IGCSE English Literature: Paper 2 - Drama — Practice Questions

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, testing exam technique and understanding of Paper 2’s structure rather than reproducing analysis of any specific set play. Use these alongside genuine study of the plays you are actually sitting the exam for.

Related: Paper 2 – Drama study guide and revision notes.

Section A

1. State the total length, total marks, and percentage weighting of Paper 2 within the qualification. [3]

2. State the “one-of-each” rule that governs which two questions a candidate must answer. [2]

3. Name the four assessment objectives tested on this paper, and their weighting. [4]

Section B

4. Explain why Paper 2 is described as a “closed-book” paper, and what this means for how a candidate should prepare quotations. [3]

5. A candidate answers two essay questions, one on each set text, believing this is a valid combination since both plays are covered.

(a) Explain why this combination is not permitted. [2] (b) State the correct combination of question types required. [1]

6. A candidate answers a passage-based question by giving a general character survey of the play, only briefly referring to the printed extract itself. Explain why this approach is likely to score poorly, and what the candidate should have done instead. [3]

7. A candidate writes a paragraph that accurately quotes the text and comments on the playwright’s use of language, but never states their own view of the effect being created.

(a) Identify which assessment objective this paragraph is missing. [1] (b) Explain why this omission caps the paragraph’s mark, even though the other analysis is accurate. [2]

8. Explain why writing about “audience, staging, entrances and dramatic irony” is specifically important for a drama answer, in a way it would not be for an answer on a novel. [3]

9. A candidate spends 65 minutes on their first question because it covers their favourite play, leaving 25 minutes for the second.

(a) Explain why this timing approach is likely to cost marks overall. [2] (b) State the recommended time split across the two questions. [1]

10. Explain why choosing the Paper 2 route (rather than Paper 3 with Paper 4 or Coursework) changes what a candidate needs to memorise, and what trade-off this represents. [3]

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Answers

1. 1 hour 30 minutes, 50 marks, worth 50% of the qualification [3].

2. Candidates must answer one passage-based (a) question and one essay (b) question across the two set texts — answering two essays or two passage-based questions is not permitted [2].

3. AO1 (detailed knowledge of the text, supported by reference and quotation), AO2 (understanding of meanings and contexts), AO3 (recognising how writers use language, structure and form to create effects), and AO4 (a sensitive, informed personal response) — each weighted equally at 25% [4].

4. Paper 2 is closed-book because set texts may not be taken into the exam room, so any quotation used must come from memory rather than being copied from the book [2]. This means candidates should prepare a bank of around 10–15 short, flexible quotations per play, chosen to cover several characters and themes, so they have material ready for almost any essay title [1].

5. (a) This combination is not permitted because the syllabus requires one passage-based question and one essay question across the paper, regardless of which set texts they are answered on; answering two essays does not satisfy this requirement even though both plays are covered [2]. (b) One passage-based (a) question and one essay (b) question [1].

6. This approach is likely to score poorly because a passage-based question is a close-reading exercise, and the examiner expects detailed engagement with the specific language and stagecraft of the printed extract, not a general survey of the character across the whole play [2]. The candidate should have focused their answer closely on the extract itself, analysing its specific language, structure and dramatic detail [1].

7. (a) AO4 (a sensitive, informed personal response) [1]. (b) Because all four assessment objectives are weighted equally at 25% each, a paragraph that fully satisfies AO1 and AO3 but omits AO4 cannot access the full range of available marks, however accurate and well-supported the language analysis is [2].

8. Because these are plays, not novels — they are written to be performed and watched, not simply read [1]. Writing about audience reaction, staging choices, entrances and exits, and dramatic irony demonstrates awareness of the text as a performed dramatic work, which is specifically what AO3’s expectation of genre awareness is looking for; treating a play purely as a story with dialogue misses this dimension entirely [2].

9. (a) Because both questions carry equal marks (25 each), spending significantly longer on the first leaves too little time to properly plan and develop the second answer, risking a rushed response that cannot access the same range of marks even if the first answer scores very highly [2]. (b) A roughly even 45 minutes per question [1].

10. Choosing Paper 2 means no unseen paper to prepare for and no coursework folder to assemble, but it requires memorising quotations from two plays for use in a closed-book exam, since there is no text open on the desk during the exam [2]. This is a trade-off: Paper 2 concentrates everything into one closed-book sitting in exchange for removing the other routes’ separate demands (an unseen exam or ongoing coursework), rather than being simply an easier or harder option overall [1].

A note on exam technique for this topic

The most efficient way to prepare for this paper is to build one compact quotation bank per play — ten to fifteen short, flexible lines covering multiple characters and themes — early in revision, since a closed-book paper leaves no other way to support AO1 evidence under exam conditions. When practising, deliberately alternate which question type (passage-based or essay) you answer on each play, since the one-of-each rule means both skills must be ready for both texts, not just your stronger play paired with your stronger question type. And in every paragraph, check that a claim about the play is followed by evidence, analysis of dramatic method, and your own evaluation of its effect — leaving out that last step is the single most common way otherwise strong answers cap their own mark.