Critical Reading – Prose

Before you read the story – Answer the questions and share your answers with a partner

1. Would you describe yourself as good or bad at passing tests?

2. How do you feel when you know you have a test coming up?
3. Have you ever been given a test that you felt was unfair?

As you read, complete the following tasks

1. Highlight all the times the driving inspector calls Marian by the wrong name.
2. Underline all the times the driving inspector uses what he thinks is a southern accent, a southern
dialect or expression.

The Test
On the afternoon Marian took her second driver’s test, Mrs Ericson went with her. ‘It’s probably better to
have someone a little older with you.’ Mrs Ericson said as Marian slipped into the driver’s seat beside her.
‘Perhaps the last time your cousin Bill made you nervous, talking too much on the way.’

‘Yes, Ma’am,’ Marian said in her soft unaccented voice. ‘They probably do like it better if a white person
shows up with you.’

‘Oh, I don’t think it’s that,’ Mrs Ericson began, and subsided after a glance at the girl’s set profile. Marian
drove the car slowly through the shady suburban streets. It was one of the first hot days in June, and when
they reached the boulevard they found it crowded with cars headed for the beaches.

‘Do you want me to drive?’ Mrs Ericson asked. ‘I’ll be glad to if you’re feeling jumpy.’ Marian shook her
head. Mrs Ericson watched her dark, competent hands and wondered for the thousandth time how the
house had ever managed to get along without her, or how she had lived through those earlier years when
her household had been presided over by a series of slatternly white girls who considered housework
demeaning and the care of children added insult. ‘You drive beautifully, Marian’ she said. ‘Now don’t
think of the last time. Anybody would slide on a steep hill on a wet day like that.’

‘It takes four mistakes to flunk you,’ Marian said. ‘I don’t remember doing all the things the inspector
marked down on my blank.’

‘People say they only want you to slip them a little something,’ Mrs Ericson said doubtfully.

‘No,’ Marian said. ‘That would make it worse, Mrs Ericson, I know.’

The car turned right at a traffic signal into a side road and slid to the curb at the rear of a short line of
parked cars. The inspectors had not arrived yet.

‘You got the papers?’ Mrs Ericson asked. Marian took them out of her bag: her learner’s permit, the car
registration, and her birth certificate. They settled down to the dreary business of waiting.

‘It will be marvellous to have someone dependable to drive the children to school every day,’ Mrs Ericson
said.

Marian looked up from the list of driving requirements she had been studying. ‘It’ll make things simpler at
the house, won’t it?’ she said.
‘Oh Marian,’ Mrs Ericson exclaimed, ‘If only I could pay you half of what you’re worth!’

‘Now, Mrs Ericson,’ Marian said firmly. They looked at each other and smiled with affection.

Two cars with official insignia on their doors stopped across the street. The inspectors leaped out, very
brisk and military in their neat uniforms. Marian’s hand tightened on the wheel. ‘There’s the one who
flunked me last time,’ she whispered, pointing to a stocky, self-important man who had begun to shout
directions at the driver at the head of the line. ‘Oh, Mrs Ericson.’

‘Now Marian,’ Mrs Ericson said. They smiled at each other again, rather weakly.

The inspector who finally reached their car was not the stocky one, but a genial, middle-aged man who
grunted broadly as he thumbed over their papers. Mrs Ericson started to get out of the car. ‘Don’t you
want to come along?’ the inspector asked, ‘Mandy and I don’t mind company.’

Mrs Ericson was bewildered for a moment. ‘No,’ she said, and stepped to the curb. ‘I might make Marian
self-conscious. She’s a fine driver, Inspector.’

‘Sure thing,’ the inspector said, winking at Mrs Ericson. He slid into the seat beside Marin. ‘Turn right at
the corner, Mandy-Lou.’

From the curb, Mrs Ericson watched the car move smoothly up the street.

The inspector made notations in a small black book. ‘Age?’ he inquired presently, as they drove along.

‘Twenty-seven.’

He looked at Marian out the corner of his eye. ‘Old enough to have quite a flock of pickaninnies, eh?’

Marian did not answer.

‘Left at this corner,’ the inspector said, ‘and park between the truck and the green Buick.’

The two cars were very close together, but Marian squeezed in between them without too much
manoeuvring. ‘Driven before, Mandy=Lou?’ the inspector asked.

‘Yes, sir, I had a license for three years in Pennsylvania.’

