Task 2

Working on the text

Do the following tasks writing coherent texts. Use your own words as far as appropriate.

(28 BE)

Describe Philly and the relationship she has with Marion.

Analyse the narrative perspective and the language of the extract focusing on their impact on the reader.

Writing

Choose one of the following tasks:

(32 BE)

3.1

Imagine Marion is visiting Philly one month later. Continue the story. Keep to the narrative point of view. Write about 350 words.

3.2

“Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else.”
Les Brown (*1945), American motivational speaker and author
Comment on the quotation. Write about 350 words

Extract from the novel: “A Secret Garden”

It didn’t take Philly long to make twenty or so posies, all in makeshift containers: jam jars,

tin cans or yoghurt pots. The containers, although rustic, had had a bit of a facelift – a lick

of paint or a good scrub – something to make them look fresh and not as if they’d been

salvaged from a huge pile of rubbish found in the house. (Which was where they had all come from.)

A bit of oasis, some greenery (she loved the fresh acidity of new spring foliage),

several different tulips, dark velvet polyanthus, a few sprigs of blossom and she had

informal arrangements that people loved. Then she gathered several pots of growing bulbs,

scillas, white and blue grape hyacinths and some late miniature daffodils, and she had some-

thing that would grace anyone’s table. Her offerings were very popular with people headed

for dinner parties. [...] When she’d created enough to make her stall look attractive and

make extra fifty pounds or so, she went back to the house, looking forward to warming up.

Then she’d talk to her mother. Dead on six o’clock, the phone rang.

‘Well, darling, how are you?’ said Marion Doyle, unable as ever to conceal her anxiety

about her youngest child.

‘I’m fine, Ma, really. How are the boys?’ Philly had two older brothers who fitted in better

with what Marion considered proper.

‘They’re fine. Working hard. Now tell me about you.’

Philly always felt a bit put on the spot when her mother asked this. ‘Well, I’ve got lots of

things to sell at tomorrow’s market. And now it’s spring, there’ll be loads of tourists and

second-homers wanting to brighten up their gardens.’

‘And your grandfather? Is he still – you know – baking?’ In Philly’s mother’s world, men

didn’t bake.

‘He is – he’s brilliant at it. You should be proud of him.’

‘It’s not that I’m not proud, it’s just I find it a bit odd. I blame you, Philomena. You introduced

him to that programme.’

Philly laughed, refusing to be apologetic. ‘I admit I never thought Grand would take up

baking just because of Bake Off but he’s brilliant at it! People depend on him being at the

stall on Saturday mornings. He even takes commissions,’ she added proudly.

Her mother sighed. ‘Well, I suppose it beats messing around with that old car, but it’s hardly

a manly activity, is it?’

‘It’s perfectly manly,’ said Philly, knowing her mother would never accept this. ‘And it is

better for him in winter, anyway. It’s far warmer in the kitchen.’

‘But the kitchen, darling! Is it even hygienic, baking in there?’

‘Ma, you haven’t been over to visit us since that first time. You haven’t seen all we’ve done

to the kitchen to bring it up to professional standards of hygiene.’

Marion didn’t comment. Philly could tell she was holding herself back from saying, yet

again, that however much they might have done to the kitchen, the house was still unfit to

live in, especially for a man of Seamus’s age. Knowing this would create bad feeling she

said instead, ‘Well now, have you got a boyfriend yet?’

Although Philly was relieved that her mother wasn’t telling her yet again that her grandfather

shouldn’t live in such a cold house, she wasn’t awfully pleased with this topic of conversation.

‘No, Ma! I didn’t have one last week either!’ Her mother sighed.

‘But are you even meeting any young men who might become boyfriends, stuck out there

in the middle of nowhere?’ Marion didn’t think much of the very

pleasant little town that was less than three miles away from the smallholding.

‘Not at the moment.’ Here was where Philly and her mother were in agreement.

