Cambridge &amp; Pearson Edexcel Past Paper Questions

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: Henry V Remember to support your ideas with details from the writing. Read this passage carefully, and then answer the questio...

To what extent does Shakespeare portray King Henry's army as a 'band of brothers' in the play?

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: The Merchant of Venice Remember to support your ideas with details from the writing. Read this passage carefully, and then ans...

What does Shakespeare's portrayal of Launcelot Gobbo contribute to your enjoyment of the play?

Either 1 Read this poem, and then answer the question that follows it: The Trees The trees are coming into leaf Like something almost being said;...

Or 2 Cold In The Earth Cold in the earth, and the deep snow piled above thee! Far, far removed, cold in the dreary grave! Have I forgot, my Only ...

Either 3 Read this poem, and then answer the question that follows it: For My Grandmother Knitting There is no need they say but the needles stil...

Or 4 lion heart You came out of the sea, skin dappled scales of sunlight; Riding crests, waves of fish in your fists. Washed up, your gills snapp...

Either 5 Read this poem, and then answer the question that follows it: Pipistrelle Dusk unwinds its spool among the stems of plum-trees, sublimin...

Or 6 Catrin I can remember you, child, As I stood in a hot, white Room at the window watching The people and cars taking Turn at the traffic ligh...

Either 7 Read this extract, and then answer the question that follows it: They had mixed grill, which Obi admitted wasn't too bad. Content remove...

Or 8 Explore the ways in which Achebe makes Obi's relationship with his father so powerful in the novel.

Either 9 Read this extract, and then answer the question that follows it: After some minutes spent in this way, Miss Bertram observing the iron ga...

Or 10 What impressions of Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram as parents does Austen's writing create for you?

Either 11 Read this extract, and then answer the question that follows it: We found the Shimerdas working just as if it were a week-day. Marek was...

Or 12 When he meets her again after a long time, Jim says to Ántonia: 'You really are a part of me.' How does Cather vividly convey the truth of t...

Either 13 Read this extract, and then answer the question that follows it: Removing her eyes from him, she sat so long looking silently towards th...

Or 14 Does Dickens make it possible for you to have any sympathy for young Tom Gradgrind throughout the novel?

Either 15 Read this extract, and then answer the question that follows it: Did Stephen understand at last who it was down there in the darkness, w...

Or 16 'How adults behave among themselves is a mystery,' says Stephen. How does Frayn vividly convey Stephen's lack of understanding of adults?

Either 17 Read this extract, and then answer the question that follows it: The other sort of native was the kind that Thornhill had met on that fi...

Or 18 In what ways does Grenville portray Sal as heroic?

Either 19 Read this extract, and then answer the question that follows it: I stood at the bathroom doorway and grimly waited. She finished the chi...

Or 20 How does Narayan's writing memorably depict the lives of women in Malgudi?

Either 21 Read this extract from The People Before (by Maurice Shadbolt), and then answer the question that follows it: He had a police party out,...

Or 22 Explore the ways in which the writer creates a strong sense of place in either To Da-duh, in Memoriam (by Paule Marshall) or Billennium (by J...

To what extent do you feel that the writers bring the play to a satisfying conclusion?

To what extent does Miller make you feel that Eddie is responsible for his own death at the end of the play?

TERENCE RATTIGAN: The Winslow Boy Remember to support your ideas with details from the writing. Read this passage carefully, and then answer the qu...

How far does Rattigan persuade you to admire Arthur Winslow's fight for justice?

How does Shakespeare's portrayal of King Henry's former companions from the Boar's Head Tavern contribute to the dramatic impact of the play?

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: Macbeth Remember to support your ideas with details from the writing. Read this passage carefully, and then answer the questio...

In what ways does Shakespeare make the relationship between Macbeth and Banquo so compelling?

SONGS OF OURSELVES VOLUME 1: from Part 5 Remember to support your ideas with details from the writing. Either 1 Read this poem, and then answer th...

Meeting at Night The grey sea and the long black land; And the yellow half-moon large and low; And the startled little waves that leap In fiery ri...

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

The Buck in the Snow White sky, over the hemlocks bowed with snow, Saw you not at the beginning of evening the antlered buck and his doe Standing ...

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

Heron at Port Talbot Snow falls on the cooling towers delicately settling on cranes. Machinery's old bones whiten; death settles with its rusts, i...

JANE AUSTEN: Mansfield Park Remember to support your ideas with details from the writing. Either 7 Read this extract, and then answer the question...

What does Austen's portrayal of Mrs Norris encourage you to feel about her?

WILLA CATHER: My Ántonia Remember to support your ideas with details from the writing. Either 9 Read this extract, and then answer the question th...

How far does Cather persuade you that Ántonia has a happy and satisfying life?

ANITA DESAI: In Custody Remember to support your ideas with details from the writing. Either 11 Read this extract, and then answer the question th...

Does Desai's writing make it possible for you to have any admiration for Murad?

CHARLES DICKENS: Hard Times Remember to support your ideas with details from the writing. Either 13 Read this extract, and then answer the questio...

In what ways does Dickens make the marriage between Louisa and Bounderby so disturbing?

KATE GRENVILLE: The Secret River Remember to support your ideas with details from the writing. Either 15 Read this extract, and then answer the qu...

How does Grenville strikingly convey the growing conflict between Will and Sal at Thornhill's Point?