EL P2 Literary Analysis Revision Ans

Prepared by TYH Sec 4 Comprehension Revision Package Literary Device, Tone and Attitude Exercise 1: Monfort Sec Prelim 2015 Context: The abstract is taken from a text describing the difficulties faced by the famers in producing the biggest gooseberry for a local competition As July slowly ripens into August, a strange fever grips the necklace of villages which adorns the valley of the Esk. Curious arrangements of canvas and wire mesh, some hung with tiny bells, spring up in certain gardens. A great deal of furtive prodding around in the soil will be noticed. A sudden summer shower of rain will bring men racing from their cottages, carrying umbrellas, which they will hang over the bushes. A small squadron of wasps will create near panic. When a bush produces a promising youngster, the post-natal care it receives has to be seen to be believed. Sheets of polythene are stretched out to reflect more heat and tin lids full of water are balanced beneath the lusty young globe to encourage the absorption of more moisture. 1a. the writer describes the houses in the area as a ‘necklace of villages which adorns the valley of the Esk’ (lines 1-2). Why do you think the writer chooses to describe the villages as a ‘necklace’? The villages were in a closely spaced chain surrounding the valley like a necklace would around a neck./ The villages look pretty/picturesque/enhance the beauty of the valley. 1b. When a bush produces a promising youngster, the post-natal care it receives has to be seen to be believed’ (lines 28-29). Suggest a reason why the writer describes the gooseberry bush as a ‘promising youngster’. Like a child who has the potential to be great/successful, the gooseberry bush can develop into a champion/prize-winning fruit. 1c. Why is the expression ‘post-natal’ unusual and effective? It is unusual in that it is actually used to describe the care given to a human infant after birth and not a plant. [1] It is effective as it shows the gooseberry bush needs nurturing /care to grow like a child . [1] Exercise 2: Monfort Sec Prelim 2015 But perhaps the most majestic thing about the insects known romantically as scarabs and more descriptively as dung beetles is what they are willing and even delighted to do for a living. Dung beetles venture where many beasts refuse to tread; they descend on the waste matter of their fellow animals and swiftly bury it underground, where it then serves as a rich and leisurely meal for themselves or their off- spring.

Prepared by TYH 2. The dung beetles were described as insects which ‘venture where many beasts refuse to tread’. What can you infer about the writer’s feeling towards them? The writer feels a sense of awe/admiration for the dung beetles Exercise 3: Zhonghua Sec School MYCT 2015 Pain at last forced itself upon his attention: a dull ache, with a slow warm trickle that ran down his face. Mechanically he put his hand up to his cheek, scarcely realising that he wa