CSEC ENGLISH
Hello there! Today we will work through another English B exam question with you, so that you can see how to get high marks. Along with that, we have exercises to help as you prepare for your English A exams. Read on now and enjoy!
ENGLISH B—Exam questions
For a few weeks we are going to take a look at some exam questions to see how you can tackle them and get good marks. Here’s a question that came recently on the Poetry:
“Our actions can have a positive or negative effect on others.” From the prescribed list, choose TWO poems you have studied which show actions that affect others. Write an essay in which you focus on this theme in the TWO poems. For EACH poem, describe ONE incident in which a person’s actions affect another. You must also discuss how the speaker in EACH poem reacts to this action. Finally, for EACH poem you must examine ONE device used to portray actions and their effects.
Notice first that for this question you may CHOOSE your two poems. That means you have to be careful to select poems that allow you scope to respond fully
Notice, secondly, that there are THREE requirements in the question—and that you need to address all THREE in EACH poem. (And that means you will end up with a total of SIX paragraphs, beside the Introduction and the Conclusion.)
Thirdly, in selecting a person affected by the actions of another, make sure you choose one you can write a lot about. Don’t try to be original just for the sake of being different! You want MARKS –not applause for being clever!
Let’s try and respond to this question using Dreaming Black Boy by James Berry and Once upon a Time by Gabriel Okara. (This information must go in your Introduction.) Remember, for EACH poem, we must respond to the following THREE things:
● Describe ONE incident in which a person’s actions affect another. ● How the speaker reacts to this action.
● One poetic device used to portray actions and their effects.
N. B. We have used an asterisk to indicate each point at which we believe the Examiner would award one mark. The aim is to get 4 marks for each of the six sections, giving a total of 24 marks. The remaining point might be awarded for particularly good organization of your essay.
DBB - The speaker is a black boy being discriminated* against by his white teacher. The teacher does not hug* him when he kicks a goal; he doesn’t even look* at the boy in class, and assumes* that the boy will never be anything other than a manual labourer—a ‘woodchopper’. (4 marks)
The boy responds by repeating the phrase ‘I wish’, letting us know the dreams* he has for his future. Despite the teacher, he still wants to be educated, earn good money and travel*. He wants to become someone special, like Paul Robeson, and to be respected*. He wishes racial oppression would end* so that his people wouldn’t have to suffer so dreadfully. (4 marks)
The use of the device of repetition* helps to convey the message. As the boy repeats ‘I wish’*, we realise that he is helpless* to change the world, but in his humanity he longs for things to be different. The childlike expression seems so frail* against the inhumanity of the KKK—‘plotters in pyjamas’ who are out only to destroy all he holds dear. (4 marks)
OUT - The speaker is a father talking to his son about how his personality has changed because of the hypocrisy* of people in society. He himself used to be genuine, but found that people only laughed ‘with their teeth’* and were actually planning to use him or empty his pockets*. They pretended to be glad to see him*, but were not genuine and so he, in response, now pretends. (4 marks)
He now puts on different faces and a fixed smile*. His handshake and smile* are no longer genuine, and he claims to be ‘glad to meet you’ when he actually is bored*. He deeply regrets his phony behaviour, though, and begs his son* to teach him how to be genuine once again. (4 marks)
A striking device used is the simile* stating that his smile in the mirror is ‘like a snake’s* bare fangs’. The suggestion here is that he has become evil* and dangerous* instead of friendly and trustworthy. (4 marks)
N.B. We have used the abbreviations DBB and
OUT to save space here, but please don’t do that in the exam. We suggest you use the ‘divided method’ (as we have done here) for an answer comparing two poems or two stories so that you don’t have to keep repeating the title of the work you are referring to.
ENGLISH A—DESCRIPTIONS AND POINT OF VIEW
If you are asked to write a description, a great deal depends on your point of view. Let’s say you are describing the sea wall. Here are some possible choices of point of view.
You could be an engineer, reporting on the damage done to the wall and repairs needed; you could be respectfully (or mockingly) describing a religious ceremony taking place; you could be focusing on the lovers (a romantic point of view), or the children playing (an educator’s point of view), or the stray dogs (an animal lover’s point of view or from the point of view of one of the dogs). You could even be an owl hunting for rats there, or a rat cowering between the rocks as the owl swoops overhead!
Remember, though, a description should help your reader to see and hear and feel just what you can see and hear and feel. Here is a sample description. Underline the places where the writer has used describing words to help you feel you are actually there.
My heart is pounding away as I slip between the rocks and quickly haul in my tail so that the hunter can’t see any part of me. Even my whiskers are trembling, and my breath is coming in short, painful pants. The rocks around me are hard and rough against my soft fur, and I can feel a tender bruise that I must have got when I squeezed through that narrow place between the prickly plants. I move a bit further in to where the rocks are wet and slimy—soothing to my poor bruised skin.
As my heart slows down a bit and stops its racing, I peep out through the crack to see if the owl is still looking for me. I can see only the night sky—inky blueblack, with brilliant stars shining out, like tiny fragments of diamonds. The moon is new—just a thumb-nail clipping dropped up there.
Then suddenly I can’t see the moon or the stars any more. A dark shadow fills the sky and a soft whirring of wings. The owl does not hoot when she’s hunting, but I can still hear her wing movements. My pointed ears stand up stiff as I strain to make out the direction of her flight.
I’m safe here. The crack between the rocks is too narrow for her stubby beak. But how will I hunt for my own supper with her up there, on the watch for my first move? And I’m so hungry! She can probably hear my empty belly gurgling away down here! Please go away!!! Please!
YOUR TURN NOW
Our writer has chosen the point of view of the rat. Choose another point of view from the list given, and write a description of the sea wall or a creek you have been to. Have fun! Be sure to put in describing words that will help us to see and feel and smell and hear everything (and maybe even taste that delicious curry and roti you are enjoying)!
Turn to 6B