English Language Creative Paper.
General advice.
Read the questions to extract a flavour of what you need to focus upon and filter as you read the extract.
Make sure you hear the tone of the writing as you read. Is it ironic, melancholy, reflective, nostalgic, witty, irritated, satirical etc?
Be aware of the tense of the passage. It is written in retrospect? Is the structure therefore cyclical?
What type of words choices( lexis) dominate the narrative? Do these choices create a strong sense of place or time or do they help to characterize the protagonist?
Is the story an exploration of some transformation? Does everyone change and how do these changes affect the message or outcome of the story?
You can always attempt the paper in the order that best suits you. So, if you rather attempt the story or transactional writing first, to feel more challenged immediately, then do so.
Q1) If you are unsure, then go for five things. Bullet point. Don’t explain.
Q2) Use the author’s name. Vary your vocabulary throughout. Be ambitious in your word choices. Vary your key verbs which you deploy to analyse the passage.
( explore, communicates, portrays, gives representation to, examines, delivers, suggests, reveals etc)
Make sure you read and think about all the sections under scrutiny in the question.
Use firstly, secondly, finally, to structure your response. Then begin with a clear ‘umbrella’ idea under which the rest of your analysis can critically shelter.
2019 November Examination for example :
Maugham reveals the vulnerability and financial anxieties of the narrator through the vivid exploration of his internal world and the naivety of his conversation.
Firstly, his economic impoverishment is underlined by the internal admission that ‘ the Grand was so far beyond my means’ a debilitating recognition that was reinforced by his precise knowledge that he had only ‘eighty pounds’ left to survive on and yet is ‘ still too young…to say no to a woman.’ Here the financial And sexual vulnerability of the narrator is contrasted with the consummate cynical assurance of the older ‘imposing’, ( possibly upper class )woman with her strikingly predatory and excessive ‘teeth’ an observation that celebrates the narrator’s sense of satirical humour and unspoken recognition that he too is being devoured for lunch!
Secondly, even when the narrator is shocked and ‘startled’ by the restaurant’s prices, his feelings are briefly assuaged by the apparent frugality of the woman’s appetite, so he is ‘reassured’ enough to speak ‘generously’ which proves a comically macabre irony as the reader is aware of the premeditated behaviour of his greedy lunch guest her exploitation of the poor narrator’s guilelessness.
Q3). Maugham reveals the woman to be a cunning hypocrite and glutton through the prevalent/main technique of direct speech which has a grotesque effect, finally rendering her a monster of duplicity.
Firstly the woman feigns frugality ‘ I never eat’ to allay any of the narrator’s justified fears at her choice of expensive restaurant ostensibly reinforcing her reluctance with the promise of only ‘one thing’ which is surreally contradicted by her request for hugely expensively ‘lobster’ and is followed by a succession of gluttonous requests for ‘salmon’ and champagne’ that steadily drain away all the poverty-stricken narrator’s money.
Secondly, if the greed wasn’t enough the woman’s sanctimonious hypocrisy is evidenced by her lecturing the narrator about his choice of ‘lambchop’ which is the cheapest choice on the menu but which she deliberately suggests is heavy. Her hypocrisy seems a game to this monstrously rude opportunist whose predatory nature is repeatedly indicated by the contrast between what she says and what she does. ‘ I don’t mind having asparagus.’ It is noticeable that the woman shifts the blame for her gluttony onto the narrator so his civility is weaponised against him financially. This underlines her familiarity with extortion!
Q4) Maugham zooms in closely on the narrator’s unavoidable alarm at the prospect of being unable to pay for the bill. ‘Panic set in ‘ gives acute representation to the narrator’s emotional state and leads to a momentary digression when he considered leaving his ‘watch’ as a guarantee against his debt. The digression Is then disrupted by the vision of the ‘ appetizing’ asparagus which the woman eats in a sickeningly greedy, animal-like way. ‘ Thrust them down her throat’ illustrates his mounting nausea and fascinated disgust at his companion’s voraciously insatiable appetite.
The final throes of the meal are referenced to the narrator’s resigned ‘past caring’ and then being drained of all vitality evidenced by speaking ‘ faintly’ only at his sheer horror and disbelief at the never-ending hunger of the opportunistic guest. The verb ‘devoured’ confirms what the narrator evidently recognises as her monstrous, vampiric greed and the ironic ‘terrible thing’ that finally appears at the end of the meal ( mere peaches!) signals the death knell on his monthly allowance.
The ‘inadequate tip’ reveals the narrator’s shame as well as denial of his victimisation as he has been truly duped due to his naivety so much so that he is complicit in his own downfall, so he shakes her hand as confirmation. It s only when the narrator returns to the present from the flashback that we hear his mischievous and justified pleasure in his former companion’s physical transformation and we applaud his sense of malicious irony.
Q5) This is an evaluative question. Therefore begin with a qualifying, evaluative adverb so that the examiner can recognise you are evaluating! Be confident enough to argue with yourself too! It delivers extra depth! Add embedded quotations. I have sketched out my answer for this one owing to time constraints, but the points stand. Just add short quotations to support your responses.
I strongly/partially/completely agree that Maugham has created a story that is pleasurable to read and which ends successfully because it delivers a rather neatly poetic, moral twist at the ending.
The use of flashback gives focus to a specific single incident which in this story almost takes place in imagined real-time as the monstrously greedy guest hypocritically drains the narrator of all his month’s allowance. The accumulative effect of her requests for ‘lobster’ and ‘salmon’ and ‘champagne’ embraces both horror and fascination as we are spectators on this macabre meal.
As the chronology of the flashback progresses we are also witnessing the narrator’s mounting panic and the physical distortion of the woman who becomes more and more like a vampire due to her never-ending appetite. This witnessing inspires humour and a sharp sense of irony as we question how cunningly and contrived her behaviour actually is. Indeed the ending in the present uses the cyclical structure very satisfyingly as we see in her huge size a confirmation that the woman is an accomplished con artist whose currency is food!
If I was to admit any disappointment with the story it might be that the impotence of the narrator renders him so far from being heroic that we might dismiss him as weak. However, the surreal monstrousness of the woman and hapless naivety of the narrator complement each other so wittily and with such irony that the susceptibility of the narrator indulged and we sit on his shoulder observing the never-ending greed of the woman with horror and pleasure!
