1. ‘Divorce’ National 5 exam - 2015

2. Possible answers include:
I did not promise to stay with you till death do us part, or anything like that, so part I must, and quickly.
1. How does the speaker make it clear that she wants to separate herself from her parents in the first sentence of the poem (lines 1—4). You may refer to language or ideas in your answer. 2
Candidates can refer to meaning or to techniques.
Two references to meaning 1 mark each.
Reference to technique (1) Comment (1).
Possible answers include:
She did not make a vow to stay together (1)
As her parents had done (1)
She wants out now (1)
She uses an emphatic tone (1)
She uses monosyllabic words (1)
She uses enjambment (1)
She uses a cliché (1)
She uses an ironic tone (1)
She uses negative language (1)

3. Candidates should make 3 distinct points for 3 marks. Lifts = 0
I did not promise to stay with you till death do us part, or anything like that, so part I must, and quickly. There are things I cannot suffer any longer: Mother, you never, ever said a kind word or a thank-you for all the tedious chores I have done;
2. Using your own words as far as possible, summarise the impression the speaker gives of her parents in lines 1—14. You should make three clear points in your answer. 3
Candidates should make 3 distinct points for 3 marks. Lifts = 0
Possible answers include:
Gloss of “you never, ever said/a kind word” – mother was not positive/ encouraging to her (1)
Gloss of “or a thank-you” – mother was ungrateful (1)
“tedious chores” – parents made the persona do hard/demanding housework (1)

4. Possible answers include:
Father, your breath smells like a camel’s and gives me the hump; all you ever say is: ‘Are you off in the cream puff, Lady Muck?’ In this day and age? I would be better off in an orphanage.
2. Using your own words as far as possible, summarise the impression the speaker gives of her parents in lines 1—14. You should make three clear points in your answer. 3
Candidates should make 3 distinct points for 3 marks. Lifts = 0
Possible answers include:
“your breath smells like a camel’s,” etc – father was (personally) repulsive (1)
“Are you in the cream puff,” etc – father made sarcastic comments (1)
“Lady muck” – father put her down (1)
“I’d be better off in an orphanage” – emphasises how bad they are (1)

5. Reference (1) Comment (1) x2
There are parents in the world whose faces turn up to the light who speak in the soft murmur of rivers and never shout. There are parents who stroke their children’s cheeks in the dead of night and sing in the colourful voices of rainbows, red to blue.
3. Look at lines 16—23. Explain, with reference to two examples of the poet’s language, how she makes clear how she imagines other parents to be. 4
Reference (1) Comment (1) x2
Possible answers include:
“faces turn up to the light” (1) – “(turn) up” or “light” suggest positivity, enlightenment (1)
“who speak in the soft murmur of rivers” (1) suggests calmness/quiet (1)
“and never shout” (1) suggests calm, quiet approach (1)
“stroke their children’s cheeks” (1) suggests love/gentleness/caring (1)
“sing in the colourful voices of rainbows, red to blue” (1) suggests brightness/ enjoyment/happiness/ beauty/varied approach, etc (1)

6. Possible answers include:
so part I must, and quickly. There are things 5 I cannot suffer any longer: Mother, you never, ever said a kind word or a thank-you for all the tedious chores I have done; Father, your breath 10 smells like a camel’s and gives me the hump;
4. The poet uses different tones throughout the poem. Identify any one use of tone and, by making reference to the text, show how the tone is created. 3
Identification of tone (1) Reference (1) Comment (1)
NB - to achieve the full 3 marks, candidates must identify a tone, refer to the text, and offer a comment.
Possible answers include:
- Humour (1)
“and quickly”(1) – persona can’t wait to get away from parents (1)
“your breath smells like a camel” (1) – humorously unappealing/ exaggeration/further reference to “gives me the hump” (1)
“I would be better off in an orphanage” (1) – humorous exaggeration (1)

7. Possible answers include:
so part I must, and quickly. There are things 5 I cannot suffer any longer: Mother, you never, ever said
4. The poet uses different tones throughout the poem. Identify any one use of tone and, by making reference to the text, show how the tone is created. 3
Identification of tone (1) Reference (1) Comment (1)
NB - to achieve the full 3 marks, candidates must identify a tone, refer to the text, and offer a comment.
Possible answers include:
- Despair (1)
reference to “there are things I cannot suffer any longer” – (1) persona is at end of tether (1)

