1. Year 9 Exam feedback

2. No Christian name- reduced to skin colour./ common noun. Modern reader?
Combative, aggressive direct speech from Curley’s wife – imperative verb ‘Listen’ rhetorical question. Repeats her threat. ‘closed in on him’ gesture is aggressive
Adverb ‘hopelessly’ = powerless, voiceless & resigned
She turned on him in scorn. "Listen, Nigger," she said. "You know what I can do to you if you open your trap?"
Crooks stared hopelessly at her, and then he sat down on his bunk and drew into himself.
She closed on him. "You know what I could do?"
Crooks seemed to grow smaller, and he pressed himself against the wall. "Yes, ma'am."
"Well, you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain't even funny."
Crooks had reduced himself to nothing. There was no personality, no ego- nothing to arouse either like or dislike. He said, "Yes, ma'am," and his voice was toneless.
For a moment she stood over him as though waiting for him to move so that she could whip at him again; but Crooks sat perfectly still, his eyes averted, everything that might be hurt drawn in.
Polite, clipped response with formal, respectful term of address – hierarchy. Otherwise he is silent. Narration shows his feelings.
In 1930s America, black people were lynched by the Ku Klux Klan; Steinbeck shows that Crooks fears for his life. Racial inequality existed until Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s.
Modern reader?
Adjective ‘toneless’ = robotic. Repetition ‘no’ he must rid himself of all feelings of resentment to survive.

3. Reflecting on my exam performance What went well?
When discussing the extract, I was really pleased that …………………….
When discussing the rest of the novel, I was delighted that…………………….
Why did it go well?
Effective revision? Application of skills? Learning word wall? Researching? Confidence? Calm? Timing? Learning quotes / learning quote AO2 methods / learning A03 context / learning it word-for-word
My next steps for improvement are:
I need to revise quotes more effectively / learn more sophisticated vocabulary to elevate my critical voice / develop more perceptive inference / embed quotes more fluently / show a confident and precise understanding of context / include a perceptive modern reader response/ use the SQI approach more effectively / pepper quotes more / use the SQI approach more flexibly / pack in more A02 method analysis of the extract / remember to evaluate the writer’s intention at the end of paragraphs / use topic sentences to open new paragraphs with words from the question.

4. In the extract, we see Crooks’ vulnerability as a black man at a time of racial prejudice. Instantly, we see Curley’s wife target him with the common noun ‘Nigger’ – he is defined by his skin colour, like her, he is denied his own identity. The imperative verb ‘Listen’ shows her combative direct speech as she threatens him; her rhetorical question is menacing as she warns him she will have him lynched. His is not invited to answer and Steinbeck uses silence in the passage to show how voiceless Crooks is. Instead the narrator tells us he ‘stared hopelessly’ suggesting his paralysis; the adverb ‘hopelessly’ shows his powerlessness and intense vulnerability which makes the reader pity him – particularly a modern reader used to living in a society based on racial equality. He knows his ‘mauled’ Civil code cannot help him in a society where black people are routinely discriminated against, sometimes having their right to life taken from them “ I could get you strung up on a tree” . Lynching was common in 1930s America led by the white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan. The visual image of the verb ‘strung up’ is brutally graphic and cruel. Ironically, Curley’s wife too is vulnerable which explains her rare glee ‘she turned on him in scorn’ in asserting control over someone even more inferior than herself. Steinbeck shows through Crooks the plight of the black man powerless to defend himself even when suffering segregation in his room. (240 words ; Section 1)