You are Mattie, alone in your room. You have just had supper with Ethan in Zeena's absence. Write your thoughts.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2011). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. Candidates should adopt the persona of Mattie, alone in her room after supper with Ethan in Zeena’s absence.
2. Good answers will convey her happiness, exhilaration, and perhaps a burgeoning hope for her future with Ethan.
3. Her reflections on the warmth and intimacy of the evening, the unspoken affection, and the contrast with her usual bleak existence.
4. Consider her growing feelings for Ethan, her vulnerability, and her awareness of the precariousness of her position.
5. She might dream of a life away from Starkfield with Ethan, or dread Zeena’s return.
6. Look for language that reflects her youthful idealism, her tenderness, and her underlying anxiety.