Cambridge A Level English - Language AS and A Level (from 2014) 9093 — 2024 Feb/March Paper 1 · Variant 2

Cambridge International AS & A Level 9093/12 February/March 2024 2 hours 15 minutes ENGLISH LANGUAGE Paper 1 Reading You must answer on the enclosed answer booklet. You will need: Answer booklet (enclosed) INSTRUCTIONS • Answer all questions. • Follow the instructions on the front cover of the answer booklet. If you need additional answer paper, ask the invigilator for a continuation booklet. • Dictionaries are not allowed. INFORMATION • The total mark for this paper is 50. • The number of marks for each question or part question is shown in brackets [ ]. This document has 8 pages. Any blank pages are indicated. [Turn over 03_9093_12_2024_1.20 © UCLES 2024 *1504444332*

Section A: Directed response Question 1 Read the following text, which is an article promoting ‘forest bathing’ from National Geographic website. You have recently been on a trip that involved time spent forest bathing. Write a blog post describing your experience and the benefits of forest bathing. Use 150–200 words. [10] (a) Compare your blog post with the article, analysing form, structure and language. [15] (b) The secret to mindful travel? A walk in the woods Visit these four destinations to practice the Japanese art of forest bathing. Whether you call it a fitness trend or a mindfulness practice (or a bit of both), what exactly is forest bathing? 03_9093_12_2024_1.20 © UCLES 2024 2 Content removed due to copyright restrictions.

Guided forest walks from Kitich Forest Camp are led by local Samburu trackers with intimate knowledge of the sounds, scents, and sights of the forest. [Turn over 03_9093_12_2024_1.20 © UCLES 2024 3 Content removed due to copyright restrictions.

35 30 25 20 15 10 5 Section B: Text analysis Question 2 Read the following text, which is a review of a memoir. Analyse the text, focusing on form, structure and language. [25] Soundings by Doreen Cunningham review – a whale of a journey A mother and her young son follow pods of whales from Mexico to Alaska in this brave, lyrical memoir Almost a decade ago a group of Canadian and British scientists made a remarkable observation about the social lives of sperm whales in the Sargasso and Caribbean seas. While mother whales dived deep to hunt for squid, others assumed the role of ‘allomothers’, caring for the calf at the water’s surface (the popular press referred to these whales as ‘babysitters’). The paper by the scientists was part of a growing body of eye-opening research into whales’ social behaviour, which centres on those close-knit groups called pods. Pods, human as well as cetacean, come up repeatedly in Doreen Cunningham’s debut, Soundings, a striking, brave and often lyrical book that defies easy interpretation. It’s the story of a single mother and her two-year-old son, Max, and their journey to follow the whales that migrate from Baja California to the Arctic. But this is not really a work of natural history. Mother and son are in a state of turmoil and, like the whales they pursue, must navigate an environment that appears callous, if not hostile, and rely on friendship to get by. The experiences of the alienated pair are inseparable from their literary quarry, and as they travel up the Pacific coast, whale and human cultures seem to converge, eroding the gap between ourselves and our distant mammalian cousins. An engineering graduate, Cunningham had a busy career as a London-based climate journalist, covering stories all around the world, including in Alaska (her time with Iñupiat whalers provides a key thread in the book as well as a wealth of fascinating ethnographic material). After a painful custody dispute with her son’s father, she returns with the boy to Jersey, the island where she grew up. Depleted, insolvent and isolated, she takes refuge in a hostel for single mothers and it is here that she conceives her plan to follow whales with her young son. Cunningham adroitly sidesteps much of the male-dominated narratives about whales and whaling, and clearly takes inspiration more from Inuit mythology than from Herman Melville1. She and her son make for an unconventionally heroic pair, travelling by plane, train, bus and boat, and incurring disapproving looks and small humiliations in their quest to spot grey whales. Initially it seems that nothing fits, including lifejackets, and at times the landscape seems irredeemably hostile. Whale mothers and their calves, meanwhile, surface and dive alongside the pair, and Cunningham movingly describes their bonds of cooperation, which find pointed echoes and contrasts in her travelling companions and personal relationships. Her sensuous descriptions of grey whales and humpbacks provide some of the book’s richest passages; she looks at the whales and then looks at her son, looking at whales which look back. What could she hope to gain by taking her two-year-old on such a long journey, one that might catapult her further into debt and distance her from family? Early on this question 03_9093_12_2024_1.20 © UCLES 2024 4

