Swiss Cottage Secondary School

Secondary 1 English Literature

Understudies: Section 4, Free Will and Fatalism

Name: ____________________________________ Class: _____ Date: ________

EXPERIENCING STORY
{Reading for Gist}
In Understudies, Section 4…

1. What are some of the main events?

a.

b.

C.

2. Who are the main characters? What do they each desire?

Character Desire

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 RESPONDING THROUGH DIALOGUE AND WRITING
{Reading for Meaning, Characters in Focus: Soon Cheng and Mr Ho}
Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow:

Extract A
One day, Mr. Ho was returning test sheets to the class, a
ritual that involved having their names and test scores read out
loudly as they went to the front of the class to collect their papers.
“Tay Soon Cheng,” Mr Ho said, lifting one out of the pile. “18 out of 100.”
Soon Cheng dragged himself to his feet and made his way to the front of the
class, his face a mask of displeasure.
Before the boy came within a few desks of the front, Mr Ho. took his test sheet
and crumpled it. Soon Cheng stopped in his tracks. The noisy crackling of the paper
was the only sound audible for a long while. Mr Ho. tossed the round ball of mangled
paper, hitting Soon Cheng in the face.
They all heard what Mr. Ho said next, “Go back home to your father’s noodle
stall and stop wasting my time!”
Mr Ho returned the other papers and continued as though nothing had
happened.

What is your impression of Mr Ho?

I think Mr Ho is… Remember to use STEAL to

look for evidence to support
Evidence and Analysis: your impression of the
character!

STEAL stands for:

S _____________
T _____________
E _____________
A _____________
L _____________

Place yourself in Soon Cheng’s shoes: If you were him, how would you feel
about Mr Ho’s behaviour towards you? Why?

2
Prepared by Ms Hazel Tan and Mr Salleh Merwan (2021)
SCSS: Home of Thoughtful Leaders
Serve with Honour, Lead with Humility
Extract B
Quietly, Soon Cheng bent down, picked up the test paper, biting his lower lip
as he did so. Sydney was convinced the boy was going to pounce on his teacher.
His classmates were too. Melvin Low skirted around him to retrieve his paper from
Mr Ho, avoiding him the way one would avoid a dangerous animal.

What is your impression of Soon Cheng?

My impression of Soon Cheng is...

Evidence and Analysis

Link:

{Soon Cheng’s Script}

3. “Sydney learnt what happened when you didn’t follow their script when Soon
Cheng disappeared in Secondary Three.”

Use the STEAL graphic organiser below to write down at least ONE evidence
in each category that tells us about Soon Cheng’s script. You may refer to
Extracts C – F on the next page to fill up this table.
What is Soon Cheng’s Script? What is he supposed to do?
S T E A L

3
Prepared by Ms Hazel Tan and Mr Salleh Merwan (2021)
SCSS: Home of Thoughtful Leaders
Serve with Honour, Lead with Humility
Extract C
“I hate this school,” Soon Cheng replied. His next shot rimmed out again to a
litany of curses. His hands dropped to his sides and settled on his hips.
Sydney collected the rebound.
“Why don’t you study with me?”
Soon Cheng looked irritated. “What?”
“Let’s study for the common test.”
Soon Cheng shook his head. “No lah, I don’t have time. I have to go back to
help at my father’s stall.”

Extract D
Sydney’s best friend, Soon Cheng, was a “difficult” student. He was always
being “called up” by the principal, making a formal apology to someone during
assembly or being made to stand up by their irate teachers in class.
Mr Ho appeared to hate Soon Cheng the most.

Extract E
Basketball was the only thing Soon Cheng excelled at. Though their team was
regularly defeated by schools like Chung Cheng or River Valley and was one of
the few failures in a school full of winners, Sydney and Soon Cheng found it
comforting to be on a losing team, it helped to keep expectations low.
“Enough,” Sydney came to a halt, panting heavily, gripping his shorts and
bending over.
Soon Cheng, who wasn’t tired, dribbled the ball out to the three-point line and
began lofting his jumpers through the net, calmly swishing the shots in without
touching the rim.

Extract F
Soon Cheng’s shot clanged off the rim. He bounded across the ecourt to collect
the rebound and grabbed it just over Sydney’s outstretched hands. “Wah, if I study
anymore with you, I am going to lose all my basketball kungfu.” Soon Cheng
laughed as he came away with the ball.
“As if,” Sydney said, gasping for air and gripping his knees. Soon Cheng had
hardly broken a sweat. “Eh, this game is a one-off treat before we start studying for
the O-levels.”
“Okay, okay lah!” Soon Cheng threw up another shot and laughed. It missed
horribly. Soon Cheng left the rebound alone and nursed his aching lungs.
“My father will be happy,” Soon Cheng said suddenly, still looking at the
basketball rim. He chuckled. “He will probably think I cheated.”

