GCE A2 LEVEL Exemplifying Examination Performance English Literature
For first teaching from September 2008
This is an exemplification of candidates’ performance in A2 examinations (Summer Series 2010) to support the teaching and learning of the English Literature specification
A2 1: Goldsmith: Selected Poems 2 CCEA EXEMPLIFYING EXAMINATION PERFORMANCE EXEMPLIFYING EXAMINATION PERFORMANCE
A2 English Literature
Introduction
These materials illustrate aspects of performance from the 2010 summer A2 examination series of CCEA’s revised GCE Specification in English Literature.
Students’ grade A responses are reproduced as written in the examination. They are accompanied by commentaries written by senior examiners. The commentaries draw attention to the strengths of the students’ responses and indicate, where appropriate, how improvements could be made.
The materials exemplify the standard for the lifetime of the specification. It is intended that they should provide a benchmark of candidate performance and help teachers and students to raise standards.
The texts included for exemplification are dependent on the questions chosen by candidates in the summer 2010 examination series.
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Majella Corrigan Education Manager, English Language, English Literature and English Email: [email protected] Telephone: 028 9026 1200 (ext. 2200)
CCEA EXEMPLIFYING EXAMINATION PERFORMANCE 3 4 CCEA EXEMPLIFYING EXAMINATION PERFORMANCE A2 1 (AL211/1): Section A: The Study of Poetry 1300–1800 Goldsmith: Selected Poems
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By referring closely to extract 4(a) from ‘The Deserted Village’, printed in the Q4a accompanying Resource Booklet, and other appropriately selected parts of the poem, and making use of relevant external historical contextual material, examine the poetic methods which Goldsmith uses to present the theme of social injustice in the eighteenth century.
Student’s response
Social injustice is one of Goldsmith’s fundamental concerns in ‘The Deserted Village’. He sums up his condemnation by stating ‘Where, shall poverty reside, to scape the pressure of contiguous pride’. Hence, due to the impact of enclosure, wealthy landowners effectively priced landless labourers out of the property market and so rural English communities became depopulated. Goldsmith’s depiction of depopulation ‘provoked incredulity in London. This view is supported by Ginger, who notes that ‘while people went hungry, they were gratuitously insulted by the flamboyant display of wealth’, which caused social inequality in 18th century London. The heroic couplet above illustrates Goldsmith’s disapproval of wealthy property owners causing the poor to correspondingly become further impoverished.
Goldsmith uses form and structure to outline his view of social inequality. ‘The Deserted Village’ is a long, reflective poem. As the poem is written in heroic verse, it is linked with Epic literature, the most weighty and formal form of poetry in the Eighteenth Century. By using heroic verse, Goldsmith ‘announces’ to his readers the gravity of social inequality. This was the form favoured by neoclassical writers such as Pope and Johnson. Neoclassicists believed that contemporary poets should model themselves on classical Greek and Roman writers, such as Homer and Virgil. Neoclassicists also believed that poets should provide a didactic function, as well as entertaining their readers. They also believed that poetry should examine humanity as a whole rather than focus on individuals and that this should be done with clarity, balance, dignity and moderation.
Within the extract Goldsmith uses conventional poetic diction, which was associated with Eighteenth- Century formal poetry. ‘Turn thine eyes where the poor houseless shivering female lies’ emphasises that Goldsmith uses terms such as ‘thy’ and ‘thine’, which would have been considered as archaic by 1770. This quotation highlights alliteration and that social inequality in Eighteenth-Century Britain caused the poor to become landless.
The growth of industry, the importation of tea and silk (luxurious items) and as London was the focal point of Britain’s burgeoning Empire, the poor became further impoverished. Hence, Goldsmith deals the contrast between the urban setting of wealth and poverty, splendour and squalor.
Within the extract, Goldsmith uses hyperbole and a succession of negative images to depict social inequality in rural English Communities. ‘Thine, sweet AUBURN, thine, the loveliest train’ evokves the positive connotations and tranquility of rural English communities. This is sharply contrasted with the negative images which emphasise how wealth and ostentation caused by affluent landowners ‘at proud men’s doors they ask a little bread’. Hence, these images are juxtaposed as the poverty- striken rural poor contrast with the ‘proud men’ of wealth and status. This was condemned by Scott, who stated in 1775 that Britain gained vast wealth by ‘oppression by the plunder of slavery’. Hence, he criticised how Britain gained wealth via immoral means as slaves were exploited. Therefore Goldsmith condemns ‘the dome where pleasure holds her midnight reign’. Hence, Goldsmith includes frequent personification of abstractions as ‘Pleasure’ is personified. This is contrasted with ‘now lost to all; her friends, her virtue fled’. Hence, the ‘village’ is personified as a an innocent female. This hints at the use of apostrophe.
