Describe the obstacles that the main character faced.With close reference to the text, how did he or she overcome these obstacles? (Step by Wicked Step)

(a) Based on the novel you have studied, describe the obstacles that the main character faced.With close reference to the text, how did he or she overcome these obstacles?

             Support your answer with close reference to the text.

[15 marks]   (SBP 2013)

Nurin Jazlina binti Ahmad (saujana impian,kajang) Thank you Nurin for your contribution:

I choose the novel “Step by Wicked Step” written by Anne Fine as there are many main characters in the novel who have faced a lot of obstacles in their life. This novel is regarding  five British school children from Stagfire who had arrived ahead of their classmates for a week-long field trip at "haunted' Old Harwick Hall. They found a long-abandoned secret room containing a mysterious journal which uncovered a heart rending story of Richard Clayton Harwick, who runs away from the sinister influence of a loveless stepfather. This discovery made them reveal and share their own engrossing, heart-rending  stories filled with hurting and healing moments.The main characters that I choose is Richard Clayton Harwick because he faced a lot of obstacles in his life and finally managed to overcome them in the midst of sadness.

      One of his obstacles is rejection of love. Richard felt that his love was being rejected by his mother and his sister as his mother never defended him when his cynical stepfather confronted him. His sister never supported him when he gave his opinion. Richard tried to run away from this obstacle by running away from home to work at sea.
       The second obstacle is when his stepfather sent him to Mordanger School. This is because his stepfather wanted to teach him to be good and not rebellious. However in Mordanger School Richard had learned nothing except how to freeze , how to starve and  he was also bullied and beaten. Her mother said that everything his stepfather did was for his own good, so he will grow up strong and manly and be a son whom they can be proud of.
       Later in the novel, Richard could not face the reality when he saw the letter from Charlotte. He realised that he had made bad choices that caused his loved ones pain and sorrow. He  misunderstood that his mother and his sister really loved him. When he run away, his mother spent a lot of money to search for him until her mother’s financial ruin and led to her early death. His sister had to sacrifice herself when she had to marry a rich person whom she did not love. It is because she just wanted the money to search for Richard. He misunderstood his mother,father and sister and he felt unloved all the while until one day he got a news of a will.  When he returned, he realised in grief his father gave all these land of Old Harwick Hall to Richard.
Richard have made a lot of mistake on handling his obstacle. He should think deeply and wisely so that he will not regret. So when we want to handle any obstacle we have to think of our loved ones and we have to make sure that it will not affect people around us.

Analysing Form5/SPM novel questions from 2001-2011

After many years diving in the sea with my students ,in search of the PEARLS  in “The Pearl” by John Steinback, a novel that reveals the power of hope, love and determination… we have now taken the STEPS to leave the pearls which have taught us many valuable lessons and making us feel the waves of emotions in the sea of family love and unity. Since 2011, we have to change to “Step by wicked step” by Ann Fine…do I have a choice? Very well…life needs changes, so have faith that the changes are positive ones….as we go thru it, we learn new values in life especially about appreciating the power of family love which creates joy, peace, tolerance, understanding, gratefulness, forgiveness and beauty….blooming seeds of happiness, tranquility and attachment…as this novel managed to prove that strong family relationship sustains family bond and heals all the hurting moments through sense of love, devotion and loyalty. The power of family love leads to reunion and healing in a family. Therefore, we should appreciate and love our family unconditionally and be prepared to make sacrifices  as when there is strong sense of love, there is forgiveness , patience, loyalty and devotion growing without force under the shade of genuine family love. 

As the SPM examination is getting nearer, I’ve started to analyse the step by wicked steps novel, and created some sample answers in framework form so that you can understand better/ faster/ and make great effort to answer during your SPM English paper. Please share this literature notes with anyone in need as the more we share, the more we get…..Thank you God for Your Endless Blessings….

This is part of my literature notes prepared for SPM English Seminar (for my tuition students and those who are interested to join) which I will be presenting  on the 14^th and 21^st  October, 2012 at Kajang.

Analysing Novel Questions (2001-2011):

2001   A character you like/admire (character)

2002   What important lesson did you learn? (moral value)

2003   A character you sympathies. (character)

2004   Choose an event which you find to be the most memorable. (Plot)

2005   Love is important in a family. How is this shown in the novel you have studied? (Theme)

2006   The writer describes the main character as a very determined person. (character)

        Write about:

         ~some instances that show the character’s determination

         ~how the determination affects his/her family

2007   Write about a character that you look up to. (character)

2008   Describe what happens at the end of the novel.  (Plot)

           Explain why you find the ending either   happy or sad

2009   Write about a difficult decision made by one of the characters,

           with close reference to the text, do think this was the right decision. (character)

2010   Write about an important incident in the novel. (Plot)

2011   Write about a part of the story that you like the most. (Plot)

2012   ?

Sample answers/framework for Step by Wicked Step:

1.      Compare two characters.

Introduction:

State your novel (Step by wicked step)

Brief synopsis

The characters~ Richard & Colin

Content paragraphs:

1.      Their love for their dad

E1 Similarity: Both missed their fathers

E1 Contrast: 
Richard- His father died
Colin-mother moved away with father’s knowledge

E1 Contrast: 
Richard-lost his father forever
Colin- still searching for his stepfather

2.      Ignored by their mothers

E2  Similarity: Both did not get any attention from their mothers

E2  Contrast: 
Richard- His mother did not defend him when Reverend Coldstone treated him badly
Colin-his mother is not aware of how much he missed  his dad because she is too busy working  at the canteen and doing household chores

E2  Similarity: Both of them did not feel their mothers’ love.

