TEST CODE 01219010

FORM TP 2016009 JANUARY2016

CAR IBBEAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL

CARIBBEAN SECONDARY EDUCATION CERTIFICATE®

EXAMINATION

ENGLISHB

Paper 01 - General Proficiency

1 hour 45 minutes

READ THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY.

1. This paper consists of THREE questions. Each question is worth 20 marks.

2. Answer ALL questions.

3. Write your answers in the spaces provided in this answer booklet.

4. Do NOT write in the margins.

5. You are advised to take some time to read through the paper and plan your answers.

6. If you need to rewrite any answer and there is not enough space to do so on the
origina'l page, you must use the extra lined page(s) provided at the back of this
booklet. Remember to draw a lin� through your original answer.

7. If you use the extra page(s) you MUST write the question number clearly in
the box provided at the top of the: extra page(s) and, where relevant, include
the question part beside the answer.

DO NOT TURN THIS PAGE UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO.

Copyright© 2015 Caribbean Examinations Council

All rights reserved.

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SECTION A- DRAMA

1. Read the extract below carefully and answer ALL the questions that follow.

The CAPTAIN. BERTHA. The CAPTAIN is sitting crumpled up over the table.

BERTHA: [Going up to him]. Are you ill, Father?

CAPTAIN: [Looks up dully]. Me?

,.
];
I: BERTHA: Do you know what you've done? Do you know you threw a lamp at Mother?
u
]!
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li
5 CAPTAIN: Did I?
1·

n BERTHA: Yes, you did! What if she'd been hurt?

;: CAPTAIN: What gifference would that make?

BERTHA: You're not my father when you talk like that!

CAPTAIN: What's that you say? I'm not your father? How do you know? Who told you
10 that? Who is your father, then? Who?

BERTHA: Well, not you, anyway!

CAPTAIN: Still not me! Who then?' Who? You seem well informed. Who have you been
talking to? That I should !live to hear my own child tell me to my face I'm not her
father! Don't you realize;you're insulting your mother when you say that? Don't
15 you understand that if it'$ true, it's to her shame?

BERTHA: Don't say anything bad a�out my mother, do you hear?

CAPTAIN: No, you stick together, al� of you against me. You've done so all along.

BERTHA: Father!

CAPTAIN: Don't use that word again!

20 BERTHA: Father, Father!

CAPTAIN: [Pulls her to him]. Bertha, my dear, dear child, of course you're my child! Yes,
yes, it can't be otherwise. It must be so!

BERTHA: No, no! I want to be myself!

CAPTAIN: Don't be afraid, my darling child, I shan't hurt you!

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(b) How does Bertha feel about her father, the Captain? Support your answer with evidence
from the extract.

......................................................... · ......................................................................................... .

(3 marks)

(c) Explain what the stage directions in lines I, 3 and 27-29 revea.1 about the Captain.

···················································•-•·······••,-•················· .................................................................... .-_-_,

.-.........................................................·..................................................................................................
-

(3 marks)

(d) (i) Comment on the dramatjc significance of the Nurse reminding the Captain about
his childhood in lines 31:- 41 .

...............................................i.••········ .. ··········· .. ·······························································•···

(2 marks)

(ii) Explain what the Nurse's actions in lines 31- 41 reveal about her attitude towards
the Captain.
:-:➔
_·'.1
-:-J
·_·J
:-:i
:-:-i
_-_,
.·.1

iI1
-:-j
:-:;
(2 marks) _-_,
_-.7
:_i

:::i
:-:�_-_,
-:-j
-:-j

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(e) Identity ONE prop used in the extract and explain its effect on the conflict.

(3 marks)

(f) Comment on the effect of the Captain's statement "Caught, clipped, and double-crossed"
(lines 44-45).

(2 marks)

(g) Sugg<;st a title for the extract. Justify your answer with evidence from the extract .

. . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . ..................................................................................... .
:

i :::::::
�---�---- ········•• ................................................................................................................................................
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• > •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

(3 marks)

Total 20 marks

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SECTION B - POETRY

2. Read the poem below carefully and answer ALL the questions that follow.

Curandera 1

· They think she lives alone

On the edge of town in a two-room house
where she moved when her husband died
at thirty-five of a gunshot wound
5 in the bed of another woman. The curandera
and house have aged together to the rhythm of the desert.

She wakes early, lights candles before

her sacred statues , brews tea of yerbabuena.
She moves down her porch steps, rubs
10.. cool morning sand into her hands, into her arms
like a large black bird, she feeds on -_-.,
the desert, gathering herbs for her basket.

Her days are slow, days of grinding

dried snake into powder, of crushing
15 wild bees to mix with white wine.
' . And the townspeople come, hoping
to be touched by' her ointments,
her hands, her pf:ayers, her eyes.
She listens to their stories, and she listens
20 to the desert, always, to the desert.

By sunset she is :tired. The wind

strokes the stran�s of long gray hair,
the smell of dry�ng plants drifts
into her blood, t�e sun seeps
25 into her bones. She dozes
on her back porch. Rocking, rocking.

Pat Mora,
Retrieved.from http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/24329
1
A traditional native healer in Mexico and other parts of the Spanish-speaking
Americas

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(a) State THREE things we learn about the curandera in stanza 1.

(3 marks)

(b) What does "she lives alone/ On the edge of town" (lines 1-2) suggest about the curandera?

(2 marks)

(c) Identify the figurative device used i1 ONE ofthe following and comment on its effectiveness:

• "like a large black bird, she feeds on I the desert" (lines 11-12)
.;: -- ----­
.,-------­
:.1 ------­

."1-------- • "The-wind I strokes the strands of long gray hair" (lines 21-22)

(3 marks)

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(d) Comment on the poet's use of imagery in stanza 3.

