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O-LevelLiterature in EnglishDrama2010/12 · May/June 2010 · Q1625 Marks

R.C. SHERRIFF: Journey's End Read this extract, and then answer the question that follows it. Raleigh: I say — Dennis — Stanhope: Yes, old boy? Raleigh: It – it hasn't gone through, has it? It only just hit me? – and knocked me down? Stanhope: It's just gone through a bit, Jimmy. 5 Raleigh: I won't have to – go on lying here? Stanhope: I'm going to have you taken away. Raleigh: Away? Where? Stanhope: Down to the dressing-station – then hospital – then home. [He smiles.] You've got a Blighty one, Jimmy. 10 Raleigh: But I – I can't go home just for — for a knock in the back. [He stirs restlessly.] I'm certain I'll be better if – if I get up. [He tries to raise himself, and gives a sudden cry.] Oh – God! It does hurt! Stanhope: It's bound to hurt, Jimmy. 15 Raleigh: What's – on my legs? Something holding them down — Stanhope: It's all right, old chap; it's just the shock – numbed them. Again there is a pause. When RALEIGH speaks, there is a different note in his voice. Raleigh: It's awfully decent of you to bother, Dennis. I feel rotten 20 lying here – everybody else – up there. Stanhope: It's not your fault, Jimmy. Raleigh: So – damn – silly – getting hit. [Pause.] Is there – just a drop of water? Stanhope: [rising quickly] Sure. I've got some here. 25 He pours some water into the mug and brings it to RALEIGH. [Cheerfully.] Got some tea-leaves in it. D'you mind? Raleigh: No. That's all right – thanks — STANHOPE holds the mug to RALEIGH's lips, and the 30 boy drinks. I say, Dennis, don't you wait – if – if you want to be getting on. Stanhope: It's quite all right, Jimmy. Raleigh: Can you stay for a bit? 35 Stanhope: Of course I can. Raleigh: [faintly] Thanks awfully. There is quiet in the dug-out for a long time. STANHOPE sits with one hand on RALEIGH's arm, and RALEIGH lies very still. Presently he speaks again – hardly above a 40 whisper. Dennis – Stanhope: Yes, old boy? Raleigh: Could we have a light? It's – it's so frightfully dark and cold. 45 Stanhope: [rising] Sure! I'll bring a candle and get another blanket. STANHOPE goes to the left-hand dug-out, and RALEIGH is alone, very still and quiet, on OSBORNE's bed. The faint rosy glow of the dawn is deepening to an angry red. The grey night sky is dissolving, and the stars 50 begin to go. A tiny sound comes from where RALEIGH is lying – something between a sob and a moan. STANHOPE comes back with a blanket. He takes a candle from the table and carries it to RALEIGH's bed. He puts it on the box beside RALEIGH and speaks cheerfully. Is that better, Jimmy? [RALEIGH makes no sign.] Jimmy — Still RALEIGH is quiet. STANHOPE gently takes his hand. There is a long silence. STANHOPE lowers RALEIGH's hand to the bed, rises, and takes the candle back to the table. He sits on the bench behind the table with his back to the wall, and stares listlessly across at the boy on OSBORNE's bed. The solitary candle-flame throws up the lines on his pale, drawn face, and the dark shadows under his tired eyes. The thudding of the shells rises and falls like an angry sea. A PRIVATE SOLDIER comes scrambling down the steps, his round, red face wet with perspiration, his chest heaving for breath. 55 60 65 Soldier: Message from Mr. Trotter, sir – will you come at once. STANHOPE gazes round at the SOLDIER – and makes no other sign. 70 Stanhope: Mr. Trotter, sir – says will you come at once! STANHOPE rises stiffly and takes his helmet from the table. Stanhope: All right, Broughton, I'm coming. The SOLDIER turns and goes away. STANHOPE pauses for a moment by OSBORNE's bed and lightly runs his fingers over RALEIGH's tousled hair. He goes stiffly up the steps, his tall figure black against the dawn sky. 75 80 The shelling has risen to a great fury. The solitary candle burns with a steady flame, and RALEIGH lies in the shadows. The whine of a shell rises to a shriek and bursts on the dug-out roof. The shock stabs out the candle-flame; the timber props of the door cave slowly in, sandbags fall and block the passage to the open air. 85 There is darkness in the dug-out. Here and there the red dawn glows through the jagged holes of the broken doorway. Very faintly there comes the dull rattle of machine-guns and the fevered spatter of rifle fire. 90 What do you think makes this such a movingly dramatic conclusion to the play? Support your ideas with details from Sherriff's writing.

  1. (a)What do you think makes this such a movingly dramatic conclusion to the play? Support your ideas with details from Sherriff's writing.[25]

Mark scheme

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

  1. This is a task which asks candidates to look at a passage with minimal dialogue, unusually demanding imaginative visualisation of what the stage directions deliver.
  2. Indeed, the absence of dialogue is part of the poignancy of the scene.
  3. Raleigh literally passes quietly away; Stanhope is silent in his misery but conveys it in his actions.
  4. The obliteration of the dug-out bringing the play to an end speaks for itself; journey's end.
  5. Expect evidence of engagement with the dramatic force of these events before giving adequate reward.
  6. The more a candidate can draw out the dramatic significances and almost unbearable poignancy of the scene, the higher the reward.

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About this question

Topic
Drama, O-Level Literature in English (syllabus 2010). Structured question, 25 marks.
Source
O-Level Literature in English, May/June 2010 Paper 1 Variant 2, question 16.

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