STEP BY WICKED STEP

Love is important in a family.

How is this shown in the novel you have read? Support your answer with close reference to
the text.

I choose the novel Step by Wicked Step written by Anne Fine. Love is important
in a family. This is shown through Claudia, one of the characters in the novel (responding
to the question).

First of all, it is clearly shown in the novel that Claudia loves her mother (stating point 1).
She is loyal to her mother, and cares so much about her feelings especially after the
divorce (elaborating point 1). For instance, she tries not to sound too happy when speaking
to her father on the phone because she does not want to hurt her mothers feelings.
Besides, she also rejects Stella and refuses to enjoy her time with her father because she is
loyal to her mother (giving examples to support point 1).

Apart from that, we can see that Claudia loves her father too (stating point 2). Even though
her father has moved out of their house, leaving Claudia with her mother, they always
keep in touch (elaborating point 2). For example, Claudias father would call her on the
phone to talk to her. Besides, Claudia would sometimes spend time with her father on
weekends as well as on special days like Boxing Day (giving examples to support point 2).

Last but not least, this novel also shows that love is important in a family, when Claudia is
finally able to accept Stella as a step mother (stating point 3). Claudia is fair and sensible.
She does not blame Stella for her parents divorce (elaborating point 3). At the dinner
party, Claudia thinks that the guests are rude because they do not appreciate Stellas hard
work. She realizes that ignoring Stella would not help to solve the problem between her
parents. Therefore, she tries to help Stella get accepted by showing off the green pyjamas
that Stella has given to her, to the guests. This incident marks a new beginning in their
relationship as a family (giving examples to support point 3).
In a nutshell, it is clearly shown in this novel that love is important in a family.
Even though parents are separated, they have to make sure that the love between them
and their children will last forever.


Compare and contrast 2 characters from a novel you have studied. With close reference
to the text, give reasons to support your answer.


I choose the novel Step by Wicked Step, written by Anne Fine. I am going to compare and
contrast Claudia and Pixie. There are similarities and differences between them which can
be observed clearly throughout the story.

First of all, Claudia and Pixie share similar fate where their parents are divorced and their
fathers live with another women. Claudia's father lives with his girl friend named Stella.
Sometimes Claudia spends her time with her dad and Stella even though she hates Stella.
She refuses to enjoy her stay with her dad out of loyalty to her mother and she also
ignores Stella. In Pixie's case, her father marries Lucy who has two daughters, Sophie and
Hetty. Pixie hates her step sisters. Her father promises that she would have her own room
whenever she stays with them but later her step sister, Hetty moves into her room after
having a fight with Sophie. This really makes her mad and she tries many ways to get rid of
Hetty. Life is miserable for both Pixie and Claudia.

However, the biggest difference which can be observed between Pixie and Claudia is that
they have different approaches in dealing with their problems. Claudia is fair and sensible.
Even though she hates Stella, she does not blame the lady for her parents' break-up. She is
more gentle in her actions. For example, at the dinner party, she thinks that the guests are
rude for not appreciating Stella's hard work. She realizes that ignoring Stella would not
help solving matters between her parents. Feeling sorry for Stella, she decides to help her
get accepted by showing off the green pyjamas which Stella has given to her.

On the contrary, Pixie is more aggressive in her actions. In order to get Hetty out of her
room, she creates stories that her room is haunted and when that fails, she tries to irritate
Hetty by asking her to help with her maths. Finally, she tries the silent treatment on Hetty
and that makes the girl tell Lucy everything. When Lucy confronted her, Pixie refuses to
submit but instead she stands up for herself and expresses her feelings. She hates to
pretend that her family is normal and she could not accept strangers as family. However,
after they both pour out their frustration, things become better for them.

In a nutshell, Claudia and Pixie have both similarities and differences between them. I
learn many lessons while reading the story about them and the other children in this
novel.

Based on one of the novel that you have studied, write about a memorable event
and how the event affects one of the characters in the story.

