Yomi BlackWhat Literature-in-English looks like in Cambridge is set by how Cambridge examines it: multiple components per subject, with practicals examined as separate papers in the sciences. The topic areas matter, but the format decides how you should work them.
- Subject
- Literature-in-English
- Examined by
- Cambridge
- Format here
- Multiple components per subject, with practicals examined as separate papers in the sciences
- Depth
- International depth, with syllabuses written to be taught over two years and examined in components
- What the grade does
- A grade read by admissions officers worldwide without translation
- Papers
- Objective, a prose paper, and a drama and poetry paper on a separate day.
- Required for
- English, literature, law, mass communication, theatre arts and education
How Cambridge examines this subject
The format is multiple components per subject, with practicals examined as separate papers in the sciences, and it is marked against published assessment objectives, with grade thresholds set after each series.
This is the certificate you sit when the destination is outside Nigeria, and the portability is what you are paying for.
What the subject covers
Use these topic areas as the frame for your own checklist, then verify the detail against the syllabus Cambridge publishes itself, because depth and emphasis shift between curriculum cycles even when the headings do not.
- Prose, the prescribed African and non-African novels.
- Drama, the prescribed plays.
- Poetry, the prescribed African and non-African poems.
- Unseen passages and critical appreciation.
- Literary terms, devices and forms.
The paper structure, and how to weight your time
Objective, a prose paper, and a drama and poetry paper on a separate day.
Split your preparation roughly in the proportion the components are weighted. Candidates habitually over-prepare the part they enjoy and meet the other part for the first time in the hall.
What makes it hard
The papers are split by genre across different days, and the prescribed texts run on a multi-year cycle that candidates and some schools fail to check.
Set that against how this examination works. The syllabus assumes teaching most Nigerian schools do not provide, particularly in the sciences, which is why entering privately is difficult here.
Where marks are lost in this subject
- Studying texts from a superseded selected-texts cycle, which is the single most damaging mistake in this subject.
- Plot summary instead of analysis.
- Preparing prose and drama and leaving poetry to the last week.
Verify the current selected-texts list first. Everything else in this subject depends on reading the right books.
Turning it into a plan
- Get the current syllabus from Cambridge and check the year range on the cover.
- Write one line per topic area, with a box beside it.
- Work a past paper in this examination’s format, multiple components per subject, and tag every question back to a line.
- Mark the lines your teaching has never covered. Those are the priority.
- Re-weight towards the component carrying the most marks. Two series a year, June and November, with a formal enquiry-about-results process afterwards.
What a good grade here is worth
In this examination the grade is a grade read by admissions officers worldwide without translation. Literature-in-English is required for English, literature, law, mass communication, theatre arts and education, and course requirements are checked subject by subject, so a strong overall result with a weak grade here is a disqualification for the course that names it rather than a near miss.
What people ask about Literature-in-English
Is Literature-in-English compulsory?
No. It is a humanities subject, chosen as one of your electives, and you should choose it because a course you want names it.
What is it required for?
English, literature, law, mass communication, theatre arts and education.
How many papers are there?
Objective, a prose paper, and a drama and poetry paper on a separate day.
What makes it hard?
The papers are split by genre across different days, and the prescribed texts run on a multi-year cycle that candidates and some schools fail to check.
What is the most common way candidates lose marks?
Studying texts from a superseded selected-texts cycle, which is the single most damaging mistake in this subject.
Where do I get the official syllabus?
From Cambridge, on its own site, free. Check the year range on the cover before you use it.
Has the syllabus changed?
Syllabuses are revised on published cycles and old ones stay online after they expire. If the copy you are holding has no year range, you do not know what you are holding.
How do I turn it into revision?
One line per topic area with a box beside it, then tick the lines off against past papers rather than against your notes. The lines that stay blank are the finding.
Sources
- Cambridge Assessment International Education. www.cambridgeinternational.org