English Home Language Paper 2 Grade 12 Questions - NSC Past Papers And Memos September 2020 Preparatory Examinations

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INSTRUCTIONS AND INFORMATION

Read these instructions carefully before you begin to answer the questions.
Do not attempt to read the entire question paper. Consult the table of contents on the next page and mark the numbers of the questions set on texts you have studied this year. Thereafter, read these questions and choose the ones you wish to answer.
This question paper consists of THREE sections.
SECTION A: POETRY (30)
SECTION B: NOVEL (25)
SECTION C: DRAMA (25)
Answer FIVE questions in all: THREE in SECTION A, ONE in SECTION B and ONE in SECTION C as follows:
SECTION A: POETRY
PRESCRIBED POETRY – Answer TWO questions.
UNSEEN POEM – COMPULSORY question

SECTION B: NOVEL
Answer ONE question.

SECTION C: DRAMA
Answer ONE question.
CHOICE OF ANSWERS FOR SECTIONS B (NOVEL) AND C (DRAMA):
Answer questions ONLY on the novel and the drama you have studied.
- Answer ONE ESSAY QUESTION and ONE CONTEXTUAL QUESTION. If you answer the essay question in SECTION B, you must answer the contextual question in SECTION C.
- If you answer the contextual question in SECTION B, you must answer the essay question in SECTION C.
  Use the checklist to assist you.
LENGTH OF ANSWERS:
- The essay question on Poetry should be answered in about 250–300 words.
- Essay questions on the Novel and Drama sections should be answered in 400–450 words.
- The length of answers to contextual questions should be determined by the mark allocation. Candidates should aim for conciseness and relevance.
Follow the instructions at the beginning of each section carefully.
Number your answers correctly according to the numbering system used in this question paper.
Start EACH section on a NEW page.
Suggested time management:
SECTION A: approximately 40 minutes
SECTION B: approximately 55 minutes
SECTION C: approximately 55 minutes
Write neatly and legibly.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SECTION A: POETRY PRESCRIBED POETRY ANSWER ANY TWO QUESTIONS.
QUESTION NO.			QUESTION		MARKS	PAGE NO.
1.	‘somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond’		Essay question		10	6

2.	‘Vultures’		Contextual question		10	7

3.	‘A Hard Frost’		Contextual question		10	9

4.	‘An African Thunderstorm’		Contextual question		10	10
AND
Unseen Poem: COMPULSORY QUESTION
5.	‘a teaching fantasy’		Contextual question		10	11
SECTION B: NOVEL
ANSWER ONLY ON THE NOVEL YOU HAVE STUDIED.
*ANSWER ANY ONE OF THE FOLLOWING FOUR QUESTIONS.
6.	The Picture of Dorian Gray	Essay question			25	12
OR
7.	The Picture of Dorian Gray	Contextual question			25	12
OR
8.	Life of Pi	Essay question			25	15
OR
9.	Life of Pi	Contextual question			25	15
SECTION C: DRAMA
ANSWER ONLY ON THE DRAMA YOU HAVE STUDIED.
*ANSWER ANY ONE OF THE FOLLOWING FOUR QUESTIONS.
10.	Othello	Essay question		25			18
OR
11.	Othello	Contextual question		25			18
OR
12.	Hamlet	Essay question		25			21
OR
13.	Hamlet	Contextual question		25			21
		OR
14.	The Crucible	Essay question		25			24
		OR
15.	The Crucible	Contextual question		25			24

*NOTE: In sections B and C, answer ONE ESSAY QUESTION and ONE CONTEXTUAL question. If you answer an essay question from SECTION B, you must answer a contextual question from SECTION C. If you answer a contextual question from SECTION B, you must answer an essay question from SECTION C.

CHECKLIST
Use this checklist to ensure that you have answered the correct number of questions.

SECTION	QUESTION NUMBERS	NO. OF QUESTIONS TO ANSWER	TICK
A: POETRY (Prescribed Poetry)	1–4	2
A: POETRY (Unseen Poem)	5	1
B: NOVEL (Essay or Contextual)	6–9	1
C: DRAMA (Essay or Contextual)	10–15	1

NOTE: In SECTIONS B and C, answer ONE ESSAY and ONE CONTEXTUAL question.

