AQA_2024: A-level English Literature B - Paper 1B Literary Genres: Aspects of Comedy. (Merged Question Paper and Marking Scheme)

AQA_2024: A-level English Literature B - Paper 1B Literary Genres: Aspects of Comedy. (Merged Question Paper and Marking Scheme) A-level ENGLISH LITERATURE B Paper 1B Literary genres: Aspects of comedy Friday 24 May 2024 Materials For this paper you must have:  an AQA 12-page answer book. Instructions Morning Time allowed: 2 hours 30 minutes  Use black ink or black ball-point pen.  Write the information required on the front of your answer book. The Paper Reference is 7717/1B.  Answer one question from Section A, one question from Section B and one question from Section C.  You may answer on the same Shakespeare play in Sections A and B.  For Section C, you must write about two texts, at least one of which must be a pre-1900 drama text.  Do all rough work in your answer book. Cross through any work you do not want to be marked. Information  The marks for questions are shown in brackets.  The maximum mark for this paper is 75.  You will be marked on your ability to: – use good English – organise information clearly – use specialist vocabulary where appropriate.  In your response you need to: – analyse carefully the writers’ methods – explore the contexts of the texts you are writing about – explore connections across the texts you have studied – explore different interpretations of your texts. For A-Level English Literature B Paper 1B: Literary Genres: Aspects of Comedy, focus on the following key areas: 1. Key Themes of Comedy:  Social Critique and Satire: Comedies often critique societal norms and behaviors through humor. For example, in The Importance of Being Earnest (Wilde), the play satirizes Victorian society's obsession with marriage and social status. Similarly, in Twelfth Night (Shakespeare), the play mocks gender roles and social expectations.  Mistaken Identity and Disguises: A common comedic device in many plays, where characters are mistaken for someone else, leading to humorous situations. In Twelfth Night, Viola's disguise as Cesario creates confusion and humor, while in The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare), mistaken identities lead to farcical events.  Romantic Comedy: Love is a central theme in many comedies, often involving misunderstandings, romantic pursuits, and eventual resolutions. In Pride and Prejudice (Austen), misunderstandings between Elizabeth and Darcy lead to a comedic exploration of social expectations and love.  Exaggeration and Farce: Comedies often rely on exaggerated situations or characters, where the absurdity of the scenario generates humor. Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest uses farcical situations, like dual identities, to critique social conventions.  Happy Endings: Comedies typically end in a resolution, where conflicts are resolved, and social order is restored. In Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare), misunderstandings are cleared up, and the characters marry, leading to harmony. 2. Key Texts:  The Importance of Being Earnest (Wilde): Study the play’s use of witty dialogue, satire, and absurd situations to critique Victorian society.  Twelfth Night (Shakespeare): Analyze the themes of mistaken identity, disguise, and love, and how they create comedic tension.  Pride and Prejudice (Austen): Explore the comedic elements of Elizabeth and Darcy’s interactions, and how Austen critiques social norms.  The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare): Focus on how farce, mistaken identity, and misunderstandings generate humor in this play.  Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare): Examine the witty banter between Beatrice and Benedick and how their relationship unfolds comically. 3. Literary Techniques:  Wordplay and Wit: Comedies often feature sharp, clever dialogue and puns. Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest is filled with epigrams and witty exchanges, creating humor through language.  Irony and Satire: Comedies like Pride and Prejudice use irony to expose the absurdities of social conventions, such as marriage and class.  Stock Characters: Comedies often use familiar character types, like the foolish suitor or the witty heroine. In Much Ado About Nothing, Beatrice and Benedick’s witty exchanges make them memorable comic characters.  Exaggeration and Farce: In The Comedy of Errors, the farcical situations and exaggerated characters (like the mistaken identities of the two sets of twins) create humor and absurdity.  