Cambridge IGCSE English Literature

Paper 1: Poetry & Prose

1 hour 30 minutes · 50 marks · Two sections: poetry (Songs of Ourselves) and prose (set text).

Set-text notice

This cluster is based on the Cambridge IGCSE 0475 syllabus Songs of Ourselves Vol 1 Part 4 plus the Ted Hughes cluster (The Thought-Fox, Hawk Roosting, Wind). Cambridge International rotates set texts every two years — always confirm via cambridgeinternational.org/syllabus before relying on this list for the current exam window. Prose options: Things Fall Apart (Achebe) / To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee). The poem and prose lists below are legacy reference selections — cross-check against the syllabus PDF for your exam window.

Cluster rights: Four poems in the verified Vol 1 Part 4 + Hughes clusters are in copyright (Atwood, Auden, Hughes ×3). Quotations are short fair-dealing extracts. Anthology publisher: Cambridge University Press (cambridge.org/permissions).

Paper Structure

Section A - Poetry

25 marks

• Answer one question on a poem from Songs of Ourselves
• Choice between a passage-based question (poem printed) and an essay question
• The passage-based question usually asks “How does the poet...”
• The essay question often asks you to explore a theme or compare the poet’s methods

Section B - Prose

25 marks

• Answer one question on your set prose text
• Choice between passage-based and essay question
• Passage-based: an extract is printed; analyse it closely and connect to the wider text
• Essay: a broader question on themes, characters, or the writer’s methods

Songs of Ourselves — Selected Poems

The Cambridge anthology contains a wide selection of poems. Below are poems commonly studied for the IGCSE examination, with their key themes. For full analysis of each poem, visit our Poetry Analysis page.

“Sonnet 18”— William Shakespeare

Themes: Love, immortality through art, the power of poetry over time.

“Ozymandias”— Percy Bysshe Shelley

Themes: Transience of power, hubris, art outlasting empires.

“The Night of the Scorpion”— Nissim Ezekiel

Themes: Community, superstition versus reason, maternal love.

“Piano”— D.H. Lawrence

Themes: Nostalgia, childhood memory, the emotional power of music.

“Hide and Seek”— Vernon Scannell

Themes: Childhood, isolation, growing up, abandonment.

“Hawk Roosting”— Ted Hughes

Themes: Power, control, nature, arrogance.

“Blessing”— Imtiaz Dharker

Themes: Poverty, water as life, community, spirituality. Set in a Mumbai (Bombay) slum, India. © Bloodaxe Books - fair-dealing extract.

“Half-Past Two”— U.A. Fanthorpe

Themes: Childhood perception, time, authority, imagination.

“Where I Come From”— Elizabeth Brewster

Themes: Identity, place and belonging, nature versus city.

“Horses”— Edwin Muir

Themes: Childhood awe, nature's power, memory.

“Continuum”— Allen Curnow

Themes: Writer's block, creativity, self and identity.

Approaching a Poetry Question

1. Read the question carefully. Underline the key words. If it says “How does the poet present...”, you must focus on methods, not just content.
2. Annotate the poem. For passage-based questions, spend 5 minutes annotating before writing. Identify imagery, sound devices, structural features, and shifts in tone.
3. Structure your response. Use a clear analytical paragraph structure: point → evidence (quote) → analysis of language/form → link to question/wider meaning.
4. Embed quotations. Short, embedded quotations (“the ‘lone and level sands’ suggest...”) are more effective than long block quotes.
5. Consider the whole poem. Even for passage-based questions, discuss how the extract relates to the poem’s overall meaning, structure, and ending.

Set Prose Texts

Cambridge offers a choice of prose texts. Your school will have chosen one. Below is an overview of commonly studied texts with guidance on what Cambridge looks for.

Stories of Ourselves

The Cambridge anthology of short stories. Students study a selection of stories and must be prepared to answer on any of them. Key skills include character analysis, narrative voice, and understanding cultural context.

To Kill a Mockingbird— Harper Lee

Set in 1930s Alabama, the novel explores racial injustice, moral growth, and the loss of innocence through the eyes of Scout Finch. Key themes: prejudice, justice, courage, empathy. Cambridge questions often focus on how Lee presents Atticus as a moral figure, or the significance of the trial.

Of Mice and Men— John Steinbeck

A novella about two displaced ranch workers during the Great Depression. Key themes: the American Dream, loneliness, companionship, power and powerlessness. Cambridge questions may ask about the significance of Curley's wife, or how Steinbeck presents the theme of dreams.

A Passage to India— E.M. Forster

Set during the British Raj, the novel examines the relationship between coloniser and colonised. Key themes: cultural misunderstanding, friendship across racial boundaries, the nature of India itself. Cambridge values analysis of Forster's ironic narrative voice.

The Great Gatsby— F. Scott Fitzgerald

Nick Carraway narrates the story of Jay Gatsby's obsessive pursuit of Daisy Buchanan in 1920s New York. Key themes: the corruption of the American Dream, wealth and class, illusion versus reality. The unreliable narrator and symbolic imagery (the green light, the Valley of Ashes) are central to Cambridge responses.

Exam Technique: Passage-Based vs Essay Questions

Passage-Based Questions

Advantages: The text is in front of you. You can analyse specific language closely. Good if you find it hard to memorise quotes.
What to do: Work through the extract methodically. Comment on language, imagery, structure, and tone. But always connect outward to the rest of the text.
Common mistake: Paraphrasing the passage instead of analysing it. Markers want analysis of how the writer creates effects, not a summary of what happens.
Top tip: Consider what comes before and after the extract. Why is this moment significant in the context of the whole text?

