GCSE English Literature - Sunlight on the Grass Revision

SUNLIGHT ON THE GRASS
REVISION
Oakley

THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR IN EACH
STORY
Themes
Language
Structure
Character
Imagery
Message(s)

MY POLISH TEACHERS’ TIE
Plot
Carla Carter, a half Polish dinner lady at an English school starts
corresponding with a Polish teacher from Katowice, Poland. Their
correspondence is mainly about poetry which they both like. In the
end the Polish teacher, Stefan Jeziorny, comes to England on a
teacher’s exchange scheme and he and Carla discover they have more
things in common than Carla originally thought.

CHARACTER
Carla – anxious, feels like she has lost part of her identity, changes
throughout
Stefan – confident, unique, loving
Valerie – intolerant to Stefan’s culture, self-satisfied kids
Headmaster – seen as organiser

IDEAS, THEMES & ISSUES
Identity – perhaps Carla feels as if being a dinner lady defines her as
a person? She feels like she has lost her Polish identity and feels
inadequacy alike the bird in the poem who is caged.
Social status – this subtly explores stereotypes. Carla is seen as a
lower status to the teachers as they pay for their tea and she has to
wear a uniform. Dunmore uses juxtaposition (contrast) of teachers
and catering staff which creates antithesis.
Relationships – story about friendship and about poetry and how
these two emotional forces conquer the divisions that mark the
awkward world of adults.

IMAGERY AND SYMBOLISM
The bird in the coalmine - the bird that is trapped in the poem
resembles Carla for she also has a song to sing but has been silenced
by her father who did not believe it was necessary for her to learn
Polish and also by a social system that sees so lowly of her because
she is a member of the catering staff. She is ashamed to admit this to
Stefan but when he holds her hand and sings with him, she
rediscovers her roots.
Stefan's’ tie - The title of the story suggests that the tie is important
which gives Stefan individuality reflecting his uniqueness in English
culture. It also tells us what kind of person he is.
Teachers/Education – we wonder what real education is in this story
as those who are meant to be open have a narrow-outlook (Valerie)
yet the most we learn is from Stefan who gives a simple gift of
friendship through something very simple as poetry. He is a true
teacher as he is enthusiastic, seen through his ties.

LANGUAGE
First person narrative
Carla’s language - changes through the story. At first she seems to
use very simple words, sometimes colloquial English. Later in the
story when her love of poetry is becoming more and more apparent
her choice of language is more elaborate using powerful imagery and
similes: ‘He was tense as a guitar string.’ ‘It went through me like a
knife through butter’.
Pathetic fallacy - is used to mirror Carla’s anxiety ‘The nest
morning-break the buns were stale.’
Metaphor - ‘his big bright tie blazing’ combined with the alliteration
has a positive, optimistic effect on Carla and the reader

STRUCTURE
Time passes, jumps
It is in chronological order
Short sentences - ‘It’s not a bad job.’ ‘I wasn’t lying.’ Both sentences
are added towards the end of different paragraphs and seem to be
contradicting what she is actually saying. We don’t get the impression
that Carla actually likes the people that she has to work for and
equally we understand that she realises she has not been honest and
wants to justify her actions.

MESSAGE
We consider what real education is.
Title suggests the tie is important.
Rediscovery of roots.
Learns from simple gift of friendship.

LINKS TO:
Pathetic fallacy used to highlight negative feelings in ‘Compass and
Torch’, ‘The Darkness Out There’, ‘Anil’ and ‘Something Old,
Something New’.
Symbolism is used in ‘When the Wasps Drowned’,’ Compass and
Torch’, ‘Anil’ and ‘Something Old, Something New’.
Different cultures are also present in ‘On Seeing the 100% Perfect
Girl One Beautiful April Morning’, ‘Anil’ and ‘Something Old,
Something New’.
Stereotypes are also present in ‘The Darkness Out there’.

WHEN THE WASPS DROWNED
Plot
It is the summertime, during the narrator, Eveline’s, childhood. She
remembers her sister standing on a wasps nest and screaming. Her
mother is away and she hoses her down. The two younger siblings
decide to dig to Australia. Her sister, Therese, takes a ring from a
hand found in the soil. Eveline asks her where she got the ring from
so Therese shows her the hand. They both bury it up and stop
digging. Therese has nightmares about it. The police ring the
doorbell asking if their parents are at home. Eveline says no. They ask
if she’s seen a girl in the photo, to which she declines. The reader
assumes that the girl is the one buried underneath the neighbour, Mr
Mordecai’s garden.

