English Lang Questions

Page 1

Read again the first part of the source, lines 1 to 3. List four things from this part of the source about Hale.

1 He has been in Brighton for 3 hrs

2 He was meant to murder someone

3 He had inky Fingers

4 He has bitten his nails

[4 marks]

Look in detail at this extract, lines 4 to 11 of the source.

They came in by train from Victoria every five minutes, rocked down Queen’s Road standing on the tops of the little local trams, stepped off in bewildered multitudes into fresh and glittering air: the new silver paint sparkled on the piers, the cream houses ran away into the west like a pale Victorian water-colour; a race in miniature motors, a band playing, flower gardens in bloom below the front, an aeroplane advertising something for the health in pale vanishing clouds across the sky.

It had seemed quite easy to Hale to be lost in Brighton. Fifty thousand people besides himself were down for the day, and for quite a while he gave himself up to the good day, drinking gins and tonics wherever his programme allowed.

How does the writer use language here to describe Brighton on that day? You could include the writer’s choice of:

words and phrases

language features and techniques

sentence forms.

[8 marks]

In this extract the writer uses a lot of descriptive language to to explain what is happening and where the person is. He makes sure that he picks up every single detail about how the day was when he got to Brighton. For example he says "fifty thousand people besides him" and "an aeroplane advertising something for the health in pale vanishing clouds across the sky". by using very descriptive words it makes it feel like the reader is there with them. And by including what the aeroplane is doing and whites advertising make you think of that aeroplane flying advertising it above you and how you are surrounded by a lot of people. The writer uses a lot of imagination in those lines 4 to 11, by him using imagination make this extract come more to life and that it make the reader feel even more invalided in the extract because they will be able to imagine themselves there at that moment in time looking around seeing all these things around them. By the writer saying "fifty thousand people besides him" can emphasis how packed and crowed Brighton is and that he can barley move around and that he is not the only one there. He also uses a lot of adjectives when he is describing the houses or the flowers, this gives the effect that the writer has picked up every single detail in Brighton and is trying to make the lines 4 to 11 as imaginative and descripive as possible.

Page 2

You now need to think about the whole of the source.

This text is from the opening of a novel.

How has the writer structured the text to interest you as a reader? You could write about:

what the writer focuses your attention on at the beginning

how and why the writer changes this focus as the source develops

any other structural features that interest you.

[8 marks]

The writer begins with a focus on one person Hale, the main character, his feelings and what he is like, so that the reader can be one with him. Then the scene turns out to the ‘multitudes’ of the crowd and to the streets of Brighton. Then these parts come together as the reader understands Hale’s job as ‘Kolly Kibber’ and that he is trying to use the crowd and the places to avoid his fate.As the extract develops, it shortens down again to Hale’s thoughts and puts the crowd at a distance from him – so he ends up alone, like he was at the beginning.Also the very last thing says "nobody paid attention to hale" this could suggest that people didn't really care about what he did and that he wasn't a person to make friends with, also the very last line says "it his bitten nails, and his inky fingers" the is riparian from the very first few sentence of the novel and by doing this it could suggest that he does it day in and out so at the end of the day he goes home but then to wake up to do the same exact thing all over again.

Focus this part of your answer on the second part of the source, from line 16 to the

end.

A student, having read this section of the text, said: “This part of the text, explaining what Hale is doing, shows how nervous and unsafe he feels. It reminds me of the first line.”

To what extent do you agree? In your response, you could:

consider your own impressions of how Hale feels

evaluate how the writer creates an unsafe atmosphere

support your opinions with quotations from the text.

