ST VENERA BOYS SECONDARY SCHOOL HALF-YEARLY EXAMINATIONS 2014~15 Form 4 English Literature 2 hours Choose one question from Section A, B and C and answer all the questions in section D Section A: Drama Answer one of these questions on a separate paper. 1. Read the passage below and answer the following questions. MACBETH Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more: 68 By Sinel's death I know I am thane of Glamis; But how of Cawdor? the thane of Cawdor lives, A prosperous gentleman; and to be king Stands not within the prospect of belief, No more than to be Cawdor. Say from whence 73 You owe this strange intelligence? or why Upon this blasted heath you stop our way With such prophetic greeting? Speak, I charge you. BANQUO MACBETH BANQUO MACBETH BANQUO The earth hath bubbles, as the water has, And these are of them. Whither are they vanish'd? 78 Into the air; and what seem'd corporal melted As breath into the wind. Would they had stay'd! Were such things here as we do speak about? Or have we eaten on the insane root That takes the reason prisoner? 83 Your children shall be kings. You shall be king. Page 1 of 6
MACBETH And thane of Cawdor too: went it not so? 86 a. What happened before Macbeth s speech? b. Who are the imperfect speakers and why do they speak the way they do? (3 marks) c. Explain why Macbeth seems to be confused. (4 marks) d. What does Macbeth want to know in lines 73-76? e. How does Macbeth react? f. How does Banquo react? g. What happens after this extract? a. How do Macbeth and Banquo react? b. How does this affect the plot of the play? (10 marks) Page 2 of 6
OR 2. Write about the importance of each of the following: a. Duncan b. Banquo c. Lady Macbeth Section B: Poetry Answer one of these questions on a separate paper. 1. Show how childhood experiences influence some poets with reference to at least two poems you have studied. OR 2. Choose a poem you have studied in class and show how the poet s use of figure of speech and diction make the poem richer. Section C: Prose Answer one of these questions on a separate paper 1. Some of Roald Dahl s characters from The Great Automatic Grammatizator are tricksters. Discuss this characteristic with reference to at least two stories. OR 2. Choose a story that you enjoyed from The Great Automatic Grammatizator and discuss how the plot developed from beginning to an end. Page 3 of 6
Section D: Unseen Text (Answer ALL questions) Old Johnny Armstrong Old Johnny Armstrong s eighty or more And he humps like a question-mark Over two gnarled sticks as he shuffles and picks His slow way to Benwell Park. He s lived in Benwell his whole life long And remembers how street-lights came, And how once on a time they laid a tram-line, Then years later dug up the same! Now he s got to take a lift to his flat, Up where the tall winds blow Round a Council Block that rears like a rock From seas of swirled traffic below. Old Johnny Armstrong lives out his life In his cell on the seventeenth floor, And it s seldom a neighbour will do him a favour Or anyone knock at his door. With his poor hands knotted with rheumatism And his poor back doubled in pain, Why, day after day, should he pick his slow way To Benwell park yet again?- O the wind in park trees is the self-same wind That first blew on a village child Page 4 of 6
When life freshly unfurled in a green, lost world And his straight limbs ran wild. Raymond Wilson 1) And he humps like a question mark. What figure of speech is being used here? Explain the comparison that is being made. 2) What information in the second stanza gives us an idea of just how old Johnny is? 3) Mention all the details you can find which shows us that Johnny lives high up in a council flat. 4) Quote the simile and the metaphor used in the third stanza. Explain why you think the poet makes these comparisons. 5) Why is Johnny s flat described as a cell? (5 marks) 6) What do the first two lines of the last stanza mean? Page 5 of 6
7) What picture does the poet paint of Johnny (both physically and emotionally) (5 marks) 8) What feelings for Johnny does the poem arouse in you? Explain your answer in detail, referring to parts of the poem that make you feel this way and why. (5 marks) Page 6 of 6