Sunlight on the grass revision booklet free essay sample

This is worth 20% of the total GCSE It is 45 minutes of a 90 minute exam. You must answer ONE question. The question is in two parts: Part A: you respond to a passage from the text Part B: you must link this passage to the whole text. Assessment Criteria AO1: respond to texts critically and imaginatively; select and evaluate relevant textual detail to illustrate and support interpretations (10%) AO2: explain how language, structure and form contribute to writers’ presentation of ideas, themes and settings (10%) You are not assessed on AO3 or AO4. This means they you do not compare the stories or relate them to context. The examination asks you to choose between two questions. Each question will name one story and leave the second choice of story up to you. The questions are split into two parts and you have to answer both parts. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO COMPARE THE TWO STORIES. What we will revise: Plot, narrative structure and the crafting of characterisation in each short story; Themes and ideas related to each short story; Language and style: the use of language techniques to create effects e. g. the use of symbolism in ‘Compass and Torch’ to illuminate themes and ideas of moral guidance and family relationships. My Polish Teacher’s Tie Plot Summary ‘My Polish Teacher’s Tie’ is about the forming of a relationship between Carla, a dinner lady who works in a school and who is revealed to be half-Polish, and her pen-pal Stefan, a teacher visiting from Poland. Carla nervously engages in a pen-pal friendship with Stefan, but she chooses to let Stefan think she is a teacher, embarrassed that she isn’t a â€Å"real professional†. They exchange poems and we see their relationship grow, until Stefan’s visit, when there is an awkward break in their communication as Carla worries she has lied to Stefan. Unlike the cynical teachers, Valerie and Susie, Carla celebrates his passionate interests and his unique personality, symbolised by his eccentric tie. They meet and Stefan sings for Carla in a moment of unbridled joy and honest friendship. Language and Style Symbolism: clothing is an important strand of symbolism, with uniforms and the eponymous tie representing a sense of identity and social status. Also, the bird in the poem from Stefan could symbolise the entrapment Carla feels because of her own sense of inadequacy (this links to the singing at the end of the story, where Carla is freed from her social anxieties) First person narrative perspective: we see events through the nervous eyes of Carla and the grammar of the writing often imitates patterns of natural speech, withcolloquialisms like â€Å"sod it† and â€Å"I shovel chips† Dialogue: in a short story that is about the difficulties of communication itself, the narrative uses dialogue as a dominant way to communicate Themes and Ideas Social status: the story explores the anxieties related to social status and social stereotyping Love: the story is essentially a romantic love story that explores the difficulties in communicating emotions openly an d honestly Identity: the story explores the issues of identity and how your heritage and your job can shape your sense of who you are Key Quotations â€Å"But what was worse was that he was going to expect to meet me. Or not me, exactly, but the person he’d been writing to, who didn’t really exist. † (Lines 95-7) â€Å"It was a terribly hopeful tie. † (Line 147) â€Å"He stood there holding on to my hand right in the middle of the staffroom, his big bright tie blazing, and he sang a song I knew. It went through me like a knife through butter. A Polish song. I knew it, I knew it. † (Lines 163-66) When the Wasps Drowned Plot Summary ‘When the Wasps Drowned’, by Claire Wigfell, is a first person account of childhood memories of a past summer where sinister events occur. A young female narrator recounts her sister, Therese, being attacked by an angry swarm of wasps. The rest of the story is a broken narrative of small events that make up the summer, with their mother largely absent, and the narrator taking care of her siblings in the hot garden. When her siblings playfully dig a hole in the garden, tunnelling into next door’s garden, they find a ring on the hand of a corpse that they then cover back up. The narrator takes the ring, but her sister has nightmares that appear related to their gruesome findings. As the summer holidays come to a close the children are questioned at their door by the police about a missing girl. They lie about their knowledge of the ring and what was found in Mr Mordecai’s garden. It is an ambiguous ending which leaves the reader questioning the behaviour of the girl. Language and Style Symbolism: the wasps themselves may symbolise a latent natural danger, and their stinging of Therese may appear to represent the end of childhood innocence for the children Delayed revelations: the end of the first section reveals the neighbour’s garden has been dug up – it is not until later in the story that the reader is able to piece together the narrative fragments to work out the plot Figurative language: there are interesting examples of figurative language that heighten the tension and project emotion onto the descriptions from the â€Å"ache of cars† to the screaming that dramatically â€Å"broke the day†. There is a real sense of sensuality to the descriptions and the sense of grim foreboding is also clear in the writer’s style First person narrative perspective: the young narrator is clearly unreliable and the fragments of memories piece together a mysterious narrative Themes and Ideas Loss of childhood innocence: