Read this extract from Ulysses, and then answer the question that follows it: It little profits that an idle king, By this still hearth, among these barren crags, Match'd with an agèd wife, I mete and dole Unequal laws unto a savage race, That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me. 5 I cannot rest from travel; I will drink Life to the lees. All times I have enjoyed Greatly, have suffered greatly, both with those That loved me, and alone; on shore, and when Through scudding drifts the rainy Hyades 10 Vext the dim sea: I am become a name For always roaming with a hungry heart; Much have I seen and known, – cities of men And manners, climates, councils, governments, Myself not least, but honoured of them all; 15 And drunk delight of battle with my peers, Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy. I am a part of all that I have met; Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough Gleams that untravelled world whose margin fades 20 For ever and for ever when I move. How dull it is to pause, to make an end, To rust unburnished, not to shine in use! As though to breathe were life! Life piled on life Were all too little, and of one to me 25 Little remains; but every hour is saved From that eternal silence, something more, A bringer of new things; and vile it were For some three suns to store and hoard myself, And this grey spirit yearning in desire 30 To follow knowledge like a sinking star, Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2012). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [23-25] Answers in this band have all the qualities of Band 2 work, with further insight, sensitivity, individuality and flair. They show complete and sustained engagement with both text and task.
2. [20-22] Sustains a perceptive, convincing and relevant personal response
3. [20-22] shows a clear critical understanding of the text
4. [20-22] responds sensitively and in detail to the way the writer achieves her/his effects (sustaining a convincing voice in an empathic task)
5. [20-22] integrates much well-selected reference to the text
6. [17-19] Makes a well-developed, detailed and relevant personal response
7. [17-19] shows a clear understanding of the text and some of its deeper implications
8. [17-19] makes a developed response to the way the writer achieves her/his effects (sustaining an appropriate voice in an empathic task)
9. [17-19] supports with careful and relevant reference to the text
10. [14-16] Makes a reasonably developed relevant personal response
11. [14-16] shows understanding of the text and some of its deeper implications
12. [14-16] makes some response to the way the writer uses language (using suitable features of expression in an empathic task)
13. [14-16] shows some thoroughness in the use of supporting evidence from the text
14. [11-13] Begins to develop a relevant personal response
15. [11-13] shows some understanding of meaning
16. [11-13] makes a little reference to the language of the text (beginning to assume a voice in an empathic task)
17. [11-13] uses some supporting textual detail
18. [8-10] Attempts to communicate a basic personal response to the task
19. [8-10] makes some relevant comments
20. [8-10] shows a basic understanding of surface meaning of the text (of character in an empathic task)
21. [8-10] makes a little supporting reference to the text
22. [5-7] Some evidence of simple personal response
23. [5-7] makes a few straightforward comments
24. [5-7] shows a few signs of understanding the surface meaning of the text (of character in an empathic task)
25. [5-7] makes a little reference to the text
26. [2-4] Limited attempt to respond
27. [2-4] shows some limited understanding of simple/literal meaning
28. [0-1] No answer/Insufficient to meet the criteria for Band 8.