

This lesson resource is designed for students following the exam route (Paper 2) of the Edexcel IGCSE English Language A (4EA1) specification, using the June 2023 examination question on Significant Cigarettes from Rose Tremain’s The Road Home. The lesson develops students’ ability to analyse characterisation, language, structure, symbolism, and reader engagement in preparation for examination responses.
The resource can also be used effectively for the coursework route (Paper 3). The activities encourage students to explore key themes such as identity, migration, grief, hope, belonging, and displacement, making it easy to adapt for coursework-focused study and comparative essay preparation.
Lesson Sequence:
Starter – What Would You Take? Students consider what possessions they would choose if forced to leave their country, introducing ideas of migration, identity, memory, and attachment.
Context Introduction: Students learn about Rose Tremain, The Road Home, and the circumstances surrounding Lev’s journey from Eastern Europe to London in a few brief points.
First Reading: Students identify details that create sympathy for Lev, raise questions about his future, and present the challenges of his journey.
Exam Question Introduction: Students explore the June 2023 Paper 2 examination question and identify the different ways Tremain engages the reader.
Breaking Down the Question: Students examine Lev’s character, the significance of the journey, and the writer’s use of language, imagery, symbolism, and structure.
Reader Interest Investigation: Students complete an evidence-gathering grid exploring how Lev’s grief, hopes, journey, and circumstances create reader engagement.
Symbolism Focus – Significant Cigarettes: Students analyse the symbolic importance of the cigarettes and explore how they function as a comfort, companion, reminder of home, coping mechanism, and symbol of Lev’s emotional state.
Close Language Analysis: Students select and analyse key quotations, developing increasingly sophisticated interpretations of Tremain’s methods and themes.
Structure Analysis: Students examine how information about Lev is gradually revealed throughout the extract and evaluate the effect of these delayed revelations on the reader.
Exemplar Paragraph Analysis: Students deconstruct a model response to identify the features of successful analytical writing.
Exam Practice: Students write an analytical paragraph responding to the examination question using structured success criteria.
Plenary Discussion: Students evaluate which aspect of the extract creates the greatest reader interest and justify their views with evidence.
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