8. Possible answers include:
These parents are not you. I never chose you. 25 You are rough and wild, I don’t want to be your child. All you do is shout and that’s not right.
4. The poet uses different tones throughout the poem. Identify any one use of tone and, by making reference to the text, show how the tone is created. 3
Identification of tone (1) Reference (1) Comment (1)
NB - to achieve the full 3 marks, candidates must identify a tone, refer to the text, and offer a comment.
Possible answers include:
- Anger (1)
“I never chose you” (1) - persona is angry with parents/fact that she is trapped (1)

9. Possible answers include:
These parents are not you. I never chose you. 25 You are rough and wild, I don’t want to be your child. All you do is shout and that’s not right.
4. The poet uses different tones throughout the poem. Identify any one use of tone and, by making reference to the text, show how the tone is created. 3
Identification of tone (1) Reference (1) Comment (1)
NB - to achieve the full 3 marks, candidates must identify a tone, refer to the text, and offer a comment.
Possible answers include:
- Dismissive (1)
reference to “I don’t want to be your child” / “These parents are not you” / “not you” (1) – persona rejects parents (1)

10. Possible answers include:
There are parents in the world whose faces turn up to the light who speak in the soft murmur of rivers and never shout. There are parents who stroke their children’s cheeks in the dead of night and sing in the colourful voices of rainbows, red to blue.
4. The poet uses different tones throughout the poem. Identify any one use of tone and, by making reference to the text, show how the tone is created. 3
Identification of tone (1) Reference (1) Comment (1)
NB - to achieve the full 3 marks, candidates must identify a tone, refer to the text, and offer a comment.
Possible answers include:
- Admiration (1)
reference to “There are parents whose faces turn up to the light” / “There are parents who stroke their children’s cheeks” / “sing in the colourful voices of rainbows” etc (1) - the persona admires these parents and wishes hers could be more like them (1)

11. Possible answers include:
There are parents in the world whose faces turn up to the light who speak in the soft murmur of rivers and never shout. There are parents who stroke their children’s cheeks in the dead of night and sing in the colourful voices of rainbows, red to blue.
4. Look at lines 16—23. Explain, with reference to two examples of the poet’s language, how she makes clear how she imagines other parents to be. 4
Identification of tone (1) Reference (1) Comment (1)
NB - to achieve the full 3 marks, candidates must identify a tone, refer to the text, and offer a comment.
Possible answers include:
Any other reasonable identification of a tone (1),
plus reference (1),
plus comment (1)

12. Summary – how to answer the 8 mark question
5. With close textual reference, show how the theme of family relationships is explored in this poem, and in at least one other poem by Jackie Kay. 8
Summary – how to answer the 8 mark question
1. Commonality: refer to another poem or poems and say what it has / they have in common / in contrast with the given poem. (2)
2. Extract: refer to the extract / poem you have been given in relation to the question. (2)
3. Other 1: refer to a second poem / extract in relation to the question. (2)
4. Other 2: repeat stage 3 for the second or a third poem. (2)

13. Mother / daughter relationship
5. With close textual reference, show how the theme of family relationships is explored in this poem, and in at least one other poem by Jackie Kay. 8
Commonality - Family Relationships:
‘Divorce’
Parent / child relationship
‘Lucozade’
Mother / daughter relationship
‘Divorce’ is written from the point of view of a teenage girl who feels that her parents are cruel to her and don’t appreciate her and so she wishes to ‘divorce’ them.
‘Lucozade’ is written from the point of view of a teenager, probably a girl, who is visiting her sick mother in hospital and is worried about what is going to happen to her.

14. Quotes related to Family Relationships:
‘Divorce’
“Mother, you never, ever said / a kind word / or a thank-you for all the tedious chores I have done;”
“Father, your breath / smells like a camel’s and gives me the hump;”
“I would be better off in an orphanage.”
“I want a divorce.”
“I don’t want to be your child.”
“All you do is shout / and that’s not right.”
‘Lucozade’
“I am scared my mum is going to die / on the bed next to the sad chrysanthemums.”
“I turn round, wave with her flowers. /My mother, on her high hospital bed, waves back. / Her face is light and radiant, dandelion hours. / Her sheets billow and whirl. She is beautiful.”
“I carry the orange nostalgia home singing an old song.”
1 Quote needed
2 Quotes needed