‘Why do you want to drive a car?’

‘My employer needs me to take her children to and from school.’

‘Sure you don’t really want to sneak out nights to meet some young blood?’ the inspector asked. He
laughed as Marian shook her head.

‘Let’s see you take a left at the corner and then turn around in the middle of the next block,’ the inspector
said. He began to whistle ‘Swanee River.’ ‘Make you homesick?’ he asked.

Marian put out her hand, swung around neatly in the street and headed back in the direction from which
they had come. ‘No,’ she said, ‘I was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania.’

The inspector feigned astonishment. ‘You-all ain’t Southern!’ he said. ‘Well dog my cats if I didn’t think
you-all came from down yondah.’
‘No, sir,’ Marian said.

‘Turn onto Main Street and let’s see how you-all does in heavier traffic.’

They followed a line of cars along Main Street for several blocks until they came in sight of a concrete
bridge which arched high over the railroad tracks.

‘Read that sign at the end of the bridge,’ the inspector said.

‘”Proceed with caution. Dangerous in slippery weather.”’

‘You-all sho can read fine,’ the inspector exclaimed. ‘Where d’you-all learn to do that, Mandy?’

‘I got my college degree last year,’ Marian said. Her voice was not quite steady.

As the car crept up the slope of the bridge the inspector burst out laughing. He laughed so hard he could
scarcely give his direction. ‘Stop here,’ he said, wiping his eyes, ‘then start ‘er up again. Mandy got her
degree did she? Dog my cats.’

Marian pulled up beside the curb. She put the car in neutral, pulled on the emergency brake, waited a
moment and then put the car into gear again. Her face was set. As she released the brake her foot slipped
off the clutch pedal and the engine stalled.

‘Now, Mistress Mandy,’ the inspector said, ‘remember your degree.’

‘Damn you!’ Marian cried. She started the car with a jerk.

The inspector lost his joviality in an instant. ‘Return to the starting place, please,’ he said, and made four
very black crosses at random on the squares on Marian’s application blank.

Mrs Ericson was waiting at the curb where they had left her. As Marian stopped the car, the inspector
jumped out and brushed past her, his face purple. ‘What happened?’ Mrs Ericson asked, looking after him
with alarm.

Marian stared down at the wheel and her lip trembled.

‘Oh Marian, again?’ Mrs Ericson asked.

Marian nodded. ‘In a sort of different way,’ she said, and slid over to the other side of the car.

Angelica Gibb

Thinking through – Answer the following questions

• When is the first point we realise Marian is black and the other characters are white? How do we
know this?
• Why does Marian keep failing her driving test?
• In your opinion, would she have passed if Mrs Ericson had gone along in the car with them?

Questions

1. Which dialect word in paragraph 5 tells you the country it is set in?
 2. Which dialect word used in paragraph 35 tells you the country it is set in?
3. Which factual word in paragraphs 24, 26 and 31 tells you country it is set in?
4. Look at paragraphs 30 and 32. Which area of the country is this story set in?
5. Look at paragraph 31. What does Marian do which drivers do not need to do nowadays?
6. Find 3 pieces of evidence that show that Marian is a good driver and in your own words explain
how these quotations show us that she is a good driver.
7. Write down 2 times when Marian seems to know best and explain in your own words how this
shows that she understands the situation better than Mrs Ericson.
8. Why does the writer work hard to make Marian seem very able, and more aware of the situations
than her employer?

Character relationships

Marian and the Driving Inspector

• He speaks to her in a southern accent and calls her by the wrong name.
• This is linked to the history of slavery in merica. 1000s of Africans were brought to work in the
southern states of America where their white owners controlled their lives and even picked new
names for them.
• Slavery ended in the 1860s after the American Civil War and this story is set almost 100 years later.
• By talking to Marina as if she must be from the south he is showing outdated ideas about the lives
of black people.
• By choosing to call her a different name he is attempting to control her.

Look at paragraphs 16-18

1. Apart from using the wrong name, how else do we see the inspector trying to control Marian?
2. How does Mrs Ericson try to correct the Inspector?

There is a contrast between the way that the inspector speaks and the way Marian speaks. The
Inspector often speaks in assumptions that show his opinions but Marian speaks in facts.

