Yr 11 Revision

English

30 minutes

English Groups & Exam papers

Group English Lang English Lit - OCR 11f1 – Mr Parkinson OCR Information & Ideas paper

(60%)

A662 – A View from the Bridge (25%)

A663 – Of Mice and Men (25%)

A664 – Animal Farm & Unseen Poetry (25%)

11f2 – Mrs Rooker OCR Information & Ideas paper

(60%)

A662 – A View from the Bridge (25%)

A663 – Of Mice and Men (25%)

A664 – Animal Farm & Unseen Poetry (25%)

11f3 – Ms Talmy OCR Information & Ideas paper

(60%)

A662 – A View from the Bridge (25%)

A663 – Of Mice and Men (25%)

A664 – Animal Farm & Unseen Poetry (25%)

11f4 – Miss Young CIE IGCSE Reading Paper 1 (40%)

CIE IGCSE Writing Paper 3(40%)

CIE IGCSE Speaking Exam (20%)

A662 – A View from the Bridge (25%)

A663 – Of Mice and Men (25%)

A664 – Lord of the Flies & Unseen Poetry(25%)

11r1 – Miss Avery OCR Information & Ideas paper

(60%)

A662 – A View from the Bridge (25%)

A663 – Of Mice and Men (25%)

A664 – Animal Farm & Unseen Poetry (25%)

11r2 – Ms

Bigglestone

OCR Information & Ideas paper

(60%)

A662 – A View from the Bridge (25%)

A663 – Of Mice and Men (25%)

A664 – Animal Farm & Unseen Poetry (25%)

11r3 – Mr New OCR Information & Ideas paper

(60%)

A662 – A View from the Bridge (25%)

A663 – Of Mice and Men (25%)

A664 – Animal Farm & Unseen Poetry (25%)

11r4 – Miss Buxton OCR Information & Ideas paper

(60%)

A662 – A View from the Bridge (25%)

A663 – Of Mice and Men (25%)

A664 – Animal Farm & Unseen Poetry (25%)

11r5 – Mrs Igoe

(Wright)

CIE IGCSE Reading Paper 1 (40%)

CIE IGCSE Writing Paper 3(40%)

CIE IGCSE Speaking Exam (20%)

A662 – A View from the Bridge (25%)

A663 – Of Mice and Men (25%)

A664 – Lord of the Flies & Unseen Poetry(25%)

Yr 11 English Revision

Reading

“The biggest single indicator of whether a child is going

to thrive at school and in work is whether or not they

read for pleasure” (UNESCO)

27% of families paid for academic tutors last year at a

cost of up to £40 for a 45minute session. Just 10 minutes

of reading with your child each day is one of the best

ways you can support their education. Reading together

6 days each week means an extra hour of support for a

child. It’s definitely cheaper than 1 hour with a tutor and

it will make a much bigger difference.

Reading What?

Fiction, Newspaper, Magazines, Autobiographies/biographies, Letters, Websites, Junk mail: leaflets, flyers, newsletters etc.

3 Top Tips for Reading with young people

1. Time - Just 10 minutes of reading with your child each day is one of the best ways you can support your child’s education.

2. Different types of texts - Reading as wide a range of texts as possible opens your child up to different types of language and different ways of writing. You and your texts and genres they wouldn’t necessarily choose themselves.

3. Pay attention to the language By explaining the meaning or even looking up unfamiliar words and phrases together, you can widen your child’s vocabulary and support them to make wider sense of the text.

Spelling

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/spelling-

challenge/

Punctuation

http://theoatmeal.com/tag/grammar

Vocabulary

Learn 5 new words each week and try

using them in context.

You could have the new words stuck

somewhere visible in the house….the

biscuit jar or somewhere equally

frequently visited would be a good spot!

Theatre, Cinema and

Television

Of Mice and Men: http://www.myvue.com/latest-

movies/info/cinema/cambridge/film/nt-live-of-mice-and-men

https://www.picturehouses.com/cinema/Arts_Picturehouse_Cambridge/film/nt-live-of-mice-and-men-recorded-live-2014

http://cambridge.lightcinemas.co.uk/ofmiceandmen

Of Mice and Men 1992 with John Malkovich

A View from The Bridge: http://ntlive.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/ntlo

ut9-a-view-from-the-bridge

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy4t9CP-gjg

Speaking and Listening

Research shows good reading and writing is

linked to speaking and listening.

Create opportunities for talk.

