IGCSE English Literature: Paper 1 - Poetry and Prose — Practice Questions

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, in the style and at the standard of the examination. They are not reproduced past-paper questions — examination boards hold copyright in their own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers available free from your board, applying them to whichever set texts you are actually studying.

Related: Paper 1 – Poetry and Prose study guide and revision notes.

Section A

1. State the total length and total marks of Paper 1, and how the marks are divided between its two sections. [3]

2. Name the four assessment objectives tested on every Paper 1 question. [4]

3. State Cambridge’s own definition of the command word “Explore.” [1]

Section B

4. Explain why Paper 1 is described as rewarding “close, textual analysis over recall,” given how the passages are presented on the exam paper. [3]

5. A student’s answer to an “Explore the ways in which…” question briefly mentions six different quotations from the extract, spending only one sentence on each. Explain why this approach is unlikely to score highly, and suggest a better strategy. [4]

6. A paragraph states a point about a character, quotes a short phrase describing them, explains what a specific word in that phrase suggests, and closes by linking this to the writer’s likely intention.

(a) Identify which assessment objectives this paragraph is addressing, and explain how. [4] (b) Explain why this paragraph structure tends to satisfy AO4 without needing a separate “I think…” sentence. [2]

7. Explain the difference between the two question styles Cambridge sets on this paper — a direct personal-response question and an implied one — and explain how recognising the difference should change how explicitly personal response appears in the answer. [3]

8. A candidate spends 55 minutes on their first answer because it “feels finished,” leaving only 35 minutes for their second 25-mark answer.

(a) Explain why this timing approach is likely to cost the candidate marks overall. [2] (b) Suggest a better approach to dividing the 90 minutes between the two answers. [2]

9. Explain why misquoting the printed text, even in a small way, undermines an analysis that focuses on a specific word choice. [2]

10. Explain why “narrating the plot of the extract” earns only limited credit on Paper 1, even if the narration is entirely accurate. [3]

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Answers

1. Paper 1 is 1 hour 30 minutes long and worth 50 marks in total [1], divided into Section A (Poetry, 25 marks) and Section B (Prose, 25 marks) [2].

2. AO1 (knowledge of the content of the text, shown through reference to detail and quotation), AO2 (understanding of characters, relationships, situations and themes), AO3 (understanding of the writer’s intentions and methods, including response to their use of language), and AO4 (personal response) [4].

3. “Write in detail about particular aspects” [1].

4. Because the relevant passage or poem is printed on the question paper itself, candidates do not need to memorise the text word for word [1]; this means revision time is better spent practising how to analyse an unfamiliar or partly familiar extract in detail — moving through what happens, what it reveals, how the writer achieves the effect, and a personal response — rather than rote-learning quotations [2].

5. Six briefly mentioned quotations are unlikely to score highly because “Explore” specifically asks for sustained, detailed engagement with a small number of well-chosen moments, not broad coverage of the whole extract [2]. A better strategy is to select two or three quotations and unpack each fully for language, structure and effect, since this depth of analysis is what the command word is asking for and what the mark scheme rewards over breadth [2].

6. (a) AO1 is addressed by referring to specific textual detail (the quoted phrase) [1]; AO3 is addressed by analysing the specific word choice within that quotation [1]; AO2 is addressed if the point relates to character, relationship or theme [1]; and AO4 is addressed by connecting the analysis to the writer’s likely intention or effect on the reader [1]. (b) Because personal response is being demonstrated through the quality and direction of the analysis itself — what the writer’s choice is shown to achieve and why it matters — rather than requiring a separate, explicitly stated opinion sentence, which examiners identify as a weaker, more mechanical way of meeting AO4 [2].

7. A direct personal-response question (“What do you think about…”) asks candidates to state and support their own view explicitly from the outset [1]. An implied question (“Explore the ways in which…”) asks candidates to build toward personal response through detailed analysis, rather than stating an opinion upfront [1]. Recognising which style is set changes whether personal response should be stated directly and early, or allowed to emerge naturally through the analysis across the answer [1].

8. (a) Spending 55 minutes on the first answer leaves only 35 minutes for the second 25-mark answer, which is likely to result in a rushed, underdeveloped second response that cannot access the same range of marks as a properly planned answer, even if the first answer scores very highly [2]. (b) A roughly even split between the two answers, for example around 5 minutes reading and planning and 35–38 minutes writing for each, protects the overall mark total more reliably than writing until the first answer “feels finished” [2].

9. Misquoting the text undermines the analysis because the candidate is claiming to analyse the effect of a specific word or phrase choice; if the quotation is inaccurate, the analysis is no longer describing what the writer actually wrote, which examiners notice and which weakens the credibility of the AO3 analysis being offered [2].

10. Narrating the plot only demonstrates baseline AO1 knowledge of what happens in the text, without engaging with AO2 (understanding of meaning), AO3 (analysis of the writer’s methods) or AO4 (personal response) [2]. Since all four assessment objectives are marked on every question, an accurate but purely descriptive answer cannot access the marks reserved for analysis and personal engagement, no matter how accurate the plot summary is [1].

A note on exam technique for this topic

Because Paper 1’s passages are printed fresh on the exam paper, the skill genuinely being tested is analysis under exam conditions, not memorisation — the most productive practice is annotating unfamiliar or partly familiar extracts cold and building a timed answer that folds all four assessment objectives into each paragraph, rather than writing them as four separate sections. Keep a close eye on timing discipline in practice sessions specifically, since a strong first answer that overruns is one of the most common ways marks are lost on this paper — not through poor textual knowledge, but through leaving too little time for the second response to be developed properly.