Unit 3 Poetry and Prose (YET01): Revision Notes

Unit 3 (WET03) of Pearson Edexcel International Advanced Level English Literature (YET01) is a two-hour, open-book exam worth 50 marks and 25% of the full International A Level. Section A is one compulsory 20-mark essay on an unseen post-1900 poem (AO1, AO2). Section B is one 30-mark comparative essay on two prose texts from one theme, chosen from two questions (AO1, AO2, AO3, AO4). For the full method, use the Unit 3 study guide.

Unit 3 at a glance

Detail	Section A: Poetry (3.3)	Section B: Prose (3.4)
Task	One compulsory essay on one unseen post-1900 poem, printed in a Source Booklet	One comparative essay, from a choice of two, on your two theme texts
Marks	20	30
AOs	AO1, AO2	AO1, AO2, AO3, AO4
Preparation	Skills from Unit 1 applied to unseen poems	Two prose fiction texts from one of four themes

Exam: 2 hours, open book, 50 marks, available January and June; first assessed January 2017. Unit 3 is an IA2 unit, so it counts only towards the full International A Level, not the International AS.

Timing tip: split the time roughly in proportion to the marks: about 45–50 minutes for Section A and 70–75 minutes for Section B.

Prose themes and texts

You study two of the three texts in one theme.

Theme	Texts
1 Growing Up	The Color Purple (Walker); Great Expectations (Dickens); What Maisie Knew (James)
2 Colonisation and After	Heart of Darkness (Conrad); The Lonely Londoners (Selvon); A Passage to India (Forster)
3 Science and Society	Frankenstein (Shelley); The Handmaid’s Tale (Atwood); Never Let Me Go (Ishiguro)
4 Women and Society	Beloved (Morrison); Mrs Dalloway (Woolf); Wuthering Heights (Brontë)

The assessment objectives in Unit 3

AO	Wording	Section A	Section B
AO1	Articulate informed, personal and creative responses, using concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression	Yes	Yes
AO2	Analyse ways in which meanings are shaped in literary texts	Yes	Yes
AO3	Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which texts are written and received	—	Yes
AO4	Explore connections across literary texts	—	Yes

Across the full International A Level, Unit 3 contributes AO1 7.5%, AO2 7.5%, AO3 5% and AO4 5%. AO5 (different interpretations) is not assessed in Unit 3.

Section A: approaching the unseen poem

The 3.3 learning outcomes ask you to show understanding of the function of key features of poetry, read for detail of how poets use and adapt language, form and structure, explore attitudes and values, and use critical terminology with discrimination.

A reliable sequence (about 10 minutes of reading and planning):

1. First reading: What is the situation? Who speaks, to whom, and when?
2. Second reading: Mark the turn or shift (tense, tone, addressee, stanza break).
3. Form and structure: stanza pattern, line length, enjambment, rhyme or its absence, the ending.
4. Language: imagery clusters, diction, sound, voice.
5. Attitudes and values: What does the poem seem to value or question?
6. Thesis: one sentence answering the question.

Context and comparison are not rewarded in Section A, so stay with the poem.

Section B: writing the comparative prose essay

The questions “require learners to compare the two prose texts and consider relevant contextual factors”. So every paragraph should do three things: analyse a method, compare it across the texts, and connect it to context.

Skill	Weak	Strong
AO4 comparison	Text A essay, then Text B essay	Integrated paragraphs organised by idea
AO3 context	A paragraph of history	Context explaining a writer’s choice, including context of reception
AO2 analysis	Plot reference	Narrative voice, structure, symbolism, setting

Comparative connectives worth using

Whereas, similarly, by contrast, both writers, where Shelley… Ishiguro instead…, this difference reflects…

Worked example: a Theme 3 comparative paragraph

Question focus: the presentation of creators and the created.

“Both novels deny their created beings a stable place in society, but they do so through opposite narrative methods. Shelley lets the creature speak at length in the central part of the novel, so his eloquence argues against Victor’s view of him as a monster; Ishiguro gives Kathy a calm, restrained voice that never openly protests her fate, so the horror lies in her acceptance. Shelley wrote in an age of new experiments with electricity and anatomy, and Ishiguro after debates about cloning in the 1990s, yet both novels move the question from whether science can create life to whether society will accept responsibility for the lives it creates.”

This combines AO2 (narrative voice and structure), AO4 (comparison within the paragraph), AO3 (contexts of production) and AO1 (an argued, personal judgement).

Common mistakes / exam traps

• Bringing context into Section A. The unseen-poem essay rewards AO1 and AO2 only.
• Writing two separate mini-essays in Section B. AO4 rewards connections across texts.
• Treating “open book” as “no revision”. You still need to know where key passages are; time spent searching is time lost.
• Context as biography. AO3 covers contexts in which texts are written and received, and must be tied to the text.
• Feature-spotting in the unseen. Naming enjambment without explaining its effect does not meet AO2.
• Ignoring the question’s key word. The two Section B questions differ; plan around the one you choose.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Unit 3 poem one I have studied? No. Section A uses an unseen post-1900 poem printed in a Source Booklet. You apply the poetry skills you developed in Unit 1.

Do I compare in Section A? No. Section A is one essay on one poem, assessing AO1 and AO2. Comparison (AO4) is assessed in Section B.

Can I take my prose texts into the exam? Yes. Unit 3 is an open-book examination; check your centre’s guidance on the editions allowed.

Do I need critics in Unit 3? AO5 (different interpretations) is not assessed in Unit 3, so critics are optional. Spend the time on analysis, comparison and context.

Syllabus coverage

Pearson Edexcel International Advanced Level English Literature (YET01), specification Issue 7 (February 2026), Unit 3: Poetry and Prose (WET03/01) — 3.2 assessment information, 3.3 Poetry learning outcomes and 3.4 Prose learning outcomes and texts; assessment objectives AO1–AO4 and their Unit 3 weightings.

Self-test

1. How many marks is Section A worth, and which AOs? (20; AO1 and AO2.)
2. How many prose texts do you study, and from how many themes? (Two texts from one theme.)
3. Name the three texts in Theme 2. (Heart of Darkness, The Lonely Londoners, A Passage to India.)
4. Which AO is not assessed in Unit 3? (AO5.)
5. What does AO3 include besides the context of writing? (The context in which texts are received.)

Related pages

• Unit 3 study guide
• Unit 3 practice questions
• Post-2000 Poetry and Prose revision notes

Official specification

Pearson Edexcel International Advanced Subsidiary/Advanced Level in English Literature, Issue 7 — qualifications.pearson.com.