Model questions, answer and personal response

The following are the novels studied in the literature components in English Language.

Catch Us If You Can  - Catherine MacPhail
Step By Wicked Step  -  Anne Fine
The Curse                       -  Lee Su Ann

Choose any one  of the novels above and answer the questions below.

“It is important to have a person that you look up to in your life.”

From the novel that you have read, write about one character that you look up to. Give reasons why you choose him/her.

Starting

The novel that I have chosen is “Step by Wicked Step” by Anne Fine. Richard Harwick’s story is heart-rending with its tale of a lonely rich boy who is unable to accept that someone has taken the place of his father who has passed away.

A CHARACTER WHO DESERVES OUR SYMPATHY

Richard Clayton Harwick

-          Runs away from home

-          Unbearable living with his stepfather

REASON 1

-          Always lost and lonely child – nobody tells him about his dying father, has to be brave, father – take care of his mother and sister. Only a young lad.

-          Family fails to understand him. Hurt but cannot speak out. No one to talk to.

REASON 2

-          Mother remarries a cold and unfeeling character – conform to his ways

-          Accuses Richard to be wild and undisciplined

-          Sends Richard to Mordanger School (4 years)

-          Comes back – mother and sister get along well with Mr. Coldstone.

-          Could not take it – decides to run away

-          Torn between hatred for his stepfather and his love for his mother and sister.

REASON 3

-          Makes a wrong decision

-          Immatured – running away solve problems

-          Has severe consequences on his mother, his sister and even his stepfather.

-          Does more harm, mother dies of heartbreak trying to locate him, his stepfather of fury when he finds that Richard is the owner of Old Harwick Hall, and his sister marries someone whom she does not love but wealthy to keep the search for him till her dying day.

-          Richard not happy – decision resulted in so much sorrow

CONCLUSION

•      Brought suffering upon himself – immatured

•      Led a sheltered life until sudden death of his father

•      Tears his whole world apart and heaps a pile of responsibilities upon his frail shoulders

•      Deserves our sympathy

FAMILY LOVE IS IMPORTANT

•      Important ingredient for happiness

•      Before father’s death, can assume Richard’s family as close-knit and full of love.

•      After father’s death, hatred for stepfather, love is gone, left with sorrow and pain.

RICHARD LOVES HIS FATHER

•      Hurt and angry – no one tells him that his father is dying.

•      Only summoned to his father’s deathbed after suffering much anxiety

•      Disappointed – father did not notice instead wants him to be brave

•      Mr. Coldstone finds him to be rude and disrespectful. He treats him even more harshly after he becomes his stepfather. Richard clashes violently with him. He declares he will be “no son of his”

RICHARD LOVES HIS MOTHER AND SISTER

•      Disappointed that his mother does not stick up for him when Mr Coldstone puts pressure

•      Charlotte and Richard – Coldstone causes a rift between them. Richard accuses his sister of having forgotten their father. He refuses to hear his sister out and thinks that is better for everyone if he leaves home.

•      Torn between love for his mother and sister and hatred for his stepfather.

•      Runs away, sacrificing his love. Comes twice to the mansion. Coldstone – does not go in.

MOTHER LOVES RICHARD

•      Yearns to see him after his departure. It creates extreme grief for his mother who never stops looking for him

•      Ends up spending the family’s fortune

•      Dies of a broken heart without ever seeing him again

CHARLOTTE LOVES RICHARD

•      Also made an ultimate sacrifice for Richard

•      16^th birthday marries a man, Charles Devere whom she does not love but wealthy – to keep alive the search for Richard.

•      She seems to die ‘in fever of childbirth” as she predicts before Richard is found.

•      Richard’s mother and sister’s share of waiting and hoping to reunite with Richard were in vain

RICHARD’S LOVE FOR FAMILY

•      Loves but not strong enough to face obstacles that come along

•      Love is important to keep a family together – strong and deep to stand any test

•      Richard loves his family but his deep hatred has clouded his judgement.

•      He needs to learn to accept  the fact that his father is dead and he has to move on, as his sister Charlotte pleads him to. He cannot run away from a problem and think that by doing so it will solve the problem.

CONCLUSION

•      Richard’s rash decision to leave home causes devastating ripple effect which leaves him a broken man when he learns from his sister’s letter of what has happened during his time away. Richard’s action offers a powerful lesson about the need to think carefully before making any decision.

•      Therefore, we see how important the family unit is, whether it is a normal family unit or reconstructed one of step parents. The family unit is important to ensure that the children can grow up in a happy and healthy environment.

•      Mr Coldstone’s negative character and behaviour teach us to be more thoughtful and forgiving. His character also teaches us not to feel that we must always have the upper hand in our dealings and not to be too grasping. In wanting to control everything from the household and the people in it, Mr Coldstone loses everything in the end.

THEME OF RESPONSIBILITY

•      Divorce or separation in the family – frightening for children – caught in between.

•      Complicated – when a parent remarries – cope with a total stranger under the same roof. (give textual evidence- When Richard’s father dies and his mother marries Mr Coldstone, his whole world falls apart. He hates the cruel and overbearing  Coldstone but he has no one to complain to and he cannot depend on his weak mother to defend him.

•      Responsible parents help children to adjust to the situation. However, irresponsible adult like Richard’s mother leave their children to fend for themselves and let things spiral out of control. (Textual evidence)

CONCLUSION

•      Children portray responsibility but not adults

•      Children are caught in the web.

•      Richard’s story is heart-wrenching with its tale of a lonely rich boy who cannot come to terms with his father’s death and his mother’s new status as the wife of another man. Unfortunately, having a wicked stepfather and living in the same house with him makes it all the more agonising and impossible for Richard to endure his ordeal. Each person longs to love and to be loved

OTHER THEMES

•      Decision making

•      Expectations in life

•      Dealing with problems

•      Family relationships

•      Adults should look around them and listen.

•      children lack choices and real opportunity to speak frankly and openly about their feelings and situations to the adults around them.

•      Ability to accept the reality of change and be able to move on is essential for the happiness of the person and the people around him. (Richard is unable to accept the new man in his mother’s life. So he makes life miserable for himself, his mother, his stepfather and his sister as well. Richard makes a decision to leave home that brings untold grief to his mother who eventually dies of heartbreak, as well as his sister who misses him till her dying day. His decision also sours his mother’s relationship with his stepfather.)

MORAL VALUES

•      Family relationships should be nurtured and not taken for granted

•      When making decisions, we should take into consideration everyone’s interest.( When parents decide to divorce, their decision not only affects them but their children as well. They break up the family harmony too, without finding out how their children feel)

•      We have expectations like family happiness, support and encouragement from all members of a family.

•      We should work towards retaining a strong family home by giving support and encouragement to everyone.

•      Do not look down on others.

•      Do not give up easily when we are faced with problems.

•      We must try to accept things the way they are and make the best out of it.

LINES TAKEN FROM THE TEXT…..

•      “Now you must be brave for me. I will not have your father go troubled to his grave.”

•      “You must be good to your mother and sister. You are the man of the house now. They will depend on you.”

•      “…I have learnt nothing except how to freeze, and how to starve, and how to be bullied and beaten.”

•      “… I wish it burnt to ashes.”

•      Which is a “cold corner of hell” for him

•      “Its very rumble turns my stomach to knots.”

•      “the black bat”

•      “It was more like a tomb” “… in this silent mausoleum…”