1. City of Beasts Question 4

2. Spend 25 min on this question
Skills:
Critically evaluate effects on readers
Analyse writer’s methods
Select textual references
Critically respond to statement Q4
Focus this part of your answer on lines 16 to the end.
A student said ‘This part of the story, set during breakfast time, shows that Alex is struggling to cope with his mother’s illness.’
To what extent do you agree?
In your response, you could:
Consider your own impressions of Alex
Evaluate how the writer shows that Alex is struggling to cope
Support your response with reference to the text
Clear grasp of the debate – all points made are focusing on the statement given and your agreement/disagreement. Use key words from the statement (or synonyms).
As part of your critical evaluation, you must identify and explore aspects of language (writer’s methods, using terminology) in this question.
Pepper plenty of mini quotations throughout response.
Spend 25 min on this question

3. Q4 A student said ‘This part of the story, set during breakfast time, shows that Alex is struggling to cope with his mother’s illness.’ To what extent do you agree?
I strongly agree that Alex is struggling to cope. One way this is illustrated is through his emotions and reactions. He shouts at his sister ‘”You don’t know what you’re talking about!”’ This outburst demonstrates the volatile nature of Alex’s moods, revealing how much the situation is affecting him. Furthermore, the pronoun ‘you’ is accusatory in tone towards his siblings. This perhaps demonstrates Alex’s feelings of isolation and how he feels alone on this journey of despair – much like a ship at sea during a storm. Alex’s struggle evokes a powerful feeling of sympathy for this child who is clearly struggling to process his emotions; this is why they are coming out in fits of rage like this one.

4. Q4 Cont…
Additionally, the writer describes how ‘At first, it was almost like a party’ when referring to the unhealthy food they ate. This simile reflects their emotions: at first they probably believed their mother would get better and enjoyed the freedom. However, they soon begin to miss the stability of their mother and their usual diet. The ‘party’ could be seen as a metaphor for their emotions. The excitement and anticipation of a party is often more enjoyable than the chaotic reality and that is what Alex and his siblings have realised – they need the consistency and normality of their mother, not a constant ‘party’. This realisation clearly conveys that Alex is struggling to cope with his mother’s illness.

5. Q4 cont…
Finally, Alex’s feelings that his mother is ‘little more than a silent ghost’ reveal the true extent of his suffering. It seems his is so stricken by grief and sadness that his mother is already dead to him. The past tense verb ‘was’ illustrates that he already feels he absence so strongly that it overwhelms him. The adjective ‘silent’ could imply that his life Is empty without her. Most worrying, however, is the reference to a ‘ghost’, suggesting that his mother’s memory is already haunting him; we have seen this throughout the extract through his dreams, his violent outbursts and his longing for her familiarity. This feeling that she is already gone is perhaps the most convincing reason that Alex is struggling to cope with his mother’s illness; his certainty about her death conveys his deeply disturbing mental state.

6. Over to you
Write 1 paragraph that counters the ‘agree’ argument already formed:
Red: 1 counter SQI
Amber: bring in 2 counter ideas
Green: bring in 2 counter ideas and an evaluative sentence to end answer with a final ‘agree’ statement using 1st person …