SECTION A

Read the following extract and answer all the questions that follow:
The gates had shut to with a crash behind us, the dusty high-road was out of sight and I became
aware that this was not the drive I had imagined. This was not a broad and spacious thing of gravel,
flanked with neat turf at either side.
This drive twisted and turned as a serpent, scarce wider in places than a path and about our heads
was a great colonnade of trees, whose branches nodded and intermingled with one another, making
an archway for us, like the roof of a church. It was very silent, very still. Even the midday sun would
not penetrate the interlacing of those green leaves, they were too thickly entwined one with another,
and only little flickering patches of warm light would come in intermittent waves to dapple the drive
with gold. On we went, over a little bridge that spanned a narrow stream, and still this drive that was
not drive twisted and turned like an enchanted ribbon through the dark and silent woods, penetrating
even deeper to the very heart of the forest itself, and still there was no clearing, no space to hold a
house.
The length of it began to nag at my nerves; it must be this turn, or round that further bend; but as I
leant forward in my seat I was for ever disappointed, there was no house, no field, no broad and
friendly garden, nothing but silence. The lodge gates were a memory, and the road something
belonging to another time, another world.
Suddenly I saw a clearing in the dark drive ahead, and a patch of sky, and in a moment the dark trees
had thinned, the nameless shrubs had disappeared, and on either side of us was a wall of the colour,
blood-red, reaching far above our heads.
We were amongst the rhododendrons1. There was something bewildering, even shocking, about the
suddenness of their discovery. The woods had not prepared me for them. They startled me with their
crimson faces, massed one upon the other in incredible profusion, showing no leaf, no twig, nothing
but the slaughterous red, luscious and fantastic. These were monsters, rearing to the sky, massed like
a battalion, too beautiful I thought, too powerful; they were not plants at all.

Rebecca Daphne Du Maurier

Glossary
1 Rhododendron – large woodland plant
Questions Section A
1. In what ways is the drive not as the narrator had expected?
The drive was not as the narrator had expected because she imagined it to be wide paths
made of gravel and flanked with neat turf at either side, but the place had many twisting paths
and trees looming above them. [2 marks]
2. What do you think is meant by “this drive twisted and turned as a serpent”? (line 4)
I think “this drive twisted and turned as a serpent” means the narrator is using simile and
comparing the drive to the body of a serpent, it was very long and had many curves along the
path, just like a body of a snake or serpent. [3 marks]
3. What kind of atmosphere is created through the way in which this passage is written? You
should include quotations to support your ideas.
The atmosphere of the place is it was tranquil and verdant in “about our heads was a great
colonnade of trees, whose branches nodded and intermingled with one another…It was very silent,
very still. Even the midday sun would not penetrate the interlacing of those green leaves, they were
too thickly entwined one with another, and only little flickering patches of warm light would come in
intermittent waves to dapple the drive with gold.” This shows the abundance of nature beside the
drive which was full of trees towering over the drive with their elaborate branches and leaves, not
allowing sunlight to penetrate. This creates a luscious and verdant atmosphere in the forest. The
place was also very quiet, creating an overall tranquil atmosphere. The narrator further describes the
place by comparing it to the outside in “there was no house, no field, no broad and friendly garden,
nothing but silence. The lodge gates were a memory, and the road something belonging to another
time, another world.” This shows how different the place was compared to the path before where she
feels that the path was now in a completely different world and it was nothing but silent gives more
description of the seclusion and tranquillity of the place. However, the narrator changes her
description as she enters the clearing. The place was described as a mysterious place after that in “on
either side of us was a wall of the colour, blood-red, reaching far above our heads… There was
something bewildering, even shocking, about the suddenness of their discovery. The woods had not
prepared me for them. They startled me with their crimson faces, massed one upon the other in
incredible profusion, showing no leaf, no twig, nothing but the slaughterous red, luscious and
fantastic.” This shows the sudden change in colour and atmosphere of the place, with it becoming red
and lifeless as shown that the trees had no leaf and twigs. The narrator also felt shocked and startled
at the sudden change as she approached the rhododendrons. This creates a mysterious atmosphere
because it is strange how something from a tranquil and verdant forest turn into a crimson and
lifeless place and have this place hidden deep within the forest as if it was a secret, making the place
seem mysterious and something no one has to know.

[10 marks]
4. What effect is created in the first paragraph?
The effect created in the first paragraph was a mysterious effect, the gates closed in on itself and the
road could no longer be seen brings more attention to the path ahead and the writer’s thoughts which
contradict the image in her mind of a path.
5. In the 2nd paragraph, how did the narrator describe the path that he drove on?
The narrator described the path she drove on as a twisty path and full of curves, the width being
disproportionate. There were also many trees towering above her, blocking the sunlight from
entering. She described the place as a very quiet place and the path seemed to be never ending as
there was nothing else in sight.
6. What effect is created in the 2nd paragraph?
The effect created in the 2nd paragraph is that it was a tranquil and verdant place because of the
greenery of the trees above and at the sides of the drive, the silence of the place and the path which
leads into a deep forest creates a calm effect in a forest.
7. Identify the literary devices used in the 2nd paragraph and explain.
One of the literary devices used is personification in “whose branches nodded and intermingled with
one another, making an archway for us, like the roof of a church” This shows that the trees branches
were mixing and crossing with each other just like how people agree and mix with each other.
Another literary device used is simile in “this drive that was not drive twisted and turned like an
enchanted ribbon through the dark and silent woods “this drive that was not drive twisted and turned
like an enchanted ribbon through the dark and silent woods” This shows that the drive was compared
to an enchanted ribbon because of how it twisted and turned like a ribbon and how it was covered
with nature along its sides made it enchanted.