·····················································••. •·································.. ·······••.•·········································

(3 marks)

(e) Identify the speaker's attitude towards the curandera. Select TWO pieces of evidence
from the poem to support your answer.

.
. ... . ... . . . . . . .. . . . . .................. ........ . .... --�.. .....................................................................................

·············································································........... .......................................... ... ...........

'·

·····················································'·································· ······················································

···················································••, •·······················································································
(3 marks)

(f) Identify ONE example of contrast in the poem and show how the poet uses this contrast
to make the poem interesting.

(3 marks)

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· (g) What impressions are created of the ¢urandera's situation in the last stanza? Support your
answer with evidence from the last stanza .

.................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................ .......... .

·

(3 marks)

Total 20 marks

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SECTION C -· PROSE FICTION

3. Read the extract below carefully and answer ALL the questions that follow.

Everyone knew Ma; she lived just down the road next to Mr Smith's corner rum shop.
She was a small, short woman, but had a temperament some said was like a force of nature,
unconquerable. Ma's house was like her in many ways. It wasn't an architectural wonder but it
had character.

5 Joe "Fishcake" Brown (so called because of his insatiable craving for the tidbit) was
propping up against the rum shop door, pelting back a beer, declaring loudly that there was nothing
that anyone could dare him to do that he couldn't do. Mr Smith in a sly manner, belted out a
challenge. Fishcake boldly accepted. The shop went dead silent.

A week after the bet, I saw a head poke through Ma's unlocked back door. It was Fishcake,
to dre�sed in all black (in broad daylight, mind you) and wearing dark sunglasses. From a large
pod�et in his pants Fishcake pulled out a folded knapsack and glanced around. He searched the
drawers and closets, dropping everything of value into his knapsack.

Instead of making his escape, Fishcake headed for the kitchen. Resting his heavy knap
sack on the counter, he opened the fridge door and took out a bottle of water. He was about to
15 close the door when something else caught his eye - a cling wrap covered bowl, filled to the
brim with fishcake batter. The kitchen was soon filled with the delicious aroma of fishcakes, and
the little ball of batter danced merrily in the oil accompanied by the usual frying noises.

Ma sniffed the air. A frown puckered her forehead and a puzzled look settled on her brown,
aged features. Ma moved slowly and quietly towards the kitchen. Spying Fishcake, she moved
20 back a few steps into the hallway, and flat�ened herself to one side. When I saw her again she was
holding a rolling
' pin.

With a big smile on his face and: humming a little tune, Fishcake engrossed himself in
dabbing his golden brown fishcakes with lit paper towel. Grabbing the one closest to hand, he was
about to take the first bite when Ma snuckiup behind him. Holding the rolling pin above her head,
25 Ma carried it up and brought it down.

Ma ran outside and came back with a long piece ofrope. Pushing Fishcake on his stomach,
she tied his two hands together behind his back. Bending both feet at the knees so that they could
reach his hands, she secured them too. Now satisfied that he could not escape, Ma left Fishcake
trussed-up like a turkey and went to call the police.

30 As you can imagine, the boys from the shop were the first to gather at the scene.

Adapted.from Shirnelle Blackman, "Mas House."

h
In Te Hole and Other Barbadian Poems and Short Stories:
A Winning Words Anthology, National Cultural Foundation, 2004, pp. 119-123.

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(a) State THREE things we learn abou(Ma in paragraph 1.

·········································· ·························· ....................................... . ............................,!....... .

,

(3 marks)

(b) Comment on the effe.ctiveness of "dressed in all black (in broad daylight, mind you) and
wearing dark sunglasses" (line 10).

(2 marks)

(c) (i) Why did Fishcake remain ii;i the house after he took the items?
. ,

(1 mark)

(ii) What does the reason identiffied in (b) (i) above suggest about Fishcake's character?

(2 marks)

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 (d) How does Ma's behaviour in lines 21-28 ("she was holding a rolling pin ... call the
police") make the extract humorous?

.................................. ........................................... ..............................................................................................................................................

r
(3 marks)

(e) Identify the figurative device in "trussed-up like a turkey" (line 29) and comment on its
effectiveness.

(3 marks)

(f) (i) ' Comment on the significance of the rum shop in the extract.

.................................................................·············· ..................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................. .
-

• ♦ ♦ ♦ o • • • o • ♦ o ♦ • ♦ • • • • o ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 0 • • • • • ♦ o ♦ ♦ ♦ o • • • 'o • o Io♦• o • ♦ ♦ ♦ o ♦ ♦ • ♦ ♦ o o o o o • • • • • o ♦ o o o o • • • • ♦ ♦ ♦ • ♦ o o • • • o ♦ ♦ ♦ 0 ♦ • o • ♦ ♦ o o ♦ ♦ o o • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • o

(2 marks)

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(ii) Suggest how the boys in the shop might respond to Fishcake's predicament.

• • • • • O • • • O ♦ • O ♦ 0 O I♦♦♦••••••••• •• o • o o • • • • • o • •' f o o o o •• o o •• • • o • • • • • o • • o • • • o o o ♦ o o o o ♦ • • o • • • • o • ♦ o o ♦•I♦♦ o 1 ♦ o o ♦ ♦ ♦ o o o • • • • • • • • ♦ o ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ • o ♦ o ♦ o o

(2 marks)

(g) Identify ONE theme in the extract. Support your answer with evidence from the extract.

(2 marks)

Total 20 marks

END OFTEST

IF YOU FINISH BEFORE TIME IS CALLED, CHECK YOUR WORK ON THIS TEST.

The Council has made every effort to trace copyright holders. However, if any have been inadvertently
overlooked, or any material has been incorrectly acknowledged, CXC will be pleased to correct this at
the earliest opportunity.

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