Journey's End: Themes test questions - CCEA - GCSE English Literature Revision

1

What does Raleigh say about the Germans?

“The Germans are really quite decent, aren’t they? I mean, outside the newspapers?”

“I can’t wait to bag my first German”

“The Germans are evil and must be destroyed”

2

Read this extract.

Stanhope

Next night we’ll start putting a belt of wire down both sides of us.

Osborne

Down the sides?

Stanhope

Yes. We’ll wire ourselves right in. If this attack comes, I’m not going to trust the companies on our sides to hold their ground.

[MASON has come in, and stands diffidently in the background.]

Mason

Would you like a nice bit o’ bacon sir?

Stanhope

No, thanks. I’ll have a cup of tea.

Mason

Right, sir. [He goes out.]

Stanhope

I’ve been having a good look round. We’ve got a strong position here - if we wire ourselves right in. The colonel’s been talking to me up there.

Act II, Scene 1

Why does Sherriff introduce Mason to this scene?

To show that Stanhope prefers tea to bacon.

To show that ordinary concerns continue, even in war.

To show that Stanhope can deal with interruptions.

3

Who says, “Go on, then, shoot! You won’t let me go to hospital. I swear I’ll never go into those trenches again. Shoot! – and thank God – ”

Trotter

Raleigh

Hibbert

4

After the raid that kills Osborne - but that nets a German captive - the Colonel declares, “It’s a feather in our cap Stanhope.” What does this say about the Colonel?

He is ambitious and uncaring about the men who have died following his orders.

He is looking forward to literally placing a feather in his cap.

He is dejected about the lives lost in the raid.

5

At the beginning of the play Raleigh makes his way down the steps of the dugout. He is described as “a well-built, healthy looking boy of about eighteen, with the very new uniform of a second lieutenant”.

At the end the sergeant major carries a wounded Raleigh down those same steps and informs Stanhope that he has been hit by a shell, “Fraid it’s broke ‘is spine sir; can’t move ‘is legs.” What is Sherriff trying to convey through these contrasting scenes?

Shells can cause a lot of damage to the human body.

The waste of this young life creates an anti-war message.

Raleigh was probably glad to die for his country.

6

At the beginning of the play Hardy and Osborne discuss Stanhope. Read this extract:

Osborne

Do you know how long he’s been out here?

Hardy

A good time, I know.

Osborne

Nearly three years. He came out straight from school – when he was eighteen. He’s commanded this company for a year – in and out of the front line. He’s never had a rest. Other men come over here and go home again ill, and young Stanhope goes on sticking it, month in, month out.

Hardy

Oh, I know he’s a jolly good fellow -

Osborne

I’ve seen him on his back all day with trench fever - then on duty all night -

Hardy

Oh, I know: he’s a splendid chap!

Osborne

And because he’s stuck it till his nerves have got battered to bits, he’s called a drunkard.

Osborne

Not a drunkard; just a - just a hard drinker; but you’re quite right about his nerves. They are all to blazes.

Act One

What is the main message that Sherriff is trying to convey through this exchange?

Stanhope is prone to trench fever.

Osborne thinks Stanhope is too young to command men.

Stanhope’s nerves have been damaged by the war, yet he continues to do a good job.

7

Who says this to whom?

“Shall we go on together? We know how we both feel now. Shall we see if we can stick it together?”

Hibbert to Stanhope

Stanhope to Hibbert

The Colonel to Raleigh