Insert
The source that follows is:
- Source A: 20th-century prose fiction
- The Trial by Franz Kafka
An extract from a work first published in 1925.
This extract is from Franz Kafka's The Trial (1925), where Josef K., under arrest by a mysterious court, confronts a hostile, complicit audience at his chaotic hearing and denounces the organisation, exposing themes of oppressive bureaucracy, uncertainty, and power.
Source A
1 K. was interrupted by a screeching from the far end of the hall, he shaded his eyes to see that far, as the dull light of day made the smoke whitish and hard to see through. It was the washerwoman whom K. had recognised as a likely source of disturbance as soon as she had entered. It was hard to see now whether it was her fault or not. K. could only see that a man had pulled her
6 into a corner by the door and was pressing himself against her. But it was not her who was screaming, but the man, he had opened his mouth wide and looked up at the ceiling. A small circle had formed around the two of them, the visitors near him in the gallery seemed delighted that the serious tone K. had introduced into the gathering had been disturbed in this way. K.'s first
11 thought was to run over there, and he also thought that everyone would want to bring things back into order there or at least to make the pair leave the room, but the first row of people in front of him stayed were they were, no- one moved and no-one let K. through. On the contrary, they stood in his way, old men held out their arms in front of him and a hand from somewhere--he did
16 not have the time to turn round--took hold of his collar. K., by this time, had forgotten about the pair, it seemed to him that his freedom was being limited as if his arrest was being taken seriously, and, without any thought for what he was doing, he jumped down from the podium. Now he stood face to face with the crowd. Had he judged the people properly? Had he put too much
21 faith in the effect of his speech? Had they been putting up a pretence all the time he had been speaking, and now that he came to the end and to what must follow, were they tired of pretending? What faces they were, all around him! Dark, little eyes flickered here and there, cheeks drooped down like on drunken men, their long beards were thin and stiff, if they took hold of them
26 it was more like they were making their hands into claws, not as if they were taking hold of their own beards. But underneath those beards--and this was the real discovery made by K.--there were badges of various sizes and colours shining on the collars of their coats. As far as he could see, every one of them was wearing one of these badges. All of them belonged to the same group,
31 even though they seemed to be divided to the right and the left of him, and when he suddenly turned round he saw the same badge on the collar of the examining judge who calmly looked down at him with his hands in his lap. "So," called out K., throwing his arms in the air as if this sudden realisation needed more room, "all of you are working for this organisation, I see now
36 that you are all the very bunch of cheats and liars I've just been speaking about, you've all pressed yourselves in here in order to listen in and snoop on me, you gave the impression of having formed into factions, one of you even applauded me to test me out, and you wanted to learn how to trap an innocent man! Well, I hope you haven't come here for nothing, I hope you've either had
41 some fun from someone who expected you to defend his innocence or else--let go of me or I'll hit you," shouted K. to a quivery old man who had pressed himself especially close to him--"or else that you've actually learned something. And so I wish you good luck in your trade." He briskly took his hat from where it lay on the edge of the table and, surrounded by a silence caused
46 perhaps by the completeness of their surprise, pushed his way to the exit. However, the examining judge seems to have moved even more quickly than K., as he was waiting for him at the doorway. "One moment," he said. K. stood where he was, but looked at the door with his hand already on its handle rather than at the judge. "I merely wanted to draw your attention," said the judge, "to
51 something you seem not yet to be aware of: today, you have robbed yourself of the advantages that a hearing of this sort always gives to someone who is under arrest." K. laughed towards the door. "You bunch of louts," he called, "you can keep all your hearings as a present from me," then opened the door and hurried down the steps. Behind him, the noise of the assembly rose as it
56 became lively once more and probably began to discuss these events as if making a scientific study of them.
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 Where did the screeching come from?
- the far end of the hall
- the near end of the hall
- the middle of the hall
[1 mark]
1.2 What did K. do to try to see better?
- K. shaded his eyes
- K. put on spectacles
- K. lit an oil lamp
[1 mark]
1.3 What did the dull light of day make the smoke?
- whitish and hard to see through
- thick and black near the ceiling
- clear and easy to look past
[1 mark]
1.4 What could K. only see at that moment?
- that a man had pulled the washerwoman
- that the washerwoman was shouting loudly
- that the washerwoman had left the hall
[1 mark]
Question 2
Look in detail at this extract, from lines 6 to 15 of the source:
6 into a corner by the door and was pressing himself against her. But it was not her who was screaming, but the man, he had opened his mouth wide and looked up at the ceiling. A small circle had formed around the two of them, the visitors near him in the gallery seemed delighted that the serious tone K. had introduced into the gathering had been disturbed in this way. K.'s first
11 thought was to run over there, and he also thought that everyone would want to bring things back into order there or at least to make the pair leave the room, but the first row of people in front of him stayed were they were, no- one moved and no-one let K. through. On the contrary, they stood in his way, old men held out their arms in front of him and a hand from somewhere--he did
How does the writer use language here to show confusion and how the crowd holds K. back? 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 middle of a novel.
How has the writer structured the text to create a sense of disorientation?
You could write about:
- how disorientation 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 16 to the end.
In this part of the source, where K. discovers everyone is wearing the same badge, he seems to be having a moment of clever realisation. The writer suggests that K. is actually mistaken, as his angry outburst only makes his situation worse with the court.
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 regional food blog is inviting young writers to contribute a short creative piece for its winter feature.
Choose one of the options below for your entry.
-
Option A: Describe a bakery display from your imagination. You may choose to use the picture provided for ideas:
-
Option B: Write the opening of a story about a shared meal that heals a rift.
(24 marks for content and organisation, 16 marks for technical accuracy)
[40 marks]