Goldsmith also uses alliteration as ‘fenceless fields’ depicts how wealthy landowners managed vast
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areas of land in an unkempt manner while ‘the cold’ and hungry were suffering. Hence, social injustice is condemned by Goldsmith.
The tone of this extract evokes an emotional response from the reader. Goldsmith uses a condemnatory tone as he criticises ‘the rattling chariots clash, the torches glare’. Hence, personification and alliteration are used to emphasise his disdain. This tone is replaced with a nostalgic tone as he states ‘her virtues fled’. This evokes a mood of pathos as Goldsmith considers that the impact of social injustice will mean that the ‘modest looks’ and ‘innocence’ of rural life will never be regained. This also suggests a rueful tone.
In the rest of the poem, Goldsmith uses form and structure to condemn social injustice. ‘While he sinks without one arm to save, the country blooms – a garden and a grave’. This paradox emphasises how the process of enclosure was a ‘garden’ for the rich and a ‘grave’ for the poor since social inequality and social injustice spurred poverty and affluence.
Goldsmith was also influenced by pastoral literature as he describes a ‘busy mill’ and ‘mirth and manners’ which evokes the innocence of rural life. The Idylls of Theocritus (3rd Century) and Eclogues of Virgil (1st C, BC) are early examples of pastoral literature. The Idylls of Theocritus depicted the innocence of rural life while the Eclogues of Virgil introduced social comment. Goldsmith also introduced social comment as he states ‘ye friends to truth, ye statesmen who survey, the rich man’s joy increase, the poor’s decay’. Hence, he addresses British politicians on the issue of social inequality and social injustice. Goldsmith suggests that exile and emmigration were the results of social change and so the poor became helpless and destitute. Therefore, ‘the growth of industry was an unmitigated evil’, (Montague) in the British Empire in the Eighteenth Century.
In the rest of the poem, Goldsmith also uses language and imagery to illustrate his condemnation of social injustice. ‘how do thy potions with insidious joy diffuse their pleasures only to destroy’. This extended metaphor compares the affect that luxury has on Britain with the affect that a poisonous, intoxicating liquid has on the body. ‘Insidious joy’ is an oxymoron, which emphasises that wealth and luxury will temporarily stimulate Britain, but they will ultimately lead to its destruction. Hence, this vast wealth that was accessed on an extraordinary scale led to many affluent proprietors gaining much land at the expense of landless labourers which evoked social injustice. ‘One only master grasps the whole domain’ sums up Goldsmith’s view of these extravagant proprietors.
Yet, as Goldsmith condemns ‘midnight masquerades’, he criticises those who embraced the high life of London. Yet, ironically, he engaged in this apparent extravagance with Johnson in London during the period. Hence, the biographical context of the poem suggests that Goldsmith ‘identifies with the masqueraders as much as with the uprooted villagers’ (Ginger) in Auburn.
In the rest of the poem, Goldsmith uses changing tones to depict the impact of social injustice. ‘Sweet Auburn, loveliest village of the plain’ uses apostrophe and is celebratory and amiring tone to praise the simplicity of Auburn pre-enclosure and before social injustice was rife. This tone is replaced by one of disappointment and loss as it states ‘but all these charms are fled’. The term ‘but’ conveys a tonal shift from one of idealistic recall to one of loss due to his condemnation of social injustice. As Goldsmith criticises ‘the tyrant’s hand’ he uses a vituperative tone to condemn affluent proprietors who gained vast wealth at the expense of landless labourers and caused the depopulation of rural English communities.
This tone is replaced by a nostalgic tone as Goldsmith states ‘mirth and manners are no more’. Hence a mood of pathos also suggests that social injustice will be a permanent feature of Britain due to the avarice of wealthy proprietors.
In conclusion, Goldsmith successfully addresses the theme of social injustice via the use of ongoing contrast and extended metaphors in ‘The Deserted Village’.
8 CCEA EXEMPLIFYING EXAMINATION PERFORMANCE Examiner’s Comments
AO4:
• Quite good range of reference to historical context, e.g. the impact of “enclosure” on landless labourers and subsequent depopulation, the growth of industry and its effects on the poor, ref to Scott (1775) and his condemnation of wealth gained through the oppression of the poor – “oppression by the plunder of slavery”.
