This subject report is listed under English A in the 2013 examination archive. The catalogue session is May 2013. 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 2013 extended essay reports
Page 1
ENGLISH A
Overall grade boundaries
Grade: A B C D E
Mark range: 29-36 23-28 16 - 22 8-15 0-7
The range and suitability of the work submitted
This year in all three Categories examiners saw a number of outstanding essays from candidates who
had made fresh and original choices of texts and topic.
Noteworthy examples of Category 1 and 2 topics included the motif of machine ry in One Flew over the
Cuckoo’s Nest, the concept of home and homelessness in Burnt Shadows; self sacrifice in A Tale of
Two Cities and Les Misérables; and the role of fate in Never Let Me Go - along with, en couragingly,
several enterprising and sensitive studies of Shakespeare plays.
Essays on well -worn themes and topics ( 1984, A Handmaid’s Tale and other dystopian novels; Jane
Austen) are still prevalent and supervisors could still guide st udents towards mo re adventurous
choices of texts and topics.
Candidates should be mindful that they may be limiting themselves by choosing children’s literature
(such as Jacques’ Redwall series); in such cases, as good as the text(s) might be, they are not always
rich enough to support a ‘full-blown’ literary analysis”.
Recent young adult fiction was also strongly represented in the total sample. Meyer’s Twilight series
and Collins’ Hunger Games were popular choices but, despite obvious enthusiasm and enjoyment on
the part of the candidates, the literary treatment was often thin. Supervisors perhaps need to caution
candidates that writing about a text which they profess to ‘love’ often turns out to be an effusive
treatment lacking critical discrimination – the EE is, aftera ll a research investigation, and not solely a
personal interest or description of a life-long “passion”.
In terms of Category 3 essays, elements in both the Literature or the Language and Literature course
can teach candidates how to analy ze film, games, advertisements and the range of other sources
they can choose to write about (see further comments later in this report).
Candidates who floundered often did so less from topic selection than from their inability to handle
the topic with strong supporting
File information
Subject
English A
Document type
Subject report
Year
2013
Session
May 2013
Level
Not labelled in the archive
Paper
Not labelled
Examination zone
Not labelled in the archive
Language
English
File size
177 KB
Pages
6
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