Cambridge IGCSE® World Literature
Syllabus outline
Syllabus code 0408
Cambridge IGCSE World Literature
Syllabus code 0408
Exploring and examining the literature of the world
Cambridge IGCSE® World Literature is an innovative
qualification that encourages learners to explore
literature from different countries and cultures.
The syllabus is flexible: schools and teachers can
choose texts relevant to their learners’ circumstances
and teachers’ own specialist interests.
The aims of the syllabus are to develop learners’
ability to enjoy, understand and respond to literature
written in English or in English translation from
different countries and cultures.
Cambridge IGCSE World Literature is excellent
preparation for further study such as Cambridge
International AS and A Levels and the International
Baccalaureate.
Through study of great novelists, poets and
dramatists from around the world, learners acquire
lifelong skills in interpreting and evaluating texts.
They learn how to develop and communicate an
informed personal response to literature.
Assessment objectives
Prose, poetry and drama texts are studied in detail,
to reveal how writers create characters, build a
relationship with the reader and develop themes.
In appreciating literature’s power to enhance and
enrich life’s experience, learners also find ways
to shape their personal and informed response to
literary texts.
Travelling the world’s literary landscape encourages
learners to develop valuable qualities such as
empathy with others, fostering better understanding
of themselves and the world around them.
The Cambridge IGCSE World Literature
assessment has a written examination (both set
text and unseen papers) and coursework (both
written and oral assignments). Candidates are
assessed on their ability to show:
• detailed knowledge of the content and form
of literary texts from different countries and
cultures
• engagement with writers’ ideas and treatment
of themes, and appreciation of how texts relate
to a wider context
• recognition and appreciation of how writers
create and shape meaning and effects
• empathy, through recreation of a character’s
voice and thoughts.
It gives our students a wider view
and more options to read writers from
different countries.
Teacher, Cambridge school in Argentina
Assessment – through coursework and written examination
Assessment is by a portfolio of coursework that
covers both written and spoken work, and two
written examination papers. One of the written
papers tests learners’ ability to appraise unseen
writing, and the other tests their knowledge and
understanding of the texts they have studied.
In detail, these three assessment components are:
1. Coursework portfolio:
The coursework portfolio is worth 50 per cent of
the total marks and is made up of:
• two written assignments
Written assignment 1: A critical essay based on
a complete text of world literature that is not on the
written exam paper.
Written assignment 2: An empathic piece, in
which learners take on the voice of a character in a
prose or drama text, at a particular moment in time.
Oral assignment: A 4–7 minute, recorded
conversation with the teacher. Learners can choose
to talk about:
• the way a novelist or playwright presents a
particular character within their chosen text, or
• one oral assignment.
• the way their chosen writer (from prose, drama
or poetry) presents a particular theme.
Learners choose texts from at least two different
countries or cultures, and at least two different
forms (drama, poetry, prose).
The oral assignment assesses the learner’s
understanding and appreciation of literature, not
their language skills.
Coursework assignments are set and marked by
schools, and externally moderated by Cambridge.
We like the oral and the written
coursework assessment and the fact that
teachers can freely choose books which
reflect the interests of their students.
Teacher, Cambridge school in The Netherlands
Cambridge IGCSE World Literature
Syllabus code 0408
2. Unseen (written examination paper)
This is worth 25 per cent of the total marks.
Learners answer one question from a choice of
two, writing a critical commentary on a passage
of previously unseen poetry or prose. The writing
will be taken from material originally written in
English or translated into English.
3. Set text (written examination paper)
This is worth 25 per cent of the total marks.
Learners and teachers choose from a range of
world literature texts specified by Cambridge,
which will be regularly updated.
This paper has two sections containing extractbased questions and essay questions respectively.
Learners answer one question from each section.
Questions can be answered on the same set text
or on two different texts.
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Results show that Cambridge IGCSE students
develop the broad foundations of knowledge
and understanding, communication and
thinking skills that they need to prepare them
for their next steps in education, such as
Cambridge International AS and A Level.
Cambridge IGCSE is specially designed to
apply equally effectively across all cultures
and is accessible to students with good
English skills but whose first language may
not be English.
The new Cambridge IGCSE World
Literature will expose our students
to a range of writing from across the
world. It will help them develop the
skills required for the transition to the
International Baccalaureate.
Teacher, Cambridge school in India
Cambridge IGCSE World Literature
Syllabus code 0408
Cambridge IGCSE World Literature in action
There are a huge number of ways in which set texts and coursework texts could be
combined. Here are just a few examples.
Learner 1: Elliott
Learner 2: Samin
Learner 3: Lina
Coursework:
Coursework:
Coursework:
• Kamala Markandaya,
Nectar in a Sieve (India)
• Laura Esquivel, Like Water
for Chocolate (Mexico)
• Anton Chekhov, Selected
Short Stories (Russia)
• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie,
Purple Hibiscus (Nigeria)
• Teacher’s selection of
poems within the Songs
of Ourselves anthology
(Australia, Canada,
New Zealand etc.)
• William Shakespeare,
Macbeth (England)
Set text:
• Jean Anouilh, Antigone
(France)
Set text
Set text:
• Yukio Mishima, The Sound
of Waves (Japan)
• Athol Fugard, ‘Master
Harold’.... and The Boys
(South Africa)
For details of the current set texts, see the latest copy of the Cambridge IGCSE World Literature syllabus.
Cambridge IGCSE World Literature
Syllabus code 0408
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