What this cheatsheet is
A single-page printable summary of the Pearson Edexcel IGCSE English Literature (4ET1) anthology. It is designed to live on a wall or desk during revision — close enough to glance at, compact enough not to swallow your study space.
For the canonical poem list, always cross-check with /igcse/edexcel-lang/anthology and the latest specification document.
Anthology structure at a glance
The 4ET1 anthology is split into two main sections:
- Poetry — a curated set of poems spanning pre-1900 heritage texts and modern voices. Themes recur deliberately, so poems can be paired across the centuries.
- Prose — short fiction and non-fiction extracts that model voice, structure, and tone in confined spaces.
The poetry section is the load-bearing column for Paper 2. The prose section supports wider analytical work and may feed into coursework routes.
Four most-examined poets to anchor revision
Based on the canonical anthology, these four poets give you flexible coverage across the dominant exam themes. They are the safest "anchor" poets to know in depth.
- Carol Ann Duffy — War Photographer. Conflict, moral responsibility, witness.
- Wilfred Owen — Disabled. War, loss, identity broken by experience.
- Maya Angelou — Still I Rise. Resilience, identity, voice against prejudice.
- Moniza Alvi — An Unknown Girl. Cultural identity, place, belonging.
Pair each anchor with one heritage poem (Shelley, Keats, Rossetti, Blake, Shakespeare) so you can move across periods in any comparison.
Four comparison spines
Most 4ET1 questions cluster around these four spines. Memorise one strong pairing for each — it is enough to handle almost any question that arrives.
- Identity — An Unknown Girl paired with Still I Rise. Cultural self-definition versus defiant self-assertion.
- Place — An Unknown Girl paired with The Bright Lights of Sarajevo. Setting as argument: bazaar as belonging, besieged city as resilience.
- Conflict — War Photographer paired with Disabled. External war versus internal aftermath; observer versus victim.
- Memory — Remember paired with Disabled. Memory as legacy versus memory as wound.
Each spine is a hinge. Once you know the pair, you can swing into any question that touches that theme.