Cambridge IGCSE First Language English Comprehension and Writers’ Effects

Answers – Unit 5
2 Comma rules: to separate clauses; in pairs to create a parenthesis, including appositional phrases; to separate
single items in a list (including multiple adjectives); after initial adverbials in a sentence. The general rule is that
if words can be removed from a sentence whilst leaving it grammatically intact, then this is indicated by putting
a comma before and after them..

3 Hyphen rules: to connect two or more words acting as one and which cannot exist meaningfully alone in the
context; to differentiate the prefix from the rest of the word where confusion might occur; to show a word has
been split because of lack of room on a line. The general rule is that hyphens work within words as a joining
device and leave no space either side of them.

4 Rules for the punctuation of dialogue:

• Start a new line for a change of speaker.

• Include some form of punctuation before closing inverted commas.

• Use a small letter for the beginning of the word which continues the sentence after the speech closes, even
if the final speech punctuation is a question or exclamation mark (and it cannot be a full stop).

• Use a comma to introduce speech within a sentence before opening inverted commas.

Note: Although printed text uses single inverted commas for speech, in handwriting double for speech, and
single for titles, jargon and ironic usage.

5 Text 5A: features of narrative writing:

Although Text 5A is autobiographical, it has the same features as fictional narrative: two or three main
characters (more becomes confusing); dialogue (for dramatic effect, variety, and to allow voices to reveal
character); changes of pace (to build up tension or convey panic); figurative language (similes and metaphors
create images to clarify meaning); multiple adjectival usage (to give maximum detail of setting or character);
time references (to create apprehension and expectation); references to season and weather and time of day (to
enable reader to picture the scene).

7 a 
How Text 5A has been made dramatic:

Because the weather was exceptionally mild and the morning was amazing we are expecting something
extraordinary to happen, and the phrase it should have scared us to death foreshadows that it will not be a
good thing. The children are quivering with fear and joy which are strong emotions and create a heightened
mood. Calling his 21-year-old half-sister ancient prepares us for her being unsatisfactory or a figure of fun.
Emphasis is placed on the car by describing it as the great, long, black automobile, and the fact that it
is personified as having leapt into motion signifies that something will happen because of the car, which
makes us expect there to be an accident. Because the sister snapped when they asked if she knew how to
drive, we know that she is stressed and this means that she may make a mistake. The mother is behaving
nervously which reveals she is afraid. The simile as if it were the hair of a drowning man is an unpleasant
image to introduce the idea of life-threatening danger. When the sister shouts Help! we realise that the car
is out of control at high speed and so a collision is inevitable, since she is unable to do anything to stop it,
as is shown by the word wildly. The verb slammed is violent and calls attention to the emergency situation.
The alliterative phrase marvellous crunch of mudguards and metal strongly emphasises the severity of the
crash, as in this case marvellous means amazing, like something that might happen in a film. Glass flew in
all directions is an exaggeration for dramatic effect, but we associate even a small amount of broken glass
with injury. That his nose is now only attached by a single small thread of skin emphasises how nearly it has
come off completely, and how it may still do so.

The syntax in the passage is exaggerated or extreme, and the number of short questions and exclamations give
an overall effect of tension and drama to the events. There is a lot of noise to lead up to the climax and provide
a contrast to the sudden silence, which shows that something awful has now happened and they don’t know
what to do about it.

© Cambridge University Press 2018 Unit 5 Colourful characters

Cambridge IGCSE First Language English Comprehension and Writers’ Effects

b How Text 5A has been made comic:

• The multiple hyphenation of his sister’s age makes it sound ridiculous.

• His sister doesn’t have a name, as though being his sister is her only function.

• The children are fixated on speed, without any regard for safety, which is foolish and will have
inevitable consequences.

• The sister is presented as over-confident, which indicates she is heading for a deserved fall.

• The children have an unrealistic unanimous voice: we shouted and no names are mentioned.

