STPM/S920

PEPERIKSAAN
SIJIL TINGGI PERSEKOLAHAN MALAYSIA
(STPM)

LITERATURE IN ENGLISH
Syllabus Specifications
And Sample Questions

Sukatan pelajaran ini digunakan bagi peperiksaan tahun 2004 dan tahun-tahun
seterusnya sehingga diberitahu.
Walau bagaimanapun, teks kajian yang digunakan mungkin berubah dari semasa
ke semasa dan calon dikehendaki menghubungi Majlis Peperiksaan Malaysia,
nombor telefon 03-61369663 untuk maklumat terkini.

MAJLIS PEPERIKSAAN MALAYSIA

1
 CONTENTS
920 Literature in English Syllabus

Page

Aims 1

Objectives 1

Content 1

Prescribed Texts 2

Syllabus Specifications 3 − 16

Examination Format 17

List of References 18 − 20

Sample Questions

Paper 1 (920/1): Shakespeare and Other British Writers 21 − 31

Paper 2 (920/2): New Literatures in English 32 − 40

2
 920 LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

Aims

The syllabus aims to develop critical skills which will enable students to engage with and make informed
responses to texts from different literary traditions and genres. It also aims to develop the aesthetic sense
and moral awareness in students.

Objectives
Students should be able to:

(a) display critical skills based on current approaches to literary texts,

(b) give informed responses to texts from different genres, literary traditions and socio-historical
contexts,
(c) communicate independent judgement of and insight into texts using effective and appropriate
language,
(d) show aesthetic appreciation of texts.

Content
The syllabus prepares students to sit for two papers:

(a) Paper 1: Shakespeare and Other British Writers

(b) Paper 2: New Literatures in English

Candidates are required to take both papers which have equal weightage.

1
Prescribed Texts

The prescribed texts for this syllabus are:

Paper 1: Shakespeare and Other British Writers

(i) Shakespeare, Hamlet (Arden)

(ii) Shakespeare, As You Like It (Arden)
(iii) John Keats, Selected Poems and Letters of Keats (Heinemann)
(iv) Thomas Hardy, Selected Shorter Poems of Thomas Hardy (Macmillan)
(v) Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre (Wordsworth Classics)
(vi) Aldous Huxley, Brave New World (Penguin Classics)

Paper 2: New Literatures in English

(i) “Spirit of the Keris”: A Selection of Malaysian Short Stories and Poetry (Maya Press
Sdn. Bhd.)
(ii) Nissim Ezekiel, Collected Poems 1952-1988 (Oxford Indian Paperback)
(iii) Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea (Penguin Books)
(iv) Buchi Emecheta, Kehinde (Heinemann)

Syllabus Specifications

This syllabus contains two parts. Part I should be regarded as an integral part of the syllabus and a crucial
guide to analysing the prescribed texts and answering the questions in Papers 1 and 2.

Part II outlines the syllabus specifications for Papers 1 and 2.

2
PART I: CRITICAL APPRECIATION SKILLS APPLICABLE TO PAPERS 1 AND 2

Topic Syllabus Specifications Notes

1. Literature, Language The formalistic approach will

and Form consider the following:

1.1 Literary devices Simile

Metaphor
Personification
Symbols
Hyperbole
Onomatopoeia
Rhythm
Rhyme
Metre
Alliteration
Assonance
Paradox
Contrast/comparison
Irony
Repetition
Binary opposition
Leitmotif
Tone

1.2 Narrative techniques First person

Third person – omniscient
– limited
– camera
Stream of consciousness
Foreshadowing
Flashback
Dialogue
Interior monologue
Speech and thought presentation

1.3 Setting Place

Symbolic landscape
Time
Social context
Atmosphere
Mood

3
 Topic Syllabus Specifications Notes

1.4 Characterization Role/significance

Personality
Physical characteristics
Personality traits
Interaction between characters
Gestures and mannerisms
Conflict and relationships
Speech/body language

1.5 Structure Sequence of events

Foreshadowing
Flashback
Stanza form

1.6 Themes/issues/concerns Literal meaning

Metaphorical meaning
Symbolic meaning
Message
Authorial intention

1.7 Reader response Role of the reader

Reader’s own perspective
Responses based on sensitivity
to the text leading to critical
evaluation

1.8 Language use Varieties of English

Hybridization
Code-switching
Code-mixing
Language Register

2. Literature, History 2.1 Context Significance of political, historical

and Culture and cultural contexts to the
process of meaning-making

2.2 Themes/issues

(i) Power relations Examine relationships and

conflicts between
– individuals
– individual and society
– different communities
– colonizer and colonized
Identify what is portrayed as central
and what is portrayed as
marginal

Topic Syllabus Specifications Notes

4
 (ii) Quest for identity Caught between cultures, values
and traditions
Encounters between the traditional
and the modern

(iii) Colonization and Positive and negative effects

decolonization

(iv) Beliefs/value system Identify values of

– characters
– author of text
– society
Relate these values to reader’s own
value system

2.3 Cultural perspective Evaluate/interpret text in the light of

one’s own cultural position

3. Literature and 3.1 Gender Definition;

Gender Culturally-sensitive gender focus,
i.e. how gender is perceived from
different cultural backgrounds

3.2 Context

(i) Historical Who is free to write, and in what

idiom; who is able to get published
or to be studied; how women have
been represented

(ii) Socio-cultural Systems of domination based on

gender, class, race etc.

3.3 Features of women’s writing Diction

Style
Imagery
Tone
Symbols
Portrayal of women/men
Point of view

3.4 Themes/issues Man-Woman relationships

Gender inequality
Portrayal of women
Empowerment of women
(analysed within local contexts)

Topic Syllabus Specifications Notes

5
3.5 Perspectives Identification of female/male
– Reading as a woman/man perspective
Alternative perspective from one’s
own experience and value system

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PART II: SPECIFICATIONS FOR PAPERS 1 AND 2

PAPER 1: SHAKESPEARE AND OTHER BRITISH WRITERS

Topic Syllabus Specifications Notes

1. Shakespeare’s Plays 1.1 Background

(i) Period Late 16th-century and early

17th-century England

(ii) Writer Brief biography of William

Shakespeare

(iii) Elizabethan Stage Physical aspects of stage

Audience
Actors
Stagecraft

1.2 Genre

(i) Comedy Definitions;

Types of comedy e.g. romantic
comedy

(ii) Tragedy Definitions;

Types of tragedy:
– Aristotelian tragedy
– Shakespearean tragedy

(iii) Tragi-comedy Definitions

(iv) Histories Brief background

Connections with tragedy

1.3 Reading the text

(i) Use of language Basic understanding of

Shakespearean language
Appreciation of richness and variety
of Shakespearean language
Language Registers