QUESTION 1: PRESCRIBED POETRY – ESSAY QUESTION
somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond
– ee cummings

somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond
any experience, your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near
your slightest look easily will unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skillfully, mysteriously) her first rose
or if you wish to be close to me, i and
my life will shut very beautifully, suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;
nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility: whose texture
compels me with the colour of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing
(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens; only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all the roses)
nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands

Cummings once commented that ‘love is the mystery-of-mysteries’.
Critically discuss to what extent this view of love is evident in the poem by referring to the paradoxes, imagery and tone.
Your response should take the form of a well-constructed essay of 250–300 words (1–1½ pages). [10]
OR

QUESTION 2: PRESCRIBED POETRY – CONTEXTUAL QUESTION
VULTURES – Chinua Achebe

In the greyness
and drizzle of one despondent
dawn unstirred by harbingers
of sunbreak a vulture
perching high on broken
bones of a dead tree
nestled close to his
mate his smooth
bashed-in head, a pebble
on a stem rooted in
a dump of gross
feathers, inclined affectionately
to hers. Yesterday they picked
the eyes of a swollen
corpse in a water-logged
trench and ate the
things in its bowel. Full
gorged they chose their roost
keeping the hollowed remnant
in easy range of cold
telescopic eyes...
Strange
indeed how love in other
ways so particular
will pick a corner
in that charnel-house
tidy it and coil up there, perhaps
even fall asleep ̶ her face
turned to the wall!
...Thus the Commandant at Belsen
Camp going home for
the day with fumes of
human roast clinging
rebelliously to his hairy
nostrils will stop
at the wayside sweet-shop
and pick up a chocolate
for his tender offspring
waiting at home for Daddy's
return...
Praise bounteous
providence if you will
that grants even an ogre
a tiny glow-worm
tenderness encapsulated
in icy caverns of a cruel
heart or else despair
for in the very germ
of that kindred love is
lodged the perpetuity
of evil.

2.1 How does the alliteration in line 2 contribute to the atmosphere? (2)
2.2 What does the speaker find ‘Strange’ in line 22? (2)
2.3 Comment on the contrast between the physical description of the Commandant and his interaction with his child. (3)
2.4 Refer to lines 48–51: ‘for in the very germ of that kindred love is lodged the perpetuity of evil’.
Critically comment on the parallel drawn between the vultures and the Commandant at Belsen. (3)
[10]
OR

QUESTION 3: PRESCRIBED POETRY – CONTEXTUAL QUESTION
A HARD FROST – Cecil Day Lewis

A frost came in the night and stole my world
And left this changeling for it – a precocious
Image of spring, too brilliant to be true:
White lilac on the windowpane, each grass-blade
Furred like a catkin, maydrift loading the hedge.
The elms behind the house are elms no longer
But blossomers in crystal, stems of the mist
That hangs yet in the valley below, amorphous
As the blind tissue whence creation formed.
The sun looks out, and the fields blaze with diamonds.
Mockery spring, to lend this bridal gear
For a few hours to a raw country maid,
Then leave her all disconsolate with old fairings
Of aconite and snowdrop! No, not here
Amid this flounce and filigree of death
Is the real transformation scene in progress
But deep below where frost
Worrying the stiff clods unclenches their
Grip on the seed and lets our future breathe.

3.1 Why does the speaker refer to the frost as ‘precocious’ in line 2? (2)
3.2 How is the brilliance of that Winter morning captured in lines 7–10? (2)
3.3 Critically discuss the effect of the image in lines 11–14. Refer to the tone in your response. (3)
3.4 ‘Real transformation’ (line 16) is extraordinary. Critically comment on how this is shown in the poem. (3)
[10]
OR

QUESTION 4: PRESCRIBED POETRY – CONTEXTUAL QUESTION
AN AFRICAN THUNDERSTORM – David Rubadiri

From the west
Clouds come hurrying with the wind
Turning
Sharply
Here and there
Like a plague of locusts
Whirling
Tossing up things on its tail
Like a madman chasing nothing.
Pregnant clouds
Ride stately on its back
Gathering to perch on hills
Like dark sinister wings;
The Wind whistles by
And trees bend to let it pass.
In the village
Screams of delighted children
Toss and turn
In the din of the whirling wind,
Women –
Babies clinging on their backs –
Dart about
In and out
Madly
The Wind whistles by
Whilst trees bend to let it pass.
Clothes wave like tattered flags
Flying off
To expose dangling breasts
As jagged blinding flashes
Rumble, tremble, and crack
Amidst the smell of fired smoke
and the pelting march of the storm.

