IGCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE 2018 PROGRAMME OF STUDY
IGCSE English Literature 2018 Programme of Study
Introduction
Welcome to your Wolsey Hall IGCSE English Literature Course.
The ability to read, interpret and evaluate texts through the study of English Literature will add greatly to your understanding of English language and
culture. This course will enable you to explore wider and universal issues, promoting your better understanding of the world around you.
During your course, you will learn a lot about English Language that’s fascinating and useful. By the end of the course, you should be able to:



Read, evaluate and interpret texts through the study of English Literature
Recognise and analyse the ways writers achieve a range of effects
Create and articulate well-informed, justified personal responses to the texts they have studied
We hope you’ll enjoy your IGCSE [subject] course and studying at Wolsey Hall. We wish you the best of luck in your studies and success in your
examination.
Best wishes
The Wolsey Hall Team
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IGCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE 2018 PROGRAMME OF STUDY
Your Programme of Study
The Programme of Study is your personal guide to your IGCSE [subject] course: it will help you to understand your subject and how to study it effectively. It
contains essential information on the topics you are going to study, the various resources used on your course, and how your progress will be assessed.
Your Programme of Study is a very important document and you should refer to it regularly.
It may be useful to think about the Programme of Study as a map. It details where your journey begins, where you are going, who you are going to meet
along the way, and where it is going to end. You should never lose this map and follow it at all times.
Your Course Book and Resources
We have carefully selected the best course book and resources to prepare you for your assignments and final examination. We hope that you will enjoy
using these materials.
Course Book
Cambridge IGCSE Literature in English, Russell Carey, (Cambridge University Press, 1st Edition 2011); ISBN 9780-5211-36105
Macbeth by William Shakespeare, (Cambridge University Press, 3rd Edition 2014); ISBN 978-1-107-61549-6
Stories of Ourselves, by CIE (Cambridge University Press); ISBN 9780-5217-27914
Songs of Ourselves: Volume 2, by CIE (Cambridge University Press); ISBN 9781-1074-47790
The Cambridge IGCSE Literature in English course book is a lively and engaging text, written to help you appreciate and enjoy a range of literature types. It
has a wealth of activities, tips and worked examples designed to help you achieve exam success. It is endorsed by Cambridge and offers comprehensive
coverage of the syllabus.
Throughout the course, we recommend that you try the questions in the textbook – the Programme of Study will highlight which pages you should read.
You should also make use of the extensive exam preparation material to help you to prepare for your final examination.
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IGCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE 2018 PROGRAMME OF STUDY
Resources
In addition to your course book, your tutors have sourced lots of interesting and fun resources to support your learning. The resources are clearly marked
out in the Programme of Study and you should make use of these alongside your course-book work to ensure that you get the very best out of your course.
Wolsey Hall has a subscription to eNotes for student use. You will find a wealth of useful information, analysis and overviews of your core texts. See the
document ‘Login Details for the Online eNotes Literature Resource’, which can be found within the Introduction Module on Canvas.
Your Assignments and Exam
Assignments
Throughout your Wolsey Hall course, your progress will be assessed by completing assignments. These allow you to think critically about what you have
learned and will enable your tutor to see how well you are progressing. Your tutor will mark these and provide you with detailed feedback. You should
consider this feedback carefully, reflect on it and apply it in your future assignments.
The assignments have been designed to help you prepare for your final examination. You should read the questions carefully and answer them to the best
of your ability, providing relevant working and examples (where necessary). If you do not do well in your assignment – don’t worry! Your tutor will be able
to recommend extra work that will improve your understanding.
All assignments are submitted via Canvas – you should consult the Canvas Guide for more information.
Exam
At the end of your course, you will sit a final exam, at a local/national exam centre, which is administered by Cambridge International Examinations.
