Insert
The source that follows is:
- Source A: 20th-century prose fiction
- Youth by Joseph Conrad
An extract from a work first published in 1902.
This extract is from Joseph Conrad's Youth (1902), where the narrator recalls a shocking explosion aboard a cargo ship, the shattered deck and stunned crew, and the captain’s calm, single-minded focus as he tries to restore order and keep the vessel on course.
Source A
1 “Next day it was my watch on deck from eight to twelve. At breakfast the captain observed, ‘It’s wonderful how that smell hangs about the cabin.’ About ten, the mate being on the poop, I stepped down on the main-deck for a moment.
6 The carpenter’s bench stood abaft the mainmast: I leaned against it sucking at my pipe, and the carpenter, a young chap, came to talk to me. He remarked, ‘I think we have done very well, haven’t we?’
11 and then I perceived with annoyance the fool was trying to tilt the bench. I said curtly, ‘Don’t, Chips,’ and immediately became aware of a queer sensation, of an absurd delusion,--I
16 seemed somehow to be in the air. I heard all round me like a pent-up breath released--as if a thousand giants simultaneously had said Phoo!--and felt a dull
21 concussion which made my ribs ache suddenly. No doubt about it--I was in the air, and my body was describing a short parabola. But short as it was, I had the time to think several thoughts in, as far as I can
26 remember, the following order: ‘This can’t be the carpenter--What is it?--Some accident-- Submarine volcano?--Coals, gas!--By Jove! we are being blown up--Everybody’s
31 dead--I am falling into the after-hatch--I see fire in it.’ “The coal-dust suspended in the air of the hold had glowed dull-red at the
36 moment of the explosion. In the twinkling of an eye, in an infinitesimal fraction of a second since the first tilt of the bench, I was sprawling full length on the cargo. I picked myself up and scrambled
41 out. It was quick like a rebound. The deck was a wilderness of smashed timber, lying crosswise like trees in a wood after a hurricane; an immense curtain of soiled rags waved
46 gently before me--it was the mainsail blown to strips. I thought, The masts will be toppling over directly; and to get out of the way bolted on all-fours towards the
51 poop-ladder. The first person I saw was Mahon, with eyes like saucers, his mouth open, and the long white hair standing straight on end round his head like a silver halo. He was just about to go down when the
56 sight of the main-deck stirring, heaving up, and changing into splinters before his eyes, petrified him on the top step. I stared at him in unbelief, and he
61 stared at me with a queer kind of shocked curiosity. I did not know that I had no hair, no eyebrows, no eyelashes, that my young moustache was burnt off, that my face was black, one cheek laid
66 open, my nose cut, and my chin bleeding. I had lost my cap, one of my slippers, and my shirt was torn to rags. Of all this I was not aware. I was amazed to see the ship still afloat,
71 the poop-deck whole--and, most of all, to see anybody alive. Also the peace of the sky and the serenity of the sea were distinctly surprising. I suppose I expected to see them
76 convulsed with horror.... Pass the bottle. “There was a voice hailing the ship from somewhere--in the air, in the sky--I couldn’t tell. Presently I saw the captain--and he was mad. He
81 asked me eagerly, ‘Where’s the cabin-table?’ and to hear such a question was a frightful shock. I had just been blown up, you understand, and vibrated with
86 that experience,--I wasn’t quite sure whether I was alive. Mahon began to stamp with both feet and yelled at him, ‘Good God! don’t you see the deck’s blown out of her?’ I found my voice, and stammered
91 out as if conscious of some gross neglect of duty, ‘I don’t know where the cabin-table is.’ It was like an absurd dream.
96 “Do you know what he wanted next? Well, he wanted to trim the yards. Very placidly, and as if lost in thought, he insisted on having the foreyard squared. ‘I don’t know if there’s anybody alive,’ said Mahon,
101 almost tearfully. ‘Surely,’ he said gently, ‘there will be enough left to square the foreyard.’
106 “The old chap, it seems, was in his own berth, winding up the chronometers, when the shock sent him spinning. Immediately it occurred to him--as he said afterwards--that the ship had struck something, and
111 he ran out into the cabin. There, he saw, the cabin-table had vanished somewhere. The deck being blown up, it had fallen down into the lazarette of course. Where we had our
116 breakfast that morning he saw only a great hole in the floor. This appeared to him so awfully mysterious, and impressed him so immensely, that what he saw and heard after he got
121 on deck were mere trifles in comparison. And, mark, he noticed directly the wheel deserted and his barque off her course--and his only thought was to get that miserable, stripped, undecked, smouldering shell
126 of a ship back again with her head pointing at her port of destination. Bankok! That’s what he was after. I tell you this quiet, bowed, bandy-legged, almost deformed little man was immense in the singleness
131 of his idea and in his placid ignorance of our agitation. He motioned us forward with a commanding gesture, and went to take the wheel himself.
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 What were the hours of the narrator’s watch on deck?
- from eight to twelve
- from eight to ten
- from ten to twelve
[1 mark]
1.2 At around ten o'clock, what does the narrator do?
- Steps briefly onto the main-deck
- Relieves the mate on watch
- Goes below to the cabin
[1 mark]
1.3 Where was the mate?
- on the poop
- in the cabin
- on the main-deck
[1 mark]
1.4 About what time did the narrator step down?
- about ten
- about eight
- about twelve
[1 mark]
Question 2
Look in detail at this extract, from lines 6 to 134 of the source:
6 The carpenter’s bench stood abaft the mainmast: I leaned against it sucking at my pipe, and the carpenter, a young chap, came to talk to me. He remarked, ‘I think we have done very well, haven’t we?’
