A-level
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
ACTUAL 2025 PAPER MERGED WITH MARK
5 SCHEME
Paper 1 Telling Stories
Wednesday 14 May 2025 Afternoon Time allowed: 3 hours
Materials
10 For this paper you must have:
• an AQA 12-page answer book
• a copy of the set texts you have studied for Section B and Section C. These texts must not be
annotated and must not contain additional notes or materials
Instructions
15 • Use black ink or black ball-point pen.
• Write the information required on the front of your answer book. The Paper Reference is 7707/1.
• There are three sections:
Section A: Remembered Places Section B: Imagined Worlds
Section C: Poetic Voices
20 • Answer three questions in total: the question in Section A, one question from Section B and one
question from Section C.
• Do all rough work in your answer book. Cross through any work you do not want to be marked.
Information
• The maximum mark for this paper is 100.
25 • The marks for questions are shown in brackets.
• There are 40 marks for the question in Section A, 35 marks for the question in Section B and 25
marks for the question in Section C.
• You will be marked on your ability to:
– use good English
30 – organise information clearly
– use specialist vocabulary where appropriate.
Advice
It is recommended that you spend 70 minutes on Section A, 60 minutes on Section B and 50 minutes
on Section C.
35
, 2
IB/G/Jun25/G4005/V8 7707/1
Section A
40
Remembered Places
Answer Question 1 in this section.
45
Read Text A and Text B printed below and on page 3.
Text A is an extract from Breathless: An American Girl in Paris by Nancy Miller.
50 Text B is an extract from Personal Narrative: Zara.
0 1 Compare and contrast how the writers of Text A and Text B express their ideas about
55 youthful experiences in Paris.
You should refer to both texts in your answer.
[40 marks]
60
Text A
Nancy Miller is an American academic who has written a number of autobiographical works.
Breathless: An American Girl in Paris is an account of her time in Paris, where she lived and
65 studied, during the 1960s.
We were the same size and wore each other’s clothing, playing at being sisters or even
twins, despite the fact that Monique was as blonde as I was dark. It was the game of
identification we liked. Monique’s mother had been a petite main, an apprentice to a
70 famous designer, when she was young. The dresses she made for Monique were a step 5
above what my mother knocked out on the Singer sewing machine that provided the white
noise to my childhood, and I coveted them.
One chilly afternoon, a street photographer snapped a picture of the two of us arm in
arm. In the photograph, we are strolling down from the Foyer along the boulevard
75 Saint-Michel, where girls were regularly pursued by relentless young men. “Vous êtes 10
seules?” they would ask rhetorically, oblivious to our self-sufficiency. Alone! We’re with
each other! In the snapshot, Monique is wearing a double-breasted blazer, a straight
skirt that falls just below the knee, sheer stockings that show off her slender legs, black
pumps, leather gloves, and a perfectly tied scarf. She looks Parisian already and, like
80 French girls, doesn’t seem to feel the cold. Our arms are linked, but I’m dressed for 15
another season, wearing the brown tweed wool dress with velvet piping that her mother
made that fall (for both of us, we joked) and a beige, baggy corduroy coat I had still not
realized was completely out of style in Paris.
5
IB/G/Jun25/7707/1
, 3
10
The Foyer cast itself as the custodian of our virtue, the guardian of future wives and
85 mothers. Madame Carnot, the cleaning woman, shared the Foyer’s mission. One 20
morning she knocked at the door at 7:30 while we were sitting on our beds, facing each
other in our long flannel night gowns. Monique opened the door, cigarette in hand.
Plunging her hands into the pockets of her smock, as she looked past Monique at the
books and papers strewn across the floor, Madame Carnot threatened to report us to
90 Madame la Directrice for bad conduct. She shook her head gravely to emphasize her 25
point, and adjusted the little gray scarf she always wore to protect her hair. I conjured up
Jane Eyre’s little friend Helen Burns wearing the sign for “slattern” in punishment for her
untidy room.
Turn over ►
IB/G/Jun25/7707/1
, 15 4
Text B
95 This text is part of a set of personal narratives from a mother (Anna) and her adult daughter (Zara)
about their time spent in Paris. This transcript was recorded in 2013.
