How does Sherriff memorably portray soldiers' attempts to cope with trench warfare? Support your ideas with details from the play.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2010). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [25] There is much material here which the candidate could use and we must not be prescriptive.
2. [25] Many probably will call to mind a number of stratagems which the characters use to make life at the front at least bearable, ranging, for instance, from Stanhope's drinking to Trotter's chart.
3. [25] Suffusing much of it is understated and wry humour.
4. [25] Give reasonable reward to an answer which isolates a number of instances and offers some detailed support.
5. [25] An answer that moves into the writing's effect on the audience in which the candidate can show what makes the chosen examples memorable dramatically, should almost certainly be in the region of high reward.
6. [25] Refer to the band descriptors in arriving at your mark.