EDEXCEL GCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE 2022 MARKSCHEME PAPER 1

Mark Scheme (Results)

Summer 2022

Pearson Edexcel GCSE

In English Literature (1ET0)

Paper 1: Shakespeare and Post-1914

Literature

2

Edexcel and BTEC Qualifications

Edexcel and 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 2022

Question Paper Log Number 71587

Publications Code 1ET0_01_2206_MS

All the material in this publication is copyright

© Pearson Education Ltd 2022

3

General Marking Guidance

• All candidates must receive the same treatment. Examiners must mark the first candidate in

exactly the same way as they mark the last.

• 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.

• In some cases, details of what will not be accepted for a marking point will be identified below

the phrase ‘do not accept’.

• There is no ceiling on achievement. All marks on the mark scheme should be used appropriately.

• 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 may be limited.

• When examiners are in doubt regarding the application of the mark scheme to a candidate’s

response, the team leader must be consulted.

• 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 the

Assessment Objective being targeted by the level descriptors.

• When deciding how to reward and 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 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 Assessment Objective 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.

• Indicative content is exactly that – it consists of 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 fulful 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

4

• 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

The table below shows the number of raw marks allocated for each question in this mark

scheme.

Assessment Objectives Total

marks

Component AO1 AO2 AO3 AO4

Component 1:

Shakespeare and Post1914Literature

Questions 1a to 6a 20 20

Questions 1b to 6b 15 5 20

Question 7-30 16 16 8 40

AO1 Read, understand and respond to texts.

Students should be able to:

● maintain a critical style and develop an informed personal response

● use textual references, including quotations, to support and illustrate

interpretations.

AO2 Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects,

using relevant subject terminology where appropriate.

AO3 Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they

were written.

AO4 Use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with

accurate spelling and punctuation.

5

Section A – Shakespeare

Question

Number

Indicative content

1(a)

Macbeth

The indicative content is not prescriptive. Reward responses that explore how Shakespeare presents

the character of Macbeth.

Responses may include:

• Macbeth’s opening lines present him as paranoid and erratic in his behaviour. He uses the lexical

field of death, ‘blood’, ‘die’, ‘bones are marrowless’ and the repetition of ‘murder/s’, which is

juxtaposed with the welcoming language expected of a king hosting a feast for his Lords

• his language is also graphically disturbing and conveys his obsession with violence. He describes a

man being aggressively killed, ‘brains were out’, and the alliterative ‘mortal murders’ references

the killing of Banquo. His disturbed and guilty mind imagines he can see Banquo’s ghost who is

able to ‘rise again’, even though his ‘blood is cold’

• following Lady Macbeth’s prompting, Macbeth tries to change his behaviour and he appears

welcoming and apologetic. He uses the informal greeting ‘worthy friends’ as a term of endearment

when addressing his guests. The abstract nouns, ‘love’, ‘health’, ‘joy’, and his request for ‘some

wine’, give the appearance that Macbeth is trying to regain his calmness and confidence, although

the use of dashes to break up his speech and his reference to Banquo suggest he is still not in

total control of his emotions

• the imperatives, ‘Come’ and ‘Give’, that Macbeth uses to instruct his guests and servants reflect his

status as king and the control he maintains within his castle. In contrast his imperative commands

when speaking to the ghost convey a man who is terrified and lacking control, ‘Avaunt’, ‘Approach’,

‘Take’, ‘Hence’

• the multiple exclamatives present Macbeth as horrified at what he believes he can see and the

tricolon used to describe the ghost’s ‘bones … blood … eyes’, conveys how deeply disturbed

Macbeth is. By using a list of three he describes how he would rather face three ferocious animals,

‘Russian Bear … armed rhinoceros … Hyrcan tiger’ than Banquo. The italicising of ‘that’ reinforces

the disgust he feels for the ‘shape’ in which Banquo has appeared

• despite Macbeth being a powerful king, his language at the end of the extract conveys him as a

man consumed by fear. His language is emotive and links to physical reactions, ‘tremble …

trembling’.

Reward all valid points.

Level Mark Descriptor - AO2 Please refer to page 4 (20 marks)

0 No rewardable material.

Level 1 1–4 • The response is simple and the identification of language, form and structure is

minimal.

• Little evidence of relevant subject terminology.