Meeting a few boys of her own age would be nice. One even. There was a boy who worked on the

cheese counter opposite them when they did the market, but she felt so shy if they needed

cheese she managed to always get her grandfather to buy it. She wasn’t going to admit this

to her mother though. ‘I’m thinking of asking the pub if they need any bar staff,’ she went on.

‘That would be a good way to meet young people.’

Marion (tsked but didn’t comment. She had another little arrow to fling at Philly before she

commented on what she thought about her daughter working in a pub. She didn’t really

approve that Philly worked as a waitress from time to time, for a very upmarket caterer.

‘Well, don’t forget there’s a lovely boy waiting for you here.’

‘Ma, he’s not waiting for me. He’s got a lovely girlfriend.’ This boy was sweet and had

been a great childhood sweetheart but he wasn’t much of a one for adventure and risk and

had a good safe job in his parents’ stationery business.

‘He’d leave her for you if you came home.’

‘Well, what sort of a boyfriend would that make him? Anyway, you and the Da OK?’

‘We’re fine. Just worrying about you two tearaways.’

Philly laughed. ‘Well, there’s no need. And you can hardly describe us as tearaways.

Grand is a respectable man in his seventies and I’m over the age of consent.’

‘You’re twenty-three! That’s hardly the most responsible age!’

‘How old were you when you and Da got married?’ As she knew the answer to this Philly

felt she’d scored the winning goal.

‘OK, so I was only nineteen but I was a very mature nineteen and you were only twenty

when –’ We’re going to be all right, Ma,’ said Philly, interrupting. ‘I know we are. I’ll make

a go of my plants and Grand is happy. What more can you ask for?’

‘For you both to be back home in Ireland! But I know that’s a vain hope.’ Marion sighed.

‘I’m glad you’re both happy. And don’t leave it too long before coming to see us again.’

Fforde, Katie, A Secret Garden, London 2017, pp. 5 – 10.

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Note:
Our solutions are listed in key points. In the examination, full marks can only be achieved by writing a continuous text with the required number of words.

Philly is 23 years old (cf. l. 64) and the youngest of three children (cf. l. 14)
she lives abroad (not in her home country Ireland) (cf. l. 70)
lives on a farm near a small town (cf. l. 45)
she shares the house with her grandfather (of whom she is very proud) (cf. l. 40f.)
Philly is a florist and has a market stall where she sells her wares (cf. l. 1, 10)
She is creative (uses "makeshift containers" (l. 1) that she got out of "salvaged from a huge pile of rubbish found in the house" (l. 4))
has a knack for what people like "she had something that would grace anyone's table" (l. 8/9, c.f. l. 6/7 )
the way she makes flower arrangements and the fact that she has a second job as a waitress suggests that she doesn't have a lot of money (l. 54)
Philly is shy around boys (cf. l. 47), even though she is confident about her work
she plans to work in a pub because she would like to have more contact with people of the same age (cf. l. 50f.)
no very close relationship with the mother; however, they regularly talk on the phone "Dead on six o'clock" (l. 12); however, they do not visit each other (cf. l. 70 f.)
Marion is conservative and strict, e.g. concerning men's roles (cf. l. 21/22)
disapproves of Philly's lifestyle and career plans $\rightarrow$ repeatedly points this out to her (cf. l. 13f, 15, 24, 44)
Philly is aware that her mother does not accept her attitude "knowing her mother would never accept this" (l. 31) $\rightarrow$ but opposes her mother and argues against it e.g. regarding a boy Marion would like to see her with (cf. l. 55 f.) and tells Philly how irresponsible she is (cf. l. 64)
sometimes, they both keep their thoughts to themselves and remain silent e.g. "Marion tsked but did not comment" (l. 52)
overall, the relationship between Philly and Marion can be described as tense and cold

