Mark Scheme (Results)
Summer 2023
Pearson Edexcel Level 3 GCE In
English Literature (9ET0)
Paper 2: ProseEdexcel and BTEC Qualifications
Edexcel and
... [Show More] BTEC qualifications are awarded by Pearson, the UK’s largest awarding body. We
provide a wide range of qualifications including academic, vocational, occupational and specific
programmes for employers. For further information visit our qualifications websites at
www.edexcel.com or www.btec.co.uk. Alternatively, you can get in touch with us using the details
on our contact us page at www.edexcel.com/contactus.
Pearson: helping people progress, everywhere
Pearson aspires to be the world’s leading learning company. Our aim is to help everyone
progress in their lives through education. We believe in every kind of learning, for all kinds of
people, wherever they are in the world. We’ve been involved in education for over 150 years, and
by working across 70 countries, in 100 languages, we have built an international reputation for
our commitment to high standards and raising achievement through innovation in education.
Find out more about how we can help you and your students at: www.pearson.com/uk
Summer 2023
Question Paper Log Number P72847
Publications Code 9ET0_02_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 levels-based 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 answerand 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.Paper 2 Mark scheme
Question
number
Indicative content
1 Childhood
Candidates may refer to the following in their answers:
• comparison of characters who make important choices, e.g. Celie’s choice to leave
Mr in The Color Purple; Briony’s choice to falsely accuse Robbie in Atonement;
Maisie’s choice of who to live with in What Maisie Knew; Louisa’s choice to leave
Bounderby in Hard Times
• ways writers present reasons for making choices, e.g. Celie’s breaking point after
years of abuse in The Color Purple; Maisie’s search for security in What Maisie
Knew; ambiguity about Briony’s motivation in Atonement
• ways writers present the consequences of making choices, e.g. Maisie’s moral
development in What Maisie Knew; Celie’s self-actualisation in The Color Purple;
Gradgrind’s realisation of the flaws in his philosophy in Hard Times
• methods used to depict moments of decision, e.g. Walker’s use of powerful
dialogue; James’ use of the symbolic boat back to England; Dickens’ fire metaphor
• contextual factors relating to choices, e.g. limited choices available to poor AfricanAmerican women in the early 20th-century; attitudes towards child-rearing,
education, marriage and divorce in the 19th-century; social changes triggered by
World Wars One and Two
• writers’ use of narrative viewpoints to present characters making choices, e.g.
McEwan’s shift from third-person to first-person narration; Dickens’ omniscient point
of view; James’ limited point of view; Walker’s use of letters.
These are suggestions only. Accept any valid alternative response.
2 Childhood
Candidates may refer to the following in their answers:
• comparison of the different roles of children, e.g. as innocent or moral figures; as
victims; as teachers and pupils; as naïve or unknowing characters
• use of children as symbols, e.g. Walker uses Celie’s children to represent hope;
Maisie is used by James to symbolise innocence and to highlight the corruption of
her parents; Dickens uses Sissy Jupe to symbolise the importance of kindness
• ways children are presented as in need of protection, e.g. McEwan’s presentation of
the impact of divorce on Jackson and Pierrot; Walker’s presentation of Celie’s
childhood abuse; Dickens’ presentation of Louisa and Tom Gradgrind’s emotionally
impoverished home life; James’ depiction of Maisie as a pawn in her parents’ power
struggle
• ways writers present children’s voices, e.g. use of dialogue in classroom scenes in
Hard Times; Celie’s naïve and shocking narrative voice in the early letters of The
Color Purple; James’ focalisation on Maisie’s point of view in What Maisie Knew;
Briony’s childish dialogue in part 1 of Atonement
• contextual factors affecting writers’ presentation of children’s roles, e.g. poverty and
racism in early 20th-century American South; Dickens’ satirical depiction of
Utilitarian philosophy; James’ exploration of changing roles within the family;
McEwan’s exploration of social norms across different time periods
• presentation of children’s growth an [Show Less]