Practice Paper 1C

Look in detail at this extract from the source:

This discovery, that he did not know, had a little disconcerted Mrs Palfrey, for she did not know it either, and began to wonder what she was coming to. She tried to banish terror from her heart. She was alarmed at the threat of her own depression.

If it’s not nice, I needn’t stay, she promised herself, her lips slightly moving, as she leaned forward in the taxi, looking from side to side of the wide, frightening road, almost dreading to read the name Claremont over one of those porches. There were so many hotels, one after the other along this street, all looking much the same.

How does the writer use language here to describe Mrs Palfrey’s feeling as her taxi drives close to the hotel?You could include the writer’s choice of:

• words and phrases
• language features and techniques
• sentence forms.

You now need to think about the whole of the source.This text is from the beginning of a short story.How has the writer structured the text to interest you as a reader?You could write about:

• what the writer focuses your attention on at the beginning of the source
• how and why the writer changes this focus as the source develops
• any other structural features that interest you.

Focus this part of your answer on the second part of the source, from the line ‘Followed by the driver and her luggage’, to the end.A student said, ‘This part of the story, where Mrs Palfrey assess her room and her new circumstances, shows she is more optimistic and good humoured than she might first appear.”To what extent do you agree? In your response, you could:

• consider your own impressions of how others view Mrs Palfrey
• evaluate how the writer conveys Mrs Palfrey’s reactions to her new home
• support your response with references to the text.

A magazine has asked for contributions for their creative writing section.EitherDescribe a remote house, as suggested by this picture:ORWrite a story about an old woman.