The Headman's Silence: Evidence vs. Sympathy in a Prose Answer
During a Grade 10 mock examination, 42 candidates answer a 6-mark prose question on an extract printed in the paper. In the extract, U Rynjah, a village headman, folds his hands while a boy accuses a trader of stealing paddles. The villagers wait. U Rynjah says nothing until the rain stops, then walks to the river and returns the paddles he had hidden under the jetty. The mark scheme asks candidates to 'explain the headman's motive using two details from the extract.' One student writes, 'U Rynjah is a coward; he keeps quiet because he is afraid of the trader.' Another writes, 'His silence is a test: he waits for the villagers to choose justice before he acts.' The teacher has eight minutes per script and must decide whether the first answer deserves any of the 6 marks, and how to reward the second answer if it omits the detail about the hidden paddles.
1. Adjudicate between the two responses. Which deserves more credit under the wording 'explain the headman's motive using two details'? Give a mark and justify it with the extract.
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Evidence is the gate in this wording. Candidate A offers a motive ('coward') but no detail; 'afraid of the trader' is invented. It is relevant to motive but unsupported, so award 1/6 for a plausible inference, not more. Candidate B offers a motive ('test') and uses one textual detail: the silence while the villagers wait. That detail does support 'test', but the answer omits the hidden paddles and the return, which are the strongest evidence of a deliberate plan. Award 4/6: two marks for a defensible motive, two for one well-used detail, with the missing second detail preventing the top band. If B had written 'he hides the paddles and returns them only after the rain, so the silence is a test of the village's willingness to act', that would be 6/6. Candidate A cannot reach the top band because the claim cannot be checked against the extract.
2. Rewrite the question so that a candidate cannot score by retelling the plot, and explain what the new wording makes visible.
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Rewrite: 'Choose two details from the extract and explain how each supports one interpretation of U Rynjah's silence. Then name one detail that could support a different interpretation.' This makes plot retelling insufficient because every sentence must attach a detail to an interpretation and consider a counter-detail. It also exposes candidates who only know the story: they can summarise events but cannot select details that pull in opposite directions. The counter-detail requirement is important because the hidden paddles can support 'test' but also 'shame' or 'protectiveness'; the candidate must choose and justify.
3. One script says the headman is 'proud'. Is that acceptable? Give a two-sentence ruling.
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Accept 'proud' only as a partial inference: folded hands and waiting can suggest dignity, but the return of the paddles undercuts pride as the main motive. Award 2/6 if the script links 'proud' to the folded hands and acknowledges the return; award 0-1 if it asserts pride without a detail. The ruling should state that an adjective is not a motive unless it is tied to an action in the extract.