11 and then I perceived with annoyance the fool was trying to tilt the bench. I said curtly, ‘Don’t, Chips,’ and immediately became aware of a queer sensation, of an absurd delusion,--I
16 seemed somehow to be in the air. I heard all round me like a pent-up breath released--as if a thousand giants simultaneously had said Phoo!--and felt a dull
21 concussion which made my ribs ache suddenly. No doubt about it--I was in the air, and my body was describing a short parabola. But short as it was, I had the time to think several thoughts in, as far as I can
26 remember, the following order: ‘This can’t be the carpenter--What is it?--Some accident-- Submarine volcano?--Coals, gas!--By Jove! we are being blown up--Everybody’s
31 dead--I am falling into the after-hatch--I see fire in it.’ “The coal-dust suspended in the air of the hold had glowed dull-red at the
36 moment of the explosion. In the twinkling of an eye, in an infinitesimal fraction of a second since the first tilt of the bench, I was sprawling full length on the cargo. I picked myself up and scrambled
41 out. It was quick like a rebound. The deck was a wilderness of smashed timber, lying crosswise like trees in a wood after a hurricane; an immense curtain of soiled rags waved
46 gently before me--it was the mainsail blown to strips. I thought, The masts will be toppling over directly; and to get out of the way bolted on all-fours towards the
51 poop-ladder. The first person I saw was Mahon, with eyes like saucers, his mouth open, and the long white hair standing straight on end round his head like a silver halo. He was just about to go down when the
56 sight of the main-deck stirring, heaving up, and changing into splinters before his eyes, petrified him on the top step. I stared at him in unbelief, and he
61 stared at me with a queer kind of shocked curiosity. I did not know that I had no hair, no eyebrows, no eyelashes, that my young moustache was burnt off, that my face was black, one cheek laid
66 open, my nose cut, and my chin bleeding. I had lost my cap, one of my slippers, and my shirt was torn to rags. Of all this I was not aware. I was amazed to see the ship still afloat,
71 the poop-deck whole--and, most of all, to see anybody alive. Also the peace of the sky and the serenity of the sea were distinctly surprising. I suppose I expected to see them
76 convulsed with horror.... Pass the bottle. “There was a voice hailing the ship from somewhere--in the air, in the sky--I couldn’t tell. Presently I saw the captain--and he was mad. He
81 asked me eagerly, ‘Where’s the cabin-table?’ and to hear such a question was a frightful shock. I had just been blown up, you understand, and vibrated with
86 that experience,--I wasn’t quite sure whether I was alive. Mahon began to stamp with both feet and yelled at him, ‘Good God! don’t you see the deck’s blown out of her?’ I found my voice, and stammered
91 out as if conscious of some gross neglect of duty, ‘I don’t know where the cabin-table is.’ It was like an absurd dream.
96 “Do you know what he wanted next? Well, he wanted to trim the yards. Very placidly, and as if lost in thought, he insisted on having the foreyard squared. ‘I don’t know if there’s anybody alive,’ said Mahon,
101 almost tearfully. ‘Surely,’ he said gently, ‘there will be enough left to square the foreyard.’
106 “The old chap, it seems, was in his own berth, winding up the chronometers, when the shock sent him spinning. Immediately it occurred to him--as he said afterwards--that the ship had struck something, and
111 he ran out into the cabin. There, he saw, the cabin-table had vanished somewhere. The deck being blown up, it had fallen down into the lazarette of course. Where we had our
116 breakfast that morning he saw only a great hole in the floor. This appeared to him so awfully mysterious, and impressed him so immensely, that what he saw and heard after he got
121 on deck were mere trifles in comparison. And, mark, he noticed directly the wheel deserted and his barque off her course--and his only thought was to get that miserable, stripped, undecked, smouldering shell
126 of a ship back again with her head pointing at her port of destination. Bankok! That’s what he was after. I tell you this quiet, bowed, bandy-legged, almost deformed little man was immense in the singleness
131 of his idea and in his placid ignorance of our agitation. He motioned us forward with a commanding gesture, and went to take the wheel himself.
How does the writer use language here to present the narrator’s situation and attitude on deck? 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 story.
How has the writer structured the text to create a sense of chaos?
You could write about:
- how chaos unfolds 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 76 to the end.
In this part of the source, the captain's reaction seems absurd when he asks about the cabin-table. The writer suggests that this strange focus is actually a sign of his strength as a leader.
To what extent do you agree and/or disagree with this statement?
In your response, you could:
- consider your impressions of the captain's reaction and his leadership
- comment on the methods the writer uses to portray the captain's strength
- support your response with references to the text.
[20 marks]
Question 5
A vocational college is displaying creative writing that celebrates skilled, hands-on work.
Choose one of the options below for your entry.
-
Option A: Describe a vehicle repair garage from your imagination. You may choose to use the picture provided for ideas:
-
Option B: Write the opening of a story about fixing something that seems beyond repair.
(24 marks for content and organisation, 16 marks for technical accuracy)
[40 marks]