3. Read through the story. Each time you find an example of the inspector making an assumption,
quote what he says and explain in your own words what he assumes about Marian (look for his
assumptions about her family, sex life, education, intelligence, honesty and background)
4. Underline each time that Marian speaks in facts and tells the truth.
5. Why do you think Marian only speaks in facts?
6. Is there ever an example of her speaking to him in a different way? Quote the example in your
answer.
7. What happens the only time she speaks in a different way?

They way they speak is just one difference between them. One other difference is that Marian is more
educated than the inspector.

8. Create a mindmap of all the ways that Marian and the inspector are different.

Marian and Mrs Ericson

9. Create a mindmap to show all the ways that Marian and Mrs Ericson are different.
10. Can you find any suggestion that Marian thinks her employer is taking advantage of her?
Despite these differences the two women seem to have a close relationship. For each of the statements
below find a piece of evidence from the story to prove it is true and write it in your jotter.

11. Mrs Ericson thinks that Marina deserves to pass her test.
12. Mrs Ericson is able to accept that Marian may know best.
13. Mrs Ericson wants to help Marian stay calm.
14. Mrs Ericson encourages Marian.
15. Mrs Ericson relies on Marian.
16. Mrs Ericson appreciates Marian.
17. The two women are fond of each other.

‘Oh Marian,’ Mrs Ericson exclaimed, ‘If only I could pay you half of what you’re worth!’

‘Now, Mrs Ericson,’ Marian said firmly. They looked at each other and smiled with affection.

18. Does Marian think there is any chance of a pay rise? How do you know this?
19. List any reason why you think Mrs Ericson might feel she can’t pay Marian more money?

Two cars with official insignia on their doors stopped across the street. The inspectors leaped out, very
brisk and military in their neat uniforms. Marian’s hand tightened on the wheel. ‘There’s the one who
flunked me last time,’ she whispered, pointing to a stocky, self-important man who had begun to shout
directions at the driver at the head of the line. ‘Oh, Mrs Ericson.’

Word Choice Quote individual words and comment on their connotations (what the
word makes you think of) then explain the effect.

20. Why do you think the writer chose to use these examples of word choice to describe what is
happening at the driving test centre? Explain each example.
21. Look for another 5 examples of word choice that have been used to create effect and explain what
effect they have?

Extension Tasks
• Explain how the title literally fits the story.
• Explain how the title has a deeper, figurative meaning too.
• Mindmap what we learnt about the themes and what actions illustrate these themes.

The Test Notes

Introduction: 'The Test' is a short story written by Angelica Gibbs in the 1940s. 'The Test' illustrates the
issue of power abuse, where actions all originate from personal prejudices and ignorance. The main point
of both these stories was to raise awareness of racial prejudice which was a common occurrence in the
1940s, much more than today. This story enforces the views that race has no impact on a person’s ability
to do the same things as a person from a different race.

Summary: The test is about a black woman, Marian, going for a test for her driver’s license. She has failed
to attain a driver’s license despite numerous attempts due to her ethnicity. In the story, her racist driving
instructor adopts an indifferent attitude towards her, and thus continuously insults her heritage. Marian,
being unable to hold back her anger anymore finally snaps and lashes out at the instructor, resulting in her
failure.

Themes: Racism, Anger, Sympathy, Dislike, Honesty, Unpleasant situation, Unfair treatment

Characters

MARION: - a picture emerges of a young woman who is: - intelligent, perceptive, discrete, self- controlled
determined, hard-working, reliable aware of her personal dignity and she is - 27, coloured, from
Pennsylvania (no accent), college graduate.

MRS. ERICSON: If asked if she were racist, Mrs. Ericson would deny it and yet, not only is she very aware of
Marion’s colour, it also influences her attitude and behaviour towards her. (n.b. how unwittingly
patronising she is to Marion!) She gives the impression of being culpably unaware of what is happening
around her and appears to be a rather silly, selfish, inefficient woman whose fondness for Marion does not
excuse her behaviour towards her. NB- she is nervous about M’s driving she asks her if she remembered
the documents she reminds her of her last failure she sees M. as the ideal nanny and wants her to be able
to drive so that she can use her she tries to deny the real reason for M.’s failure.

THE INSPECTOR: Despite his genial exterior, he is clearly racist. He degrades Marion by changing her name,
winking at Mrs E. When he is alone with M. he is deeply insulting- he does not understand her need to
drive unless it’s to meet a “young blood”- he whistles Swanee River and uses a caricatured accent and
vocabulary when speaking to her - he pretends to be surprised that she is literate, laughs at her degree and
assumes that she has several children.