Level 2 5–8 • The response is largely descriptive. There is some comment on the language, form

and structure.

• Limited use of relevant subject terminology to support examples given.

Level 3 9–12 • The response shows an understanding of a range of language, form and structure

features and links these to their effect on the reader.

• Relevant subject terminology is used to support examples given.

Level 4 13–16 • The response is focused and detailed. Analysis of language, form and structure

features and their effect on the reader is sustained.

• Relevant subject terminology is used accurately and appropriately to develop ideas.

Level 5 17–20 • The response is a cohesive evaluation of the interrelationship of language, form and

structure and their effect on the reader.

• Relevant subject terminology is integrated and precise.

6

Question

Number

Indicative content

1(b)

Macbeth

The indicative content is not prescriptive. Reward responses that consider the importance of fear

elsewhere in the play.

Responses may include:

Interpretation of the text (AO1):

• the theme of fear is important as it is integral to Macbeth’s downfall. His fear and paranoia of being

overthrown result in his committing numerous murders to maintain his position as king. Macbeth’s

initial fear occurs when he and Banquo first meet the witches. Following their predictions, Banquo

notices the effect on Macbeth, ‘why do you start and seem to fear…?’, suggesting their prophecies are

unsettling for Macbeth

• fear is important in presenting Macbeth as an honourable man. Following Ross’ announcement that

he will become Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth briefly contemplates murder but describes how fear ‘is

making my seated heart knock at my ribs’. His fear is also shown prior to killing Duncan. Although

Macbeth is desperate to become King, he is afraid to go through with the murder. His reluctance

suggests that the thought of killing Duncan is abhorrent to him and just ‘fantastical’

• Lady Macbeth plays on her husband’s fear of failure to convince him to kill Duncan. She expresses

her fears that Macbeth does not have the desire to commit murder. She questions his character, ‘I

fear thy nature’, and resorts to challenging his masculinity to persuade him to go through with it, ‘Art

thou afeard…?’

• following the murder of their father, Malcolm and Donalbain fear for their safety and agree to flee

Scotland as it ‘Shall keep us both the safer’, Malcolm escaping to England and Donalbain to Ireland

• fear has an effect on Macbeth’s character and he is paralysed with horror at having killed his

kinsman. He refuses to go back with the daggers as he is ‘afraid to think what [he has] done’. In

contrast Lady Macbeth shows no fear, taking the daggers from Macbeth and telling him that it is

childish to be afraid of the sleeping or the dead as they ‘are but as pictures’

• Banquo’s fear that Macbeth has played ‘most foully’ in murdering Duncan is important as it results in

Banquo’s murder and the attempted murder of Fleance, his son. Banquo’s doubts over Macbeth’s

innocence, together with the witches’ final prophecy, increase Macbeth’s paranoia and his distrust of

Banquo, ‘Our fears in Banquo stick deep’

• Fleance is important in showing how threatened and fearful Macbeth feels and he realises how the

witches have manipulated him: ‘For Banquo’s issue have I filed my mind’. He describes how he and

Lady Macbeth have ‘scorched the snake, not killed it’

• fear of Macduff’s raising an army against him has the important effect of his having Macduff’s family

killed, ‘His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls’. Macduff’s wife and family wait in fear as

Macduff’s journey to England has left them unprotected. Despite the witches’ predictions that

Macbeth will not be killed by a man born of a woman and his belief that he is invincible, ‘what need I

fear thee?’ Macbeth is reluctant to fight Macduff when challenged, ‘get thee back’.

Relationship between text and context (AO3):

• the play reflects the social expectations at the time the play was performed that good overcomes evil.

Macbeth must be destroyed to atone for his crimes

• kingship and loyalty were important components of Jacobean life. The murder of a king was seen as

evil and against the belief in the Divine Right of Kings

• the inclusion of witches would have been seen by the audience as a bad omen, something they

would have feared and associated with everyday disasters.

Reward all valid points.

Candidates will be rewarded if they make relevant textual references or use short quotations from

elsewhere in the play, outside of the extract provided. This includes relevant paraphrasing.

7

In responses to the following question for AO1, examiners should be aware of the different ways

candidates may structure their responses. There should be sufficient evidence of a personal response

and a critical style to meet the criteria for each level.