The examination code for IGCSE English First Language is: 0486
In your exam, you will sit three papers:

Paper 1: Poetry and Prose (90 minutes) 50% of total marks. You get a choice of two questions for each text. The poems for both questions are
printed on the exam paper. At least one of these questions is likely to ask you about two poems, so make sure that your answer gives equal space
to both. The first question on the stories will be about a passage from one story which will be printed on the paper; the other question will be a
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IGCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE 2018 PROGRAMME OF STUDY
thematic question and is likely to ask you about two stories, so make sure that this answer also gives equal space to both. You should use 45
minutes for the first essay and then 45 minutes for the second essay.
This is a closed text exam, so you will not be allowed to take your copies of 'Songs of Ourselves' or 'Stories of Ourselves' into the exam. Make sure
you learn quotations from all the poems and stories that you can use in your answers.
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
Paper 3: Drama Open Text (45 minutes) 50 marks – 25% of total marks. Again, you get a choice of a passage-based question and an essay question.
This is an open text exam, so you should take a copy of 'Macbeth’ into the exam. It must be a ‘clean’ copy, with nothing written in it at all in your
handwriting (or anyone else’s). Ensure your copy contains only the text of the play, without any student notes. You will need either to write all your
notes on separate sheets of paper (which you don’t take into the exam), or to buy a second copy of the text.
Paper 4: Unseen (75 minutes) 25% of total marks. You get a choice of a question on an unseen poem or a question on an unseen piece of prose
(probably an extract from a novel or a short story). You answer one of these questions. The questions will include three bullet-points as well as the
main question, and you should use those bullet-points as the basis of your essay plan. You should use the first 30 minutes to read and annotate the
text. The remaining 45 minutes should be used to write your essay.
Happy to Help
When you study a Wolsey Hall course, you are never alone. There are lots of people who are willing to help you. Everyone is on your side!
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Tutors: At Wolsey Hall, all of our tutors are friendly and knowledgeable. They are subject experts and you should not be shy about asking them
questions about your course. You will meet your tutor via Skype and you should contact them if you have any questions.
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Student Progress Managers: You have already been assigned a Student Progress Manager who can help with your study schedule.
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Exams Officers: Wolsey Hall’s Exams Officers are here to help students with any queries regarding exam centres.

Canvas Help Desk: Canvas is a great virtual learning environment but we understand that sometimes, even the best things can go wrong! If you
have any problems with Canvas e.g. uploading assignments, unable to access resources, you should submit a Canvas Help Ticket.
For information about how to create and submit a help ticket, please refer to the Canvas Guide.
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IGCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE 2018 PROGRAMME OF STUDY
Programme of Study
Module One: Prose
Topic One (1.1): Thinking about and Studying Prose
 First practices in prose analysis: Responding to characters
 First practices in prose analysis: Responding to setting and mood
 First practices in prose analysis: Responding to narrative viewpoint
For extra practice: refer to the extract from ‘Hard Times’ by Charles Dickens pp. 79 – 81 Extract from ‘Ethan Frome’ by
Edith Wharton’ pp. 82 - 85
Topic Two (1.2): The Set Prose (1)
Read the following prose pieces, making notes as appropriate:
 Story 1: ‘Sredni Vashtar’, Saki
 Story 2: ‘The Phoenix’, Sylvia Townsend Warner
 Story 3: ‘The Prison’, Bernard Malamud
 Story 4: ‘Billenium’, J.G. Ballard
 Story 5: ‘The People Before’, Maurice Shadbolt
Reading
Cambridge IGCSE
Literature in English
Unit 4 pp. 53-56
Extract from ‘The
Hitchhiker’ by Roald Dahl
pp.56 – 59
Extract from ‘Samphire’
by Patrick O’Brian pp.
55-63
Stories of Ourselves
p. 96
p. 147
p. 155
p. 184
p. 198
ASSIGNMENT ONE
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IGCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE 2018 PROGRAMME OF STUDY
Module Two: Prose
Reading
Topic One (2.1): First Practices in Prose Analysis: Developing an Informed Response to Prose
 Having been led through analyses of Set Prose stories in Module One, use the exercises on the ‘The Pieces of Silver’ by Karl
Sealy to help you attain more independence before tackling the last of the Set Prose stories.