When you are watching the TV, listening to the

radio, reading a book etc. encourage your child

to explain what they find interesting; exchange

views. Encourage your child to: challenge

something they do not agree with; empathise

with another person and their point of view; put

forward their point of view with clarity,

eloquence, compassion and empathy.

Year 11 English Language

Reading

Read one newspaper article every day.

Writer’s purpose & tone/language – Read a range of non-fiction texts. For any texts you read ask these questions:

What tone does the writer use?

What is the purpose of the piece?

How does the tone link to the purpose?

Why has the writer started and ended the text in this way? Which language techniques can you spot (AFOREST, simile, metaphor, exaggeration etc) and how does each help the purpose of the text?

Summarising - Select a range of non-fiction texts. A broadsheet newspaper or the BBC News website will offer good material. Time yourself (20 minutes only!) to summarise the material. Ask someone to check if you have been concise and used your own words.

Choice of language – Read a range of non-fiction texts. For each text choose 10 words or phrases and for each one say why they are interesting/why the writer has used them.

Writer’s purpose & language - Read a range of non- fiction texts. For each text, make notes on PALL:

What is the purpose of this writing

Who is the audience?

Find five language techniques and explain how they have been used

How does the layout supports the writing’s purpose

Discuss your ideas with someone else

Read a newspaper article and try turning it into another genre e.g.

Write a diary entry for one of the people in the article.

Write a letter from one of the people in the article to someone else.

Write the words of an interview in which someone from the article is interviewed about what happened.

Use the information in the original article and concentrate on changing it into a different style and using your own words.

Identifying tone – read a news article and visualize/draw the person who is speaking. Makes sure to consider their facial expression.

Try a past paper question under timed conditions.

Writing

Create postcards of key techniques such as similes, metaphors with an example and stick around the house.

Learn 10 new words a week to expand vocabulary

Learn a small number of connectives each week and use in context.

Use theoatmeal.com website to practice punctuation and grammar http://theoatmeal.com/tag/grammar

Family member gives student an appropriate letter they have received and student drafts a reply.

Choose one of the following tasks, either write an answer in full (1-2 sides of A4) or write a detailed plan. Describe a person you admire / Write about a time something went wrong/ Humans should be able to fly - discuss/ Young people these days can’t think for themselves – discuss/ Write a story which starts ‘One minute she was there the next she was gone’/ Describe a place with lots of atmosphere/Describe a party you attended which turned out to be better than expected. Concentrate on the following elements:

Strong opening/ending Ambitious Vocabulary Response answers the question Clear Structure Spelling, punctuation and grammar. Linguistic devices

e.g. similes, metaphors, alliteration, facts, opinion, rhetorical questions, emotive language, statistics, triples, exaggeration etc.

Year 11 English Literature

Of Mice and Men, A View From The Bridge, Unseen Poetry, either Animal Farm or Lord of the

Flies.

Make note cards/mind maps for each character

Make note cards/mind maps for each theme

Re-read the text Watch the film/stage version via youtube.

Choose a poem (www.poetryarchive.org) – SMILE at the poem. Can you make some comments on Structure, Meaning, Images in the poem, Language (words/techniques), the Effect on the reader.

Of Mice and Men – revise the context of the novella then open the novel at any double page and pick out examples of where we can see the context in action.

Watch the videos on the year 11 revision website which guide you through how to answer the extract question then attempt a past question.

Pick a page from the text at random and find two or three moments where you could make a link to earlier or later in the text.

Open the text at any double page and make notes on the following:

How does the extract link to the rest of the text?

What adjectives would you use to describe the atmosphere in this extract? (Sad, frightening, powerful, exciting etc)

Choose a selection of words or phrases and say how they help create the atmosphere?

Use the year 11 revision website to find quizzes and worksheets to check your understanding of all the texts.

Write a timed answer in 45 minutes – aim for 15 minutes of reading and annotating the extract and 30 minutes to write your answer.

Choose a poem (www.poetryarchive.org ) – go for a walk, relax on the sofa and think about what the poem is about for 10 minutes.

How to get an A/A* in………

English Language

Reading

Skills required:

Has thorough understanding of the text

Applies understanding fully to the question

Engages with the text showing perception throughout

Selects and uses apt quotations to support detailed understanding

Makes perceptive and analytical comments

Thousands of people live rough in our public streets and parks. Rough sleepers are more likely to be

attacked, abused and robbed than any other group. Yet, they are subject to harassment from the authorities

and the public.