[20 marks]

It is an good opening to a novel, I agree.I think that Hale is nervous and worried because the writer makes it clear that ‘he didn’t feel too safe in Brighton, even in a Whitsun crowd’, and in the beginning it says he knew somebody was going to murder him. Being in the crowd doesn’t seem to help. It didn’t make me think when I read it too much about the opening line but I can see that Hale is nervous. I think Hale stays with the crowd because he feels he has to do his job properly but also because maybe he’s nervous and thinks he’ll be safer. But the writer creates a atmosphere by saying that even in the crowd, ‘there were reasons why he didn’t feel safe’ – that someone is out to kill him. The repetition of the word ‘challenge’ in various forms also has an uneasy it could have a double meaning like an innocent challenged by somebody for Hale’s life.The whole sutiation creates a nervous atmosphere which is why the writer’s use of the words like "hastily" to describe Hale’s actions, and "a clock struck eleven" this could be saying that maybe he is running out of time.The writer is asking me to think about the significance of the opening line, that ‘they meant to murder him’ by focussing my attention at the end of the extract on his ‘bitten nails and inky fingers’. In this way, I feel the writer is successful in showing Hale’s nervousness to the reader and Hale’s feelings about his situation in the crowd are shown.The Messenger makes him do his duty amongst the crowd, yet somebody in the crowd he knows is going to kill him. The writer creates a further irony because, to do his ‘duty’, Hale has to wear the same hat he has on in the paper’s photograph and be at precise places at precise times – in so doing, he comes a suspect for his killer. It helps me to wonder whether what is said in the first line will happen.Hale seems to be torn between wanting to be in the crowd, to do ‘his duty’

Page 3

Your school or college is asking students to contribute some creative writing for its website.

Either: Write a description suggested by this picture:

Or: Describe an occasion when you felt unsure or challenged. Focus on the thoughts and feelings you had at that time.

(24 marks for content and organisation 16 marks for technical accuracy) [40 marks]

I was scared. Scared stiff that i didn't know if i wanted to go their or not. Even in the car while we were driving there i was panicking, I've never been in water after what happened to me last time. I can't even talk about, it brings back such bad memories. I was only young at that time i didn't know if anything bad was going to happen to me. I saw the water i just wanted to jump straight into it and have the time of my life but....All i remember is being dragged out of the ocean and someone saving my life, it just happened in a blink of the eye. It was peaceful nothing was wrong, but that is what i thought, everyone was staring at me and screaming i thought nothing of it. I made such a bad decision.

But before any of that ever happened i was having the time of my life playing with my sisters, building sand castles, playing beach games. I had never had so much fun in my entire life and the best thing about it was that my whole family was there, because that is hard for my family we can never do anything together because my dad is working late and won't finish in time or my mum has to make sure her nursery okay. But when we all spend time together it is the best thing that could ever happen.

I was hoping when i got to the beach i wouldn't be scared or run away but...i kept on playing the image back in my head of what happened and I bursted out crying. I thought to myself I'm soon going to have to come over my fear of water and I'm with my family again and they love me and they would never let anything bad happen to me. So i said to myself "today is the day, you are going to overcome your fear of water!" I decided to take it slow, very slow, i felt like a turtle i was going so slow but it was the best thing for me. I had both of my sisters holding my hand i squeezed them so tight i even felt bad for my sisters, i closed to my eyes so hard so i couldn't see what i was doing, i took in deep breaths and....and....my foot touched the water. I panicked. I felt a tear slowly dropping down my face. And i just stopped. I opened my eyes slowly, i hesitated but i opened them, I could see that my sisters knew i wasn't going to do it but that is when they told me "You have nothing to worry about, we love you and we are not leaving your side" and they didn't i got closer and closer into the water and i felt free. I ran and jumped straight into the water. I've never felt so amazing in my entire life. My mum and dad both standing in front of me smiling and taking pictures and my sisters standing by me side by side enjoying every moment with me.

I wanted to go even further into he ocean but by myself, i knew that it was going to be a risk but what if one day i want to go swimming but no one is free i am going to have to get used to not having people protecting me when I'm in the water at all times. So i decided to swim further into the middle, i tried to keep on having positive thoughts, but i just broke down. I was by myself and i felt i was getting further and further away from my sisters and mum and dad. I started panicking. I thought i was going to drown. But could just hear them shouting "we love you" "your doing amazing" "we are so proud of you" and at that moment i knew that i overcame my fear i started smiling laughing and swimming around like i have never done before. I swam back to my parents and sisters and gave them the biggest hug i could give them because without my family supporting me by my side i wouldn't of been able to overcome my fear of the water.