Set texts for examination in 2026 – Paper 1 - Section B: Prose — Cambridge International IGCSE English Literature
Teaching note checked against the official specification.
Test yourself on Set texts for examination in 2026 – Paper 1 - Section B: Prose with CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL IGCSE practice questions.
A week of Premium from your first lesson · Then the free plan continues · No card, no charge
Set texts for examination in 2026 – Paper 1 - Section B: Prose explained
This row names Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart as a set prose text for Paper 1 Section B in the 2026 examination.
Read the full explanation
In an extended response you write a sustained critical essay answering the question set, not a plot summary. Build a clear argument about character, theme, setting, structure or Achebe's language, and support it with close reference to specific moments, phrases and techniques. Use short, accurately remembered quotations only where you can vouch for the exact wording; otherwise describe a scene or phrase precisely and analyse it. Connect evidence to effect and to the question's focus, and develop your line of argument across the whole essay. Keep all material within this set text and the 2026 route.
Your focus
- Analyse how Achebe uses language, structure and narrative perspective to create meaning in Things Fall Apart.
- Construct a sustained argument that answers a specific question about the novel.
- Select and integrate precise textual evidence to support analytical points.
Set texts for examination in 2026 – Paper 1 - Section B: Prose exam tips
Marking Points
- Sustains a clear argument that answers the exact question set on the novel rather than summarising the plot.
- Supports each main claim with close reference to specific characters, scenes, phrases or narrative techniques.
- Explains how Achebe's choices of language, structure and narrative perspective create effects and meanings.
- Uses quotation accurately and sparingly, weaving short phrases into the analysis rather than listing them.
- Develops the argument across the whole essay, linking paragraphs so the response builds rather than repeats.
- Connects the novel's techniques and contexts to the question's focus, showing why the evidence supports the point made.
Examiner Tips
- 💡Read the question twice and underline its key focus before planning, so every paragraph answers it.
- 💡Plan three or four developed points in a short list, each tied to a technique and an effect.
- 💡Quote only what you can reproduce exactly; describe a scene precisely if unsure of the wording.
- 💡Leave a minute to reread your conclusion and check it answers the question directly.
Common Mistakes
- Summarises the plot instead of analysing how Achebe writes; anchor every paragraph to technique and effect.
- Uses long quotations without comment; select short phrases and explain their precise effect.
- Ignores the wording of the question and writes everything known about the novel; keep returning to the specific focus asked.
- Treats narrative perspective or structure as an afterthought; weave in how the story is told where it matters.