Cambridge IGCSE Literature in English 0475/12 is the May/June 2026 Paper 1 (Poetry and Prose), variant 2. It lasts 1 hour 30 minutes, is worth 50 marks and you answer two of its 22 questions: one poem from Section A and one prose question from Section B, 25 marks each. The biggest task is the same for both answers: a full critical essay that the examiner marks as a whole against one band grid. This guide lists every question, shows how each was framed and explains how the official mark scheme places answers. The paper and its mark scheme are free on the Tutopiya Learning Portal.

For an overview of both 0475 papers from this series, see IGCSE Literature in English 0475 May/June 2026 past papers: what came up and how it was marked.

0475/12 at a glance

Rubric: answer two questions in total, one from Section A and one from Section B. All questions are worth equal marks.

Question	Set text	Type	Focus	Marks
1	Songs of Ourselves Vol 1: Hunting Snake (Wright)	Printed poem	The speaker’s fascination with the snake	25
2	Songs of Ourselves Vol 1: Before the Sun (Mungoshi)	Printed poem	The boy’s feelings of pleasure	25
3	Songs of Ourselves Vol 2, Part 3: The Enemies (Jennings)	Printed poem	What makes the poem disturbing	25
4	Songs of Ourselves Vol 2, Part 3: A Long Journey (Zimunya)	Printed poem	The speaker’s feelings about change	25
5	Chingonyi, Kumukanda: The Colour of James Brown’s Scream	Printed poem	The power of music	25
6	Chingonyi, Kumukanda: Fisherman’s Song	Printed poem	What makes the poem unsettling	25
7 / 8	Achebe: Things Fall Apart	Passage / essay	A powerful ending / Nwoye	25
9 / 10	Austen: Pride and Prejudice	Passage / essay	Elizabeth and Darcy dance / letters	25
11 / 12	Anita Desai: Fire on the Mountain	Passage / essay	Nanda Kaul / Ila Das’s poverty	25
13 / 14	Kiran Desai: Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard	Passage / essay	A striking ending / Sampath before the orchard	25
15 / 16	Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird	Passage / essay	A moving moment / Maudie Atkinson	25
17 / 18	Hill: I’m the King of the Castle	Passage / essay	Hooper’s cruelty / Mrs Kingshaw	25
19 / 20	Wells: The War of the Worlds	Passage / essay	Building tension / an exciting novel	25
21 / 22	Stories of Ourselves Vol 2	Passage / essay	Atwood, When It Happens / Gardam, Showing the Flag	25
	Total (two questions answered)			50

Question-by-question walkthrough

How every question is marked

The mark scheme for 0475/12 contains no question-specific content at all. After the general marking principles and the list of annotations, it gives one band descriptors table that applies to all 22 questions, each out of 25. That shapes how you should prepare.

• Four assessment objectives are judged together. AO1 is knowledge of the text backed by reference to it; AO2 is understanding beyond the surface; AO3 is how the writer uses language, structure and form; AO4 is a personal response. Each level describes all four at once, so there is no separate AO3 mark to “bank”.
• Eight levels, three marks wide (Level 1 is four). Level 8 is 23–25, Level 7 20–22, Level 6 17–19, Level 5 14–16, Level 4 11–13, Level 3 8–10, Level 2 5–7 and Level 1 1–4. Zero is for no answer or not enough to reach Level 1.
• The middle of the grid is about the writer’s methods. Level 4 makes only a little reference to the language; Level 5 makes some response to how the writer uses language; Level 6 makes a developed response to how the writer achieves effects. Moving up is mostly a matter of saying what a word, image or structural choice does, not just naming it.
• The top is about insight and integration. Level 7 needs much well-selected reference integrated into the argument and a clear critical understanding. Level 8 adds individuality and insight, considerable detail on the writer’s effects, and evaluation kept up across the whole essay.
• The annotations show what drags an answer down. Examiners can mark narrative, no use of text, repetition and relating to the question. Retelling, unsupported claims and drifting from the question’s key word are what keep answers in the lower levels.

