Insert
The source that follows is:
- Source A: 20th-century prose fiction
- The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence
An extract from a work first published in 1915.
This extract is taken from D. H. Lawrence’s The Rainbow, where a man soothes a child in a rain-lashed farm while his wife labours; through hushed, sensory imagery and tense stillness, Lawrence explores intimacy, fear, and the elemental power of nature and birth.
Source A
1 The beasts fed, he dropped the pan and sat down on a box, to arrange the child. “Will the cows go to sleep now?” she said, catching her breath as she spoke.
6 “Yes.” “Will they eat all their stuff up first?” “Yes. Hark at them.”
11 And the two sat still listening to the snuffing and breathing of cows feeding in the sheds communicating with this small barn. The lantern shed a soft, steady light from one wall. All outside was still in the rain. He looked down at the silky folds of the paisley shawl. It reminded him of his mother. She
16 used to go to church in it. He was back again in the old irresponsibility and security, a boy at home. The two sat very quiet. His mind, in a sort of trance, seemed to become more and more vague. He held the child close to him. A quivering little shudder,
21 re-echoing from her sobbing, went down her limbs. He held her closer. Gradually she relaxed, the eyelids began to sink over her dark, watchful eyes. As she sank to sleep, his mind became blank. When he came to, as if from sleep, he seemed to be sitting in a timeless
26 stillness. What was he listening for? He seemed to be listening for some sound a long way off, from beyond life. He remembered his wife. He must go back to her. The child was asleep, the eyelids not quite shut, showing a slight film of black pupil between. Why did she not shut her eyes? Her mouth was also a little open.
31 He rose quickly and went back to the house. “Is she asleep?” whispered Tilly.
36 He nodded. The servant-woman came to look at the child who slept in the shawl, with cheeks flushed hot and red, and a whiteness, a wanness round the eyes. “God-a-mercy!” whispered Tilly, shaking her head.
41 He pushed off his boots and went upstairs with the child. He became aware of the anxiety grasped tight at his heart, because of his wife. But he remained still. The house was silent save for the wind outside, and the noisy trickling and splattering of water in the water-butts. There was a slit of light under his wife’s door.
46 He put the child into bed wrapped as she was in the shawl, for the sheets would be cold. Then he was afraid that she might not be able to move her arms, so he loosened her. The black eyes opened, rested on him vacantly, sank shut again. He covered her up. The last little quiver from the sobbing shook her
51 breathing. This was his room, the room he had had before he married. It was familiar. He remembered what it was to be a young man, untouched.
56 He remained suspended. The child slept, pushing her small fists from the shawl. He could tell the woman her child was asleep. But he must go to the other landing. He started. There was the sound of the owls—the moaning of the woman. What an uncanny sound! It was not human—at least to a man.
61 He went down to her room, entering softly. She was lying still, with eyes shut, pale, tired. His heart leapt, fearing she was dead. Yet he knew perfectly well she was not. He saw the way her hair went loose over her temples, her mouth was shut with suffering in a sort of grin. She was beautiful to him—but it was not human. He had a dread of her as she lay there.
66 What had she to do with him? She was other than himself. Something made him go and touch her fingers that were still grasped on the sheet. Her brown-grey eyes opened and looked at him. She did not know him as himself. But she knew him as the man. She looked at him as a woman in
71 childbirth looks at the man who begot the child in her: an impersonal look, in the extreme hour, female to male. Her eyes closed again. A great, scalding peace went over him, burning his heart and his entrails, passing off into the infinite.
76 When her pains began afresh, tearing her, he turned aside, and could not look. But his heart in torture was at peace, his bowels were glad. He went downstairs, and to the door, outside, lifted his face to the rain, and felt the darkness striking unseen and steadily upon him.
81 The swift, unseen threshing of the night upon him silenced him and he was overcome. He turned away indoors, humbly. There was the infinite world, eternal, unchanging, as well as the world of life.
Questions
Instructions
- Answer all questions.
- Use black ink or black ball point pen.
- Fill in the boxes on this page.
- You must answer the questions in the spaces provided.
- Do not write outside the box around each page or on blank pages.
- Do all rough work in this book. Cross through any work you do not want to be marked.
- You must refer to the insert booklet provided.
- You must not use a dictionary.
Information
- The marks for questions are shown in brackets.
- Time allowed: 1 hour 45 minutes
- The maximum mark for this paper is 80.
- There are 40 marks for Section A and 40 marks for Section B.
- You are reminded of the need for good English and clear presentation in your answers.
- You will be assessed on the quality of your reading in Section A.
- You will be assessed on the quality of your writing in Section B.
Advice
- You are advised to spend about 15 minutes reading through the source and all five questions you have to answer.
- You should make sure you leave sufficient time to check your answers.
Section A: Reading
Answer all questions in this section. You are advised to spend about 45 minutes on this section.
Question 1
Read again the first part of the source, from lines 1 to 5.
Answer all parts of this question.
Choose one answer for each question.
1.1 Where does the man sit?
- On a box
- On a stool
- On a bale of straw
[1 mark]
1.2 What did the adult do with the pan?
- Dropped it
- Filled it with water
- Hung it on a hook
[1 mark]
1.3 What was arranged?
- the child
- the beasts
- the cows
[1 mark]
1.4 What does the child do while asking whether the cows will go to sleep?
- The child catches her breath
- The child holds her breath
- The child whispers
[1 mark]
Question 2
Look in detail at this extract, from lines 11 to 20 of the source:
11 And the two sat still listening to the snuffing and breathing of cows feeding in the sheds communicating with this small barn. The lantern shed a soft, steady light from one wall. All outside was still in the rain. He looked down at the silky folds of the paisley shawl. It reminded him of his mother. She
16 used to go to church in it. He was back again in the old irresponsibility and security, a boy at home. The two sat very quiet. His mind, in a sort of trance, seemed to become more and more vague. He held the child close to him. A quivering little shudder,
How does the writer use language here to create mood and show the man's thoughts? You could include the writer's choice of:
- words and phrases
- language features and techniques
- sentence forms.
[8 marks]
Question 3
You now need to think about the structure of the source as a whole. This text is from the end of a story.
How has the writer structured the text to create a sense of awe?
You could write about:
- how awe intensifies by the end of the source
- how the writer uses structure to create an effect
- the writer's use of any other structural features, such as changes in mood, tone or perspective.
[8 marks]
Question 4
For this question focus on the second part of the source, from line 16 to the end.
In this part of the source, the husband sees his wife in labour and thinks she looks 'not human'. The writer suggests that this powerful experience has made her seem completely different and separate from him.
To what extent do you agree and/or disagree with this statement?
In your response, you could:
- consider your impressions of the husband's perception of his wife
- comment on the methods the writer uses to suggest the distance between them
- support your response with references to the text.
[20 marks]
Question 5
Your local history group is publishing a booklet of creative writing about unsolved mysteries.
Choose one of the options below for your entry.
-
Option A: Describe a sealed or hidden room from your imagination. You may choose to use the picture provided for ideas:
-
Option B: Write the opening of a story about finding an object that does not belong.
(24 marks for content and organisation, 16 marks for technical accuracy)
[40 marks]