CHARACTER
Evaline – a girl whose age is not given. She is naïve, guilty? Mature
but maybe not that mature? The narrator in the story.
Therese – innocent. She finds the body, stamps on wasp corpses and
steals the ring.
Tyler – a young boy who is the youngest who also digs with Therese
Mr Mordecai – the neighbour whose garden the children dig up,
discovering the body there. His name relates to death.

Loss of childhood innocence – the series of events build up a picture
of potentially neglected children which causes the story to have a
negative turning point.
Violence – the story has violent events: from the wasps stinging
Therese, to the event with the corpse and, of course, the heat!
Confinement – it is as if the children are in the garden, trapped, due
to the fence surrounding them, showing innocence and highlighting
lack of exposure to the world, which clouds their judgement on
finding the body.
Morality – the children are faced with a moral dilemma. The narrator
holds her ring-finger behind her back when the police comes because
she feels by taking the ring, she feels like she has done something
wrong. The guilt clouds their judgement.

The dream - symbolises imagination and curiosity which causes the mind to think
of unrealistic scenarios which causes worry to such a young person and could even
change the way they view the world.
The wasps - represent danger as they injure Therese. They could represent Mr
Mordecai because they are aggressive and predatory and are a threat/danger to
the children, even though they think the actual wasps are the threat.
The body - represents danger and the lack of safety around her. Again, this is
referring only to the dead body, however its deeper meaning could be that it
symbolises a world of danger and secrecy of the truth.
The ring - Evanline decides to take the ring off of Therese, which could mean that
she is being responsible and this links to the fact that she is forced to grow up.
However, she keeps and wears the ring herself which could imply that she is still
young and only took it to receive more power and ownership. Evaline is yet stuck
with this reminder of the past for the rest of her life and the ring could mean guilt,
also.

LANGUAGE
 First person narrative – unreliable, held together with mysterious narrative.
Metaphors are used to compare the wasps to more positive images, which
contrast the threat of the wolves to religious imagery ‘a halo of angry wasps
blurring her shape’.
Personification is used to show how much the girl tries to escape the wasps
‘her pigtails dancing.’
Present tense verbs are used to show how immediate the danger of the
buried body is ‘the arm growing up through the soil’ this also creates the
image of the arm being a plant.
Negative adjectives are used to describe the hand that the children discover
‘The skin was mauve in places, the fingernails chipped and clogged with soil’
The alliterative and repetitive ‘chipped’ and ‘clogged’ highlights the fact that
the buried girl has possibly been buried alive and has tried to dig her way
out.
Pathetic fallacy - used to demonstrate threat for the children: ‘The heat was
all anyone ever seemed to speak of’; ‘The chemist sold out of after-sun that
summer, and flower beds dried up’; ‘ache of cars moving slowly in the hot
sun’.

STRUCTURE
Simple sentences - used to demonstrate that the narrator wants to move on
quickly from the situation with the police and have them leave
Foreshadowing - Wigfall foreshadows the major threat of Mr Mordecai by
including the wasps and heat at the opening of the story ‘We heard
screams...Her screaming, the way it broke the day, so shocked me that I
dropped a glass’
Cut into to parts and time moves forward chronologically through the
summer, focusing on certain days.
The end – final epiphany for Evaline as “[she] fiddles unconsciously”. By
feeling the ring, the truth is concealed for good. From the darkness of their
lie they go out into the light to face the truth.
Delayed revelations – the end of the first section reveals the neighbour’s
garden has been dug up – it is not until later in the story that the reader is
able to piece together the narrative fragments to work out the plot.

MESSAGE
How one event can shape a period of time of kids lives.
There is darkness in most places and that something seen as
positive, hot climate and the innocence of children, can not be what
they seem and cause an abundance of problems with a chain
reaction.

LINKS TO:
Pathetic fallacy used to highlight feelings in: ‘Something Old,
Something New’ (negative), ‘Compass and Torch’(negative), ‘...the
100% Perfect Girl...’ (positive), ‘The Darkness Out There’ (negative),
‘Anil’ (negative).
Childhood naivety (innocence) in: ‘Anil’, ‘Compass and Torch’ and
‘The Darkness Out There’
Threat in: ‘Anil’ and ‘The Darkness Out There’
Parenting in: ‘Anil’, ‘Compass and Torch’ and ‘Something Old,
Something New’
Things being not what they seem in: ‘The Darkness Out There’

COMPASS & TORCH
Plot
A young boy goes on a camping expedition with his father. His
parents are separated and his mother’s new boyfriend, Jim, now lives
with her and the boy. We are not told what on the camping trip but
for years to come the boy will be haunted by the experience.