4
Prepared by Ms Hazel Tan and Mr Salleh Merwan (2021)
SCSS: Home of Thoughtful Leaders
Serve with Honour, Lead with Humility
4. What do you think is Soon Cheng’s attitude towards his script?
Support your response with analysis of the evidence that you have picked out in the
STEAL graphic organiser above.

INTERPRETING THEME, MAKING CONNECTIONS AND REFLECTING

{Reading for Response}

5. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow.

Extract G
By the time the O-level results came out, there was no surprise waiting for
Soon Cheng. When he came back to school to collect his results, Sydney noticed
that he had let his hair grow long, sported an earring, and had a pager strapped to
his belt. He held a lit cigarette in one hand.
Soon Cheng sauntered into the school hall, queued and took his results
slip. Sydney called out to him. Soon Cheng saw him coming and quickly folded the
paper, stuffing it into his pocket. “How?” Sydney asked.
Soon Cheng shrugged. “So-so,” he replied, putting the cigarette to his
mouth and drawing a deep breath, his eyes looking elsewhere.

(i) Free will or Fatalism: to what extent do you think Soon Cheng has a choice
in the world of “Understudies”?

(ii) What are your thoughts OR feelings towards Soon Cheng after having a
better understanding of the world he lives in?

5
Prepared by Ms Hazel Tan and Mr Salleh Merwan (2021)
SCSS: Home of Thoughtful Leaders
Serve with Honour, Lead with Humility
 RESPONDING THROUGH DIALOGUE AND WRITING
{Reading for Meaning: Tension in Understudies, Section 4}

1. Recap (Refer to Understudies: Tension (How) worksheet for Tension and its effects)
Tension is an element of excitement on either the reader’s or the character’s part in the
text. It can be created through the use of literary devices and diction.

Some effects: heightened sense of a) uncertainty/suspense, b) danger, c) interest.

Associated emotions: fear, anxiety, disturbed, alarmed

2. Consider the following extracts from Understudies: Section 4. How does the writer
create tension in these scenes?

Extract A
Before the boy came within a few desks of the front, Mr Ho. took his test sheet and crumpled
it. Soon Cheng stopped in his tracks. The noisy crackling of paper was the only sound
audible for a long while. Mr Ho. tossed the round ball of mangled paper, hitting Soon Cheng
in the face.
They all heard what Mr Ho. said next, “Go back home to your father’s noodle stall
and stop wasting my time!”
Area of study Character / External Conflict
/ Technique

Effect The writer makes the above extract tense through setting up an external
conflict between Mr Ho and Soon Cheng. Mr Ho took Soon Cheng’s “test
sheet” and “crumpled” it to show his displeasure with Soon Cheng’s poor
grades. He even “tossed the round ball of mangled paper”, which “hit”
Soon Cheng in the face. As Soon Cheng’s teacher, Mr Ho behaved
unprofessionally towards Soon Cheng with the intention to degrade him in
front of the whole class. As readers, we are disturbed by Mr Ho’s actions
as a teacher is supposed to be caring and encouraging to students. Soon
Cheng also “stopped in his tracks”, which suggests that he was probably
shocked at what Mr Ho’s actions. This moment also creates suspense, as
readers are unsure as to how Soon Cheng would react to Mr Ho’s actions.
It also raises our interest to find out if there is any particular reason for Mr
Ho’s drastic actions towards Soon Cheng. Tension is therefore created
through suspense and raising our interest through the external conflict
between Mr Ho and Soon Cheng.

6
Prepared by Ms Hazel Tan and Mr Salleh Merwan (2021)
SCSS: Home of Thoughtful Leaders
Serve with Honour, Lead with Humility
Extract B
They were not supposed to visit their principals. It was a severe breach of the rules. Still,
Beta Sydney felt he had to do it. The taxi left him on the street outside the bungalow. The
lights were on at home in the children’s room and the master bedroom.
They must be home, he thought.
Not for the first time, he toyed with the idea of knocking on their door and introducing
himself.
“Why not? How often does one shake up their world completely,” he thought.
Area of study / Technique Character / Internal Conflict

Effect

Extract C
“And Mrs Wong?”
Beta Sydney assumed she was in the bedroom. “Oh,” he said, “she’s busy.”
Mr Rodrigues nodded. “Doctors…they work so hard.”
Beta Sydney shrugged. “Yes, they do.”
It was Mr Rodrigues who broke the uncomfortable pause. “Okay, see you later.”
Beta Sydney smiled and waved the old gentleman off. He breathed a sigh of relief when he
was gone.
Area of study / Technique Style / Pauses and Silences

Effect

7
Prepared by Ms Hazel Tan and Mr Salleh Merwan (2021)
SCSS: Home of Thoughtful Leaders
Serve with Honour, Lead with Humility