4.1 How does the simile in line 6 contribute to your understanding of the poem?(2)
4.2 Explain the use of the capital letter in the following line: ‘The Wind whistles by’ (lines 14 and 25).(2)
4.3 Critically discuss how the use of the short lines convey the effect of the wind. (3)
4.4 The approaching thunderstorm with the promise of rain should be considered a blessing in African society. Critically comment on how this idea is subverted in the poem. Refer to the tone in your response. (3)
[10]
AND

UNSEEN POETRY: The following question is compulsory.
QUESTION 5: UNSEEN POETRY – CONTEXTUAL QUESTION
a teaching fantasy ̶ Margaret Hatcher

I teach.
Ideas and words are my business.
I toss them into the air
and watch them float
softly
as autumn leaves
(though with much less color
and grace)
They float around your heads.
drift in piles on your desk tops.
glide along your sleeves
and whisper ̶ dance
around your ears.
Someday
one may catch your attention
and inspire you with its colour ̶
at least for a season

5.1 Explain the comparison used in the stanza 1. (2)
5.2 Suggest how the structure of the poem is appropriate to the season of autumn. (2)
5.3 Refer to stanza 2. Explain critically how the diction reveals the speaker’s attitude. (3)
5.4 Refer to the last line of the poem and comment on its appropriateness in the context of the poem. Consider the tone in your response. (3)
[10]
TOTAL SECTION A: 30

SECTION B: NOVEL
Answer ONLY on the novel you have studied.
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY – Oscar Wilde
Answer EITHER QUESTION 6 (essay question) OR QUESTION 7 (contextual question).
QUESTION 6: THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY – ESSAY QUESTION
In his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde explores how the relentless pursuit of youth and pleasure becomes a destructive power.
In a carefully planned essay of 400–450 words (2–2½ pages) in length, critically discuss to what extent you would agree with this statement. [25]
OR
QUESTION 7: THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY – CONTEXTUAL QUESTION
Read the extracts below and then answer the questions that follow.
EXTRACT A

‘You are glad you have met me, Mr Gray,’ said Lord Henry, looking at him. ‘Yes, I am glad now. I wonder shall I always be glad?’
‘Always! That is a dreadful word. It makes me shudder when I hear it. Women are so fond of using it. They spoil every romance by trying to make it last for ever. It is a meaningless word, too. The only difference between a caprice and a life- long passion is that the caprice lasts a little longer.’
As they entered the studio, Dorian Gray put his hand upon Lord Henry’s arm. ‘In that case, let our friendship be a caprice,’ he murmured, flushing at his own boldness, then stepped up on the platform and resumed his pose.
Lord Henry flung himself into a large wicker armchair, and watched him. The sweep and dash of the brush on the canvas made the only sound that broke the stillness, except when, now and then, Hallward steeped back to look at his work from a distance. In the slanting beams that streamed through the open doorway the dust danced and was golden. The heavy scent of the roses seemed to brood over everything.
After about a quarter of an hour Hallward stopped painting, looked for a long time at Dorian Gray, and then for a long time at the picture, biting the end of one of his huge brushes, and frowning. ‘It is quite finished,’ he cried at last, and stooping down he wrote his name in long vermilion letters on the left-hand corner of the canvas.
Lord Henry came over and examined the picture. It was certainly a wonderful work of art, and a wonderful likeness as well.
[Chapter 2]

