Give Thoughtful Value Judgements on a Key Scene [R7]
Name a short story you have studied. How did the ending have an impact on you? Explain your answer.
Sample Answer (Higher Level) Title of short story: Author:
‘Humming Through My Fingers’ Malorie Blackman
I really disliked the ending of the story ‘Humming Through My Fingers’ because I think that the main character, Amber, forgave Ethan too quickly.
‘You still want to go out with me?’ ‘Of course I do.’
student points student illustrates
student explains
The ending had an impact on me because while the author probably intended for it to be a positive ending, I just couldn’t agree. Ethan was cunning and callous towards Amber, trying to trick her. I believe the author wanted to make the point that Amber changed his mind by giving him an insight into her condition. However, I didn’t think it should have been the case that Amber had to change his mind and I still didn’t trust him up to the very end of the story. His character didn’t seem sincere and I don’t believe that he deserved Amber’s friendship.
Direct Speech, Dialogue and Indirect Speech
Direct speech is where the actual words spoken appear in the text, as they would have been spoken in real time. Direct speech is an excellent way to reveal a
character’s emotion and reaction.
❍ Direct speech is enclosed between quotation marks when written. ■ ‘I like his voice,’ I replied.
❍ Sometimes direct speech stands on its own. ■ ‘I’ve never seen a Braille book before. How does it work?’
❍ More often, direct speech is accompanied by a verb and sometimes an adverb that indicates how it is spoken.
■ ‘It must take ages to learn all this lot. It would take me years.’ Ethan whistled appreciatively.
