2020 english paper 2 craft of writing

Question 9 (20 marks)

Compose a piece of imaginative writing that begins with the words:

Some things are unknowable. A person’s secrets may be revealed by the things
they leave behind; but what are they, those supposedly uncovered secrets? They
are words, ideas . . . Dry and dead as dust.

Lounging on his stained sofa, Logan bitterly eyed the last bits of brown foam at the bottom of
his pintthe keg. He lounged on his stained sofa, - it was the fifth one offor the night and
should probably should be the last one, he thought drowsily. …..But he wants to forget, so
it won’t be the last. Nowadays, he can’t go two days without a bottle in his hand.
Ignoring the nagging little voice at the back of his headin the back of his mind nagging about
how that his manuscript deadline was way overdue, he paused for a while longer while his
thumb rubbed the handle of the cup and his lips twisted in hesitation. None of his books had
ever sold well in years anyways. Sighing, he dumped downdowned the drinkcup and walked
made his way tipsily to his room, kicking over a chair in the process. The scent of old
deodorant and sweat wafted to his attention as the overhead fan only made the stench
worse. He searched fruitlessly for the manuscript on his clustered table.

As he picked up one particular folder, a slip of yellowed paper fell out. So subtle and silent
he almost left it for the floor. But the paper landed face up and his vision flashed before
focusing on the paper. It wasn’t an old receipt or expired coupon, but the all too familiar eyes
that smiled enchantingly up at him. Megan had always reminded him of Audrey Hepburn;
there was always something je ne sais quoi in the elegant way she carried herself. The
colour in the polaroid had long become washed out but her candid smile was ever so vibrant.
Logan subconsciously found himself also smiling. Cradled to her chest was a half-unfolded
plain paper crane. He had almost forgotten about that- Megan would look forward to each
poem that he wrote and then folded them into delicate origami birds. He remembered how
the brightly-coloured string of cranes, swans and flamingos would decorate their living room
wall, a and act as a testimony to their blossoming love. How could he have thrown away
something that used to mean everything to him?

Logan stumbled to his feet after somehow being seated on the floor and weaved to his
bedside drawer to find amongst a jumbled mess, the last folded white crane. Plucking it open
gently, Logan reread the poem he had drafted a thousand times since the night she left.

‘At dusk, we watched the colours stretch their wings against the skies.
I said it was beautiful, with only you in my eyes.’

“Megan,” he whispered, dragging the ‘e’ slightly as the syllables left his tongue feeling
foreign. His calloused hand twitched at his side and he let them lead him to the wardrobe
where the typewriter sat, covered by a dusty yellow cloth. In one swift motion, he unveiled it,
revealing the moss green typewriter, its letters fading but the silver still polished. A small
smile tugged at his lip as he gingerly brought it back to his table. Dear Megan… His fingers
found their muscle memory. A peace, as light as a feather, nestled into his heart as the
tapping filled the house that has been silent for years.
Reflection plz help

General ideas
 In drawing from the stimulus text, in my narrative, I have endeavoured to highlight the
complexity of a mundane drunkard to be someone really romantic and thoughtful.
- Hidden depths to each character – highlight the humanity
 In drawing from the stimulus text, my piece aims to comment on the contextual
values of modern society regarding the courage to keep trying despite hardships. - a
story about hope and perseverance.
o Longing or yearning for something/discovers a source of inspiration
o Discovering new passions/joys from the past i.e. his writing – wellspring of
inspiration

 Logan tries to avoid his secret which is his desire of pursuing love with his ex-lover
but I wanted to explore the act of accepting one’s failures and the actions to address
it.
o Failed writer concept – the woman has much to do with his perception of the
world
o Mourning/lament of what he has lost
o
o
 This resonates with my own struggles of finding motivation and pursuing my personal
goals.
o Emotional journey of loss and rememberance highlights the commonality of
experience – you as the author also relate to that
o
 I left the ending ambiguous as to whether Megan and Logan get back together or not
to the interpretation of the audience because life is not straightforward and we don’t
always get what we want.
o Open ended - ending
 Megan as catalyst
o The symbol of the woman as a muse
 Metafictive about poem writing stems from me as a writer.
 Flashback- in my story, I used the Polaroid to allow my character to reminisce about
his past and also to introduce Megan, his ex-lover. - this gave more context and
nuance about Logan and allowed the reader to emphasise the consequences of
heartbreak.
 Bird motif- the idea of being liberated from his self-doubt and confinement.
o Maybe 1000- cranes story about making a wish come true. - hope.
[“cultural/personal aspect”]
o Show how not like the other guys he is.

What time is it now, where you are? - Colum McCann

 To enliven the setting I have used the technique of: Increasing specificity
o Starting off with him being drunk to convey that an important but traumatic
event has happened and he is trying to forget- also makes readers curious as
to why he is like this.
o Characterisation of him to be a procrastinator with his ‘manuscript’ work. Kind
of relatable like Sandi is when she describes her own inadequacies.
o He is stinky- “scent of old deodorant and sweat”- the audience posed to not
like him, invoking judgement within readers to later subvert them.
 o Later on, realise that he is very romantic through his very detailed habit of
folding his poems into origami before gifting it to his ex-lover.
 McCann taps into the fact that writing is character driven and that it is out of his
control. “All these beginnings he attempted wrote themselves into the dark” - you
have to embark upon this process but also the fact that you have to accept that you
are not entirely in control.
 Therefore i adopted a fresh lens, inspired by the many texts.

Objective correlative - Invented by TS Eliot

The idea that the point of art is to create a specific event/ character etc to invoke a very
precise emotion
 Universal feelings such as love and reminiscence allow the reader to emphasise as
well as allow me to write from someone so different from myself.

Love and Honor and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice
 “And how that world can be shattered by a small stone dropped like a single
syllable.”
o Story of how Le’s perspective changed after hearing about the war atrocities
that his hero figure father admitted when drunk.
o Similarly, Logan’s worldview changed when he decided to write a letter/poem
to his ex after seeing the polaroid picture and was reminded of their past
love.
 Both utilise writing to express themselves- writing evokes more nuanced meaning
and helps me as a writer express myself and my ideas.
 Not sure