45 40 is lodged in the writer’s and reader’s mind alike, and it simmers, tantalisingly, throughout the book. At times the narrator seems fixated on obtaining a transformative encounter with the whale, almost betraying a desire to jump the species barrier. Yet she is no Ahab2; it is not a single whale to which she is drawn, but the collective, and in the end the whales act as stepping-stones, bridges to human relationships on her journey, notably with other women and mothers. What at first seems a reckless, near-mystical pursuit of an imagined being leads her to find a human pod of her own. 1Herman Melville: author who wrote the novel Moby Dick, about whales 2Ahab: character in Moby Dick who captained a ship 03_9093_12_2024_1.20 © UCLES 2024 5

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BLANK PAGE Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Every reasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, the publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity. To avoid the issue of disclosure of answer-related information to candidates, all copyright acknowledgements are reproduced online in the Cambridge Assessment International Education Copyright Acknowledgements Booklet. This is produced for each series of examinations and is freely available to download at www.cambridgeinternational.org after the live examination series. Cambridge Assessment International Education is part of Cambridge Assessment. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which is a department of the University of Cambridge. 03_9093_12_2024_1.20 © UCLES 2024 8

This document consists of 15 printed pages. © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 [Turn over Cambridge International AS & A Level ENGLISH LANGUAGE 9093/12 Paper 1 Reading February/March 2024 MARK SCHEME Maximum Mark: 50 Published This mark scheme is published as an aid to teachers and candidates, to indicate the requirements of the examination. It shows the basis on which Examiners were instructed to award marks. It does not indicate the details of the discussions that took place at an Examiners’ meeting before marking began, which would have considered the acceptability of alternative answers. Mark schemes should be read in conjunction with the question paper and the Principal Examiner Report for Teachers. Cambridge International will not enter into discussions about these mark schemes. Cambridge International is publishing the mark schemes for the February/March 2024 series for most Cambridge IGCSE, Cambridge International A and AS Level components, and some Cambridge O Level components.

9093/12 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED February/March 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 2 of 15 Generic Marking Principles These general marking principles must be applied by all examiners when marking candidate answers. They should be applied alongside the specific content of the mark scheme or generic level descriptions for a question. Each question paper and mark scheme will also comply with these marking principles. GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 1: Marks must be awarded in line with: • the specific content of the mark scheme or the generic level descriptors for the question • the specific skills defined in the mark scheme or in the generic level descriptors for the question • the standard of response required by a candidate as exemplified by the standardisation scripts. GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 2: Marks awarded are always whole marks (not half marks, or other fractions). GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 3: Marks must be awarded positively: • marks are awarded for correct/valid answers, as defined in the mark scheme. However, credit is given for valid answers which go beyond the scope of the syllabus and mark scheme, referring to your Team Leader as appropriate • marks are awarded when candidates clearly demonstrate what they know and can do • marks are not deducted for errors • marks are not deducted for omissions • answers should only be judged on the quality of spelling, punctuation and grammar when these features are specifically assessed by the question as indicated by the mark scheme. The meaning, however, should be unambiguous. GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 4: Rules must be applied consistently, e.g. in situations where candidates have not followed instructions or in the application of generic level descriptors.

9093/12 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED February/March 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 3 of 15 GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 5: Marks should be awarded using the full range of marks defined in the mark scheme for the question (however; the use of the full mark range may be limited according to the quality of the candidate responses seen). GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 6: Marks awarded are based solely on the requirements as defined in the mark scheme. Marks should not be awarded with grade thresholds or grade descriptors in mind. English & Media subject specific general marking principles (To be read in conjunction with the Generic Marking Principles (and requiring further guidance on how to place marks within levels)) Components using level descriptors: • We use level descriptors as a guide to broad understanding of the qualities normally expected of, or typical of, work in a level. • Level descriptors are a means of general guidance, and should not be interpreted as hurdle statements. • Where indicative content notes are supplied for a question, these are not a prescription of required content, and must not be treated as such. Alternative correct points and unexpected answers in candidates’ scripts must be given marks that fairly reflect the knowledge and skills demonstrated. • While we may have legitimate expectations as to the ground most answers may occupy, we must at all times be prepared to meet candidates on their chosen ground, provided it is relevant ground (e.g. clearly related to and derived from a relevant passage/text and meeting the mark scheme requirements for the question).

