Modern times: Literature from 1945 to the present day: exemplar student response

Below you will find an exemplar student response to a Section B question in the specimen assessment materials, followed by an examiner commentary on the response.

Paper 2B, Section B

Unseen text

Explore the significance of isolation in this extract. Remember to include in your answer relevant detailed analysis of the ways that Ali shapes meanings.

Band 4 response

Isolation is a concept which is common in modern literature where characters express their feelings of loneliness and disconnection because of issues such as class, gender, race and sexuality. In this extract, Ali describes a character whose isolation is caused by a situation which, through the media, has become better known to readers in recent times: that of a young Muslim woman entering into an arranged marriage with an older man. Her isolation is compounded, however, by this arrangement taking place in Britain, a place away from her home in Bangladesh and with which she is unfamiliar. Ali therefore explores physical, psychological and cultural isolation in this extract.

Ali shows Nazneen's physical isolation through the setting of the couple's flat. Nazneen is portrayed as feeling hemmed in by the flat and dreaming of escaping into the outside world. The first thing she sees in the morning is Chanu, her husband, whose lips are 'parted indignantly' even in sleep so suggesting that Nazneen cannot escape his control. The physical space of the bedroom is also stifling where 'the monstrous black wardrobe…claimed most of the room.' This feeling of imprisonment is shown by Ali's repetition of the word 'never' to show how Nazneen had 'never been close enough (never closer than this, never further)' to a lady she imagines befriending as she looks out of the flat window. The flat itself is not isolated as it is described as being within easy walking distance of the tattoo lady's flat but Nazneen's inability to speak English stops her making that short journey: 'She thought of it but she would not go.' Having conveyed the idea that Nazneen is confined to this flat, Ali then describes the domestic scene that Nazneen has married into in great detail to emphasise that this is the only life Nazneen can now expect to live. Ali uses lists effectively to show not only the chores that Nazneen needs to do: 'There was still the dal to make, and the vegetable dishes, the spices to grind…' but also then the worry that Nazneen has about what might go wrong with the evening meal: 'The rice might stick. She might over-salt the dal.' Through Nazneen's anxiety over the meal itself and how the home looks, 'She would rinse the glasses and rub them with newspaper to make them shine,' Ali is showing not only the expectations of a young Muslim bride by her older husband but also how Nazneen's isolation in this setting makes her focus on the little everyday things in order to be a good Muslim wife. Ali shows how Nazneen's only comfort in this setting is the Qur'an, which is a link to her home culture, but even here Ali is suggesting that Nazneen is still under someone's control, where she is 'exhorted…to fear God.'

Ali shows Nazneen's psychological isolation through the third-person narrator who tells Nazneen's situation through her eyes only. In this way, we hear Nazneen's thoughts and daydreams, which show us how lonely she is. We learn that 'every morning' she wishes for something but we don't hear what that wish is as if she would have to keep it a secret and this helps us to understand that Nazneen has nobody to share her hopes and dreams with. Ali describes how Nazneen 'thought sometimes' of leaving the flat to visit the tattoo lady but the positive detail of this imagined visit shows it is a fantasy for Nazneen who 'thought of it but she would not go' because in the end she realises that she is too different to the 'strangers' she lives among. Nazneen also tries to escape back to her former life in her thoughts when she links the tattoo lady to 'the sadhus' but her thoughts of home are not positive ones because of poverty and indifference and the personification of the sun as 'unkind.' Ali shows how Nazneen cannot even escape her isolation in her mind through the rhetorical question: 'what would be the point?'

The difficulty of integrating into a different society is a popular topic in literature in a world where multiculturalism is common. Trying to keep your home culture in a new country can isolate you and Ali's portrayal of Nazneen's study of the Qur'an, although it would be expected of her, and her preparation of Indian food show that she is likely to continue with the customs of her home country.  The fact that Nazneen can only say 'two things in English: sorry and thank you', however, is perhaps the biggest barrier to overcoming cultural isolation. Ali has chosen these words because they show how a woman in Nazneen's situation is afraid of not being a good Muslim wife, perhaps having to apologise for spoiling the dinner, and is grateful if her husband compliments her cooking and cleaning. If she does not leave her flat, she is unlikely to learn British customs or the language which can help her integrate.

Examiner commentary

AO1 

The essay is well structured and the task is clearly focused upon. Ideas are logically put together under the three types of isolation introduced at the beginning of the response. The candidate writes with confidence although this is stronger at the beginning of the response. There is appropriate use of critical concepts and terminology and the expression is accurate.

AO2

There is thorough understanding that the text is structured to shape meanings. The candidate coherently analyses Ali's use of setting and third-person narrator with detailed textual support, which shows a thorough awareness of the nature of Nanzeen's isolation. Some relevant comments are also made about language.

AO3

There is a thorough understanding of what can cause isolation and some relevant focus on the isolation of women in Nazneen's situation. The significance of place is explored confidently.

AO4

By writing about the representation of different types of isolation, physical, psychological and cultural, the candidate has connected with the concept of isolation as it is presented more widely in literature of the period. Reference is made to the prevalence of the concept in literature of Modern Times.

AO5 

There is thorough and confident engagement with the interpretations set up in Ali's presentation of isolation and, at times, different possible interpretations are offered.

Overall: Coherent and thorough. 'This response seems to fit into Band 4'

This resource is part of the Modern times - Literature from 1945 to the present day resource package.