SQA Higher English

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Theme Essay: This can be generic such as a “moral, social, or political theme” but it can also be extremely specific such as the “theme of isolation, love, or conflict”. You need to understand which specific themes relate to their generic one. For example, I could write an essay on the theme of isolation and argue that it is a moral theme because isolating someone is a morally dubious act.

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Key Incident: This could also be known as a “powerful ending” question if your key incident happens at the end of the story because it conveys the key theme of the story. It should be chronological order from the very start to the key incident (or the end depending on the structure of your novella).

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Setting: This one is relatively self-explanatory and would require you to talk about the different aspects of when (timing is an example of setting!) and where the story is set.

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Character Essay: You need to be careful about this one as it’s easy to see a character essay and immediately pick it. Have a think before you start writing about if it actually relates to your character. for example, I would not be able to write an essay on a character who is responsible for her own suffering because the whole point of The Yellow Wallpaper is that women are oppressed and the narrator herself is continually ignored regarding her mental health needs.

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A Random: The SQA loves to sneak in random little essay questions that do not fit neatly into any of the above. I think the thing you definitely need to do if you encounter this is imagine that there is someone at the SQA who is writing these questions with your book specifically in mind. You need to know your text inside out to know if this random wildcard essay is perfect for you or if it does not relate at all.

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An example of a random essay might include “a pessimistic message”

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However, if it was asked, I suppose there is a finite number of questions they could talk about. At its core, HR12F is about humanity's innate darkness and primitive nature despite our technological advancements. Our lack of civility will always prevail, regardless of how hard we try to hide it.

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The first verse focuses mostly on the atmosphere of the city and the shifting tone. Therefore, you can only really ask questions relating to the imagery used and how it highlights an uneasy/tense mood or about the contrast between day/night to show the more threatening nature of the poem.

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The second verse is focusing on the violence that occurs within the city. A question may ask you how MacCaig creates a sense of violence/threat/chaos/anxiety. It could also ask how MacCaig conveys a critical view of urban life and of humanity.

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The last verse is all about the incivility of humanity and how it will always be prevalent, regardless of our "modernity". It could ask you about how this reinforces the central theme or how the poem has a pessimistic conclusion (that humanity will always be primitive) or how human conflict is unavoidable.

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One of the best 10 marker questions you could have for this would be on suffering/death/loss/human fragility because you could talk about the violence we hold that make us all suffer inadvertantly due to our instincts.

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You could link this to Assisi where the dwarf suffers due to being ignored by the church ("outside three tiers of churches”) or even suffers due to his physical deformities (“slumped like a half filled sack”)

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This links to Aunt Julia because obviously there is a loss of Scottish traditional culture which is slowly being eradicated (“I could not answer her, I could not understand her”) and a death/loss of Aunt Julia herself (“silenced in the absolute black of a sandy grave”)

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This also links to Basking Shark because there is a loss of human superiority and the narrator suffers from that realisation (“so who’s the monster? the thought made me grow pale”)

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Brooklyn Cop is self-explanatory because again, the whole poem is about suffering and the darker side of humanity that we try to hide but usually wins. You can talk about the suffering of the cop as he struggles to leave his home, knowing that he could leave his wife a widow (“he hoped it, he truly hoped it”) and also the physical suffering he experiences when he is suddenly forced into violence (“should the tissue tear, should he plunge”).

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And, lastly, there is Visiting Hour which you can obviously talk about the death of the speaker’s loved one and the suffering the speaker goes through as he tries to maintain his composure despite knowing this is an inevitability (“I will not feel, I will not / feel, until / I have to”)

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Another 10 marker question you could have for this poem would either be power/cruelty of humans - linking to Assisi where humans display cruelty to the beggar by ignoring him and his needs - Brooklyn Cop where the cop is faced with violence every time he engages in his duties.

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You could also have a 10 marker which focuses on humanity/revelations/reflection in which you could talk about the fact that our evil side will never really vanish. That would link up quite nicely with the revelation in Basking Shark where the speaker discovers the myth of human superiority. In Aunt Julia where the speaker reflects on the loss of Scottish culture through the symbolism of his Aunt. It could also work in Visiting Hour if you link the humanity reflections bit to the point where the speaker spends a significant portion of the poem attempting not to reflect or dwell on the thought of his loved on dying until near the end (“I have to”) which demonstrates his ineviatble falling to grief.