AO2:
• Good range of methods, e.g. form – long, reflective poem, use of contrasts re: urban wealth and poverty, use of hyperbole, negative imagery, frequent personification of abstractions, use of apostrophe, alliteration, condemnatory tone, mood of pathos, rueful tone, paradox, extended metaphor.
• Good attempt to relate discussion of methods to key terms.
AO1:
• Demonstrates secure knowledge and understanding of the poem.
• A well-balanced consideration of the extract and the wider text.
• Articulate, well-written, engaged.
Suggestions for development:
Might have given a little more consideration of AO4 (context).
CCEA EXEMPLIFYING EXAMINATION PERFORMANCE 9 A2 Unit 1 English Literature
By referring closely to extract 4(b) from ‘The Deserted Village’, printed in the Q4b accompanying Resource Booklet, and other appropriately selected parts of the poem, and making use of relevant external historical contextual material, examine the poetic methods which Goldsmith uses to present the relationship between the individual and society in the eighteenth century.
Student’s response
The individual’s relationship with society is a key theme explored by Goldsmith in The Deserted Village.
This extract shows an extended character sketch of “the village schoolmaster” and explores his relationship with and influence on society along with his influence on his pupils. The line “There, in his noisy mansion, skill’d to rule, / The Village master taught in his little school” shows a tone of admiration and humility in the phrase “little school”, showing the school masters admirable role as an individual fitting into this humble society.
In Goldsmith’s youth, his own teacher in Lissoy, Elizabeth Delap, described him as “dull and stupid”. However his later teacher Thomas Byrne encouraged him and some of his traits are said to be represented in the extended character sketch of “the village schoolmaster”. This shows Goldsmith using his own experience to form a character and so we could infer that it makes the character’s position and relationship with society in the eighteenth century more believable.
The poem is written in the form of a long, reflective poem which is typical of a poem that deals with a tone of nostalgia: for example “But past is all his fame” shows this tone of nostalgia for a time when society was better and individuals could enjoy their place and relationship with society before the depopulation of villages across England.
It is also written in heroic verse split into heroic couplets for instance “In arguing too the parson owned his skill / for even tho’ vanquished, he could argue still” foregrounds his talent and mention of other members of society like the “parson” shows his secure, happy place within society. This heroic couplet links the poem to the epic tradition of poetry which announces the gravity of the subject matter, in this case the importance of individuals in society and in this case is represented by the individual in a particular post in the community.
The heroic couplet also links the poem to neoclassicism which suggests that writing should drawn on classic writers like Virgil or Homer. They also believe the writing should be clear and serve a didact function: in this case this extended character sketch foregrounds the importance of the teacher and presents him as having a positive influence and good relationship with society.
The oxymoron of the “furze” that it is “unprofitably gay” foregrounds the nostalgia at the loss of the departed schoolmaster; this is further emphasized by the speaker’s further interaction with the character in the line “ I knew him well” which establishes a personal connection and a sort of familiarity and this mirrors the sense of familiarity and comfort of the individual school teacher and society.
The gentle hints of mockery like “one small head” and that the students “laugh’d’ with counterfeited glee” suggest some negativity, however on a small scale that is normal in society and again, the gentle, humorous interaction between the schoolchildren and the master creates the mood of comfort and suggest the individual as having a positive relationship with society.
The alliteration of “words of learned length and thundering sound” foregrounds his excellence and
10 CCEA EXEMPLIFYING EXAMINATION PERFORMANCE intelligence in his post in society. The fact that “the gazing rustics ranged around” shows his good relationship also with the people of society and the consonance foregrounds this.
Hyperbole is also used effectively when it is suggested “he could gauge” or predict weather. This is clearly exaggerated but shows the tone of admiration and his admired position within society and so his good relationship with it.
The extended sketch of a key location is also shown in the extract in the form of the village inn.
It has been suggested that this inn is based on the alehouse in Lissoy as “yonder thorn” could refer to the hawthorn tree near this alehouse.
The tone of nostalgia is carried through as the reader is reminded about the loss of this good relationship. “They very spot / where many a time he triumphed, is forgot”. The tone of pathos also causes the reader to mourn this relationship with society enjoyed by the individuals within it. The use of onomatopoeia in the word “clinked” is used to foreground the bustling atmosphere of the alehouse and foreground the joyful atmosphere in a place where individuals met to enjoy the society of others.
The humility of the place is also emphasized in the line “A bed by night, a chest of drawers by day” foregrounding that a good society and a good relationship with it is not born out of wealth.