(ii) Devices Imagery

Leitmotif
Dramatic irony
Soliloquy
Aside
Chorus

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Topic Syllabus Specifications Notes

1.4 Aspects of the play

(i) Structure Five-act structure

(ii) Themes Tracing the main themes through the

play through the use of imagery/
clusters of images, and other literary
devices

(iii) Plot Plot structure:

Identification of main
plot and sub-plot
Relationship between main plot
and sub-plot
Significance of scenes, cruxes and
climaxes

(iv) Characters Main characters

Minor characters
Relationships between characters
Roles and significance of characters
Development of some characters
The Fool in Shakespeare

1.5 Relevance

(i) Contemporary Political readings

interpretations Feminist readings
Post-colonial readings

(ii) Relevance to the Both globally and locally

present

(iii) Personal relevance to

students

1.6 Moral concerns Examples:

Hubris
Moral choices
Poetic justice
Conscience
Machiavellianism
Forgiveness
Repentance
Loyalty
Courage
Good vs. evil

Topic Syllabus Specifications Notes

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 1.7 The Play as theatre/cinema

(i) Dramatizing Dramatization of the whole play or

scenes by students for better
understanding

(ii) Viewing Screening of video versions of

the play to students

2. Poetry 2.1 Background

(i) Period Introduction to socio-cultural context

(ii) Poet Brief biography

(iii) Supplementary material Examples:

biographical material, letters,
prefaces

2.2 Verse forms Examples:

Blank verse
Free verse
Rhyming verse
Heroic couplet
Sonnets
Ballads
Narrative poetry

2.3 Devices

(i) Figures of speech Simile

Metaphor
Personification
Paradox
Hyperbole
Understatement

(ii) Sound effects Alliteration

Assonance
Onomatopoeia
Rhyme

2.4 Metrics Metre

Rhythm
Cadence
Scansion

Topic Syllabus Specifications Notes

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 2.5 Interpretation

(i) Meaning Literal meaning

Metaphorical meaning
Symbolic meaning
Moral significance

(ii) Narrative Types of narratives

Significance of narrative

(iii) Argument Articulation of argument

(iv) Literary ambiguity Exploration of creative uses of

literary ambiguity

2.6 Imagination

(i) Romantic Example: Coleridge’s ideas in

Biographia Literaria

(ii) Atmosphere/Mood/Tone Use of language to evoke different

atmospheres
e.g. “haunting”, “languor”,
“merriment”
Identification of predominant tone
e.g. elegiac
commemorative
satiric
consolatory
hortatory

2.7 Moral concerns Different expressions of moral

concerns: e.g.
Social criticisms – e.g. reaction to
Industrial Revolution
Expression of certain beliefs and
values
Respect for nature

3. Novels and Short 3.1 Background

Stories
(i) Period Introduction to the socio-cultural
context of writer

(ii) Writer Brief biography

(iii) Supplementary material Use of supplementary biographical

material, letters and prefaces

Topic Syllabus Specifications Notes

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 3.2 Narrative techniques Examples:
Omniscient narrator
First person narrator
Point of view
Stream of consciousness
Leitmotif
Flashback
Foreshadowing
Monologue/Dialogue

3.3 Characterization

(i) External What is observable in the characters

(ii) Internal Psychology of characters

Relationship between external and
internal characteristics (where
applicable)

3.4 Setting

(i) Place and atmosphere Physical and symbolic landscapes

(ii) Time Socio-cultural context of work

3.5 Plot
(i) Definition Sequence of events arranged in a chain
of cause and effect

(ii) Development of plot Identification of important events that

affect the lives of the characters

3.6 Use of language

(i) Rhetorical devices Use of irony, caricature, etc.

(ii) Evocative language Use of heightened language in

particular passages

(iii) Dialogue Use of different registers of speech,

including dialect

3.7 Theme Different modes of thematic

development e.g. leitmotif,
self-discovery, etc.

Topic Syllabus Specifications Notes

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 3.8 Moral concerns Encouragement to form one’s own
judgements based on writer’s
implied values
Comparison between these implied
values and one’s own values

3.9 Novel, novella and short story Distinctions between these to be

explored (where applicable)

PAPER 2: NEW LITERATURES IN ENGLISH

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 Topic Syllabus Specifications Notes

1. Introduction 1.1 Overview Overview of the variety of writers,

socio-historical contexts and
relevant critical theories
Significance and relevance of New
Literatures

1.2 Definitions Definition of terms e.g.

“New Literatures”,
“Colonialism”, “Post
Colonialism”, etc.
Geographical and historical
parameters
Literary parameters

1.3 Themes and concerns: Relationship of New Literatures to

social and political change

(i) Quest for identity Self-determination

Search for roots and national values
and traditions

(ii) Nationalism and Inter-ethnic integration

nation-building Values and priorities

(iii) Colonialism Positive and negative effects

(iv) Decolonization Problems and effects

Encounters between the traditional and
the modern

(v) Neo-colonialism Materialism

Problems of industrialization and
urbanization

(vi) Cultural complexity and Power relations between individuals,

imposition of political communities, societies, and
power between colonizer and colonized

1.4 Reading approaches Formalistic approach

Other approaches
– reader response
– gender-centred reading
– literature and history
– literature and culture

Topic Syllabus Specifications Notes

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 1.5 Regions from which writers Examples of writers:
may be selected:

(i) Malaysia and Singapore K.S. Maniam, Lloyd Fernando, Lee

Kok Liang, Shirley Geok-Lin Lim,
Muhammad Hj Salleh, Wong Phui
Nam, Ee Tiang Hong, Lee Joo For,
Edward Dorall, Hilary Tham, Omar
Mohd Nor, Stella Kon, Syed Alwi,
Catherine Lim, Edwin Thumboo, Salleh
ben Joned, Karim Raslan, Kris Jitab,
Che Husna Azhari, Syed Adam Al
Jafri.