CHARACTER
Boy – is young and naïve. The boy wants to be like his father and to
be loved by him, but they are already losing touch emotionally.
Man – colloquial and monosyllabic. It is apparent he has not been in
the son’s life often judging by what the mother says and where he
takes the boy.
Jim – colloquial and friendly.
Mum – colloquial and violent, disapproving of fathers’ effort.

Masculinity – male bonding stereotypical male activity which mother
mocks.
Growing up – the boy is only 8 and this is possibly a significant
moment in his life (an epiphany).
Love – the boys depiction of his father transforms him into a heroic
character, not reflecting reality.
Family breakdown – the story is dominated by the acute sensitivity of
the boy, whose experience of their relationship is both fragile and
tender. The story itself raises questions about natural paternity.
Nature – the wildness of the moors dominates the story. The ponies
belong on the moors, but the boy and his father seem very weak and
insignificant out in the darkness. The moors are notoriously
dangerous for people who are unfamiliar with them, as they cannot
be tamed.

The compass – may symbolise: that they are doomed to get lost on this
quest, that they have not prepared themselves sufficiently or that they have
no sense of direction.
The torch – A torch is for lighting the way, of illuminating so that you can
see.
The horses – The horses in the story are rather mysterious. There is a
strange episode when the mare pees. The horse seems to sigh in response
to the humans' indifference to her. The extremely 'crudely' described
physical peeing "could easily fascinate an eight-year-old boy "but apparently
doesn't. Again there is the idea that the father and son are too focused on
their own camping business to take notice of the horses, or the lake, or the
natural world around them.
The gate – The gate is also a symbol. It is a barrier that you can open to
find a path or road. The road ends and the moor begins. It offers the chance
to leave civilization behind and discover nature, including your own human
nature.
The imagery used to describe nature gives a sense of mystery and danger:
the rocks are like ‘carcasses’; the ponies are ‘ghost-coloured’.

LANGUAGE
3rd person limited/omniscient narrative which is disjointed.
No names/identities
Similes and metaphors to describe the clouds etc.
Colloquial language and monosyllabic responses.

STRUCTURE
The non-linear structure reflects the broken family relationships.
Changes setting/time
Uses flashbacks
Divided into short section, separated different stages.

MESSAGE
Divorce can be difficult and a childs’ can be ruined by divorce.
Hard to (re)form broken relationships

LINKS TO:
Parenting in: ‘Anil’, ‘When The Wasps Drowned’ and ‘Something Old,
Something New’
Pathetic fallacy used to highlight negative feelings in ‘My Polish’s
Teachers’ Tie’, ‘The Darkness Out There’, ‘Anil’ and ‘Something Old,
Something New’.
Symbolism is used in ‘When the Wasps Drowned’, ‘My Polish’s
Teacher’s Tie’, ‘Anil’ and ‘Something Old, Something New’.
The famous poet and short story writer Ted Hughes used horses in a
similar way to Elizabeth Baines. They seem to represent raw physical
power and natural energy unchanged by 'civilized' behaviour (the
peeing episode is the best example of this).

ON SEEING THE 100% PERFECT
GIRL ONE BEAUTIFUL APRIL
MORNING
Plot
It is a strange story, suggested by the odd title. It is a romantic tale of
love and fate that blends together realism and fantasy. In the opening
section of the story, by chance, a boy passes and recognises his 100%
perfect girl and in his hesitation loses her in the crowd. He tells
someone the story and imagines the potential of the romance and
imagines what he would say to this person, before considering some
romantic scenarios. Then, in fairy-tale style, he relates a short love
story which he would have related to the girl. In truth, very little
happens, except a lot of romantic narration from the narrator, which
comes across a bit nihilistic anyway.

CHARACTER
Narrator – shy, quiet and reserved. He may have little courage
but is cultured and knowledgeable as he makes sophisticated
references. Does he have friends? He talks to someone but are
they a friend? Does this then make the narrator weird? He is
clearly insecure, self-critical and nihilistic yet believes destiny.

Love – yup, the obvious one. The story evokes on the
transformational power of love and celebrates the faithful meeting of
love. You may argues that the presentation of love is ambiguous.
Idealism and Reality – there seems to be a contrast between ‘real’
events and the idealistic, romantic dreams of the narrator. The
audience are left to question this duality. Is it self-deception and
false? Or is it the power of love?