There are those who believe that the homeless people, who sleep rough, should be eliminated. They should

somehow be swept from our streets and placed in unappealing hostels. Some believe they are a danger to

society…..that they are thieves and murderers.

The above view is far from the truth. In fact, those who are forced to sleep rough are often the ones in

danger. Big Issue vendor Ralph Milward was kicked to death in the quiet Dorset suburb of Westbourne.

The fact that there are rough sleepers in our streets and parks is evidence of our failure as a society.

What we need to do is deliver social care interventions that really work. We need to build bright new

hostels for the unfortunate homeless. We need to give them relevant education concentrating on functional

skills, so that they can, if possible, find work in the future. How much better it would be, if the homeless

were housed and employed.

Q: How does the writer convey their negative attitude towards the homeless situation across the country? In your

answer refer to the writer’s use of language.

A* example answer

The writer uses a variety of language and structural techniques to strongly suggest that homelessness has

reached a crisis point. The writer employs emotive language when painting a vividly negative description

of the way the homeless are treated. The use of the list of three ‘attacked, abused and robbed’ strongly

suggests that the homeless are in danger. The use of ‘eliminated’ implies the homeless are a form of vermin

rather than human beings and something we should get rid of. It is a cold, heartless verb. This technique is

reinforced with the idea that some want them ‘swept away’ which presents an image of people as nothing

more than waste products, rubbish to be cast aside…………..

Writing

Skills required:

Content is detailed, well organised and convincing

Totally suitable for the intended purpose and audience

Likely to grab and hold the reader’s interest

Uses varied paragraphs which develop meaning

Orginal and effective use of language

Accurate spelling of an advanced but appropriate vocabularly

A wide range of accurate punctuation

A* writing example

Describe somewhere so that what you saw or felt at the time is communicated to your

reader. You might choose one of the following:

a town at night

a bustling city centre

a busy or quiet beach scene

Cities on a Saturday can be such interesting places... full of people, full of cars, full of the hustle and bustle

of life. And Leicester is no exception. I was born there so I can speak from personal experience. But

something was different last Saturday. There were more people, more cars and much more hustle and bustle

than I had ever seen or heard before.

I'd gone into town with my mates that Saturday - as you do! We caught the same No. 149 bus from Oadby -

that's a small town south of Leicester. Nothing unusual in that. The journey was as predictable as ever - I'm

so used to it. I can't even remember getting on the bus; but I can certainly remember getting off!

By the time we did get off we were all pretty fed up. We were also as hot as the proverbial Sahara and as

bothered as a bumble bee trapped in a beer bottle. The usual breezy fifteen minutes' journey had taken us

over an hour. We hadn't noticed to start with. You know what it's like when you're chatting about this and

that. And 'Big Brother' had been pretty crazy last night, so that had kept us more than a little occupied. Time

flies by. But you also probably know what it's like on a hot, packed bus crawling through the kind of traffic

that the word 'jam' just doesn't adequately describe - thick porridge more like! Pretty awful once you realise

what's happening. And what was happening? Not a lot.

Looking out onto the London Road to see what was going on - that was after wiping away mist as thick as a

cotton sheet from the steamed up window - it looked as if someone had said to the whole of Leicestershire,

'Get yourself to Leicester today; there's a million quid going free under the Clock Tower!' The road looked

more like the packed car park at an N.E.C. pop concert than a city road; and as for the numbers of people...

Anyway to cut a long story short, we did eventually climb - well tumble - off the bus. We'd have headed

straight for our usual glass of cool Coke at Brucciani's but we were more interested to know what was going

on. The crowds were incredible. It was as if every nation, every age, everybody was there! The noise hit us

next - shouting, screaming, oohing and aahing. Then something else struck me. Was it my imagination, or

was it darker than usual? There was something about the quality of the light that made us all stop and look

at each other. We didn't have to ask the question, for we knew we all had the same thought in our minds.

There was something odd about the sky... You know that feeling you have just before a really bad thunder

storm, when the sky turns inky and the air feels oddly cool and fresh? Well the sky had certainly turned

inky, but there was no freshness. It was weird.

It was then that we noticed that what we had thought was a grey cloud was moving and swirling a whole lot

more quickly than any cloud we had ever seen move before. We suddenly realised that it wasn't a cloud. It

was smoke: thick, dark, haunting smoke. There was a fire somewhere - surely a huge fire. And everyone

was pushing and shoving to get a closer look at what was going on.

