ENGLISH – STEP BY WICKED STEP SAMPLE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1. Choose one character that you like and give your reasons why you like the character.

 From the novel 'Step By Wicked Step' by Anne Fine, I like Claudia from the story the Green Pyjamas. I like Claudia because she is kind, loyal and she can be very mature and wise.

     Claudia is a very kind girl.  During her father's birthday party, Claudia wears her green pyjamas given by her father's girlfriend, Stella. She decides to do this because she feels that the guests in the party are very rude when they refuse to talk to Stella. They act like Stella is invisible and Claudia feels angry because Stella is actually a very nice person.

     Other than that, Claudia is also a loyal daughter to her mother.She knows that her mother hates the fact that her father is happy with a new woman in his life so she pretends that she is unhappy when she has to go to her father's house. Claudia also refuses to accept Stella's kindness because she wants to show that she is loyal to her mother.

     Lastly, Claudia shows that she is very mature and wise. Claudia feels that the guests for her father's birthday party are very rude. They do not want to acknowledge that Stella is her father's new love by giving her a cold shoulder during the party. Claudia is very angry with all those immature adults so she decides to give all of them a lesson by wearing her new green pyjamas and showing it off in front of the guess, hinting that Stella and her are very close. The guests are ashamed so they start to treat Stella nicely after the incident.

     From these three reasons, I choose Claudia as the character I like the most. Claudia shows that she is a good daughter to both her mother and father and she is also kind enough to accept Stella as her future step mother.

2.Compare and contrast 2 characters from a novel you have studied. With closereference to the text, give reasons to support your answer.

I choose the novel Step by Wicked Step, written by Anne Fine. I am going tocompare and contrast Claudia and Pixie. There are similarities anddifferences between them which can be observed clearly throughout thestory.

First of all, Claudia and Pixie share similar fate where their parents aredivorced and their fathers live with another women. Claudia's father lives

with his girl friend named Stella. Sometimes Claudia spends her time with herdad and Stella even though she hates Stella. She refuses to enjoy her staywith her dad out of loyalty to her mother and she also ignores Stella. InPixie's case, her father marries Lucy who has two daughters, Sophie andHetty. Pixie hates her step sisters. Her father promises that she would haveher own room whenever she stays with them but later her step sister, Hettymoves into her room after having a fight with Sophie. This really makes hermad and she tries many ways to get rid of Hetty. Life is miserable for bothPixie and Claudia.

However, the biggest difference which can be observed between Pixie andClaudia is that they have different approaches in dealing with their problems.Claudia is fair and sensible. Even though she hates Stella, she does not blamethe lady for her parents' break-up. She is more gentle in her actions. Forexample, at the dinner party, she thinks that the guests are rude for notappreciating Stella's hard work. She realizes that ignoring Stella would nothelp solving matters between her parents. Feeling sorry for Stella, shedecides to help her get accepted by showing off the green pyjamas whichStella has given to her.

On the contrary, Pixie is more aggressive in her actions. In order to get Hettyout of her room, she creates stories that her room is haunted and when thatfails, she tries to irritate Hetty by asking her to help with her maths. Finally,she tries the silent treatment on Hetty and that makes the girl tell Lucyeverything. When Lucy confronted her, Pixie refuses to submit but insteadshe stands up for herself and expresses her feelings. She hates to pretendthat her family is normal and she could not accept strangers as family.However, after they both pour out their frustration, things become better forthem.

In a nutshell, Claudia and Pixie have both similarities and differencesbetween them. I learn many lessons while reading the story about them andthe other children in this novel

3.Based on one of the novel that you have studied, write about a memorableevent and how the event affects one of the characters in the story. Support your answer with close reference to the text.I choose the novel Step by Wicked Step written by Anne Fine. The memorableevent from the novel is the honest conversation between Pixie and herstepmother Lucy. I think that the conversation is important because it affectsPixie's life.

First of all, I think that the conversation is important because Pixie has achance to tell the truth about her feelings. Pixie tells Lucy that she hates topretend that their family is normal. It is hard for her to accept strangers asfamily. She dislikes her stepsisters. When Hetty moves into Pixie's bedroomafter quarreling with Sophie, Pixie is very angry. She tries many ways to getrid of Hetty.

Apart from that, I think that the conversation between Lucy and Pixie isimportant because Lucy also gets a chance to express her feelings towardsPixie. Lucy hates being a step mother. It is very hard for her to take care ofsomeone else's child. Lucy is angry when Pixie when Pixie tries to get rid ofHetty from her bedroom.

