A2 English Literature Gothic Questions (LITB3)

All AQA English Literature A2 (LITB3) questions from 2010 to 2014, including Specification questions.

Year	Frankenstein	Bloody Chamber	Wuthering Heights	Macbeth	Part B	Part B	Part B
June 2014	To what extent do you agree with the view that the novel is a total condemnation of transgression?	“Sex and violence are always linked in the stories of The Bloody Chamber” To what extent do you agree with this view?	“In Wuthering Heights love is presented as an emotion which provokes violence rather than tenderness.” To what extent do you agree with this view?	How far do you agree with the view that Macbeth is a very moral play about the punishment of sin?	“Gothic writing is exciting because it allows us to think the unthinkable.” How far do you agree with this view?	To what extent do you think gothic writing is a disturbing exploration of the unknown?	To what extent do you agree with the view that gothic writing shows that human beings are naturally inclined to be evil rather than good?
June 2013	Explore some of the ways in which Mary Shelley uses different settings to contribute to the gothic effects of the novel.	“It is ironic that the beasts are often more humane than the humans.” Consider TBC in the light of this comment.	How far do you agree with the view that, in Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë shows that more suffering is caused by a diseased mind than by a diseased body?	“Macbeth is a play about the nature of evil rather than the nature of ambition.” To what extent do you agree with this view of the play?	To what extent do you agree that, in gothic writing, fear and pain are sources of pleasure?	“Mad, bad and dangerous.” How accurate is this as a description of the gothic villains in the texts you have studied?	How do you respond to the view that gothic writing explores potential threats to normal values?
January 2013	“Throughout the novel the boundaries between good and evil are continuously blurred, leaving the reader with moral uncertainty.” How far do you agree with this view of the novel?	“Although terrifying, many of the stories are also darkly comic.” Consider TBC in the light of this comment.	Consider the view that Wuthering Heights is, above all, an exploration of fear.	“Some say he’s mad; others, that lesser hate him, Do call it valiant fury.” (Caithness: Act 5, Scene 2) Consider Macbeth as a gothic protagonist in the light of this comment	“In gothic writing, the presentation of places is often more interesting than the presentation of characters.” How far do you agree with this view?	To what extent do you agree with the view that gothic writing is “an exploration of what cannot be explained”?	Consider the significance of forms of entrapment in gothic literature
June 2012	How do you respond to the view that the Monster is Frankenstein’s double, representing the evil side of his character?	How do you respond to the view that in the stories in The Bloody Chamber Angela Carter presents a sinister distortion of family relationships?	“Entrapped, imprisoned and disempowered.” To what extent do you agree with this view of the position of women in Wuthering Heights?	Consider the significance of darkness and concealment to the play.	“Gothic writing warns of the dangers of aspiring beyond our limitations” How far does your reading of gothic writing support this view?	To what extent do you agree that obsession is a significant element in the gothic writing you have studied?	How do you respond to the idea that gothic villains make evil seem attractive?
January 2012	In an introduction to the novel Mary Shelley stated that she wished to “curdle the blood and quicken the beatings of the heart”. To what extent do you think she achieves her aims?	“Carter explores base instincts rather than subconscious desires.” Consider TBC in the light of this comment.	How far do you agree with the view that in Wuthering Heights more suffering is inflicted by mental cruelty than physical cruelty?	How do you respond to the view that the supernatural elements in Macbeth represent Macbeth’s own internal struggles?	To what extent do you agree with the view that, in gothic writing, death is the punishment for sin?	“Gothic literature demonstrates the consequences of disrupting the natural order of things”	“Gothic writing lacks tension and suspense because the end is always inevitable” To what extent do you agree with this?
June 2011	Some readers have seen the novel as an illustration of the fear of the power of science. To what extent do you agree with this view of the novel?	In The Bloody Chamber Angela Carter reverses gothic traditions so that the males become the victims instead of the females. Consider TBC in the light of this view.	Charlotte Bronte described Heathcliff as ‘a man’s shape animated by demon life - a ghoul.’ To what extent do you think this is an accurate assessment of the ways in which Heathcliff is presented in the novel?	How far do you agree that Lady Macbeth is presented as a ‘fiend-like queen’?	Consider the ways in which gothic writing could be said to explore the fear of forces beyond human understanding.	“For writers in the gothic tradition, the struggle between good and evil is always of central importance and good is rarely victorious” How far do you agree with this view?	“Gothic writing is often unintentionally comic rather than truly terrifying” To what extent do you agree with this criticism?
January 2011	To what extent do you agree with the view that, in Frankenstein. Mary Shelley is exploring the dark side of the human psyche?	Many readers have been shocked by the stories in The Bloody Chamber. Do you find them merely shocking?	‘Violence breeds violence.’ In the light of this comment, consider Emily Bronte’s presentation of violence in the novel.	What do you think is the significance of the witches in Macbeth?	“A melodramatic genre, where extremes of emotion have disastrous consequences” How far do you agree with this view of the gothic tradition?	Consider the view that literature within the gothic is always shocking	“Characters in gothic writing are haunted by their past mistakes and often have to face terrible consequences” Discuss some of the characters you have studied in light of this comment.
June 2010					“Religion is central to readings of Gothic texts” How far do you agree?	Consider the view that gothic writing explores the ‘nightmarish terrors’ that lie beneath the orderly surface of the ‘civilised mind’	“In gothic writing, women are presented as either innocent victims or sinister predators or significantly absent”. Consider the place of women in gothic writing in the light of this comment.
January 2010					To what extent is gothic literature characterised by a fascination with death?	“Gothic settings are desolate, alienating and full of menace”. Consider some of the ways in which writers use settings in the Gothic texts you have read.	Consider the view that gothic writing often explores the powerlessness of humanity when faced with the power of the supernatural.
Spec					“Gothic texts show the supernatural entwined with the ordinary” Discuss this view.	“Gothic literature is concerned with the breaking of normal moral and social codes” Discuss.	“If a text is to be labelled as gothic, it must convey a sense of fear and terror” Discuss.