3.      Running away

E3  Similarity: Both of them decided to ran away to make things work

E3  Contrast: 
Richard- ran away from home with the hope that he would make life more pleasant for everyone
Colin-plans to run away to find his stepfather

E3  Contrast: 
Richard- realize that running away does not solve any problems

Colin-he does three paper rounds to save money to search for his stepfather

Conclusion:

~the two characters suffered much pain and sorrow- no one cares about them/how they felt/ no one advise them

~running away does not solve problems, in fact it can affect the people around

~ we need to think wisely before making a serious decision in life.

2. How a character has changed due to certain events that have taken place in his/her life.

Introduction:

State your novel (Step by wicked step)

Brief synopsis

The character: Colin

1.      Colin changed into a very unhappy and lonely boy

E1 He had to join a new school when his mother moved out of their home with him

E1 He has to go thru unpleasant experiences, got ignored, the students had their own set of friends.

E1 His mother busy with her job (at the canteen) and with her household chores, had no time to listen to his problems.

2.      Colin becomes a dreamy boy which causes him to have less focus in class/did badly in school.

E2  he missed his dad very much

E2  every –he would night he would take the tobacco tin out of the toe of his boot and put it under his pillow

E2  he would hum their (colin & dad) favourite song & stay awake for hours talking to his dad. He pretended that his dad was there.

3.      Colin becomes resourceful

E3  It has been 5 years, 8 months & 7 days  since he was separated from his dad

E3   He secretly writes his dad’s name & his old address on the forms at school

E3  he tries to save money- he does three paper rounds to earn money to search for his dad when he is older.

Conclusion:

~At first Colin responded negatively to the changes in his life-sad, dreamy, moody,

~finally he decided to do something worthy to search for his dad.

~His love and longing for his dad motivated him to become optimistic, resourceful and patient in his mission: search for his dad.

The theme of family love which is portrayed through the characters in Step by Wicked Step.

Write about the theme of family love which is portrayed through the characters in the novel that you have studied.

Support your answer with close reference to the text.

[15 marks]

The novel that I have chosen to portray the theme of family love is “Step by Wicked Step” by AnneFine. This novel is regarding  five British school children from Stagfire who shared their joys, sorrows and anxieties of their family life. It all begin when they arrived ahead of their classmates for a week-long field trip at "haunted' Old Harwick Hall. In the stormy wild night, Claudia, Pixie, Robbo, Ralph and Colin find a long-abandoned secret room containing a mysterious journal with the aid of flashes of lightning. They uncover a heart rending story of Richard Clayton Harwick, who runs away from the sinister influence of a loveless stepfather. This discovery triggers off each of them to reveal and share their own engrossing, heart-rending  stories filled with hurting and healing moments way through a minefield of embittered or uncommunicative or just plain immature parents, insecure or reluctant step parents and resentful step siblings. The implied themes in this novel are revealed through the characters thoughts, speech, actions, reactions and what others say about them. Thus, based on this novel, I have chosen to write on Richard Clayton Harwick’s family members who have portrayed the theme of family love amazingly and dramatically through sense of love, devotion and loyalty.

Richard’s mother, Lilith was the first to portray the sense of love in the family. She took all the trouble to search for Richard after he ran away from home. Richard was frustrated as his mother married Reverend Coldstone after his father's death.Lilith suffered Coldstone’s anger as when she  spent a fortune seeking for Richard, their money lessened. Out of love for her beloved son, Richard, Lilith willingly sacrifices her wealth. She never stopped searching for him until her death. She died of broken heart because of her undying love for her beloved son, Richard.

Charlotte showed her love too through her devotion. She kept searching for her beloved brother, Richard, after her mother’s death. However she faced trouble as she had no money of her own. Because of her strong family love, she married a rich man she did not love as he promised to help her find Richard. She was willing to sacrifice due to her immense devotion to her brother. She managed to reveal her selfless characteristic through her quest for her brother.

Richard also showed that he had strong love for  his family through his sense of  loyalty. Before Richard’s father died, he tells Richard to take care of his mother and sister, Lilith and Charlotte Harwick. Richard become depressed as his father had only thought of his mother and sister instead of him until the end of his life. Richard become more tensed when his mother marries Reverend Coldstone, who is cruel towards him. Richard is then sent to a boarding school called Mordanger School, where he still suffered. Then he decides to run away and sail all over the world. Although he ran away, he still came by the house twice to catch a glimpse of his mother and sister due to his love that still lives in him, He  finally returns home after he found a note on the captain’s table from the solicitors who have stated something to his advantage . He discovered  a letter from his beloved sister, Charlotte , who had written before her death, In the letter, Charlotte reveals all the difficulties they had had to undergo. He realized that his mother and sister was searching for him  deliberately. He has restored his loyalty in the end but his loved ones  are gone forever. His finaldecision of whether to stay or leave Harwick Hall remains unknown while the family love will remain in his memories for the rest of his life.

This novel managed to prove that strong family relationship sustains family bond and heals all the hurting moments through sense of love, devotion and loyalty. The power of family love leads to reunion and healing in a family. Therefore, we should appreciate and love our family unconditionally and be prepared to make sacrifices  as when there is strong sense of love, there is forgiveness , patience, loyalty and devotion growing without force under the shade of genuine family love. 

p/s  Hope my personal response which is specially written for my beloved Form 5 daughter,Nur Jehaada Ibrahim(SMKA Maahad Hamidiah, Sg Ramal, Kajang) her friends, my tuition students and all SPM 2012 candidates, will be beneficial, ease your understanding and enable you all to score in the literature component. InshaAllah.

All the best to all SPM 2012 candidates, do your best and leave the rest to God.

With love and prayers!