Miss Lucy, The Cottages and Ruth's Possible

Question 1

‘She said we weren’t being __________ enough’ (page 29)

Answer 1

taught

Question 2

Which character believes that the clones aren’t ‘being taught enough’ (page 29)

Answer 2

Miss Lucy

Question 3

she looked like a crouching ___________ waiting to pounce’ (page 78)

Answer 3

animal

Question 4

Who is described as ‘like a crouching ___________ waiting to pounce’ (page 78)

Answer 4

Miss Lucy - just before she speaks to the clones about how they have been ‘told and not told’ (page 79)

Question 5

‘The problem, as I see it, is that you’ve been ________ and not ___________’ (page 78)

Answer 5

told

Question 6

How does Ishiguro use pathetic fallacy during the part where Miss Lucy speaks to the clones?

Answer 6

He repeatedly refers to the ‘downpour’, as well as the ‘rainy sky’ and how ‘the rain kept going’ (page 78). This heavy rain perhaps symbolises the clones being suddenly exposed to a harsh and unignorable truth.

Question 7

What technique is used here? ‘None of you will go to America, none of you will be film stars,. And none of you will be working in supermarkets’ (page 80)

Answer 7

anaphoric repetition

Question 8

‘None of you will go to America, none of you will be film stars,. And none of you will be working in __________’ (page 80)

Answer 8

supermarkets

Question 9

What event concludes part one of the novel?

Answer 9

Miss Lucy leaving Hailsham

Question 10

Why does Ishiguro conclude part one of the novel with Miss Lucy leaving Hailsham?

Answer 10

It represents the literal and metaphorical end of a chapter.

Question 11

‘Tommy’s eyes looked _________’ (page 109)

Answer 11

empty

Question 12

At what point does Ishiguro describe that ‘Tommy’s eyes looked empty’?

Answer 12

When Miss Lucy leaves Hailsham at the end of part one. Miss Lucy is shown to have a close relationship with Tommy, as she reassures him, ‘if I didn’t want to be creative…that was perfectly alright’ (page 23)

Question 13

Why does Ishiguro place the setting of The Cottages straight after Hailsham?

Answer 13

Ishiguro does this to juxtapose these two environments. Although Hailsham is perhaps not as idyllic as Kathy suggests, it is much more better than the bleak and inhospitable environment of The Cottages.

Question 14

What is the caretaker at the cottages called?

Answer 14

Keffers

Question 15

Who do the clones try to think of ‘as a sort of guardian’ although he is described as ‘having none of it’ (p115)

Answer 15

Keffers

Question 16

‘the cottages were the remains of a __________ that had gone out of business’ (page 114)

Answer 16

farm

Question 17

What is the significance of the cottages being described as ‘the remains of a farm’ (page 114)

Answer 17

It conveys how the clones are seen as other and inhuman. It also links to how the clones are ‘farmed’ for their organs.

Question 18

‘the outlying ones, that were virtually _________ / ___________’ (page 114)

Answer 18

falling down

Question 19

Which setting is being described here? ‘the outlying ones, that were virtually falling down ‘ (page 114)

Answer 19

The cottages

Question 20

Why does Ishiguro describe that the cottages were ‘virtually falling down’ (page 114)

Answer 20

It conveys the lack of care given to the clones. The cottages, like Kingsfield, present that the cloning programme has been rushed without proper thought given to suitable facilities.

Question 21

‘He didn’t like to ________ to us much’ (page 114)

Answer 21

talk

Question 22

Who is being described here? ‘He didn’t like to talk to us much’ (page 114)

Answer 22

Keffers

Question 23

What is the significance of Keffers’ dismissive attitude towards the clones?

Answer 23

Keffers is an embodiment of the way that wider society sees the clones.

Question 24

Why does Ishiguro describe the cottages as being ‘chilly’ (page 115), ‘really cold’ (page 115) and ‘the rough ground frozen bone hard’? (page 116)

Answer 24

The repeated links to the cold convey how, at the cottages, the clones become exposed to the harshness of the real world for the first time, which juxtaposes Hailsham and part one.

Question 25

‘We could see hills in the distance that reminded us of the ones in the distance at Hailsham, but they seemed to us oddly _________’ (page 116)

Answer 25

crooked

Question 26

Why does Kathy describe how the ‘hills in the distance’ at the cottages ‘reminded us of the ones in the distance at Hailsham, but…oddly crooked’ (page 116)

Answer 26

It conveys how the cottages are similar to Hailsham, albeit a distorted and much less welcoming version.

Question 27

'’There was a great big ___________ front at street level…a large open-plan office’ (page 156)

Answer 27

glass

Question 28

What is the significance of the open-plan office being glass?

Answer 28

It represents a life of freedom and humanity that the clones can see, but never truly achieve.

Question 29

‘the potted palms, the __________ machines and the swooping desk lamps’ (page 156)

Answer 29

shiny

Question 30

Why does Ishiguro describe the open-plan office like this: ‘the potted palms, the shiny machines and the swooping desk lamps’ (page 156)?

Answer 30

The listing represents the modern and comfortable setting of the open-plan office, which contrasts the old and out of date environment of the cottages.

Question 31

‘smart, cosy __________ - ____________ world’ (page 156)

Answer 31

self-contained

Question 32

Which setting is described as a ‘smart, cosy self-contained world’ (page 156)

Answer 32

the glass open-plan office

Question 33

What is the significance of the glass office, where the clones see Kathy’s possible, being ‘open plan’?

Answer 33

It represents a sense of freedom, and juxtaposes the restrictions that the clones face.

Question 34

‘We’re modelled from __________. Junkies, prostitutes, winos, tramps.’ (page 164).

Answer 34

trash

Question 35

What technique is used here: ‘We’re modelled from trash. Junkies, prostitutes, winos, tramps.’ (page 164)?

Answer 35

The listing conveys Kathy’s anger and pain, as she realises that she will never find her ‘possible’, and therefore never claim a human identity.

Question 36

But now, in that gallery, the woman was too ____________, much _____________than we’d ever really wanted’ (page 161)

Answer 36

close/closer

Question 37

‘This broke the __________ and we took to our heels’ (page 157)

Answer 37

spell

Question 38

What event in 1997 may have influenced the novel?

Answer 38

The cloning of Dolly the sheep, the first mammal to be cloned.

Question 39

Dolly The Sheep was cloned in 1997 by a scientist from Scotland - how is this idea explored in the novel?

Answer 39

Miss Emily describes how places like Hailsham were closed due to the dubious work of a scientist called James Morningdale, who ‘carried on his work in a remote part of Scotland [and] wanted to offer people the possibility of having children with enhanced characteristics’

Question 40

How did the cloning of Dolly the sheep in 1997 lead to more widespread fears about biotechnology?

Answer 40

Some people became concerned about the prospect of ‘designer babies’ and human genetic modification.

Question 41

How might Dolly the sheep have influenced the novel?

Answer 41

Dolly the sheep was the first mammal to be cloned (in 1997). This led to more widespread societal fears about the possibilities of human cloning and genetic modification.