AQA A-Level English Literature A Paper 2: Texts in shared contexts (2A), June 2025: Question 5
25 marks · Hard difficulty · Extended Response
Explore the significance of team spirit and shared values in the extract, analysing the ways in which Harris shapes meanings.
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05 Explore the significance of team spirit and shared values in this extract.
Remember to include in your answer relevant detailed analysis of the ways that Harris
shapes meanings.
[25 marks]
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Show the mark scheme
Question 05
Explore the significance of team spirit and shared values in this extract.
Remember to include in your answer relevant detailed analysis of the ways that Harris shapes
meanings.
[25 marks]
Possible content:
Please refer to pages 4 to 7.
AO5 Explore literary texts informed by different interpretations
Focus might be on:
• ‘team spirit’ and ‘shared values’ equally or one might be prioritised
• Harris’s presentation of the shared patriotic triggers that create a team spirit; the performance
of the ‘sceptred isle’ speech and the singing of the national anthem
• Harris’s presentation of Fenner as a typical volunteer soldier from 1914 still imbued with the
team spirit and shared values shown at the start of the war
• how the sense of team spirit and shared values is a recognition that the forthcoming battle will
be the culmination of Fenner’s two years of military experience and training with his comrades
• the shared values of personal and national destiny
• the presentation of team spirit as an underlying quality that unifies the men, not just an aspect
of military life
• the unreal, almost religious presentation of the shared values of nationalism amongst the
troops; the belief that they were ‘the chosen people’
• the collective team spirit to die in a battle that would be a ‘holocaust that would end the war’
• the dream-like, deluded emotions that are part of patriotic shared values; ‘the tendency to be
tolerant with the sentimental, even with the would-be heroic, was strong’
• one or both of the key phrases ‘team spirit’ and ‘shared values’
• etc.
AO4 Explore connections across literary texts
Focus might be on:
• typical presentations of team spirit and shared values in texts about the war
• the ways in which team spirit and shared values are typically presented through patriotism,
comradeship and esprit de corps
• typical presentations of shared, positive values reinforced before combat
• etc.
AO3 Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which
literary texts are written and received
Focus might be on:
• differing attitudes to the shared values present in positive military morale such as team spirit/esprit
de corps and patriotism over time 21
• differing attitudes over time to the team spirit and shared values of volunteer soldiers and pals’
battalions
• differing attitudes towards the team spirit and the shared patriotic values that might lead soldiers to
feel that their part in the war is justified
• differing attitudes towards military pride and preparation and the team spirit and shared values
shown in the collective act of preparing for a ‘Big Push’
• etc.
AO2 Analyse ways in which meanings are shaped in literary texts
Focus might be on:
• the use of listing and repetitive use of definite articles in the first paragraph to stress the scale of
the collective preparation for ‘The Big Push’
• how the preparations for the attack have unified the men; the use of listing ‘the heroes, the
cowards, the fainthearts and the strong together’ presents that the planned attack is above
individual strengths and weaknesses
• the string of animalistic similes to present war as something beyond the human; for example, the
bombardment as ‘like the flutterings of gigantic wings’, ‘like some iron monster’, ‘like some
tremendous beast about to spring’
• the extra-textual use of the speech from Richard II to set the moment in a literary and patriotic
context
• the triplet of adjectives ‘firm, sincere, young’ to present the power of Murray’s delivery of the
Shakespeare speech; the use of Murray’s character to denote the patriotism of young volunteer
soldiers
• the repeated use of singular and plural first-person pronouns throughout the passage
• the first-person narrative and indirect discourse that is measured, yet emotive; for example through
the triplet of adjectives, ‘I felt proud and sad, and glad I was there’
• the personification of death, ‘Death wasn’t very far away over the hill that night’
• the use of spatial metaphors to denote an awareness of destiny, ‘poised on a lofty height’
• the biblical language used to present the almost religious patriotic spirit of the troops ‘we were the
chosen people’
• etc.
AO1 Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated
concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression
• quality of argument
• organisation of ideas
• use of appropriate concepts and terminology
• technical accuracy.
Accept any valid interpretations, any valid comments on contexts and any valid discussion of
authorial methods.
How to answer it
Exploring Team Spirit and Shared Values in Harris's Extract
What This Question Tests
This 25-mark extract question evaluates your ability to construct an argumentative, cohesive literary analysis across all five Assessment Objectives (AOs):
AO1 & AO2: Argument & Analysis
Constructing an academic thesis using precise terminology while unpacking authorial methods: syntax, figurative language, pronoun shifts, motifs, and structural choices.
AO3 & AO4: Context & Genre Connections
Connecting the extract to broader First World War conventions (comradeship, Pals Battalions, pre-battle patriotic fervour vs retrospective tragedy).
AO5: Interpretative Debate
Exploring the significance of collective values: are they an uplifting, unitive defence against fear, or an intoxicating, tragic delusion masking slaughter?
Question Deconstruction: Core Concepts
"Explore the significance of team spirit and shared values in this extract."
