AQA A-Level English Literature A Paper 2: Texts in shared contexts (2A), June 2025: Question 17

💡 Concept 1: "Team Spirit"

Examine the comradeship ( esprit de corps ) binding the battalion together. Notice how individuality is erased in favour of a collective organism: the unison in music, common anticipation, and mutual reliance that shields them from fear.

💡 Concept 2: "Shared Values"

Examine the underlying patriotic, national, and moral codes: devotion to King and Country, duty, English pastoral heritage (via Shakespeare), and the fatalistic acceptance that self-sacrifice in the upcoming "Big Push" is sacred.

🧠 The Key Word: "Significance"

Do not simply describe where team spirit is shown. Discuss why it matters: What purpose does it serve for the men? How does it function as tragic dramatic irony for a post-1961 audience who know the disastrous reality of the first day of the Somme?

📐 Harris’s Stylistic Toolkit

• Repetition of definite articles & listing: Creates an overwhelming sense of military mobilisation and collective momentum preparing for "The Big Push".
• Inclusive listing: "the heroes, the cowards, the fainthearts and the strong together" transcends personal flaws, fusing individuals into one body.
• Zoomorphic & predatory similes: Artillery as "flutterings of gigantic wings" and "some iron monster... tremendous beast about to spring" contrasts machine terror with human brotherhood.
• Intertextual allusion: Murray reciting the "sceptred isle" speech from Richard II binds their military mission directly to classic English patriotism.

💡 Contextual Dimensions

• The "Pals" Phenomenon: The men enlisted together from the same towns and workplaces in 1914; their team spirit is civic as well as military.
• 1961 Publication: Written decades later during the revisionist era of the 1960s (contemporary with *Oh What a Lovely War!*), foregrounding tragic waste.
• Pre-Battle Ritual: Concerts and communal singing served as a psychological defence mechanism, deflecting the dread of impending mortality.
• Biblical/Destiny Framing: The belief they are the "chosen people" and part of a "holocaust that would end the war" highlights contemporary messianic propaganda.

🧠 Formulating Competing Perspectives

Top students do not settle for a one-sided reading. Balance these opposing views:

• Viewpoint A (Noble Unity): Comradeship is a genuine, sublime human triumph. In the shadow of extinction, men achieve an almost transcendent grace through love for each other and loyalty to their country.
• Viewpoint B (Tragic Delusion): Team spirit is an instrument of self-deception. The sentimental patriotism ( "tolerant with the sentimental" ) blinds the young volunteers, driving them willingly into industrial slaughter.

✅ Model Paragraph Extract

Harris deliberately contrasts mechanical violence with human harmony to heighten the pathos of comradeship. While the distant bombardment is personified as "some iron monster... about to spring" , the men coalesce through shared art. When Murray recites John of Gaunt’s speech from Richard II, his delivery—characterised by the clean triplet of adjectives "firm, sincere, young" —converts traditional nationalistic rhetoric into a visceral, sacred covenant. The shifting narrative pronoun from the detached singular "I" to the collective plural "we were the chosen people" underscores how individual terror is subsumed by an almost religious, messianic fervor. However, for a 1961 reader aware of the catastrophic casualties of 1 July 1916, this exalted solidarity is heavy with tragic irony: their shared values do not protect them; they merely dignify their slaughter.

❌ Common Student Errors

• Feature spotting without effect: Writing "Harris uses a simile when he says 'like some iron monster'" without explaining how it contrasts with the men's fragile humanity.
• Treating the extract as historical fact: Forgetting that Harris is a novelist shaping narrative in 1961, rather than a diarist in 1916.
• Ignoring "Shared Values": Focusing solely on friendship/mateship and ignoring patriotism, duty, religious cadence, and national identity.
• Uncritical view of patriotism: Failing to identify the underlying irony and psychological fragility beneath the concert’s bravado.

✅ What Top-Band Candidates Do

• Address both terms equally: Clearly distinguish between immediate "team spirit" (tactical/emotional solidarity) and broader "shared values" (cultural/ethical imperatives).
• Analyse structural progression: Trace how the scene moves from external tension and noise to intimate theatrical performance, culminating in spiritual unity.
• Interrogate tone: Notice the nuanced voice of Fenner—both emotionally swept up ( "glad I was there" ) yet retrospective and self-aware.
• Precise micro-quotations: Embed short phrases seamlessly into analytical sentences rather than copying large chunks of text.