NYGH 2015-S3MYE-ALIT HP

1 ALIT (HP) MYE 2015 VH Class Register Number Name   Mid-Year Examination 2015 Secondary Three Advanced Literature (HP) 1 hour 45 minutes Thursday 14 May 2015 1030 hrs – 1215 hrs READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST 1. Write your name on your answer script. 2. Use dark blue or black ink. 3. Do not use correction fluid / tape. INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES 1. Answer both Question 1 (Section A) and Question 2 (Section B). 2. Begin your answer to Section B on a fresh sheet of paper. 3. Number your answers clearly. 4. You are reminded of the need for good English and legible handwriting. Setter: V Heng This document consists of 5 printed pages, including this cover page. [Turn over]

2 ALIT (HP) MYE 2015 VH SECTION A: SET TEXT A Streetcar Named Desire – Tennessee Williams Read the extract below and answer the question that follows. BLANCHE: But I’ll think of something, I’ve got to think of—something! Don’t, don’t laugh at me, Stella! Please, please don’t—I—I want you to look at the contents of my purse! Here’s what’s in it! [She snatches her purse open.] Sixty-five measly cents in coin of realm! STELLA: [crossing to bureau] Stanley doesn’t give me a regular allowance, he likes to pay bills himself, but—this morning he gave me ten dollars to smooth things over. You take five of it, Blanche, and I’ll keep the rest. BLANCHE: No, thank you—I’ll take to the streets! STELLA: Talk sense! How did you happen to get so low on funds? BLANCHE: Money just goes—it goes places. [She rubs her forehead.] Sometime today I’ve got to get hold of a bromo! STELLA: I’ll fix you one now. BLANCHE: Not yet—I’ve got to keep thinking! STELLA: I wish you’d just let things go, at least for a—while… BLANCHE: Stella, I can’t live with him! You can, he’s your husband. But how could I stay here with him, after last night, with just those curtains between us? STELLA: Blanche, you saw him at his worst last night. BLANCHE: On the contrary, I saw him at his best! What such a man has to offer is animal force and he gave a wonderful exhibition of that! But the only way to live with such a man is to—go to bed with him! And that’s your job—not mine! STELLA: After you’ve rested a little, you’ll see it’s going to work out. You don’t have to worry about anything while you’re here. I mean—expenses… BLANCHE: I have to plan for us both, to get us both—out! STELLA: You take it for granted that I am in something that I want to get out of. BLANCHE: I take it for granted that you still have sufficient memory of Belle Reve to find this place and these poker players impossible to live with. STELLA: Well you’re taking entirely too much for granted. BLANCHE: I can’t believe you’re in earnest. STELLA: No? BLANCHE: I understand how it happened—a little. You saw him in uniform, an officer, not here but— STELLA: I’m not sure it would have made any difference where I saw him. BLANCHE: Now don’t say it was one of those mysterious electric things between people! If you do I’ll laugh in your face. STELLA: I am not going to say anything more at all about it! BLANCHE: All right, then don’t! STELLA: But there are things that happen between a man and a woman in the dark—that sort of make everything else seem—unimportant. [Pause] BLANCHE: What you are talking about is brutal desire—just—Desire!—the name of that rattle-trap street-car that bangs through the Quarter, up one old narrow street and down another…

3 ALIT (HP) MYE 2015 VH STELLA: Haven’t you ever ridden on that street-car? BLANCHE: It brought me here.—Where I’m not wanted and where I’m ashamed to be… STELLA: Then don’t you think your superior attitude is a bit out of place? BLANCHE: I am not being or feeling at all superior, Stella. Believe me I’m not! It’s just this. This is how I look at it. A man like that is someone to go out with—once—twice— three times when the devil is in you. But live with! Have a child by? STELLA: I have told you I love him. A Streetcar Named Desire – Tennessee Williams (from Scene IV) 1. (a) What does the extract reveal about the characters of Blanche and Stella? (b) How does the extract contribute to your understanding of the play as a tragedy, with reference to character and plot development? [30] [Please turn over]

4 ALIT (HP) MYE 2015 VH SECTION B: LITERARY RESPONSE Read the texts below and answer the question that follows. (i) We Grow Accustomed to the Dark We grow accustomed to the Dark – When light is put away – As when the Neighbor holds the Lamp To witness her Goodbye – A Moment – We uncertain step For newness of the night – Then – fit our Vision to the Dark – And meet the Road – erect – And so of larger – Darkness – Those Evenings of the Brain – When not a Moon disclose a sign – Or Star – come out – within – The Bravest – grope a little – And sometimes hit a Tree Directly in the Forehead – But as they learn to see – Either the Darkness alters – Or something in the sight Adjusts itself to Midnight – And Life steps almost straight. Emily Dickinson (1862)

5 ALIT (HP) MYE 2015 VH (ii) Acquainted with the Night I have been one acquainted with the night. I have walked out in rain -- and back in rain. I have outwalked the furthest city light. I have looked down the saddest city lane. I have passed by the watchman on his beat And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain. I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet When far away an interrupted cry Came over houses from another street, But not to call me back or say good-bye; And further still at an unearthly height, A luminary clock against the sky Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right. I have been one acquainted with the night. Robert Frost (1927) 2. (a) With reference to point of view, imagery and structure, compare and contrast the poet’s treatment of the subject-matter. (b) Say which of the poems you prefer, making clear the reason(s) for your choice. [30]