Pearson Edexcel IGCSE English Literature: Component 3 Non-Examined Assessment — Practice Questions (4ET1)

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, for revision and practice on this content. They are not reproduced past-paper questions, and they do not replicate the exam’s exact structure, question count or mark tariffs — examination boards hold copyright in their own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers available free from your board.

Related: Component 3 revision notes · Component 3 study guide

Component 3 of Pearson Edexcel International GCSE English Literature (4ET1) is two coursework essays of about 650–800 words: Assignment A on a modern drama set text (AO1 15, AO2 15) and Assignment B on a literary heritage set text (AO1 10, AO2 10, AO4 10). The tasks below follow the wording of the specification’s model assignments. Section A covers rules and task-setting; Sections B and C give full assignment titles with indicative content mapped to the assessment objectives and the five-level grids.

Section A: Rules and task-setting

1. State which assessment objective is assessed in Assignment B but not in Assignment A, and how many marks it carries. [2]

2. A learner writes both assignments on Shakespeare plays. Explain why this is not allowed. [2]

3. Rewrite the following as an Assignment B task in the specification’s style: “Write about Shylock.” [2]

4. A teacher reads a draft and rewrites a learner’s introduction. Explain why this breaks the rules. [2]

5. Explain what “best fit” marking means in Component 3. [2]

Section B: Assignment A, Modern Drama (30 marks each)

6. Explore the ways in which Priestley presents responsibility in An Inspector Calls. You must consider language, form and structure. [30]

7. In what ways does Miller present Eddie Carbone as a tragic figure in A View from the Bridge? You must consider language, form and structure. [30]

Section C: Assignment B, Literary Heritage Texts (30 marks each)

8. How does Shakespeare present the consequences of ambition in Macbeth? You must consider language, form and structure and refer to the context of the play. [30]

9. “Hawthorne shows that public shame does more harm to the community than to Hester.” To what extent do you agree? You must consider language, form and structure and refer to the context of The Scarlet Letter. [30]

10. How does Shakespeare present conflict between generations in Romeo and Juliet? You must consider language, form and structure and refer to the context of the play. [30]

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Answers

1. AO4, understanding the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written [1]; 10 marks [1].

2. Learners study one modern drama text for Assignment A and one literary heritage text for Assignment B [1]; all of the Shakespeare plays on the list are literary heritage texts, so there would be no modern drama assignment [1].

3. For example: “How does Shakespeare present Shylock as both victim and villain in The Merchant of Venice? You must consider language, form and structure and refer to the context of the play.” [1 for a focused question, 1 for including the AO2 and AO4 requirements]

4. Teachers may suggest only general improvements at draft stage [1]; making corrections is the learner’s responsibility, and the work must be the learner’s own [1].

5. The mark is placed in the level that best describes the work overall [1], balancing strengths and weaknesses; work with some Level 4 features but mostly Level 3 might receive a high Level 3 [1].

Question 6: indicative content

AO	Points a strong answer might make
AO1 (15)	The Inspector’s questioning reveals each Birling’s part in Eva Smith’s death; Sheila and Eric accept responsibility, while Mr and Mrs Birling refuse; a personal judgement on whether the play’s message is convincing
AO2 (15)	Dramatic irony in Birling’s speeches (the “unsinkable” Titanic); the Inspector’s role as a structural device who controls entrances and the order of revelations; the lighting direction changing from “pink and intimate” to “brighter and harder”; the Inspector’s final speech; the twist ending with the telephone call

Context is not assessed here, so references to 1912 or 1945 should be brief and serve the argument about methods. The specification’s model for this text (“Explore the ways in which Priestley presents women”) shows the expected form of task.

Level guidance. Level 3 (13–18) shows “sound understanding of language, form and structure”. Level 5 (25–30) requires “cohesive evaluation”, for example arguing that the final telephone call, announcing a girl’s death and an inspector on his way, threatens to repeat the whole evening, so the Birlings who have learned nothing must face it again and responsibility passes to the audience.