Zara: erm (.) hi (.) this is Zara (.) erm talking about (.) Parisian culture (.) erm (1) I (1) am
younger than my mum so I haven’t (.) spent as many years in Paris as she has (.) erm but I do
find (.) that I keep going back there (.) because I do love it a lot (.) erm (1)
100
so (1) I kind of (.) I guess my first memories of going there (.) is (.) as a very small child and (.)
I guess being a bit underwhelmed because it just feels like you’re in London but you’re not (.)
like it doesn’t (.) I don’t know (.) I (.) there was a time when we (.) went on holiday and my
parents heard me saying in the night to my sister (1) what is this this isn’t the real Paris this
105 isn’t Disneyland Paris (.) erm (.) so (.) I think it just (.) I guess as a small child it’s a bit (1) you
don’t get as excited in the same way by things unless they’re (.) rollercoasters or something (.)
erm (1)
but (.) going back (.) I just (.) really really fell in love with it in that kind of clichéd way that
110 people love Paris (.) erm (.) and (.) I love it for all sorts of things (.) erm (1) the (.) I’m talking
about the fashion (.) erm I think (.) Paris has a very big reputation for being very chic and
trendy and fashionable (.) erm (1) but (.) it is (.) like it’s (1) you can be a bit disappointed if you
go thinking that and you walk around the streets and people look quite (.) plain (.) and people
wear very (.) long conservative clothes (.) and (.) I think they’re less outlandish with their
115 fashion than here (.) but (.) generally with that they are very (.) chic and very classic I think is
the look gone for by people (.) and you get (.) I guess you get (.) as you get anywhere (.)
people who will dress more or less excitingly than others and different age groups will (.) have
different (.) styles but (1) I feel like there is always an aim for very kind of classic (1) I don’t
know (1) erm (.) almost kind of traditional but (.) very chic and tailored things. I don’t know (1)
120
Key
(.) indicates a pause of less than a second
(1) indicates a longer pause (number of seconds indicated)
125
130
135 Turn over for Section B
IB/G/Jun25/7707/1
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
ACTUAL 2025 PAPER MERGED WITH MARK
5 SCHEME
Paper 1 Telling Stories
Wednesday 14 May 2025 Afternoon Time allowed: 3 hours
Materials
10 For this paper you must have:
• an AQA 12-page answer book
• a copy of the set texts you have studied for Section B and Section C. These texts must not be
annotated and must not contain additional notes or materials
Instructions
15 • Use black ink or black ball-point pen.
• Write the information required on the front of your answer book. The Paper Reference is 7707/1.
• There are three sections:
Section A: Remembered Places Section B: Imagined Worlds
Section C: Poetic Voices
20 • Answer three questions in total: the question in Section A, one question from Section B and one
question from Section C.
• Do all rough work in your answer book. Cross through any work you do not want to be marked.
Information
• The maximum mark for this paper is 100.
25 • The marks for questions are shown in brackets.
• There are 40 marks for the question in Section A, 35 marks for the question in Section B and 25
marks for the question in Section C.
• You will be marked on your ability to:
– use good English
30 – organise information clearly
– use specialist vocabulary where appropriate.
Advice
It is recommended that you spend 70 minutes on Section A, 60 minutes on Section B and 50 minutes
on Section C.
35
, 2
IB/G/Jun25/G4005/V8 7707/1
Section A
40
Remembered Places
Answer Question 1 in this section.
45
Read Text A and Text B printed below and on page 3.
Text A is an extract from Breathless: An American Girl in Paris by Nancy Miller.
50 Text B is an extract from Personal Narrative: Zara.
0 1 Compare and contrast how the writers of Text A and Text B express their ideas about
55 youthful experiences in Paris.
You should refer to both texts in your answer.
[40 marks]
60
Text A
Nancy Miller is an American academic who has written a number of autobiographical works.
Breathless: An American Girl in Paris is an account of her time in Paris, where she lived and
65 studied, during the 1960s.
