Post by TBP on Aug 19, 2009 11:06:27 GMT -5
English Standard Grade 1997 Question 4 (Opening to a novel set in a large city concentrating on setting and character)
Wrote this around about February/May... Not my best.
The gleaming lights of the city dawned ever so closer to Maxine, and the other passengers of the ship as it docked into the harbour. It was dusk, but it seemed as bustling as the mid-day rush. They called it "The city that never sleeps." It must be true!
The sights! The buildings – so tall – it made the ones back where Maxine lived so puny and insignificant. The lights! They shone down on her and made her glow in the growth of the night. However, the night grew cold and Maxine knew she shouldn't be out in a dangerous place so late! Beautiful as it was, you can't judge a book by it's cover. She wrapped her jacket around her shoulders and disappeared into the darkness, in search of somewhere to stay.
She hadn't thought wisely. She didn't know her way around such a big place. It grew closer to midnight and Maxine was beginning to fret. The more she searched, the more she got lost in the depths of the jungle-like city. A little later, she realised she had not slept for nearly a day. 'So many twists and turns in this city!' She thought to herself. She became so overcome with tiredness, at this point, she couldn't think straight. She lowered herself to the ground, and crouched up beside a concrete wall. It was neither comfortable nor warm as a bed, but it would do. Within a minute or so, she was out like a light. A neon sign above her flickered for a minute, and then the lights faded away, into the blackness of the night.
She should have tried to think. She was just a sitting duck, so innocent. Unknowingly to Maxine, of course, a large group of youths just so happened to be in the area near her. It was amazing that Maxine did not wake from all the noise that they made as they closed in on her. Oh, what a scene was left behind, as the group recoiled back to where they came from...
Her family didn't know why she never came home...
Wrote this around about February/May... Not my best.
THE CITY
The gleaming lights of the city dawned ever so closer to Maxine, and the other passengers of the ship as it docked into the harbour. It was dusk, but it seemed as bustling as the mid-day rush. They called it "The city that never sleeps." It must be true!
The sights! The buildings – so tall – it made the ones back where Maxine lived so puny and insignificant. The lights! They shone down on her and made her glow in the growth of the night. However, the night grew cold and Maxine knew she shouldn't be out in a dangerous place so late! Beautiful as it was, you can't judge a book by it's cover. She wrapped her jacket around her shoulders and disappeared into the darkness, in search of somewhere to stay.
She hadn't thought wisely. She didn't know her way around such a big place. It grew closer to midnight and Maxine was beginning to fret. The more she searched, the more she got lost in the depths of the jungle-like city. A little later, she realised she had not slept for nearly a day. 'So many twists and turns in this city!' She thought to herself. She became so overcome with tiredness, at this point, she couldn't think straight. She lowered herself to the ground, and crouched up beside a concrete wall. It was neither comfortable nor warm as a bed, but it would do. Within a minute or so, she was out like a light. A neon sign above her flickered for a minute, and then the lights faded away, into the blackness of the night.
She should have tried to think. She was just a sitting duck, so innocent. Unknowingly to Maxine, of course, a large group of youths just so happened to be in the area near her. It was amazing that Maxine did not wake from all the noise that they made as they closed in on her. Oh, what a scene was left behind, as the group recoiled back to where they came from...
Her family didn't know why she never came home...