This GCSE English Literature quiz is the first of two extract questions for Silas Marner by George Eliot. Godfrey and Nancy have been married for many years, but their happiness has been marred by childlessness. Godfrey has encouraged Nancy to consider adopting a child, suggesting Eppie, of course, but Nancy has refused due to her own prejudices about the unknown parentage of orphans. Godfrey has not been able to admit that Eppie’s parentage is not as unknown as everyone in the village supposes. This passage is located close to the beginning of the second part of the novel, taking place sixteen years after Eppie wandered into Silas’s life. The Stone-pit has just revealed its terrible secrets.
How to answer an extract question in an exam:
Always ensure that you read a passage through carefully more than once when answering an extract question in an exam.
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This is never a waste of time. On your first reading, you can aim for a broad understanding of the passage and consider how you might use it to answer the question. The second reading is the time to make detailed notes and annotations and to begin to gather your thoughts. It is a good idea to ask yourself why the specific passage has been chosen. How does it fit with the rest of the text? Are any significant characters or significant themes introduced? What events follow? Are later events foreshadowed in the chosen passage? Does it mark a turning point? Also consider the ending of the extract: why do you think it ends where it does instead of somewhere else? Is there anything significant about the final line?
Remember to pay close attention to the question you have chosen to answer. You might be asked to write about mood and atmosphere, or a particular character, or even about your personal response to the passage or to a character. You might be asked to discuss dialogue, behaviour or feelings. Always explain the passage’s immediate context: acknowledge the events which precede the extract. Pay close attention to the detail, to setting and characterisation. Analyse and discuss the relationship between the excerpt and the themes of the text. Structure your response by grouping related ideas together in your writing. Remember to leave enough time to discuss the entire passage rather than analysing one section in detail and then neglecting the remainder of the extract!
Read the extract from George Eliot's Silas Marner below carefully before answering the questions.
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“Sit down Nancy, — there,” he said, pointing to a chair opposite him. “I came back as soon as I could, to hinder anybody’s telling you but me. I’ve had a great shock — but I care most about the shock it’ll be to you.”
“It isn’t father and Priscilla?” said Nancy, with quivering lips, clasping her hands tightly together on her lap.
“No, it’s nobody living,” said Godfrey, unequal to the considerate skill with which he would have wished to make his revelation. “It’s Dunstan — my brother Dunstan, that we lost sight of sixteen years ago. We’ve found him — found his body — his skeleton.”
The deep dread Godfrey’s look had created in Nancy made her feel these words a relief. She sat in comparative calmness to hear what else he had to tell. He went on:
“The Stone-pit has gone dry suddenly — from the draining, I suppose; and there he lies — has lain for sixteen years, wedged between two great stones. There’s his watch and seals, and there’s my gold-handled hunting-whip, with my name on: he took it away, without my knowing, the day he went hunting on Wildfire, the last time he was seen.”
Godfrey paused: it was not so easy to say what came next. “Do you think he drowned himself?” said Nancy, almost wondering that her husband should be so deeply shaken by what had happened all those years ago to an unloved brother, of whom worse things had been augured.
“No, he fell in,” said Godfrey, in a low but distinct voice, as if he felt some deep meaning in the fact. Presently he added: “Dunstan was the man that robbed Silas Marner.”
The blood rushed to Nancy’s face and neck at this surprise and shame, for she had been bred up to regard even a distant kinship with crime as a dishonour.
“O Godfrey!” she said, with compassion in her tone, for she had immediately reflected that the dishonour must be felt still more keenly by her husband.
“There was money in the pit,” he continued — “all the weaver’s money. Everything’s been gathered up and they’re taking the skeleton to the Rainbow. But I came back to tell you: there was no hindering it; you must know.”
He was silent, looking on the ground for two long minutes. Nancy would have said some words of comfort under this disgrace, but she refrained, from an instinctive sense that there was something behind — that Godfrey had something else to tell her.
George Eliot,
Silas Marner (Penguin, 1967)
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1.
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What is the immediate context for this passage? |
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| [ ] |
Nancy has anxiously been awaiting Godfrey's return home |
| [ ] |
Aaron has just agreed to dig a garden for Eppie |
| [ ] |
Godfrey has informed Eppie that he is her father |
| [ ] |
Silas has just been to visit Lantern Yard |
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2.
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What immediately follows this passage? |
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| [ ] |
Eppie asks Silas if she should be married with her mother's ring |
| [ ] |
Nancy and Godfrey make a visit to Silas's cottage |
| [ ] |
Godfrey admits to being Eppie's father |
| [ ] |
Dolly finds out about the drawing of lots in Lantern Yard |
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3.
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Godfrey is reluctant to tell Nancy what has been found in the Stone-pit. How is his reluctance conveyed? |
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| [ ] |
Through the description of the way he watches his wife |
| [ ] |
Through his use of the word "skeleton" |
| [ ] |
Through his calm manner |
| [ ] |
Through his frequent pauses |
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4.
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What might Godfrey feel is the "deep meaning" in the manner by which Dunstan died? |
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| [ ] |
Godfrey feels his own behaviour has been vindicated and that he is free of trouble |
| [ ] |
He believes Dunstan's physical fall into the pit corresponds to his moral and spiritual fall to temptation |
| [ ] |
He is merely trying to heighten Nancy's suspense |
| [ ] |
He is referring to the literal depth of the pit |
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5.
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Nancy tends towards putting her husband's feelings before her own. How is this habit evident in this passage? |
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| [ ] |
She tries not to let her lips quiver or to show any other signs of agitation |
| [ ] |
She refrains from asking questions |
| [ ] |
Although she feels ashamed to be connected to Dunstan's criminal behaviour, she immediately thinks how much worse her husband must feel |
| [ ] |
All of the above |
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6.
