Insert
The source that follows is:
- Source A: 19th-century prose fiction
- Thérèse Raquin by Émile Zola
An extract from a work first published in 1867.
This extract is from Émile Zola’s Thérèse Raquin (1867), in which the narrator describes the gloomy Arcade of the Pont Neuf and a dingy mercery shop, establishing a claustrophobic Parisian setting through bleak imagery, damp decay, and the hurried silence of passers-by.
Source A
1 At the end of the Rue Guénégaud, coming from the quays, you find the Arcade of the Pont Neuf, a sort of narrow, dark corridor running from the Rue Mazarine to the Rue de Seine. This arcade, at the most, is thirty paces long by two in breadth. It is paved with worn, loose, yellowish tiles which are never free from acrid damp. The square panes of glass forming the roof, are black with
6 filth. On fine days in the summer, when the streets are burning with heavy sun, whitish light falls from the dirty glazing overhead to drag miserably through the arcade. On nasty days in winter, on foggy mornings, the glass throws
11 nothing but darkness on the sticky tiles—unclean and abominable gloom. To the left are obscure, low, dumpy shops whence issue puffs of air as cold as if coming from a cellar. Here are dealers in toys, cardboard boxes, second- hand books. The articles displayed in their windows are covered with dust, and
16 owing to the prevailing darkness, can only be perceived indistinctly. The shop fronts, formed of small panes of glass, streak the goods with a peculiar greenish reflex. Beyond, behind the display in the windows, the dim interiors resemble a number of lugubrious cavities animated by fantastic forms.
21 To the right, along the whole length of the arcade, extends a wall against which the shopkeepers opposite have stuck some small cupboards. Objects without a name, goods forgotten for twenty years, are spread out there on thin shelves painted a horrible brown colour. A dealer in imitation jewelry has set up shop in one of these cupboards, and there sells fifteen sous rings,
26 delicately set out on a cushion of blue velvet at the bottom of a mahogany box. Above the glazed cupboards, ascends the roughly plastered black wall, looking as if covered with leprosy, and all seamed with defacements.
31 The Arcade of the Pont Neuf is not a place for a stroll. You take it to make a short cut, to gain a few minutes. It is traversed by busy people whose sole aim is to go quick and straight before them. You see apprentices there in their working-aprons, work-girls taking home their work, persons of both sexes
36 with parcels under their arms. There are also old men who drag themselves forward in the sad gloaming that falls from the glazed roof, and bands of small children who come to the arcade on leaving school, to make a noise by stamping their feet on the tiles as they run along. Throughout the day a sharp hurried ring of footsteps resounds on the stone with irritating irregularity.
41 Nobody speaks, nobody stays there, all hurry about their business with bent heads, stepping out rapidly, without taking a single glance at the shops. The tradesmen observe with an air of alarm, the passers-by who by a miracle stop before their windows.
46 The arcade is lit at night by three gas burners, enclosed in heavy square lanterns. These jets of gas, hanging from the glazed roof whereon they cast spots of fawn-coloured light, shed around them circles of pale glimmer that seem at moments to disappear. The arcade now assumes the aspect of a regular cut-throat alley. Great shadows stretch along the tiles, damp puffs of air
51 enter from the street. Anyone might take the place for a subterranean gallery indistinctly lit-up by three funeral lamps. The tradespeople for all light are contented with the faint rays which the gas burners throw upon their windows. Inside their shops, they merely have a lamp with a shade, which they place at the corner of their counter, and the passer-by can then distinguish what the
56 depths of these holes sheltering night in the daytime, contain. On this blackish line of shop fronts, the windows of a cardboard-box maker are flaming: two schist-lamps pierce the shadow with a couple of yellow flames. And, on the other side of the arcade a candle, stuck in the middle of an argand lamp glass, casts glistening stars into the box of imitation jewelry.
61 The dealer is dozing in her cupboard, with her hands hidden under her shawl. A few years back, opposite this dealer, stood a shop whose bottle-green woodwork excreted damp by all its cracks. On the signboard, made of a long narrow plank, figured, in black letters the word: MERCERY. And on one of the
66 panes of glass in the door was written, in red, the name of a woman: Thérèse Raquin. To right and left were deep show cases, lined with blue paper. During the daytime the eye could only distinguish the display of goods, in a soft, obscured light.
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 At the end of which street do you find the Arcade of the Pont Neuf?
- Rue Guénégaud
- Rue Mazarine
- Rue de Seine
[1 mark]
1.2 According to the narrator, at the end of which street is the Arcade of the Pont Neuf found?
- Rue Guénégaud
- Rue Mazarine
- Rue de Seine
[1 mark]
1.3 At the most, how many paces long is the arcade?
- Twenty paces
- Thirty paces
- Forty paces
[1 mark]
1.4 What forms the roof?
- square panes of glass
- yellowish tiles
- acrid damp
[1 mark]
Question 2
Look in detail at this extract, from lines 6 to 15 of the source:
6 filth. On fine days in the summer, when the streets are burning with heavy sun, whitish light falls from the dirty glazing overhead to drag miserably through the arcade. On nasty days in winter, on foggy mornings, the glass throws
11 nothing but darkness on the sticky tiles—unclean and abominable gloom. To the left are obscure, low, dumpy shops whence issue puffs of air as cold as if coming from a cellar. Here are dealers in toys, cardboard boxes, second- hand books. The articles displayed in their windows are covered with dust, and
How does the writer use language here to describe the arcade and its atmosphere? 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 start of a novel.
How has the writer structured the text to create a sense of eeriness?
You could write about:
- how eeriness intensifies throughout 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 31 to the end.
In this part of the source, the shops are described as dusty and forgotten. The writer suggests that the arcade is a place where everything, including the people, is left to slowly decay.
To what extent do you agree and/or disagree with this statement?
In your response, you could:
- consider your impressions of the arcade as a place of decay
- comment on the methods the writer uses to portray the dusty forgotten shops
- support your response with references to the text.
[20 marks]
Question 5
An organisation that maintains national trails is collecting creative pieces for its new website.
Choose one of the options below for your entry.
-
Option A: Describe a path through wild coastal heathland from your imagination. You may choose to use the picture provided for ideas:
-
Option B: Write the opening of a story about a journey that changes everything.
(24 marks for content and organisation, 16 marks for technical accuracy)
[40 marks]