AUTHOR’S PURPOSE AND ATTITUDE: Angelica Gibbs, like all writers is simply using the events and the
characters in this story to make a comment on life as she understands it. What is her purpose here? What
does she feel about what happens to Marion? How do you know? Similarly, each character represents a
type of human being. What does the writer feel about the” Marians” of this world and the” Mrs. Ericsons”
and” Inspectors”?

Quotations

“soft, unaccented voice”

“dark, competent hands”

“Her voice was not quite steady”

“The Inspector burst out laughing”…..

“wiping his eyes”

“The inspector lost his joviality in an instant”

“They probably do like it better if a white person....”

“Damn you!”

“if only I could pay you half of what you’re worth”

“Turn right at the corner, Mandy-Lou”

“old enough to have a flock of pickaninnies”

“Mandy got her degree, did she? Dog my cats!”

 Essay writing – Answer the essay question below.

How does the short story ‘The Test’ make you feel great sympathy for a character? Briefly outline the
situation in which the character finds himself or herself in and show by what means you are made to feel
sympathy.

Introduction

A short story that has a character that the reader feels sympathy for is 'The Test' by Angelica Gibb. ‘The
Test’ is about ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
In order to analyse how Gibb creates sympathy for……………………………………. the techniques of ………………….
.................................................................................................................................................will be examined.

Main Body

Topic sentence Quotation Explanation Evaluation

One way that Gibb “Old enough ……… This phrase means............................ Therefore Gibb is able to
creates sympathy is …………………………. Gibb uses this to illustrate the view create sympathy as Marian
through the racist …………………………. of the inspector and how he feels is subjected to racist and
language. pickaninnies” like he is justified to insult and cruel insults designed to
verbally abuse Marian. hurt her.

Another way Gibb “If only........ The use of the word “worth” makes Through this Gibb creates
creates sympathy is …........................ Marian seem link she is a sympathy for Marian
through the relationship ….............” possession. This highlights that because …………………………
between Marian and ………………………………… ….........................................
Mrs Ericson ………………………………………. ............................................
............................................
The relationship “Mandy ……………… Through the use of “Mandy” it is Through this phrase there
between Marian and the …………………………… evident that ……………………………….. is a sympathetic feeling
Inspector also creates ………………………….” …………………………………………………… created as………................
sympathy. Additionally the use of a question ……………………………………..
illustrates …………………………………..
Additionally sympathy is “They probably do This quotation illustrates …………… Therefore this creates
created through ………….. ………………………….” …………………………………………………….. sympathy as …………………..
……………………………………………………… ……………………………………….
………………………………………………………
Finally, the reader feels a “ ……………………… ……………………………………………………… …………………………………………
sympathetic reaction …………………………… ……………………………………………………… …………………………………………
when …………………………. …………………………..” ……………………………………………………… …………………………………………
……………………………………………………… …………………………………………
…………………………………………………….. ……………………………………….

Conclusion: In conclusion in this essay on “ ………………………………………” by …………………………………………………….

it is clear that the reader feels sympathy for ………………………………………………… because ……………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………….. Gibb’s use of …………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………………………….. effectively creates this emotional response
as………………………………………………….. Therefore……………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
 Glossary

Word Definition Example

Simile This is an expression which compares Her hair was as black as

one thing to another using the word night.
‘Like’ or ‘as’.

Metaphor Makes a comparison between two She had a heart of stone.

things by saying that something is
another thing.

Alliteration When the writer chooses words that She sells sea shells on the
start with the same sound to make a sea shore.
phrase stand out.

Tone This is the writer’s attitude to his/her Humorous, serious,

subject and/or audience. questioning, satirical …

Comma Separating marks. They separate items She had to buy bread,
in a list or phrases within a sentence. milk, butter, cheese,
chocolate and crisps.

Personification This is when the writer treats an object The clumsy buttons.
as if it is alive and is a human.

Repetition This is when a word or phrase is used Gas, gas, quick boys.
more that once to make it stand out to
the reader.

Direct Speech These are words and phrases that are “Hello!” she shouted.
spoken by the someone.

Colloquial This is everyday language that we Bit of a surprise, that.

Language would use. It is informal and contains
abbreviations, slang …

Onomatopoeia This is when the sound of a word Pop, bang, crash, shriek
imitates the meaning.