9093/12 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED February/March 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 4 of 15 English Language specific marking instructions: AO1 Read and demonstrate understanding of a wide variety of texts. (Understanding) • Marks should be awarded for the accuracy of the candidate’s understanding of the text and its features, not for any analysis of them which is recognised under AO3. • Where comparison is required, marks should be awarded for the candidate’s recognition of similarities and differences between the texts and their features, not for any consequent analysis. • When awarding a ‘best-fit’ mark within a Level for each AO, consider each bullet point equally. AO2 Write effectively, creatively, accurately and appropriately, for a range of audiences and purposes. (Writing) • Marks should be awarded equally on the basis of the level of the candidate’s written expression (range of features used and accuracy) and the development of their writing (its organisation and relevance to task and audience). • When awarding a ‘best-fit’ mark within a Level for each AO, consider each bullet point equally. AO3: Analyse the ways in which writers’ and speakers’ choices of form, structure and language produce meaning and style. (Analysis) • Marks should be awarded equally on the basis of the level of the candidate’s analysis of the text’s elements (form, structure and language) and of the writer’s stylistic choices (including how style relates to audience and shapes meaning). • When awarding a ‘best-fit’ mark within a Level for each AO, consider each bullet point equally. In response to Question 1(a), candidates are required to write between 150 and 200 words. While there is no direct penalty for failing to adhere to this requirement, examiners should consider this an aspect of the response’s ‘relevance to purpose’. As such, adherence to the word limit is assessed as part of the second bullet point of AO2

9093/12 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED February/March 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 5 of 15 Section A: Directed Response Question Answer Marks 1(a) Read the following text, which is an article promoting ‘forest bathing’ from National Geographic website. You have recently been on a trip that involved time spent forest bathing. Write a blog post describing your experience and the benefits of forest bathing. Use 150–200 words. Mark according to the levels of response marking criteria in Table A. Additional guidance: The comments below are illustrative and are not intended to be exhaustive. Candidates may make other valid comments that should be credited. Responses might feature the following: • form, audience, purpose, style, conventions, language and structure will be appropriately adapted to suit task • content may include personal thoughts, feelings and reflections • tone will be used to have an impact on the reader and to create an effect. 10

9093/12 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED February/March 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 6 of 15 Question Answer Marks 1(b) Compare your blog post with the article, analysing form, structure and language. Mark according to the levels of response marking criteria in Table B. Additional guidance: The comments below are illustrative and are not intended to be exhaustive. Candidates may make other valid comments that should be credited. Candidates may organise their response in any appropriate way. They are not required to focus on form, structure and language in separate sections. Candidates might compare and analyse the following: Form • the typical text conventions used in the original article and the candidate’s own blog post • the ways in which the different purposes affect the content and style of the two texts • the ways in which the article and the blog post appeal to their respective intended audiences, e.g. through the tone and register used in each text • any other relevant aspects of the form of the two texts Structure • the ways in which headings and short/long paragraphs or sections are used in each text • beginning the article with a question and answer (hypophora) in the title • the way in which the article is structured around a general informative introduction and four sections each • detailing a different location for the practice of forest bathing any other relevant structural features in the texts Language • the use of direct address of the reader • inclusive first person plural narrative voice/point of view • factual information about forest bathing and each of the highlighted locations, e.g. 2000 miles of hiking trails • lexical fields of health (antioxidants, vitamin C, essential oils, mindfulness); forests (evergreens, balsam, pine, fall foliage, rainforest, Kauri, cedars); environments (Rift Valley, safari, remote island location, Arenal Volcano, Lake Placid, hiking trails) • adjectives used throughout (unforgettable, sacred) 15

9093/12 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED February/March 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 7 of 15 Question Answer Marks 1(b) • vocabulary choices to enhance how beneficial the practice can be in such places – paradise, sensory immersion, ample room, rich in, award-winning, protected forest reserve • language of reassurance about safety – certified forest therapy guides • the Local Tips section • alliteration – living legends, fall foliage • any other relevant language features used in the text

