A-LEVEL
ENGLISH LITERATURE A
LTA1C/ Unit 1 Texts in Context The Struggle for Identity in Modern Literature
Report on the Examination
2740
June 2014
Version: 1.0
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REPORT ON THE EXAMINATION – A-LEVEL ENGLISH LITERATURE A – 2740 – JUNE 2014
The Struggle for Identity in Modern Literature
This paper proved accessible to students and it was noted by many examiners that responses to
Section A, the passage for contextual linking, were particularly enthusiastic although this may have
led some to over-indulge at the expense of their Section B poetry response. In general students
were well-prepared for the demands of the paper with balanced debate more consistent in Section
B and fewer incidents of genre-dropping in Section A but there was a tendency towards more
formulaic responses and evidence of rehearsed contextual ‘fillers’ where whole centres gave
somewhat mechanical references to elements of social, historical and cultural background.
Section A: Contextual Linking
Question 1
Mary Berg’s diary extract for August 1942 gave rise to some full and fascinating responses with
many avenues of struggle for identity in addition to the most poignantly prominent, that of Jewish
identity during a period of ‘ethnic cleansing’ of epic proportions. The better responses recognized
that it was personal writing from a child whose childhood had effectively been stolen from her and
that this was reflected in the stark maturity of her prose with its contrastingly emotive and childlike
pleas for help from the outside world. Students identified the situations, people and events Berg
chose to include in her extract as indicative of her personal struggle and perspective as well as
clear evidence of communal struggles in all their complexities. Able students noted Berg’s
reference to the ‘murdered children’ s’ white aprons as symbols of their Jewish heritage, worn with
pride and even, perhaps, defiance. Whilst this may have created a uniformity in their presentation,
students saw that here it was not to deny identity but to secure and blazon it.
Further insightful comments were offered on Berg’s detailed description of Dr. Janusz Korczak in
his ‘white smock’, a symbol of his profession as a doctor, his ‘Maciejowka cap’, a symbol of his
Polish heritage, and his alpaca coat, indicative of his impeccable style adhered to in a ghetto
where such elegance must have been extremely hard to maintain. His whole style of dress
indicated he was making a statement to his captors and his community. From Mary Berg’s
perspective he had become an icon of religious and national pride to the Jewish Poles who
witnessed his life and death. He clearly knew this would be his last walk with the children and that
the rest of the ghetto, like Mary Berg, would be watching because his children’s home gave them
all courage. Here students noted issues of national, religious, family, communal and personal
identity and how these details were deliberately recorded by Berg as a testament to his resistance
and most tellingly, his humanity. In a situation where blood is spilled routinely and life seems cheap
Dr. Janusz Korczak refused to debase his standards, unlike his captors. Mary Berg’s sparse,
abrupt conclusion that contrasts tellingly with the fulsome eulogy to Korczak that preceded it, was
well-noted by students with an eye for form and structure.
The extract offered many opportunities to make links to struggles ranging from the trauma of
personal struggle when exposed to the hell that was the Warsaw Ghetto, to political, totalitarian,
family, religious and racially-based collective ones. What was needed was not a paraphrase of the
extract designed to show off feature-spotting ability, rather a clear exploration of how the situation
of the ghetto made a microcosm of the wider world of war with all its terrifying ability to undo
humanity. Clearly here was the most compelling need to struggle for everything one held dear and
those who were able to cut through to see and articulate this were able to give insightful readings
of the diary and forge strong, well-illustrated and developed links with their wider reading across all
three genres.
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The most damaging ‘error’ was to give the extract too little attention in terms of reading to establish
accurate understanding and when crafting the links. Misreading is usually the result of over-hasty
skimming of the passage (possibly with a view to quick link-spotting?) and this year it led to some
perceiving Dr Korczak as a sadistic Nazi who betrayed his children and others into constant
reference to the ghetto as a concentration camp. Other weak readers or those too keen to launch
into writing before adequately assimilating all written clues insisted the extract had been written in
1945 in the USA. Yet others failed to perceive Mary Berg as sharing Jewish heritage perhaps
concluding she had somehow got herself trapped in the ghetto by mistake. While it can be
skewingly inappropriate to lavish huge amounts of time on covering all the detail that might be in
any extract set for contextual linking (not everything needs to be mentioned!), it can be more
damaging to give it scant attention for then one is less able appreciate subtleties of tone or develop
clear, strong links that are able to show differentiation and the skilful fine-tuning of those links to
selected wider reading. If students have covered very little wider reading and some or all of that
has been in extracted form it is obvious that there could be problems in making and developing
viable links. It is in developing those links that AO4 can be most effectively used to demonstrate
better understanding of the factors that have contributed to the struggles identified; usually factors
such as time (era, family values, upheavals and social attitudes) and place.