Level Mark Descriptor

Bullets 1, 2 and 3 – AO1 (15 marks), Bullet 4 – AO3 (5 marks)

Please refer to page 4

0 No rewardable material.

Level 1 1–4 • The response is simple with little personal response.

• There is little evidence of a critical style.

• Little reference is made to the content or themes of the play.

• There is little awareness of context and little comment on the relationship

between text and context.

Level 2 5–8 • The response may be largely narrative but has some elements of personal

response.

• There is some evidence of a critical style but it is not always applied securely.

• Some valid points are made, but without consistent or secure focus.

• There is some awareness of relevant context and some comment on the

relationship between text and context.

Level 3 9–12 • The response shows a relevant personal response, soundly related to the text.

• There is an appropriate critical style, with comments showing a sound

interpretation.

• The response is relevant and focused points are made with support from the

text.

• There is sound comment on relevant context and sound relevant comment on

the relationship between text and context.

Level 4 13–16 • The response has a developed personal response and thorough engagement,

fully related to the text.

• The critical style is sustained, and there is well-developed interpretation.

• Well-chosen references to the text support a range of effective points.

• There is sustained comment on relevant context and detailed awareness of the

relationship between text and context.

Level 5 17–20 • There is an assured personal response, showing a high level of engagement

with the text.

• A critical style is developed with maturity, perceptive understanding and

interpretation.

• Discerning references are an integral part of the response, with points made

with assurance and full support from the text.

• There is excellent understanding of context, and convincing understanding of

the relationship between text and context is integrated into the response.

8

Question

Number

Indicative content

2(a)

The

Tempest

The indicative content is not prescriptive. Reward responses that explore how Shakespeare presents the

character of Caliban.

Responses may include:

• Caliban is presented as a complex character. His language alternates between coarse and brutal, when

expressing his hatred of Prospero, and eloquent and sensitive when describing the island. Caliban shows

considerable intelligence. He has learnt Prospero’s language and is able to communicate clearly

• initially he is conveyed as angry and uses abusive exclamatives, ‘Drop on you both!’, ‘blister you all o’er!’,

to reflect the hurt he feels for the way he has been treated. The verb ‘blister’ relates to physical pain,

which mirrors the physical abuse Caliban suffers at the hand of Prospero

• Caliban’s disdain for Prospero continues with his assertion that the island is his and that he should be

‘mine own king!’ His repetitive use of the pronouns ‘mine’ and ‘me’ reflect his belief that he is the rightful

heir to the island. His use of the word ‘thou’ when addressing Prospero similarly shows his contempt as it

is the form used when addressing inferiors or intimate equals

• after his initial cursing of Prospero, Caliban’s language becomes more expressive showing how he is also

an emotional character. He lists the ways Prospero treated him at the start of their relationship linking to

physical and emotional needs: ‘strok’st me’, ‘made much of me’, ‘give me’, ‘teach me’. His use of the verb

‘loved’ suggests Caliban is capable of experiencing normal emotions and was originally happy living with

Prospero

• he is a knowledgeable character who uses the lexical field of nature, and the sun and moon to describe

the ‘fresh springs’, ‘the bigger light’ and ‘the less’, illustrating his awareness and sensitivity to the natural

world. When he is abusing Prospero, his language includes the listing of creatures associated with magic

and spells, ‘toads, beetles, bats’, suggesting that he has inherited the knowledge of his mother, the witch

Sycorax

• Caliban’s sentences vary according to the mood he is in. When he is angry, he uses shorter more

exclamative structures, ‘Cursed be I that did so!’ In contrast, when he is reflecting on a happier time on

the island, he uses more compound structures to describe his experiences

• at the end of the extract, Caliban reverts to his abusive nature but this time his language and tone are

sarcastic and mocking. When Prospero mentions Caliban’s attempted rape of Miranda, instead of

showing remorse, Caliban appears to regret his lack of success and antagonises Prospero, ‘Would’t had

been done!’ He torments Prospero with the suggestion that he would have ‘peopled … this isle with

Calibans!’ He ends by challenging Prospero again with the use of ‘Thou’.

Reward all valid points.

Level Mark Descriptor - AO2 Please refer to page 4 (20 marks)

0 No rewardable material.

Level 1 1–4 • The response is simple and the identification of language, form and structure is

minimal.

• Little evidence of relevant subject terminology.

