Comparing Belonging poems — Edexcel GCSE English Literature 1ET0
Edexcel GCSE English Literature · 1ET0
Comparing Belonging poems
What you need to know
How the anthology question works: comparing the printed Belonging poem with one other poem from the collection, and how the marks divide between language, form and structure, and context.
How to choose the second poem, plan and write a comparison, using the June 2025 question on I Remember, I Remember as the worked example, with a model answer and the mark it would earn.
Paper 2 Section B Part 1: one Belonging poem is printed and you compare it with one other poem from the collection, written about from memory; the exam is closed book.
20 marks: 15 for language, form and structure (AO2) and 5 for context (AO3), in about 35 minutes of the 2 hour 15 minute paper.
An answer that writes about only one poem cannot score above the top of Level 2 (8 marks).
The questions set so far: recollections of the past (Captain Cook (To My Brother), 2023), a location (Peckham Rye Lane, 2024) and childhood (I Remember, I Remember, 2025).
Choosing the second poem: one that lets you write about the question's theme in detail, and which poems examiners saw chosen for childhood in 2025.
A worked plan and a model answer of about 700 words to the June 2025 question, comparing I Remember, I Remember with Captain Cook (To My Brother), with language, form, structure and context for both poems.
The level and mark an examiner would give the model answer, and why, against the mark scheme's level descriptors.
Common weaknesses: form and structure left out, no context for the second poem, and writing about each poem separately with no comparison.