Support your answer with close reference to the text.

I choose the novel Step by Wicked Step written by Anne Fine. The memorable event
from the novel is the honest conversation between Pixie and her stepmother Lucy. I
think that the conversation is important because it affects and changes Pixie's life.

First of all, I think that the conversation is important because Pixie gets a chance to
tell the truth about her feelings. Pixie tells Lucy that she hates to pretend that their
family is normal. It is hard for her to accept strangers as family. She dislikes her
stepsisters. When Hetty moves into Pixie's bedroom after quarreling with Sophie,
Pixie becomes very angry. She tries many ways to get rid of Hetty.

Apart from that, I think that the conversation between Lucy and Pixie is important
because Lucy also gets a chance to express her feelings towards Pixie. Lucy hates
being a step mother. It is very hard for her to take care of someone else's child. Lucy
is angry when Pixie tries to get rid of Hetty from her bedroom.

Last but not least, I think the heart to heart conversation is memorable because it
improves the relationship between Pixie and Lucy. They understand each other
better. At the end of the conversation, they are crying and hugging each other. After
that day, their relationship becomes better and they are more like a normal family.

In a nutshell, I think that the honest conversation between Lucy and Pixie is
memorable because it improves the relationship between Pixie and her step family. I
learn good lessons from this novel.






What is the most important moral value that you have learnt from the novel you
have studied? With close reference to the text, give reasons to support your
answer.

I choose the novel Step by Wicked Step written by Anne Fine. The most important
moral value that I have learnt from this novel is honesty. There are many examples
which show the importance of honesty throughout this novel.

First of all, we can see that in this novel, parents are not being honest to their
children. They do not tell their children what is happening between them. This
causes the children a lot of stress and worry. For example, Lilith Harwick does not tell
her children that their father is dying. We see how distressed Richard is when
guessing the truth about his father's condition. When Colin's mother decides to leave
Colin's dad and move up north, she does not explain the reason to Colin. Colin does
not like his new life and misses his dad a lot, but his mother does not seem to be
aware of how he felt.

Apart from that, the parents' lack of honesty makes the children keep their thoughts
and feelings to themselves. This is bad because it may cause the children to take the
wrong action. For example, Colin stops talking about his dad to his mother, but plans
to run away to find him one day. However, when parents are honest about their
feelings and open up to their children, their relationship will get better. This can be
seen in the case of Lucy and Pixie. After they burst out and tell each other their true
feelings, their relationship improves a lot. Pixie respects Lucy and Lucy gives Pixie
time and space to adapt to her new family.

In a nutshell, honesty is the most important moral value that can be learnt from this
novel because it helps to heal and rebuild relationships in the family. I hope
everyone can practice honesty in their lives.






Choose a character that you admire from a novel that you have
learned in Form 5. With close reference to the text, give reasons to
support your answer.

I choose the novel Step by Wicked Step, written by Anne Fine. The
character that I admire is Claudia. There are many reasons why I
admire her very much.
First of all, I admire Claudia because she is a gentle person.
Listening to Richard's sad story, makes her weep. Besides, she is
loyal to her mother. She tries not to sound too happy when
speaking to her father because she does not want to hurt her
mother's feeling. She rejects Stella and refuses to enjoy her time
with her father out of loyalty to her mother. She knows that her
parents break-up is serious even though her mother sounded
cheerful.
Apart from that, I really admire Claudia because she is a fair and
sensible person. She does not blame Stella for her parents' break-
up. At the dinner party, she thinks that the guests are rude for not
appreciating Stella's hard work. She realizes that ignoring Stella
would not help solving matters between her parents. Feeling sorry
for Stella who is being ignored by the guests, she decides to help
her get accepted by showing off the green pyjamas which Stella
gave her.
In a nutshell, the character that I admire from Step by Wicked Step
is Claudia because she is gentle, loyal, fair and sensible. I think we
could learn a lot from her character.