in the extract from the novel "A Secret Garden" written by Katie Fforde, a third-person narrator is used
this narrative style gives readers a good insight into the thoughts and feelings of the main character e.g. "Philly always felt a bit put on the spot when her mother asked this." (l. 18), "she loved the fresh acidity of new spring foliage" (l. 5) or "but she felt so shy" (l. 48)
this kind of narration allows the reader to identify with Philly and understand her way of life
the author uses different linguistic devices to reveal the feelings and emotions of the characters to the readers
there is a lot of direct speech throughout the text and short sentences e.g. "They're fine. Working hard. Now tell me about you." (l. 17), as well as exclamations from both Philly and her mother e.g. "He is - he's brilliant at it. You should be proud of him." (l. 23)
irony and metaphors serve to highlight the relationship between Marion and Philly
Philly is annoyed by some of her mother's questions, exclamations like 'No, Ma! I didn't have one last week either!' (l. 42) show this
competitive relationship between mother and daughter $\rightarrow$ metaphors like 'arrow to fling' (l. 52) or 'scored the winning goal' (l. 66)
illustrations such as "a lick of paint or a good scrub" (line 2 f.), "salvaged from" (line 4) and "grace anyone's table" (line 9) illustrate the scene for the reader
the narrative style thus allows the reader not only to empathise with the characters but also to get an idea of what the setting of the story might look like

3.1

Philly was excited because today was market day again, and she had designed some very special pieces. Saturdays were her favourite market days, and today in particular. The first spring sunshine was sure to attract even more visitors to stroll around stalls. Philly was, as usual, one of the first to arrive to set up her stall. She proudly presented her new creations on a wooden stool in the front row.
"Hi, I'm Jared", came a voice from behind her.
She flinched and turned around nervously. A tall boy with blond hair and kind eyes grinned wryly at her. Stop staring at him she admonished herself.
"Uhm... I'm Philly," she stammered after a few seconds and blushed to the roots of her hair. How embarrassing. "My dad and I have the new bakery stall right next to you". If Mum only knew. Men with a bakery stall. She can literally see Marion's disapproving look in front of her. But when she looked past Jared, her mother's disapproving look was no longer a figment of her imagination but a reality.
"What are you doing here?" Philly slipped out without greeting. "Is that any way to greet your mother after you haven't even managed to come by in the last six months?!" Here we go again. I had to pull myself together not to roll my eyes.
"It's good to see you, Ma. Why don't you have a look around my stall and see if you like something?" "Who was that young man?" I knew, I wouldn't get off that easy. "That was Jared." "Jared," a dark voice says simultaneously, and I see him reappear from behind some of my boxes with a plate of muffins in his hand.
I can feel the heat rising in my face again. Why does this always have to happen as soon as I talk to a boy?! "These are for you," Jared hands me the plate of muffins "And maybe you'd like to have tea with me sometime..." With raised eyebrows, Marion looks at him. I could literally read her thoughts from her face. "Uhm..." Breathe. Breathe. "I... okay..." looking down at the floor in embarrassment. Why does this have to be so hard.
"Perfect, then... tomorrow?" He doesn't seem to notice Marion's intense gaze and beams at me. "Ok, sure," I mumble. "Cool, see you tomorrow then," and he was gone. Slowly, I turn to my mother. "Now tell me about that," said Marion staring at me.

3.2

"Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else." - a quote by Les Brown a motivational speaker basically tells people exactly what to do in order to be successful
even if many would probably not agree with him at first
especially the younger generation likes to put the responsibility on others first
tasks are only done so that there is no trouble
sometimes you have to do work to know what you don't want later on and realise that you have to work on it yourself to get what you want
of course, knowing one's own responsibility is not always easy, because it is always easier to find fault with others
especially in difficult times when you need good stamina, it can help to remember Brown's quote
every path is lined with obstacles it is only important to see what you have already achieved and not what lies ahead of you
I can only agree with Les Brown, even if you have already achieved something, it is important to always have further goals in life, to move on and to want to achieve more
because that's the only way you can develop and become successful

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