OCR GCSE English Literature Exploring poetry and Shakespeare June 2018 question paper J352/02

Love and Relationships

Read the two poems below and then answer both part a) and part b).

You are advised to spend about 45 minutes on part a) and 30 minutes on part b).

The Sorrow of True Love by Edward Thomas

The sorrow of true love is a great sorrow And true love parting blackens a bright morrow: Yet almost they equal joys, since their despair Is but hope blinded by its tears, and clear Above the storm the heavens wait to be seen. But greater sorrow from less love has been That can mistake lack of despair for hope And knows not tempest and the perfect scope Of summer, but a frozen drizzle perpetual Of drops that from remorse and pity fall And cannot ever shine in the sun or thaw, Removed eternally from the sun’s law.

Mirage by Christina Rossetti

The hope I dreamed of was a dream, Was but a dream; and now I wake Exceeding comfortless, and worn, and old, For a dream’s sake.

I hang my harp upon a tree, A weeping willow in a lake; I hang my silenced harp there, wrung and snapt For a dream’s sake.

Lie still, lie still, my breaking heart; My silent heart, lie still and break: Life and the world, and mine own self, are changed For a dream’s sake.

a) Compare how the speakers in these poems express different ways in which love can be painful.

You should consider:

• ideas and attitudes in each poem

• tone and atmosphere in each poem

• the effects of the language and structure used.

AND

Conflict

Read the two poems below and then answer both part a) and part b).

You are advised to spend about 45 minutes on part a) and 30 minutes on part b).

Flag by John Agard

What’s that fluttering in a breeze? It’s just a piece of cloth that brings a nation to its knees.

What’s that unfurling from a pole? It’s just a piece of cloth that makes the guts of men grow bold.

What’s that rising over a tent? It’s just a piece of cloth that dares the coward to relent.

What’s that flying across a field? It’s just a piece of cloth that will outlive the blood you bleed.

How can I possess such a cloth? Just ask for a flag, my friend. Then blind your conscience to the end.

In Flanders Fields by John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow 15 In Flanders fields.

a) Compare how these poems present what people fight and die for.

You should consider:

• ideas and attitudes in each poem

• tone and atmosphere in each poem

• the effects of the language and structure used.

AND

a) Compare how these poems present babies and their parents’ feelings for them.

You should consider:

• ideas and attitudes in each poem

• tone and atmosphere in each poem

• the effects of the language and structure used.

AND

b) Explore in detail one other poem from your anthology that presents a response to children or babies.

How far does Shakespeare present Friar Lawrence’s support for Romeo and Juliet as helpful? Explore at least two moments from the play to support your ideas.

In what ways is Macduff an important character in the play? Explore at least two moments from the play to support your ideas.

Much Ado About Nothing

Choose ONE question.

You are advised to spend about 45 minutes on this section.

EITHER

Explore the ways in which Shakespeare creates humour from Benedick’s attitude to women. Refer to this extract from Act 1 Scene 1 and elsewhere in the play.

In this extract, Benedick has been put down by Beatrice and is annoyed that his friend, Claudio, is about to get married.

BENEDICK That a woman conceived me, I thank her; that she brought me up, I likewise give her most humble thanks; but that I will have a recheat winded in my forehead, or hang my bugle in an invisible baldrick, all women shall pardon me. Because I will not do them the wrong to mistrust any, I will do myself the right to trust none; and the fine is, for the which I may go the finer, I will live a bachelor. DON PEDRO I shall see thee, ere I die, look pale with love. BENEDICK With anger, with sickness, or with hunger, my lord, not with love: prove that ever I lose more blood with love than I will get again with drinking, pick out mine eyes with a ballad-maker’s pen, and hang me up at the door of a brothel-house for the sign of blind Cupid. DON PEDRO Well, if ever thou dost fall from this faith, thou wilt prove a notable argument. BENEDICK If I do, hang me in a bottle like a cat and shoot at me; and he that hits me, let him be clapped on the shoulder, and call’d Adam. DON PEDRO Well, as time shall try: ‘In time the savage bull doth bear the yoke.’ BENEDICK The savage bull may; but if ever the sensible Benedick bear it, pluck off the bull’s horns and set them in my forehead, and let me be vilely painted; and in such great letters as they write ‘Here is good horse to hire’ let them signify under my sign ‘Here you may see Benedick the married man.’

OR

To what extent does Don Pedro use his power wisely? Explore at least two moments from the play to support your ideas.