LANGUAGE
Direct first person narrative perspective which is imaginative as
reality is transformed into images of romantic possibility. Internal
monologue.
Fantasy and realism – the author blends realistic speech elements as
well as traditional fairy tale speech with highly exaggerated
descriptions of love. These are unreliable and subjective (hopeful).
Repetition – repeat phrases and images to add to fantastical sense of
romance.
Similes – ‘my mouth is as dry as a desert’, ‘like an antique clock’,
‘their heads were as empty as the young D.H. Laurence’s piggy bank’
– unrelated images suggest the randomness of fate.
Metaphor – ‘cold, indifferent waves of fate’.
Tone – light and whimsical

STRUCTURE
Two halves – first person narrative followed by third person. The
first part is in the present tense and reads like a monologue – the
second is in the past tense and reads like a fairy story.
Personal conversational tone ‘Tell you the truth’, suggesting
confiding in someone.
Short sentences – ‘Her clothes are nothing special’, ‘It’s weird’.

MESSAGE
Plays with fate and destiny with the reality of fairy-tales.
Is there someone out there for everyone?

LINKS TO:
Romantic relationships ( ‘Something old, Something New)
First person narrative (‘My Polish Teacher’s Tie’, ‘When the Wasps
Drowned’)
Dream like quality, dreams ( ‘When the Wasps drowned)
Loss (‘Compass and Torch’, ‘Anil’)

THE DARKNESS OUT THERE
Plot
Sandra and Kerry go into the woods to help an old lady with some
chores. All expectations are turned on their heads, as no one turns
out to be as they first appear. Sandra’s not as grown up and ‘cool’ as
she first thinks; Kerry turns out to be more mature and principled
than Sandra; Mrs Rutter turns out to be a cold and unsympathetic
‘killer’.
The story is clearly a variation on the classic fairy tale ‘Hansel and
Gretel’; boy and girl go to a pretty cottage in the woods and meet a
dangerous old woman, not quite a witch but still dark and dangerous.

CHARACTER
Sandra – typical young girl. We follow her throughout and she
realises reality. Although this is a short story, we see how Sandra
changes in the course of an afternoon. She is superstitious towards
the wood: Packers’ End.
Kerry – challenges classic young boy stereotype. He manages to
catch onto Mrs Rutter's’ personality sooner.
Mrs Rutter – stereotypical old woman yet challenges this
stereotypes with positive/negative descriptions. She seems very
interested in marriage and people's having children. It may be that
her own childlessness is something for which she blames the
Germans. Gradually her real character is revealed.
Pat – does not appear directly in the story. She is evidently a very
thoughtful woman. Sandra calls her Pat, which seems friendly but
perhaps rather informal. Mrs. Rutter calls her “Miss Hammond” - is
this out of politeness, or to emphasise Pat's unmarried status?

Darkness & Light – is legit referred to in the title and
repeatedly throughout the story; it also represents the classic
moral contrast between good and evil.
Stereotyping – challenges first impressions. Kerry and Mrs
Rutter are a stark impression to first impressions. There is a
difference in appearance to reality. Also, attitudes to travellers
and other people are questioned throughout – raising complex
moral questions.
Youth/age - the story suggests that young people are better
than the old. This is a possible reading. An alternative view
would be that it challenges the popular ideas of the young as
selfish and irresponsible. It shows that morality depends not
on your age, but the sort of person you are. (Remember that
Mrs. Rutter was not an old woman when she left the German to

Sandra is linked with natural imagery to convey her developing physical
womanhood. In response to Mrs Rutter’s over familiarity, Sandra feels anxious.
Sandra is nearly perfect, but the filling and the ladybird provide indications that
she and the world are not as flawless as she may think in her innocence.
The title of the story is obviously symbolic, but of what? At first the darkness
seems a simple metaphor for the unknown evil in Packer's End. But at the end of
the story, the evil is now known. The darkness is not evil outside in the wood. It
is “out there” in the world of human experience, “in your head for ever like lines
from a song...it was a part of you and you would never be without it, ever”.
‘There was a cindery path down the garden, ending at a compost heap where
eggshells gleamed among leaves and grass clippings’ symbolises the crash site
and the injured and killed soldiers.
Antithesis: darkness and light (‘bare brown legs brushing through the grass,
pollen summer grass that glinted in the sun’; ‘even in bright day like now, with
nothing coming out of the dark slab of trees’) creates a metaphorical contrast
between good and evil, innocence and corruption.