To access Level 5 (Band 5: 21–25 marks), your response must treat team spirit (tactical solidarity, physical togetherness, camaraderie) and shared values (patriotism, cultural myths, moral obligation, collective destiny) as interrelated but distinct forces shaping the soldiers' psychological readiness.
💡 Key Knowledge (AO2 & AO3)
- Literary Allusion & Heritage: Murray’s delivery of John of Gaunt’s "sceptred isle" speech (from Shakespeare's Richard II) reinforces England as an idyllic, sacred entity, sacralising the impending sacrifice.
- Religious & Sacrificial Imagery: The phrase 'the chosen people' and references to a 'holocaust that would end the war' elevate martial duty into a holy crusade.
- Erasure of Individual Differences: Synthetic listing ( 'the heroes, the cowards, the fainthearts and the strong together' ) demonstrates how the collective war machine flattens human idiosyncrasies into a unified weapon.
- The Inhuman Backdrop: Animalistic and mechanical similes ( 'flutterings of gigantic wings' , 'iron monster' ) contrast the organic warmth of human solidarity with industrialised destruction.
✅ What Top-Band Essays Do (AO1 & AO5)
- Dual Perspective Analysis: Top responses recognise the tension between the sincere immediacy of Fenner’s 1914 volunteer mindset and the retrospective irony felt by post-war readers aware of the Somme's catastrophic human cost.
- Pronoun Mechanics: Tracing the shift between singular first-person ( 'I' ) and plural ( 'we' , 'our' ) to pinpoint the psychological dissolution of the self into the regiment.
- Interrogating "Significance": Does Harris depict shared values as noble endurance, military manipulation, or a necessary psychological anaesthetic against mortal terror?
Key Thematic Strands & Authorial Methods (AO2 Focused)
How Harris shapes meaning across three core analytical lines
1. Mythic Englishness & Cultural Conditioning
Method: Intertextual allusion & solemn triplets.
Analysis: Harris highlights the shared cultural inheritance of the men. By staging the delivery of Shakespeare's Richard II, described through the triad 'firm, sincere, young' , Harris evokes an archaic, romantic chivalry that bonds the men to their historical past. The singing of the National Anthem solidifies this shared patriotism.
2. The Transcendent Melting Pot
Method: Listing, antithesis, and repetitive definite articles.
Analysis: Harris uses antithetical pairs ( 'heroes' vs 'cowards' ; 'fainthearts' vs 'the strong' ) linked under repetitive articles ( 'the... the... the' ) to mirror the mechanical aggregation of men preparing for 'The Big Push'. Team spirit here acts as an equaliser that absorbs personal fragility into military resolve.
3. Fatalistic Elevation & Tragic Delusion
Method: Spatial metaphors, biblical idiom, and ominous personification.
Analysis: Men are placed on a 'lofty height' , viewing themselves as 'the chosen people' . Yet this spiritual high is undercut by ominous prolepsis: 'Death wasn't very far away over the hill' . Their collective sentimentality borders on a trance-like denial of slaughter.
Exam Technique & Common Pitfalls
🧠 Exam Technique: Structuring a Band 5 Response
- Introduction: Define the nature of "team spirit" (practical solidarity) vs "shared values" (cultural/mythological patriotism) in Harris’s text. Propose a clear thesis on how Harris reveals both its protective comfort and tragic vulnerability.
- Micro-Analysis: Quote tightly (1–4 words at a time). Analyse connotations of words like 'holocaust' , 'monster' , and 'chosen' rather than copying full sentences.
- Integrated AO3: Weave historical knowledge of the 1916 Somme offensive, Kitchener’s volunteer army, and the Pals Battalions directly into your critique of the language—do not attach it as an isolated history paragraph.
❌ Common Errors (Where Candidates Lose Marks)
- Feature Spotting without Effect: Labelling 'firm, sincere, young' as a rule of three without explaining how it validates the youth and tragic innocence of the volunteer force.
- Ignoring One Half of the Prompt: Writing extensively on "team spirit" (camaraderie) while completely overlooking "shared values" (patriotism, religious nationalism, Shakespearean mythology).
- Uncritical Acceptance: Treating the soldiers' optimism at face value without appreciating Harris’s dramatic irony or the grim reality awaiting the battalion.
- Potted History: Writing biographical details about Lord Kitchener or general trench conditions that have no bearing on Harris’s stylistic choices in this specific extract.
Examiner Insight: The Discriminator
The discriminator between Band 4 (competent/sound) and Band 5 (perceptive/exploratory) lies in the student's ability to examine authorial tone and ambivalence. Top candidates do not merely describe how patriotic the men feel; they evaluate Harris's craft in presenting that shared patriotism as an intoxicating, tragic illusion—a collective coping mechanism engineered in the shadow of industrialised slaughter.
Topics
WW1 and its aftermath
Question and mark scheme from the AQA A-Level English Literature A examination, Paper 2: Texts in shared contexts (2A), June 2025. QuestionVault is an independent revision resource; questions remain the copyright of the awarding body.