Insert
The source that follows is:
- Source A: 20th-century prose fiction
- The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
An extract from a work first published in 1905.
This extract is taken from Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, where Lily Bart feigns a headache to avoid Mr Gryce and spends an afternoon with Lawrence Selden, whose talk of success as "personal freedom" challenges her careful social manoeuvres and reveals her conflicting desires.
Source A
1 Lily smiled also: his words were too acute not to strike her sense of humour. It was true that she meant to use the accident of his presence as part of a very definite effect; or that, at least, was the secret pretext she had found for breaking her promise to walk with Mr. Gryce. She had sometimes been accused of being too eager—even Judy Trenor had warned her to go slowly. Well,
6 she would not be too eager in this case; she would give her suitor a longer taste of suspense. Where duty and inclination jumped together, it was not in Lily’s nature to hold them asunder. She had excused herself from the walk on the plea of a headache: the horrid headache which, in the morning, had prevented her venturing to church. Her appearance at luncheon justified the
11 excuse. She looked languid, full of a suffering sweetness; she carried a scent-bottle in her hand. Mr. Gryce was new to such manifestations; he wondered rather nervously if she were delicate, having far-reaching fears about the future of his progeny. But sympathy won the day, and he besought her not to expose herself: he always connected the outer air with ideas of
16 exposure. Lily had received his sympathy with languid gratitude, urging him, since she should be such poor company, to join the rest of the party who, after luncheon, were starting in automobiles on a visit to the Van Osburghs at
21 Peekskill. Mr. Gryce was touched by her disinterestedness, and, to escape from the threatened vacuity of the afternoon, had taken her advice and departed mournfully, in a dust-hood and goggles: as the motor-car plunged down the avenue she smiled at his resemblance to a baffled beetle. Selden had watched her manoeuvres with lazy amusement. She had made no reply to his suggestion
26 that they should spend the afternoon together, but as her plan unfolded itself he felt fairly confident of being included in it. The house was empty when at length he heard her step on the stair and strolled out of the billiard-room to join her.
31 She had on a hat and walking-dress, and the dogs were bounding at her feet. “I thought, after all, the air might do me good,” she explained; and he agreed that so simple a remedy was worth trying.
36 The excursionists would be gone at least four hours; Lily and Selden had the whole afternoon before them, and the sense of leisure and safety gave the last touch of lightness to her spirit. With so much time to talk, and no definite object to be led up to, she could taste the rare joys of mental vagrancy.
41 She felt so free from ulterior motives that she took up his charge with a touch of resentment. “I don’t know,” she said, “why you are always accusing me of premeditation.”
46 “I thought you confessed to it: you told me the other day that you had to follow a certain line—and if one does a thing at all it is a merit to do it thoroughly.” “If you mean that a girl who has no one to think for her is obliged to think
51 for herself, I am quite willing to accept the imputation. But you must find me a dismal kind of person if you suppose that I never yield to an impulse.” “Ah, but I don’t suppose that: haven’t I told you that your genius lies in converting impulses into intentions?”
56 “My genius?” she echoed with a sudden note of weariness. “Is there any final test of genius but success? And I certainly haven’t succeeded.” Selden pushed his hat back and took a side-glance at her. “Success—what is
61 success? I shall be interested to have your definition.” “Success?” She hesitated. “Why, to get as much as one can out of life, I suppose. It’s a relative quality, after all. Isn’t that your idea of it?”
66 “My idea of it? God forbid!” He sat up with sudden energy, resting his elbows on his knees and staring out upon the mellow fields. “My idea of success,” he said, “is personal freedom.” “Freedom? Freedom from worries?”
71 “From everything—from money, from poverty, from ease and anxiety, from all the material accidents. To keep a kind of republic of the spirit—that’s what I call success.”
76 She leaned forward with a responsive flash. “I know—I know—it’s strange; but that’s just what I’ve been feeling today.”
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 Who had warned Lily to go slowly?
- Judy Trenor
- Mr Gryce
- the narrator
[1 mark]
1.2 What did Lily mean to use?
- the secret pretext
- breaking her promise
- the accident of his presence
[1 mark]
1.3 What had Lily promised to do with Mr. Gryce?
- To walk with Mr. Gryce
- To dine with Mr. Gryce
- To play cards with Mr. Gryce
[1 mark]
1.4 Who had warned Lily to go slowly?
- Mr. Gryce
- Judy Trenor
- Lily
[1 mark]
Question 2
Look in detail at this extract, from lines 1 to 15 of the source:
1 Lily smiled also: his words were too acute not to strike her sense of humour. It was true that she meant to use the accident of his presence as part of a very definite effect; or that, at least, was the secret pretext she had found for breaking her promise to walk with Mr. Gryce. She had sometimes been accused of being too eager—even Judy Trenor had warned her to go slowly. Well,
6 she would not be too eager in this case; she would give her suitor a longer taste of suspense. Where duty and inclination jumped together, it was not in Lily’s nature to hold them asunder. She had excused herself from the walk on the plea of a headache: the horrid headache which, in the morning, had prevented her venturing to church. Her appearance at luncheon justified the
11 excuse. She looked languid, full of a suffering sweetness; she carried a scent-bottle in her hand. Mr. Gryce was new to such manifestations; he wondered rather nervously if she were delicate, having far-reaching fears about the future of his progeny. But sympathy won the day, and he besought her not to expose herself: he always connected the outer air with ideas of
How does the writer use language to show Lily’s appearance and Mr Gryce’s response? 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 intimacy?
You could write about:
- how intimacy deepens from beginning to end
- 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 description of Mr. Gryce as a 'baffled beetle' makes him seem ridiculous. The writer suggests that Lily sees him as pathetic rather than as a serious suitor.
To what extent do you agree and/or disagree with this statement?
In your response, you could:
- consider your impressions of how the hyena behaves
- comment on the methods the writer uses to present the hyena
- support your response with references to the text.
[20 marks]
Question 5
A TV programme about food markets around the world is asking for short creative pieces for its website.
Choose one of the options below for your entry.
-
Option A: Describe a picnic laid out in an unusual place from your imagination. You may choose to use the picture provided for ideas:
-
Option B: Write the opening of a story about a meal that changes everything.
(24 marks for content and organisation, 16 marks for technical accuracy)
[40 marks]