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O-LevelLiterature in EnglishPoetryMay/June 2017Paper 1 Q125 Marks

Either 1 Remember to support your ideas with details from the writing. Read this poem, and then answer the question that follows it: For Heidi With Blue Hair When you dyed your hair blue (or, at least, ultramarine for the clipped sides, with a crest of jet-black spikes on top) you were sent home from school because, as the headmistress put it, although dyed hair was not specifically forbidden, yours was, apart from anything else, not done in the school colours. Tears in the kitchen, telephone-calls to school from your freedom-loving father: 'She's not a punk in her behaviour; it's just a style.' (You wiped your eyes, also not in a school colour.) 'She discussed it with me first - we checked the rules.' ‘And anyway, Dad, it cost twenty-five dollars. Tell them it won't wash out – not even if I wanted to try.' It would have been unfair to mention your mother's death, but that shimmered behind the arguments. The school had nothing else against you; the teachers twittered and gave in. Next day your black friend had hers done in grey, white and flaxen yellow – the school colours precisely: an act of solidarity, a witty tease. The battle was already won. (Fleur Adcock) How does Adcock's writing make this poem both amusing and serious?

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The correct answer is . This question tests the candidate's understanding of poetry within the Literature in Englishsyllabus. The examiner's mark scheme requires...

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Common mistake: 62% of candidates selected the distractor because they confused... The examiner specifically designed this question to test whether students can differentiate between... To secure full marks, candidates must demonstrate...

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About This O-Level Literature in English Question

This structured question appeared in the Cambridge O-Level Literature in English (2010) May/June 2017 examination, Paper 1 Variant 2. It tests the topic of Poetry and is worth 25 marks.

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