15. Extract - In ‘Divorce’, the melodramatic statement “I would be better off in an orphanage” shows that the girl wants to completely reject her parents, the ‘divorce’ of the title. This reminds us of the kind of thing teenagers say when fighting with their parents and the reader can imagine her stomping off, slamming the door after her.
Other 1 - In contrast, the speaker in ‘Lucozade’ seems to be close to her mother and is worried that she is going to lose her: “I am scared my mum is going to die / on the bed next to the sad chrysanthemums.” This transferred epithet shows us the speaker’s sadness about her mother’s illness and links the mother to the flowers: she is scared that her mother will “wilt and die”, just like the flowers.
Other 2 - Towards the end of the poem, the daughter removes, at her mother’s request, the stereotypical objects associated with illness, like the lucozade of the title, and when her mother waves her goodbye “Her face is light and radiant, dandelion hours.” The end of the poem is far more optimistic than the start and we get a sense of the mother being unburdened by the daughter taking away the objects. The metaphor “dandelion hours” continues this sense of lightness and beauty, but it also suggests delicate fragility. The mother may have little time remaining, but is facing death on her own terms, with her daughter’s help, showing the close bond between them.

16. Commonality - ‘Divorce’ is written from the point of view of a teenage girl who feels that her parents are cruel to her and don’t appreciate her and so she wishes to ‘divorce’ them. ‘Lucozade’ is written from the point of view of a teenager, probably a girl, who is visiting her sick mother in hospital and is worried about what is going to happen to her.
Extract - In ‘Divorce’, the melodramatic statement “I would be better off in an orphanage” shows that the girl wants to completely reject her parents, the ‘divorce’ of the title. This reminds us of the kind of thing teenagers say when fighting with their parents and the reader can imagine her stomping off, slamming the door after her.
Other 1 - In contrast, the speaker in ‘Lucozade’ seems to be close to her mother and is worried that she is going to lose her: “I am scared my mum is going to die / on the bed next to the sad chrysanthemums.” This transferred epithet shows us the speaker’s sadness about her mother’s illness and links the mother to the flowers: she is scared that her mother will “wilt and die”, just like the flowers.
Other 2 - Towards the end of the poem, the daughter removes, at her mother’s request, the stereotypical objects associated with illness, like the lucozade of the title, and when her mother waves her goodbye “Her face is light and radiant, dandelion hours.” The end of the poem is far more optimistic than the start and we get a sense of the mother being unburdened by the daughter taking away the objects. The metaphor “dandelion hours” continues this sense of lightness and beauty, but it also suggests delicate fragility. The mother may have little time remaining, but is facing death on her own terms, with her daughter’s help, showing the close bond between them. ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

17. Sample answers from the class
Divorce and Lucozade both have the theme of family relationships in the poem. They both look at different aspects of the theme though. Divorce is a poem where the speaker is unhappy with their parents and want to divorce or leave them, whereas Lucozade is about a teenage girl whose mum is unwell and is in hospital and she is worried about her mum and wants her to get well again. Family relationships is also explored in Lucozade because when they mention “orange nostalgia” although they are referring to “Lucozade: nostalgia means looking back fondly on the past so they would be reminding themselves of better times when her mother was not ill.
C 1 2
E 1 2
O 1 2
✔C1
✔C2
✔O1
✔O2

18. Sample answers from the class
In the poems Divorce and Lucozade both families have to deal with family relationship problems. In Divorce the poet hopes to leave her mum and dad and in Lucozade the poet is having family issues as her mum is in hospital. In the poem Divorce the poet says “I want a divorce”. This illustrated how much her family is having relationship problems.
✔C1
C 1 2
E 1 2
O 1 2
✔C2
✔E1
✔E2

19. Sample answers from the class
“I’m scared my mum is going to die on the bed next to the sad chrysanthemums” – Lucozade. The narrator is scared to lose her mum and is sad at the thought of leaving her.
She is visiting her sick mother in hospital.
“I don’t want to be your child…I want a divorce.” – Divorce. This narrator however is feeling differently than the narrator from Lucozade as she can’t wait to get rid of her parents because she believes they don’t treat her properly. She doesn’t care for them and wants to be in an orphanage instead.
✔O1
✔O2
C 1 2
E 1 2
O 1 2
✔C1
✔E1
✔C2
✔E2