7.1 Briefly explain the circumstances of the meeting between Lord Henry and Dorian Gray. (3)
7.2 Refer to line 4: ‘They spoil every romance by trying to make it last forever’.
To what extent does Lord Henry’s attitude to women revealed here influence Dorian’s relationship with Sibyl Vane? (3)
7.3 ‘… he murmured, flushing at his own boldness …’ (lines 8–9) Critically comment on what these lines reveal about Dorian’s attitude towards Lord Henry at this stage. (3)
7.4 Refer to lines 21–22: ‘It was certainly a wonderful work of art, and a wonderful likeness as well’. Comment on the irony of Lord Henry’s observation in the light of later events. (3)

AND
EXTRACT B

The moon hung low in the sky like a yellow skull. From time to time a huge misshapen cloud stretched a long arm across and hid it. The gas-lamps grew fewer, and the streets more narrow and gloomy. Once the man lost his way, and had to drive back half a mile. A steam rose from the horse at it splashed up the
puddles. The side-windows of the hansom were clogged with a grey-flannel mist.
‘To cure the soul by means of the senses, and the senses by means of the soul!’ How the words rang in his ears! His soul, certainly, was sick to death. Was it true that the senses could cure it? Innocent blood had been spilled. What could atone for that? Ah! For that there was no atonement; but though forgiveness was impossible, forgetfulness was possible still, and he was
determined to forget, to stamp the thing out, to crush it as one would crush the adder that had stung one. Indeed, what right had Basil to have spoken to him as he had done? Who had made him a judge over others? He had said things that were dreadful, horrible, not to be endured.
On and on plodded the hansom, going slower, it seemed to him, at each step. He thrust up the trap, and called to the man to drive faster. The hideous hunger
for opium began to gnaw at him. His throat burned, and his delicate hands twitched nervously together. He struck at the horse madly with a stick. The driver laughed, and whipped up. He laughed in answer, and the man was silent.
The way seemed interminable, and the streets like the black web of some 20 sprawling spider. The monotony became unbearable, and, as the mist thickened,
he felt afraid.
[Chapter 16]

7.5 How do the images in lines 1–5 reflect Dorian’s state of mind at this stage of the novel? (3)
7.6 ‘His soul, certainly was sick to death’ (line 7). Comment on the appropriateness of this utterance in the context of the novel as a whole. (3)
7.7 Refer to lines 12–13: ‘… what right had Basil to have spoken to him as he had done?’ Explain whether Dorian’s indignation here is justified. (3)
7.8 Critically discuss how Basil’s exclamation in Extract A: ‘It is quite finished’ (line 18) could be considered prophetic of the journey Dorian takes in Extract B. (4)
[25]
OR

LIFE OF PI – YANN MARTEL
Answer EITHER QUESTION 8 (essay question) OR QUESTION 9 (contextual question).
QUESTION 8: LIFE OF PI – ESSAY QUESTION
Life of Pi challenges the reader to embrace ‘a better story’ and sacrifice ‘dry, yeastless factuality’.
In a carefully planned essay of 400–450 words (2–2½ pages) in length, discuss to what extent you would agree with this statement with close reference to the novel. [25]
OR
QUESTION 9: LIFE OF PI – CONTEXTUAL QUESTION
Read the extracts below and then answer the questions that follow.

EXTRACT C

A new beginning.
I repeated the stunt with every teacher. Repetition is important in the training not only of animals but also of humans. Between one commonly named boy and the next, I rushed forward and emblazoned, sometimes with a terrible screech, the details of my rebirth. It got to be that after a few times the boys sang along with me, a crescendo that climaxed, after a quick intake of air while I underlined the proper note, with such a rousing rendition of my new name that it would have been the delight of any choirmaster. A few boys followed up with a whispered, urgent ‘Three! Point! One! Four!’ as I wrote as I could, and ended the concert by slicing the circle with such vigour that bits of chalk went flying. …
‘I didn’t realise you liked the colour yellow so much.’
‘The colour yellow? I looked around. No one must hear what he is about to say, especially not one of his lackeys. ‘Ravi, what do you mean?’ I whispered.
It’s all right with me, brother. Anything’s better than ‘Pissing’. Even ‘Lemon Pie’. As he sauntered away he smiled and said, ‘You look a bit red in the face.’
But he held his peace.
And so, in that Greek letter that looks like a shack with a corrugated tin roof, in that elusive, irrational number with which scientists try to understand the universe, I found refuge.
[Chapter 5]