9093/12 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED February/March 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 8 of 15 Marking criteria for Section A Question 1(a) Table A Level AO1: Read and demonstrate understanding of a wide variety of texts. 5 marks AO2: Write effectively, creatively, accurately and appropriately, for a range of audiences and purposes. 5 marks 5 • Sophisticated understanding of text (meaning/context/audience) • Insightful reference to characteristic features 5 marks • Sophisticated expression, with a high level of accuracy • Content is fully relevant to audience and purpose; ideas are developed throughout in a sophisticated manner 5 marks 4 • Detailed understanding of text (meaning/context/audience) • Effective reference to characteristic features 4 marks • Effective expression, with a few minor errors which do not impede communication • Content is relevant to audience and purpose; ideas are developed in an effective manner 4 marks 3 • Clear understanding of text (meaning/context/audience) • Clear reference to characteristic features 3 marks • Clear expression, with occasional errors which do not impede communication • Content is relevant to audience and purpose; ideas are developed clearly 3 marks 2 • Limited understanding of text (meaning/context/audience) • Limited reference to characteristic features 2 marks • Expression is clear but may not flow easily, with frequent errors which generally do not impede communication • Content is mostly relevant to audience and purpose; ideas are developed in a limited manner 2 marks 1 • Basic understanding of text (meaning/context/audience) • Minimal reference to characteristic features 1 mark • Basic expression, with frequent errors which impede communication • Content may lack relevance to audience and purpose; minimal development of ideas 1 mark

9093/12 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED February/March 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 9 of 15 Level AO1: Read and demonstrate understanding of a wide variety of texts. 5 marks AO2: Write effectively, creatively, accurately and appropriately, for a range of audiences and purposes. 5 marks 0 • No creditable response 0 marks • No creditable response 0 marks

9093/12 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED February/March 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 10 of 15 Marking criteria for Section A Question 1(b) Table B Level AO1: Read and demonstrate understanding of a wide variety of texts. 5 marks AO3: Analyse the ways in which writers’ and speakers’ choices of form, structure and language produce meaning and style. 10 marks 5 • Sophisticated comparative understanding of texts (meaning/context/audience) • Insightful reference to characteristic features 5 marks • Sophisticated comparative analysis of elements of form, structure and language • Sophisticated analysis of how the writers’ stylistic choices relate to audience and shape meaning 9–10 marks 4 • Detailed comparative understanding of texts (meaning/context/audience) • Effective reference to characteristic features 4 marks • Detailed comparative analysis of elements of form, structure and language • Detailed analysis of how the writers’ stylistic choices relate to audience and shape meaning 7–8 marks 3 • Clear comparative understanding of texts (meaning/context/audience) • Clear reference to characteristic features 3 marks • Clear comparative analysis of elements of form, structure and/or language • Clear analysis of how the writers’ stylistic choices relate to audience and shape meaning 5–6 marks 2 • Limited understanding of texts (meaning/context/audience), with limited comparison • Limited reference to characteristic features 2 marks • Limited analysis of form, structure and/or language, with limited comparison • Limited analysis of how the writers’ stylistic choices relate to audience and shape meaning 3–4 marks

9093/12 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED February/March 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 11 of 15 Level AO1: Read and demonstrate understanding of a wide variety of texts. 5 marks AO3: Analyse the ways in which writers’ and speakers’ choices of form, structure and language produce meaning and style. 10 marks 1 • Basic understanding of texts (meaning/context/audience), with minimal comparison • Minimal reference to characteristic features 1 mark • Minimal analysis of form, structure and/or language, with minimal comparison • Minimal analysis of how the writers’ stylistic choices relate to audience and shape meaning 1–2 marks 0 • No creditable response 0 marks • No creditable response 0 marks

9093/12 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED February/March 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 12 of 15 Section B: Text analysis Question Answer Marks 2 Read the following text, which is a review of a memoir. Analyse the text, focusing on form, structure and language. Mark according to the levels of response marking criteria in Table C. Additional guidance: The analysis should address the style, form, genre, structure and language of the text (including specific and relevant references), explaining how they create meaning in relation to audience and purpose. The comments below are illustrative and are not intended to be exhaustive. Candidates may make other valid comments that should be credited. Candidates may organise their response in any appropriate way. They are not required to focus on form, structure and language in separate sections. Responses might analyse the following: Form • the typical text conventions used in the review • the ways in which the purpose affects the content and style of the text • the ways in which the review appeals to its intended audience, e.g. through the tone and register used in the text • any other relevant aspects of the text’s form Structure • the use of a title to introduce the review, and a pun in the title – A whale of a journey • the way in which the opening paragraph clearly establishes the facts behind the subject of the book – mother whales dived deep to hunt for squid • the way in which the text is structured to evaluate the highlights of the book and to include personal information about the writer - painful custody dispute with her son’s father • the lack of chronological structure, as indicated by the inclusion of the personal information in the middle of the review 25

