English Literature - Paper 2A Past Papers and Answers / Exemplar answers.
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English
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AQA
English Literature - Paper 2A Past Papers and Answers / Exemplar answers.
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner – Samuel Taylor Coleridge. When Will There Be Good News? – Kate Atkinson. Brighton Rock – Graham Greene. Answers from past exams - 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
,Paper 2A – Crime Writing - Section B - The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (pre-1900 poetry);
When Will There Be Good News? (post-2000 prose); Brighton Rock
2018 - The Rime of the Ancient Mariner – Samuel Taylor Coleridge. ‘The Mariner’s more serious
crime is against humanity rather than nature. To what extent do you agree with this view?
Remember to include in your answer relevant detailed exploration of Coleridge’s authorial
methods. [25 marks]
AO5 Explore literary texts informed by different interpretations
For statement
- the crew as the victims of the Mariner as they die as a consequence of his actions and their deaths are
more serious than that of a bird
- the revenge exacted upon humans, including the Mariner himself, for the shooting of the bird and the
sufferings humans have to go through eg extreme thirst, the nightmare of the ghost ship with Death
and Life-in-Death
- an allegorical reading of the poem where the albatross represents a person, possibly Christ, 'Instead
of the cross, the Albatross/About my neck was hung'; the killing of Christ, although arguably not
human, had the most serious consequences for the whole of humanity
- the penance of the Mariner where he tries to atone and his victimisation of the poor Wedding- Guest
- the zombie-like state of the crew when they rise from the dead, 'we were a ghastly crew', even after
death they do not rest in peace and suffer from a curse which is eventually, however, expiated
- the suffering of the Pilot, his boy and the Hermit who attempt the Mariner's rescue as shown by the
Pilot's 'fit', the boy going 'crazy' and the Hermit's terror
Against statement
- the albatross as a symbol of the natural world and therefore killing it is a reference to man's
destructive actions against nature which have very serious consequences
- the subsequent disruption of the natural order after the shooting and seemingly as a consequence of
it eg the drought and extremes of temperature as seen in 'All in a hot and copper sky/The bloody sun
at noon...' which has seriously destructive effects
- the possible serious transgression against the natural order represented by voyages of discovery to
places where perhaps man was not meant to be eg they 'were the first that ever burst into that silent
sea'
- the crime against nature as more serious because of its possible spiritual and religious ramifications as
seen in 'He prayeth best, who loveth best/All things both great and small...'
- the Mariner's later admiration of nature for which he is rewarded by being able to pray eg 'A spring of
love gushed from my heart' for the beauty of the water-snakes
- the offence against the wedding guest who is forced to miss the festivities.
AO4 Explore connections across literary texts
- the element of criminals as shown by the Mariner's shooting of the albatross and the crime against
nature
- the element of the moral implications of a criminal action
- the element of guilt as a consequence of the serious nature of criminal actions
- the element of murder as shown by the deaths of the crew and the albatross
- the element of victims, both human and animal
AO3 Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which - literary texts
are written and received
- the ecological context of shooting the bird and offending nature
- the religious context as shown in the Mariner's feelings of guilt, his penance and repentance and the
need for prayer; he has offended God and his creation
- the moral context of judging the severity of the crime and whom it most offends
- the geographical contexts of the extreme regions the Mariner has to visit as a consequence of his
actions and the subsequent distortion of the natural world
AO2 Analyse ways in which meanings are shaped in literary texts
, - structural aspects eg the concluding moral of 'He prayeth best, who loveth best/All things both great
and small' and the implications of the framework of the wedding guest who ends up as a 'sadder and
a wiser man'
- the use of the Mariner's voice to shape the reader's views of crime
- the use of the responses of the wedding guest to manipulate the reader's views
- the use of settings to indicate the seriousness of the Mariner's crime eg the repetition of 'The ice was
here, the ice was there,/The ice was all around'
- the use of descriptive detail as shown in the specific descriptions of the natural world eg 'All in a hot
and copper sky/The bloody sun at noon...' where Nature is seen to be intemperate and when the ship
is becalmed
- the use of direct speech eg the Hermit and the Pilot who show their alarm, 'I am a-feared' and 'The
Devil knows how to row'
- the use of spirit voices to comment on the Mariner's actions
- the use of language and imagery eg the macabre language of 'the charnel-dungeon' which indicates
the severity of the Mariner's offence against the crew; the personification of the ice
2019 - The Rime of the Ancient Mariner – Samuel Taylor Coleridge. ‘Ultimately it is the Mariner
who is the victim in the poem, despite the killing of the albatross.’ To what extent do you agree
with this view? Remember to include in your answer relevant detailed exploration of Coleridge’s
authorial methods [25 marks].
