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Part A HSC-style task: Sample answers and marking criteria
Question 1 (3 marks)
Outcomes assessed: 2.1, 2.2
| Marking criteria | |
|---|---|
| Demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of why Ugolin is looking incredulous and scared. | 3 marks |
| Demonstrates a good understanding of why Ugolin is looking incredulous and scared. | 2 marks |
| Provides some relevant information. | 1 mark |
Your answer may include:
Ugolin is flabbergasted by the figures Jean is quoting regarding his projected rabbit farming. He is scared that Jean is thinking of introducing a rabbit which has proved so overwhelmingly successful in destroying the land and the environment in Australia. Ugolin’s imagination is fuelled by the images Jean creates with his descriptive speech and he is devastated by his own thoughts. The damage the rabbits could cause to the land terrify him and his sense of bewilderment knows no bounds.
Question 2 (3 marks)
Outcomes assessed: 2.1, 2.2
| Marking criteria | |
|---|---|
| Demonstrates a perceptive understanding of how the two protagonists’ characters have been developed in this text. | 3 marks |
| Demonstrates a good understanding of how the two protagonists’ characters have been developed in this text. | 2 marks |
| Provides some relevant information | 1 mark |
Your answer may include:
In this text we find that Jean is going over the top. He wishes to overwhelm Ugolin with his knowledge and the breadth and cleverness of his planned enterprise. Jean makes no allowance for Ugolin’s simple understanding and he exaggerates numbers and threats to cause a reaction. We feel very little sympathy for Jean. He plays the role of a bully in this scene, wanting to crush Ugolin with his acquired information. On the other hand, Ugolin gains our sympathy in this text. We understand Ugolin’s angst and his worries regarding the rabbits. His simplicity keeps him anchored to the land. He has the land’s well being at heart. He feels threatened and tries to make Jean see reason by questioning his judgment. Ugolin is losing some of the awe and esteem he used to have for Jean.
Question 3 (4 marks)
Outcomes assessed: 2.1, 2.2, 2.3
| Marking criteria | |
|---|---|
| Demonstrates a perceptive understanding of how Jean makes Ugolin feel like an outsider on his own territory. | 4 marks |
| Demonstrates a good understanding of how Jean makes Ugolin feel like an outsider on his own territory. | 3-2 marks |
| Provides some relevant information. | 1 mark |
Your answer may include:
Jean uses huge figures and big words to show his belief of his mental superiority over Ugolin. He refers to Ugolin’s simple experience yet despises it as minimal “malgré votre expérience…” because Ugolin has practical, peasant knowledge only, not learnt. Jean himself pretends to have the knowledge, which he has taken from books and brochures, to astonish and overwhelm Ugolin. He wants Ugolin to feel diminished, small and insignificant hence he quotes huge figures which he knows are well outside the understanding of the peasant. Jean’s tone is not conversational; he is preaching (il reprit son ton de conférencier) and his way with words belittles Ugolin. Jean feels that he has the capacity to damage the land if he so wishes “toute une province, et peut-ête tout un pays en seraient réduits à la famine et à la mort.” Ugolin is made to feel defenseless against such an enemy: “C’est ce genre de lapins que vous voulez amener ici?” Ugolin is attached to his farm and to the Soubeyran land. He has no wish to see it brought to ruins. He feels scared of the “magicien maléfique” and his original feelings of being sorry for Jean are replaced with horror and fear. He wants to retain his land in its present condition, yet he can see Jean is taking a different direction which could be dire for all the villagers. Eventually, towards the end of this extract, Ugolin is reconciled with Jean’s ideas when he hears that Jean does not have plans to ruin the land but to breed his “fatter and stronger” rabbits under strict conditions.
Question 4 (5 marks)
Outcomes assessed: 2.1, 2.2, 2.3
| Marking criteria | |
|---|---|
| Demonstrates a perceptive understanding of the humour in this text. | 5 marks |
| Demonstrates a good understanding of the humour in this text. | 4-3 marks |
| Provides some relevant information | 2-1 mark |
Your answer may include:
The reader’s visual perception of Jean parading, puffing and exaggerating his facts provides a funny, over the top image whilst Ugolin’s gradual dawning perception of the rabbit as the enemy creates a diversion to the really serious issue being spoken about in this text. Ugolin watches incredulously “les sourcils relevés” (eyebrows arched in surprise and in astonishment) as Jean describes the hordes of rabbits taking over the landscape and his imagination takes off: he imagines his fields in ruins and the rabbits even taking refuge in his pant!. His horror culminates when he hears that the giant rabbits can even climb trees! The contrast between both men is funny; it widens the gap between the learned and the ignorant. It creates a diversion in this scene. Jean’s recount of the rabbit plague in Australia is grossly misinformed and exaggerated; the images he creates are at odds with the reality we know. Therefore our faith in Jean’s information and knowledge is diminished. Ugolin’s primal reactions are made light of, yet also highlight how fragile the environment can be and how easily it could be ruined by careless management. The humour comes from the contrast between the two men, the images they create, their attitude to farming, their beliefs and their reaction to each other’s responses.
Back to Part A HSC-style task
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