Cambridge & Pearson Edexcel Past Paper Questions

Explore the ways in which Malamud makes The Prison such an appropriate title for his story.

Read this passage carefully, and then answer the question that follows it: Keller: Oh, little of everything. Content removed due to copyright restr...

In what ways does Miller make the relationship between Kate and Ann such a powerful part of the play?

Read this passage carefully, and then answer the question that follows it: Inspector [to MRS BIRLING]: And you've nothing further to tell me, eh? C...

What does Priestley's portrayal make you feel about Gerald Croft?

Read this passage carefully, and then answer the question that follows it: Enter SHYLOCK, SOLANIO, ANTONIO, and Gaoler. Shylock: Gaoler, look to hi...

Explore two moments in the play where you feel Shakespeare powerfully creates suspense.

Read this passage carefully, and then answer the question that follows it: Williams: We see yonder the beginning of the day, but I think we shall n...

Explore the ways in which Shakespeare makes Princess Katherine so entertaining.

Read this passage carefully, and then answer the question that follows it: In and around the Hillsboro Courthouse. The foreground is the actual cou...

How do the writers make Matthew Harrison Brady's downfall such a dramatic and significant part of the play?

How does Sassoon vividly depict his experience of war in Attack? Attack At dawn the ridge emerges massed and dun In the wild purple of the glowerin...

How does Donne strikingly convey ideas about love in Lovers' Infiniteness? Lovers' Infiniteness If yet I have not all thy love, Dear, I shall never...

How does Clarke movingly convey feelings about friendship in Still Life? Still Life It was good tonight To polish brass with you, Our hands slightl...

Remember to support your ideas with details from the writing. Read this extract, and then answer the question that follows it: Obi was silent, sign...

What impressions does Achebe's writing give you of Obi's friend, Christopher?

In what ways does Austen memorably portray Fanny's parents?

What vivid impressions does Cather create of the Burdens' life in Black Hawk?

In what ways does Eliot make Dolly Winthrop such a likeable character?

How far does Frayn make it possible for you to sympathise with Keith?

Towards the end of the novel, Thornhill says that his success 'did not feel like triumph'. To what extent does Grenville make you understand his fe...

In what ways does Narayan memorably depict different approaches to education in the novel?

Remember to support your ideas with details from the writing. Read this extract from To Da-Duh, in Memoriam (by Paule Marshall), and then answer th...

In what ways does Mistry create a vivid impression of the narrator in Of White Hairs and Cricket?

In what ways do the writers make you admire Bert Cates?

How does Miller make the relationship between Beatrice and Catherine such a memorable part of the play?

In what ways does Priestley memorably portray Eva Smith as a victim?

Explore two moments in the play in which Shakespeare powerfully conveys impressions of war to you.

To what extent does Shakespeare persuade you that Bassanio is a likeable character?

SECTION A: POETRY SONGS OF OURSELVES VOLUME 1: from Part 5 Remember to support your ideas with details from the writing. Either 1 Read this poem, a...

Or 2 In what ways does Owen convey powerful emotions in Anthem For Doomed Youth? Anthem For Doomed Youth What passing-bells for these who die as ca...

SONGS OF OURSELVES VOLUME 2: from Part 1 Remember to support your ideas with details from the writing. Either 3 Read this poem, and then answer the...

Or 4 Explore the ways in which Chitre creates striking impressions of his father in Father Returning Home. Father Returning Home My father travels ...

GILLIAN CLARKE: from Collected Poems Remember to support your ideas with details from the writing. Either 5 Read this poem, and then answer the que...

Or 6 How does Clarke create such memorable impressions of the bull in Friesian Bull? Friesian Bull He blunders through the last dream of the night....

SECTION B: PROSE CHINUA ACHEBE: No Longer at Ease Remember to support your ideas with details from the writing. Either 7 Read this extract, and the...

Or 8 Explore the ways in which Achebe powerfully depicts the conflict between Obi's love for Clara and his loyalties to his family.

JANE AUSTEN: Mansfield Park Remember to support your ideas with details from the writing. Either 9 Read this extract, and then answer the question ...

Or 10 How does Austen make the attempted staging of the play Lovers Vows such a significant part of the novel?

WILLA CATHER: My Ántonia Remember to support your ideas with details from the writing. Either 11 Read this extract, and then answer the question th...

Or 12 What does Cather's portrayal of the adult Ántonia's relationships with men make you feel towards her?

Or 14 What makes Dickens's portrayal of the circus and its people so attractive?

MICHAEL FRAYN: Spies Remember to support your ideas with details from the writing. Either 15 Read this extract, and then answer the question that f...

Or 16 Explore the ways in which Frayn makes Keith's father so frightening.

KATE GRENVILLE: The Secret River Remember to support your ideas with details from the writing. Either 17 Read this extract, and then answer the que...

Or 18 'He was a stranger to his father.' How does Grenville memorably portray the relationship between Dick Thornhill and his father, William?

R K NARAYAN: The English Teacher Remember to support your ideas with details from the writing. Either 19 Read this extract, and then answer the que...

Or 20 In what ways does Narayan strikingly portray different approaches to teaching in the novel?

from Stories of Ourselves Remember to support your ideas with details from the writing. Either 21 Read this extract from Games at Twilight (by Anit...

Or 22 In what ways does Townsend Warner criticise aspects of human nature in The Phoenix?