The text ‘Significant Cigarettes’ by Rose Tremain is currently taught on the Edexcel International GCSE English Language Paper 2 curriculum. It is one of the 10 prose and poetry anthology texts which students answer on for Question 1. This complete ‘Significant Cigarettes‘ IGCSE resources pack comes packaged in a cohesive scheme of work. It includes line-by-line annotations, quiz questions with an answer key, a mind mapping activity, rubric and exemplar full mark answer.
Significant Cigarettes Summary
‘Significant Cigarettes’ by Rose Tremain, an extract from the novel The Road Home, tells the story of an Eastern European immigrant, Lev, who travels to London to find work, hoping to support his mother and young daughter. Having lost his wife and his job at the sawmill, Lev is portrayed in a sympathetic light. The novel follows the characters and experiences of Lev as he grapples with the ups and downs of life in London, finally saving enough money to open a restaurant.
Rose Tremain uses vivid imagery to convey the diverse experiences of immigrants; but how can we support students to capture that in their exam essays? How can we break it down to consider not only the literal description of the tiring bus journey, but how Lev’s interpretations and interactions present the experience of emigration?
Significant Cigarettes Resources and Analysis
I’ve created a scheme of work for busy teachers to take your students step-by-step through the text. It contains everything from an engaging, thought-provoking starter, to questions about the summary of the book. There are also detailed annotations of the text and exam practice (rubric, mind mapping activity and exemplar answer) for the 30-mark question on Language Paper 2. This Significant Cigarettes IGCSE resource contains editable Google slides, quizzes with answer keys, sample exam questions, a mind mapping activity and close textual annotations of the whole GCSE text. All activities are ready to download and print in PDF form or there are links for you to personalise them if you wish.
Edexcel IGCSE English Language Exam Paper 2
The 1 hour 30 minutes Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 2 exam is split into Section A and Section B. Section A is the reading assessment and candidates are presented with one of the 10 prose and poetry anthology texts. The prose texts are between 1.5 and 3.5 pages long and the texts are approximately 1 page. They have 1 30-mark question to answer, which is usually based on a broad theme from the selected text, such as death, strong emotions, sympathy or conflict. Furthermore, candidates are provided with 3 bullet points which give guidance as to what to include in the response.
Section B is an imaginative writing assessment. Candidates choose between three options, which are normally loosely based on the Section A text.
- Question 2 tends to be a personal question. For example, write about a time you overcame a challenge. The response can be real or imagined.
- Question 3 tends to give the title of a story, and candidates are required to write the story.
- Question 4 usually provides a set of 2-3 images which students may use as a stimulus to write a story.
Significant Cigarettes Resources and Analysis
To introduce the text ‘Significant Cigarettes’, I ask students to discuss questions related to the theme of moving to a different country. This helps them relate to the central premise of the extract. Usually, they discuss for 5 minutes or so in pairs or small groups before we do class feedback.
These Significant Cigarettes IGCSE resources contain ideas and notes to discuss with students. As the text contains an exploration of the immigrant experience, this is an effective way to ascertain what students already know and think about the idea of emigrating. For an extension or discussion activity, I ask students to discuss someone they know who has moved, whether it be real life or a character in a book, movie or TV show.
Significant Cigarettes Language and Structure Techniques
Before analysing the text, I outline the novel from which the extract is taken, The Road Home. I start with a short summary of the book. Although knowledge of the book isn’t assessed in the exam, it’s useful for students to understand the context. The Significant Cigarettes IGCSE activities contain a straightforward multiple choice quiz which can quickly assess students’ understanding of the story.
Prior to diving into the text, I quickly review language and structure techniques in the text so that they are fresh in students’ minds. Students match the definition and technique, which they can either copy, cut and paste or simply number. As an extension, students can write their own examples of the techniques. This is also a useful revision tool for any GCSE English exam. When they know the language techniques implicitly, they naturally refer to them in their analysis and raise their marks.
Significant Cigarettes line-by-line analysis
Before close textual analysis, I often ask students to do an initial reading for the tone and literal reading. It is a fairly straightforward text for students to understand on a surface level – a description of a man on a bus journey. The challenge comes in unpacking how Tremain explores the narrator’s complex struggle and emotions involved with emigrating from one’s home country. As well as that, Tremain implores the reader to question their own beliefs and generalisations. Close textual annotations are a way to support students to unpack the deeper meanings.
When it comes to closely analysing the lines of the text, there are a few ways of approaching the activity. You can read and annotate together with students completing the annotations in real time. Alternatively, you can split students into groups and ask each group to focus on a certain number of lines before feeding back to the class. Or you could read and discuss, then ask students to complete the annotations for homework.
There are many ways of approaching close textual analysis; I find that varying the method for different texts keeps students interested through the unit. This ‘Significant Cigarettes’ IGCSE resources pack contains detailed line-by-line annotations of the whole text.