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What is the meaning of Godfrey's silence at the end of the passage? |
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| [ ] |
He is hesitating to tell Nancy about Eppie and his first marriage |
| [ ] |
He is reflecting over his brother's long absence |
| [ ] |
He is feeling grateful that the Squire never had to hear about Dunstan's shameful behaviour |
| [ ] |
His silence has no meaning |
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7.
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How might the atmosphere of this passage best be described? |
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| [ ] |
Bright and expectant |
| [ ] |
Foreboding |
| [ ] |
Triumphant |
| [ ] |
Quietly cheery |
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8.
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Nancy is slightly surprised at Godfrey's hesitation in telling her about Dunstan. Which one of the following is NOT a reason for her surprise? |
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| [ ] |
She believes that even suicide is not as awful as the many suspicions people have held about Dunstan |
| [ ] |
She feels that Godfrey's emotions would naturally have grown in strength over time |
| [ ] |
She knows that Godfrey and Dunstan did not care much for each other |
| [ ] |
She is unprepared to think of her disappeared brother-in-law as capable of stealing |
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9.
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Godfrey expresses much anxiety in this passage. To which of the following is this anxiety most closely connected? |
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| [ ] |
His fear that Silas will seek revenge for Dustan's theft |
| [ ] |
His fear that Silas will discover that he is Eppie's father |
| [ ] |
His fear of telling Nancy his own secret |
| [ ] |
His fear that Dustan's behaviour has brought shame to himself, his wife and his brothers |
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10.
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How does Nancy receive Godfrey's news about the discovery in the Stone-pit? |
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| [ ] |
Impatiently |
| [ ] |
Angrily |
| [ ] |
Fearfully |
| [ ] |
Calmly |
|
|
|
1.
|
What is the immediate context for this passage? |
|
| [x] |
Nancy has anxiously been awaiting Godfrey's return home |
| [ ] |
Aaron has just agreed to dig a garden for Eppie |
| [ ] |
Godfrey has informed Eppie that he is her father |
| [ ] |
Silas has just been to visit Lantern Yard |
|
|
|
2.
|
What immediately follows this passage? |
|
| [ ] |
Eppie asks Silas if she should be married with her mother's ring |
| [ ] |
Nancy and Godfrey make a visit to Silas's cottage |
| [x] |
Godfrey admits to being Eppie's father |
| [ ] |
Dolly finds out about the drawing of lots in Lantern Yard |
|
|
|
3.
|
Godfrey is reluctant to tell Nancy what has been found in the Stone-pit. How is his reluctance conveyed? |
|
| [ ] |
Through the description of the way he watches his wife |
| [ ] |
Through his use of the word "skeleton" |
| [ ] |
Through his calm manner |
| [x] |
Through his frequent pauses |
|
|
|
4.
|
What might Godfrey feel is the "deep meaning" in the manner by which Dunstan died? |
|
| [ ] |
Godfrey feels his own behaviour has been vindicated and that he is free of trouble |
| [x] |
He believes Dunstan's physical fall into the pit corresponds to his moral and spiritual fall to temptation |
| [ ] |
He is merely trying to heighten Nancy's suspense |
| [ ] |
He is referring to the literal depth of the pit |
|
|
|
5.
|
Nancy tends towards putting her husband's feelings before her own. How is this habit evident in this passage? |
|
| [ ] |
She tries not to let her lips quiver or to show any other signs of agitation |
| [ ] |
She refrains from asking questions |
| [x] |
Although she feels ashamed to be connected to Dunstan's criminal behaviour, she immediately thinks how much worse her husband must feel |
| [ ] |
All of the above |
|
|
|
6.
|
What is the meaning of Godfrey's silence at the end of the passage? |
|
| [x] |
He is hesitating to tell Nancy about Eppie and his first marriage |
| [ ] |
He is reflecting over his brother's long absence |
| [ ] |
He is feeling grateful that the Squire never had to hear about Dunstan's shameful behaviour |
| [ ] |
His silence has no meaning |
|
|
|
7.
|
How might the atmosphere of this passage best be described? |
|
| [ ] |
Bright and expectant |
| [x] |
Foreboding |
| [ ] |
Triumphant |
| [ ] |
Quietly cheery |
|
|
|
8.
|
Nancy is slightly surprised at Godfrey's hesitation in telling her about Dunstan. Which one of the following is NOT a reason for her surprise? |
|
| [ ] |
She believes that even suicide is not as awful as the many suspicions people have held about Dunstan |
| [x] |
She feels that Godfrey's emotions would naturally have grown in strength over time |
| [ ] |
She knows that Godfrey and Dunstan did not care much for each other |
| [ ] |
She is unprepared to think of her disappeared brother-in-law as capable of stealing |
|
|
|
9.
|
Godfrey expresses much anxiety in this passage. To which of the following is this anxiety most closely connected? |
|
| [ ] |
His fear that Silas will seek revenge for Dustan's theft |
| [ ] |
His fear that Silas will discover that he is Eppie's father |
| [x] |
His fear of telling Nancy his own secret |
| [ ] |
His fear that Dustan's behaviour has brought shame to himself, his wife and his brothers |
|
|
|
10.
|
How does Nancy receive Godfrey's news about the discovery in the Stone-pit? |
|
| [ ] |
Impatiently |
| [ ] |
Angrily |
| [ ] |
Fearfully |
| [x] |
Calmly |
|
|