Last but not least, I think the heart to heart conversation is memorablebecause it improves the relationship between Pixie and Lucy. Theyunderstand each other better. at the end of the conversation, they are cryingand hugging each other. After that day, their relationship becomes better andthey are more like a normal family.

In a nutshell, I think that the honest conversation between Lucy and Pixie ismemorable because it improves the relationship between Pixie and her stepfamily. I learn many things from this novel.

4.What is the most important moral value that you have learnt from the novelyou have studied? With close reference to the text, give reasons to supportyour answer.

I choose the novel Step by Wicked Step written by Anne Fine. The mostimportant moral value that I have learnt from this novel is honesty. There aremany examples which show the importance of honesty throughout this novel.First of all, we can see that in this novel, parents are not being honest to theirchildren. They do not tell their children what is happening between them.This causes the children a lot of stress and worry. For example, Lilith Harwickdoes not tell her children that their father is dying. We see how distressedRichard is when guessing the truth about his father's condition. When Colin'smother decides to leave Colin's dad and move up north, she does not explainthe reason to Colin. Colin does not like his new life and misses his dad a lot,but his mother does not seem to be aware of how he felt.

Apart from that, the parents' lack of honesty makes the children keep theirthoughts and feelings to themselves. This is bad because it may cause thechildren to take the wrong action. For example, Colin stops talking about hisdad to his mother, but plans to run away to find him one day. However, whenparents are honest about their feelings and open up to their children, theirrelationship will get better. This can be seen in the case of Lucy and Pixie.After they burst out and tell each other their true feelings, their relationshipimproves a lot. Pixie respects Lucy and Lucy gives Pixie time and space toadapt to her new family.

In a nutshell, honesty is the most important moral value that can be learntfrom this novel because it helps to heal and rebuild relationships in thefamily. I hope everyone can practice honesty in their lives.

5.Choose a character that you admire from a novel that you have learned inForm 5. With close reference to the text, give reasons to support youranswer.

I choose the novel Step by Wicked Step, written by Anne Fine. The characterthat I admire is Claudia. There are many reasons why I admire her verymuch.First of all, I admire Claudia because she is a gentle person. Listening toRichard's sad story, makes her weep. Besides, she is loyal to her mother. Shetries not to sound too happy when speaking to her father because she doesnot want to hurt her mother's feeling. She rejects Stella and refuses to enjoyher time with her father out of loyalty to her mother. She knows that herparents break-up is serious even though her mother sounded cheerful.

Apart from that, I really admire Claudia because she is a fair and sensibleperson. She does not blame Stella for her parents' break-up. At the dinnerparty, she thinks that the guests are rude for not appreciating Stella's hardwork. She realizes that ignoring Stella would not help solving mattersbetween her parents. Feeling sorry for Stella who is being ignored by theguests, she decides to help her get accepted by showing off the greenpyjamas which Stella gave her.

In a nutshell, the character that I admire from Step by Wicked Step is Claudiabecause she is gentle, loyal, fair and sensible. I think we could learn a lotfrom her character.

6.Analysing the Characters 1)Claudia Claudia is a gentle person. Listening to Richard's sad story, makes her weep.She is loyal to her mother. She tries not to sound too happy when speaking toher father because she does not want to hurt her mother's feeling. Sherejects Stella and refuses to enjoy her time with her father out of loyalty toher mother. She knows that her parents break-up is serious even though hermother sounded cheerful.Claudia is a fair and sensible person. She does not blame Stella for herparents' break-up. At the dinner party, she thinks that the guests are rude fornot appreciating Stella's hard work. She realizes that ignoring Stella wouldnot help solving matters between her parents. Feeling sorry for Stella who isbeing ignored by the guests, she decides to help her get accepted byshowing off the green pyjamas which Stella gave her.

2)Richard Harwick

Richard is a loyal person. He is too loyal to his father that he becomes soangry with his mother for betraying his father's memory by marryingColdstone. He hates his stepfather and calls him a black bat. He also thinksthat his sister is disloyal for getting along with their stepfather. He refuses tolisten to his sister's advice to make peace with their stepfather.http://images.search.yahoo.comIndulging too much in his own grief, Richard becomes an irresponsible andthoughtless person. Feeling that no one cares about his feelings, he runs offto the sea and explores the world. Disappearing without a word, Richard hascaused his mother and sister much grief. He does not even realize thedamage that he has done to these two people who really love him until it istoo late.