(ii) Indian sub-continent R.K. Narayan, Raja Rao, Anita Desai,

Yasmin Gooneratne, Nissim Ezekiel

(iii) West Indies Martin Carter, George Lamming,

Wilson Harris, Sam Selvon, Derek
Walcott, Bruce King, Edward
Braithwaite, Jean Rhys

(iv) Africa Ngugi Wa Thiong’O, Chinua Achebe,

Ayi Kwei Armah, Okot P’bitek, Wole
Soyinka, Athol Fugard, Nadine
Gordimer, Buchi Emecheta

(v) New Zealand Katherine Mansfield, Allen Curnow,

Witi Ihimaera, Janet Frame

(vi) Australia Patrick White, T. Keneally

(vii) Canada Margaret Atwood, Margaret Laurence

2 Reading New 2.1 Introduction

Literatures in English
Background to the selected
texts:

– Placing in context Defining the geographical, social,

historical and political contexts

– Literary development of Influences, trends, phases, etc.

the region

Topic Syllabus Specifications Notes

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 2.2 Analysis of texts:
Formalistic approach

(i) Themes and issues Identification of themes;

Tracing the development of themes,
issues and concerns

(ii) Story/plot Conflicts

Events and interconnections
Type and development of plot and
sub-plot
Structure

(iii) Setting Place

Time
Society and norms
World view

(iv) Characterization Types of characters

Roles and significance
Personality/character
Background information
Physical characteristics
Personality traits
Interaction between characters
Gestures and mannerisms

(v) Narrative point of view Omniscient narrator

First person
Third person
Voice/Tone/Attitude

(vi) Literary techniques and Simile

devices Metaphor
Personification
Symbols
Paradox
Contrast
Hyperbole
Alliteration
Assonance
Onomatopoeia
Rhythm and metre
Repetition
Free verse
Blank verse
Irony
Stream of consciousness

Topic Syllabus Specifications Notes

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 Soliloquy
Foreshadowing
Flashback
Time shifts
Repetition of motif
Intertextuality
Satire
Nativization of English
Diction and syntax
Use of folklore, legends, religious and
cultural allusions

(vii) Language use Varieties of English

Hybridization
Code-switching
Code-mixing
Language Register

2.3 Analysis of texts:

Other approaches

(i) Reader response Social and cultural conditioning

of reader
Individual aesthetic responses of
reader

(ii) Gender-centred reading Reading from a man’s or a woman’s

point of view
Discussion of bias in representations
which may be explicit or implicit
Comparison of distinctive features
of texts written by men and women

(iii) Literature and history Importance of historical context

Discussion of conflicts and
issues arising from differences in
economic, political and social
divisions

(iv) Literature and culture Understanding and appreciation of

the text by being aware of writer’s
culture
Understanding and appreciation of
the text using reader’s culture as a
basis for comparison

Examination Format

The examination consists of two papers, with equal weightage for each paper:
16
(a) Paper 1: Shakespeare and Other British Writers (3 hours)

There are four sections in this paper. Candidates are required to answer four questions, one from
each section.

Section A: Critical Appreciation. Questions on one passage from each prescribed text will be set.

Section B: Shakespeare’s Plays: There will be a context question and an essay question on each
play.

Section C: Poetry. There will be two questions on each poet.

Section D: Novels and short stories. There will be two questions on each text.

(b) Paper 2: New Literatures in English (3 hours)

There are three sections in this paper. Candidates are required to answer four questions, one question
from each section and the fourth question from either Section B or C.

Section A: Critical Appreciation. Questions on one passage from each of the following will be set:

(i) Malaysian Short Stories

(ii) Malaysian Poetry
(iii) Indian Poetry
(iv) West Indian novel
(v) African novel

Section B: Malaysia. There will be four questions, two on short stories and two on poetry.

Section C: Indian Sub-Continent, West Indies and Africa. There will be six questions, two on each
text.

List of References

(The following books are recommended as supplementary references only, and are not prescribed
texts.)
17
General Reading

1. Ashcroft, Bill, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin. The Empire Writes Back. London: Routledge, 1989.

2. Brumfit, C.J. and R.A. Carter. Literature and Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1989.

3. Carter, Ronald and Michael N. Long. Teaching Literature. Essex: Longman, 1991.

4. Durant, Alan and Nigel Fabb. Literary Studies in Action. London: Routledge, 1990.

5. Roberts, Edgar V. Writing about literature. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1999.

6. Selden Raman. A Reader’s Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory. Brighton: Harvester Press, 1985.

7. ____________. Practising Theory and Reading Literature. New York: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1989.

8. Tyson, Lois. Critical Theory: A user-friendly guide. New York: Garland Publishing, 1999.

Paper 1: Shakespeare And Other British Writers

1. Arthur McGee. The Elizabethan Hamlet. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 1987.

2. Bloom, Harold. (ed.) Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. USA: Chelsea House Publishing.

3. Chapman, R. The Language of Thomas Hardy. London: Macmillan, 1990.

4. De Koster, Katie. (ed.) Readings on Brave New World. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999.

5. Erickson, Peter. Patriarchal Structures in Shakespeare’s Drama. Berkeley: University of California

Press, 1985.

6. John Russell Brown. (ed.) “Much Ado About Nothing” and “As You Like It”: a casebook. London
and Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 1979.

7. Marianne L. Novy. Love’s Argument: Gender Relations in Shakespeare. Chapel Hill: University
of North Carolina Press, 1984.

8. Martin Coyle. (ed.) “Hamlet”: a casebook. London and Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 1996.

9. Molly Lefebure. Thomas Hardy’s World, The Life, Times and Works of The Great Novelist and Poet.
London: Carlton Books Limited, 1997.

10. Novy, Marianne L. Love’s Argument: Gender Relations in Shakespeare. Chapel Hill: University
of North Carolina Press, 1984.

11. Peter Erickson. Patriarchal Structures in Shakespeare’s Drama. Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1985.

12. Pinion, F.B. A Thomas Hardy Dictionary. New York: New York University Press, 1989.

13. Rylance, Rick and Judy Simons. (eds.) Literature in Context. Palgrave: Houndmills, 2001.

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14. Stephen Greenblatt. Shakespearean Negotiations. Oxford: OUP Clarendon Press, 1988.

15. Walter H. Evert. Approaches to teaching Keat’s Poetry. New York: Modern Language Association of
America, 1991.

Paper 2: New Literatures in English

1. King, Bruce. The Commonwealth Novel since 1960. New York: Macmillan, 1999.

2. Ramraj, Victor J. (ed.) Concert of Voices: An Anthology of World Writing in English. Canada:
Broadview, 1995.

Malaysia

1. Edwin, Malachi. (compiler). Bibliography of Malaysian Literature in English. Petaling Jaya: Sasbadi,
2001.

2. Fadillah Merican. “Going native and staying strong: Malaysian fiction in English.” English is an
Asian language: The Malaysian context. Kuala Lumpur: Persatuan Bahasa Moden, 1997.

3. Fernando, Lloyd. Cultures in Conflict. Singapore: Graham Brash, 1988.

4. Lim, Shirley Geok-lin. Writing S.E./Asia in English: Against the Grain. London: Skoob Book
Publication, 1994.

5. Mohammad A. Quayum & Wicks, Peter. (eds.) Malaysian Literature in English: A critical reader.
Petaling Jaya: Pearson Education Malaysia, 2001.

