Paper 1 type practice questions

 Poetry

1. 
   
   Read the Poem below carefully and answer ALL the questions that follow.
   
   
   Death’s Course

   5 10 15

   Our days draw near, What can we do but prepare? Many try to live without fear But how can we act as if we do not care? When we know we must go, Maybe not by the arrow and bow, But by a withered soul. Life and death are one in the same, But it seems we live life so death can reign. Death can come without a feeling of pain, Or one could be labeled as lame. Look at life go as we count our days, Encountering this bitter-sweet phase. Our time has come, we are trapped in a maze, Deep in our conscience, as we head to our graves, Watch life go down in flames, All because of death and its unfair games.

                                                                                                               -Dwain Hurmal
                                                                                                                           5O
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   1.      (a) What is the persona’s attitude to death?                                                         (2 marks)
   
   
   (b) Quote a line from stanza one (1) that highlights this attitude.                             (1 mark)
   
   
   2.      The second stanza of the poem is called a ‘quatrain’ what is the name given to the form represented in the first stanza.                                                                             (1 mark)
   
   
   3.      What feature or characteristic of death is highlighted in lines 6-7, 10-11?              
    (2 marks)
   
   
   4.      According to the persona, how does death impact life? Support your answer.        
     (3 marks)
   
   
   5.      (a) What literary device is used in line 13.                                                             (1 mark)
   
   
   (b) Why does the persona describe the preparation for death as “bitter-sweet”?      
   (2 marks)
   
   
   6.      Say whether or not the title of the poem is of significance. Explain your answer.   
   (3 marks)
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Total   15 marks
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
    PROSE FICTION
   
   
   Read the extract below carefully and answer ALL the questions that follow.
   
   

   5 10 15 20 25 30

   “I was asked to make a request of you,” I said. “The elder at the house where I am, would like to come see you.” He removed his hand from the dough and concentrated on digging the flour out from underneath his fingernails. Then he reached into his pocket for snuff and took a pinch. “That is a strange request, Amabelle,” he said. “What do they want with me, these people?” “The elder wishes to talk to you of Joel’s accident.” “I don’t know if it was an accident, Amabelle. He was not one to die so easy, my son.” He raised his face towards the ceiling to keep the snuff from sliding from his nose down to his chin. Outside Felice cleared her throat again, this time it sounded like she was crying. “The elder, Papi, he would like to pay for Joel’s funeral,” I said. “No funeral for Joel,” he said. “I wanted to bury him in our own land where he was born, I did, but he was too heavy to carry so far. I buried him where he died in the ravine. I buried him in a field of lemongrass, my son.” He lowered his head, letting the tobacco mix drop to his chest. “He was one of those children who grew like the weeds in the fields, my son. Didn’t need nobody or nothing, but he did love his father. It was ceremonious the way I buried him, I know. No clothes, no coffin nothing between him and the dry ground. I wanted to give him back to the soil the way his mother passed him to me on the first day of his life.” I could hear the children outside drawing sticks to decide who should have the first turn at playing with the goat. I no longer heard Felice. “Of all the things he’s done, my son,” Kongo was saying, “of all the ways I’ve seen him be, I’ll never forget how he looked when he was born. So small he was, so bare, so innocent.” He picked up the dough again and crushed it between his fingers. “You shouldn’t spend too much time with this old man,” he said. “I don’t want to push you, but kite’m. go see Sebastien now.” “What word should I bring to the elder?” I asked.       “Tell him I am a man,” he said. “He was a man, too, my son.”

   
   
   
   
   Adapted from Edwidge Danticat, The Farming of Bones,
   Soho Press, 1998, pp. 108-109.
   
   
   
   
   1.      Give TWO reasons for Amabelle’s visit to Kongo.                                         (2 marks)
   2.      What TWO versions of Joel’s death are presented in the extract?                    (2 marks)
   3.      Explain how Kongo feels as he speaks to Amabelle. Show how his actions support your explanation.                                                                                                (4 marks)
   
   
   4.      Identify the device used in lines 17 - 18 and comment on its effectiveness.       (3 marks)
   5.      Explain the irony in the way in which Joel was buried.                                    (3 marks)
   6.      Comment on the effectiveness of Kongo’s choice of words.                            (3 marks)
   7.      What do the following words suggest: “Tell him I am a man…. He was a man, too, my son.” (line 31)?                                                                                                    (3 marks)
   
   
   
   
   Total 20 marks