Eduqas GCSE English Language Paper One 2019.
TIPS and NOTES. .
- Skim through the comprehension questions so you gain a flavour of the subject matter under scrutiny. The questions are simply asking you to filter through different parts of the extract focussing on certain characters or ideas.
- Mark off/ Annotate clearly the designated parts of the extract for each question. This prevents overlapping which loses marks.
- This extract is primarily concerned with marital relationships when these relationships are placed under strain by the responsibilities of parenthood and the often unequal distribution of these responsibilities between mother and father.
- Hence word banks might in use: imbalance, reciprocal, responsibility, selfishness, insensitivity, excluded, marginalised, childish, petulant, forgiveness, compromise, acceptance, freedom, temporary liberation, independence, identity, hostility, irony, maturity, dowdy, bedraggled, self- obsessed.
1) Jonathan moans about timing. He is self-righteous and even priggish. He fails to help with any planning. He shouts at Frances in self-justification. Jonathan complains about the mess. He resents having to tidy toys. He scowls grimly like a child. He is oblivious to his wife’s situation. He feels unappreciated, a martyr.
2) Frances is ‘sagging’ with the sheer exhaustion of her responsibilities as a mother as she gets the children ready for their outing. Tiredness makes her indifferent to the childish complaints of Jonathan and she is so ‘fed up with having to plan it all’ that she seems overwhelmed. She is clearly frustrated by the burden of motherhood and marriage and we sense that Jonathan is almost like a third child. The irony of her retort ‘Congratulations’ to her self obsessed husband’s snide comment about changing a ‘ nappy’ reveals the gulf in responsibilities between them. Frances is acutely aware of her ‘loss of freedom’ with the arrival of the second child and she is honest enough to tell her husband that she is ‘ on the verge of tears’ underlining the authentic communication between them despite their differences.
3) The extract describes a family outing to the home of the writer Hardy whom we suspect is of interest to both Jonathan and Frances. Jonathan loves imparting information to his family even though it is of very little interest for such young children and thus Jonathan removes the children allowing his wife to enjoy ‘the silence of the empty rooms’ which feels ‘blessed’ to her in contrast to her daily life’s claustrophobic commitments.
This gesture seems to improve e Frances’s mood and when she sees him outside with ‘the baby on his lap’ and ‘reading to Lorna’ we surmise that the image is sweet to her, yet this is jeopardized by the assumption that Jonathan will be able to read his new novel in his ‘ spare moment’ which is ironical as Frances doesn’t believe she has any.
Speech reveals the disillusion and defensiveness in their relationship though it also communicates that they do communicate honestly with each other.’ I would like to be the one coming home from work’ illustrating that Frances feels trapped by the relentless responsibility of motherhood and would love to enjoy the freedom and personal value of work.
Jonathan’s self-righteousness is expressed through the italicized ‘I’ when he says he does not enjoy a glass of ‘beer in the garden’ either. Even though he is a child we recognise he feels helpless even somehow excluded from the family unit. The writer thus allows us to hear the contrasting positions on parenthood and to appreciate the continuing affection between husband and wife even if it is evidently under strain.
When Jonathan holds his hand out to Frances we see his undoubted care for his wife and recognise that he is ‘ ineffectual but sympathetic’ to his wife who admits ‘ I don’t feel like me anymore.’ This loss of selfhood does not make her bitter as she acknowledges his position is not ‘easy’ either. however and that is why the admission that ‘they feel into each other’s arms’ seems hopeful as well as an image of overwhelm and even despair.
4) The walk on the beach gives Frances a more detached perspective on her family hence she can regard them with ‘ a rush of affection’ due to her ‘long view’ on their triadic union. The feelings of pleasure Frances obtains from this new ‘satisfying’ and ‘delightful’ perspective are set alongside her recognition that her ‘delight ‘ with life existed before motherhood.
When Jonathan jokes about them being ‘abandoned’ Frances reassures her husband as she ‘ kissed him lightly’ which underlines their containing affection yet also restores power to Frances in their relationship.
Jonathan’s attempt at flattery and perhaps need to remember their relationship before children when he does tribes his wife as ‘just the same girl’ is immediately but not unkindly repudiated by Frances saying she is ‘ no longer the same girl.’ She is less fanciful and more practical than her dreamy, nostalgic husband whose love for the children is sometimes abstracted, ‘ a time before them’ whilst his wife seems physically ever-present. Frances…held her gently in her arms’ which uses gesture to confirm her adoration and commitment.
5) Initially it seems easy to support the statement that Jonathan is presented as a ‘failure as a father and husband.’ He is self-pitying and without empathy for the all-consuming responsibilities of France’s as a mother and wife. His misplaced pride in his ‘five minutes’ of preparation time before the family embarks on a trip underlines his preoccupation with himself and perhaps his secret resentment at being of less importance than the children. His tone seems intolerant and judgemental and the two priggish, peremptory questions, ‘ Are we ready at last….ready to go?’ with the heavily sarcastic repetition of the word ‘ready’ and the far from inclusive use of the pronoun ‘we’ which ironically seems to separate his timely competence with his wife’s mess, the reader does feel the abject and dismal attitude of the husband to his much put upon wife.
However once the family embarks on their trip away from the familiar routines and attitudes of the house, we see a gradual shift in the relationship between husband and wife. In fact, Jonathan starts to show more compassion for his wife,’ taking the children ‘ outside’ at Hardy’s home and giving her some space to enjoy what presumably used to be of interest to her. Dialogue does reveal their openness with each other and if Jonathan’s martyr-like reminder that he takes the kids out on ‘Sunday afternoons’ does rankle a little and is immediately and clearly termed a ‘favour’ by Frances, we recognise that such conversations lead to demonstrations of affection and he does realise that his behaviour is largely ‘ ineffectual’ and that the children are ‘mind-boggling’ which is an admission of the miracle of children and parenthood, even if his understanding seems far less than his more generous-spirited wife!