the series of inter-connected memories build up a picture of neglected children, subject to a series of dangerous events that ultimately present this summer as a negative turning point Violence: the story has violent events, from the wasps stinging Therese, to the implied event with the corpse in the garden and the oppressive heat Key Quotations â€Å"Her screaming, the way it broke the day, so shocked me that I dropped the glass, which smashed on the tap and fell into the dishwasher below. † (Lines 24-6) Compass and Torch Plot Summary ‘Compass and Torch’ is an emotive story of a family breakdown and the specific event of a young boy being taken on a camping trip with his father. The father arrives to collect his son, who is earnest and desperate for a successful trip. The mother and the step-father reveal their concerns about the â€Å"mad† camping trip that subtlety reveals the damaging family breakdown. The boy brings his torch, something transformed into a crucial heroic object by the boy, wishing to confer heroism onto both the trip and his father. The father, somewhat distant, appears sensitive to the heightened emotions of his son. The father pitches a tent, but realises he has forgotten his torch – perhaps reflecting issues that impacted the divorce. They journey to the top of the mountain and stay the night, accompanied by horses surrounding the tent. These instinctive creatures and their â€Å"thudding† hooves become symbolic for the boy in his future dreams of this emotional event. Language and Style Symbolism: the compass and torch are potential symbols. The torch represents light and may present the worship he casts upon his father. The compass represents a loss of direction, the break-up of the family and the loss of the boy’s ‘moral compass’. The horses, in their instinctive sensitivity, may represent the natural feelings a son would have for his father, or the thudding may hint at the subtle natural danger of the boy’s family breakdown Disjointed narrative structure: the non-linear structure reflects the broken family relations Themes and Ideas Love: the boy’s depiction of his father transforms him into a heroic character, perhaps not reflecting the reality of the situation Family breakdown: the story is dominated by the acute sensitivity of the boy, whose experience of their relationship is both fragile and tender Nature and ‘the natural’: the story raises questions about natural paternity; about the father/son relationships and the dangers related to experience Key Quotations â€Å"The boy is intent. Watching Dad. Watching what Dad is. Drinking it in: the essence of Dadness. † (Lines 8-9) â€Å"He is looking away, seared by the glitter of anxiety in the little boy’s eyes. † (Line 47) â€Å"He could feel it gathering in the blackening chill: the aching certainty that already, only one year on from the separation, he had lost his son, his child. † (Lines 166-68) On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning Plot Summary ‘On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning’ is a strange short story, suggested by the very idiosyncratic title. It is a romantic tale of love and fate that blends elements of realism and fantasy together. The opening section of the story has the narrator meet his â€Å"perfect girl† by chance in the street. He tells someone the story and imagines the potential of the romance and imagines what he would say to this person, before considering some highly romantic scenarios. Then, in fairytale style, he relates a short love story which he would have related to the girl. In truth, very little happens, except in the imagination of the romantic narrator! Language and Style Direct first person narrative perspective: the narrator appears to be very imaginative, transforming reality into images of romantic possibility Fantasy and realism: the author blends realistic elements and natural speech patterns with elements of fairytale (â€Å"Once upon a time† and ended ‘A sad story, don’t you think’†) and highly exaggerated descriptions of love (â€Å"they were each other’s 100% perfect lovers, and it was a miracle they ever met. †). This makes the narrative voice appear quite unreliable andsubjective, but at the same time idealistic and hopeful Repetition: the story appears to repeat phrases and images to add to the fantastical sense of romance Themes and Ideas Love: the story does evoke the transformational power of love. It celebrates the faithful meeting of lovers, whilst at the same time exploring the sadness of lost love. You may argue the presentation of love is ambiguous Idealism and real ity: there appears to be a contrast between ‘real’ events and the idealistic, romantic dreams of the narrator. The audience are left to question this duality. Is it self-deception and false? Or is it power of love? Key Quotations â€Å"The moment I see her, there’s a rumbling in my chest, and my mouth is as dry as a desert. † (Lines 7-8) â€Å"The ideas I come up with are never very practical. † (Line 61) â€Å"As they sat and talked, however, a tiny, tiny sliver of doubt took root in their hearts. Was it really all right for one’s dreams to come true so easily. † (Lines 79-80) â€Å"The faintest gleam of their lost memories glimmered for the briefest moment in their hearts.