Cambridge IGCSE
Literature in English
pp. 85-93
Topic Two (2.2): The Set Prose (2)
 Story 6: ‘Ming’s Biggest Prey’, Patricia Highsmith
 Story 7: ‘Games at Twilight’, Anita Desai
 Story 8: ‘To Da-Duh, in Memoriam’, Paule Marshall
 Story 9: ‘Of White Hairs and Cricket’, Rohinton Mistry
 Story 10: ‘Tyres’, Adam Thorpe
Stories of Ourselves
p. 278
p. 304
p. 342
p. 350
p. 396
ASSIGNMENT TWO
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IGCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE 2018 PROGRAMME OF STUDY
Module Three: Introduction and Beginning Poetry
Topic One (3.1): Introduction to Studying Texts
 how to break texts down into themes/content areas,
 how to make notes
 how to read the study books and use them effectively
Reading
Cambridge IGCSE
Literature in English
Unit 1: pp.1 -7
Unit 2: pp.8-11
(Reading only)
NOTE: Don’t forget to use the Key Terms at the back of ‘Literature in English’ to help you fully understand texts, instructions
and questions! pp.203-205
Topic Two (3.2): Thinking about and Studying Poetry
 [Resource] Writing an Essay about a Poem
 [Resource] Poetic Technique
Cambridge IGCSE
Literature in English
Unit 3: pp.13-16
Topic Three (3.3): First Practices in Studying Poetry: Reading for Meaning
 Using the textbook, try out the exercises set that will help you practise exploring different types of poems, recent and
heritage (listed below). Keep these notes in a file, and refer to them before you analyse the Set Poems – some of the
techniques might be useful to you in additional study of these poems.
o ‘Afternoons’ by Philip Larkin
o Plenty’ by Isobel Dixon
o ‘Ozymandias’ by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Cambridge IGCSE
Literature in English
Topic Four (3.4): First Practices in Studying Poetry: Exploring Language and Structure
 Using the textbook, try out the exercises to the following poems:
o ‘Blackberry-Picking’ by Seamus Heaney
o ‘Daffodils’ by William Wordsworth
 OPTIONAL EXTRA PRACTICE: complete these tasks if you feel you need more practice. Even if you don’t complete the tasks,
it is useful to simply read these pages and observe the analysis techniques.
o ‘When Forty Winters Shall Besiege Thy Brow’ by William Shakespeare
o ‘Come Up From The Fields Father’ by ‘Walt Whitman
o ‘Telephone Conversation’ by Wole Soyinka
Cambridge IGCSE
Literature in English
pp. 27-30
pp. 31-35
Topic Five(3.5): First Practices in Studying Poetry: Developing an Informed Personal Response
o ‘To his Coy Mistress’ by Andrew Marvell
Cambridge IGCSE
Literature in English
pp. 43 – 48
pp. 17 – 20
pp. 20 – 23
pp. 23 – 27
pp. 35-37
pp. 37-40
pp. 40 – 43
NB: Remember to read the ‘Quick recap’ boxes at the end of each section, whether or not you have completed all of the tasks
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IGCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE 2018 PROGRAMME OF STUDY
Module Three: Introduction and Beginning Poetry
Reading
and activities. These boxes summarise all of the skills learned in each section, and it would be useful for you to copy the boxes
in your own words/pictures to add to your work folder.
