Critical essays Assessment criteria Band Mark Descriptors Band 1 25 24 23 Band 2 22 21 20 Band 3 19 18 17 Band 4 16 15 14 Band 5 13 12 11 Band 6 10 9 8 Band 7 7 6 5 Band 8 4 3 2 Answers in this band have all the qualities of Band 2 work, with further insight, sensitivity, individuality and flair. They maintain sustained engagement with both text and task. Sustains a perceptive, convincing and relevant personal response shows a clear critical understanding of the text responds sensitively and in detail to the way the writer achieves her/his effects integrates much well-selected reference to the text Makes a well-developed, detailed and relevant personal response shows a clear understanding of the text and some of its deeper implications makes a developed response to the way the writer achieves her/his effects supports with careful and relevant reference to the text Makes a reasonably developed relevant personal response shows understanding of the text and some of its deeper implications makes some response to the way the writer uses language shows some thoroughness in the use of supporting evidence from the text Begins to develop a relevant personal response shows some understanding of meaning makes a little reference to the language of the text uses some supporting textual detail Attempts to communicate a basic personal response to the task makes some relevant comments shows a basic understanding of surface meaning of the text makes a little supporting reference to the text Some evidence of simple personal response to the task makes a few straightforward comments shows a few signs of understanding the surface meaning of the text makes a little reference to the text Limited attempt to respond shows some limited understanding of simple/literal meaning Below Band 8 0 1 No answer/insufficient to meet the criteria for Band 8. 6 Cambridge IGCSE World Literature 0408
Example candidate response Band 1 Cambridge International IGCSE World Literature 0408 7
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Examiner comment Band 1 This is a sustained and perceptive response to the poetry of Anna Akhmatova. The first paragraph sets out the focus of the essay: in the candidate s words Akhmatova s desire to be acknowledged for the sacrificial decisions she made as a poet and her determination to resist the norm that encourages selfpreservation over sacrifice. There is in the body of the essay detailed examination of language and effects: e.g. Lot s wife turned into transparent salt... transparent emphasizes her invisibility, and how easily she is forgotten and blown away, like dust, reiterating her insignificance. There is also consideration of how structure contributes to the poetry s meanings: This stanza links with the fourth, where Akhmatova expresses her dissatisfaction in love, with the repetition of too in Earth s drinks much too sweet / Love s nets too close together to stress that love is not right for her. The analysis is sustained with the observation: Her feelings of capture and almost enslavement in relationships are conveyed... The response shows insight and individuality in its sustained exploration of detail from the poems. This is a Band 1 performance. Cambridge International IGCSE World Literature 0408 9
Example candidate response Band 1 10 Cambridge IGCSE World Literature 0408
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Example candidate response Band 1 The essay title appears prominently at the top of the essay: How is the destruction of nature showcased in both Report to Wordsworth and Lament? The first and final paragraphs make reference to both the poems in connection with the essay title. Apart from this, the poems are analysed separately. The second paragraph sensibly limits background on Wordsworth to the dates of his birth and death. Other contextual comments relate to the text: e.g. Cheng thinks all is lost so he uses lines like You should have been here...because if Wordsworth was here, maybe he could convince others to save nature... I think the report Cheng is giving is a duty he feels towards Wordsworth, as if to show nature has been affected. The bulk of the essay consists of a detailed exploration of effects, showing a sensitive and perceptive appreciation of detail: e.g. Flowers, which are vibrant and represent beautiful life, are now mute, which is a symbol of shock and fear. The exploration of imagery and its effects is particularly effective when discussing Clarke s Lament: e.g....underneath the veil the oil hides a deadly effect, and the images created like the veil of iridescence on the sand are beautiful, but mask something of great menace. The response sustains a clear focus on the question and engages sensitively with the ways in which the poets achieve their effects, showing insight and individuality. This is a Band 1 response. In poetry (and short story) assignments, candidates should refer to two poems (stories). Experience shows that, where candidates write about more than two, the writing can become superficial. Comparison is not a requirement at IGCSE level. 14 Cambridge IGCSE World Literature 0408
Example candidate response Band 4 Cambridge International IGCSE World Literature 0408 15
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Examiner comment Band 4 No title is given, but it is possible to determine some focus in the first paragraph: what is wrong with the way humans treat the earth. There then follows some elaboration in respect of each of the two poems to be discussed. There is an overall understanding of key issues as the candidate works through each poem, adopting an almost line-by-line approach. This is particularly noticeable in the treatment of the second poem Report to Wordsworth. Perhaps as a result of not having the full essay title near to hand, there is occasionally a sense of the candidate explaining the content without explicit reference to the overarching task. Nonetheless, deeper implications are grasped: e.g. both poems describe how nature has gone down a dark road. The candidate makes some response to the poets use of language, but it is uneven. There is, for instance in paragraph three, some attempt to evaluate the phrase pulsing burden in Lament. However, comments on language tend to be general: e.g. The metaphor nest of sickness conveys the feeling that war has reached so far that there is a not a safe place left in which to dig a nest. In all, this response is certainly better than Band 5 begins to develop a relevant personal response, but it does not have the clear understanding and developed response to writers effects that characterise a secure Band 3 response. This is a reasonably developed response, placing it in Band 4. Cambridge International IGCSE World Literature 0408 17
Example candidate response Band 6 18 Cambridge IGCSE World Literature 0408
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Examiner comment Band 6 This is a relatively brief and under-developed response to two poems. In the absence of a title, the focus of the essay can perhaps be gleaned from the first paragraph: both show the theme of death. This candidate is hampered by the mistaken impression that the poems must be compared. In practice, this leads to a simple essay structure of a couple of sentences on one poem followed by a couple of sentences on the other, and so on. There is some relevant comment but it is not developed: e.g. The author uses onomatopoeia to describe the baby s speech [in Heaney s Mid-Term Break]. There is also other comment that is not secure: e.g. The author uses the word stride to show that his father was not used to funerals. There is overall a basic understanding of surface meaning and an attempt to communicate a basic personal response, which places this in Band 6. It does not begin to develop a personal response to the way death is presented in each poem. The response is a little too fragmented for that. 20 Cambridge IGCSE World Literature 0408