This year the genre least effectively tackled when crafting links was drama although poetry was
often confined to just a quick mention of one poem rather than to a body of work by any poet.
Some centres also seemed to have prepared their students to use their Section B poetry in Section
A. While this is not technically a rubric infringement it sails dangerously close to the wind as no one
can be doubly rewarded and students might use material repeated in Section B. It is also
disappointingly contrary to the spirit of wider reading that underpins this whole specification.
It is understandable, given the time constraints, that references might need to be economically
expressed but not so brief as to preclude any textual reference for then the very essence of the
genre (style?) is overlooked. Texts that continued to be popular were Refugee Blues by W.H.
Auden, A Streeetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, The Color Purple by Alice Walker and
Top Girls by Caryl Churchill. Surprisingly, fewer than might have been expected made reference to
Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl despite it being an extremely appropriate comparative text. The
play Bent by Martin Sherman proved useful in terms of its context and some strong responses
were seen where dramatic devices and features of the genre of drama, in general, were
appreciated so that a clear sense of the play in production came through in the references. There
is a huge body of texts available to study for Modern Literature, given that the term for the
purposes of this specification extends to twentieth and twenty-first century literature.
When exploring the extract and the wider reading AO2 detail does allow students to demonstrate
they understand and appreciate how language works to create effect or impact. This does not
mean that every single feature of Language, Structure and Form in the passage should be
extracted and analysed to the nth degree but it should mean that aspects of each of those area are
noted where they can usefully extend understanding of the struggles being experienced.
Section B: Poetry
It was saddening to learn of the death of Maya Angelou shortly after the paper had been sat this
year. The irrepressible energy combined with insight, defiance and musicality that abounds in her
poetry will be much missed.
Section B questions gave rise to some vigorous debate in general with students showing
confidence in finding arguments and counter-arguments. Where there was less good practice was
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in the balance given to the two sides of the debate and in the crucial consideration of the key
words of the question. It was a great shame to see excellent knowledge of extensive bodies of
poetry squandered through poor deployment where some wished merely to write a version of the
question they had most recently revised rather than pay scrupulous attention to the question
before them. Some also felt it necessary to comment slavishly on form, structure and language in
a mechanical way to evidence knowledge of language analysis rather than demonstrate sensitivity
to the effect of these features and, more tellingly, how those identified features might add to the
debate. Possibly because of the large amount of autobiographical material written by Ms Angelou
she usually scores the most incidences of misplaced, redundant biographical and contextual
detail. This year the recipient changed to Owen Sheers and he, unfortunately, attracted many
references to his marriage, divorce and perceived peccadillos. One of the first lessons to learn
when studying poetry is that the ‘I persona’ should never be routinely equated to the poet. It can
lead to some damagingly narrow readings that focus on poetry as psychotherapy. It cannot hurt to
re-state if students find themselves writing about the poets' private lives they should stop writing
and refocus on the terms of the question where priority should be given to knowledge and
understanding of relevant poems, sound exploration of technique and balancing of the debate as
reiterated in the Assessment Objectives and rewarded by the mark scheme. Again it must be
stated that Examiners reported continued evidence of students inattention to the named poems in
the odd numbered questions and lip-service only paid to the given view in the even numbered
questions. It is paramount to success that students address the questions' specifics rather than
quickly dismissing the premise and embarking on the question they wished had been set.
Question 2: And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
Angelou’s own words gave rise to this question and flagged up the importance to her of anger as a
productive emotion rather than a solely negative or destructive one. The question also clearly
asked students to evaluate the extent to which anger is revealed to be positive in the selection. It
was not asking for a general trawl through every poem where there might be some evidence of
anger. Most problems arose with students failing to identify an emotion as clearly ‘anger’ with
general references to bitterness or pride rather than the liberating effect of expressing feelings
forcefully to produce a clear, positive outcome. Perhaps the problem, for some, arose with being
unsure of what the outcome of Angelou’s poems might be as she does employ subtlety and subtext
in many of her poems. Some students seemed preoccupied with Angelou herself as a feminist who
automatically wanted to vent her anger about men or Angelou as a black woman who automatically
had ‘issues’ about racism and the deep scars of black slavery in the US. This led some to merely
describe what they thought was her anger rather than explore the sense of resolution and wisdom
manifested after the incidents had been described. To access Bands 3 and 4 students needed to
ensure they addressed the fieriness and the release or clarification achieved after the
conflagration. Descriptive responses and those that seemed to think argument meant more and
more of the same rather than illustration of the depth and range of positive emotions and
resolutions evident in the selection, were unlikely to get beyond Band 2. Naturally, careful selection
of material was necessary to success so poems where the tone was merely sad or reflective were
not necessarily helpful. Establishing why certain words and phrases came across as angry (and
even bitter) was extremely important and some struggled to achieve this. Others adopted a
reductive approach merely writing about poems that ‘sounded happy’ and poems that ‘sounded
angry’. If anger is to be shown to be positive and productive it does require some explanation as to
how this positivity is (or is not) established. Inevitably, some wanted only to write about ‘Still I Rise’
and ‘Phenomenal Woman’ reeling off trite-sounding expressions of enthusiasm for the rhythms in
these poems but ignoring the need to evaluate effect and its relevance to the terms of the question.