LANGUAGE
Mrs Rutter’s language to Sandra is uncomfortably familiar which suggests
to the reader that something’s not quite right about the old lady.
Metaphor – the ‘darkness’ referred to in the title is that which inhabits Mrs
Rutter’s soul and not the scary woods of childhood nightmares
Mrs Rutter’s language shows how cold, callous and uncaring she is: ‘He
must have been a tough bastard. He was still there that evening, but in the
morning he was dead.’
Use of non-standard English such as ‘telly’ and ‘polleny’ – shows a childlike
narrative.
Personification – ‘wood sat’ and ‘fire sighed’
Positive vs negative descriptions of Mrs Rutter: ‘cottage loaf/circles’ vs
‘snapped’. which suggest how there is something ‘dark’ and threatening
behind Mrs Rutter’s cosy ‘chintzy mass’
Dangerous setting in woods, uncomfortable atmosphere: “keeping to the

STRUCTURE
Lively uses very short sentences and then very lengthy and formal
style of writing which suggests that some parts of the narrative are in
Sandra’s own voice – as if the nonstandard phrases are her thoughts.
The more formal and controlled prose gives a more detached
viewpoint.
The ending links to the beginning through Sandra.
References to nature throughout and behaviour of characters.
Repetition – similar but not identical forms “sun”, “sunshine”, and
“sunburn”. Most important of all is “darkness”. By repeating these key
words, the author perhaps makes them more powerful and complex,
in readiness for the final paragraphs.

MESSAGE
Epiphany – a sudden realisation of clarity. Links to brutality of elder
generation.
“You could get people all wrong” – does this teach us all a valuable
lesson?
Plays on innocence

LINKS TO:
Stereotypes are also present in ‘My Polish Teachers’ Tie’.
Pathetic fallacy used to highlight negative feelings in ‘Compass and
Torch’, ‘My Polish Teachers’ Tie’, ‘Anil’ and ‘Something Old,
Something New’.
Childhood naivety (innocence) in: ‘Anil’, ‘Compass and Torch’ and
‘When The Wasps Drowned’
Threat in: ‘Anil’ and ‘When The Wasps Drowned’.
Things being not what they seem in: ‘When The Wasps Drowned’.

ANIL
Plot
A boy, Anil, lives in Malaysia with his mother & father, who is a bully to his
family, but timid & respectful to his employer, the Headman. It is night-time
and he is asleep in a hut with his parents. He needs the toilet but doesn’t
want to wake his father & suffer a beating. However, he sees people outside
and discovers the Headman’s brother, Marimuthu hanging a woman, at
which he is traumatised. The next day, the body has been taken down and
we learn that it is Marimuthu’s wife. However, Marimuthu is pretending that
his wife has committed suicide.
Anil tells the village & the Headman that he saw Marimuthu kill the woman
and the Headman goes off to talk to Anil’s father about him. In the next
section, we learn that Anil is being sent to school (a great opportunity) but it
is so that the Headman can cover up his brother’s actions as a murderer. At
the end, both father & son explore their decisions and whether they made
the right/wrong choice given the consequences.

CHARACTER
Anil – naïve, imaginative. Should he have kept his mouth shut? Star-
gazer.
Appa – Timid mouse to Headman yet a bully to his family.
Headman – gets away with murder!! Shows power authority and
believes he is above the law!!

Lost innocence – Anil goes through a painful passage into adulthood: from witnessing a
murder to being excluded from his home and family for just telling the truth!!
Power/corruption – the whole village appears to be corrupt which is pervasive and inescapable
for Anil. Even the mosquitos have power!!
Childhood/Growing up – Anil is only seven, he is frightened of the dark and of his father.
However, he is old enough to understand that what he has seen is wrong. He has to grow up
quickly, leaving his family at a very early age.
Threat – Anil’s father, the ‘child-eating’ tree, the headman and his son.
Family – there are two families, Anil’s and the headman’s. Both headman and Anil’s father are
seen as bullies, and both put their families before moral principles.
Rich and Poor – Anil’s family and the rest of the villagers are very poor. They depend on the
headman for employment. The headman can buy Ragunathan’s silence.
Gender relations – the men are violent bullies, while the women are painted as victims.
Ragunathan beats his wife; Marimuthu kills his wife.
Justice/Morality – there is no justice in this society and only Anil seems concerned by the fact
that a sin has been committed. The headman and his brother are too rich to be concerned
about right or wrong, while Anil’s father is too poor.

