RI H2 Literature 9509 P1 Prelim 2020

[Turn over RAFFLES INSTITUTION 2020 YEAR 6 PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION HIGHER 2 LITERATURE IN ENGLISH 9509/01 Paper 1 Reading Literature Tuesday 15 September 2020 3 hours 0800 – 1100 Additional Materials: Answer Paper Set texts may be taken into the examination room. They may bear underlining or highlighting. Any kind of folding or flagging of papers in texts (e.g. use of post -its, tape flags or paper clips) is not permitted. READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST Write your name and CT group on all the work you hand in. Write in dark blue or black pen on both sides of the paper. Do not use staples, paper clips, glue or correction fluid. Answer three questions, one from each of Sections A, B and C. You are reminded of the need for good English and clear presentation in your answers. At the end of the examination tie your answer sheets to each section securely. Hand in your answers separately. All questions in this paper carry equal marks. This document consists of 9 printed pages and 1 blank page.

2 ©RI 2020 H2 P1 RI LIT PRELIM 9509/01/20 Section A 1 Either (a) Write a critical comparison of the following poems, considering in detail ways in which language, style and form contribute to each poet’s portrayal of the farm worker. A THE PLOUGHMAN Clear the brown path, to meet his coulter's1 gleam! Lo! On he comes, behind his smoking team, With toil's bright dew-drops on his sunburnt brow, The lord of earth, the hero of the plough! First in the field before the reddening sun, Last in the shadows when the day is done, Line after line, along the bursting sod, Marks the broad acres where his feet have trod; Still, where he treads, the stubborn clods divide, The smooth, fresh furrow opens deep and wide; Matted and dense the tangled turf upheaves, Mellow and dark the ridgy cornfield cleaves; Up the steep hillside, where the laboring train Slants the long track that scores the level plain; Through the moist valley, clogged with oozing clay, The patient convoy breaks its destined way; At every turn the loosening chains resound, The swinging ploughshare circles glistening round, Till the wide field one billowy waste appears, And wearied hands unbind the panting steers. 5 10 15 20 Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894) B CYNDDYLAN ON A TRACTOR Ah, you should see Cynddylan on a tractor. Gone the old look that yoked him to the soil, He's a new man now, part of the machine, His nerves of metal and his blood oil. The clutch curses, but the gears obey His least bidding, and lo, he's away Out of the farmyard, scattering hens. Riding to work now as a great man should, He is the knight at arms breaking the fields' Mirror of silence, emptying the wood Of foxes and squirrels and bright jays. The sun comes over the tall trees Kindling all the hedges, but not for him Who runs his engine on a different fuel. And all the birds are singing, bills wide in vain, As Cynddylan passes proudly up the lane. 5 10 15 R S Thomas (1913-2000) 1 coulter - a vertical cutting blade fixed in front of a ploughshare.

3 ©RI 2020 H2 P1 RI LIT PRELIM 9509/01/20 Or (b) Write a critical comparison of the following poems, considering in detail ways in which language, style and form contribute to each poet’s portrayal of punishment. A AN AFTERNOON NAP the ambitious mother across the road is at it again. proclaiming her goodness she beats the boy. shouting out his wrongs, with raps she begins with his mediocre report-book grades. she strikes chords for the afternoon piano lesson, her voice stridently imitates 2nd. lang. tuition, all the while circling the cowering boy in a manner apt for the most strenuous p.e. ploy. 5 swift are all her contorted movements, ape for every need; no soft gradient of a consonant-vowel figure, she lumbers & shrieks, a hit for every two notes missed. 10 his tears are dear. each monday, wednesday, friday, miss low & madam lim appear and take away $90 from the kitty leaving him an adagio, clause-analysis, little pocket-money. 15 the embittered boy across the road is at it again. proclaiming his bewilderment he yells at her. shouting out her wrongs, with tears he begins with her expensive taste for education. 20 Arthur Yap (1943-2006) B THE WHIPPING The old woman across the way is whipping the boy again and shouting to the neighbourhood her goodness and his wrongs. Wildly he crashes through elephant ears,* *plants pleads in dusty zinnias,* while she in spite of crippling fat pursues and corners him. 5 She strikes and strikes the shrilly circling boy till the stick breaks in her hand. His tears are rainy weather to woundlike memories: 10 My head gripped in bony vice of knees, the writhing struggle to wrench free, the blows, the fear worse than blows that hateful 15 Words could bring, the face that I no longer knew or loved . . . Well, it is over now, it is over, and the boy sobs in his room, 20 And the woman leans muttering against a tree, exhausted, purged — avenged in part for lifelong hidings she has had to bear. Robert Hayden (1913-1980) [Turn over

4 ©RI 2020 H2 P1 RI LIT PRELIM 9509/01/20 Section B JANE AUSTEN: Pride and Prejudice 2 Either (a) ‘She only smiles, I laugh.’ Discuss Jane Austen’s treatment of happiness in Pride and Prejudice. Or (b) Write a critical commentary on the following passage, relating it to the portrayal of Lydia, here and elsewhere in the novel. Their sister’s wedding day arrived; and Jane and Elizabeth felt for her probably more than she felt for herself. The carriage was sent to meet them at ——, and they were to return, in it by dinner-time. Their arrival was dreaded by the elder Miss Bennets; and Jane more especially, who gave Lydia the feelings which would have attended herself, had she been the culprit, and was wretched in the thought of what her sister must endure. They came. The family were assembled in the breakfast room , to receive them. Smiles decked the face of Mrs. Bennet , as the carriage drove up to the door; her husband looked impenetrably grave; her daughters, alarmed, anxious, uneasy. Lydia’s voice was heard in the vestibule; the door was thrown open, and she ran into the room. Her mother stepped forwards, embraced her, and welcomed her with rapture; gave her h and with an affectionate smile to Wickham, who followed his lady, and wished them both joy, with an alacrity which shewed no doubt of their happiness. Their reception from Mr. Bennet, to whom they then turned, was not quite so cordial. His countenance rather gained in austerity; and he scarcely opened his lips. The easy assurance of the young couple, indeed, was enough to provoke him. Elizabeth was disgusted, and even Miss Bennet was shocked. Lydia was Lydia still; untamed, unabashed, wild, noisy, and fearless. She turned from sister to sister, deman