We were the same size and wore each other’s clothing, playing at being sisters or even
twins, despite the fact that Monique was as blonde as I was dark. It was the game of
identification we liked. Monique’s mother had been a petite main, an apprentice to a
70 famous designer, when she was young. The dresses she made for Monique were a step 5
above what my mother knocked out on the Singer sewing machine that provided the white
noise to my childhood, and I coveted them.
One chilly afternoon, a street photographer snapped a picture of the two of us arm in
arm. In the photograph, we are strolling down from the Foyer along the boulevard
75 Saint-Michel, where girls were regularly pursued by relentless young men. “Vous êtes 10
seules?” they would ask rhetorically, oblivious to our self-sufficiency. Alone! We’re with
each other! In the snapshot, Monique is wearing a double-breasted blazer, a straight
skirt that falls just below the knee, sheer stockings that show off her slender legs, black
pumps, leather gloves, and a perfectly tied scarf. She looks Parisian already and, like
80 French girls, doesn’t seem to feel the cold. Our arms are linked, but I’m dressed for 15
another season, wearing the brown tweed wool dress with velvet piping that her mother
made that fall (for both of us, we joked) and a beige, baggy corduroy coat I had still not
realized was completely out of style in Paris.
5
IB/G/Jun25/7707/1
, 3
10
The Foyer cast itself as the custodian of our virtue, the guardian of future wives and
85 mothers. Madame Carnot, the cleaning woman, shared the Foyer’s mission. One 20
morning she knocked at the door at 7:30 while we were sitting on our beds, facing each
other in our long flannel night gowns. Monique opened the door, cigarette in hand.
Plunging her hands into the pockets of her smock, as she looked past Monique at the
books and papers strewn across the floor, Madame Carnot threatened to report us to
90 Madame la Directrice for bad conduct. She shook her head gravely to emphasize her 25
point, and adjusted the little gray scarf she always wore to protect her hair. I conjured up
Jane Eyre’s little friend Helen Burns wearing the sign for “slattern” in punishment for her
untidy room.
Turn over ►
IB/G/Jun25/7707/1
, 15 4
Text B
95 This text is part of a set of personal narratives from a mother (Anna) and her adult daughter (Zara)
about their time spent in Paris. This transcript was recorded in 2013.
Zara: erm (.) hi (.) this is Zara (.) erm talking about (.) Parisian culture (.) erm (1) I (1) am
younger than my mum so I haven’t (.) spent as many years in Paris as she has (.) erm but I do
find (.) that I keep going back there (.) because I do love it a lot (.) erm (1)
100
so (1) I kind of (.) I guess my first memories of going there (.) is (.) as a very small child and (.)
I guess being a bit underwhelmed because it just feels like you’re in London but you’re not (.)
like it doesn’t (.) I don’t know (.) I (.) there was a time when we (.) went on holiday and my
parents heard me saying in the night to my sister (1) what is this this isn’t the real Paris this
105 isn’t Disneyland Paris (.) erm (.) so (.) I think it just (.) I guess as a small child it’s a bit (1) you
don’t get as excited in the same way by things unless they’re (.) rollercoasters or something (.)
erm (1)
but (.) going back (.) I just (.) really really fell in love with it in that kind of clichéd way that
110 people love Paris (.) erm (.) and (.) I love it for all sorts of things (.) erm (1) the (.) I’m talking
about the fashion (.) erm I think (.) Paris has a very big reputation for being very chic and
trendy and fashionable (.) erm (1) but (.) it is (.) like it’s (1) you can be a bit disappointed if you
go thinking that and you walk around the streets and people look quite (.) plain (.) and people
wear very (.) long conservative clothes (.) and (.) I think they’re less outlandish with their
115 fashion than here (.) but (.) generally with that they are very (.) chic and very classic I think is
the look gone for by people (.) and you get (.) I guess you get (.) as you get anywhere (.)
people who will dress more or less excitingly than others and different age groups will (.) have
different (.) styles but (1) I feel like there is always an aim for very kind of classic (1) I don’t
know (1) erm (.) almost kind of traditional but (.) very chic and tailored things. I don’t know (1)
120
Key
(.) indicates a pause of less than a second
(1) indicates a longer pause (number of seconds indicated)
125
130
135 Turn over for Section B
IB/G/Jun25/7707/1