Edexcel Significant Cigarettes IGCSE Quiz with Answer Key
After analysing the text, I do a quick AFL quiz with students to assess their understanding of the language and structure of the text, then introduce exam practice questions. Editable quiz questions for a straightforward low stakes multiple choice quiz with answers are available on the slides and in PDF form with these Significant Cigarettes IGCSE resources. Depending on your time and the nature of your class, you can do this as a whole class activity on the interactive whiteboard or hand out for students to do in pairs or individually.
Significant Cigarettes Edexcel Practice Past Paper Exam Questions
Question 1 on the IGCSE English Language Paper 2 exam is a 30-mark question on one of the 10 anthology prose and poetry texts. You can find them in Part 2 of the anthology. Although it is one question, it is fairly high stakes as students don’t have anywhere to hide; they must perform on this question. I reinforce to them that they must know all 10 of the texts very well to write a detailed essay on just one of them in the exam.
There are some steps to take before asking students to write a response. Firstly, it may be useful to take students through the rubric so that they familiarise themselves with how the response is awarded. Then, you can take students through the example PETER paragraph (point, evidence, technique, explain, refer). If you wish, you can ask them to order the parts of the example paragraph, so they grapple with the concept of a cohesive paragraph. This way, there are scaffolds in place to support students to produce high quality responses and you can demonstrate how the paragraph hits the mark scheme pointers, such as exploring techniques and use of vocabulary for effect. It also directly links to the question, which is something examiners look for.
In this Significant Cigarettes GCSE scheme of work, there is a rubric, paragraph structure and sorting activity so that students can see how to write a cohesive analytical paragraph. This is a useful way to ease hesitant students into writing a full analysis of the text.’
Significant Cigarettes Mind mapping activity
Students often struggle to plan their ideas; they are left wondering; how do I start? What do I write and in what order? A mind map is a good tool for students to revise the texts, but also produce a cohesive analysis and plan out their ideas so that they avoid repetition.
I have included an example of a mind map in these ‘Significant Cigarettes’ IGCSE resources, useful for analysis and making thematic links between different parts of the text. Additionally, I split the mind map into sections which closely link to the example question: immigrant experience, flashbacks and memories, and the contrasts with Lydia. Students can then make notes for each of these sections, or create their own categories.
Then, they can use colours, notes, diagrams or images (however their brain works) to connect and order their ideas. After they have made notes, they can order and organise their notes depending on how they would like to structure their essay. This helps them to compose a cohesive and perceptive exam response.
Edexcel Significant Cigarettes Exemplar Essay
Included in these ‘Significant Cigarettes‘ IGCSE resources, I have provided an editable full-mark example answer for Question 1, worth 30 marks. I find it the most effective to ask students to have a go at answering first, do some peer or teacher marking of their answers, then present them with the full-mark response. Often, I find if students achieve a mark they are unhappy with, they ask ‘what do I have to do to increase my mark?’ Or, they might say ‘how do I make it better?’ These are great questions as they show engagement with the improvement process. This is when providing students with an exemplar analytical essay can help them ‘see’ exactly how to plug the gaps in their own response.
There are examiner’s comments in the notes section of the presentation about this response. Essentially, to be awarded full marks, there should be evidence of perceptive analysis. I explain to students that the answer goes beyond ‘obvious’ points and draws out the writer’s range of ideas and different possible interpretations of readers’ reactions. Consider whether the writer changes their perspective and how language and structure interconnect for effect. For example, a long syndetic list can also contain strong, emotive verbs. Quotations must be relevant to the points made for a student to achieve the top band of the mark scheme. Also, multiple quotations should be used throughout the response.
Edexcel GCSE English Language Imaginative Writing Practice
There are also a couple of writing prompts included in these Significant Cigarettes IGCSE resources. Time-permitting, this is an excellent text to base a creative or transactional writing piece around as it is so steeped in vivid imagery. You could have the students write an article, story or letter based on the text. This can help develop skills required for Section B of Paper 1 (Transactional Writing) and Section B of Paper 2 (Imaginative Writing), whilst increasing their engagement with the text Significant Cigarettes.
Edexcel English Language GCSE Revision
To sum up, some of the best techniques for teaching the 10 prose and poetry texts include:
- Hook students with an intriguing starter activity
- Use alternative methods to closely analyse and annotate the text
- Quiz students for quick AFL strategy to assess whether they are engaging with the text
- Practise past paper questions
- Study model answers, including examples of typical mistakes students make in the exam responses
- Offer an optional creative activity as homework or an extension to challenge students’ perceptions of the text
Good luck teaching Significant Cigarettes. I find that students often enjoy unpicking the allusive Lev and his experiences. Comment below if you can add any useful teaching and learning techniques for this text.
If you enjoyed this article about teaching ‘Significant Cigarettes’, you might also find value in my Edexcel IGCSE Paper 2 guides and resources for ‘The Story of an Hour‘ and ‘The Bright Lights of Sarajevo’. There are also Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 1 guides and schemes of work for many of the set texts, including Young and Dyslexic: You’ve got it going on and Explorers or Boys Messing About? Either way, taxpayer gets rescue bill. Follow my store for more as resources are frequently being added.