Tree – symbol of frightening natural danger, perhaps suggesting the
commonness of such violence and danger in this corrupt world.
Such a contrast of light and dark with ‘the white dress contrasting
the darkness of the night.’

LANGUAGE
Third person perspective: the story is 3rd person but Anil’s perspective
Sense of painful emotion + audience emphasises our empathy for Anil
Emotion of story is heightened and the violence is given grotesque
exaggeration from the very first sentence: mosquitoes.
Descriptive details give a sense of place and the kind of life the villagers
lead: Amma wears a faded sari; there are pots under the roof to catch the
rain.
Pathetic fallacy - heat is emphasised to create a claustrophobic and
confined language setting, ‘hot, sweltering’
physical details of mother reinforce the heat and discomfort/pain of the
setting and their lives, ‘wet patch...layers of fat’- a child’s view amuses us
‘Wheee...the fly slid down’ but is mixed with the accepted
pain/violence/abuse ‘the bruise...where Appa...had hit her.’

STRUCTURE
It is divided in to two sections. The long first section describes the
events of the night of the murder and the morning that follows. The
second section reveals the outcome of Ragunathan’s visit to the
bungalow.
The opening of the story is like that of a folk tale or a fairy tale. Most
of the writing is fairly simple, with a lot of short paragraphs.
The boy’s fears are presented: father, fear of the dark, mosquito,
ghosts- writer uses of the body shocks us- climax shocking so early
in the story. one word lines to reflect the tension, ‘They. Peyi. Pesase.
Ghosts.’- also ‘Dare he?’
The repeated use of the word ‘if’ creates tension also, reinforcing
fears and doubts.

MESSAGE
Sometimes, in life, it may be best to keep your mouth closed
because you don’t know what will happen. Anil had to grow up fast in
school with his family because of what he had witnessed.
His name, Anil, means ‘shrub’, to grow, so this shows his growth in
story.

LINKS TO:
Symbolism is used in ‘When the Wasps Drowned’,’ Compass and Torch’, ‘My
Polish Teachers’ Tie’ and ‘Something Old, Something New’.
Different cultures are also present in ‘On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One
Beautiful April Morning’, ‘My Polish Teachers’ Tie’ and ‘Something Old,
Something New’.
Pathetic fallacy used to highlight feelings in: ‘Something Old, Something New’
(negative), ‘Compass and Torch’(negative), ‘...the 100% Perfect Girl...’
(positive), ‘The Darkness Out There’ (negative), ‘When The Wasps Drowned’
(negative).
Childhood naivety (innocence) in: ‘When The Wasps Drowned’, ‘Compass and
Torch’ and ‘The Darkness Out There’
Threat in: ‘When The Wasps Drowned’ and ‘The Darkness Out There’
Parenting in: ‘When The Wasps Drowned’, ‘Compass and Torch’ and

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW
Plot
The narrator arrives in the Sudan to meet the family of his fiancé and
marry her. Throughout his time there he recounts memories of their
meeting in Edinburgh, and his youthful achievements and failures.
The speaker draws comparisons between experiences and traditions
from Scotland and the Sudan. Throughout the story, imagery of
Khartoum is used to convey feelings of otherness and isolation, whilst
religion is depicted as a connecting force between the speaker and
his love.

CHARACTER
Narrator – feels anxious, discomfort. He is angry when he is robbed.
He is reflective as he narrates in the past tense. His new faith has
given him a renewed purpose in life and the desire to marry and start
a family. In many ways his trip to Sudan is very brave - he finds the
whole experience rather alienating and unsettling
Wife – Originally went to Scotland to get married to a Sudanese man
who was living in Edinburgh. Clear suggestion that the marriage was
an arranged one and this is not unusual in Islamic cultures. As
readers our perceptions of the woman are filtered through the
feelings and perceptions of the man at all times: he sees her as
beautiful, dignified and calm, but his own sense of low self esteem
allows him to believe that she is laughing at him.
His family - Are very close to each other and very protective of her.
Since her first marriage ended in divorce, they are likely to be
suspicious of her new husband - especially since he is a foreigner

