For my Form 1 and Form 2 students, here are some useful notes for all of you...
TECHNIQUES AND GUIDELINES FOR ANSWERING THE QUESTION OF PAPER 2
~THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY~
•
Choose
only one novel for the answer. Do not write about all the novels.
•
Your
answer should be a short essay of more than 50 words.
•
Your
answer must be in continuous writing.
•
Check
your spelling and grammar.
•
Do
not spend more than 20 minutes on this section.
Outline:
•
Name
the novel that you have chosen.
•
You
can briefly state what the novel is about.
•
Name
/ state the character / event / lesson etc you have chosen, depending on the
question.
•
Describe
/ list / highlight at least 2 characteristics / actions / events etc as
examples / reasons to support your choice.
•
Describe
/ show how character / event / lesson etc affects other characters / people and
you.
MODEL
QUESTION AND ANSWER.
Based on the
novel above, choose one character which you think is important. Write
about the character that you have chosen and give reasons for your choice.
I would like to write about Charles
McCarthy from the novel Boscombe Valley Mystery by Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle. Charles McCarthy was an evil man. He knew that John Turner was
Black Jack from Ballarat, a group of notorious robbers that robbed
stagecoaches carrying gold from Australia. When Charles McCarthy met John
Turner in England twenty years later, he started to blackmail him. Charles
did not know that John Turner had turned over a new leaf and started a new
life in England.
Charles McCarthy is an important
character because he was the real villain in this story. In the initial
bargain, he asked for a house and some land and John Turner gave him a house
on his farm and allowed him to stay rent-free. Over the years, Charles
McCarthy became greedier and demanded more money and finally, he wanted his
son, James to marry Alice Turner so that he could lay his hand on the Turner
estates and wealth. John Turner loved his daughter very much and he did not
want her to suffer so he killed Charles by hitting him violently with a stone
on the head.
Charles McCarthy was an evil man. His
greed made him lose his life under the hands of John Turner. If he waited for
a while, maybe his son would have married Alice Turner because both of them
were in love with each other. In the end, John Turner killed him because he
was afraid that his beloved daughter would know the truth about his past and
he did not want Alice to suffer because of his past mistakes.
|
State the name of the character
and the novel you have chosen.
State some general background of
the story.
Highlight the points of the
question (an important character)
State your own opinion.
|
Based on the
novel above, state one lesson that you can learn from this novel and
give reasons for your choice.
One important lesson that I can learn
from the novel Boscombe Valley Mystery by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is crime
does not pay. We can never run from a crime that we have committed
because the past will always come back to haunt us. In this story, we learn
that John Turner was a rich and respected gentleman but in the past, he was
known as the notorious Black Jack of Ballarat. Twenty years later, his past
caught up with him when Charles McCarthy recognized him and started to
blackmail him.
To keep his secret safe, John Turner
agrees to let Charles and his family lived on a farm in his estate rent-free.
However, Charles became more greedy and demanded more money and demanded that
his son, James to marry John’s only daughter, Alice. John Turner finally had
enough and murdered Charles in cold blood.
From this story, I learnt that crime
does not pay. We must be responsible for all our actions because one day,
this past mistake will come back to us and we have to pay a high price for
it.
|
State the name of the novel and
the lesson you learnt.
State some general background of
the story.
Highlight the points of the
question (a lesson learnt)
State your own opinion.
|
c) Based on the
novel above, state one important theme and give reasons for your choice.
One important theme that I can find from
the novel Boscombe Valley Mystery by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is love.
This novel is an excellent example of love because I can see different types
of love portrayed in the story. First, we have the love of two young people,
Alice Turner and James McCarthy. Alice loves James and understands him well
enough to know that he is a kind person who is incapable of killing another
human being, let alone his own father. Her love for him driver her to hire
the best known detective, Sherlock Holmes, to prove his innocence. Finally,
their love triumphs and the two are happily married.
Another evidence of love is between a
father and his daughter. In this novel, John Turner loves his daughter,
Alice, so much that he is willing to do anything to protect her. He even goes
to the extent of murdering Charles McCarthy so that Alice would be safe from
the evil and scheming Charles. Alice also loves his father very much and she
takes good care of him, especially when he is sick.
In the end, it is this evidence of pure
love that melts Holmes’ heart. We should learn from these characters that
true love does triumph in the end.
|
State the name of the novel.
Highlight the points of the
question (a theme portrayed)
Give another example with support
from the story.
State your own opinion.
|
Hmm... I hope these notes are helpful when you are revising for your exams, ok! :)
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