Pearson Edexcel International GCSE English Literature · specification 4ET1 · Component 1 | Section C: Modern Prose · Free · no account needed
Klara and the Sun — Kazuo Ishiguro (4ET1 specification)
An Artificial Friend bought to keep a sick, genetically lifted girl company tells the story of the family that bought her — and of the Sun she believes can heal.
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- Klara and the Sun — Kazuo Ishiguro — Grade 9 Notes, the Complete Guide and every character and theme study.
Specification coverage
Component 1, Section C — Modern Prose
Assessment objectives: AO1, AO4. Suggested learning time: 240 minutes.
Required knowledge
- The whole novel, in its six parts — Component 1 is closed book
- Klara as narrator: precise about people, mistaken about the world
- Lifting, Artificial Friends and the divided society the novel imagines
- Publication in March 2021, amid public debate about artificial intelligence; Ishiguro's Nobel Prize in Literature, 2017
Required skills
- Demonstrate a close understanding of the prose text
- Maintain a critical style and present an informed personal engagement
- Understand the influence of contextual factors on interpretation
- Identify and use relevant examples from memory
How it is examined
- One 40-mark essay from a choice of two on this set text
Common mistakes
- Treating Klara's account as simple truth rather than separating what she reports from what the reader understands.
- Writing about real robots or real gene editing without attaching the point to a moment in the novel.
- Retelling the six parts in order instead of arguing across them.
- Forgetting Section C assesses AO1 and AO4 only — this is not the paper for extended language analysis.
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