Mark Scheme (Results)
Summer 2023
Pearson Edexcel GCE
In English Literature (9ET0)
PAPER 1: DramaEdexcel and BTEC Qualifications
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Summer 2023
Question Paper Log Number P72846
Publications Code 9ET0_01_2306_MS
All the material in this publication is copyright
© Pearson Education Ltd 2023General Marking Guidance
• All candidates must receive the same treatment. Examiners must mark the
last candidate in exactly the same way as they mark the first.
• Mark schemes should be applied positively. Candidates must be rewarded
for what they have shown they can do rather than penalised for omissions.
• Examiners should mark according to the mark scheme – not according to
their perception of where the grade boundaries may lie.
• All the marks on the mark scheme are designed to be awarded. Examiners
should always award full marks if deserved, i.e. if the answer matches the
mark scheme. Examiners should also be prepared to award zero marks if
the candidate’s response is not worthy of credit according to the mark
scheme.
• Where some judgement is required, mark schemes will provide the
principles by which marks will be awarded and exemplification/indicative
content will not be exhaustive.
• When examiners are in doubt regarding the application of the mark
scheme to a candidate’s response, a senior examiner must be consulted
before a mark is given.
• Crossed out work should be marked unless the candidate has replaced it
with an alternative response.
Marking guidance – specific
The marking grids have been designed to assess student work holistically. The
grids identify which Assessment Objective is being targeted by each bullet
point within the level descriptors. One bullet point is linked to one Assessment
Objective, however please note that the number of bullet points in the level
descriptor does not directly correlate to the number of marks in the level
descriptor.
When deciding how to reward an answer, examiners should consult both the
indicative content and the associated marking grid(s). When using a levelsbased mark scheme, the ‘best fit’ approach should be used:
• examiners should first decide which descriptor most closely matches the
answer and place it in that level
• the mark awarded within the level will be decided based on the quality of
the answer and will be modified according to how securely all bullet points
are displayed at that level
• in cases of uneven performance, the points above will still apply.
Candidates will be placed in the level that best describes their answer
according to each of the Assessment Objectives described in the level.Marks will be awarded towards the top or bottom of that level depending
on how they have evidenced each of the descriptor bullet points
• examiners of Advanced GCE English should remember that all Assessment
Objectives within a level are equally weighted. They must consider this
when making their judgements
• the mark grid identifies which Assessment Objective is being targeted by
each bullet point within the level descriptors
• indicative content is exactly that – they are factual points that candidates
are likely to use to construct their answer. It is possible for an answer to be
constructed without mentioning some or all of these points, as long as they
provide alternative responses to the indicative content that fulfils the
requirements of the question. It is the examiner’s responsibility to apply
their professional judgement to the candidate’s response in determining if
the answer fulfils the requirements of the question.
Placing a mark within a level
• Examiners should first decide which descriptor most closely matches the
answer and place it in that level. The mark awarded within the level will be
decided based on the quality of the answer and will be modified according
to how securely all bullet points are displayed at that level.
• In cases of uneven performance, the points above will still apply.
Candidates will be placed in the level that best describes their answer
according to the descriptors in that level. Marks will be awarded towards
the top or bottom of that level depending on how they have evidenced
each of the descriptor bullet points.
• If the candidate’s answer meets the requirements fully, markers should
be prepared to award full marks within the level. The top mark in the level
is used for work that is as good as can realistically be expected within that
level.Paper 1 Mark scheme
Question
number
Indicative content
1 Antony and Cleopatra
Candidates may refer to the following in their answers:
• episodic structure makes for rapid changes of mood, tone and setting
• constant shifting of settings suggests a world in a state of flux, reflecting
contemporary changes in society in Shakespeare’s England
• short scenes allow for multiple perspectives and the development of irony,
e.g. in Scene 1, Antony claims to be wholly committed to Cleopatra, but in
the next scene he determines to return to Rome
• absence of lengthy soliloquies and passages of introspection make this play
very different from Shakespeare’s other tragedies
• use of messengers to perform a variety of dramatic functions, e.g.
exposition; plot continuity; irony; characterisation
• switching perspectives allows Shakespeare to develop his theme of
oppositions, e.g. those between Rome and Egypt, love and lust, masculinity
and femininity.
Possible references to the Critical Anthology or other critical reading could include:
• Tony Tanner’s point about the play being full of messengers (Anthology)
• Emrys Jones’ comment that the practice of clearing the stage every hundred
lines or so forbids any very deep emotional engagement on the part of the
audience. (Anthology).
These are suggestions only. Accept any valid alternative response.
2 Antony and Cleopatra
Candidates may refer to the following in their answers:
• ambiguity as to how we are to judge the protagonists and their weaknesses
• different views of weakness presented between Rome and Egypt, e.g.
Caesar’s ascetism v Cleopatra’s lack of decorum
• use of hyperbole and bombastic claims to foreground the gap between the
celestial and the human, e.g. ’Eternity was in our lips and eyes,/Bliss in our
brows’ bent, none our parts so poor/But was a race of heaven’
• protagonists shown to be morally weak from the start and with a distinctly
domestic agenda have seen critics question whether the play is a tragedy
• presentation of human weakness as a reflection of Shakespeare’s England,
e.g. Antony’s conduct triggers multiple identifications with King James, while
the excesses of Egypt could be said to reflect his increasingly libertine court
• presentation of poor personal choices as having universal impact, e.g.
’The triple pillar of the world transformed.’
Possible references to the Critical Anthology or other critical reading could include:
• David Kastan’s question about the nature of tragedy: ‘Is the tragic motor
human error or capricious fate?’ (Anthology)
• Anthony Miller’s comment that Shakespeare ‘adds generosity to human
weakness’. (‘The Metamorphic Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra’ Sydney
Studies in English 18, 1992–93).
These are suggestions only. Accept any valid alternative response.Question
number
Indicative content
3 Hamlet
Candidates may refer to the following in their answers:
• presentation of Hamlet’s grief through hyperbolic descriptions of his deceased
father, e.g. ‘So excellent a king, that was to this/Hyperion to a satyr’
• link between grief and vengeance as typical of revenge tragedy
• dramatic impact of Hamlet’s listing of the conventional Elizabethan forms of
mourning, e.g. ‘These but the trappings and the suits of woe.’
• significance of the soliloquy where Hamlet comments on the actor imitating the
grief of Hecuba, e.g. ‘What’s Hecuba to him or he to Hecuba/That he should
weep for her? What would he do/Had he the motive and the cue for passion/That
I have?’
• dramatic impact of the scene at Ophelia’s grave where Hamlet publicly draws
attention to his grief, e.g. ‘What is he whose grief/Bears such an emphasis?’
• mediated representation of female grief in the play as a reflection of Elizabethan
patriarchy, e.g. Gertrude’s mourning reported by Hamlet; Hecuba’s grief
narrated by an actor; Player Queen’s sorrow rendered mute through the device
of the dumb show.
Possible references to the Critical Anthology or other critical reading could include:
• A D Nuttall’s argument about the pleasure of tragedy: ‘it seems that grief and
fear become in their turn matter for enjoyment’. (Anthology)
• Stephen Greenblatt’s comment that this play ‘gave birth to a whole new kind of
literary subjectivity’. (‘Hamlet.’ In The Norton Shakespeare. Edited by Stephen
Greenblatt et al New York, 2008).
These are suggestions only. Accept any valid alternative response.
4 Hamlet
Candidates may refer to the following in their answers:
• Laertes’ presentation as a dramatic foil to Hamlet, e.g. both men avenging the
death of a father, allowing [Show Less]