† (Lines 109-10) The Darkness Out There Plot Summary ‘The Darkness Out There’ has two young central characters, Sandra and Kerry (a boy) who are in a club, at school, run by Miss Hammond. The club members help people in the community. One Saturday Sandra and Kerry go to the house of an old lady, Mrs Rutter. When they have done the errands, they ask her about a local wo od, which is meant to be haunted. Mrs Rutter knows the true story behind the popular version. During the Second World War a German aeroplane was shot down and crashed in the wood. Mrs. Rutter and her sister were the first people on the scene. They saw that one of the crew was still alive, but trapped in the aircraft. They left him and returned the next night, knowing that he was dying in agony. Mrs Rutter is not ashamed of what she did, and explains it in terms of strict revenge, for the death of her husband, who was killed in Belgium at the start of the war. Sandra is shocked, but it is Kerry who takes the initiative. As directly as he can he insists that he must leave. As soon as he is out of the house, he speaks of his horror at Mrs. Rutter and his sympathy for the German. Language and Style Third person perspective: the story is in the third person, but it is told from Sandra’s perspective. We can compare Sandra’s viewpoint with how people are presented through their dialogue Symbolism: the darkness and the light are obviously symbolic about morality and about how you lose your childhood innocence by becoming awareness of this ‘darkness’. This imagery is repeated heavily throughout Themes and Ideas Darkness and Light: it is both literally referred to in the title and repeatedly in the story, but symbolically it also represents the classic moral contrast between good and evil Stereotyping and ‘the truth’: the story challenges how people make first impressions – the presentation of Kerry and the little old lady are a stark contrast to the first impressions made. This story the contrast between how things may appear and the actual reality. Attitudes to travellers and other people are questioned throughout by the author – raising complex moral questions Key Quotations â€Å"After they were twelve or so the witches and wolves went away. Then it was the German plane. † (Lines 53-54) â€Å"†¦next you glimpsed darkness, an inescapable darkness. The darkness out there and it was part of you and you would never be without it, ever. † (Lines 268-9) Anil Plot Summary ‘Anil’ is another ‘coming of age’ (‘Bildungsroman’) story, where the young narrator is exposed to a violent and deceptive adult world. Growing up in a poor Singapore village in stifling heat, Anil wakes and hears a noise outside. He witnesses the Headman’s brother, Marimuthu, and another man hang Marimuthu’s unconscious wife. Numbed by the horror of the event, Anil attempts to go back asleep. The next day a crowd has gathered and Marimuthu, and his wealthy family, attempt to mask the crime. Anil courageously whispers to Marimuthu that he knows he killed his wife. To avoid scandal, the Headman agrees a deal with Anil’s cowardly father to send Anil away to school to avoid him revealing the truth. The final scene is the touching departure of Anil, being forced to leave his father and the family, whilst Marimuthu gives him a sinister smile, reinforcing Anil’s powerlessness, arousing empathy for Anil. Language and Style Third person perspective: the story is in the third person, but it is told through Anil’s perspective. This gives the story a strong sense of painful emotion and makes the audience empathise with Anil, whilst having some information hidden to engage the audience in the sinister events Figurative language and symbolism: the emotion of the story is heightened and the violence is given a grotesque exaggeration, conveyed from the very opening sentence onwards (â€Å"the mosquitoes were in their reign of terrorism†). The tree becomes a symbol of frightening natural danger, perhaps suggesting the commonness of such violence and danger in this corrupt world Themes and Ideas Lost Innocence: Anil goes through a painful passage into adulthood, from witnessing murder to being excluded from his family for telling the truth. Corruption: the whole village appears to be corrupt, from the top of the hierarchy to the powerless, but violent father figure even down to the tree and the mosquitoes. Corruption appears all pervasive and inescapable for innocent Anil. Key Quotations â€Å"Any moment now, the vines would reach out and snatch all the villagers and devour them all, leaving him alone in the village. † (Lines 115-17) â€Å"’Don’t be silly. Men don’t cry. You’re going into a man’s world, you must act like a man now. † (Lines 192-3) Something Old, Something New Plot Summary ‘Something Old, Something New’ is a lengthy short story that explores the difficulties in moving cultures and developing new relationships. It begins with the male central character arriving in the Sudan to meet his prospective wife at the airport. Anxious but excited, he meets the brother and is impressed but intimidated by the Nile and its â€Å"dream blue†. He arrives at his hotel and reflects upon his memories of when the relationship began, before revealing his soon-to-be-wife is divorced (frowned upon in her culture). He meets her family at their home and soon after is mugged, revealing tensions in their relationship and their clash of cultural differences. The wedding is further delayed by the unfortunate death of her uncle. During the period of mourning he acclimatises and settles in with the family, before giving her brother money to help finance the wedding. The story ends hopefully with the marriage and a loving embrace between the newlyweds. Language and Style Third person perspective: the story is in the third person, but is from the perspective of the husband, experiencing this new country for the first time, whilst feeling a range of complex emotions from fear to contentment Figurative language: the writer employs a range of imagery to evoke the setting and revealing the husband’s anxiety (â€Å"Such