6. Norfaridah Abdul Manaf & Mohammad A. Quayum. Colonial to global: Malaysian women’s writing
in English 1940-1990s. Kuala Lumpur: International Islamic University, 2001.

7. Woon-Ping, Chin Holaday. “Hybrid blooms: the emergent poetry in English of Malaysia and
Singapore.” in The Comparative Perspective on Literature: Approaches to Theory and Practice.
edited by Clayton Koelb and Susan Noakes, Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Pp 130-146, 1988.

8. Zawiah Yahya. Malay characters in Malaysian novels in English. Bangi: Penerbit UKM, 1994.

India

1. Naik, M.K. (ed.) Aspects of Indian Writing in English. Delhi: Macmillan, 1992.

2. Rahman, A. Form and Value in the Poetry of Nissim Ezekiel. India: South Asia Books, 1990.

African Literature

1. Gikandi, S. Reading the African Novel. Heinemann, 1987.

2. Griffiths Gareth. African Literatures in English. East and West England: Pearson Education Limited,
2000.

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3. Umeh, Marie. (ed.) Emerging Perspectives on Buchi Emecheta. New Jersey: Africa World Press,
1995.

West Indies

1. Ciolkowski, I. Navigating the Wide Sargasso Sea: colonial history, English fiction and British
empire. Twentieth Century Literature. 43(3), 1997.

2. Emery, Mary Lou. “The politic of form: Jean Rhys’ Social vision voyage in the dark and Wide
Sargasso Sea” in Twentieth Century Literature. (2) Winter, 1982.

3. Gregg, Veronica Marie. Jean Rhys’s Historical Imagination. Chapel Hill: The University of North
Carolina Press, 1995.

4. Harris, Wilson. “Carnival of psyche: Jeans Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea.” Kunapipi 2.2, 1980.

5. Howells, Caroll A. Key Women Writers. Great Britian: University of Reading, 1991.

6. Hulme, Peter. “Post colonial theory and the politics of locality: An approach to Wide Sargasso Sea. A
view of our own: Ethnocentric perspectives in literature. Bangi: Fakulti Pengajian Bahasa, 1996.

7. King, Bruce. (ed.) West Indian Literature. 2nd edition. London: Macmillan Education Ltd., 1995.

8. Robinson, Jeffrey. “Gender, myth and the white West Indian: Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea and
Drayton’s Christopher.” Commonwealth Essays and Studies: Caribbean Literature. Vol. 13, No 2,
1991.

9. Sternlicht, Sanford. Jean Rhys. London: Prentice Hall International, 1997.

10. Wong Soak Koon. “Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea: Colonial interrogations of the bildungsroman”.
A view of our own: Ethnocentric perspectives in Literature. Bangi: Fakulti Pengajian Bahasa, 1996.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

920/1 STPM
20
 LITERATURE IN ENGLISH
PAPER 1 SHAKESPEARE AND OTHER BRITISH WRITERS
(Three hours)

MAJLIS PEPERIKSAAN MALAYSIA

(MALAYSIAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL)

SIJIL TINGGI PERSEKOLAHAN MALAYSIA

(MALAYSIA HIGHER SCHOOL CERTIFICATE)

Instructions to candidates:

Answer four questions, one each from Sections A, B, C and D

This question paper consists of printed pages.

© Majlis Peperiksaan Malaysia

STPM 920/1
Section A: Critical Appreciation
[25 marks]

Answer only one question from this section.

1 SHAKESPEARE : Hamlet

Polonius: Ay, springes to catch woodcocks. I do know,

When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul

21
 Lends the tongue vows. These blazes, daughter,
Giving more light than heat, extinct in both
Even in their promise as it is a-making, 5
You must not take for fire. From this time
Be something scanter of your maiden presence,
Set your entreatments at a higher rate
Than a command to parley. For Lord Hamlet,
Believe so much in him that he is young, 10
And with a larger tether may he walk
Than may be given you. In few, Ophelia,
Do not believe his vows; for they are brokers
Not of that dye which their investments show,
But mere implorators of unholy suits, 15
Breathing like sanctified and pious bawds
The better to beguile. This is for all.
I would not, in plain terms, from this time forth
Have you so slander any moment leisure
As to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet. 20
Look to’t, I charge you. Come your ways.
Ophelia: I shall obey, my lord.

Hamlet, Act I, Scene III

Either (a) Comment on the advice given in this passage, paying special attention to Shakespeare’s use
of metaphors.

Or (b) What image of Hamlet does Polonius convey to Ophelia in this extract?

920/1

2 SHAKESPEARE : As You Like It

Touchstone: Come apace good Audrey. I will fetch up your goats,

Audrey. And how Audrey, am I the man yet? Doth my
simple feature content you?
Audrey: Your features? Lord warrant us! What features?
Touchstone: I am here with thee and thy goats, as the most capricious 5
poet, honest Ovid, was among the Goths.

22
 Jaques: [aside] O knowledge ill-inhabited, worse than Jove
in a thatched house!
Touchstone: When a man’s verses cannot be understood, nor a man’s
good wit seconded with the forward child, 10
understanding, it strikes a man more dead than a great
reckoning in a little room. Truly, I would the gods had
made thee poetical.
Audrey: I do not know what ‘poetical’ is. Is it honest in deed
and word? Is it a true thing? 15
Touchstone: No, truly; for the truest poetry is the most feigning,
and lovers are given to poetry; and what they swear in
poetry may be said as lovers they do feign.
Audrey: Do you wish then that the gods had made me poetical?
Touchstone: I do truly. For thou swear’st to me thou art honest. 20
Now if thou wert a poet, I might have some hope thou
didst feign.
Audrey: Would you not have me honest?
Touchstone: No truly, unless thou wert hard-favoured; for 25

honesty coupled to beauty is to have honey a sauce to

sugar.
Jaques: [aside] A material fool!
Audrey: Well, I am not fair, and therefore I pray the gods make
me honest. 30
Touchstone: Truly, and to cast away honesty upon a foul slut were to
put good meat into an unclean dish.
Audrey: I am not a slut, though I thank the gods I am foul.
Touchstone: Well, praised be the gods for thy foulness;
sluttishness may come hereafter. But be it as it may 35
be, I will marry thee; and to that end I have been with

Sir Oliver Martext, the vicar of the next village, who

hath promised to meet me in this place of the forest and
to couple us.

As You Like It, Act III, Scene III

Either (a) What are the elements of humour in this passage? How does the use of prose here enhance
the humour?