Love & Relationships – different cultures and traditions; religion; different perspectives and
ways of seeing; belonging
Identity – loss of identity when his rucksack is stolen.
Being abroad – opening sentence of story prepares us for sense of alienation that Scotsman
feels at being abroad in a country which is so different from his own: "Her country disturbed
him". His first car ride from the airport seems to confirm his prejudiced stereotypes about the
lack of discipline in foreign traffic. He is especially fearful of being robbed. On both sides there
is mutual distrust based on stereotypes: everyone abroad is a potential mugger and foreign
women marry UK citizens for visas.
Themes of Islam – Islam is presented as a force for good, because it has changed the young
mans life and given him purpose. He finds answers in Islam and begins to lead a productive life.
He faces bewilderment and dismay from his Catholic parents because he converts to Islam.
Given his failure at medical school and him questioning the meaning of life, it would have been
easy for him to be sucked up into unemployment, drugs, etc.
Poverty/wealth – because Sudan is a developing country much of the population is desperately
poor. We are reminded of this throughout story. Woman is proud that they have booked him
into Hilton hotel because although country is poor, they do have a luxury hotel. The Scotsman
is always wary that he is going to be cheated out of money - because he has so much compared
with the poverty in Sudan.
Subservience of women – Woman's first marriage was arranged during the period of mourning,
the sexes are kept completely apart. Islamic and Sudanese custom dictates that the man and

The rucksack, holding the speaker’s camera, passport and
documents, can be seen as a symbol of his identity. When this is
destroyed, the speaker reacts angrily as his sense of safety and
identity has been irremediably violated: “found his rucksack slashed
open, his passport missing; his camera too. He started to shout.”
Forms of boundary and shelter, both literal and metaphorical, are
used to emphasise the contrasting themes of exclusion and
belonging: “he had crossed boundaries and seas”; “these were the
questions that brought all the walls down”; “the questions that had
tilted the walls around him... were now valid”; “a home that had no
walls, no doors”.

LANGUAGE
Pathetic fallacy – establish feelings of discomfort (‘walked through blaze of
hot air’), anxiety (‘her country disturbed him’) and threat (‘the river’s flow
was forceful, not innocent, not playful’).
Lexis of seeing – themes of perception, contrasting religion
Lexis of purchase – difficulties faced by women, also contrasting religion
Story is told in 3rd person with Aboulela as omniscient narrator. Often gives
us view of the Scotsman and rarely that of another character, perhaps
because he's observing many things for the first time, so its natural to give
us his perspective.
Aboulela uses many Arabic words in story - chiefly to do with Islamic
customs or food and drink - to keep the idea of a different, alien culture in
the forefront of the readers mind.
Man and woman are never named. Seems to be a deliberate ploy on
Aboulela's part to suggest they could be anyone: what is important about
them is they are a man and woman who love each other and want to be
together and therefore all the differences - nationality and culture - and all
obstacles put in their way - are unimportant compared to their love.

STRUCTURE
Tone - anxious: the speaker’s sense of discomfort, displacement
and anxiety is present from the first line. Anger: the emotional peak
comes at the time of the theft, when the man’s sense of his diluted
identity is manifested.
Reflective – the story is told in the past tense; the distance from the
time of the events allows the man to reflect philosophically upon
them and their significance.
Story told in chronological order, but there are flashbacks to events
in Edinburgh. Flashbacks are a vital part of story because without
them we wouldn't know that the woman has been married, why she
divorced or why she was working in Scotland in a cafe.
Binary opposites/antithesis – to propel narrative + develop character
Foreshadowing – separation of the couple and its’ frustration is
predicted on 1st person: ‘unfair they should be separated like that’.

MESSAGE
Plays with identity
Plays with British and Islamic traditions, highlighting a contrast in
cultures
Overcoming difficulties surrounding new cultures including
exclusion, belonging, identity and the way one is perceived

LINKS TO:
Love and relationships (My Polish Teacher’s Tie; Compass and Torch;
100% Perfect Girl)
Different cultures and traditions (My Polish Teacher’s Tie; The
Darkness Out There; Anil)
Religion (Anil)
Death (The Darkness Out There; When the Wasps Drowned; Anil)
Different perspectives and ways of seeing (My Polish Teacher’s Tie;
When the Wasps Drowned; Compass and Torch; The Darkness Out
There; Anil)
Belonging (My Polish Teacher’s Tie; Compass and Torch)

REVISION QUESTIONS
Grab something to write on and something to write with.
These questions range from character to theme.
Begin!

1. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE
CARLA CARTER IN ‘MY POLISH
TEACHER’S TIE’?
Think about:
Status in the story and in society
Her heritage and identity
What she thinks of herself and others
How she changes over the story
It’s always good to use quotes!

