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

AQA_2024: A-level English Literature B - Paper 1A Literary Genres: Aspects of Tragedy (Merged Question Paper and Marking Scheme) A-level ENGLISH LITERATURE B Paper 2A Texts and genres: Elements of crime writing Wednesday 5 June 2024 Materials Morning Time allowed: 3 hours For this paper you must have:  an AQA 12-page answer book  a copy of the set text(s) you have studied for Section B and Section C. These texts must not be annotated and must not contain additional notes or materials. Instructions  Use black ink or black ball-point pen.  Write the information required on the front of your answer book. The Paper Reference is 7717/2A.  You must answer the question in Section A, one question from Section B and one question from Section C. Over Section B and Section C you must write about three texts: one poetry text, one post-2000 prose text and one further 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 1A: Literary Genres: Aspects of Tragedy, focus on the following key areas: 1. Key Themes of Tragedy:  The Downfall of the Protagonist: Central to tragedy is the protagonist’s decline due to their flaws or external forces. In Oedipus Rex (Sophocles), Oedipus’s pride leads to his downfall, while in Macbeth (Shakespeare), Macbeth's unchecked ambition drives him to murder and ruin.  Fatal Flaws (Hamartia): Tragic heroes often possess a fatal flaw that leads to their demise. In Hamlet (Shakespeare), Hamlet’s indecision and procrastination delay his revenge, resulting in tragedy for him and those around him.  Fate and Free Will: The conflict between fate and free will is a common theme in tragedy. In Oedipus Rex, the hero tries to defy fate, but it is inevitable. In Macbeth, Macbeth believes he can control his fate but is ultimately destroyed by it.  Suffering and Catharsis: Tragedy often leads to catharsis—emotional release—through the suffering of the protagonist. King Lear (Shakespeare) portrays intense suffering that brings about a tragic resolution and emotional release for the audience.  Moral Lessons and Justice: Tragedies often present moral lessons about human flaws, justice, and the consequences of actions. In Macbeth, the tragedy results in moral retribution for the protagonist's crimes. 2. Key Texts:  Oedipus Rex (Sophocles): Focus on how Oedipus's hubris and attempts to escape his fate lead to his tragic end.  Macbeth (Shakespeare): Analyze Macbeth's ambition and how his moral corruption leads to his downfall.  Hamlet (Shakespeare): Explore Hamlet's tragic flaw—his indecision—and how it results in the destruction of his family and kingdom.  King Lear (Shakespeare): Study Lear’s pride and his mistreatment of others, which lead to his emotional and physical destruction.  Death of a Salesman (Miller): Focus on Willy Loman’s delusions and inability to face reality, resulting in his tragic end. 3. Literary Techniques:  Characterization: Tragedy often develops complex, flawed characters. In Macbeth, Macbeth’s internal conflict and guilt intensify the tragic tension.  Soliloquies: In Shakespeare’s tragedies, soliloquies like Hamlet's "To be or not to be" reveal the inner turmoil of the protagonist.  Dramatic Irony: In Oedipus Rex, the audience knows Oedipus’s fate long before he does, increasing the tragic effect.  Symbolism: Symbols such as the blood in Macbeth or the blindness in King Lear represent themes of guilt, fate, and the loss of power.  Foreshadowing: In Macbeth, the witches' prophecies foreshadow Macbeth’s downfall, creating suspense and inevitability. 4. Exam Strategy:  Compare Tragic Themes: Be prepared to compare how different texts address themes like fate, free will, and moral downfall. For example, compare how Oedipus Rex and Macbeth deal with the hero's struggle against fate.  Analyze Key Passages: Focus on passages that reveal character flaws, such as Hamlet’s soliloquy or Macbeth’s monologues about his ambition.  Character Analysis: Consider how tragic flaws lead to the hero’s downfall. In King Lear, Lear’s pride and failure to see through his daughters’ deception lead to his destruction. 7717/2A IB/G/Jun24/G4007/E5 2 Section A Answer the question in this section. 0 1 Explore the significance of elements of crime writing in this extract. Remember to include in your answer relevant detailed analysis of the ways the author has shaped meanings. [25 marks] This extract is from a short story, The Watercress Girl, by A.E. Coppard, published in 1925. It is near the beginning of the story. Mary McDowall is on trial in court and, as the case proceeds, she reflects back on the events that led to her crime. Frank Oppidan was her lover. While the brutal story was being recounted, the prisoner had stood with closed eyes, leaning her hands upon the rail of the dock; stood and dreamed of what she had not revealed: Of her father Fergus McDowall; his child she was, although he had never married. That much she knew, but who her mother had been he never told her, and it did not seem to matter; she guessed rather than knew that at her birth she had died, or soon afterwards, and the man had fostered her. He and she had always been together, alone, ever since she could remember, always together, always happy, he was so kind; and so splendid in the great boots that drew up to his thighs when he worked in the watercress beds, cutting bunches deftly, or cleaning the weeds from the water. And there were her beehives, her flock of hens, the young pigs, and a calf that knelt and rubbed its neck on the rich mead with a lavishing movement just as the ducks did when the grass was dewy. Save for a wildness of mood that sometimes flashed through her, Mary was content, and loved the life that she could not know was lonely with her father beside the watercress streams. He was uncommunicative, like Mary, but as he worked he hummed to himself or whistled the soft tunes that at night he played on the clarinet. Tall and strong, a handsome man. Sometimes he would put his arms around her and say, ‘Well, my dear.’ And she would kiss him. She had vowed to herself that she would never leave him, but then – Frank had come. In this mortal conflict we seek not only that pleasure may not divide us from duty, but that duty may not detach us from life. He was not the first man or youth she could or would have loved, but he was the one who had wooed her; first-love’s enlightening delight, in the long summer eves, in those enticing fields! How easily she was won! All his offers of marriage she had put off with the answer: ‘No, it would never do for me,’ or ‘I shall never marry’, but then, if he angrily swore or accused her of not loving him enough, her fire and freedom would awe him almost as much as it enchanted. And she might have married Frank if she could only have told him of her dubious origin, but whether from some vagrant modesty, loyalty to her father, or some reason whatever, she could not bring herself to do that. Often these steady refusals enraged her lover, and after such occasions he would not seek her again for weeks, but in the end he always returned, although his absences grew longer as their friendship lengthened. Ah, when the way to your lover is long, there’s but a short cut to the end. Came a time when he did not return at all and then, soon, Mary found she was going to have a child. ‘Oh, I wondered where you were, Frank, and why you were there, wherever it was, instead of where I could find you.’ But the fact was portentous enough to depose her grief at his fickleness, and after a while she took no further care or thought for Oppidan, for she feared that like her own mother she would die of her child. Soon these fears left her and IB/G/Jun24/7717/2A 3 she rejoiced. Certainly she need not scruple to tell him of her own origin now, he could never reproach her now. Had he come once more, had he come then, she would have married him. But although he might have been hers for the lifting of a finger, as they say, her pride kept her from calling him into the trouble, and she did not call him and he never sought her again. When her father realized her condition he merely said ‘Frank?’ and she nodded. The child was early born, and she was not prepared; it came and died. Her father took it and buried it in the garden. It was a boy, dead. No one else knew, not even Frank, but when she was recovered her pride wavered and she wrote a loving letter to him, still keeping her secret. Not until she had written three times did she hear from him, and then he only answered that he should not see her any more. He did not tell her why, but she knew. He was going to marry Elizabeth Plantney, whose parents had died and left her £500. To Mary’s mind that presented itself as a treachery to their child, the tiny body buried under a beehive in the garden. That Frank was unaware made no difference to the girl’s fierce mood; it was treachery. Maternal anger stormed in her breast, it could only be allayed by an injury, a deep admonishing injury to that treacherous man. In her sleepless nights, the little crumpled corpse seemed to plead for this much, and her own heart clamoured, just as those bees murmured against him day by day. So then she got some vitriol. Rushing past her old lover on the night of the crime she turned upon him with the lifted jar, but the sudden confrontation dazed and tormented her; in momentary hesitation she had dashed the acid, not into his faithless eyes, but at the prim creature linked to his arm. Walking away, she heard the crying of the wounded girl. After a while she had turned back to the town and given herself up to the police. To her mind, as she stood leaning against the dock rail, it was all huddled and contorted, but that was her story set in its order. The trial went droning on beside her remembered grief like a dull stream neighbouring a clear one, two parallel streams that would meet in the end, were meeting now, surely, as the judge began to speak. And at the crisis, as if in exculpation, she suffered a whisper to escape her lips, though none heard it. ‘ ’Twas him made me a parent, but he was never a man himself. He took advantage; it was mean, I love Christianity.’ She heard the judge deliver her sentence: for six calendar months she was to be locked in a gaol. ‘O Christ!’ she breathed, for it was the lovely spring; lilac, laburnum, and father wading the brooks in those boots drawn up to his thighs to rake the dark sprigs and comb out the green scum. Turn over for Section B Turn over ► IB/G/Jun24/7717/2A 4 Over Section B and Section C, you must write about three texts from the following list: Selected Poems: Crabbe, Browning and Wilde (pre-1900 poetry) The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (pre-1900 poetry) Atonement (post-2000 prose) When Will There Be Good News? (post-2000 prose) Oliver Twist The Murder of Roger Ackroyd Brighton Rock Hamlet Section B Answer one question in this section. Either 0 2 Selected Poems – George Crabbe, Robert Browning and Oscar Wilde ‘In these poems love is the primary motive for murder.’ To what extent do you agree with this view? Remember to include in your answer relevant detailed exploration of the poets’ authorial methods. You should refer to the work of at least two authors in your answer. or 0 3 The Rime of the Ancient Mariner – Samuel Taylor Coleridge [25 marks] ‘The Mariner’s mental suffering as a result of his crime causes him more agony than his physical suffering.’ To what extent do you agree with this view? Remember to include in your answer relevant detailed exploration of Coleridge’s authorial methods. [25 marks] IB/G/Jun24/7717/2A 5 or 0 4 When Will There Be Good News? – Kate Atkinson ‘Crime is presented as comic rather than horrific in the novel.’ To what extent do you agree with this view? Remember to include in your answer relevant detailed exploration of Atkinson’s authorial methods. or 0 5 Atonement – Ian McEwan [25 marks] ‘We forgive Briony for her crimes because we are able to understand her motives.’ To what extent do you agree with this view? Remember to include in your answer relevant detailed exploration of McEwan’s authorial methods. [25 marks] or 0 6 Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens ‘In the criminal world of Oliver Twist, the best means of obtaining power is through fear.’ To what extent do you agree with this view? Remember to include in your answer relevant detailed exploration of Dickens’ authorial methods. or 0 7 Brighton Rock – Graham Greene ‘In the world of Brighton Rock, violence is a source of pleasure.’ To what extent do you agree with this view? [25 marks] Remember to include in your answer relevant detailed exploration of Greene’s authorial methods.