As we managed to push further through the crowd, the air began to feel electric. Ahead, the piercing 'flick',

'flick', 'flick' of blue lights were visible all around and we felt that strange mixture of wanting to see and yet

being too frightened to look. And there it was - the new shopping centre. Ablaze. The smoke was like a wall

of solid black, and the action unbelievable - fire-fighters, hoses, water jets and a crowd of faces looking on

just like they would at a fireworks display, just looking and wondering.

If you saw the news last night, you'll know the rest. Not a lot to tell you, though, if you missed it.

Unbelievably, no one was badly hurt and the fire-fighters had it all under control pretty quickly. By the time

I got that Coke, I can tell you it was cooler and longer than any Coke I'd had before or I've had since. But

we didn't get it from Brucciani's. Their new branch wasn't selling Coke any longer... and no chance of any

ice!

Commentary

Structure, point of view, characterisation, mood, and effective use of dialogue are the key aspects of a narrative a

narrative - and it is how well you use these aspects in your own writing that decides your grade. When you write to

describe, , your focus is on creating a sense of 'being there' for your reader - a piece of writing that almost seems to

etch its sights, sounds and feelings onto your reader's imagination. In writing to describe, therefore, there is unlikely

to be dialogue, for example.

As you read this fictional and imaginative account of a visit to the city of Leicester, notice how important the

description is to it. Look for how the writer's choice of what is described is never randomly chosen. The writer has

worked hard to create and maintain a sense of unity of purpose and coherence by ensuring that each thing

described serves an important purpose for the story and helps the reader in some way that is relevant to the

message or 'controlling idea' of the story; this is its theme. Which is? Quite simply... the excitement we enjoy feeling

when we find ourselves stumbling upon something unusual. Notice how the description relies on the senses -

sensory description - sight, sound, smell and so on; also, how it uses vivid and original figurative language.

Notice also how it is the description within the story that acts to create the illusion of showing rather than merely

telling the reader of events. Can you see how convincing this is? Try hard to 'show' in your own writing, reserving

'telling' for the less important aspects. 'Showing' is unsurpassed at creating a sense of atmosphere, of being there

and it is this that allows your reader to sense a particular mood and become more deeply involved with key parts of

the story. Description also helps create an exciting sense of tension and excitement - and all of this helps the writing

to be more interesting and compelling.

Perhaps you would never have thought of writing a story like this in response to such a question. In

your own exam dare to be different! - and you will be richly rewarded by the examiner who marks your

exam paper.

How to get an A/A* in………

GCSE English Literature

Extract Questions – A View From The Bridge, Of Mice and Men, Animal

Farm/Lord of the Flies

Read the extract with insight – this means look below the literal surface

meaning and understand the more subtle messages the writer is giving to

the reader/audience.

Make sure the quotes you select are accurate and illustrate the points you

are making.

Refer back to the question in your answer.

If you are asked to discuss what is dramatic about a passage think about

what makes it exciting, shocking, moving and/or emotionally intense.

Group linked ideas together before you start writing. Mark related points

with a symbol or number, this will help you structure a coherent response.

** with Of Mice and Men only refer to the social and historical

background of the novella. Take care not to describe the background

separately to gain an A/A* you need to weave this information into your

whole response. For every point you make consider is there a link you

could make to the social or historical context.

Identify clues that reveal the author’s purpose – all good writers have

something important to say about life or society.

In order to comment on the structure and form of the text you need to

discuss the passage in relation to the rest of the text i.e. where does the

passage occur? What happens before/after and why is this

interesting/important?

You should also consider the structure of passage itself – what is

interesting about the way it is written?

A* Answer A662 – Modern Drama Extract question - Arthur Miller – A View From the Bridge

Catherine enters from bedroom: under his gaze she adjusts her dress.

CATHERINE: You got home early

……………………….

RODOLPHO: (with tears of rage) Don’t say that to me!

Rodolpho flies at him in attack. Eddie pins his arms, laughing and suddenly kisses him.

Question: How does Miller make this such a dramatic moment in the play?

Miller makes this scene from the play very dramatic. In it Eddie kisses both Catherine and Rodolpho

on the lips. Catherine is Eddie’s niece; he took Catherine in when her mother died and she became a

daughter to them. The way Eddie kisses her shows his feelings for her are not what a father should

feel for a daughter. Beatrice has known for some time that Eddies feelings are not the right ones. In

Act 1, when Eddie tells Rodolpho ‘I’m only her uncle’, Beatrice says ‘Well then be an uncle then’.

Kissing Rodolpho on the lips is the way Eddie tries to show Catherine that Rodolpho ‘ain’t straight’.

