Sample English B Paper 2 Questions

EITHER

(2011 past paper)

Choose TWO poems that you have studied, in which something or someone is admired.

a) Describe what or who is admired. (8 marks)
b) Identify and discuss how the poet uses ONE poetic device in EACH poem to show this       admiration.  (9 marks)
c) Which poem do you find more appealing in its presentation of admiration?
     Use evidence from the poem to support your answer. (8 marks)
                                                                                             
   TOTAL MARKS= 35
                                                                                                                               
OR

(2012 mock exam paper)

“Telling a story in poetic form can make it especially enjoyable.”

Choose TWO poems that you have studied that tell stories.
(a) Outline the story in each poem.  (8 marks)
(b) Why does EACH poet find it important to tell this particular story?  (9 marks)
(c) Discuss ONE device that EACH poet uses to make the story enjoyable. (8 marks)
                                                                                                     
TOTAL MARKS= 35

The Woman Speaks to the Man who has Employed Her Son- Lorna Goodison

SUMMARY

The persona in this poem is telling the story of a mother who loved her son. The mother became aware of the child's presence when she experienced morning sickness. She placed all her hopes in the child and raised him as a single parent because his father was indifferent to the child's existence. The mother had set no barriers on what the child could become, but is told that he has an employer who values him so much that he is given his own submarine gun. The son tells his mother that his employer is like a father  to him, but the mother wonders at the father figure who purposefully endangers his child. She prepares for her son's death by going downtown to buy funeral apparel. The mother feels powerless, so she prays for her child and says protective psalms for him. On the other hand, she reads psalms of retribution for the employer and weeps for her son. Her situation does not look good and is likened to a partner system in which she draws both the first and the last hand.

LITERARY DEVICES

1. SIMILE

Lines 1-2: The persona emphasizes that the mother placed all her hopes in her son. When you are poor, generally, you have no prospects, you only dream and hope. Therefore, the persona uses this metaphor to emphasize the mother's dependence on her son's success.

Line 17: The employer is being compared to a father figure. This implies that this person fills a gap in the son's life.

2. SARCASM

The persona appears to praise the child's father by referring to him as 'fair-minded'. She is, however, chastising him for not only ignoring his son, but all of his other children.

3. IRONY (situational)

The son innocently tells his mother that his employer values him so much that he gave him a whole submachine gun for himself. The irony in this situation is that if you really care about someone, you do NOT give them a gun due to the negative results that are bound to occur. 

4. ALLUSION (biblical)

Lines 28-29: This line alludes to a particular verse in the Christian Bible, Luke 11 vs 11. The verse questions what the actions of a good father should be.

Lines 38-39: Psalms is a particular chapter in the Christian Bible. In this chapter there are verses for protection, the mother uses those for her son, as well as verses for retribution and rebuking. It is implied that the mother chooses those for the employer.

Lines 43-45: In the Christian Bible, Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus. Therefore, it does not bode well for the mother if she is in a 'partnership' with this person's mother because she might also be betrayed. The banker in the 'partnership' also happens to be the thief on the left hand side of the cross' mother. This also does not bode well for the mother if the apple does not fall far from the tree.

Line 49: Absalom is the son of David, in the Christian Bible. Absalom betrayed his father, which implies that the mother feels betrayed by her son because she has placed all her hopes in him.

IMPORTANT WORDS/ PHRASES

5.  'a need to cry for little reasons and a metallic tide rising in her mouth each morning.'

These two symptoms are early signs of pregnancy. The metallic tide refers to vomiting. These signs usually occur in the first trimester of pregnancy.

6. 'full term'

This means that the mother carried her son for the full nine months that a pregnancy should last.

7. 'tight up under her heart'

This hints at the love that the mother harbours for her child. He was not simply 'close to her heart', but 'tight up' under it. It implies that the son holds a special place in her heart.

8. 'set no ceiling'

A ceiling is something that blocks you in, you cannot get past it. The mother set no limits on her son, he could be anything he wanted to be.

9. 'his bloody salary'

This implies that the mother believes that the result of the son's 'job' will be death.

10. 'the level of earth'

The mother has no power to change her son's situation. Earth is used to emphasize her powerlessness on this level, the realm of 'reality'.

11. 'knee city'

This refers to the fact that the mother constantly prayed for her child.

12. 'eye water covers you'

This implies that the mother cried constantly for the plight of her son. The fact that it 'covers him' speaks to the high quantity of tears that were shed.

13. 'partner'

This is an informal saving scheme set up with a specific number of individuals for the duration of a specific time span. Each person agrees to pay a designated figure on a monthly basis. The 'draws' are decided, meaning who gets the money first, second, third etc, on a monthly basis.The banker then collects the money and gives the monthly pool to the person who is to receive their 'draw'. Therefore, a 'partnership' is dependent upon the honesty of the banker, who could abscond with the money, as well as the honesty of the members of the savings scheme, who could decide NOT to pay after they have received their draw.

14. 'banker'

The banker, or financial controller, of this partnership is the mother of a thief. This does not bode well for the mother if the thief on the cross learnt it from his mother.

15. 'her draw though is first and last for she still throwing two hands as mother and father'.

This statement implies that though the mother has the advantage of first draw as mother, she loses that advantage because she also has the role of father. Mothers cannot father sons. The fact that the son has found a father figure proves this to be true. Therefore, she has the last draw, which carries with it the disadvantage of not receiving a full 'draw'. The longer one waits for a draw is the more likely that dishonesty will come into play on the part of the participants.