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
OPTIONAL EXTRA PRACTICE:
o ‘Row’ by Carol Ann Duffy
o ‘Wind’ by Ted Hughes
SET POEMS:
o Set Poem 1: ‘Passion’ by Kathleen Raine
o Set Poem 2: ‘She was a Phantom of Delight’ by William Wordsworth
o Set Poem 3: ‘Coming Home’ by Owen Sheers
o Set Poem 4: ‘Father Returning Home’ by Dilip Chitre
Topic Six (3.6): The Set Poems (1)
 Set Poem 1: ‘Passion’ by Kathleen Raine
 Set Poem 2: ‘She was a Phantom of Delight’ by William Wordsworth
 Set Poem 3: ‘Coming Home’ by Owen Sheers
 Set Poem 4: ‘Father Returning Home’ by Dilip Chitre
pp. 48 – 49
pp. 49 – 51
Songs of Ourselves
p. 6
p. 14
p. 35
p. 30
Songs of Ourselves
p. 6
p. 14
p. 35
p. 30
ASSIGNMENT THREE
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IGCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE 2018 PROGRAMME OF STUDY
Module Four: Poetry
Topic One (4.1): The Set Poems (2)
 Set Poem 5: ‘Lovers’ Infiniteness’ by John Donne
 Set Poem 6: ‘The Clod and the Pebble’ by William Blake
 Set Poem 7: ‘Stabat Mater’ by Sam Hunt
 Set Poem 8: ‘For My Grandmother Knitting’ by Liz Lochhead
 Set Poem 9: ‘Heart and Mind’ by Edith Sitwell
 Set Poem 10: ‘Tiger in the Menagerie’ by Emma Jones
 Set Poem 11: ‘Song’ by Lady Mary Wroth
 Set Poem 12: ‘Love (III) by George Herbert
 Set Poem 13: ‘Lion heart’ by Amanda Chong
 Set Poem 14: ‘The Lost Woman’ by Patricia Beer
Reading
Songs of Ourselves
p. 10
p. 3
p. 34
p. 25
p. 24
p. 18
p. 4
p. 9
p. 20
p. 32
ASSIGNMENT FOUR
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IGCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE 2018 PROGRAMME OF STUDY
Module Five: Macbeth Acts 1-3
Topic One (5.1): Act One
 If Shakespeare and his plays are new to you, you should read the articles on the following web pages (links on Canvas):
o READ - History of William Shakespeare (BBC)
o READ - Overview of William Shakespeare (Wikipedia)
o EXPLORE - About Shakespeare (Shakespeare Birthplace Trust)
o [Resource] Elizabethan Language Help
 Those who are already familiar with Shakespeare, however, can move straight on to the play.
Before you start reading the play in detail, try to watch it in full, to get an overall sense of the story and the characters. A
good film version can be found on YouTube (link on Canvas):
o WATCH – Macbeth (YouTube)
 When you’ve watched it, look at the introduction to the play in pictures on pp.v-xii of your text. The photographs in this
introduction are taken from several different productions of the play. How do they differ from each other? How do they
differ from the production you’ve just watched? What does that suggest about the decisions that director and actors have
to make when they’re staging the play?
 As you read Act 1, do as many as possible of the exercises on the even-numbered pages, but, in particular, make sure you
do those listed here (you might need to adapt some of the paired and group activities for use at home):
o Stagecraft: Dramatic entrance (p.2)
o Diabolic Language (p.2)
o Language in the play: The Captain’s report (p.4)
o What is Macbeth like? (p.6)
o What is Duncan like? (p.6)
o Historical witches (p.8)
o Secret desires (p.14)
o Language in the play: Borrowed robes (p.16)
o Stagecraft: Offstage events (p.18)
o Themes: Appearance and reality (p.18)
o Characters: King and future king (p.20)
o Characters: Lady Macbeth (p.22)
o Language in the play: Lady Macbeth’s soliloquy (p.24)
o Language in the play: Double meanings (p.26)
o Themes: Appearance and reality (p.26)
o Themes: Duncan and Lady Macbeth (p.28)
Reading
Macbeth
Act 1 pp. 2-37
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IGCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE 2018 PROGRAMME OF STUDY
Module Five: Macbeth Acts 1-3
o
o
o
o
Reading
Language in the play: Shocking imagery (p.32)
Write about it: ‘Bring forth men-children only’ (p.34)
Imagery (p.34)
Looking back at Act 1 (pp.36-37)
Topic Two (5.2): Act Two
