NATIONAL 5 EXAM: SECTION 2 STIMULUS EXAMPLES

Short extract from "Medea" by Liz Lochhead That cry!   It was a cry we've heard from the woman Opening the door to the telegraph in wartime. The cry from the unquiet wife Opening the door To the chequered hats of two policemen Late late on a foggy night The cry from the mother in the hospital corridor When she sees the doctor's face

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me.

HUGHIE: Seven ADD ON five you mean. LUCIA: You heard HUGHIE: Seven ADD ON five you mean? LUCIA: You heard. Pokes him with pointer. Hughie trying to count on fingers, mouthing figures, gets to ‘seven’ then to ‘ten’: Lucia makes him lose count: jabs him with her ’pointer’. LUCIA: Too long! I can’t spend all day with one child. I’ve got all these other little children to see to as well you know. Little SCOTTISH boys and girls. I think they deserve some of teacher’s time too. You should have done these sums last night, Franco. Why didn’t you? HUGHIE: Eh, well, I forgot. LUCIA: Oh you ‘forgot’ did you. Do you hear that, boys and girls, little Franco ‘forgot’. Sure you weren’t too busy serving the shop? HUGHIE: No, miss. LUCIA: Or maybe you don’t have pencils in your house. Or maybe you don’t have a house. Have you got a house? HUGHIE: Yes, miss. LUCIA: No use telling fibs, now is it, Franco? We all know you live in a shop. Now don’t laugh boys and girls. It’s not Franco’s fault he lives in a shop. HUGHIE: Twelve. LUCIA: Oh, so there’s twelve of you living there. My oh my! Not all in the same bed I hope. Now stop laughing, boys and girls, it’s not funny. HUGHIE: Seven and five is twelve. LUCIA: Oh, you’re too late now. I don’t know what you’re doing in this class in the first place. A little ruffian like you. A sleekit little, greasy little, smelly little… It’s gone too far. Hughie jumps up, knocks away his ginger box. HUGHIE: I don’t like this game. LUCIA: Well, I don’t like it either. HUGHIE: Yes, miss. LUCIA: No use telling fibs, now is it, Franco? We all know you live in a shop. Now don’t laugh boys and girls. It’s not Franco’s fault he lives in a shop. HUGHIE: Twelve. LUCIA: Oh, so there’s twelve of you living there. My oh my! Not all in the same bed I hope. Now stop laughing, boys and girls, it’s not funny. HUGHIE: Seven and five is twelve. L UCIA: Oh, you’re too late now. I don’t know what you’re doing in this class in the first place. A little ruffian like you. A sleekit little, greasy little, smelly little… It’s gone too far. Hughie jumps up, knocks away his ginger box. HUGHIE: I don’t like this game. LUCIA: Well, I don’t like it either. Ginger Store: two weeks later. Lucia and Hughie fixing ginger boxes to play schools. Lucia in charge: Hughie reluctant. HUGHIE: You got going the teacher last time. LUCIA: Whose Uncle Massimo’s ginger boxes are they? HUGHIE: (resigned) Yours. Lucia picks up something to use as a pointer: LUCIA: Right, sit up straight. Fold your arms. Hughie obliges. LUCIA: Two and two? HUGHIE: Four. LUCIA: Three and two? HUGHIE: Five. LUCIA: Six and three? HUGHIE: Nine. I mean eight. No, nine I mean. LUCIA: Seven and five? HUGHIE: Eh… Eh… That’s a hard one. LUCIA: It’s not hard for all the other wee boys and girls. Is it boys and girls? Seven and five? Hughie starts counting on his fingers. LUCIA: Come on, come on, seven and five? HUGHIE: Seven and five? LUCIA: You heard. Pokes him with pointer.

LOST OR FORGOTTEN?

The American Dream The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, a set of ideals in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, and an upward social mobility achieved through hard work. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, “life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or “achievement” regardless of social class or circumstances of birth.

“Life is tough my darling, but so are you” Quote by Stephanie Bennet Henry

No Man’s Land

Prologue Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life; Whole misadventured piteous overthrows Do with their death bury their parents' strife. The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love, And the continuance of their parents' rage, Which, but their children's end, nought could remove, Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage; The which if you with patient ears attend, What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

“Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try” - Gail Devers

“And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

Scene 1: A derelict building. Thunder and lightning. Night time. Enter two characters.