1. Paper 1 Section a LO – do I know what to expect in the exam?
Can I recognise a level 2/3/4 answer?

2. How does the author present the relationship between the couple in the first two paragraphs of the story?
What is ‘she’ not sure about?
What effect is achieved by the author’s delay in explaining what the couple have disagreed about?
Explain the metaphor used in “She could keep them both spinning equably, dexterously, for a time …”
The author does not name any of the characters. What is the effect of the use of the third person narrative perspective and the pronouns ‘she’, ‘he’ and ‘they’ instead of proper nouns?

3. Voice recording technology was innovative at
the time. How do the couple plan to use it?
. Even though the recording succeeds in getting the baby to sleep, his mother feels uncomfortable with it. “She felt as if her whole being was caught beneath the sharp needle, dragged round like a piece of fluff in the shining groove.” How might we interpret this sentence as a comment on the woman’s life and relationship with her husband?

4. Identify the words and phrases in which the
husband’s character is presented. What do you understand from the comment “It’s being in the air so much, doing so much flying … it must do something to you.”?
. Why does the woman use the imperative form of the verb in the sentence, “Her fear was always there, but it must not spoil his evening …”?

5. How do the shifts between what the couple say and the events in the nursery build tension at the end of the story?
Explain how the author’s description of the baby conveys a sense of his innocence and rising fear.

6. The writer gives no details at the end of the story beyond the man’s call for a taxi. What is your response to the conclusion of the story?
Explain the effects of the two one-word exclamations.

7. To what extent do you consider this story to
be a criticism of the man, the woman or both
characters? Or is its message something different? Does it show anything about events and the action of the natural world beyond our control?