iGCSE Literature - Sample Questions
Paper 1 Open Book – is 2 hours 15 minutes, constitutes 75% of the Literature grade
and requires three responses; one for The Great Gatsby, one for The Importance of
Being Earnest and one for the Poetry anthology. The types of question are as
follows:
THE EXAM
DEMANDS THAT
YOU ANSWER AT
LEAST 1 PASSAGE
* and 1 ESSAY +.
EMPATHIC IS
OPTIONAL.
Prose – The Great
Gatsby
Drama - The
Importance of
Being Earnest
Poetry – Songs of
Ourselves
Empathic – you are
given a character
and situation in the
text then told:
Write your
thoughts.
Essay – An argued
interpretation
about a significant
aspect on the text.
Passage – An
analysis of a
passage of about
40-50 lines.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Two – one often for
two poems; the
other with a choice
Yes – on one poem
Time, therefore, needs to be taken in to select the best questions for you. The
questions below are for practice.
Prose - The Great Gatsby
Essay
1. To what extent do you think The Great Gatsby is a critical of The American
Dream?
2. “Nick’s relationship with Gatsby is founded on illusion rather than reality.”
Discuss this view of the novel.
Empathic
1. Read from p.17-18 – Imagine you are Nick, finding out various things about
Tom and Daisy from his first meeting. Write your thoughts.
2. Imagine you are Daisy at the end of p. 89. You have just been shown around
Gatsby’s house. Write your thoughts.
Passage based
1. Read the opening of the novel up to ‘elations of men’. How does Fitzgerald
establish the character and narrative perspective of Nick?
2. Read from ‘There is no confusion..’ (p.119) to ‘..fixing her hair.’ How does
Fitzgerald explore the relationships of the characters in this passage?
Drama – The Importance of Being Earnest
Essay
1. “A Trivial Comedy for Serious People” How appropriate is this subtitle to the
play?
2. To what extent do you think Wilde celebrates or satirises the society
depicted in The Importance of Being Earnest?
Empathic
1. Imagine you are Jack at the end of Act 1. Write your thoughts.
2. Imagine you are Cecily and have just had your first ‘real’ conversation with
Algernon. At the end of your talk (p.43) you plan to write in your diary.
Write your thoughts.
Passage
1. Re-read the second half of the dialogue between Lady Bracknell and Jack,
from:
Jack: I have lost both my parents (p.21) – to Bracknell: Good morning, Mr.
Worthing (p.23)
How does Wilde make this dramatically effective?
2. Re-read Jack and Algernon’s dialogue near the end of Act 2 from:
Jack: This ghastly state…. (p.50) to Algernon: But the muffins are the same.
(p.52)
How does Wilde explore the similarities and differences between their
characters?
Poetry – Songs of Ourselves
Essay
1. In what ways do poets explore urbanization in either The Planners (by Boey
Kim Cheng or The City Planners by Margaret Atwood?
2. How do the poets convey a sense of joy in both Pied Beauty (by Gerard Manly
Hopkins) and Sonnet: Composed upon Westminster Bridge (by William
Wordsworth)
Passage
1. Re-read Horses (by Edwin Muir). How does the poet depict the animals and
with what purpose?
2. Re-read The Woodspurge. (Dante Gabriel Rossetti). How does the poet convey
a sense of misery?