Essay Questions

Advantages: You can choose which parts of the text to discuss. Good if you know the text very well and have strong personal interpretations.
What to do: Plan 3–4 key points before writing. Each paragraph needs a clear argument supported by quotation and analysis. Track the development of your argument across the essay.
Common mistake: Telling the story rather than analysing it. An essay answer should be thematic and analytical, not a narrative retelling.
Top tip: Address the question in every paragraph. The best answers keep returning to the key words of the question, showing a sustained and focused argument.

Model Paragraph Structure (PEAL)

Point — Make a clear analytical point that directly addresses the question.

Evidence — Support with a short, embedded quotation from the text.

Analysis — Analyse the language: what specific words suggest, what techniques the writer uses, what effects are created.

Link — Link back to the question and, where possible, to wider themes, context, or the writer’s overall purpose.

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Cambridge IGCSE English Literature

Paper 1: Poetry & Prose

1 hour 30 minutes · 50 marks · Two sections: poetry (Songs of Ourselves) and prose (set text).

Set-text notice

Paper Structure

Section A - Poetry

25 marks

• Answer one question on a poem from Songs of Ourselves
• Choice between a passage-based question (poem printed) and an essay question
• The passage-based question usually asks “How does the poet...”
• The essay question often asks you to explore a theme or compare the poet’s methods

Section B - Prose

25 marks

• Answer one question on your set prose text
• Choice between passage-based and essay question
• Passage-based: an extract is printed; analyse it closely and connect to the wider text
• Essay: a broader question on themes, characters, or the writer’s methods

Songs of Ourselves — Selected Poems

“Sonnet 18”— William Shakespeare

Themes: Love, immortality through art, the power of poetry over time.

“Ozymandias”— Percy Bysshe Shelley

Themes: Transience of power, hubris, art outlasting empires.

“The Night of the Scorpion”— Nissim Ezekiel

Themes: Community, superstition versus reason, maternal love.

“Piano”— D.H. Lawrence

Themes: Nostalgia, childhood memory, the emotional power of music.

“Hide and Seek”— Vernon Scannell

Themes: Childhood, isolation, growing up, abandonment.

“Hawk Roosting”— Ted Hughes

Themes: Power, control, nature, arrogance.

“Blessing”— Imtiaz Dharker

Themes: Poverty, water as life, community, spirituality. Set in a Mumbai (Bombay) slum, India. © Bloodaxe Books - fair-dealing extract.

“Half-Past Two”— U.A. Fanthorpe

Themes: Childhood perception, time, authority, imagination.

“Where I Come From”— Elizabeth Brewster

Themes: Identity, place and belonging, nature versus city.

“Horses”— Edwin Muir

Themes: Childhood awe, nature's power, memory.

“Continuum”— Allen Curnow

Themes: Writer's block, creativity, self and identity.

Approaching a Poetry Question

1. Read the question carefully. Underline the key words. If it says “How does the poet present...”, you must focus on methods, not just content.
2. Annotate the poem. For passage-based questions, spend 5 minutes annotating before writing. Identify imagery, sound devices, structural features, and shifts in tone.
3. Structure your response. Use a clear analytical paragraph structure: point → evidence (quote) → analysis of language/form → link to question/wider meaning.
4. Embed quotations. Short, embedded quotations (“the ‘lone and level sands’ suggest...”) are more effective than long block quotes.
5. Consider the whole poem. Even for passage-based questions, discuss how the extract relates to the poem’s overall meaning, structure, and ending.

Set Prose Texts

Cambridge offers a choice of prose texts. Your school will have chosen one. Below is an overview of commonly studied texts with guidance on what Cambridge looks for.

Stories of Ourselves

To Kill a Mockingbird— Harper Lee

Of Mice and Men— John Steinbeck

A Passage to India— E.M. Forster

The Great Gatsby— F. Scott Fitzgerald

Exam Technique: Passage-Based vs Essay Questions

Passage-Based Questions

Advantages: The text is in front of you. You can analyse specific language closely. Good if you find it hard to memorise quotes.
What to do: Work through the extract methodically. Comment on language, imagery, structure, and tone. But always connect outward to the rest of the text.
Common mistake: Paraphrasing the passage instead of analysing it. Markers want analysis of how the writer creates effects, not a summary of what happens.
Top tip: Consider what comes before and after the extract. Why is this moment significant in the context of the whole text?

Essay Questions

Advantages: You can choose which parts of the text to discuss. Good if you know the text very well and have strong personal interpretations.
What to do: Plan 3–4 key points before writing. Each paragraph needs a clear argument supported by quotation and analysis. Track the development of your argument across the essay.
Common mistake: Telling the story rather than analysing it. An essay answer should be thematic and analytical, not a narrative retelling.
Top tip: Address the question in every paragraph. The best answers keep returning to the key words of the question, showing a sustained and focused argument.

Model Paragraph Structure (PEAL)

Point — Make a clear analytical point that directly addresses the question.

Evidence — Support with a short, embedded quotation from the text.

Analysis — Analyse the language: what specific words suggest, what techniques the writer uses, what effects are created.

Link — Link back to the question and, where possible, to wider themes, context, or the writer’s overall purpose.

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