9.1 What has sparked ‘a new beginning’ (line 1) for Piscine? (3)
9.2 Pi states that ‘Repetition is important in the training not only of animals but also of humans’ (lines 2–3). How does this knowledge ensure his survival while at sea? (3)
9.3 Consider the exchange between Pi and his brother Ravi (lines 11–16). Comment on Ravi’s change in attitude towards his brother. (3)
9.4 Critically comment on Pi’s observation that he found ‘refuge’ in an ‘irrational number’ (lines 17–19). Refer to later events in the novel in your response. (3)
AND

EXTRACT D

It was Richard Parker who calmed me down. It is the irony of this story that the one who scared me witless to start with was the very same who brought me peace, purpose, I dare say even wholeness.
He was looking at me intently. After a time I recognised the gaze. I had grown up with it. It was the gaze of a contented animal looking out from its cage or pit the way you or I would look out from a restaurant table after a good meal, when the time has come for conversation and people-watching. Clearly, Richard Parker had eaten his fill of hyena and drunk all the rainwater he wanted. No lips were rising and falling, no teeth were showing, no growling or snarling was coming from him. He was simply taking me in, observing me, in a way that was sober but not menacing. He kept twitching his ears and varying the sideways turn of his head. It was all so, well, catlike. He looked like a nice, big, fat domestic cat, a 450-pound tabby.
He made a sound, a snort from his nostrils. I pricked up my ears. He did it a second time. I was astonished. Prusten? …
I had heard all these sounds growing up. Except for prusten. If I knew of it, it was because Father had told me about it. He had read descriptions of it in literature. But he had heard it only once, while on a working visit to the Mysore Zoo, in their animal hospital, from a young male being treated for pneumonia. Prusten is the quietest of tiger calls, a puff through the nose to express friendliness and harmless intentions.
[Chapter 57]

9.5 Discuss the ‘irony’ (line 1) that Pi refers to here. (3)
9.6 Explain how Richard Parker had acquired his name and how this could establish a connection between the tiger and Pi. (3)
9.7 Comment on the significance of the ‘hyena’ (line 8) in the context of the novel as a whole. (3)
9.8 In Extract C, Pi uses the analogy of a choir to describe an event while in Extract D he introduces the reader to the ‘prusten’ sound. How do these sound analogies contribute to the mood in each of these extracts? (4)
[25]
TOTAL SECTION B: 25

SECTION C: DRAMA
Answer ONLY on the drama you have studied.
OTHELLO – WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Answer EITHER QUESTION 10 (essay question) OR QUESTION 11 (contextual question).
QUESTION 10: OTHELLO – ESSAY QUESTION
Iago describes Othello as having ‘… a free and open nature, that thinks men honest that seems to be so, And will as tenderly be led by th’nose As asses are’.
In a carefully planned essay of 400–450 words (2–2½ pages) in length, discuss to what extent Iago’s observation leads to Othello’s demise. [25]
OR
QUESTION 11: OTHELLO – CONTEXTUAL QUESTION
Read the extracts below and answer the questions that follow.
EXTRACT E

DESDEMONA The heavens forbid
But that our loves and comforts should increase
Even as our days do grow.
OTHELLO Amen to that, sweet powers!
I cannot speak enough of this content.
It stops me here, it is too much of joy.
And this, (they kiss) and this, the great discords be
That e’er our hearts shall make.
IAGO (aside) O, you are well tuned now,
But I’ll set down the pegs that make this music,
As honest as I am.
OTHELLO Come let us to the castle.
News, friends: our wars are done, the Turks are drowned.
How does my old acquaintance of this isle?
Honey, you shall be well desired in Cyprus,
I have found great love amongst them. O my sweet,
I prattle out of fashion, and I dote
In mine own comforts. I prithee, good Iago,
Go to the bay and disembark my coffers.
Bring thou the master to the citadel.
He is a good one, and his worthiness
Does challenge much respect. Come, Desdemona.
Once more, well met at Cyprus!
OTHELLO and DESDEMONA go off, followed by all except Iago and Roderigo
IAGO (to an attendant as he goes out) Do thou meet me presently at the harbour. (To Roderigo)
Come hither. If thou be’st valiant – as they say base men being in love have then a nobility in their
natures more than is native to them – list me. The lieutenant tonight watches on the court of guard.
First, I must tell thee this: Desdemona is directly in love with him.
RODERIGO With him? Why, ‘tis not possible!

