CHARLOTTE KEATLEY: My Mother Said I Never Should Read this extract, and then answer the question that follows it: Enter Doris in the 1920s print dress which Jackie pulled from the box in Act Two and a straw hat trimmed with flowers. She is breathless and her hair is awry. Oldham, May 1923. Doris: Mother! Mother? Oh, what do you think! It's happened, happened to me! Content removed due to copyright restrictions Oh Mother, I'm so happy, SO HAPPY! I suppose, really and truly, this is the beginning of my life! (Lights fade to a single spot on Doris, then snap out.) Explore how Keatley vividly reveals Doris's feelings in this scene.

Mark scheme

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

1. [25] This, of course is the last scene of the play, but Keatley has returned to the very beginning of Doris's married life.
2. [25] Doris is ecstatic because she has been proposed to by Jack and she has been promoted in her work.
3. [25] What could be better?
4. [25] Keatley conveys her happiness through the way she writes: the short sentences, the way the information is spilled out, her breathlessness, the amazing detail and the final words ‘this is the beginning of my life'.
5. [25] Both romantically and professionally, Doris is about to be fulfilled.
6. [25] The more perceptive candidates will see the nuances and hints in the writing: the excitement behind the words, the unexpected feelings of joy and fulfilment.
7. [25] The more discerning may well relate all this to the climax of the play as the curtain falls and the lights are suddenly dimmed.
8. [25] Candidates who go beyond the obvious and see the implications of the scene as it is played out on the stage should receive high reward.
9. [25] Refer to the band descriptors in arriving at your mark.