AO5 Explore literary texts informed by different interpretations
For statement
- the Mariner having to wander the earth in order to tell his tale with no respite so he has become the
victim of events for which he is not able to atone
- the Mariner’s suffering during extremes of weather eg the ‘hot and copper sky’ and his suffering from
thirst, meaning he becomes the victim of nature’s torments
- the Mariner’s emotional suffering making him a victim, his ‘woeful agony’
- the Mariner’s loneliness and rejection by others making him a victim of social ostracism
- the suffering caused by the death of his shipmates, including his nephew and his feelings of
responsibility for this, a victim of his own conscience
- his victimisation by Life-in-Death and the supernatural
Against statement
- the albatross as the victim as it was killed by the Mariner
- that the Mariner is not a victim as he is the one who commits the offence and is therefore the
perpetrator rather than a victim
- the Mariner does not die so is not the victim
- the Mariner perpetrates a crime against the natural world as opposed to being the victim of it, so that
nature symbolically becomes the victim of man’s carelessness and thoughtlessness
- the Mariner as causing the deaths of the other members of the crew, making him the perpetrator and
not the victim
- the potential religious symbolism of the tale where the albatross may be seen as a Christ-like figure
who is the victim of the crime perpetrated by man, meaning that the Mariner is not the victim
- the Mariner victimises the wedding guest and others who are forced to listen, making them the
victims of his ‘glittering eye’.
AO4 Explore connections across literary texts
- the element of the victim as seen in the shooting of the albatross
- the element of the crimes which have been committed eg the murder of the bird, the persecution of
the Mariner
- the elements of death and violence as seen when the crew and the albatross die
- the element of mystery as seen in the motivation for killing the albatross and who or what victimises
the Mariner.
AO3 Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts
are written and received
, - the moral context as shown by the Mariner’s actions and his potential subsequent victimisation
- the ecological context as seen in the implications of shooting the albatross and offending nature
- the religious context as seen in the potential Christian symbolic reading of the Mariner’s actions or
the actions of the spirits
- the geographical contexts as seen in the extremes of the natural world which seem to victimise the
Mariner
AO2 Analyse ways in which meanings are shaped in literary texts
- structural aspects e.g. the positioning of ‘I shot the albatross’ as the final line of Part 1 which enables
the remaining six parts of the poem to demonstrate the Mariner’s victimisation; the use of the
framework of the wedding guest which may present him as the true victim
- the use of the ballad form; traditional ballads are often tragic narratives and therefore the form may
signify links to tragic victims
- the use of the voice of the Mariner through which he is able to present himself as a tragic victim
- the use of the wedding guest’s responses e.g. ‘unhand me, grey-beard loon’ which suggests someone
who is threatening rather than a victim
- the use of settings e.g. the ‘bloody sun at noon’ and ‘water, every where,/Nor any drop to drink’
where nature seems to be victimising the Mariner and crew
- the use of direct speech e.g. the Pilot is ‘a-feared’ suggesting he may be the victim of nightmare
terrors
- the use of the spirit voices which may show the Mariner as the victim of supernatural forces
- the use of repetition e.g. ‘Alone, alone, all, all alone’ which emphasises the Mariner as the victim of
isolation and despair
- the use of imagery e.g. ‘The water, like a witch’s oils, / Burnt green and blue and white’ which shows
how men are victims of the natural world; the albatross is described as a ‘Christian soul’, suggesting it
is an innocent victim; the personification of Life-in-Death who pursues the Mariner, illustrating the
fact that he is unable to die; he is the victim of ‘the curse in a dead man’s eye’
- the use of onomatopoeia and alliteration e.g. ‘With heavy thump, a lifeless lump, / They dropped
down one by one’ as the two hundred crew members become victims and die
- the use of language e.g. the deep ‘did rot’ and the sea was ‘slimy’ showing victimisation
2020 - The Rime of the Ancient Mariner – Samuel Taylor Coleridge. ‘The Mariner’s harshest
punishments are his loneliness and isolation.’ To what extent do you agree with this view?
Remember to include in your answer relevant detailed exploration of Coleridge’s authorial
methods. [25 marks]
AO5 Explore literary texts informed by different interpretations
For statement
- the deaths of the 200 sailors who were with the Mariner, leaving him ‘alone, alone, all, all alone’,
making that his harshest punishment
- the fact that the Mariner has to keep on living alone with no family although he clearly wishes for
company as his harshest punishment
- the Mariner’s isolation even from God as he is initially unable to pray as his harshest punishment; at
the end of the poem he admits, ‘so lonely ‘twas, that God himself scarce seemed there to be’;
alienation from God would be a Christian’s harshest punishment
- the Mariner’s state of living death
- the Mariner’s ghostly company; although the ship moved on, it was not sailed by humans and he is
unable to communicate even with his ‘brother’s son’ who ‘said nought’ to him
- the Mariner’s exclusion from the ‘seraph-band’
- the reactions of the Pilot and the Pilot’s boy to the Mariner who wish to get away from him and even
the Hermit questions ‘What manner of man art thou?’
- the wedding guest’s similarly wishing to escape the Mariner’s clutches and being afraid of him
- the Mariner’s exclusion from society emphasised by the context of the marriage-feast
- the fact that the Mariner has to continue wandering the earth on his own, ‘I pass, like night, from land
to land’ on a seemingly unending journey of isolated retribution.
Against statement
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