[Act 2: Scene 1]

11.1 Place this extract in context. (3)
11.2 Comment on the appropriateness of the image that Iago uses in lines 9-10: ‘O, you are well tuned now, But I’ll set down the pegs that make this music’. (3)
11.3 Refer to lines 26–27: ‘… base men being in love have then a nobility in their natures more than is native to them’. How is Iago’s attitude to Othello shown in this line? Refer to diction in your response. (3)
11.4 Describe the relationship between Roderigo and Iago. (3)
AND

EXTRACT F

(Enter OTHELLO with a light. He draws back the bed-curtains, revealing DESDEMONA asleep.)
OTHELLO It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul.
Let me not name it to you, you chaste stars,
It is the cause. Yet I’ll not shed her blood,
Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow,
And smooth as monumental alabaster.
Yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men.
Put out the light, and then put out the light.
If I quench thee, thou flaming minister,
I can again thy former light restore
Should I repent me; but once put out thy light,
Thou cunning’st pattern of excelling nature,
I know not where is that Promethean heat
That can thy light relume. When I have plucked thy rose
I cannot give it vital growth again,
It needs must wither. I’ll smell it on the tree.

He kisses her

O balmy breath, that dost almost persuade
Justice to break her sword! One more, one more.
Be thus when thou art dead, and I will kill thee
And love thee after. One more, and that’s the last.

He kisses her

So sweet was ne’er so fatal. I must weep,
But they are cruel tears. This sorrow’s heavenly,
It strikes where it doth love. She wakes.

DESDEMONA Who’s there? Othello?
OTHELLO Ay, Desdemona.
DESDEMONA Will you come to bed, my lord?
OTHELLO Have you prayed tonight, Desdemona?
DESDEMONA Ay, my lord.
OTHELLO If you bethink yourself of any crime Unreconciled as yet to heaven and grace, Solicit for it straight.

[Act 5: Scene 2]

11.5 What is the dramatic effect of Othello entering with a light at the start of this scene? (3)
11.6 In line 1 Othello refers to ‘the cause’. How does this contribute to how Othello portrays himself as a figure of Justice as he prepares to take Desdemona’s life? (3)
11.7 Refer to line 26: ‘Have you prayed tonight, Desdemona?’
If you were the director of a production of Othello, how would you instruct the actor to deliver these lines? Pay special attention to body language and tone. Motivate your instructions. (3)
11.8 Refer to both Extracts E and F: Critically discuss the change in Othello’s attitude towards Desdemona. (4)
[25]
OR

HAMLET – WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Answer EITHER QUESTION 12 (essay question) OR QUESTION 13 (contextual question).
QUESTION 12: HAMLET – ESSAY QUESTION
Hamlet is no ‘sweet prince’. In pursuit of his revenge he becomes increasingly ruthless, callous and cruel.
In a carefully planned essay of 400–450 words (2–2½ pages) in length, discuss to what extent you would agree with this assessment of Hamlet’s character.
[25]
OR
QUESTION 13: HAMLET – CONTEXTUAL QUESTION

EXTRACT G

A flourish of trumpets. Enter CLAUDIUS, GERTRUDE, ROSENCRANTZ and GUILDENSTERN with others

CLAUDIUS Welcome, dear Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
Moreover that we much did long to see you,
The need we have to use you did provoke
Our hasty sending. Something have you heard
Of Hamlet’s transformation – so I call it,
Since not th’exterior nor the inward man
Resembles that it was. What it should be,
More than his father’s death, that thus put him
So much from th’ understanding of himself
I cannot deem of, I entreat you both
That, being of so young days brought up with him,
And since so neighboured to his youth and humour,
That you vouchsafe your rest here in our court
Some little time, so by your companies
To draw him on to pleasures, and to gather,
So much as from occasions you may glean,
Whether aught to us unknown afflicts him thus
That, opened, lies within our remedy.
GERTRUDE Good gentlemen, he that much talked of you,
And sure I am two men there are not living
To whom he more adheres. If it will please you
To show us so much gentry and good will
As to expend your time with us awhile
For the supply and profit of our hope,
Your visitation shall receive such thanks
As fits a king’s remembrance.
ROSENCRANTZ Both your majesties
Might, by the sovereign power you have of us,
Put your dread pleasures more into command
Than to entreaty.
GUILDENSTERN But we both obey,
And here give up ourselves in the full bent
To lay our service freely at your feet
To be commanded.