Level 2 5–8 • The response is largely descriptive. There is some comment on the language, form and

structure.

• Limited use of relevant subject terminology to support examples given.

Level 3 9–12 • The response shows an understanding of a range of language, form and structure

features and links these to their effect on the reader.

• Relevant subject terminology is used to support examples given.

Level 4 13–16 • The response is focused and detailed. Analysis of language, form and structure features

and their effect on the reader is sustained.

• Relevant subject terminology is used accurately and appropriately to develop ideas.

9

Level 5 17–20 • The response is a cohesive evaluation of the interrelationship of language, form and

structure and their effect on the reader.

• Relevant subject terminology is integrated and precise.

Question

Number

Indicative content

2(b)

The

Tempest

The indicative content is not prescriptive. Reward responses that consider the importance of suffering

elsewhere in the play.

Responses may include:

Interpretation of text (AO1):

• suffering is important as it is an emotion experienced by many of the characters either physically or

emotionally. The play explores the reasons for each of them dealing with their different forms of

suffering. At the start of the play, the sailors are suffering in the ‘wild waters’ and ‘sea storm’ trying to

keep the ship afloat in the tempest. The struggle to survive reflects the fragility of humanity and its

conflict with nature

• the reason for Prospero’s suffering and for the characters’ being on the island is his betrayal by his

treacherous brother. The storm acts as a manifestation of Prospero’s inner suffering and is important

in demonstrating his desire for retribution. He describes to Miranda how he suffered when her ‘false

uncle’ raised a ‘treacherous army’ to overthrow him and take Milan for himself. To regain his dukedom

Prospero instructs Ariel to raise the tempest and bring his enemies to the island

• Miranda suffers the horrors of witnessing the ship floundering in the storm and the possible deaths of

its passengers. To alleviate her suffering Prospero tries to calm her concerns, ‘there’s no harm done’.

Miranda’s suffering is important as it enables Prospero to tell her about how they came to be on the

island and why he has conjured up the storm. When Ferdinand is enslaved by Prospero and made to

carry logs, Miranda suffers to see him struggling and offers to carry the ‘logs a while’

• as a result of Prospero’s control of the island and its inhabitants, Ariel suffers oppression and

servitude. When Ariel asks Prospero to be set free, Prospero loses his temper and threatens to ‘peg

thee’ in an oak and gives a reminder of Ariel’s previous suffering when imprisoned in a tree by Sycorax.

Despite their close relationship and Prospero’s repeated promises, he fails to give Ariel liberty until the

end of the play

• suffering is important in demonstrating the volatile relationship between Prospero and Caliban.

Prospero suffers heartache and anger because of Caliban’s attempted assault on his daughter,

Miranda. Prospero resorts to abusing Caliban by calling him a ‘poisonous slave’ and subjecting him to

physical torment and suffering by inflicting him with ‘cramps’. To reflect his own suffering, Caliban

resorts to the verbal abuse of Prospero by using language to curse him and to show his resentment, ‘a

red plague rid you’

• the reason for Ferdinand’s suffering, in the form of imprisonment and forced labour, is important as it

is Prospero’s way of testing Ferdinand’s true feelings for Miranda. Prospero’s control of Ferdinand

results in Miranda’s and Prospero’s relationship temporarily suffering. When she pleads for Ferdinand

to be released, ‘Beseech you, father!’, Prospero loses his temper and orders her to ‘Silence!’

• Alonso’s suffering is important as it results in him showing remorse and repentance for his deeds.

Because of his weakness in succumbing to Antonio’s cruelty, Alonso did nothing to prevent Prospero

and Miranda being ‘Expos’d unto the sea’. Ariel deceives Alonso into believing his son has drowned,

‘My son is lost’, and makes him suffer by suggesting he is ‘unfit to live’.

Relationship between text and context (AO3):

• the tempest and the volatility of nature represents the social and political unrest at the start of the

Jacobean era

• Prospero represents a typical father within a patriarchal society who would oversee the marriage

arrangements of his daughter

• the use of captives as slaves and their physical and mental suffering reflects the way some countries

believed they had the right to conquer and oppress people from other cultures.

Reward all valid points.

10

Candidates will be rewarded if they make relevant textual references or use short quotations from

elsewhere in the play, outside of the extract provided. This includes relevant paraphrasing.