9093/12 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED February/March 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 13 of 15 Question Answer Marks 2 • the way in which discourse markers and anaphoric references are used in the text for cohesion and to develop the review • the way in which the concluding paragraph is structured to suggest the key question that has dominated response to Cunningham’s book, and to convey the writer’s overall opinion of the book – What could she hope to gain by taking her two-year-old on such a long journey...? • any other relevant structural features in the text Language • the way in which facts and details taken from the book being reviewed are used by the writer – the whales that migrate from Baja California to the Arctic; close-knit groups called pods • the effect of the use of positive adjectives and list of three to describe Cunningham's book – a striking, brave and often lyrical book • the use of a lexical field concerned with water and creatures living in it – sperm whales in the Sargasso and Caribbean seas, ‘allomothers’, caring for the calf at the water’s surface, Pods, human as well as cetacean, travel up the Pacific coast • the effect of connecting the humans and whales on their journey – whale and human cultures seem to converge, eroding the gap, like the whales they pursue, inseparable from their literary quarry, whales act as stepping-stones, bridges to human relationships • the effect of other triads or lists – Depleted, insolvent and isolated • the effect of the language of mythology and story-telling – the male-dominated narratives, Inuit mythology, heroic pair, a reckless, near-mystical pursuit of an imagined being • the effect of the metaphors – provides a key thread in the book, a wealth of fascinating ethnographic material, catapult her further into debt • the connotations of the phrase simmers, tantalisingly in the final paragraph • the effect of the interrogative sentence to begin the final paragraph • any other relevant language features used in the text.

9093/12 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED February/March 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 14 of 15 Marking criteria for Section B Question 2 Table C Level AO1: Read and demonstrate understanding of a wide variety of texts. 5 marks AO3: Analyse the ways in which writers’ and speakers’ choices of form, structure and language produce meaning and style. 20 marks 5 • Sophisticated understanding of text (meaning/context/audience) • Insightful reference to characteristic features 5 marks • Analysis is sophisticated, coherent and very effectively structured • Insightful selection of elements of form, structure and language for analysis • Sophisticated awareness of writer’s stylistic choices, including how style relates to audience and shapes meaning • Uses precise and fully appropriate language to link evidence with explanatory comments 17–20 marks 4 • Detailed understanding of text (meaning/context/audience) • Effective reference to characteristic features 4 marks • Analysis is detailed, coherent and effectively structured • Effective selection of elements of form, structure and language for analysis • Detailed awareness of writer’s stylistic choices, including how style relates to audience and shapes meaning • Uses effective and appropriate language to link evidence with explanatory comments 13–16 marks 3 • Clear understanding of text (meaning/context/audience) • Clear reference to characteristic features 3 marks • Analysis is clear, coherent and well structured • Appropriate selection of elements of form, structure and language for analysis • Clear awareness of writer’s stylistic choices, including how style relates to audience and shapes meaning • Uses clear and appropriate language to link evidence with explanatory comments 9–12 marks

9093/12 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED February/March 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 15 of 15 Level AO1: Read and demonstrate understanding of a wide variety of texts. 5 marks AO3: Analyse the ways in which writers’ and speakers’ choices of form, structure and language produce meaning and style. 20 marks 2 • Limited understanding of text (meaning/context/audience) • Limited reference to characteristic features 2 marks • Limited analysis, with some structure and limited coherence • Some appropriate selection of elements of form, structure and/or language for analysis • Limited awareness of writer’s stylistic choices • Attempts to use appropriate language to link evidence with explanatory comments 5–8 marks 1 • Basic understanding of text (meaning/context/audience) • Minimal reference to characteristic features 1 mark • Basic analysis, with minimal structure or coherence • Minimal selection of elements of form, structure and language for analysis • Minimal awareness of writer’s stylistic choices • Minimal use of appropriate language to link evidence with explanatory comments 1–4 marks 0 • No creditable response 0 marks • No creditable response 0 marks