[Act 2: Scene 2]

13.1 Refer to the stage instructions ‘A flourish of trumpets. Enter CLAUDIUS, GERTRUDE, ROSENCRANTZ and GUILDENSTERN with others’ at the start of the extract. What impression of King Claudius and his kingdom is created with this instruction? (3)
13.2 Refer to line 5: Explain how Hamlet has been ‘transformed’. (3)
13.3 Why does Claudius feel compelled to ‘remedy’ (line 18) Hamlet’s strange disposition? (3)
13.4 To what extent is Gertrude’s concern shown here sincere? Comment by referring to the drama as a whole. (3)
AND

EXTRACT H

HORATIO
Well, my lord.
If he steal aught the whilst this play is playing
And scape detecting, I will pay the theft.

Trumpets sound offstage

HAMLET
They are coming to the play. I must be idle.
Get you a place.

Enter CLAUDIUS, GERTRUDE, POLONIUS, OPHELIA, ROSENCRANTZ, GUILDENSTERN and
other lords, with the King’s guard carrying torches

CLAUDIUS How fares our cousin Hamlet?
HAMLET Excellent, I’faith, of the chameleon’s dish. I eat the air, promise-crammed. You cannot feed capons so.
CLAUDIUS I have nothing with this answer Hamlet. These words are not mine.
HAMLET No, nor mine now. (To POLONIUS) My Lord, you played once i’the’university, you say.
POLONIUS That I did, my lord and was accounted a good actor.
HAMLET And what did you enact?
POLONIUS I did enact Julius Caesar. I was killed i’th’ Capitol. Brutus killed me.
HAMLET It was a brute part of him to kill so capital a calf there. Be the players ready?
ROSENCRANTZ Ay, my lord, they stay upon your patience.
GERTRUDE Come hither, my good Hamlet. Sit by me.
HAMLET No, good mother, here’s mettle more attractive.

He sits by OPHELIA

POLONIUS (aside) O ho, do you mark that?
HAMLET (to OPHELIA) Lady, shall I lie in your lap?

[Act 3, Scene 2]

13.5 Place this extract in context. (3)
13.6 Consider Polonius’ aside in line 22. How is this typical of his character? (3)
13.7 Refer to line 23: ‘Lady, shall I lie in your lap?’
If you were the director of a production of Hamlet, how would you instruct the actor to deliver these lines? Pay special attention to body language and tone. Motivate your instructions. (3)
13.8 Refer to both Extracts G and H. Critically comment on how friendship and loyalty are contrasted in each of the extracts. (4)
[25]
OR

THE CRUCIBLE – ARTHUR MILLER
Answer EITHER QUESTION 14 (essay question) OR QUESTION 15 (contextual question).
QUESTION 14: THE CRUCIBLE – ESSAY QUESTION
John Proctor may have found his ‘goodness’ in the end but he must take responsibility for the conflict and destruction in Salem.
In a carefully planned essay of 400–450 words (2–2½ pages) in length, discuss to what extent you would agree with this statement. [25]

OR
QUESTION 15: THE CRUCIBLE – CONTEXTUAL QUESTION
Read the extracts below and then answer the questions that follow.