Reversal of Fortune: Many comedies involve characters experiencing a shift in social status, leading to humorous outcomes. For instance, in Twelfth Night, characters like Malvolio are brought down from their high position, while others experience upward mobility. IB/G/Jun24/G4007/E3 7717/1B 2 Section A Answer one question in this section. Either 0 1 The Taming of the Shrew – William Shakespeare Read the extract below and then answer the question. Explore the significance of this extract in relation to the comedy of the play as a whole. Remember to include in your answer relevant analysis of Shakespeare’s dramatic methods. BAPTISTA I have a daughter, sir, called Katherina. GREMIO You are too blunt, go to it orderly. PETRUCHIO You wrong me, Signor Gremio, give me leave. I am a gentleman of Verona, sir, That hearing of her beauty and her wit, Her affability and bashful modesty, Her wondrous qualities and mild behaviour, Am bold to show myself a forward guest Within your house, to make mine eye the witness Of that report which I so oft have heard. And for an entrance to my entertainment I do present you with a man of mine, (presenting Hortensio) Cunning in music and the mathematics, To instruct her fully in those sciences, Whereof I know she is not ignorant. Accept of him, or else you do me wrong. His name is Licio, born in Mantua. BAPTISTA Y’are welcome, sir, and he for your good sake. But for my daughter Katherine, this I know, She is not for your turn, the more my grief. PETRUCHIO I see you do not mean to part with her, Or else you like not of my company. BAPTISTA Mistake me not, I speak but as I find. Whence are you, sir? What may I call your name? PETRUCHIO Petruchio is my name, Antonio’s son, A man well known throughout all Italy. [25 marks] IB/G/Jun24/7717/1B 3 BAPTISTA I know him well. You are welcome for his sake. GREMIO Saving your tale, Petruchio, I pray Let us that are poor petitioners speak too. Baccare! You are marvellous forward. PETRUCHIO O pardon me, Signor Gremio, I would fain be doing. GREMIO I doubt it not, sir, but you will curse your wooing. (To Baptista) Neighbour, this is a gift very grateful, I am sure of it. To express the like kindness, myself, that have been more kindly beholding to you than any, freely give unto you this young scholar (presenting Lucentio) that hath been long studying at Rheims, as cunning in Greek, Latin, and other languages, as the other in music and mathematics. His name is Cambio. Pray accept his service. BAPTISTA A thousand thanks, Signor Gremio. Welcome, good Cambio. (To Tranio) But, gentle sir, methinks you walk like a stranger. May I be so bold to know the cause of your coming? TRANIO Pardon me, sir, the boldness is mine own That, being a stranger in this city here, Do make myself a suitor to your daughter, Unto Bianca, fair and virtuous. Nor is your firm resolve unknown to me In the preferment of the eldest sister. This liberty is all that I request – That, upon knowledge of my parentage, I may have welcome ’mongst the rest that woo, And free access and favour as the rest. And toward the education of your daughters I here bestow a simple instrument, And this small packet of Greek and Latin books. Biondello steps forward with the lute and the books If you accept them, then their worth is great. Turn over for the next question (Act 2, Scene 1) IB/G/Jun24/7717/1B Turn over ► 4 or 0 2 Twelfth Night – William Shakespeare Read the extract below and then answer the question. Explore the significance of this extract in relation to the comedy of the play as a whole. Remember to include in your answer relevant analysis of Shakespeare’s dramatic methods. ORSINO Give me now leave, to leave thee. FESTE Now the melancholy god protect thee, and the tailor make thy doublet of changeable taffeta, for thy mind is a very opal. I would have men of such constancy put to sea, that their business might be everything, and their intent everywhere; for that’s it that always makes a good voyage of nothing. Farewell. Exit Feste ORSINO Let all the rest give place. Curio and attendants withdraw Once more, Cesario, Get thee to yond same sovereign cruelty. Tell her my love, more noble than the world, Prizes not quantity of dirty lands. The parts that fortune hath bestowed upon her Tell her I hold as giddily as fortune. But ’tis that miracle and queen of gems That nature pranks her in, attracts my soul. VIOLA But if she cannot love you, sir? ORSINO It cannot be so answered. VIOLA Sooth, but you must. Say that some lady, as perhaps there is, Hath for your love as great a pang of heart As you have for Olivia. You cannot love her. You tell her so. Must she not then be answered? ORSINO There is no woman’s sides Can bide the beating of so strong a passion As love doth give my heart; no woman’s heart So big to hold so much, they lack retention. Alas, their love may be called appetite, No motion of the liver, but the palate, That suffer surfeit, cloyment, and revolt. But mine is all as hungry as the sea, And can digest as much. Make no compare Between that love a woman can bear me And that I owe Olivia. [25 marks] IB/G/Jun24/7717/1B 5 VIOLA ORSINO What dost thou know? VIOLA Ay, but I know – Too well what love women to men may owe. In faith, they are as true of heart as we. My father had a daughter loved a man – As it might be perhaps, were I a woman, I should your lordship. ORSINO VIOLA And what’s her history? A blank, my lord. She never told her love, But let concealment, like a worm i’the bud, Feed on her damask cheek. She pined in thought, And with a green and yellow melancholy, She sat like Patience on a monument, Smiling at grief. Was not this love indeed? We men may say more, swear more, but indeed Our shows are more than will; for still we prove Much in our vows, but little in our love. ORSINO But died thy sister of her love, my boy? VIOLA I am all the daughters of my father’s house, And all the brothers too; and yet, I know not . . . Sir, shall I to this lady? ORSINO Ay, that’s the theme. To her in haste; give her this jewel; say My love can give no place, bide no denay. Exeunt Turn over fo