A Commentary on Passage From The Book of Saladin

? IB DIPLOMA PROGRAMME PROGRAMME DU DIPLOME DU BI PROGRAMA DEL DIPLOMA DEL BI N04/1/A1ENG/SP1/ENG/TZ0/XX 88040083 ENGLISH A1 – STANDARD LEVEL – PAPER 1 ANGLAIS A1 – NIVEAU MOYEN – EPREUVE 1 INGLES A1 – NIVEL MEDIO – PRUEBA 1 Friday 12 November 2004 (afternoon) Vendredi 12 novembre 2004 (apres-midi) Viernes 12 de noviembre de 2004 (tarde) 1 hour 30 minutes / 1 heure 30 minutes / 1 hora 30 minutos INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES ? Do not open this examination paper until instructed to do so. ? Write a commentary on one passage only. It is not compulsory for you to respond directly to the guiding questions provided.

However, you may use them if you wish. INSTRUCTIONS DESTINEES AUX CANDIDATS ? N’ouvrez pas cette epreuve avant d’y etre autorise(e). ? Redigez un commentaire sur un seul des passages. Le commentaire ne doit pas necessairement repondre aux questions d’orientation fournies. Vous pouvez toutefois les utiliser si vous le desirez. INSTRUCCIONES PARA LOS ALUMNOS ? No abra esta prueba hasta que se lo autoricen. ? Escriba un comentario sobre un solo fragmento. No es obligatorio responder directamente a las preguntas que se ofrecen a modo de guia. Sin embargo, puede usarlas si lo desea. 8804-0083 pages/paginas http://www. xtremepapers. net –2– N04/1/A1ENG/SP1/ENG/TZ0/XX Write a commentary on one passage only. It is not compulsory for you to respond directly to the guiding questions provided. However, you are encouraged to use them as starting points for your commentary. 1. (a) I was lucky. I was not the eldest son. For that reason not much was expected from me. I was left to myself a great deal, and enjoyed much freedom. My appearance and demeanour did not pose a threat to anyone. I was a very ordinary boy. You see me now as a Sultan, surrounded by all the symbols of power.

You are impressed and, possibly, even a bit frightened. You worry that if you exceed certain proprieties your head might roll in the dust. This fear is normal. It is the effect which power has on the Sultan’s subjects. But this same power can transform even the most diminutive personality into a figure of large proportions. Look at me. If you had known me when I was a boy and Shahan Shah was my oldest brother you would never have imagined that I could be the Sultan of Misr, and you would have been right. Fate and history conspired to make me what I am today.

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The only person who saw something in me was my paternal grandmother. When I was nine or ten years old, she saw me and a group of my friends trying to kill a snake. As boys we would compete with each other in these foolish things. We would try and grab a snake by its tail and then swing it, before crushing its head on a stone or, as the braver ones among us did, stamping on its head with our feet. My grandmother, having observed this scene carefully, shouted at me. “Yusuf! Yusuf ibn Ayyub! Come here at once! ” The other boys ran away, and I walked slowly towards her, expecting a blow around my ears.

My grandmother had a legendary temper and, so Shadhi had once told me, she had struck my father across the face when he was a grown man. No one dared to ask the cause of such a public display. My father had left the room and, so they say, mother and son did not speak to each other for a year. In the end, it was my father who apologized. To my amazement, she hugged me and kissed me in turn on both my eyes. “You are fearless, boy, but be careful. Some snakes can strike back, even when you have them by the tail. ” I remember laughing with relief. She then told me of a dream she had experienced before I was born. You were still inside your mother’s belly. I think you kicked a great deal. Your mother used to complain sometimes that she felt she was going to give birth to a colt. One night I dreamt that a large man-swallowing snake was crawling towards your mother, who was lying uncovered in the sun. Your mother opened her eyes and began to sweat. She wanted to move, but could not lift her body. Slowly the snake crawled towards her. Then suddenly, like the door of a magical cave, her belly opened. An infant walked out, sword in hand, and, with one mighty blow, decapitated the serpent. Then he looked at his mother and walked back into her stomach.

You will be a great warrior, my son. It is written in your stars and Allah himself will be your guide. ” My father and uncle laughed at my grandmother and her foolish dreams, but even at that time this interpretation undoubtedly had a positive effect on me. She was the first person to take me seriously. Tariq Ali, The Book of Saladin (1998) 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 8804-0083 –3– – What is the role of conflict or power in this passage? – How important are emotions to this passage ? N04/1/A1ENG/SP1/ENG/TZ0/XX – How does the style of the passage affect the way the material is presented? – How do shifts in time contribute to the effect of the passage? 804-0083 Turn over / Tournez la page / Vease al dorso –4– 1. (b) Summer Solstice, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka N04/1/A1ENG/SP1/ENG/TZ0/XX The war had turned inward until it resembled suicide. The only soothing thing was water. I passed the sentries, followed the surf out of sight. I would sink into the elements, become simple. 5 Surf sounds like erasure, over and over. I lay down and let go, the way you trust an animal. When I opened my eyes, all down the strand small crabs, the bright yellow of a crayon, had come out onto the sand. Their numbers, scattered, resembled the galactic spill and volume of the stars.

I, who had lain down alone, emptied, waked at the center of ten thousand prayers. Who would refuse such attention. I let it sweeten me back into the universe. I was alive, in the midst of great loving, which is all I’ve ever wanted. The soldiers of both sides probably wanted just this. Marilyn Krysl, Warscape with Lovers (1997) – In what ways does the poet reveal an attitude toward war in the poem? – How important is the natural setting to the poem’s meaning? – In what ways does the poet use comparison? – Is this a poem of thinking, or feeling, or both? 10 15 8804-0083

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