Insert
The source that follows is:
- Source A: 20th-century prose fiction
- Orlando by Virginia Woolf
An extract from a work first published in 1928.
This extract is from Orlando by Virginia Woolf and provides a satirical account of 1830s Parisian carnival and the misattributed exploits of 'Milord Arsouille', exploring themes of reputation, identity and the decadent cruelty of fashionable high society.
Source A
1 The Parisian ideas and imitations of English manners were, no doubt, pretty ridiculous, and must have caused considerable amusement to Lord Seymour, one of the few Englishmen who were conspicuous among the aristocratic viveurs. He was the illegitimate son of Lady Yarmouth, daughter-in-law of the notorious Lord Hertford. He lived entirely in Paris, where, being extremely rich, he
6 kept a fine house at the corner of the Rue Taitbout and the boulevard. Here he cultivated cigar-smoking and physical exercise with great assiduity. He was a splendid boxer and fencer, and all the finest bruisers and blades, amateur and professional, were to be met in his salle d'armes. He took great pride in his strength, which was abnormal, in his skill as a whip and his success on the
11 race-course. French sport owes him a permanent debt for his successful starting of the Jockey Club, but he can hardly have been a very popular member of a society, for he was cold and brutal, a man who took a defeat rancorously and one who had a cynical delight in causing suffering to his hangers-on. His misanthropy was the reason of his gradually dropping out of society after
16 1842, and it would have been beside the point to mention him here had it not been for the quite undeserved notoriety which he acquired in Paris during the thirties as the bacchanalian lord of misrule at all the carnivals. It was a strange case of mistaken identity which persisted for many years in spite of categorical denials. The more aristocratic of the viveurs were not, as I have
21 said, Bohemians; but during the carnival, which was celebrated by all the population with extraordinary licence, some of the more youthful let themselves go and became revellers with the rest. For the last three days of the carnival the streets of Paris, by day and by night, were given up to an orgy. Crowds of masqueraders filled the pavements, the restaurants, and the
26 theatres, where fancy-dress balls were held. The richer masks had carriages drawn by postilions, in which they drove among the crowd, scattering confetti and sweetmeats and even money, indulging in every kind of quaint antic and gallantry, and inciting the vulgar to engage them in a wordy warfare in which volleys of the coarsest expletives were fired on both sides. Riot reached its
31 culmination on the night of Shrove Tuesday, when the revellers, after an orgy of feasting and dancing at the Barrière de la Courtille, on the north-east of Paris, ended by descending the steep hill towards the city in a state of bacchic frenzy. This was the famous descente de la Courtille, at which, as at all the other revels, a certain carriage, drawn by six horses and filled by a
36 motley party of young men, was the central object of admiration. No challenger ever worsted the leader of this gang at a bout of blackguarding, no costumes equalled his in originality, no mask so tormented and excited the crowd as he with his harangues, his missiles, and his largesse. This was the man known to all the populace of Paris as "Milord Arsouille," which, as all Paris would
41 have told you, was simply the nom de guerre of Lord Seymour. But it was not so. The real "Milord Arsouille" was a certain Charles de la Battut, son of an English chemist and a French émigrée. His father, unwilling to compromise his position in England by recognizing him, paid for his adoption by the ruined Breton Count de la Battut. He was educated in Paris, where, even in his youth,
46 he showed a most dissolute character. He delighted to frequent the lowest haunts, and there learnt that mastery of slang and that skill as a boxer which were his pride. The death of his real father gave him a large fortune, which he proceeded to dissipate with the utmost extravagance and bad taste. His house in the Boulevard des Capucines and his personal attire were equally
51 flamboyant. During his short period of glory he was on certain terms of intimacy with the more rowdy among the young bloods of good family, who in after years looked back, like the Duc d'Aulnis, with shame to some of their exploits in his company. His most notable achievement was to introduce the cancan into the fashionable fancy-dress ball at the Variétés in 1832, and his
56 perpetual grief was that all his eccentricities were attributed to Lord Seymour, in spite of his utmost efforts to proclaim the difference of identity. In 1835 he died, a shattered roué, at Naples.
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.
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- Do all rough work in this book. Cross through any work you do not want to be marked.
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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 According to the narrator, where did Lord Seymour make his home?
- Lord Seymour lived permanently in Paris.
- Lord Seymour kept a home in London and visited Paris only occasionally.
- Lord Seymour divided his time equally between Paris and the countryside.
[1 mark]
1.2 To whom did the Parisian ideas and imitations of English manners cause considerable amusement?
- Lady Yarmouth
- Lord Hertford
- Lord Seymour
[1 mark]
1.3 Who lived entirely in Paris?
- Lord Seymour
- Lady Yarmouth
- Lord Hertford
[1 mark]
1.4 Who is described as notorious?
- Lord Seymour
- Lord Hertford
- Lady Yarmouth
[1 mark]
Question 2
Look in detail at this extract, from lines 6 to 15 of the source:
6 kept a fine house at the corner of the Rue Taitbout and the boulevard. Here he cultivated cigar-smoking and physical exercise with great assiduity. He was a splendid boxer and fencer, and all the finest bruisers and blades, amateur and professional, were to be met in his salle d'armes. He took great pride in his strength, which was abnormal, in his skill as a whip and his success on the
11 race-course. French sport owes him a permanent debt for his successful starting of the Jockey Club, but he can hardly have been a very popular member of a society, for he was cold and brutal, a man who took a defeat rancorously and one who had a cynical delight in causing suffering to his hangers-on. His misanthropy was the reason of his gradually dropping out of society after
How does the writer use language here to present Lord Seymour and his way of life? 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 start of a story.
How has the writer structured the text to create a sense of revelation?
You could write about:
- how revelation unfolds by the end of the source
- 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, 'Milord Arsouille' seems like a powerful and successful leader of the wild carnival. The writer suggests that he is actually a pathetic figure, because all his efforts only made someone else more famous.
To what extent do you agree and/or disagree with this statement?
In your response, you could:
- consider your impressions of Milord Arsouille the leader of the carnival
- comment on the methods the writer uses to portray him as a pathetic failure
- support your response with references to the text.
[20 marks]
Question 5
Your town’s animal shelter is inviting short creative pieces to share on its website celebrating rescue stories and the people behind them.
Choose one of the options below for your entry.
-
Option A: Write a description of a busy rescue centre kennel from your imagination. You may choose to use the picture provided for ideas:
-
Option B: Write the opening of a story about a small act of bravery at a community adoption day.
(24 marks for content and organisation, 16 marks for technical accuracy)
[40 marks]