2020HSCExtended responseThe Hare with Amber Eyes — Edmund de Waal

Q5 (a)

20 marks

Question

Touch is not only through the fingers, but through the whole body, too.
Each one of these netsuke for Anna is a resistance to the sapping of memory. Each one carried out is a resistance against the news, a story recalled, a future held on to. Here that Viennese cult of Gemütlichkeit – the easy tears over sentimental stories, the wrapping of everything in pastry and cream, those candied pictures of servant girls and their beaux – meets a place of adamantine hardness. I think of Herr Brockhaus and his imprecations against the carelessness of servants, and I think of how wrong he was.
There is no sentimentality, no nostalgia. It is something much harder, literally harder. It is a kind of trust.
From The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal published by Chatto & Windus Copyright © Edmund de Waal 2010. Reproduced by permission of The Random House Group Ltd

In what ways does this excerpt reflect the concerns and aesthetic qualities of de Waal’s nonfiction?
In your response, make close reference to the excerpt and to your prescribed text.

Try the question before revealing the answer.

Solution

Criteria	Marks
• Explains skilfully the ways the excerpt/screenshots reflect the concerns and aesthetic qualities of the text<br>• Demonstrates a well-informed understanding of context, language, form and ideas using well-selected and detailed analysis of textual references<br>• Composes a thoughtful argument using language appropriate to audience, purpose and form	17–20
• Explains effectively the ways the excerpt/screenshots reflect the concerns and aesthetic qualities of the text<br>• Demonstrates an informed understanding of context, language, form and ideas using well-selected analysis of textual references<br>• Composes an effective response using language appropriate to audience, purpose and form	13–16
• Explains the ways the excerpt/screenshots reflect the concerns and aesthetic qualities of the text<br>• Demonstrates an understanding of context, language, form and ideas using some textual references<br>• Composes a sound response using language appropriate to audience, purpose and form	9–12
• Describes some aspects of the prescribed text<br>• Demonstrates some understanding of context, language, form and ideas with limited textual references<br>• Composes a limited response to the question	5–8
• Attempts to describe aspects of the prescribed text<br>• Attempts to compose a response to the question	1–4

Supplied marking guidance · human reviewed

Compare this with your working, not only your final sentence.

Syllabus alignment

Module B: Critical Study of Literature

Critical Study of LiteratureDevelop and support an informed personal interpretation through close analysis of a substantial literary text.

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