Journey's End: Form, structure and language test questions - CCEA - GCSE English Literature Revision

1

Act I of Journey’s End is an ‘exposition’ scene. What does that mean?

All the characters are naked.

It allows us to understand the situation and become familiar with the characters.

A crucial plot twist is exposed.

2

In Act I there is one scene, in Act II there are two scenes, in Act III there are three scenes. How does this structure affect the audience?

It slows down the pace as the play progresses.

It steps up the pace of the action as the play progresses.

It keeps the pace of the action steady throughout.

3

Sherriff takes great care to describe the dugout. Soldiers enter from the trench above via “rough steps” and a “low doorway”. Sherriff notes that “The flames of the candles that burn day and night are steady in the still, damp air.” He writes of “earth walls” that “deaden the sounds of war” and “Gloomy tunnels” leading out to left and right.

What feeling does Sherriff create through this language?

A cosy feeling

A feeling of hope

A sense of claustrophobia

4

Sherriff fought in World War One and wrote from experience. The dugout is gloomy, but the men have tried to add some homely touches with pictures from magazines pinned to the walls. This convincing setting gives the play...

verisimilitude

altitude

dissimilitude

5

Trotter is a working class officer. This is shown through his language. For example, he says “I know a decent bit o’ pudden when I see it” and “I ‘ate pineapple chunks; too bloomin’ sickly for me!”

What sort of language is Sherriff using here?

Vernacular

Pidgin English

Standard English

6

Sherriff vividly describes the sound effects in the play. Distant, threatening noises at the beginning become a close reality at the end. In noting the “sharp crack” of the grenades and the shells that “whistle and hiss”, what literary device is Sherriff employing?

Buddleia

Mythopoeia

Onomatopoeia

7

The extract below comes from Act III, Scene 1. Osborne and Raleigh are minutes away from going out on the raid.

Raleigh

I've never smoked a cigar.

Osborne

It’s bound to make you sick.

[RALEIGH notices OSBORNE'S ring on the table; he picks it up.]

Raleigh

I say, here's your ring.

Osborne

Yes. I’m – leaving it here. I don’t want the risk of losing it.

Raleigh

Oh! [There is silence. He puts the ring slowly down.]

Osborne

[rising] Well, I think perhaps we ought to get ready.

Act III, Scene 1

What is Sherriff trying to do through this exchange?

Foreshadow Osborne’s death

Indicate that Raleigh thinks Osborne is a foolish worrier

Indicate that Osborne is certain he will survive the raid

8

Read the following extract. Note that “Minnies” were German mortars.

Osborne

Hardy says they had a lively time here yesterday. Three big Minnies right in the trench.

Trotter

I know. And they left the bloomin’ ‘oles for us to fill in.

[MASON arrives with cutlets on enamel plates.]

What’s this.

Mason

Meat, sir.

Trotter

I know that. What sort?

Mason

Sort of cutlet, sir.

Trotter

Sort of cutlet, is it? You know, Mason, there's cutlets and cutlets.

Mason

I know, sir; that one's a cutlet.

Trotter

Well, it won’t let me cut it.

Mason

No, sir?

Trotter

That's a joke.

Mason

Oh. Right, sir. [He goes out.]

Osborne

[studying the map]: There’s a sort of ruin marked on this map – just in front of here, in No Man’s Land – called Beauvais Farm.

Trotter

That’s what we saw sticking up, skipper. I wondered what it was.

Stanhope

Better go out and look at it tonight.

Act I

Here – and in other parts of the play - Sherriff juxtaposes mundane dialogue about food with serious talk of battle. What effect does this have on the audience?

We get the impression that the men are gluttons.

We feel that the quality of the food is excellent.

The men are so accustomed to danger it has become an everyday feature of their lives.

9

In Act I we hear Stanhope refer to Hibbert as “a little worm trying to wriggle home” by claiming that he has neuralgia - a stabbing pain – in his eye. Keep this in mind as you read the following extract.

[… Hibbert comes quietly into the dugout from the tunnel leading from his sleeping quarters.]

Stanhope

Hullo! I thought you were asleep.

Hibbert

I just wanted a word with you, Stanhope.

Stanhope

Fire away.

Hibbert

This neuralgia of mine. I’m awfully sorry. I’m afraid I can’t stick it any longer –

Stanhope

I know. It’s rotten, isn’t it? I’ve got it like hell –

Hibbert

[taken aback] You have?

Stanhope

Had it for weeks.

Hibbert

Well, I’m sorry, Stanhope. It’s no good. I’ve tried damned hard; but I must go down –

Stanhope

Go down – where?

Hibbert

Why, go sick – go down the line. I must go into hospital and have some kind of treatment.

Act I

What is Sherriff creating here?

A paradox

Dramatic irony

Comedy