 As you read Act 2, do as many as possible of the exercises on the even-numbered pages, but, in particular, make sure you
do those listed here (you might need to adapt some of the paired and group activities for use at home):
o Language in the play: ‘husbandry in heaven’ (p.38)
o Characters: Banquo and Fleance (p.38)
o Write about it: Language and meaning (p.42)
o Stichomythia (p.42)
o Themes: Masculinity and femininity (p.46)
o Language in the play: Images of death (p.46)
o Stagecraft: The Porter: comic relief? (p.48)
o Write about it: The divine right of kings (p.50)
o Language in the play: ‘Murder and treason!’ (p.52)
o Characters: ‘Look to the lady’ (p.54)
o Stagecraft: The pathetic fallacy (p.58)
o Characters: Who is the Old Man? (p.58)
o Characters: Macduff: diplomatic or naïve? (p.60)
o Looking back at Act 2 (pp.62-63)
Act 2 pp.38-63
Topic Three (5.3): Act Three
 As you read Act 3, do as many as possible of the exercises on the even-numbered pages, but, in particular, make sure you
do those listed here (you might need to adapt some of the paired and group activities for use at home):
o Themes: Hidden evil (p.66)
o Language in the play: Fruitless and barren (p.68)
o Write about it: Men and dogs (p.70)
o Apocalyptic dreams (p.75)
o Language in the play: Scorpions, bats, beetles and crows (p.76)
o Write about it: Close reading (p.76)
o Stagecraft: Hidden clues (p.78)
Act 3 pp.64-97
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IGCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE 2018 PROGRAMME OF STUDY
Module Five: Macbeth Acts 1-3

Reading
o Themes: The humble host? (p.80)
o Write about it: Dramatic irony (p.82)
o Characters: ‘O proper stuff!’ (p.84)
o Stagecraft: Staging the banquet (p.84)
o Themes: Evil and blood (p.88)
o Find the lines (p.90)
o Language in the play: Trochaic and iambic rhythm (p.90)
o Themes: Internal violence (p.94)
o Looking back at Act 3 (pp.96-97)
Before you start work on Assignment 5, read the following sections of your edition of the play:
o Writing about Shakespeare (pp.182-183)
o Writing about Macbeth (pp.184-185)
ASSIGNMENT FIVE
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IGCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE 2018 PROGRAMME OF STUDY
Module Six: Macbeth Acts 4-5
Reading
Topic One (6.1): Act Four
 As you read Act 4, do as many as possible of the exercises on the even-numbered pages, but, in particular, make sure you
do those listed here (you might need to adapt some of the paired and group activities for use at home):
o Stagecraft: What is happening on stage? (p.98)
o Hyphenated adjectives (p.98)
o Themes: Images of chaos (p.100)
o Prophetic apparitions (p.102)
o Themes: Disorder and evil (p.102)
o Language in the play: Hendiadys (p.102)
o Themes: Battling with time (p.106)
o Themes: A man’s duty (p.110)
o Characters: The ‘mind’s construction’ (p.110)
o Themes: Slaughter of the Innocents (p.112)
o Malcolm’s suspicions about Macduff (p.114)
o Language in the play: Religious imagery (p.114)
o Lust and greed: ‘portable’ sins? (p.118)
o The good king (p.120)
o Language in the play: Visual images of chaos and uproar (p.120)
o Characters: Dramatic contrast (p.122)
o Language in the play: Key words and images (p.124)
o Write about it: What is a man? (p.128)
o Looking back at Act 4 (pp.120-131)
Act 4 pp.98-131
Topic Two (6.2): Act Five
 As you read Act 5, do as many as possible of the exercises on the even-numbered pages, but, in particular, make sure you
do those listed here (you might need to adapt some of the paired and group activities for use at home):
o Themes: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder? (p.132)
o Language in the play: Propaganda (p.136)
o Characters: Macbeth’s mood swings (p.138)
o Characters: Not ‘honour’ but ‘mouth-honour’ (p.140)
o Stagecraft: Scene contrast, speech contrast (p.144)
o Characters: ‘Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow’ (p.146)
Act 5 pp.132-159