Every question carries a key word or phrase (powerfully, memorably, disturbing, vividly, unsettling, movingly, strikingly). Treat it as your thesis: each paragraph should explain how the writer creates that effect.

Section A: Poetry (Questions 1–6)

All six poetry questions print the poem, so even the “Explore how…” questions are answered from the page in front of you.

• Question 1, Hunting Snake (Judith Wright): how powerfully the speaker conveys fascination with a snake seen in late-season sunshine.
• Question 2, Before the Sun (Charles Mungoshi): how memorably the boy’s pleasure is depicted in an early-morning scene. The focus is feelings, so link each image to the pleasure it conveys.
• Question 3, The Enemies (Elizabeth Jennings): what makes the poem disturbing. Strangers arrive in a city overnight, apparently without harm, yet afterwards the townspeople become guarded and suspicious of each other. A strong answer can explore how the threat moves from the streets into people’s minds, and how the final stanza’s change of tone creates unease.
• Question 4, A Long Journey (Musaemura Zimunya): how vividly the speaker’s feelings about change are conveyed. Trace how the speaker’s attitude develops through the poem rather than listing images in order.
• Question 5, The Colour of James Brown’s Scream (Kayo Chingonyi): how vividly the power of music is conveyed.
• Question 6, Fisherman’s Song (Kayo Chingonyi): what makes the poem unsettling. As with Question 3, the key word is an effect on the reader, so keep returning to why a detail unsettles.

Section B: Prose (Questions 7–22)

Each text has an odd-numbered passage question and an even-numbered essay question. You answer one of the 16.

Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe)

• Question 7: the closing passage of Chapter 25, from the discovery behind Okonkwo’s compound to the District Commissioner’s planned book title. Why is this such a powerful ending? The shift to the Commissioner’s point of view and that final title are natural places to focus.
• Question 8: how memorably Achebe portrays Nwoye across the novel.

Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)

• Question 9: Chapter 18, Elizabeth and Darcy’s dance at the Netherfield ball, where she forces him into conversation. What makes it memorable? The dialogue, its wit and the tension beneath the politeness give plenty to analyse.
• Question 10: how Austen uses letters to powerful effect in the novel. Pick a few letters and show what each changes in the plot or in a character’s understanding.

Fire on the Mountain (Anita Desai)

• Question 11: Part 1, Chapter 8, Nanda Kaul at Carignano, reflecting on a passage she has read about a woman who lived alone. How movingly is she portrayed here?
• Question 12: how powerfully Desai portrays Ila Das’s poverty.

Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard (Kiran Desai)

• Question 13: the final chapter’s closing scene, ending as the characters approach a bubbling cauldron. What makes it a striking ending?
• Question 14: how memorably Desai portrays Sampath before his time in the orchard. Stay within the time limit the question sets: earlier parts of the novel only.

To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)

• Question 15: Chapter 31, Boo Radley’s departure and Scout’s reflection that the children gave him nothing in return. What makes this moment moving?
• Question 16: how Lee makes Maudie Atkinson an admirable character.

I’m the King of the Castle (Susan Hill)

• Question 17: Chapter 3, Kingshaw moving towards a row of glass cases. How vividly is Hooper’s cruelty conveyed?
• Question 18: how strikingly Hill portrays Mrs Kingshaw.

The War of the Worlds (H G Wells)

• Question 19: Book 1, Chapter 12. The narrator and the artilleryman meet a party of Hussars and pass soldiers preparing guns and earthworks towards Woking. How is tension created? The soldiers’ ignorance of what they face, set against what the artilleryman has already seen, is the central irony.
• Question 20: what makes this such an exciting novel. You must not use the Question 19 passage, so prepare other episodes.

Stories of Ourselves Volume 2

• Question 21: a passage from Margaret Atwood’s When It Happens, with the electricity off, as a woman imagines what might come next. How does Atwood build tension?
• Question 22: how vividly Jane Gardam portrays the relationship between Philip and his mother in Showing the Flag.