Or (b) Examine the evidence in this passage that reveals Touchstone’s attitude to the woman he
wants to marry.

920/1
3 KEATS: Selected Poems and Letters of Keats

To Autumn

1
SEASON of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees, 5
23
 And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease, 10
For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.

2
Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind; 15
Or on a half-reap’d furrow sound asleep,
Drows’d with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook; 20
Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.

3
Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too, ⎯
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day, 25
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn; 30
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

Either (a) Show how Keats’ personification of autumn reveals the beauty and richness of the season.

Or (b) In this poem, Keats appeals to our senses through his careful selection of details. Discuss.

920/1
4 HARDY: Selected Shorter Poems of Thomas Hardy

IN TIME OF ‘THE BREAKING OF NATIONS’

I
ONLY a man harrowing clods
In a slow silent walk
With an old horse that stumbles and nods
Half asleep as they stalk.

II
Only thin smoke without flame 5
24
 From the heaps of couch-grass;
Yet this will go onward the same
Though Dynasties pass.

III
Yonder a maid and her wight
Come whispering by: 10
War’s annals will cloud into night
Ere their story die.

Either (a) Based on your reading of the poem, discuss the poet’s use of rural and natural rhythms of life
to comment on war and violence.

Or (b) Do the choice of words and the structure of the poem enhance or diminish Hardy’s message?
Discuss.

920/1
5 CHARLOTTE BRONTË: Jane Eyre

“What is your name besides Burns?”

“Helen.”
“Do you come a long way from here?”
“I come from a place farther north, quite on the borders of Scotland.”
“Will you ever go back?”
“I hope so; but nobody can be sure of the future.”
“You must wish to leave Lowood?”
“No! Why should I? I was sent to Lowood to get an education; and it would be of no use
going away until I have attained that object.”
“But that teacher, Miss Scatcherd, is so cruel to you?”
“Cruel? Not at all! She is severe: she dislikes my faults.”
25
 “And if I were in your place I should dislike her; I should resist her. If she struck me with
that rod, I should get it from her hand; I should break it under her nose.”
“Probably you would do nothing of the sort: but if you did, Mr Brocklehurst would expel you
from the school; that would be a great grief to your relations. It is far better to endure patiently a
smart which nobody feels but yourself, than to commit a hasty action whose evil consequences
will extend to all connected with you; and besides, the Bible bids us return good for evil.”
“But then it seems disgraceful to be flogged, and to be sent to stand in the middle of a room
full of people; and you are such a great girl: I am far younger than you, and I could not bear it.”
“Yet it would be your duty to bear it, if you could not avoid it: it is weak and silly to say you
cannot bear what it is your fate to be required to bear.”
I heard her with wonder: I could not comprehend this doctrine of endurance; and still less
could I understand or sympathise with the forbearance she expressed for her chastiser. Still I felt
that Helen Burns considered things by a light invisible to my eyes. I suspected she might be right
and I wrong; but I would not ponder the matter deeply; like Felix, I put it off to a more convenient
season.
“You say you have faults, Helen: what are they? To me you seem very good.”
“Then learn from me, not to judge by appearances: I am, as Miss Scatcherd said, slatternly; I
seldom put, and never keep, things in order; I am careless; I forget rules; I read when I should
learn my lessons; I have no method; and sometimes I say, like you, I cannot bear to be subjected
to systematic arrangements. This is all very provoking to Miss Scatcherd, who is naturally neat,
punctual, and particular.”
“And cross and cruel,” I added; but Helen Burns would not admit my addition: she kept
silence.
“Is Miss Temple as severe to you as Miss Scatcherd?”
At the utterance of Miss Temple’s name, a soft smile flitted over her grave face.
“Miss Temple is full of goodness; it pains her to be severe to any one, even the worst in the
school: she sees my errors, and tells me of them gently; and if I do anything worthy of praise, she
gives me my meed liberally. One strong proof of my wretchedly defective nature is, that even her
expostulations, so mild, so rational, have not influence to cure me of my faults; and even her
praise, though I value it most highly, cannot stimulate me to continued care and foresight.”
“That is curious,” said I, “it is so easy to be careful.”
“For you I have no doubt it is. I observed you in your class this morning, and saw you were
closely attentive: your thoughts never seemed to wander while Miss Miller explained the lesson
and questioned you. Now, mine continually rove away; when I should be listening to Miss
Scatcherd, and collecting all she says with assiduity, often I lose the very sound of her voice; I fall
into a sort of dream. Sometimes I think I am in Northumberland, and that the noises I hear round
me are the bubbling of a little brook which runs through Deepden, near our house; − then, when it

920/1
comes to my turn to reply, I have to be awakened; and having heard nothing of what was read for
listening to the visionary brook, I have no answer ready.”
“Yet how well you replied this afternoon.”
“It was mere chance; the subject on which we had been reading had interested me. ...”
“And when Miss Temple teaches you, do your thoughts wander then?”
“No, certainly, not often: because Miss Temple has generally something to say which is
newer than my own reflections; her language is singularly agreeable to me, and the information
she communicates is often just what I wished to gain.”
“Well, then, with Miss Temple you are good?”
“Yes, in a passive way: I make no effort, I follow as inclination guides me. There is no merit
in such goodness.”
“A great deal: you are good to those who are good to you. It is all I ever desire to be. If
people were always kind and obedient to those who are cruel and unjust, the wicked people would
have it all their own way: they would never feel afraid, and so they would never alter, but would

26
grow worse and worse. When we are struck at without a reason, we should strike back again very
hard; I am sure we should − so hard as to teach the person who struck us never to do it again.”
“You will change your mind, I hope, when you grow older: as yet you are but a little
untaught girl.”
“But I feel this, Helen; I must dislike those who whatever I do to please them, persist in
disliking me, I must resist those who punish me unjustly. It is as natural as that I should love those
who show me affection, or submit to punishment when I feel it is deserved.”

Either (a) How does the writer portray the character differences between Jane Eyre and Helen Burns in
the passage?

Or (b) What are the differences between the attitudes of Jane and Helen towards some of the
teaching practices of that time? Whose view do you agree with more and why?

920/1

6 ALDOUS HUXLEY : Brave New World

Alternate Thursdays were Bernard’s Solidarity Service days. After an early dinner at the
Aphroditaeum (to which Helmholtz had recently been elected under Rule Two) he took leave of
his friend and, hailing a taxi on the roof, told the man to fly to the Fordson Community Singery.
The machine rose a couple of hundred metres, then headed eastwards, and as it turned, there
before Bernard’s eyes, gigantically beautiful, was the Singery. Flood-lighted, its three hundred
and twenty metres of white Carrara-surrogate gleamed with a snowy incandescence over Ludgate
Hill; at each of the four corners of its helicopter platform an immense T shone crimson against the
night, and from the mouths of twenty-four vast golden trumpets rumbled a solemn synthetic
music.

