Question 4:

Focus this part of your answer on the second part of the source,
from line 19 to the end.
A student said, ‘This part of the story, set in the hat shop, shows
that the red-haired girl
has many advantages in life, and I think Rosabel is right to be
angry.’

To what extent do you agree? In your response, you could:

• consider your own impressions of the red-haired girl

• evaluate how the writer conveys Rosabel’s reactions to the red-
haired girl
• support your response with references to the text.

[20 marks]
I agree that the girl is very well privileged and has many advantages in life. The girl has
‘beautiful red hair’ with ‘white skin and eyes the colour of the green ribbon shot with a shot of
gold’ which they got from ‘Paris’. The writer utilises an appealing adjective ‘beautiful’, to
convey that this girl is gifted with good physical senses. The privileges are highlighted in the
description of the ribbon which has a ‘shot of gold’. This indicates that the girl is wealthy, as
the colour gold is a symbol of wealth and is usually a very expensive material and symbol.
Furthermore, the fact that they got this from Paris the week prior reinforces the idea that they
are wealthy and privileged enough to travel to France which required a lot of money,
especially in the early 1900s. To top it all off, they had come to the shop in a carriage, which
means that they travel across in their own comfort in their own private vehicle transport.

However, I believe that the girl is also friendly to Rosabel, but unaware and insensitive.
Firstly, the girl positively supports Rosabel by stating that the hat ‘suits’ her ‘beautifully’. The
adverb ‘beautifully’ suggests that the words of the girl are completely out of encouragement
and good intent. Furthermore, the tone at which she says it - the girl ‘smiled again at
Rosabel’ - indicates that this was an act of spreading positivity. However, I believe that while
she does not have malicious intent while saying this, she is unaware of the huge gap in
social classes and therefore insensitive towards ROsabel. The girl immediately says to Harry
‘I must have that!’ after having praised ROsabel for looking good with it. This would
understandably upset Rosabel as she would never be able to purchase the hat as it would
cost too much for someone in her social class to buy.

Rosabel’s reactions to the red-haired girl are perfectly professional, patient and helpful.
Rosabel ‘She had run up, breathlessly, cut the cords, scattered the tissue paper’ to find the
‘hat’. The writer utilises three dynamic verbs, ‘run’, ‘cut’ and ‘scattered’ to describe how
ROsabel is passionate and filled with alacrity to find the hat. The fact that she had run
‘breathlessly’ suggests to the readers that she does not want to keep them waiting and
wants to do her job well through that adverb. Furthermore, the fact that she had ‘scattered
the tissue papers’ suggests that she was eager to find the hat, further supporting the idea tat
she was passionate about servicing.

I mostly disagree that Rosabel was right to feel anger. This is seen when Rosabel does feel
anger at being used as a dummy to try on the hat. This is seen when a ‘ sudden, ridiculous
feeling of anger had seized’ her as she ‘longed to throw the lovely, perishable thing in the
girl's face’. The writer uses the adjective ‘ridiculous’ to convey to the readers that Rosabel
feels great anger, but the choice of the word ‘adjective’ indicates to them that the anger isn't
worth it and it is merely pity. Furthermore, this is further reinforced by the fact that she gets
angry at the girl, who has not of course said anything wrong to Rosabel, but rather has been
insensitive and unaware. The fact that Rosabel felt a ‘ridiculous’ sense of anger suggests
that she has misconstrued the intentions of the girl, and had her jealousy override her
common sense. Furthermore, the writer uses a physical and aggressive verb, ‘throw’ to
emphasise the extent of anger she had felt. This part of the text is a huge contrast to the part
where she was passionate to get the hat, perhaps because Rosabel has released the
unfortunate truth about their differences in social classes and that she could never get to the
level of wealth and privileges as the girl, which consequently, by human nature, made her
feel jealous and therefore angry.