Where the marks are on 0475/12

Part	What you write	Marks
Section A	One poetry answer (Questions 1–6, poem printed)	25
Section B	One prose answer, passage-based or essay (Questions 7–22)	25
	Total	50

• Half the paper is a poem you can see. All six Section A questions print the poem, so your poetry mark depends on close reading on the day rather than recall.
• In Section B you choose the format. Eight passage questions give you the text; eight essays need quotations or close references from memory. The grid is the same for both, so pick the question where you can analyse most closely.
• No AO is scored separately. All four objectives sit in every level, so a fluent personal response with little on the writer’s methods will stall around Level 4 or 5.

How to self-mark 0475/12 with the mark scheme

1. Read each answer as a whole first. The levels are a best-fit judgement, not a checklist; the mark scheme says the descriptors are general guidance, not hurdles.
2. Find the level from the AO3 statement. Ask: do I name techniques, comment a little on language, respond to how effects are achieved, or respond in considerable detail? That usually separates Levels 4 to 8 most clearly.
3. Check your references. Count how many quotations you actually analyse rather than just quote. “Much well-selected” and “integrated” reference is a Level 7 feature.
4. Mark it as an examiner would annotate. Underline anything that is narrative, unsupported by the text, repeated or off the question’s key word. A lot of underlining points to the lower half of the grid.
5. Then place it in the level. Choose the top, middle or bottom mark of the level by how fully and consistently it meets the descriptors.
6. Remember there is no right reading. The scheme tells examiners that indicative content is never prescriptive and to meet candidates on their chosen ground if it is relevant. A different interpretation scores well when it is argued from the text.

Sit 0475/12 as a timed mock

The paper allows 90 minutes for two equal answers.

Block	Marks	Time
Read the poems and choose your two questions	–	5 minutes
Plan the poetry answer	–	7 minutes
Write the poetry answer	25	33 minutes
Plan the prose answer	–	7 minutes
Write the prose answer	25	33 minutes
Check both answers against the key word	–	5 minutes

Starting with the prose answer is fine if you know your novel better; the rubric only sets one answer from each section.

Other May/June 2026 0475 papers

• 0475 Paper 22 (Drama)

Practise and download

• Download 0475/12 and its mark scheme on the Learning Portal →
• All 0475 May/June 2026 papers: overview and marking patterns
• Try a free IGCSE Literature in English quiz

Need help with a 0475 topic? Book a free trial lesson with an IGCSE Literature in English tutor →

Frequently asked questions

How many questions do you answer on 0475 Paper 12 May/June 2026? +

Two, out of 22 on the paper: one poetry question from Section A (Questions 1 to 6) and one prose question from Section B (Questions 7 to 22). Each is worth 25 marks, so the paper is out of 50 and lasts 1 hour 30 minutes.

Which poems were set on 0475/12 in 2026? +

Hunting Snake (Judith Wright) and Before the Sun (Charles Mungoshi) from Songs of Ourselves Volume 1; The Enemies (Elizabeth Jennings) and A Long Journey (Musaemura Zimunya) from Volume 2, Part 3; and The Colour of James Brown's Scream and Fisherman's Song from Kayo Chingonyi's Kumukanda. Every poetry question printed its poem.

Does the 0475/12 mark scheme list points for each question? +

No. The mark scheme for this paper is a single band descriptors table, used for every question. There is no list of expected points for any poem or prose text, so the examiner places your whole answer in one of eight levels.

What do you need for Level 8 on 0475/12? +

Level 8 (23 to 25 marks) asks for skilfully chosen reference to the text, a sustained critical understanding with individuality and insight, a detailed and sensitive response to how the writer creates effects, and personal, evaluative engagement with the task kept up across the whole answer.

Can I use the Question 19 passage for the War of the Worlds essay? +

No. Question 20, on what makes The War of the Worlds an exciting novel, tells you not to use the passage printed for Question 19. Choose other moments from the novel.

Where can I download 0475/12 May/June 2026 and its mark scheme? +

Both are free to download and print on the Tutopiya Learning Portal, on the Cambridge IGCSE Literature in English 0475 past papers page.

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