You are Hibbert. You have refused to eat your supper and you are now lying on your bed in the dugout. Write your thoughts.

Mark scheme

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

1. [25] Hibbert is quite clearly a weak reed and has convinced himself that he is at the end of his tether.
2. [25] The question is the degree to which he is conscious of playing the neuralgia card to get himself out of the trenches.
3. [25] Probably he has convinced himself that he is unfit for battle and there are moments later in the play when he responds to encouragement as well as threats.
4. [25] However, it must be doubtful how much sympathy Sherriff intends the audience to have for this man and often it seems that we are expected to see him with Stanhope' eyes, in other words with barely concealed contempt.
5. [25] In which case, probably we must accept an assumption which suggests that he is consciously faking his condition.
6. [25] Either way, differentiation should come from the degree to which candidates can capture the man's melodramatic and whining tones.
7. [25] Refer to the band descriptors in arriving at your mark.