2. WHAT DOES CARLA LEARN DURING
THE COURSE OF THE STORY IN ‘MY
POLISH TEACHER’S TIE’?
Think about:
What she thinks of others
Her letters to Stefan
Rediscovering her roots

3. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE
EVELINE (THE NARRATOR) IN
‘WHEN THE WASPS DROWNED’?
Take into account:
Her age
Her status

4. AT THE END OF THE STORY,
‘WHEN THE WASPS DROWNED’,
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT
EVELINE?Think about:
The choices she makes
Your feelings contrasting to the beginning of the story

5. WHY DOES THE AUTHOR
INTRODUCE THE CHARACTER OF
JIM IN ‘COMPASS AND TORCH’?
Think about:
The fact that he is the only character who is given a name
How he acts and his personality
How is he different to the boy’s father?

6. WHY ISN'T THE BOY GIVEN A
NAME IN ‘COMPASS AND TORCH’?
Think about:
The nature of the relationships in the story
The overall theme of the story

7. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE
NARRATOR IN ‘100% PERFECT GIRL’: A
HOPELESS ROMANTIC OR PATHETIC?
GIVE REASONS FOR YOUR ANSWER.Take into consideration:
His attitudes
The way he narrates, his tone
His approach to the idea of love

8. WHY DOESN’T THE NARRATOR
SPEAK TO THE GIRL IN ‘100%
PERFECT GIRL’?
Think about:
His personality
His approach to life
His use of idealism

9. WHY DOES THE WRITER
INCLUDE KERRY IN ‘THE
DARKNESS OUT THERE’?
Take into consideration:
The overall message of the story
The use of stereotypes
Think about Mrs Rutter and her importance

10. WHAT IS THE EFFECT ON THE
READER THAT MRS RUTTER
GIVES?
Things to consider:
The start and the end
The positive/negative descriptions
Mrs Rutter's’ attitudes
Her change of language

11. HOW IS THE READER MEANT TO
FEEL ABOUT MARIMUTHU IN ‘ANIL’?
Talk about:
The theme of corruption and power
Anil’s feeling
Marimuthu’s description
Relate to the hanging

12. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF
PRESENTING RAGUNATHAN AS HE
IS IN ‘ANIL’?
His description
Anil’s fear towards him
The theme of power and abuse

13. HOW IS THE READER MEANT TO
FEEL ABOUT THE MARRIAGE IN
‘SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW’:
HOPEFUL OR FEARFUL FOR THEIR
FUTURE?Take into consideration:
The culture difference
The way the narrator comes across
The utilisation of Islam

14. HOW IS THE NARRATOR
PRESENTED IN ‘SOMETHING OLD,
SOMETHING NEW’?
Think about:
How he feels about Sudan
What emotions he shows
His love for his wife
The tone of the story

15. WHICH CHARACTER IS EASIEST
FOR YOU TO RELATE TO AND WHY?
JUSTIFY YOUR VIEW.
Carla
Stefan
Valerie
Eveline
Therese
Tyler
The boy
The man
Jim
Narrator in 100%
Sandra
Kerry
Mrs Rutter
Anil
Appa
Headman
Narrator in SO,SN
The family of his
fiancée

16. WHICH STORIES PRESENT THE
THEME OF FAMILY AND WHAT DO
THEY SAY ABOUT IT?
think about:
Stories with families (naturally)
The nature of the relationships in the family
How it is presented in the anthology

17. HOW IS THE THEME OF GUILT
EXPLORED IN TWO OF THE
STORIES?
Think about:
Symbolism
A contrast in guilt?

18. WHICH STORIES EXPLORE
MARITAL RELATIONSHIPS AND HOW
ARE THEY PRESENTED?
All natures of marriages
Problems faced in that marriage
What we think of each spouse

19. WHICH STORIES EXPLORE
CULTURE AND WHAT DO THEY WANT
THE READER TO UNDERSTAND OR
EXPLORE?Take into consideration:
The type of culture
How different it is to British tradition
The way it affects the characters in the story (positively and
negatively)

20. WHICH STORIES PRESENT
CHILDREN AS THE MAIN PROTAGONIST
AND WHY? WHAT LESSONS DO THEY
LEARN?Think about:
Which stories have children as protagonist and/or narrator
What difficulties they face
Their outlook on the world and how the narrative is affected
What lessons they learn from their actions

21. WHICH STORIES EXPLORE THE
THEME OF GROWING UP?
Which characters grow up
How this affects the story and outlook
Why they had to grow up quickly

22. HOW IS THE THEME OF
INNOCENCE EXPLORED IN THE
STORIES?
Think about:
How it is presented
Is it lost? How?
Is it as innocent as it seems to be?

GCSE English Literature - Sunlight on the Grass Revision

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