• Do you know where the brakes are? foreshadows the crash.

• The description of people they pass as a human being is amusing as it makes it sound as though they
consider themselves above human status.

• Help! is a futile and cartoon-like cry.

• The detail and duration of the description of the crash is another cartoon effect; the verbs skid, crunch
and crash are associated with comic books.

• The family flying in both directions, along with the glass, creates an exaggerated and therefore comic
image.

• The painless description of the severed nose is another extreme cartoon effect, and the idea of a
dangling nose is inherently funny.

• The comment of the bird twittering in a tree is incongruous and therefore amusing.

Generally, comedy can only be created where pain and distress is absent and there is no empathy between the
reader and the characters suffering the disaster. All of the above put the reader at a distance from the actual
experience being described.

8 Phrases in bold in Text 5A:

Note that longer phrases should be split and the parts examined separately in order for explanations and
effects to be more focused and specific.

great, long, black automobile – triple adjectival qualification gives the car powerful and threatening qualities of
size and colour; there is an association with a funeral vehicle

leapt into motion – the speed of an animal of prey, such as a cheetah, is connoted.

The engine roared – this continues the big cat image, with the addition of a threatening sound

the body vibrated – again the car is being described as if it were alive and therefore an adversary

as though it were the hair of a drowning man – life-threatening simile to evoke the difficulty the sister is
having with the steering

marvellous crunch of mudguards and metal – incongruous but alliterative use of ‘marvellous’ suggesting the
boy is rather enjoying the drama and noise of the crash, but the onomatopoeic and assonantal word ‘crunch’
conveys that there was significant damage to the car.

The overall effect is that the car is a powerful and uncontrollable monster until it reverts back to being a
machine when it crashes.

9 Adjectives to describe the character of the ‘ancient sister’ should indicate that she is:

over-confident (considered quite sufficient, We shall probably go faster than that); showing off (It’ll do 90!;
pressing the rubber bulb of the horn); bad-tempered (Be quiet!); self-satisfied (grinning); flustered (Help!).

Unit 5 Colourful characters © Cambridge University Press 2018

Cambridge IGCSE First Language English Comprehension and Writers’ Effects

10 and 11

a He is made to seem weird and fascinating, and impossible to resist, because the reference to fairy-tale
suggests that he has magic powers. His curious, nasal voice when he sings makes him sound different
from other people, and his eyes are such a dark brown that they seem black and his sharp face was more
fox-like than human. Describing his clothing as fantastic again connects him to fairy tales. He does not just
have one feather in his hat, but a fluttering forest of them, which stresses how many of them there were,
and that they were in constant movement. Likewise, a riot of handkerchiefs suggests not only quantity
but also noise and violent movement. He is wearing a mixture of different hues which are so many and
so bright and the effect so startling that even the dog stopped in amazement, as he had never seem any
human like this before. The exact detail of a triangular patch of red and white spots creates a bizarre visual
effect of contrasting colours and shapes. The main colour is bright red, which reminds us of the costume
of a clown. The overall effect is that everything about the figure is unusual and forms a bizarre spectacle,
which the onlooker’s gaze becomes fixed on because of the surprise combinations of colour and the
constant movement.

b The reader feels sympathy for him because the pearly covering on his eyes suggests he cannot see properly,
and the thinness about the wrists shows he does not get enough to eat. Because his hat is speckled and
smeared with dust and his clothing is worn and frayed, we assume that he only has one set of clothes, which
he has to patch, and that he has no one to look after him or care about him. Because his cravat is of blue
satin, which is a material associated with luxury, we get the impression that previously he was better off
and better dressed than he is now. The fact that his hat is floppy, his trousers drooped, and his shoes have
upturned toes and pompons contribute to a total picture of a clown whose clothes are all too big for him.
This means that we think of him as someone who is brightly and comically dressed, yet who may be sad.

© Cambridge University Press 2018 Unit 5 Colourful characters