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 farmer’s wife contrasts her husband’s strength with the vicar’s authority and the squire’s lady’s grace. She convinces herself that education and experience open the ‘beyond’ and longs to secure that for her children.
Source A
1 At home, even so near as Cossethay, was the vicar, who spoke the other, magic language, and had the other, finer bearing, both of which she could perceive, but could never attain to. The vicar moved in worlds
6 beyond where her own menfolk existed. Did she not know her own menfolk: fresh, slow, full-built men, masterful enough, but easy, native to the earth, lacking outwardness and
11 range of motion. Whereas the vicar, dark and dry and small beside her husband, had yet a quickness and a range of being that made Brangwen, in his large geniality, seem dull and
16 local. She knew her husband. But in the vicar’s nature was that which passed beyond her knowledge. As Brangwen had power over the cattle so the vicar had power over her husband. What was it in the vicar,
21 that raised him above the common men as man is raised above the beast? She craved to know. She craved to achieve this higher being, if not in herself, then in her children. That which makes a man strong even if he
26 be little and frail in body, just as any man is little and frail beside a bull, and yet stronger than the bull, what was it? It was not money nor power nor position.
31 What power had the vicar over Tom Brangwen—none. Yet strip them and set them on a desert island, and the vicar was the master. His soul was master of the other man’s. And
36 why—why? She decided it was a question of knowledge. The curate was poor enough, and not very efficacious as a man, either, yet he took rank with those others, the superior. She watched his
41 children being born, she saw them running as tiny things beside their mother. And already they were separate from her own children, distinct. Why were her own children
46 marked below the others? Why should the curate’s children inevitably take precedence over her children, why should dominance be given them from the start? It was not money, nor
51 even class. It was education and experience, she decided. It was this, this education, this higher form of being, that the mother wished
56 to give to her children, so that they too could live the supreme life on earth. For her children, at least the children of her heart, had the complete nature that should take place in equality with the
61 living, vital people in the land, not be left behind obscure among the labourers. Why must they remain obscured and stifled all their lives, why should they suffer from lack of
66 freedom to move? How should they learn the entry into the finer, more vivid circle of life? Her imagination was fired by the squire’s lady at Shelly Hall, who came
71 to church at Cossethay with her little children, girls in tidy capes of beaver fur, and smart little hats, herself like a winter rose, so fair and delicate.
76 So fair, so fine in mould, so luminous, what was it that Mrs. Hardy felt which she, Mrs. Brangwen, did not feel? How was Mrs. Hardy’s nature different from that of the common women of Cossethay, in
81 what was it beyond them? All the women of Cossethay talked eagerly about Mrs. Hardy, of her husband, her children, her guests, her dress, of her servants and her housekeeping. The
86 lady of the Hall was the living dream of their lives, her life was the epic that inspired their lives. In her they lived imaginatively, and in gossiping of her husband
91 who drank, of her scandalous brother, of Lord William Bentley her friend, member of Parliament for the division, they had their own Odyssey enacting itself, Penelope and Ulysses before them, and Circe
96 and the swine and the endless web. So the women of the village were fortunate. They saw themselves in the lady of
101 the manor, each of them lived her own fulfilment of the life of Mrs. Hardy. And the Brangwen wife of the Marsh aspired beyond herself, towards the further life of the finer woman, towards the extended being
106 she revealed, as a traveller in his self-contained manner reveals far-off countries present in himself. But why should a knowledge of far-off countries make a man’s life a
111 different thing, finer, bigger? And why is a man more than the beast and the cattle that serve him? It is the same thing.
116 The male part of the poem was filled in by such men as the vicar and Lord William, lean, eager men with strange movements, men who had command of the further fields, whose lives ranged over a great extent.
121 Ah, it was something very desirable to know, this touch of the wonderful men who had the power of thought and comprehension. The women of the village might be much fonder of
126 Tom Brangwen, and more at their ease with him, yet if their lives had been robbed of the vicar, and of Lord William, the leading shoot would have been cut away from them,
131 they would have been heavy and uninspired and inclined to hate. So long as the wonder of the beyond was before them, they could get along, whatever their lot. And Mrs. Hardy, and the vicar, and Lord William,
136 these moved in the wonder of the beyond, and were visible to the eyes of Cossethay in their motion.
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 Which statement best summarises how the narrator describes the vicar's qualities in relation to the woman?
- The woman recognises the vicar's more refined speech and manner but believes the woman cannot reach that standard.
- The woman notices nothing distinctive about the vicar and thinks the vicar's ways match the woman's.
- The woman judges the vicar's behaviour as rough and beneath the woman, and is confident the woman surpasses the vicar.
[1 mark]
1.2 What is described as 'finer'?
- language
- bearing
- Cossethay
[1 mark]
1.3 What does the vicar move in?
- worlds
- home
- Cossethay
[1 mark]
1.4 What does the farmer’s wife conclude about the vicar’s language and bearing, and about the farmer’s wife’s ability to achieve these qualities?
