First Language English for Cambridge IGCSE (pg.65-67)

Her first ball 

From The Garden Party, and other stories
by Katherine Mansfield 

1. What does the scene in the carriage in "Her First Ball" tell the reader about Leila? 

-  The scene in the carriage tells the reader that Leila is excited for her new experience, everything seems new and funny to her and she is really looking forward the ball. She is a bright naive girl who was so fascinated that she imagined the carriage itself as a partner who is dancing with her, with people around them which were actually light posts and trees. She found it hard to keep the excitement to herself, but she acted indifferently because other cousins have been to balls frequently. She even wanted to  keep the wrapping of her cousin's new gloves as a remembrance. 

2. Leila is very exited. Do other people feel the same way about the ball? 

- Others don't find it as exciting as Leila because for them, it was a normal thing that happens occasionally, but for Leila, it was a whole new thing as she was from countryside and she didn't have close neighbours around her.

3. Imagine you are Meg or Laurie, Leila's girl and boy cousins. You are writing your diary after the ball. Describe Leila and how she behaved at the ball. Say what you thought of the ball (you have been to many). Include your thoughts on :

>your cousin Leila

>the other people at the ball 

>the venue and its decoration

- Today's ball was not a surprise but a typical ball. Nothing was special, lightings were boring as they were the same everywhere, food was normal food that are served in any ball and even the boys weren't as good looking as I had expected. However, Leila seemed to find everything fascinating and special. It was fun looking at her because it reminded me of my first ball; it was a heaven-like new world at first.We put on our best dresses and make up and I took Leila around to get to know new people and to let her have more experience. She was so cute when she was dancing with the first man.I could see her blushing and she couldn't even make a proper eye contact with him! She got better and more used to it as time passed by, but she was still so adorable like a little baby. I should take her to more balls and let her socialise with more people from now!

First Language English for Cambridge IGCSE

pg. 63- 64


Passage B - From Bleak House, by Charles Dickens (1885)

Composed on Westminster Bridge - By William Wordsworth (1807)

Both of the passages are describing the morning of London, but with different mood and tone.



1. Copy the table below and add words and phrases from Dickens' description of London in passage B and Wordsworth's sonnet "Composed on Westminster Bridge" on page 63.

	Dickens	Wordsworth
Nouns	smoke	splendour
	death of the sun	bright, glittering sun
	mire	garment
adjectives	defiled	fair
images	waterside pollutions of a great city	the river glideth at his own sweet will
	smoke lowering down from chimney-pots	the beauty of the morning
	describes more about creatures(animals and humans)	describes about the nature and its beauty

2. Look at the words and phrases for Dickens and Wordsworth. What tone or mood does each writer create?

- Dickens tries to create a negative tone and shows the busy and polluted aspects of the city and how creatures; animals and humans are suffering from it. On the other side, Wordsworth tries to create a bright and cheerful tone and atmosphere.

First Language English for Cambridge IGCSE

pg. 64

Death of a Naturalist by Seamus Heaney(1966)

All year the flax-dam festered in the heart

Of the townland; green and heavy headed

Flax had rotted there, weighted down by huge sods.

Daily it sweltered in the punishing sun.

Bubbles gargled delicately, bluebottles

Wove a strong gauze of sound around the smell.

There were dragonflies, spotted butterflies,

But best of all was the warm thick slobber

Of frogspawn that grew like clotted water

In the shade of the banks. Here, every spring

I would fill jampotfuls of the jellied

Specks to range on window sills at home,

On shelves at school, and wait and watch until

The fattening dots burst, into nimble

Swimming tadpoles. Miss Walls would tell us how

The daddy frog was called a bullfrog

And how he croaked and how the mammy frog

Laid hundreds of little eggs and this was

Frogspawn. You could tell the weather by frogs too

For they were yellow in the sun and brown

In rain.

    Then one hot day when fields were rank

With cowdung in the grass the angry frogs

Invaded the flax-dam; I ducked through hedges

To a coarse croaking that I had not heard

Before. The air was thick with a bass chorus.

Right down the dam gross bellied frogs were cocked

On sods; their loose necks pulsed like sails. Some hopped:

The slap and plop were obscene threats. Some sat

Poised like mud grenades, their blunt heads farting.

I sickened, turned, and ran. The great slime kings

Were gathered there for vengeance and I knew

That if I dipped my hand the spawn would clutch it.

    How does Heaney convey two points of view in this poem? Explore the words and images, and think about how and why the speaker changes his opinion.

Heaney tries to convey two points of view in this poem by explaining the frog with positive, bright tone at the first and later using negative and serious tone. At first, the poet loved nature especially frogs and was amused and interested in them. 'Best of all was the warm thick slobber of frogspawn' shows that he has a positive thought towards the frogs. 'every spring I would fill jampotfuls of the jellied specks' indicates that he enjoyed playing with nature. The fact that he remembered what his teacher taught him about frogs also illustrates the idea that he was fascinated by them that he paid a lot of attention towards it. 

As the poem continues, in the second stanza, he described frogs as 'angry' which is a negative expression. He used the word 'invaded' to show that he feels the frogs shouldn't be there and he is not in favour of them anymore. 'gross', 'threats', 'sickened' creates the mood that he hates frogs. 

I think the poet changed his opinion because he found out the unpleasant nature of frogs and that didn't satisfy his expectations towards them. He felt they were disturbance to him after he changed his opinion which is totally different from the view of the previous stanza. For the first stanza, he conveys the readers that frogs are helpful and are necessary for people and how nature is beautiful. However, in the second stanza, he persuades readers that frog is a pest, unpleasant, and are unnecessary creatures. 

Vocabularies for this week

expectant - thinking something is about to happen

tangible - something that can be touched (touchable)

despair - without hope

              (hopelessness) 

repentance - feeling of sorrow and regret 

benevolent - kind and patient (caring)

jubilant - feeling or expressing great joy and excitement (triumphant)

intrigue - fascinate, making curious   (attract) 

decipher - figure out, succeed in understand (analyse)

revitalise - feeling as though you have been given a new life and energy