General Certificate of Secondary Education
2012
English Literature
Unit 2: The Study of Drama and Poetry
Higher Tier
[5110]
SPECIMEN PAPER
TIME
2 hours
INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES
Write your Centre Number and Candidate Number on the Answer Booklet provided.
Answer three questions.
Answer one question from each section.
Write your answer to Section A in the Green (Drama) Answer Booklet.
Write your answers to the Sections B and C in the Purple (Poetry) Answer Booklet.
Spend 45 minutes each on Sections A and B, and 30 minutes on Section C.
You should have with you unannotated copies of your Drama text and your Poetry anthology.
INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES
The total mark for this paper is 100.
All questions in sections A and B carry equal marks, i.e. 40 marks for each question.
Section C is worth 20 marks.
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Page Index to Questions
Page
Number
Question
Number
Section A – Drama
1
Friel
Dancing at Lughnasa
49
2
Miller
All My Sons
50
3
O’Casey
Juno and the Paycock
51
4
Priestley
An Inspector Calls
52
5
Russell
Blood Brothers
53
6
Shakespeare
Macbeth
54
7
Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet
55
8
Shakespeare
The Merchant of Venice
56
Section B – Poetry
9
Anthology One: Themes – Love and Death
57
10
Anthology Two: Themes – Nature and War
58
11
Anthology Three: Heaney and Hardy
59
Section C – Poetry
12
Unseen Poem
60
48
Section A – Drama
Answer one question from this section.
1
Friel: Dancing at Lughnasa
Answer either (a) or (b)
Use the Green (Drama) Answer Booklet for your answer.
(a)
With reference to the ways Friel presents Gerry Evans, show how far you agree that Gerry
Evans is unreliable.
(b)
Look again at the extract from Act 1, beginning near the bottom of page 2 with the stage
directions The lighting changes and ending on page 6 with the stage directions Rose closes
the front of her apron. She is on the point of tears. Silence.
With reference to the ways Friel presents the Mundy sisters in the extract and elsewhere in
the play, show how far you agree that they show care and concern for one another.
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2
Miller: All My Sons
Answer either (a) or (b)
Use the Green (Drama) Answer Booklet for your answer.
(a)
With reference to the ways Miller presents Kate, show how far you agree that Kate may be
both pitied and disliked.
(b)
Look again at the extract in Act Two beginning on page 65 with Chris’s words, “What do
you mean, you packed her bag?” and ending on page 68 with Keller’s words, “For you, a
business for you!”
With reference to the ways Miller presents Joe and Kate in the extract, and Chris elsewhere
in the play, show how far you agree that their lives are based on dishonesty.
50
3
O’Casey: Juno and the Paycock
Answer either (a) or (b)
Use the Green (Drama) Answer Booklet for your answer.
(a)
With reference to the ways O’Casey presents Mrs Madigan, show how far you agree that
Mrs Madigan is motivated by self-interest.
(b)
Look again at the extract in Act 2 beginning on page 35 with the stage direction Steps are
heard approaching, and Juno, opening the door, allows Bentham to enter and ending on
page 38 with Bentham’s words, “Oh, I’m very sorry, Mrs Boyle; I never thought…”.
With reference to the ways Miller presents Bentham in the extract, and other characters
elsewhere in the play, show how far you agree that their attitudes to the Boyle family
change when they think the Boyles have come into money.
51
4
Priestley: An Inspector Calls
Answer either (a) or (b)
Use the Green (Drama) Answer Booklet for your answer.
(a)
With reference to the ways Priestley presents Gerald Croft, show that Gerald is sometimes
selfish and sometimes thoughtful in his relationships with Sheila and Eva/Daisy.
(b)
Look again at the extract beginning on page 51 with the Inspector’s words, “When did you
first meet this girl?” and ending on page 53 with Eric’s words, “I got it - from the office….”
With reference to the ways Priestley presents Eric in the extract and Eric and Sheila
elsewhere in the play, show how far you agree that the behaviour of Eric and Sheila to
Eva/Daisy was selfish? Do you have any sympathy for Eric and Sheila? Give reasons for
your opinions.
52
5
Russell: Blood Brothers
Answer either (a) or (b)
Use the Green (Drama) Answer Booklet for your answer.
(a)
With reference to the ways Russell presents Mickey, show how far you agree that Mickey
is responsible for the things that go wrong in his life.
(b)
Look again at the extract on page 49 beginning with the stage direction Mrs Johnstone
appears, clutching a letter and ending at the end of Act One.
With reference to the ways Russell presents dreams of happiness in the extract and
elsewhere in Act One, show how far you agree that there is no escape from unhappiness for
the Johnstone family.
53
6
Shakespeare: Macbeth
Answer either (a) or (b)
Use the Green (Drama) Answer Booklet for your answer.
(a)
With reference to the ways Shakespeare presents Macbeth, show how far you agree that
Macbeth is evil.
(b)
Look again at Act I Scene iii.
