About a Boy - Themes test questions - WJEC - GCSE English Literature Revision

1

Read the extract and answer the following questions:

So then there would be five of them, and it wouldn’t matter quite so much if one of them died. Well, it would matter, of course it would matter, but at least it wouldn’t leave somebody, him or his mum or Will or his little boy, completely on their own.

Which themes does this extract highlight?

Isolation

Adulthood

Depression

2

How does Will tell himself he feels about living on his own?

He hates living all by himself because he is always lonely

He loves living by himself because he has no ties to anyone else

He wants to be like his friends John and Christine

3

Read the extract and answer the following questions:

Marcus seems to think he needs adult male company. A father figure. And somehow your name came up.

Well, I can tell you, Fiona, I didn’t put him up to it. I don’t need junior male company, and I definitely don’t need a son figure.

Which themes does this extract highlight?

Isolation

Depression

Adulthood

4

How does Will change when he meets Rachel?

He starts going out to nightclubs with her

He tells himself that he will not let her interfere with his way of life

He begins to evaluate his lifestyle and see that he is actually rather lonely

5

How does this extract illustrate Will’s lack of maturity?

It shows that Will is still more interested in being witty than in accepting that he has made a relationship with Marcus

It shows that Will is afraid that Fiona likes him now

It shows that Will is trying to take Marcus away from Fiona

6

Read the extract and answer the following questions:

But at the moment, he wasn’t getting her at all. He hadn’t understood the crying, and now, when he had been expecting her to be twice as miserable as she had been before, she was completely normal. He was beginning to doubt himself. Wasn’t trying to kill yourself a really big deal?

Which themes does this extract highlight?

Isolation

Depression

Adulthood

7

How does Marcus expect his mother to behave at this point?

Marcus thought his mother would play a lot of sad songs after she comes out of hospital

Marcus thought his mother would want to have a welcome home party

Marcus thought his mother would continue crying and being sad after leaving hospital

8

What does Fiona say she will try to do for Marcus in her suicide note?

She promises to watch out for him if she can

She promises to appear in his dreams

She promises to wait for him in heaven

9

Read the extract and answer the following questions:

He started with the children’s section, but soon realised that Marcus was not a brass-rubbing sort of a child, or a puppet theatre sort of a child, or even a child at all; at twelve, his childhood was over. Will tried to remember what he liked doing at that age, but could come up with nothing, although he could remember what he hated doing. What he hated doing were things that adults made him do, however well-intentioned those adults were. Maybe the coolest thing he could do for Marcus was let him run wild on Saturday – give him some money, take him to Soho and leave him there.

Which themes does this extract highlight?

Depression

Adulthood

Isolation

10

How does this extract mark a change in the way Will thinks?

Will thinks that it would make him look irresponsible in Fiona’s eyes if he did send Marcus off to Soho with some money

Just after this, Will decides he should not see Marcus any more because he is afraid of losing him

Will is so concerned about looking cool that he does not care what Marcus does