27
 “Damn, I’m late,” Bernard said to himself as he first caught sight of Big Henry, the Singery
clock. And sure enough, as he was paying off his cab, Big Henry sounded the hour. “Ford,” sang
out an immense bass voice from all the golden trumpets. “Ford, Ford, Ford …” Nine times.
Bernard ran for the lift.
The great auditorium for Ford’s Day celebrations and other massed Community Sings was at
the bottom of the building. Above it, a hundred to each floor, were the seven thousand rooms used
by Solidarity Groups for their fortnightly services. Bernard dropped down to floor thirty-three,
hurried along the corridor, stood hesitating for a moment outside Room 3210, then, having wound
himself up, opened the door and walked in.
Thank Ford! he was not the last. Three chairs of the twelve arranged round the circular table
were still unoccupied. He slipped into the nearest of them as inconspicuously as he could and
prepared to frown at the yet later comers whenever they should arrive.
Turning towards him, “What were you playing this afternoon?” the girl on his left inquired.
“Obstacle, or Electro-magnetic?”
Bernard looked at her (Ford! It was Morgana Rothschild) and blushingly had to admit that he
had been playing neither. Morgana stared at him with astonishment. There was an awkward
silence.
Then pointedly she turned away and addressed herself to the more sporting man on her left.
“A good beginning for a Solidarity Service,” thought Bernard miserably, and foresaw for
himself yet another failure to achieve atonement. If only he had given himself time to look round
instead of scuttling for the nearest chair! He could have sat between Fifi Bradlaugh and Joanna
Diesel. Instead of which he had gone and blindly planted himself next to Morgana. Morgana!
Ford! Those black eyebrows of hers – that eyebrow, rather – for they met above the nose. Ford!
And on his right was Clara Deterding. True, Clara’s eyebrows didn’t meet. But she was really too
pneumatic. Whereas Fifi and Joanna were absolutely right. Plump, blonde, not too large. … And it
was that great lout, Tom Kawaguchi, who now took the seat between them.
The last arrival was Sarojini Engels.
“You’re late,” said the President of the Group severely. “Don’t let it happen again.”
Sarojini apologized and slid into her place between Jim Bokanovsky and Herbert Bakunin.
The group was now complete, the solidarity circle perfect and without flaw. Man, woman, man, in
a ring of endless alternation round the table. Twelve of them ready to be made one, waiting to
come together, to be fused, to lose their twelve separate identities in a large being.

Either (a) Analyse Huxley’s evocation of mood and atmosphere in this extract.

Or (b) Examine how Bernard represents the contrast between the individual desire and the collective
will.

920/1
Section B : Shakespeare’s Plays
[25 marks]

Answer only one question from this section.

7 Either (a) SHAKESPEARE : Hamlet

Hamlet: Ay, thou poor ghost, whiles memory holds a seat

In this distracted globe. Remember thee?
Yea, from the table of my memory
I’II wipe away all trivial fond records,
All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past 5
That youth and observation copied there,
And thy commandment all alone shall live

28
 Within the book and volume of my brain,
Unmix’d with baser matter. Yes, by heaven!
O most pernicious woman! 10
O villain, villain, smiling damned villain!

Hamlet, Act I, Scene V

(i) What promises does Hamlet make to the ghost?

(ii) To what extent does he keep these promises?

Or (b) SHAKESPEARE : As You Like It

Orlando: O good old man, how well in thee appears

The constant service of the antique world,
When service sweat for duty, not for meed.
Thou art not for the fashion of these times,
Where none will sweat but for promotion, 5
And having that, do choke their service up
Even with the having; it is not so with thee.
But poor old man, thou prun’st a rotten tree,
That cannot so much as a blossom yield,
In lieu of all thy pains and husbandry. 10
But come thy ways, we’ll go along together,
And ere we have thy youthful wages spent,
We’ll light upon some settled low content.
Adam: Master go on, and I will follow thee
To the last gasp with truth and loyalty. 15
From seventeen years, till now almost fourscore
Here lived I, but now live here no more.
At seventeen years, many their fortunes seek
But at fourscore, it is too late a week;
Yet fortune cannot recompense me better 20
Than to die well, and not my master’s debtor.

As You Like It, Act II , Scene III

920/1
(i) Why are Orlando and Adam leaving their home? Describe two main consequences of
their departure.

(ii) Paraphrase the first 10 lines of Orlando’s speech. What indications do these lines give
of Orlando’s opinion of Adam and of himself?

8 Either (a) How are Laertes and Fortinbras contrasted with Hamlet throughout the play Hamlet?

Or (b) This play ends with four marriages. How well matched are the couples? Discuss, paying
special attention to why they marry their mates.

29
920/1
Section C : Poetry
[25 marks]

Answer only one question from this section.

9 KEATS : Selected Poems and Letters of Keats

Either (a) Do you feel that the development of the story in Keats’ narrative poems is hampered by his
rich descriptions? Refer to two narrative poems in your discussion.

Or (b) “The poetry of John Keats has little social significance; he was too preoccupied with his own
sensations and perceptions to be concerned about the problems of his society.” How far do you agree with
this statement? Discuss with close reference to three poems.

10 HARDY : Selected Shorter Poems of Thomas Hardy

30
Either (a) In Hardy’s poetry “nature is not just a background or decoration; it seems to be a living
presence.” Discuss with close reference to three poems.

Or (b) Hardy’s poems reveal his deep sympathy for those who suffer. Discuss with close reference to
three poems.

Section D : Novels and Short Stories

[25 marks]

Answer only one question from this section.

11 CHARLOTTE BRONTË : Jane Eyre

Either (a) Does the use of the first person narrative in the novel make us sympathetic to Jane? Discuss
with textual evidence.

Or (b) The novel Jane Eyre represents Charlotte Bronte’s attitude towards the struggle for
independence of women in nineteenth-century England. Discuss this statement with reference to two
women characters.

12 ALDOUS HUXLEY : Brave New World

Either (a) Discuss the significance of the title Brave New World.

Or (b) Examine Brave New World as a satire of scientific progress.