was the landscape of Khartoum: bone coloured sky, a purity in the desert air, bareness. †) Themes and Ideas Love and marriage: the story presents an adult, realistic view of love, where relationships are strained, breakdown as well as flourish in the face of difficulty Death and danger: there is a sense of danger and foreboding in the story; from the crocodiles in the Nile, to the threat of violent robbery and the tragic death of the Uncle. Once again, this is no idealistic love story Culture: the story reveals the challenges of moving cultures and of having relationships with people of a different cultural heritage Key Quotations â€Å"But as he spoke he noticed that the river’s flow was forceful, not innocent, not playful. Crocodiles no doubt lurked beneath the surface, hungry and ruthless. † (Lines 48-50) â€Å"He heard the azan (prayers); the first time in his life to hear it outdoors. † (Line 210) â€Å"Congratulations, we’ve given her to you now. † (Line 525) Exemplar Responses ‘The opening of ‘Anil’ prepares the reader for the rest of the story by setting the tone and introducing the setting of the story imaginatively. This is shown by the vivid description: â€Å"Children dreamed of waking up to another day. † This shows us that it is a poor, perhaps third world country, and that the narrator is someone of little self-belief, or even hope for his group, as he displays no desire to go out into the wider world or even attain wealth. The opening also sets the tone of the story by giving a sense of tiredness or futility, where people cannot be bothered. However, alongside this description the writer also uses hyperbole of ‘mosquitoes’ in their â€Å"reign of terror†, conveying a highly energetic and erratic atmosphere to the story. This confusion may reflect Anil’s fears and sense of confusion. The ‘terrorism’ clearly establishes the fear Anil is experiencing and it conveys a negative tone for the reader. † Peter Savage ‘During the opening of Claire Wigfall’s ‘When The Wasp’s Drowned’ a negative tone is created through symbolism, sparking a dark atmosphere for the narrative: â€Å"Therese stepped on the wasp’s nest. † This sentence is short and dramatic, symbolizing the beginning of a run of extraordinary events and the end of an innocent childhood. The image of a wasp’s nest being stepped on and all the wasps escaping foreshadows a string of bad events that will happen in the narrative. The wasps themselves also symbolise danger because of the threatening black and yellow colours and the venomous sting. This is significant as the characters must keep their distance from the negative events, in order not to be ‘stung’. Summer is often thought of as a happy, positive time, but here the wasp image emphasises the negativity of the season which creates an ironically depressing atmosphere. † Matthew Herbert ‘In Leila Aboulela’s short story – ‘Something Old, Something New’, symbolism is utilised in order to reflect the central female character in the narrative: for example, Aboulela at first describes the Nile as a â€Å"blue he had never seen before, a child’s blue, a dream’s blue†. This reflects how, at first sight, the Sudanese woman appears perfect, a way out of â€Å"unemployment; drugs; depression; the underworld that throbbed and dragged itself parallel to their active middle-class life†. However, when he discovers, upon taking a closer look, that the river’s flow was â€Å"forceful, not innocent nor playful†, the delayed revelation that the calm, serene river is actually one of nature’s perils, with ‘crocodiles’ who â€Å"lurked beneath the surface, hungry and ruthless†, unsettles the reader and evokes the precarious nature of the main character’s journey from Scotland to get married. The writer creates a sense of unease with the violent connotations of â€Å"ruthless†. This is further reflected when the central male character realises the woman he idolised is – in reality – like everybody else. A harsh reality is evoked and the special ‘blue’ of the Nile seems no longer beautiful and special – the Nile is very much like the woman: imperfect and natural. † Rebecca Anderson Past Examination Questions Jan 2011 Foundation EITHER Question 1 0 1 Answer part (a) and part (b) Part (a) Write about the behaviour of adults in Anil. You should write about: ? what the adults say and do ? the methods the writer uses to show the behaviour of the adults. and then Part (b) Write about the behaviour of adults or an adult in one other story from Sunlight on the Grass. You should write about:? what the adult or adults say and do ? the methods the writer uses to show this behaviour. (30 marks) Or Question 2 0 2 Answer part (a) and part (b) Part (a) How does the writer present feelings in The Darkness Out There? Write about: ? the feelings in the story ? how the writer presents these feelings by the ways she writes. and then Part (b) How does the writer present feelings in one other story from Sunlight on the Grass? Write about: ? the feelings in the story ? the methods the writer uses to present these feelings. (30 marks) Jan 2012 – Higher EITHER Question 1 Answer part (a) and part (b) Part (a) How does Aboulela present families in Something Old, Something New? and then Part (b) Write about how the writer presents a family in one other story from Sunlight on the Grass. (30 marks) OR Question 2 0 2 Answer part (a) and part (b) Part (a) How do you respond to the ending of When the Wasps Drowned and how does Wigfall make you respond as you do by the ways she writes? and then Part (b) How do you respond to the ending of one other story from Sunlight on the Grass and how does the writer make you respond as you do? (30 marks)