Level 4 exemplars and comments

Paper 1

Sample 1: Section A, Question 1

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Sample 1: Section A, Question 1

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Sample 1: Section A, Question 1

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Sample 1: Section A, Question 1

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Sample 1: Section A, Question 1

Comments

In this response, the main issues presented in the extracts are clearly identified and ideas are

generally well-developed. There are, without doubt, occasional limitations in interpretation (e.g.

“many a civil monster” is taken to refer exclusively to Iago) and possibilities for more in-depth

examination of Othello’s use of language and the way it reflects his mood. That said, the candidate

presents a competent analysis of the episodes of epilepsy as well as the final paragraph of the novel

extract, and is particularly perceptive with Lord of the Flies.

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Sample 2: Section B, Question 4

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Sample 2: Section B, Question 4

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Sample 2: Section B, Question 4

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Sample 2: Section B, Question 4

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Sample 2: Section B, Question 4

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Sample 2: Section B, Question 4

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Sample 2: Section B, Question 4

Comments

This response is marked by an excellent illustration of the way literary techniques are used to

express anger in Plath’s poem. It also succeeds quite well in discovering essential connections

within and across texts by demonstrating how the closing lines in ‘The Fish’ and ‘At Grass’ contrast

with the rest of the poems, and how they denote a gradual change of emotion on the part of the

speaker in ‘Poppies in July’. Its argument would have been even more convincing, had clarifications

been made to ideas such as how the ends of the first two poems are similar in tone and why the

comparison of the skin of the fish to “ancient wallpaper” in Bishop’s poem evokes a sense of

disgust.

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Paper 2

Sample 1: Part I Section A, Question 1

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Sample 1: Part I Section A, Question 1

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Sample 1: Part I Section A, Question 1

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Sample 1: Part I Section A, Question 1

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Sample 1: Part I Section A, Question 1

Comments

This insightful essay systematically unravels and discusses the various fears that the boys and

Golding reveal in Lord of the Flies. There are a few occasional imperfections (e.g. it is unclear how

a “painted and garlanded” Jack imitates “the violent image of the beast”), but they do not

significantly take away from the depth of understanding it presents.

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Sample 2: Part I Section B, Question 3

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Sample 2: Part I Section B, Question 3

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Sample 2: Part I Section B, Question 3

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Sample 2: Part I Section B, Question 3

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Sample 2: Part I Section B, Question 3

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Sample 2: Part I Section B, Question 3

Comments

This response shows good insight into Othello’s character in its analysis of why he would have

destroyed himself and his marriage even without Iago. It engages closely with the topic and contains

many relevant ideas, although a few of them could have been more fully developed, notably his lack

of understanding of Desdemona as a result of his “long years in war”, and Iago’s role as

manipulator.

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