2023 AQA A-level ENGLISH LITERATURE B 7717/2B Paper 2B Texts and genres: Elements of
political and social protest writing Question Paper & Mark scheme (Merged) June 2023 [VERIFIED]
A-level
ENGLISH LITERATURE B
Paper 2B Texts and genres: Elements of political and social
protest writing
Thursday 8 June 2023 Morning Time allowed: 3 hours
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.
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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 extract is taken from Lagoon , a science fiction novel by Nnedi Okorafor, published
in 2014. The novel portrays events in Lagos, Nigeria, after a group of aliens arrives in
the city. People react with panic to the aliens and this results in the gradual breakdown
of civil society.
In the extract, the protagonist Adaora, with her companions Agu and Anthony, takes
Ayodele (one of the shape-shifting aliens) to see the dying President. In the
confrontation, Ayodele sets out her demands to the President.
The Igbo and the Hausa are indigenous ethnic populations in and around Nigeria.
Adaora stepped forward. “My name is Adaora,” she said. “I am a marine biologist.
This is Ayodele. She is one of them, one of the . . . the extraterrestrials. She is their
ambassador. She was the first to make contact and she seeks an audience with you,
Mr President. We’ve gone through a lot to get her here.”
The soldiers pointed their guns at Ayodele as they moved to shield the
President. “Oh, move aside,” the President snapped at the soldiers, becoming a
little more
animated. “Do any of you think you can save my life? Look at me! I’m nearly dead
already!” He muttered something in Hausa. “Come,” he said, looking at Ayodele.
She stepped up to him. Her long braids blew in the soft breeze. Both of the young
soldiers holding up the President looked terrified. Above, the dark sky was warming as
sunrise approached.
“Are you truly a stranger? An extraterrestrial? An alien?”
“Yes.”
“You look like a woman from Igboland.”
“Looks can be deceiving.”
He chuckled weakly and then coughed. “Prove it.”
She paused. Then she said, “Watch closely.”
Even as she spoke, her words were falling apart, disappearing into the din of metal
balls on glass, shifting and reshaping along with her body. The soldiers guarding the
President dropped their guns, the wives screamed, and one of his advisors fainted. The
pilot fell to his knees and began to vomit. The President watched with wide eyes.
Thankfully the two soldiers carrying him did not drop him, though one of them started to
sob and the other seemed to be having trouble breathing.
Ayodele was now a broad-shouldered, stocky white man in a blue uniform with bushy
grey hair and beard and haunted eyes. He had a mustache like a handlebar. Ayodele-
the-man put her hands on her hips and cocked her head.
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The President’s mouth fell open. “Karl Marx,” he whispered. “I . . . I . . .”
“I know,” Ayodele said, in a manly voice. She stepped closer to him, graceful in her
man’s body. “You believe in Marxism, yet you are too powerless to enact it.”
The President whimpered.
“I can read the air you breathe,” she said. When he still could not speak, she changed
back. Her second transformation was too much for the guarding soldiers, the pilot, even
the advisors. As one, they turned and ran. One of the soldiers holding up the President
started praying to Allah under his breath; the other continued to sob.
“Does this help?” she asked, watching them run.
When her gaze returned to the President, he licked his lips and took a deep
breath. “Y-yes.”
“Would you like me to look more Hausa?”
“It’s . . . no, you are fine.”
“I did not mean to frighten you.”
“You are evil!” Zena shouted from behind him.
“I am not,” Ayodele said flatly. “I am change.”
“How did you take over all the mobile phones?” the President asked.
“It wasn’t just the mobile phones and it wasn’t just me. They helped,” she said,
motioning to Adaora, Anthony and Agu. “So did Adaora’s offspring.” Ayodele continued.
“As did my people. As did your people. It is a matter of connecting and communicating.”
She grinned. “And your technology is simple, easily manipulated.”
“And yours is not?”
“We are technology, Mr President. And no, we are not easily manipulated.”
“What do you want?”
“We do not want to rule, colonize, conquer or take. We just want a home. What is it
you want?”
He paused. “To be alive again.”
“I will make it so.”
Turn over for Section B
Turn over ►
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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, authority figures are unkind and have no compassion.’
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 his poetry, Harrison is ultimately optimistic about an end to class conflict.’
To what extent do you agree with this view?
Remember to include in your answer relevant detailed exploration of Harrison’s authorial
methods.
[25 marks]
IB/G/Jun23/7717/2B
