Narrative Compre - Cyclone (SASS MYE2022)

At the beginning of the text, the author and his friends witnessed the “awesome grandeur” (line 2) of the cyclone. Explain how the language used in Paragraph 1 emphasises how powerful the cyclone was.  

Support your ideas with three details from Paragraph 1.

Answer explanation

●        “overwhelming the sun” [imagery] shows that the cyclone can even block out the sun’s light OR overpower the life-giving force 

●        “sky was changed into a mass of darkening cloud” [imagery] shows how even the vast blue sky gets overshadowed

●        “[wind] turning the air into a mist of driven spray” [personification] suggests it has enough pressure to cause the air to change into jets of water   / shows that the cyclone was so strong that it brought the water from the sea into the air.

What were the “heavy burdens” (line 9)?

Answer explanation

[two expensive and new*] motors

“Yet if we had hoped to find shelter among the trees, we were fools, for we found ourselves transferred from a position of acute discomfort into one of real and deadly danger.” (lines 14-16)

(a) What is the author’s tone in this sentence? 

Answer explanation

Regretful / Bitter / Self-admonishing / Rueful

X Despair / Despondent -- as he’s looking back at the event

The word ‘Yet’ gives that sense of regret as the outcome had been the opposite of the intended action

(b) What was the “real and deadly danger” they were facing?

Answer explanation

Being killed by the flying branches.

●        Need to mention being killed as it’s “deadly danger” after all

●        No mark for merely quoting “huge missiles” without mentioning the flying branches

●        Excess Denied kicks in when students copy copiously irrelevant details like “cyclone thrashing palm trees into lunatic frenzy”.

What is unusual and effective about the phrase “scanty cover” (lines 20-21) that the author uses to describe how he felt about the outboard motor on his shoulder?

Answer explanation

■        Unusual: Normally, “scanty” would suggest inadequate/insufficient to provide protection (“cover”). [1]

■        Effective: But in this case, [the writer feels grateful] the motor had sufficiently shielded him from a flying coconut. [1]

Need to recast “scanty” and “cover”

Need to have the underlined words – or something similar.

Which two phrases [two words each] in Paragraph 5 suggest that the author thought the falling tree resembled a fighter or boxer?

Answer explanation

(i) “solid mass” (33)

 

(ii) “gigantic blow” (line 34)

Need to zoom in on ‘resembled’ -- what the eyes can see

Hence only these two phrases are accepted

Many didn’t use the quotation marks

(a) Suggest a reason why the author compares his tap on Gerry’s ankle to one “delivered by a crafty footballer” (line 39)?

Answer explanation

It was done out of desperation / To show his quick thinking (or unorthodox way).

 

- (inference) Can accept something similar

- need to recast “crafty”

(b) What had made this “tap” so important? Answer in your own words.

Answer explanation

It was to save Gerry’s life [as he was running into a falling tree]

Need to mention saving Gerry’s life

What impression do you form of the author in Paragraph 7?

Answer explanation

He is level-headed / can assess the situation / do whatever is needed / has great determination to overcome obstacles / cared about his companions

- can accept something similar

What prevented the author from being able to save himself from the fall in Paragraph 8?

Answer explanation

His knees had given way / He had injured his knees (line 50). OR

He was unprepared for the full force of the wind in his back (lines 48-49).

Need precision in this. Don’t accept generic ‘he has injured himself’. 

X Some used literary language in saying “his knees had given up”