920/1

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

920/2 STPM
LITERATURE IN ENGLISH
PAPER 2 NEW LITERATURES IN ENGLISH
(Three hours)

31
 MAJLIS PEPERIKSAAN MALAYSIA
(MALAYSIAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL)

SIJIL TINGGI PERSEKOLAHAN MALAYSIA

(MALAYSIA HIGHER SCHOOL CERTIFICATE)

Instructions to candidates:

Answer four questions, one each from Sections A, B and C and one other question from either Section
B or C.

For each question that you have selected you may only answer either (a) or (b) and not both (a) and (b)
of that question.

This question paper consists of printed pages.

© Majlis Peperiksaan Malaysia

STPM 920/2
Section A: Critical Appreciation

Answer only one question from this section.

1 “Spirit of the Keris”: A Selection of Malaysian Short Stories and Poetry

The old Muthu stirred on the plank bed and thought, “I shouldn’t have gone back. Certainly
not with that man from the hut. Brought him too much trouble. We went away from each other
before knowing one another.”
Muthu, though fascinated, is unable to go beyond Zulkifli’s house. His mind runs with
colours and stripes and he is fearful of the thing he will finally see; yet this is what he feels he has
waited for and will not miss. But he will not go alone; he must have a companion. His father has
laughed at him. “Just a play thing, what you talk about. Be a real man and make up your mind.”
The others of his own age have wives and children and must care for them.
“Food, clothes and shelter! That’s all they worry about,” Muthu thinks as his feet take him
beyond boar-hunting territory. His father’s jeering face comes down to him with the words,
“Come back with us and I’II marry you to a girl who’ll make you feel like a man!”
He is going to prove himself a man tonight for he does not look at Zulkifli’s house as he
passes it. He goes straight to the compass tree stump and crosses over into the silence he dreads
32
but must face. Back at the disturbed anthill, he wonders if his obsessive preoccupation with the
tiger has not distorted his vision: the pug mark is larger and more deeply pressed. He decides to
show he is not afraid by breaking into the now threat-thick silence.
He now has a direction to follow which he holds on to as he does his gun. Putting every thing
he passes into his mind, he draws himself into the fearful silence. But, strangely, after what seems
an eternity, the silence is replaced by a loud conspiracy of exclusion. His ears pick up an
infinitesmal flutter of wings; his eyes catch dark, hurtling shapes that wrench themselves out of
the stillness. His torchlight is useless against the numerous bright green orbs - fireflies? - that
advance upon him. He breaks into a run and cuts himself free from this web of scheming. But as
he reaches, once more, the anthill he realizes blood has been drawn from his arms and legs.
The old Muthu struggled with the anger his younger self had felt long ago. “This isn’t going
to help me die,” he thought. “Must have been anger that took me to Zulkifli.” He lay on his side
and made out in the approaching dawn the thin mound of a body that was his wife, under the
white coverlet.
As he looked, he remembered the other shrouded figure he had sat beside after his parents
left for India. He had decided to marry the young girl he had seen in a nearby estate without
bothering to think what marriage meant. The shock he had experienced the first night they came
together only emphasized his sense of inadequacy. He ignored the innocence and the unbounded
mysteries that lay hidden behind the sari-veiled figure and took her that he recognized as a
woman, violently, and made her a citizen of the dark country he would never know.

K.S. Maniam: Haunting the Tiger

Either (a) Examine K.S. Maniam’s portrayal of conflict in this extract. [25 marks]

Or (b) Discuss the significance of the dual persona of Muthu in this extract. [25 marks]

920/2
2 “Spirit of the Keris”: A Selection of Malaysian Short Stories and Poetry

For my old amah

To most your dying seems distant,

outside the palings of our concern.
Only to you the fact was real
when the flame caught among the final brambles
of your pain. And lying there 5
in this cubicle, on your trestle
over the old newspapers and spittoon,
your face bears the waste of terror
at the crumbling of your body’s walls.
The moth fluttering against the electric bulb, 10
and on the wall your old photographs,
do not know your going. I do not know
when it has wrenched open the old wounds.
When branches snapped in the dark
you would have had a god among the trees 15
33
 make us a journey of your going.
Your palm crushed the child’s tears from my face.
Now this room will become your going, brutal
in the discarded combs, the biscuit tins
and neat piles of your dresses. 20

Wong Phui Nam

Either (a) Examine the persona’s response to the death of the amah in this poem. [25 marks]

Or (b) Examine Wong Phui Nam’s use of setting and its contribution to the understanding of the
event in this poem. [25 marks]

920/2
3 NISSIM EZEKIEL: Collected Poems 1952-1988

Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T. S.

Friends,
our dear sister
is departing for foreign
in two three days,
and 5
we are meeting today
to wish her bon voyage.

You are all knowing, friends,

what sweetness is in Miss Pushpa.
I don’t mean only external sweetness 10
but internal sweetness.
Miss Pushpa is smiling and smiling
even for no reason
but simply because she is feeling.

Miss Pushpa is coming 15

34
 from very high family.
Her father was renowned advocate
in Bulsar or Surat,
I am not remembering now which place.

Surat? Ah, yes, 20

once only I stayed in Surat
with family members
of my uncle’s very old friend,
his wife was cooking nicely …
that was long time ago. 25

Coming back to Miss Pushpa

she is most popular lady
with men also and ladies also.

Whenever I asked her to do anything,

she was saying, ‘Just now only 30
I will do it.’ That is showing
good spirit. I am always
appreciating the good spirit.
Pushpa Miss is never saying no.
Whatever I or anybody is asking 35
she is always saying yes,
and today she is going
to improve her prospect,
and we are wishing her bon voyage.

920/2
Now I ask other speakers to speak, 40
and afterwards Miss Pushpa
will do summing up.

Either (a) Examine Ezekiel’s portrayal of the people in this poem. [25 marks]

Or (b) Discuss the use of comic elements and their effect on the message in the poem. [25 marks]