It is important to remember that when Eddie kisses Catherine and Rodolpho he is drunk. It is nearly

Christmas and a case of whisky disappeared when a ship was being unloaded. The longshoremen took

the bottles and Miller says in the stage direction that Eddie has three of them.

When Catherine comes out of the bedroom, she has to adjust her dress. Just before this scene

Catherine and Rodolpho went into the bedroom together when there was no one else in the house.

It is interesting that she adjusts her dress under Eddie’s gaze this suggests that he is looking too hard

at her, in a way that an uncle should not look at his niece. The stage directions show that when Eddie

sees that Rodolpho has also been in the bedroom he is shocked, ‘His arm jerks slightly in shock.’ He

understands that Rodolpho and Catherine have been up to something in the bedroom and takes the

chance to throw Rodolpho out.

This is a powerful moment because Catherine ‘instantly turns’ and walks out because she is making a

clear statement that she is choosing to be with Rodolpho. It is also powerful because Catherine loves

Eddie. The stage directions say ‘Her sobs and pity and love for him break her composure.’ Miller makes

Catherine’s inner conflict, leading to her loss of ‘composure’ very powerful here. She has come to see

Eddie as father figure and has not understood or taken in the warnings Beatrice has given her. Beatrice

has already seen that, as far as Eddie is concerned, no man will be good enough for Catherine: ‘If it

was a prince came here for you it would be no different’. She also knows that Eddie’s unconscious

feelings for Catherine are the reason that even a prince wouldn’t be good enough, something neither

Eddie nor Catherine knows. When Beatrice tells Eddie the truth, ‘You want somethin’ else, Eddie and

you can never have her!’ both Eddie and Catherine’s unawareness leads them both to react ‘in horror’.

Eddie’s sudden kissing of Catherine ‘on the mouth’ here suggests that Eddie’s subconscious feelings

have risen to the surface, although he still cannot recognize them for what they are. This is also such

a powerful moment because of the conflict between Eddie and Rodolpho. Eddie cannot bear the idea

of losing Catherine and certainly not to a man like Rodolpho who, in Eddie’s view ‘ain’t right’. Here

Rodolpho nods at Eddie ‘testingly’ and therefore provocatively. By kissing Rodolpho, Eddie accepts

that challenge and believes he has shown that Rodolpho, the ‘submarine’, is not a real man.

Triumphantly just after the kiss he says to Catherine ‘You see?’ However, far from proving his point,

Eddie has ensured that Catherine will leave his house to be with Rodolpho.

This is more than just a dramatic moment in the play. The audience will see it as a turning point, a

moment that drives Catherine to Rodolpho, and Eddie to the Immigration Bureau and to his death.

Immediately

addresses

the question

Understands

significance

of the kiss

Apt

reference to

the wider

play and

good use of

quotation to

illustrate

point Understands cause of behaviour Relevant reference to stage direction

Again apt

reference to

stage

directions

and use of

inference.

Understands

character’s

actions

Acknowledges

Catherine’s

conflicting

feelings

Could develop this further

Perceptive

point backed

up with well

chosen

quotation.

Effective use

of embedded

quotations

Understands

character’s

actions

Emphasises

Eddie’s

opinion of

Rodolpho.

Understands

character’s

actions

Understands how

events link together.

Examiner’s Comment

The student responds enthusiastically and critically to this moment in the play.

There is clear understanding of two of the central issues: Eddie’s lack of knowledge of himself and

Catherine’s lack of understanding of him.

A little more could be made of Eddie’s reasons for kissing Rodolpho and what he is trying to prove.

The answer would also benefit from greater focus on Rodolpho.

Overall the answer is filled with material that the candidate has selected well. It is therefore an A* response.

Unseen Poetry

Keep the response well focused on the question.

Look closely at the language the poet uses. When referring to particular techniques, explain how they have

an effect on the reader or contribute to the overall meaning of the poem.

Read the poem aloud in your head – this will help you fully appreciate the rhyme and rhythm of the poem as

well as the choice of tone.

The more poems you read the more you will develop your understanding of the way the poets use language

and the effects they want to create.

The examiner is aware that this is the first time you have seen the poem and they expect to read your own

personal interpretation of it. Don’t feel you have to ‘find’ the right answer. It is an analysis of how you feel

the writer has used language and the effect that you think has been created.

A* Example Answer- Unseen Poetry

Death Of A Naturalist

All year the flax-dam festered in the heart

Of the townland; green and heavy headed

Flax had rotted there, weighted down by huge sods.

