The extract question
You should aim to write around one side on the extract, and you should use about ten quotes, which you discuss within your response. The extract covers assessment objectives AO1 and AO2.
AO1
Respond to texts critically and imaginatively; select and evaluate relevant textual detail to illustrate and support interpretations
AO2
Explain how language, structure and form contribute to writers’ presentation of ideas, themes and settings
As you can see, you are being asked to give your own opinion about the text; build a discussion and quote directly – as well as talk about the way the writer has used language and form to create particular effects.
The question
Higher tier
Read the extract then answer the following question. With close reference to the extract, show how Robert Cormier creates mood and atmosphere here.
Foundation tier
Read the extract then answer the following question. What thoughts and feelings do you have as you read this extract? Give reasons for what you say, and remember to support your answer with words and phrases from the extract.
- Make sure that you focus just on this extract.
- You are being asked to find examples to support your discussion of the way that Robert Cormier creates mood and atmosphere for the reader.
The extract
The game began.
My serve:
Paddle met ball. I didn’t try for speed or spin, merely wanted to place the ball in proper position, without risk, and then play my defensive game. My heartbeat was steady, my body poised for action. The ball came back to me. I returned. Came again and again I returned. Larry LaSalle’s return was placed perfectly, at the edge of the table, almost impossible for me to reach but somehow I reached it, returned it, throwing him off balance. My point. Next point his, then mine again. Then his.
We were half-way through the game, the score standing at 13–12, my serve, when I realized that he was letting me win, was guiding the game with such skill that no one but me realized what he was doing. He cleverly missed my returns by what seemed like a thousandth of an inch, feigning frustration, and placed his returns in seemingly impossible spots, but within my reach.
The noise of the crowd receded, diminished to a hush, broken only by the plopping of the ball on the table, the soft clunk of the ball on the rubber dimples of our paddles. A giant sigh rose from the crowd when an impressive point was made. I dared not take my eyes away from the game to look at Nicole.
Two games were being played at the same time, the sharp, take-no-prisoners game the hushed audience was observing and the subtle tender game in which Larry LaSalle was letting me win.
Finally, the score stood at 20–19. My favour. One point away from victory. I resisted meeting Larry LaSalle’s eyes. It was still his serve. Crouching, waiting, I finally looked at him, saw his narrowed eyes. They were suddenly inscrutable, mysterious. A shudder made me tremble, as I realized that he could easily win the next two points and take the championship away from me. He could win it so easily and so humiliatingly that the crowd – Nicole – would know instantly that he had been toying with me all along.
The perfect serve came my way but my return was perfect. We entered a see-saw cycle, hit and return, repeating endlessly, near-misses and lunging stabs, until finally the ball came to my side, a breath-taking shot that veered to the table’s edge, causing the crowd to gasp, although he and I knew that it was within my reach. His final gift to me. Lunging, I returned the ball to the only place it could go, impossible for him to return.
Making a start
First of all, you need to think about the following points:
- What is happening in this extract to interest the reader?
- Which words and phrases are effective in describing the mood and atmosphere?
