How does the writer make you sympathise with one of the following characters? Mr Wills (in The Taste of Watermelon by Borden Deal) The narrator/wife (in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman) The Signalman (The Signalman by Charles Dickens) Support your ideas with details from your chosen story.

Mark scheme

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

1. Candidates should choose ONE character and explore how the writer makes them sympathetic, using details from the story.
2. For 'Mr Wills': Focus on his humiliation and desire for revenge, which masks his deeper sense of loss and wounded pride over his stolen watermelon.
3. His vulnerability despite his outward gruffness, and the eventual understanding and bonding with the boy.
4. His simple connection to the land and his produce, and how that represents his livelihood and dignity.
5. For 'The narrator/wife': Focus on her mental deterioration due to the 'rest cure' and patriarchal suppression.
6. Her intelligent but stifled voice, her longing for intellectual and creative outlets, and her isolation.
7. The vivid descriptions of her descent into madness, creating profound pity and horror.
8. For 'The Signalman': Focus on his isolation, his burden of responsibility, and his desperate fear of the supernatural warnings.
9. His meticulous dedication to duty contrasted with his profound anxiety, and his inability to escape his fate.
10. The sense of a good man trapped by forces beyond his control, leading to his tragic end.