EXTRACT I

ELIZABETH Mary Warren’s there today.
PROCTOR Why’d you let her? You heard me forbid her go to Salem any more!
ELIZABETH I couldn’t stop her.
PROCTOR (holding back a full condemnation of her): It is a fault, it is a fault,
Elizabeth ̶ you’re the mistress here, not Mary Warren.
ELIZABETH She frightened all my strength away.
PROCTOR How may that mouse frighten you, Elizabeth? You ̶
ELIZABETH It is a mouse no more. I forbid her go, and she raises up her chin
like the daughter of a prince and says to me, ‘I must go to Salem
Goody Proctor; I am official of the court!’
PROCTOR Court! What court?
ELIZABETH Aye, it is a proper court they have now. They’ve sent four judges out
of Boston, she says, weighty magistrates of the General Court and
at the head sits the Deputy Governor of the Province.
PROCTOR (astonished): Why, she’s mad.
ELIZABETH I would to God she were. There be fourteen people in the jail now
she says. (Proctor simply looks at her, unable to grasp it.) And
they’ll be tried, and the court have the power to hand them too, she
says.
PROCTOR (scoffing, but without conviction): Ah, they’d never hang ̶
ELIZABETH The Deputy Governor promise hangin’ if they’ll not confess, John. The town’s gone wild, I think. She speak of Abigail, and I thought she were a saint to hear her. Abigail brings the other girls into the court, and where she walks the crowd will part like the sea for Israel. And folks are brought before them, and if they scream and howl and fall to the floor ̶ the person’s clapped in jail for bewitchin’ them.
PROCTOR (wide-eyed): Oh, it is a black mischief.
ELIZABETH I think you must go to Salem, John. (He turns to her.) I think so. You must tell them it is a fraud.

[Act 2]

15.1 Comment on the stage direction in line 4: ‘holding back a full condemnation of her’. (3)
15.2 Account for Mary Warren’s change in attitude towards her employers. (3)
15.3 Refer to lines 24–26 (‘and where she walks … in jail for bewitchin’): Comment on the appropriateness of the image used to describe Abigail’s character. (3)
15.4 Consider Elizabeth’s suggestion to Proctor that he should ‘tell them it is a fraud’ (line 29). How does this not have the intended outcome? (3)

AND

EXTRACT J

HATHORNE What say you, Proctor? The sun is soon up.
PROCTOR, his chest heaving, stares, turns to Elizabeth. She comes to him as though to plead, her voice quaking.
ELIZABETH Do what you will. But let none be your judge. There be no higher judge under Heaven than Proctor is! Forgive me, forgive me, John ̶ I never knew such goodness in the world! (She covers her face, weeping.)
PROCTOR turns from her to HATHORNE; he is off the earth, his voice hollow.
PROCTOR I want my life. 5
HATHORNE (electrified, surprised): You’ll confess yourself?
PROCTOR I will have my life.
HATHORNE (with a mystical tone): God be praised! It is a providence! (He rushes out the door, and his voice is heard calling down the corridor.)
He will confess! Proctor will confess!
PROCTOR (with a cry, as he strides to the door): Why do you cry it? (In great pain he turns back to her.) It is evil, is it not? It is evil.
ELIZABETH (in terror weeping): I cannot judge you, John, I cannot!
PROCTOR Then who will judge me? (Suddenly clasping his hands.) God in Heaven, what is John Proctor, what is John Proctor? (He moves as an animal, and a fury is riding in him, a tantalized search.) I think it is honest, I think so; I am no saint. (As though she had denied this he calls angrily at her.) Let Rebecca go like a saint; for me it is fraud!

Voices are heard in the hall, speaking together in suppressed excitement.

ELIZABETH I am not your judge, I cannot be. (As though giving him release) Do as you will, do as you will!

[Act 4]

15.5 What is the dramatic impact of Hathorne’s utterance, ‘The sun is soon up’ (line 1)? (3)
15.6 Explain the irony in Hathorne’s excitement at Proctor’s willingness to confess. (3)
15.7 Refer to lines 18–19: ’Do as you will, do as you will!’
If you were the director of a production of The Crucible, how would you instruct the actress to deliver these lines? Pay specific attention to body language and tone. Motivate your instructions. (3)
15.8 Refer to both Extracts I and J: How is Elizabeth’s character presented in each of these extracts? (4)

[25]
TOTAL SECTION C: 25
GRAND TOTAL: 80

Last modified on Monday, 21 February 2022 07:43

Published in Grade 12 September 2020 Preparatory Examinations

English Home Language Paper 2 Grade 12 Questions - NSC Past Papers And Memos September 2020 Preparatory Examinations

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