Materials For this paper you must have: • an AQA 12-page answer book • a copy of the set text(s) you have studied for Section B and Section C. These texts must not be annotated and must not contain additional notes or materials. Instructions • Use black ink or black ball-point pen. • Write the information required on the front of your answer book. The Paper Reference is 7717/2B. • You must answer the question in Section A, one question from Section B and one question from Section C. Over Section B and Section C you must write about three texts: one poetry text, one post-2000 prose text and one further text. At least one of your texts must be written pre-1900. • Do all rough work in the answer book. Cross through any work you do not want to be marked. Information • The marks for questions are shown in brackets. • The maximum mark for this paper is 75. • You will be marked on your ability to: – use good English – organise information clearly – use specialist vocabulary where appropriate. • In your response you need to: – analyse carefully the writers’ methods – explore the contexts of the texts you are writing about – explore connections across the texts you have studied – explore different interpretations of your texts. A-level ENGLISH LITERATURE B Paper 2B Texts and genres: Elements of political and social protest writing 2 IB/G/Jun24/7717/2B Section A Answer the question in this section. 0 1 Explore the significance of the elements of political and social protest writing in this extract. Remember to include in your answer relevant detailed analysis of the ways the author has shaped meanings. [25 marks] The Wall, by John Lanchester, was published in 2019. It is a dystopian novel set in the near future. A wall has been built around Britain, partly to protect it from the effects of climate change and partly to stop illegal immigrants (Others) arriving by sea. Kavanagh, the narrator in the novel, is a Defender on the wall and has just been moved to a northern outpost where conditions are especially harsh. Hifa is his girlfriend. A few days into that first tour up north, who should come for a visit but our old friend the blond baby politician, dispenser of intelligence briefings, platitudes and medals. He arrived on an afternoon of clammy, close-clinging mist, a very unpleasant day to be on the Wall. It was lucky that the north was quieter, because this was good weather for Others. Our shift gathered in the briefing room, which was the same as every other briefing room, except the maps were different. I found, sitting in front of him as he stood at the podium, that my instinctive dislike had subsided a little. That might be because he had been involved in giving me a medal, which was pretty pathetic, really; but there we were. Also, maybe, I was getting a glimpse of how a person made it into the elite, and starting to see that it was possible – not easy, but possible. A very good record on the Wall, followed by a record of proven success at college, a Breeder, a young person on an upward trajectory; that was the kind of man for whom elites would budge up and make room. The kind of outsider/insider they needed. I was taking more of an interest in him and seeing him more as an object of study than of simple loathing. ‘Hello and welcome,’ he started, as if he were our gracious host, the man in charge of the far north. ‘We know each other of old, some of us, and some of us are new colleagues. Welcome. Well done! You are all members of the best defence force in the world, the best trained and the best staffed and the best prepared!’ I realised it was his standard speech and tuned out. He would have to give it twice, since this was a normal tour on the Wall, not a training camp; once for us, once for the other shift. What must it be like, to go around the country talking to Defenders and the public, to not be part of their lives but talking to them about their lives, to be up there in the plane? A metaphorical plane in the case of this man, but still. To give orders while you were pretending just to be chatting, to boss people about by asking them if they would kindly do something for you . . . Help, of course, there would be lots and lots of Help, cooking Help and cleaning Help and Help to look after the children if you had them, and driving Help and gardening Help for your big house with its self-sufficient food supply (just in case), repair and maintenance Help and odd-job Help, electrical Help and painting and decorating Help . . . Now the speech had turned and he was repeating the warnings he had given at training – which, to be fair, had turned out to be true – about how there were more Others coming and they were more desperate. He also repeated the warnings about how the Others were suspected to have secret networks of support, secret sympathisers, hidden in the general population. They were thought to have new ways of getting away from the 3 IB/G/Jun24/7717/2B Turn over ► coast, maybe even new ways of getting chipped. He went on for a bit more and then stopped his general briefing and invited me and the Captain and Hifa up on stage and talked for a bit about how we had been decorated in action and how lucky this squad was to have three such resolute, able Defenders, and how we were the best defence force in the world, the best trained and the best staffed and the best prepared. Turn over for Section B 4 IB/G/Jun24/7717/2B Over Section B and Section C, you must write about three texts from the following list: Songs of Innocence and of Experience (pre-1900) Tony Harrison: Selected Poems The Kite Runner (post-2000 prose) Harvest (post-2000 prose) Hard Times (pre-1900) Henry IV Part I (pre-1900) A Doll’s House (pre-1900) The Handmaid’s Tale Section B Answer one question in this section. Either 0 2 Songs of Innocence and of Experience – William Blake ‘In Blake’s poetry, being in a state of innocence leads to joy and happiness.’ To what extent do you agree with this view? Remember to include in your answer relevant detailed exploration of Blake’s authorial methods. [25 marks] or 0 3 Selected Poems – Tony Harrison ‘In Harrison’s poetry, the working class are the good guys.’ To what extent do you agree with this view? Remember to include in your answer relevant detailed exploration of Harrison’s authorial methods