Daily it sweltered in the punishing sun.

Bubbles gargled delicately, bluebottles

Wove a strong gauze of sound around the smell.

There were dragon-flies, spotted butterflies,

But best of all was the warm thick slobber

Of frogspawn that grew like clotted water

In the shade of the banks. Here, every spring

I would fill jampotfuls of the jellied

Specks to range on window-sills at home,

On shelves at school, and wait and watch until

The fattening dots burst into nimble-

Swimming tadpoles. Miss Walls would tell us how

The daddy frog was called a bullfrog

And how he croaked and how the mammy frog

Laid hundreds of little eggs and this was

Frogspawn. You could tell the weather by frogs too

For they were yellow in the sun and brown

In rain.

Then one hot day when fields were rank

With cowdung in the grass the angry frogs

Invaded the flax-dam; I ducked through hedges

To a coarse croaking that I had not heard

Before. The air was thick with a bass chorus.

Right down the dam gross-bellied frogs were cocked

On sods; their loose necks pulsed like sails. Some

hopped:

The slap and plop were obscene threats. Some sat

Poised like mud grenades, their blunt heads farting.

I sickened, turned, and ran. The great slime kings

Were gathered there for vengeance and I knew

That if I dipped my hand the spawn would clutch it.

Seamus Heaney

Immediately

addresses

the question

Question: In what ways does Heaney make this such a frightening experience?

‘Death of a Naturalist’, Heaney presents an experience so frightening that the developing ‘naturalist’

in the poem, a child, undergoes a metaphorical ‘death’, suggesting that this terror has killed his

curiosity about nature. He senses that the ‘great slime kings’ have come to the flax dam for

‘vengence’, punishing the child for his crime of stealing spawn. The descriptions of the flax-dam at

the beginning of the poem and the ‘gross-bellied frogs’ at the end are particularly effective in creating

a frightening atmosphere.

The most frightening part for the child comes towards the end of the poem. However there is a

disquietingly ominous quality about the flax-dam in the opening lines. Throughout much of the poem

Heaney uses sounds and smells to create an atmosphere likely to frighten a child. The alliteration of

‘flax-dam festered’ puts emphasis on the unpleasant word ‘festered’ that suggests infection (picked

up in ‘rotted’ in line 3) and the alliteration and assonance of ‘heavy headed’ suggest heat and

oppression inflicted by ‘the punishing sun’. The ‘gauze’ of sound woven by the bluebottles continues

the pattern of infection and disease imagery as they seem to be bandaging up the foul smell. Even

before the frogs invade, the flax dam is a frightening place though not sufficiently so to keep the child

from collecting the frogspawn. However the description of the frogspawn is ominous: ‘warm thick

slobber’ suggests drooling, and the simile comparing it to ‘clotted water’ makes it seem thick and

sticky.

The atmosphere becomes less intense in Miss Walls’ classroom where the teacher gives the class a

brief introduction to the facts of life. Far from frightening, the frogs here have become ‘daddy frog’

and ‘mammy frog’ making their transformation into ‘great slime kings’ both unexpected and still more

frightening.

When the child returns to the flax-dam, Heaney uses military imagery. Like an army, the frogs have

‘invaded’; like guns, they are ‘cocked’. Heaney uses the simile ‘Poisoned like mud grenades’ to suggest

that the child is in immediate and deadly danger.

Unpleasant smells have returned: the fields are ‘rank’ and foul smelling. Heaney uses sounds to make

the experience more vivid and frightening. The alliteration of ‘coarse croaking’ imitates the hard

sound of the frogs. The onomatopoeia of the two monosyllables ‘slap’ and ‘plop’ creates unpleasant

noises, and the ‘farting heads’ reinforces the atmosphere of frightening, disgusting sounds and smells.

‘Coarse’ is a very appropriate word to describe the sounds and smells of the flax-dam and its occupying

army.

Kings are defied at one’s peril, even if they are kings only of repulsive slime. The way Heaney describes

the child’s experience at the flax-dam, makes clear why the naturalist in him died.

Examiner Comment

This response is well focused and its discussion of language is succinct and sophisticated.

Excellent use of technical terms and clear understanding of literary effects.

Skilful

weaving in of

quotation

Clear

understanding

of whole poem

Identifies

crescendo of

horror

Confident use

of technical

terms and

analysis of

effects

Understands

structure of

the poem

and varying

tension

Consistent

reference to

question.

Good

analysis of

language

evoking

sounds and

smells.