Assisi Textual Analysis Marking Scheme

Verse 1

1. Give two details about the dwarf which create sympathy. 2U - his hands are on backwards - he is slumped like a sack - he has tiny twisted legs 2. Write down two details about the dwarf where alliteration is used. 2U - sat slumped like a half- filled sack - tiny twisted 3. Explain how the simile helps you to see how the dwarf was sitting. 2A “half filled sack” suggests he was bent in the middle, or one part of his body was much bigger than the other etc … 4. What is ironic about this church which has been built to celebrate the life of a “brother of the poor.” 2A - the building is grand, expensive, fantastic to look at BUT outside of it is someone who is poor, looks pathetic, and the church is not looking after him, OR you would expect a rich church built in honour of “a brother of the poor” to take care of the poor but it isn’t 5. Explain in your own words the ‘advantage’ that the dwarf had over St Francis. 2U - St Francis had has his life but the dwarf was still alive

Verse 2

6. Explain in your own words how Giotto’s frescoes were ‘clever’. 3U - they helped to explain (1) to people who could not read (2) bible stories about what God was like and how Jesus lived and died (3)

Verse 3

7. How successful do you find the comparison between the tourists and hens? 2U - it helps the reader to understand how quickly (“rush”) they they moving, the happy noises they were making (“clucking contentedly”). 8. Why do you think the poet chooses to use the word “fluttered” to describe the way the tourists follow the priest? 2A - it shows how lightly they took things, how little they cared, or how (like chicks to their mother) they stuck to him (suggests they were not thinking for themselves). 9. Look at lines 18 – 20. Write down three short expressions which develop the idea of the tourists as hens. 3U - clucking - fluttered - scattered the grain 10. Look at lines 21 – 24. Write down thee short expressions which develop the idea of “ruined” in line 21. 3U - eyes wept pus - back was higher than his head - lopside mouth 11. Which of these three expressions do you find the most powerful? Write it down and explain your answer. 2A - choose one and go on explain why eg “eyes wept pus” powerfully suggests how ill, how diseased he was 12. Explain in your own words how the dwarf says “thank you” (Grazie). 2A - in a beautiful childlike voice, or like the tiny chirp of a bird

Think about the poem as a whole:

13. Using two or three quotes from the poem write a paragraph explaining how you feel about the dwarf. 6A/E - only sympathetic answers are acceptable 14. Using two or three quotes from the poem write a paragraph explaining how you feel about the priest. 6 A/E - only unsympathetic answers are acceptable