Exam-style questions for Refugee Boy - Edexcel

• Refugee Boy is examined in Paper 1, Section B (Post 1914 Prose/ Drama) of your GCSE English Literature exam.

• You will be asked to write an essay on a character, theme or relationship from Refugee Boy.

• This is a closed book exam so you will not be allowed to take a copy of the text in with you.

Remember

In your answer you should:

• Write about key ideas, moments and characters

• Refer to the play as a whole

• Refer to the wider context and messages in the play

• Write carefully and check the accuracy of your work, especially spelling, punctuation and grammar.

You will be given a choice of two questions, asking you to write about a character, theme or relationship from Refugee Boy. Only answer one question.

Think carefully: Which question do you know most about? Are you more confident answering a theme, character or relationship question?

Once you have chosen your question, carefully underline or highlight the key words.

Example question

Ruth: "Shut up. Shut up, I hate you. I hope they send you back."

How are strong feelings presented in Refugee Boy?

- Make sure you link your answer to the context of the play.

Exam top tip

The quotation is there to help you answer the question. Ask yourself:

• How does it link to the focus of the question?

• Which moment in the play is this quotation from and why is it significant?

• Does this quotation or character who says it link to other key events in the novel?

Your exam response will be marked using Assessment Objectives (AOs).

The ones for this question are below.

You should take a few minutes to plan your answer before you start writing. You could bullet point your ideas, create a mind-map, or use any other method that works for you.

At the start of your answer, it is helpful to have a short introduction.

An effective introduction should give a summary of the ideas you are about to present, and link to the question and the writer’s message.

When you write up your response, you should structure your paragraphs clearly. The sentences in each paragraph could follow this order:

• A clear topic sentence making a point linked to the question

• A piece of specific evidence to back up your point

• Analysis of your evidence – how does this link to your question? Why is this event important to the novel as a whole?

• Links to wider context – does this book link to anything important in real life? What was happening at the time this book was written?

You could include a short conclusion that summarises the key ideas in your answer.

Exam top tip

If you cannot remember a quotation exactly, try and describe the specific event or idea by paraphrasing.

For example: Soldier: “You choose your homeland like a hyena picking and choosing where he steals its next meal” could be paraphrased as The soldiers call the Kelo family thieves and compare them to animals to show how they barely see them as humans.

Read and compare these two sample answers to the question:

Ruth: "Shut up. Shut up, I hate you. I hope they send you back."

How are strong feelings presented in the play?

• Make sure you link your answer to the context of the play.

Answers could include:

At the end of the play, Alem uses his strong feelings of hope and optimism to try and change the world. He tells the rally: “In my language Alem means world. I would love to see the day when there are no more refugees in the world”. Alem is a refugee in the UK due to the Badme war, which took place along the border of Ethiopia and Eritrea, leading to ordinary people suffering and being forced from their homes. It is clear that he does not want anyone else to have to experience awful things like he did. Instead, alongside Ruth and Mustapha he tries to change the world for the better, whilst also arguing that he should be allowed to claim asylum.

Answers could include:

At the end of the play, Alem uses his strong feelings about hope and optimism to try and change the world for the better. He tells the rally: “In my language Alem means world. I would love to see the day when there are no more refugees in the world”. This helps to emphasise that, even though he is a refugee in the UK due to the Badme war, he is connected to people in the UK. Sissay, who is of Ethiopian heritage, is making the point that we must offer help to people like Alem. Perhaps he was drawing on his own experiences of feeling like an outsider when adapting this play. Alem also refers to Ruth and Mustapha as “friends” as they try to make the world fairer. Alem’s eloquent speech shows how powerful our emotions can be and how we should connect with others and learn from them through “travel”. Then there would be “no more refugees”.