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...whose unnurtured souls have been like young winged things...

Silas Marner - Illustrating and Supporting Points

This GCSE English Literature quiz on Silas Marner helps you practise using short quotations, like Eppie’s words to Silas, to build strong, well-supported points for exam answers.

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Fascinating Fact:

Eppie’s simple line “I want to stay with father” powerfully illustrates her loyalty to Silas and the strength of their chosen family bond.

In GCSE English Literature, you are expected to use brief, well-chosen quotations from Silas Marner to support your ideas. Lines like Eppie’s words to Silas can be used to illustrate character, theme and relationships, especially when you explain how the language supports the point you are making about the novel as a whole.

Key Terms

Quotation: A short piece of evidence taken directly from the text to support your point.
Supporting point: An idea that backs up your main argument, usually explained with quotations and analysis.
Embedded quotation: A quotation that is smoothly built into your own sentence rather than left to stand on its own.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

How do I choose a good quotation from Silas Marner for GCSE?

Choose a short quotation that clearly fits the question. Look for lines that show something important about character, theme or setting, then focus on one or two key words in your explanation.

How do I turn a quotation into a full exam paragraph?

Start with a clear point, then add a quotation as evidence. After that, explain how the language supports your point and briefly link your idea to the wider events of the novel.

Do I need to link my quotation to the whole novel in Silas Marner questions?

Yes, even a short link helps. After analysing the quotation, explain how this moment connects to bigger ideas in the story, such as family, change or community in Raveloe.

Try These Related Quizzes

Read the text from Silas Marner and then choose the answer which best uses evidence in support of a point.

1 .

"At first there was a little peevish cry of 'mammy', and an effort to regain the pillowing arm and bosom; but mammy's ear was deaf, and the pillow seemed to be slipping away backwards."

"Slipping away backwards" means that Eppie loses her mother

Death removes Eppie's safety and comfort when her mother physically and metaphorically slips "away" backwards

Death removes Eppie's safety by her mother's physical and metaphorical "slipping away backwards"

Eppie's mother slips away backwards when she dies

Remember to keep your sentence grammatical when you use a quotation. Sometimes this can be a challenge! Also remember to make a point rather than merely explaining what part of a text means (as in the first answer here)

2 .

"But about the Christmas of that fifteenth year, a second great change came over Marner's life, and his history became blent in a singular manner with that of his neighbours"

By using the passive phrase "became blent", Eliot implies that Silas has little control over the direction of his life

By referring to the "changes" that happen to him, Eliot implies that Silas has little control over the direction of his life

Eliot uses the metaphor of lives being "blended" together in a village when Silas's life "changes"

Eliot shows that communities thrive when they become blent

Quotations should always be accurate

3 .

"Was there not a drawer filled with the neat work of her hands, all unworn and untouched, just as she had arranged it fourteen years ago — just, but for one little dress, which had been made the burial-dress?"

The "little burial-dress" shows that Nancy and Godfrey had a child, but that it had died very young

"Little" and "dress" and "fourteen years ago" tell the reader that Nancy's and Godfrey's baby died

Eliot uses the "burial" "dress" to indicate that Nancy's one baby died

Eliot quietly uses the one missing dress to indicate the death of Nancy's and Godfrey's baby

Paraphrasing is a good way of using evidence from the text, especially when the point being made relies on information rather than language choices or imagery

4 .

"The heap of gold seemed to glow and get larger beneath his agitated gaze."

In an almost magical transformation, Silas's gold seems to "get larger" and come to life

Silas is "agitated" because his gold is "glowing" and "getting larger"

The heap of gold only "seemed" to get larger and come to life

The "heap of gold" "gets larger" and makes Silas "agitated"

Don't forget to use quotation marks around specific phrases taken from the text

5 .

"Instead of a man who had more cunning than honest folks could come by, and, what was worse, had not the inclination to use that cunning in a neighbourly way, it was now apparent that Silas had not cunning enough to keep his own."

The repetition of the word "cunning" emphasises the ambiguous attitude the inhabitants of Raveloe have towards knowledge and skill

The villagers of Raveloe would approve of Silas's cunning if he used his skills in a neighbourly way

At first, the villagers of Raveloe are distrustful of Silas because his "cunning" is not "neighbourly", but they lose their "distrust" when he loses his gold

It is "apparent" that the theft suffered by Silas makes his neighbours more "neighbourly"

Be careful only to quote what is relevant and to use the quote in the correct context

6 .

"'At first, I'd a sort o' feeling come across me now and then,' he was saying in a subdued tone, 'as if you might be changed into the gold again.'"

By using the word "again", Silas expresses his semi-magical belief that his stolen "gold" was somehow transformed into a living treasure

By using the word again, Silas expresses his semi-magical belief that his stolen gold was somehow transformed into a living treasure

By using the word "again", Silas expresses his semi-magical belief that his stolen gold was somehow transformed into a living treasure

By using the word "again", Silas expresses his semi-magical belief that his stolen "gold" was somehow "transformed" into a living treasure

It is correct to place quotation marks around the word "again", because the point depends on Silas's use of this word

7 .

"Dunstan's own recent difficulty in making his way suggested to him that the weaver had perhaps gone outside his cottage to fetch in fuel, or for some such brief purpose, and had slipped into the Stone-pit."

In almost hoping for ill to have befallen Silas, Dunstan has morally "slipped" into evil thought which will be followed by evil actions

Dunstan's wishful thinking about the missing weaver appears to be punished when he falls into the Stone-pit himself

By imagining that the weaver had "slipped into the Stone-pit", Dunstan unknowingly predicts his own demise

All of the above

There are many ways to quote or paraphrase a text in order to support your argument or an individual point. Practise the various possibilities in order to improve your skills

8 .

"Aaron was not indisposed to display his talents, even to an ogre, under protecting circumstances."

Protecting circumstances refers to the presence of Aaron's mother in Silas's cottage

The use of the phrase protective circumstances undermines Silas's "ogre-like" qualities

Although Aaron views Silas Marner as an ogre, he is persuaded by protecting circumstances to sing a Christmas carol in the cottage

By referring to Silas Marner as an "ogre" in the eyes of the young Aaron, Eliot reinforces the fairy-tale elements of the novel

When the use of a single word is significant in itself, that word should be enclosed in quotation marks

9 .

"He was so undivided in his aims that he seemed like a man of firmness."

Godfrey's firmness is only a matter of outward appearance, as Eliot's use of the word seemed implies

Eliot's use of the word seemed implies that Godfrey has only taken on the appearance of being a man of firmness

Godfrey's firmness is only a matter of outward appearance, as Eliot's use of the word "seemed" implies

Eliot's use of the word "seemed" implies that Godfrey has only taken on the "appearance" of being a "man of firmness"

Avoid littering sentences with multiple quotations (and remember to quote only exact words and phrases!)

10 .

"Such colloquies have occupied many a pair of pale-faced weavers, whose unnurtured souls have been like young winged things, fluttering forsaken in the twilight."

Eliot uses the phrase young winged things to hint at the vulnerability of the young weavers

Eliot uses the phrase "young winged things" to hint at the vulnerability of the young weavers

Eliot uses the phrases young winged things and flutters to imply that the pale-faced weavers are creatures of twilight

Eliot uses the phrases "young winged things" and "flutters" to imply that the "pale-faced weavers" are creatures of "twilight"

It's important not to try to say too much in one sentence. This sentence could be followed by another one which discusses the significance of comparing the young weavers to creatures, such as bats or moths, which fly at twilight

Author: Sheri Smith (PhD English Literature, English Teacher & Quiz Writer)