natural world to explore place?: Landscape can carry beauty, memory or loss, or show its despoliation, and often reflects the speaker's feelings or a wider social change.
How should you prepare for an open-book poetry essay?: Know the selection well enough to find strong evidence quickly across several poems, and have links between poems ready by theme and method.
What is a lyric poem?: A short poem expressing a single speaker's thoughts and feelings, often about a moment, place or memory.

A Level Topic 3: Unit 3 – Elements of Crime and Mystery

What elements of crime and mystery writing should you look for?: The crime and how it is revealed; the investigator; suspects; clues and red herrings; setting; narrative method; and the resolution (is order restored and justice complete?).
What is a red herring?: A misleading clue that points suspicion in the wrong direction, keeping the mystery open and the reader guessing.
What are the "two stories" in much crime fiction?: The crime that happened in the past and the investigation in the present. The writer controls the order in which information reaches the reader.
What is delayed revelation, and what is its effect?: Withholding the culprit or a key fact until late. It sustains suspense and can force the reader to re-read earlier scenes differently.
How can the criminal be presented in crime writing?: As monstrous, as a victim of circumstance, or as uncomfortably close to ordinary people, which shapes the reader's sympathy and judgement.
Why ask whether a crime text follows or breaks the genre's conventions?: Conventions can satisfy readers or be broken to surprise or challenge them, so ask what the writer gains either way.
How is OxfordAQA 9675 Unit 3 assessed?: A 2-hour closed-book exam worth 50 marks and 30% of the International A-level: two essays of 25 marks, one on each of two texts chosen from the set list. The specification says two from eight but prints nine texts.

A Level Topic 4: Unit 4 – Literary Representations

What does representation mean in Unit 4?: The way a text portrays a person, group, place, event or idea through choices of language, structure, viewpoint and form: a construction, not a mirror.
What questions should you ask about a representation?: Who is represented and who is missing or silent; who does the representing; what is emphasised or left out; what attitude is invited; and whether it stays stable.
How does narrative viewpoint shape representation?: First person presents others subjectively, possibly unreliably. Third person can seem objective but still guides judgement through selection and tone.
How can structure shape a representation?: Where and how often a character appears matters: a figure kept at the margins is represented differently from one at the centre.
How should context be used in a representation essay?: Show how attitudes of the time (to class, gender, race, empire or religion) shape or are challenged by a feature of the text, using only facts you are sure of.
What does it mean when a character is given no direct speech?: They are represented only through others' words, which can silence them and shows whose perspective the text privileges.

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Written for OxfordAQA International AS and A-level English Literature (9675), syllabus 9675 (Version 5.3, for International AS exams from May/June 2018, A-level from May/June 2019).

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