- The farmer’s wife believes that the vicar has a different, magic language and a finer bearing, but that these qualities are beyond the farmer’s wife’s reach.
- The farmer’s wife believes that the vicar’s language and bearing can be learnt and matched by the farmer’s wife.
- The farmer’s wife believes that the vicar is far from Cossethay and seldom present locally.
[1 mark]
Question 2
Look in detail at this extract, from lines 11 to 138 of the source:
11 range of motion. Whereas the vicar, dark and dry and small beside her husband, had yet a quickness and a range of being that made Brangwen, in his large geniality, seem dull and
16 local. She knew her husband. But in the vicar’s nature was that which passed beyond her knowledge. As Brangwen had power over the cattle so the vicar had power over her husband. What was it in the vicar,
21 that raised him above the common men as man is raised above the beast? She craved to know. She craved to achieve this higher being, if not in herself, then in her children. That which makes a man strong even if he
26 be little and frail in body, just as any man is little and frail beside a bull, and yet stronger than the bull, what was it? It was not money nor power nor position.
31 What power had the vicar over Tom Brangwen—none. Yet strip them and set them on a desert island, and the vicar was the master. His soul was master of the other man’s. And
36 why—why? She decided it was a question of knowledge. The curate was poor enough, and not very efficacious as a man, either, yet he took rank with those others, the superior. She watched his
41 children being born, she saw them running as tiny things beside their mother. And already they were separate from her own children, distinct. Why were her own children
46 marked below the others? Why should the curate’s children inevitably take precedence over her children, why should dominance be given them from the start? It was not money, nor
51 even class. It was education and experience, she decided. It was this, this education, this higher form of being, that the mother wished
56 to give to her children, so that they too could live the supreme life on earth. For her children, at least the children of her heart, had the complete nature that should take place in equality with the
61 living, vital people in the land, not be left behind obscure among the labourers. Why must they remain obscured and stifled all their lives, why should they suffer from lack of
66 freedom to move? How should they learn the entry into the finer, more vivid circle of life? Her imagination was fired by the squire’s lady at Shelly Hall, who came
71 to church at Cossethay with her little children, girls in tidy capes of beaver fur, and smart little hats, herself like a winter rose, so fair and delicate.
76 So fair, so fine in mould, so luminous, what was it that Mrs. Hardy felt which she, Mrs. Brangwen, did not feel? How was Mrs. Hardy’s nature different from that of the common women of Cossethay, in
81 what was it beyond them? All the women of Cossethay talked eagerly about Mrs. Hardy, of her husband, her children, her guests, her dress, of her servants and her housekeeping. The
86 lady of the Hall was the living dream of their lives, her life was the epic that inspired their lives. In her they lived imaginatively, and in gossiping of her husband
91 who drank, of her scandalous brother, of Lord William Bentley her friend, member of Parliament for the division, they had their own Odyssey enacting itself, Penelope and Ulysses before them, and Circe
96 and the swine and the endless web. So the women of the village were fortunate. They saw themselves in the lady of
101 the manor, each of them lived her own fulfilment of the life of Mrs. Hardy. And the Brangwen wife of the Marsh aspired beyond herself, towards the further life of the finer woman, towards the extended being
106 she revealed, as a traveller in his self-contained manner reveals far-off countries present in himself. But why should a knowledge of far-off countries make a man’s life a
111 different thing, finer, bigger? And why is a man more than the beast and the cattle that serve him? It is the same thing.
116 The male part of the poem was filled in by such men as the vicar and Lord William, lean, eager men with strange movements, men who had command of the further fields, whose lives ranged over a great extent.
121 Ah, it was something very desirable to know, this touch of the wonderful men who had the power of thought and comprehension. The women of the village might be much fonder of
126 Tom Brangwen, and more at their ease with him, yet if their lives had been robbed of the vicar, and of Lord William, the leading shoot would have been cut away from them,
131 they would have been heavy and uninspired and inclined to hate. So long as the wonder of the beyond was before them, they could get along, whatever their lot. And Mrs. Hardy, and the vicar, and Lord William,
136 these moved in the wonder of the beyond, and were visible to the eyes of Cossethay in their motion.
How does the writer use language here to present the differences between the vicar and the men she knows? 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 yearning?
You could write about:
- how yearning intensifies 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 36 to the end.
In this part of the source, Mrs. Brangwen imagines the vicar and her husband on a desert island. The writer suggests that real power comes from knowledge, as this would make the weaker vicar the master.
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 suggest the mysterious quality of the vicar's knowledge
- support your response with references to the text.
[20 marks]
Question 5
At the community centre's winter storytelling evening, guests will hear selected student pieces before the raffle.
Choose one of the options below for your entry.
-
Option A: Write a description of a shadowy storeroom under the community centre from your imagination. You may choose to use the picture provided for ideas:
-
Option B: Write the opening of a story about a town tradition that hides a secret.
(24 marks for content and organisation, 16 marks for technical accuracy)
[40 marks]