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Question 3
This question attracted many enthusiastic but totally wrong-headed interpretations of the
eponymous ‘Momma’ with some finding nothing but evidence of her fecklessness, fatness and
general uselessness as a mother and human being who pitifully ‘sponged’ off welfare. Some
became so enraged about ‘Momma’s’ limitations that they quite forgot to explore whether she was
representative of the women seen elsewhere in the selection. In short, weak responses showed
that the reading of the central character had been entirely swayed by the stereotyping that Angelou
deliberately included to demonstrate how limiting stereotypes can be and gave little or no
cognizance of the irony and archly different perspectives employed by Angelou to illustrate the
struggles of race, poverty and gender. Fortunately, better responses were able to explore
Angelou’s ambiguities of tone that allow for even a profligate welfare-addict like ‘Momma’ to show
utter defiance and spirit, against the odds. Of course this understanding of the essence of
character had to be compared with the depiction of women elsewhere, for example, the
complacent creature of ‘Lady Luncheon Club’ or the sexually curious girl of ‘Men’, the confidently
effusive ‘Phenomenal Woman’ and the ultra-defiant persona of ‘Still I Rise’ to name but a few.
Those who failed to restrict their focus to women paid the price as did those who simply described
the women rather than evaluated their distinguishing features even going on to consider why such
personae might fascinate Angelou. Fundamental to a successful response was students' ability to
do more than retell the 'story' of the poem. Again, it is worth reiterating that all the Assessment
Objectives are equally weighted so knowledge and understanding, poetic skill and the ability to link
across the selection needed to in evidence.
Question 4: Feminine Gospel by Carol Anne Duffy
The best responses seen to this question came from those who were able to appreciate the
different tones of the collection and demonstrate some sense of the structure of it as a whole.
Students who were confidently able to reference words from the question, explore, evaluate and
illustrate them as they constructed their debate were particularly well rewarded. For some the
‘sound and fury’ was reductively glossed to mean noisy or loud and then further glossed to be
interpreted as ‘going on about feminism’ rather than giving some thought to possibly genuine
grounds for the anger or passions being expressed. To achieve beyond Band 2 students were
expected to address both elements of the question, i.e. the subtler tones or less strident depictions
that might have delighted rather than shocked. Some inventive and perceptive students were able
to illustrate Duffy’s ability to show that ‘sound and fury’ was fundamental to expression at times
especially when considering stifled voices and the need to liberate them. There were some
extremely interesting and informed responses that proved the evolution of the ‘Gospels’ from
techniques necessary during the infancy of militant feminism to those that revealed a shift to
supportive feminism, sisterhood and compassion. It was also possible to prove that the ‘Gospels’,
like the Biblical Gospels of the New Testament, shifted focus from the more retributive stances of
the Old Testament to that of personal responsibility and supportive love. Most balanced responses
were able to demonstrate Duffy’s poems revealed delightful language and ideas. Some chose to
show that ‘The Laughter of Stafford Girls’ High’ marked a turning point in the expression of female’s
voices and that, for example, the silently solicitous observation of the world by ‘The Long Queen’,
‘Sub’ and ‘Anon’s’ shelved skull gave way to more tender reflections on relationships, parental
solicitude and the pain of loss. Favourite poems to reflect ‘delights’ were ‘The Light Gatherer’,
‘White Writing’, ‘The Cord’ and ‘Death and the Moon’. The ambiguous ending of ‘Sub’ with its
poised colon, gave rise to some engaged debate that encompassed the structure of the collection
as well as the content of some of the subsequent poems. In general, however, students seemed
less assured of the sequencing of poems and many, judging by the superficial level of some of
their comments, had never given it prior consideration.