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IGCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE 2018 PROGRAMME OF STUDY
Module Six: Macbeth Acts 4-5
o
o
o
o
Reading
Themes: Appearance and reality (p.148)
Characters: ‘play the Roman fool’ (p.152)
Themes: Macbeth’s guilt (p.152)
Themes: ‘I would not wish them to a fairer death’ (p.156)
Topic Three (6.3): Revising the Play
 Looking back at the play (pp.158-159)
 Perspectives and themes (pp.160-161)
 The contexts of Macbeth (pp.162-165)
 Characters (pp.166-169)
 The language of Macbeth (pp.170-173)
 Macbeth in performance (pp.174-181)
 Before you start work on Assignment 6, reread the following sections of your edition of the play:
o Writing about Shakespeare (pp.182-183)
o Writing about Macbeth (pp.184-185)
The Merchant of
Venice
pp. 164-201
ASSIGNMENT SIX
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IGCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE 2018 PROGRAMME OF STUDY
Module Seven: Unseen Poetry Analysis
Topic One (7.1): Key Analytical Practice
 Reread Cambridge IGCSE Literature in English pp.13-52 before tackling the exercises in the textbook:
o Revise poetry analysis
o Unseen poetry analysis
o Tackling the exam questions
o Further practice
 [Resource] Unseen Poetry Questions -How to Answer Them (On Canvas)
 [Resource] Unseen Poetry Questions – Examples for Practice (On Canvas)
Reading
Cambridge IGCSE
Literature in English
pp.151-157
ASSIGNMENT SEVEN
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IGCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE 2018 PROGRAMME OF STUDY
Module Eight: Unseen Poetry Analysis
Topic One (8.1): Revising Prose Analysis
 Unseen prose analysis
 Tackling the exam questions
 Further practice
 [Resource] Unseen Prose Questions – How to Answer Them
 [Resource] Unseen Prose Questions – Examples for Practice
Reading
Cambridge IGCSE
Literature in English
pp. 53- 94 (re-read)
pp. 158-163
ASSIGNMENT EIGHT
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IGCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE 2018 PROGRAMME OF STUDY
Module Nine: Exam Preparation
Topic One (9.1): Revising, Writing Essays and Tackling the Question
 Exam tips, tricks and common sense
o Read the examiners’ advice on analysing the question and planning your answer
o Work through the past paper question on ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ by Wilfred Owen
 Past papers and markschemes – tackling each part of the exam
 Revision: studies have shown that the best of all revision techniques are the following:
o Practice testing - Self-testing to check knowledge - especially using flash cards – HIGHLY EFFECTIVE
o Distributed practice - spreading out study over time instead of cramming it in before the exam – HIGHLY EFFECTIVE
 Other moderately effective techniques that suit Literature study are:
o Elaborative interrogation - being able to explain a point or fact – MODERATELY EFFECTIVE
o Interleaved practice - switching between different kinds of problems (like different kind of essays) – MODERATELY
EFFECTIVE
 Consult the following links and resources (all on Canvas) for further help:
o englishbiz.co.uk An excellent, skills-based revision resource for Literature students
o [Resource] Effective revision tasks
o [Resource] The Exam – brief overview – read this and makes notes from the grade descriptor overview.
o [Resources] SPECIMEN EXAM PAPERS AND MARKSCHEME – read these through, making notes about the type of
questions, what the questions are asking, and the material that is given marks in the marks scheme.
NOTE: these are SPECIMEN papers, created by the exam board to show you what the exam will look like. They do not
contain the correct texts for your year’s examinations.
Reading
Cambridge IGCSE
Literature in
English
pp. 24-29
pp. 130-137
ASSIGNMENT NINE: A TWO PART MOCK EXAM UNDER TIMED CONDITIONS
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