Israel Desir

Literature Assignment (Past paper section)

A. (i) What mood is created by the description of the setting in paragraph 1? (1 mark)

The mood created in the first paragraph is one of calm.

(ii) How does the writer create the mood identified in (a) (i) above? (2 marks)
The author uses the serenity of the environment to smoothly and subtly display this calmness.

For instance, personification is the catalyst in the line “large corn-like flowers blowing

gently.”

B. (I) How does the sentence, ‘I had not expected to see him’ (lines 9 – 10) introduce a shift

in the mood of the passage? (2 marks)

The line ‘I had not expected to see him’ displays the surprise that Mr. Johnson’s presence had

elicited from the persona. Therefore, the mood has transitioned from smooth and peaceful to

one of shock and/or anxiety. This shift from calm to shock shifts nicely into the revelation that

the persona and his friends were “sculling school” (or “skipping” it). Finally, the prior calm

stemmed from the false relief they felt having thought they had gotten away with their crime.

C. Identify ONE feature of the passage which suggests that it is set in the Caribbean
(1 mark)

The dialect of the piece alludes to Caribbean culture. Therefore, the similar Caribbean accent

of all the characters suggests that the piece is set in the Caribbean.

D. Explain TWO ways that the writer builds tension in the passage . (4 marks)
Firstly, tension is built in the piece by abruptly transitioning from a calm, peaceful mood to one

of surprise and anxiety. The author overplays the importance of the environment’s serenity to
paint the picture of a perfect day of sorts, and by abruptly ceasing this peace, tension is

immediately built.

Secondly, tension is built when the children are interrogated by the adults upon their discovery.

This rise in tension is similar to a slow crescendo, rather than the previous forte of surprise. Mr.

Johnson asks questions about why they are not in school, but his son is. The climax arrives with

a shout from Rygin “Is scull the bwai them scull school” and the adults both arrive at that

conclusion. (sculling means to skip school)

E. (i) Give ONE reason why the narrator’s response to Mr. Johnson is different from that of
his friend. (2 marks)
In the expository paragraph of the excerpt, we learn that Mr. Johnson is closely related to the

persona and his mother, living only three houses away from his. Therefore, the narrator’s

responses to Mr. Johnson are reticent out of fear that he will convey this wrongdoing to his

mother, resulting in excess punishment. To illustrate this connection between him and the

persona, when Mr. Johnson states that “Sculling school not a good thing” it is announced that

he was looking exclusively at the persona, as if expecting better from him.

(ii) How does Mr. Johnson’s behavior make the passage humorous? (3 marks)

Frankly, the humorous aspect of Mr. Johnson’s behavior stems from his cluelessness. Mr.

Johnson asks lots of questions to ascertain the seemingly obvious conclusion that the children

had simply skipped school. For example, in line 16, Mr. Johnson is satisfied with the pathetic

excuse of “half-day” knowing fully well that his son (a fellow student) did not inform him of this.

To contrast, Mr. Rygin is much more perceptive of these blantant excuses. Therefore, to rescue
the unobservant Mr. Johnson, he seems obligated to forcefully interject the fact that “Is scull

the bwai them scull school.” This results in a humorous explosion of the basic fact, kindled by

Mr. Johnson’s cluelessness to the truth.