35
920/2

4 JEAN RHYS: Wide Sargasso Sea

The road climbed upward. On one side the wall of green, on the other a steep drop to the
ravine below. We pulled up and looked at the hills, the mountains and the blue-green sea. There
was a soft warm wind blowing but I understood why the porter had called it a wild place. Not only
wild but menacing. Those hills would close in on you.
“What an extreme green,” was all I could say, and thinking of Emile calling to the fishermen and the
sound of his voice, I asked about him.
“They take short cuts. They will be at Granbois long before we are.”
Everything is too much, I felt as I rode wearily after her. Too much blue, too much purple,
too much green. The flowers too red, the mountains too high, the hills too near. And the woman is
a stranger. Her pleading expression annoys me. I have not bought her, she has bought me, or so
she thinks. I looked down at the coarse mane of the horse … Dear Father. The thirty thousand
pounds have been paid to me without question or condition. No provision made for her (that must
be seen to). I have a modest competence now. I will never be a disgrace to you or to my dear
brother the son you love. No begging letters, no mean requests. None of the furtive shabby
manoeuvres of a younger son. I have sold my soul or you have sold it, and after all is it such a bad
bargain? The girl is thought to be beautiful, she is beautiful. And yet…
Meanwhile the horses jogged along a very bad road. It was getting cooler. A bird whistled,
a long sad note. “What bird is that?” She was too far ahead and did not hear me. The bird whistled
again. A mountain bird. Shrill and sweet. A very lonely sound.
She stopped and called, “Put your coat on now.” I did so and realized that I was no longer
pleasantly cool but cold in my sweat-soaked shirt.
36
 We rode on again, silent in the slanting afternoon sun, the wall of trees on one side, a drop on
the other. Now the sea was a serene blue, deep and dark.
We came to a little river. “This is the boundary of Granbois.” She smiled at me. It was the
first time I had seen her smile simply and naturally. Or perhaps it was the first time I had felt
simple and natural with her. A bamboo spout jutted from the cliff, the water coming from it was
silver blue. She dismounted quickly, picked a large shamrock-shaped leaf to make a cup, and
drank. Then she picked another leaf, folded it and brought it to me. “Taste. This is mountain
water.” Looking up smiling, she might have been any pretty English girl and to please her I drank.
It was cold, pure and sweet, a beautiful colour against the thick green leaf.
She said, “After this we go down then up again. Then we are there.”
Next time she spoke she said, “The earth is red here, do you notice?”
“It’s red in parts of England too.”
“Oh England, England,” she called back mockingly, and the sound went on and on like
a warning I did not choose to hear.

Either (a) Discuss the warning signs which provide clues for the marital breakup of Antoinette and
Rochester. [25 marks]

Or (b) Examine the atmosphere and mood of the passage in relation to the portrayal of Rochester.
[25 marks]

920/2

5 BUCHI EMECHETA: Kehinde

One of the reasons Albert Okolo chose to live in Leytonstone was because of its nearness to his
workplace. He had only to drive for about fifteen minutes and he would be there. He could
virtually slip out of the house a few minutes before his work started without disturbing his family.
He never ate breakfast, a habit he had from Nigeria. He slid out of bed not wanting to disturb
Kehinde and drove to work mechanically. He had driven that same road, that same corner and that
short-cut, so often that he could do the distance with his eyes closed. At work, he slipped
mechanically into the routine of his job as a storekeeper.
“Morning Alby,” greeted his colleague, Mike Levy.
“Morning Mike,” Albert drawled. He did not have to look up; he knew who it was. For once,
he did not go on to ask about Mike’s health and that of his family, a Nigerian habit Albert had
never shaken off, even after eighteen years. It was so automatic that Mike waited unconsciously
for it and unwittingly readied himself with the usual answer; “They are well, at least they were
when I left home.” And Albert would say in reply, “That’s all right. We thank God for another
day.” The omission alerted Mike that something was wrong. He watched his colleague
thoughtfully.
Others came in, who, in the English manner, did not bother to say “Good morning”, except
for Prahbu, a man they called “India” even though he came from Pakistan, who greeted all the
other storekeepers and went straight to the tea machine. The noise of his ten pence pieces rattled
Albert and he lifted his dark lean face to look at Prahbu.
“Heh, what’s the matter with ‘im?” Prahbu asked Mike.
“How should I know? Why don’t you ask him? He’s your friend too.”
37
 They all set to work in the cluttered warehouse, checking, labelling, dusting, checking again
and stamping. Albert had to examine and enter the figures and pass them to the gov’nor, who had
a separate box-like room.
“I’m buying tea for everybody today,” Prahbu announced at the mid-morning break.
“Is it your birthday then?” asked John, one of the English workers, now fully awake and friendlier.
“Nope, I just feel like buying tea for everybody,” Prahbu said in the sing song voice he
sometimes affected for fun.
“I didn’t know that Hindus drank tea. You’re the first I’ve seen.” John was at his jokes again.
“I am not a Hindu, you know that,” Prahbu said, laughing. John had always said this since he
had realised it annoyed Prahbu at the beginning of their association. Not only that, but John soon
realised that calling him “India” was even more annoying. Prahbu, however, soon got wise, and
learnt to react with humour, which took the sting out of John’s spite.
“What does it matter what religion? God did not forbid tea. What does your God say, Albert?
You’re a Catholic, aren’t you?” Prahbu turned the banter on Albert, who was far too quiet this morning.
“Yes, I’m a Catholic and I’m about to commit a mortal sin,” he responded.

Either (a) Examine the racial and cultural differences among the characters in this extract and how
these differences affect their relationships. [25 marks]

Or (b) Based on this extract, examine Emecheta’s portrayal of Albert’s personality. [25 marks]

920/2
Section B : Malaysia

(For this section you must discuss the works of at least two writers in each answer.)

6 “Spirit of the Keris”: A Selection of Malaysian Short Stories and Poetry

Either (a) With reference to at least three short stories, show how the writers provide readers with an
insight into race relations in Malaysia. [25 marks]

Or (b) Discuss the use of Malaysian English in at least three short stories and explain the ways in
which the writers use it for purposes of characterization and development of themes. [25 marks]

7 “Spirit of the Keris”: A Selection of Malaysian Short Stories and Poetry

Either (a) With close reference to at least three poems, discuss how poets depict death or responses to
death. [25 marks]

Or (b) With close reference to at least three poems, examine how poets use landscape to present
a sense of Malaysianness. [25 marks]

Section C : Indian Sub-Continent, West Indies and Africa

38
8 NISSIM EZEKIEL: Collected Poems 1952-1988

Either (a) With close reference to at least three poems, discuss Ezekiel’s use of Indian English to
depict Indian society. [25 marks]

Or (b) With close reference to at least three poems, discuss Ezekiel’s use of humour in his
depiction of human relationships. [25 marks]

9 JEAN RHYS : Wide Sargasso Sea

Either (a) Discuss an aspect of setting in Wide Sargasso Sea which you consider important to your
understanding of the novel. [25 marks]

Or (b) Examine the structure of Wide Sargasso Sea, paying close attention to the narrative voices
used by Jean Rhys. [25 marks]

920/2
10 BUCHI EMECHETA : Kehinde

Either (a) “Changes to physical and social environments dictate the need for changes in human
behaviour.” Discuss this statement with close reference to two characters in the novel. [25 marks]

Or (b) Discuss the social and cultural challenges faced by immigrant communities in Kehinde and
how they respond to these challenges. [25 marks]

39
920/2

40