This subject report is listed under English A in the 2015 examination archive. The catalogue session is May 2015. The information below helps you identify the document before opening the complete PDF. Subject, year and session labels come from the archive catalogue; the original cover remains the reference if a label differs. A file is not automatically suitable for your current syllabus simply because its subject name matches.
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May 2015 extended essay reports
Page 1
ENGLISH A
Overall grade boundaries
Grade: E D C B A
Mark range: 0-7 8-15 16-22 23-28 29-36
The range and suitability of the work submitted
The large majority of the essays were submitted in Category 1 and thus comprised a
straightforward analysis of a literary text or texts. Category 2 essays were less popular.
Category 3 essays are slowly growing in popularity and schools could usefully revisit the
possibilities with this option, especially for students studying the Language and Literature
course.
This year in all three categories examiners saw a number of outstanding essays from
students who had made fresh and original choices of texts and topic. However, there are still
a very large number of essays on ‘well-worn’ themes: Fitzgerald’s ‘The G reat Gatsby ’
(American Dream); Salinger ’s ‘The Catcher in the Rye ’ (adolescence/character-based),
Atwood’s ‘The Handmaid ’s Tale ’ (dystopian/feminist); Orwell ’s ‘1984’/ Huxley ’s ‘Brave New
World’ (dystopian), and Khomein i’s ‘The Kite Runner’ and ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’
(cultural/feminist.)
In such cases, as many examiners pointed out, an innovative approach and some recourse to
secondary sources, as well as a genuine attempt to set the work in its literary context, is
required to offer something beyond the ordinary.
There is also a trend towards a set of favourite topics emerging for Category 3 essays,
(perhaps influenced by course units in textbooks?) e.g. the “Dove for Real Beauty” and
Benetton campaigns.
Topics based on young adult fiction, or fiction which has been adapted for film or television,
remain popular (George RR Martin’s ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’; Stephenie Meyer’ s ‘ Twilight’
series) but here, as always, students need to be c ircumspect about the literary merit of the
works.
Other texts in this category included ‘Matched’ by Ally Condie (the Matched trilogy), ‘Rapture’
by Lauren Kate (the ‘ Fallen’ series), ‘Beautiful Disaster’ by Jamie McGuire and ‘The Giver’ by
May 2015 extended essay reports English A
Page 2
Lois Lowry, where the novels simply did not support a discussion of a sufficiently academic
nature.
Some texts
File information
Subject
English A
Document type
Subject report
Year
2015
Session
May 2015
Level
Not labelled in the archive
Paper
Not labelled
Examination zone
Not labelled in the archive
Language
English
File size
70 KB
Pages
7
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