Pearson Edexcel International GCSE English Literature · specification 4ET1 · Component 1 | Section B: Anthology Poetry · Free · no account needed
Half-past Two — U A Fanthorpe (4ET1 specification)
A small boy is kept in after school before he can tell the time, and slips briefly out of clock-time altogether.
Specification coverage
Component 1, Section B — Anthology Poetry (Part 3 of the Pearson Edexcel International GCSE English Anthology)
Assessment objectives: AO2, AO3. Suggested learning time: 60 minutes.
Required knowledge
- The child cannot read a clock, so 'half-past two' is meaningless to him
- He knows time only by events — the times of dinner, television, going to bed
- For a moment he escapes into timelessness; the adult world then reclaims him
Required skills
- Analyse how language, form and structure create meanings and effects (AO2)
- Compare this poem with another from Part 3, including language, structure and form (AO3)
- Use appropriate literary terminology accurately
- Select relevant, short examples from the poem — it is printed in the paper, so precision is expected
How it is examined
- One 30-mark comparative essay, from a choice of two, comparing this poem with one other from Part 3
Common mistakes
- Calling the teacher cruel. The poem is more interested in how differently children and adults hold time.
- Ignoring the invented words as 'just cute'. They are the poem's central method.
This page maps the specification. To learn the content, open the set-text notes and guides — completely free.