With reference to the ways Shakespeare presents the witches in this scene, and elsewhere in
the play, show how far you agree that the witches are frightening and powerful.
54
7
Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet
Answer either (a) or (b)
Use the Green (Drama) Answer Booklet for your answer.
(a)
With reference to the ways Shakespeare presents the Nurse, show how far you agree that
she is helpful to the Capulet family.
(b)
Look again at the extract in Act I scene i (lines 66-106), beginning with Benvolio’s words
“Part, fools! Put up your swords” and ending when Prince Escalus says “Once more, on pain
of death, all men depart.”
With reference to the ways Shakespeare presents the feuding between Montagues and
Capulets in the extract, show that there are differing attitudes to it. To what extent does the
Prince bring the feuding under control elsewhere in the play? Give reasons for your
opinions.
55
8
Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice
Answer either (a) or (b)
Use the Green (Drama) Answer Booklet for your answer.
(a)
With reference to the ways Shakespeare presents Gratiano, show how far you agree that
Gratiano is a loyal friend to Bassanio.
(b)
Look again at Act III scene ii line 291 to the end of the scene. (The extract begins with
Portia’s words “Is it your dear friend that is thus in trouble?”)
With reference to the ways Shakespeare presents Portia and Bassanio in the extract and
elsewhere in the play show how far you agree that they are loyal to each other.
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Section B – Poetry
Answer one question from this section.
9
Anthology One: Themes – Love and Death
Answer either (a) or (b)
Use the Purple (Poetry) Answer Booklet for your answer.
(a)
Look again at Ozymandias by PB Shelley (List A) and at Richard Cory by EA Robinson
(List B), which both deal with the theme of death.
With close reference to the ways each poet uses language, compare and contrast what the
speakers in the poems say about death. You should include relevant contextual material.
Which poem do you find more moving? Give your reasons.
(b)
Look again at Night of the Scorpion by Nissim Ezekiel (List B) which deals with the theme
of love, and at one poem from List A which also deals with the theme of love.
With close reference to the ways each poet uses language, compare and contrast what the
speakers in the poems say about love. You should include relevant contextual material.
Which poem do you prefer? Give your reasons.
57
10
Anthology Two: Themes – Nature and War
Answer either (a) or (b)
Use the Purple (Poetry) Answer Booklet for your answer.
(a)
Look again at Attack by Siegfried Sassoon (List C) and at In Westminster Abbey by John
Betjeman (List D), which both deal with the theme of war.
With close reference to the ways each poet uses language, compare and contrast what the
speakers in the poems say about war. You should include relevant contextual material.
Which poem do you prefer? Give your reasons.
(b)
Look again at Death of a Naturalist by Seamus Heaney (List D) which deals with the theme
of nature, and at one poem from List C which also deals with the theme of nature.
With close reference to the ways each poet uses language, compare and contrast what the
speakers in the poems say about nature. You should include relevant contextual material.
Which poem do you find more interesting? Give your reasons.
58
11
Anthology Three: Heaney and Hardy
Answer either (a) or (b)
Use the Purple (Poetry) Answer Booklet for your answer.
(a)
Look again at Trout by Seamus Heaney and at Overlooking the River Stour by Thomas
Hardy, which both deal with the theme of nature.
With close reference to the ways each poet uses language, compare and contrast what the
speakers in the poems say about nature. You should include relevant contextual material.
Which poem do you prefer? Give your reasons.
(b)
Look again at Thatcher by Seamus Heaney and at The Old Workman by Thomas Hardy
which both deal with ideas about work.
With close reference to the ways each poet uses language, compare and contrast what the
speakers in the poems say about ideas about work. You should include relevant contextual
material.
Which poem do you find more interesting? Give your reasons.
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Section C – Poetry
Read the following poem and answer the question which follows.
Use the Purple (Poetry) Answer Booklet for your answer.
THE EXPLOSION
On the day of the explosion
Shadows pointed towards the pithead:
In the sun the slagheap slept.
Down the lane came men in pitboots
Coughing oathedged talk and pipe-smoke,
Shouldering off the freshened silence.
One chased after rabbits; lost them;
Came back with a nest of lark’s eggs;
Showed them; lodged them in the grasses.
So they passed in beards and moleskins,
Fathers, brothers, nicknames, laughter,
Through the tall gates standing open.
At noon, there came a tremor: cows
Stopped chewing for a second; sun,
Scarfed as in a heat-haze, dimmed.
The dead go on before us, they
Are sitting in God’s house in comfort,
We shall see them face to facePlain as lettering in the chapels
It was said, and for a second
Wives saw men of the explosion
Clearer than in life they managedGold as on a coin, or walking
Somehow from the sun towards them,
One showing the eggs unbroken.
© The Society of Authors, Literary Representative of
the Estate of Phillip Larkin
12
Write about the poem “The Explosion”.
You should describe what the poet writes about and how he uses language to convey his
thoughts and feelings.
60