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Question 5
This was the more popular of the Duffy questions but perhaps the deceptively jaunty, humorous
tones that attracted students to it also caused some problems as many were tempted to give lavish
explorations of the poem but comparatively little in validation or repudiation of its being a suitable
starter for the collection. There were reasoned and useful comparisons with the chosen starter,
‘The Long Queen’, but even here, students seemed reluctant to pinpoint why one was better than
the other. Least successful were those who quickly dismissed ‘Sub’ as a suitable starter and
moved on rapidly to a plethora of other contenders, usually with little reasoning as to why they
outperformed ‘Sub’ or ‘The Long Queen’. All manner of intriguing reasons were offered as to
Duffy’s decision to end the poem with a colon. Most of these reasons were successfully supported
with evidence based on the text. Where they were not they tended to float off into loose
speculation, extraneous biography and narrowly unsupported lines of interest rather than true
debate. Successful responses were able to link across the collection with convincing reasons and
apt detail that was analysed rather than described. Counter-arguments were often based on the
idea that ‘Sub’ did little to laud motherhood for the persona spent considerable effort concealing
her pregnancy and her mothering was seen as an interruption to her celebrity status. Nevertheless,
there was a sort of illogic then in Duffy’s choice of ‘The Long Queen’ who never married or
produced her ‘own’ progeny choosing instead to be a silent observer and support to all females
whether they chose motherhood or not. For some, Duffy’s own experience of motherhood seemed
to be afforded utmost importance but this stance is very difficult to support in a collection that is so
diverse.
Question 6: Skirrid Hill by Owen Sheers
Responses here were pretty evenly divided on the statement and it was interesting to read the
diversity of reasons given in support of views across the debate. Whatever the stance it was
important to choose appropriate poems and to keep the question firmly in mind because there
were so many opportunities otherwise to flounder in a morass of loosely acknowledged themes.
Far too many students wanted to explore everything they offered in support of the view as
evidence of Sheers’ own problematic relationships with women and this limited them considerably.
Particularly interesting poems to choose turned out to be ‘Inheritance’, ‘On Going’, ‘Show’ and
‘Drinking with Hitler’ as these seemed to concentrate students’ minds on the divisions or partings
between male and female and encompassed relationships other than the standard presentation of
lovers going through difficult times. With ‘Inheritance’ perceptive students were comfortably able to
disprove the premise of the question by exploring how separate and contrasting qualities gave rise
to Sheers’ unique genius and those who did were often able to exemplify these qualities usefully,
linking examples from the wider collection very specifically to the inherited features cited in the
poem. Curious readings of ‘Keyways’ were sometimes given to prove the indivisibility of male and
female when there can be no real support for that view. Counter-arguments abounded in choices of
divides that were not between male and female but these needed to be well-illustrated and
explored as well as balanced by sound comparison with separations between genders. Those who
quickly jettisoned the premise of the question to give a catalogue of other divides or themes of the
collection, usually without much exemplification, soon became list-like and unedifying. The most
popular alternative ‘main divides’ strongly advocated were life and death and nature versus man
although those validating the latter were often forced to concede that there was no real divide
when nature encompassed and subsumed all.
Question 7
Some really weak readings of ‘Border Country’ came as a surprise to many examiners who
anticipated well-informed responses to this important poem of the collection by any standards.
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While it is never necessary in named poem questions to give long and detailed explanations of the
poem, some evidence of understanding of its essence and some reference to aspects of its detail
should be evident. Without such base reference how can any case for its suitability as an
introductory poem be established? It was legitimate to make comparison with Sheers’ chosen
introductory poem(s). Here students were at liberty to choose either ‘Last Act’ or ‘Mametz Wood’ or
even both but they needed to be sure of their grounds and precise in their analysis of relevant
detail. Even then, the job was not complete for it was necessary to make links across the collection
to prove and explore what was being introduced in terms of poetic technique, concepts and
themes. Links were made imaginatively to numerous poems but those proving most profitable were
‘The Hill Fort’, ‘Y Gaer’, and ‘Hedge School’ perhaps because of directly comparable content and
themes of sudden death, growth, maturity and reflection upon them. Students who chose to quickly
dismiss ‘Border Country’ as unsuitable often had poor knowledge and understanding of what they
were rejecting. This was often exacerbated by unconvincing offerings of other poems where again
their superficiality of knowledge and understanding abounded.
As a post script it should be noted that this year examiners saw an increase in the poor legibility of
scripts. In many instances scarcely decipherable handwriting belonged to students who had no
trouble in filling an entire answer booklet and there seemed to be a correlation between the desire
to write extensively with inattention to legibility and coherence. AO1 is numbered one because it
provides the basic access to all the other AOs. It is extremely hard for any reader to follow lines of
argument if the writing requires huge amounts of concentration even to decipher. Students need to
be taught to write more cogently and given opportunities to practice their writing in timed conditions
so that any ensuing difficulties can be addressed and strategies deployed. In most instances where
planning was in evidence, students write more coherently and this is to be applauded.
Mark Ranges and Award of Grades
Grade boundaries and cumulative percentage grades are available on the Results Statistics
page of the AQA Website.
Converting Marks into UMS marks
Convert raw marks into Uniform Mark Scale (UMS) marks by using the link below.
UMS conversion calculator www.aqa.org.uk/umsconversion
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