MOOD/ ATMOSPHERE

The mood of the poem is reflective. The persona is thinking about a mother's response to her son's life choices.

TONE

The tone of the poem is pragmatic and pessimistic. The persona is telling the tale as it is, with no positive energy.

THEMATIC CATEGORY

Death, love/love and family relationship, survival, dreams and aspirations, childhood experiences, religion

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Orchids by Hazel Simmons-McDonald

  

LITERAL MEANING
The persona is moving from a house that she has occupied for five weeks. She has sent her belongings to her future home, but one item remains in her old space, an orchid.

The persona clarifies that she was given the orchid as a gift, but implies that it holds no value because the gifting of orchids is habitual for the person who gave her. She describes the flower as odourless, but attractive.

She watered the orchid once, expecting it to die, but it survived. It not only survived, but bloomed. The persona contemplates plucking the bloom and pressing it between the pages of a book. The purpose of this is to allow her to appreciate the flower.

Structure of the Poem

The poet’s use of blank verse (lacks rhyming pattern) effectively captures the persona’s struggle between hope and despair as he narrates (tells his life-story) with a tone that similarly and occasionally shifts between feelings of optimism and pessimism, adding to a mood that varies between contemplative serenity and foreboding uncertainty.

Illustrated by the poet’ use of emotive  language to describe the aesthetically pleasing orchids--"purple petals/blossoms … full blown/like polished poems/ This morning the bud … unfurled" juxtaposed against the persona’s destructive intentions--"I watered them once/ I would toss them out/I starved them/I’ll pluck the full-blown blooms/press them".

Indicative of the persona’s seeming lack of appreciation for the orchids as natural and philosophical emblems of beauty, wisdom and strength.


Symbolism/ Symbol
The orchid is a flower of magnificence that brings a universal message of love, beauty, wisdom, thoughtfulness, luxury, strength, refinement,  affection, new growth and development.


"This elegant flower should make you feel pampered. Purple is the colour of royalty. Orchids are generally regarded as symbolic of rare and delicate beauty…. Their graceful appearance draws immediate attention, and their reputation as an exotic and unusual flower evokes a sense of refinement and innocence".

Literary Devices

SIMILE- lines 13-14 
The orchid's full blown blossoms are being compared to a polished poem. The word polished in this comparison implies perfection, shiny and pleasant to read.

PUN- line 11 
The purple heart literally refers to the splash of color in the center of the orchid's bloom, but it could also refer to the bravery of the flower. This is so because a purple heart, in the army, is a medal that a soldier receives for bravery.

Metaphor- lines 1-2
The persona compares her experience over a five week period with boxes that she uses to pack her belongings in.

MOOD/ ATMOSPHERE
The mood of the poem is pensive, or thoughtful. The persona is thinking about the lack of value that she places in the orchid.

Tone of the Poem
The tone of the poem is one of almost bored musing.

Themes
Death
Nature
Survival

Sample Short Story 4

A short story titled 'Journey by Night'

He stood alone, leaning against a post, and shifting his weight from one foot to the other. It was late, and the taxi-stand was empty. The street was silent. He looked up and down, hoping that some vehicle would come in sight, for he wanted to get home. But none came.
The silence began to pall. He started to whistle, but there was no mirth in it, and soon he stopped. Midnight, ten miles away from home! What was he to do? To begin to walk that distance was out of the question.

A dark cloud passed across the sky, hiding the few pale stars that had been there. The noise of a falling dust-bin reached his ear. Some dog must have been scattering its contents. Instinctively, his hand felt for his wallet. Yes, it was still there. If only he had a stick! But he had nothing with which he might protect himself. He began to walk up and down, up and down. What was that in the distance? At last two headlights were drawing near. He stepped into the middle of the street and held up his hand, and the car stopped.

"Taxi?" he asked. "Valencia?"
"Get in," said the driver, opening the door.

He sat beside the driver, glad to be on his way home at last. He had felt so lonely while he had been waiting. If only someone would say something! In the semi-darkness of the car he turned to look at the other passengers, but no one else was there.
The driver said nothing to him as the car sped along. Suppose ...

Suppose...

No, he mustn't allow himself to think of that. He glanced at the driver, and again his hand went to his wallet. He had heard of passengers being attacked at night and being robbed. But surely ...no, that couldn't happen to him.

If only he could see the other man's face clearly! But he had no idea who the driver was. He kept his eye intently on him during the seemingly interminable journey.

Now they were approaching a spot where the road branched off in another direction. There were tall, dark bushes around. The car slowed down, and the driver took something short and black from the side pocket of the car. It looked like an iron tool. Would the driver attack him with that?

"Stop!" he heard himself screaming, and his heart beat so fast with fear that he could hardly breathe.
But the car did not stop. Faster and faster instead, it went. Now they were nearing his destination. Did the driver intend to take him past and then...
"Put me down here," he cried out.
Still with his eyes on the driver, he quickly stepped from the car as it came to a standstill. He fumbled with his wallet for his fare, but the taxi was no longer there.

"No night passengers for me again," exclaimed the driver, as, with a sigh of relief, he hurriedly moved off. And his hand tenderly caressed the heavy spanner with which he had meant to defend himself had that queer passenger attacked him!