Again, the inn’s position as central to society is foregrounded by the line “where grey-beard mirth and smiling toil retired” shows a mood of joy and shows the individual’s positive relationship with a society that suits them.
Moving on to the rest of the poem, the individuals relationship with society continues to be an important theme.
At the beginning of the poem, a succession of images is built up to foreground the jovial and idyllic nature of Auburn, and these images generally involve the activities of people, for example “The swain mistrustless of his smutted face, / While secret laughter tittered round the place” shows the interactions and good relationship the individual enjoys with society. The hints of unease are only minimal and if anything, only serve to foreground each individual’s enjoyment of society in this section full of a tone of idealistic recall.
However, despite the extended character sketch and the extended sketch of a key location in the extract, the individual’s relationship with society changes drastically.
Due to enclosure of small farms and the commons, many poor smallholders were forced to give up their land; this is what is meant by “Amidst thy bowers the tyrant’s hand is seen”; this foregrounds the now decidedly negative relationship between the individual and society due to this landlordism that was a problem in the eighteenth century. Many poor people were forced to seek employment in cities as they could not earn a living in a rural setting. In this way the agricultural revolution led to the industrial revolution.
The use of sentimental images like “the poor, houseless, shivering female” whose “virtue is fled” generates a mood of pathos and clearly this foregrounds an individual’s bad relationship with society in the eighteenth century.
The resentment of the rich also foregrounds the deteriorating relationship between the individual and society as “the rich man’s joys increase, the poor’s decay”. This foregrounds the social injustice and also the changing society in which the poor cannot adapt.
It is obvious that society also changed a lot in the eighteenth century due to the influx of wealth from
CCEA EXEMPLIFYING EXAMINATION PERFORMANCE 11 A2 Unit 1 English Literature
overseas, as mentioned the sale of tea, silk and snuff boxes meant that some individual’s with access to this wealth flourished whilst others degenerated. The description of “The long pomp, the midnight masquerade with all the freaks of wanton wealth arrayed” shows once again that these individuals enjoy a good relationship with society. The alliteration on “wanton wealth” and “midnight masquerade” foreground the poet’s own disgust at society and how it is impossible for the poor to maintain their good relationship with it through all the corruption.
Ultimately the “rural virtues leave the land” due to society’s change and the poor’s worsening relationship with it and the poor people are forced to emigrate. The “anchored vessel” creates a sense of forboding and the mention of “Pambararca” and other far off places foregrounds the uncertainty of the future. This is the ultimate bad relationship with society and contrasts with Goldsmith’s earlier description of idyllic lands.
However, like in the extended character sketch another extended character sketch is used to foreground the nostalgia before “all the business of destruction [was] done.”
The extended character sketch of the village preacher whose charity was foregrounded by the line “his pity gave ere charity began” shows his positive relationship with society. The personification on the line “where once the garden smiled” foregrounds the tone of nostalgia for this important individual who enjoyed such a good relationship with society.
The extended simile of the preacher as “some tall cliff that lifts its awful form; / Swells from the vale and midway leaves the storm” ultimately shows his strength within society that forms the basis of his good relationship with it. But the other extended simile “And as a bird each fond endearment tries / To tempt its new-fledged offspring to the skies”. This foregrounds the fact that not only does he have moral strength, but that he is almost a parental figure to society. The fact that the line “passing rich with forty pounds a year” reflects Goldsmith’s father’s income as a rector in Kilkenny shows the importance to the poet of this good relationship to the poet as this tone of admiration and awe could be based on his own father.
There are different phases of life in the eighteenth century; both the great, idealistic relationships has to be presented, but also contrasting this with the negative relationship after the advancements during the eighteenth century require a great deal of thought and the use of a variety of poetic methods to fully express these two, contrasting relationships and experiences of society.
Examiner’s Comments
AO4:
• Offers a range of comments on historical context, e.g. the problems associated with “landlordism” in the eighteenth century, the changing nature of society and concomitant social injustices, the influx of exotic consumer goods, the widening gulf between rich and poor, rise of emigration.
AO2:
• Very good range of methods, e.g. tone, form and structure, alliteration, hyperbole, onomatopoeia, imagery, mood of pathos, use of contrast, personification, extended simile.
• Good attempt to link discussion of methods to the key terms.
AO1:
• Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of the poem.
12 CCEA EXEMPLIFYING EXAMINATION PERFORMANCE • A well-balanced consideration of the extract and the wider text.
• An engaged and confident response to the terms of the question.
Suggestions for development:
Slight tendency to repeat some points within the commentary.
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