Question 7: indicative content

AO	Points a strong answer might make
AO1 (15)	Eddie’s protectiveness of Catherine, his hostility to Rodolpho, his betrayal of the brothers to the Immigration Bureau, and his death; personal judgement on how far he deserves sympathy
AO2 (15)	Alfieri as a chorus figure whose opening and closing speeches frame the action as inevitable; the play’s two-act structure building to a crisis; stage directions of physical tension (the boxing lesson, the chair-lifting); Eddie’s inarticulacy contrasted with Alfieri’s language; elements of classical tragedy

Model paragraph. “Miller places Alfieri outside the action so that the audience is told from the start that the story ran ‘its bloody course’. Knowing the ending, the audience watches Eddie’s choices as a lawyer would watch a case: each step seems avoidable, yet Alfieri’s helplessness tells us it is not. This framing gives Eddie the stature of a tragic hero while making his flaw, an inability to name what he feels, the cause of his fall.”

Question 8: indicative content

AO	Points a strong answer might make
AO1 (10)	Macbeth’s murder of Duncan; Banquo’s murder; the slaughter of Macduff’s family; Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking and death; Macbeth’s despair and death
AO2 (10)	Imagery of blood, sleep and darkness; soliloquies tracing Macbeth’s change (“vaulting ambition”; “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow”); the structure of rise and fall; the shift of Lady Macbeth’s language from command to fragmented prose
AO4 (10)	The Jacobean belief in the divine right of kings and the Great Chain of Being, so regicide disturbs nature itself; James I’s interest in witchcraft; tragedy as a genre; a modern audience’s possible psychological reading

Level guidance. Level 4 shows “detailed awareness of the relationship between text and contexts”; Level 5 integrates it “convincingly”. The difference is whether context explains a choice, such as the storms and unnatural events after Duncan’s murder.

Question 9: indicative content

AO	Points a strong answer might make
AO1 (10)	Hester’s public punishment and later work among the poor; Dimmesdale’s hidden guilt and decline; Chillingworth’s revenge; the townspeople’s changing reading of the letter
AO2 (10)	The scarlet letter as a symbol whose meaning shifts; the scaffold scenes as a structural frame; the narrator’s ironic commentary on the Puritan community; light and shadow imagery around Pearl
AO4 (10)	The 17th-century Puritan setting of Boston and its fusion of religious and civil law; Hawthorne writing in the 19th century about his ancestors’ society; the novel’s reception as a critique of public moralism

A top answer argues “to what extent”, for example that shame destroys the hidden sinner (Dimmesdale) more than the punished one, which suggests Hawthorne’s target is the community’s hypocrisy.

Question 10: indicative content

AO	Points a strong answer might make
AO1 (10)	The feud of the elder Capulets and Montagues; Capulet’s anger when Juliet refuses Paris; the Nurse’s and Friar’s roles as substitute parents; the reconciliation after the lovers’ deaths
AO2 (10)	The Prologue’s sonnet form announcing “ancient grudge”; contrast of the lovers’ shared sonnet with Capulet’s violent prose-like outbursts; dramatic irony; structure compressing events into a few days
AO4 (10)	Elizabethan expectations of daughters’ obedience and arranged marriage; patriarchal authority of fathers; a modern audience’s response to Capulet’s threats

Frequently asked questions

Do I need critics in Component 3? No. The grids reward knowledge, critical style, analysis and, in Assignment B, context. Your own informed personal engagement is what AO1 asks for.

How many quotations should an 800-word essay include? Enough to support each point, kept short. Level 5 asks for “discriminating use of relevant examples”, which means choosing the best, not the most.

Should I write about performance in Assignment A? Yes. AO2 includes form, and for a play that means staging, stage directions and the audience’s experience.

Official specification

Pearson Edexcel International GCSE in English Literature (4ET1), Issue 3, Component 3 — qualifications.pearson.com.