San Ġorġ Preca College Secondary School, Blata l-bajda Half-Yearly Examinations - February 2015 English Literature Track 3 Form: 4 Time: 2 hours Name & Surname: Class: Index No: Teacher: Section A DRAMA William Shakespeare Macbeth Choose one question from this section. (25 marks) 1. Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow: Banquo That, trusted home, Might yet enkindle you unto the crown, Besides the Thane of Cawdor. But tis strange: And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, The instruments of darkness tell us truths, Win us with honest trifles, to betray s In deepest consequence. Cousins, a word I pray you. Macbeth [Aside] Two truths are told As happy prologues to the swelling act Of the imperial theme. I thank you gentlemen.- [Aside] This supernatural soliciting Cannot be ill, cannot be good. If ill, why hath it given me earnest of success, Commencing in a truth? I am Thane of Cawdor. 120 125 a) What happened before the extract? (3 marks) b) What are the instruments of darkness Banquo is referring to? (2 marks) c) In your own words, what is Banquo telling Macbeth? (5 marks) d) What does the gobbet reveal about Macbeth s and Banquo s attitude to the supernatural forces in the play? Support your answer with relevant quotes from the gobbet. (10 marks) e) Macbeth says that two truths have been told. What is he referring to? (2 marks) f) The extract contains a figure of speech in which Macbeth reveals his innermost thoughts to the audience while the other characters cannot hear him. What is this literary device called and by which word is it indicated? (3 marks) English Literature Form 4 Track 3 Page 1 of 6
2. It can be argued that in Act 1, women play as much an important role as the male figures. The female characters are ultimately the ones who start the play s events. Discuss and support your answer with quotations and references to the play. 3. Discuss the way in which the language of the play creates an atmosphere of evil and violence. Support your answer by using relevant quotations and references to the play. Section B PROSE Roald Dahl The Great Automatic Grammatizator and Other Stories Choose one question from this section. (25 marks) 1. Foreshadowing is a literary device which authors use to give subtle hints to the readers of what s to come later on in the story. With reference to two stories, discuss how Roald Dahl uses foreshadowing and whether it is effective. Support your answers with relevant quotations from the stories. 2. A number of stories in Roald Dahl s Great Automatic Grammatizator are classified as horror stories. However, blood or gore does not feature in the stories. With reference to at least two stories, discuss how Roald Dahl manages to make readers feel afraid and uneasy. 3. The relationship between men and women portrayed in Roald Dahl s stories is often far from perfect or nurturing. Discuss. English Literature Form 4 Track 3 Page 2 of 6
Section C POETRY The Dragon Book of Verse Choose one question from this section. (25 marks) 1. There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in (Graham Greene). With reference to two poems from Dragon Book of Verse, discuss how the poems of your choice show the transition between childhood to adulthood. 2. The tone of a poem is strongly influenced by the age of the narrator. Discuss by referring to the poems you have studied. 3. Poets are able to create vivid images in the mind of the readers. Additionally, the diction of a poem can make the readers feel, hear and smell precisely what the narrator can. Discuss with reference to two poems from Dragon Book of Verse. English Literature Form 4 Track 3 Page 3 of 6
Section D UNSEEN TEXT Read the following extract and answer ALL the questions about it. (25 marks) The Wasps Nest by James L. Rosenberg Two aerial tigers, Striped in ebony and gold And resonantly, savagely a-hum, Have lately come To my mail-box s metal hold 5 And thought With paper and with mud Therein to build Their insubstantial and their only home. Neither the sore displeasure 10 Of the U. S. Mail Nor all my threats and warnings Will avail To turn them from their hummed devotions. And I think 15 They know my strength, Can gauge The danger of their work: One blow could crush them And their nest; and I am not their friend. 20 And yet they seem Too deeply and too fiercely occupied To bother to attend. Perhaps they sense I ll never deal the blow, 25 For, thought I am not in nor of them, Still I think I know What it is like to live In an alien and gigantic universe, a stranger, Building fragile citadels of love 30 On the edge of danger. 1. The poem consists of five sections. Summarise briefly each of these sections in order to bring out clearly the poem s meaning. (5 marks) i. ii. English Literature Form 4 Track 3 Page 4 of 6
iii. iv. v. 2. Explain what the poet is referring to and why they are effective: (7 marks) a. two aerial tigers (line 1) b. Their insubstantial and their only home (line 9) c. the sore displeasure/ Of the U.S. Mail (lines 10-11) d. hummed devotions (line 14) 3. What is the purpose of line 21? What do we call this in literary terms? (2 marks) English Literature Form 4 Track 3 Page 5 of 6
4. Identify two kinds of imagery used in this poem. Quote an example of each, and comment on their effectiveness. (4 marks) 5. What is the effect of the last two lines of the poem? What figures of speech are found here? What effect do they create? (3 marks) 6. What is the poet s attitude towards the wasps? Does it stay the same throughout the entire poem? Justify your answer using quotations from the poem. (4 marks) English Literature Form 4 Track 3 Page 6 of 6