Britain ruled about a
three fifth of India from
1858 to 1947 during a
period called Raj
The rest of the country was
split up into states or
principalities with which the
British worked
Many Britons went to
India to "serve" in
different job
Many Indian people with the support
of Gandhi came to feel that India
should rule itself and therefore India
gained independence in August
1947.
After independence, a
split happened between
the Hindus and the
Muslims. Pakistan was
created for the Muslim
community. The split is
known as the "Partition" .
Millions of people like Meena's
father's family found
themselves on the wrong side
of the new frontiers. People
tried to move to the right place
and violence tended to erupt
when the two groups met.
A small number of Indians
(mainly doctors, businessmen
and lawyers) established
themselves in Britain when the
Raj began. By the beginning of
the 20th century poorer Indians
gathered at British seaports.
After WW2 and Independence,
they came in larger numbers from
areas such as the Punjab where
the Partition had been a problem.
Many had professional
qualifications but most were
unskilled workers who came
because of the work opportunities
in factories. They could earn
much better money in Britain.
Some migrants found that
British people reacted badly to
them, insulting them and
accusing them of taking their
jobs and they sometimes found
that housing and social
conditions were not as good as
they had hoped. Some found
the adjustment of moving form
extended families very difficult.
AUTHOR
In 1961, Meera Syal was born in
Essington, a former mining
village. Her parents had migrated
here from India before she was
born, in search of a better life.
Her father's family had
been involved in fighting
got Independence and
had to flee their home of
Lahore in Pakistan to
Delhi in India.
Meera's grandfather
from her mother's side
marched from Amritsar
to Jaito as a freedom
fighter for which he
was later honoured.
Meera sat the 11-plus and went
to a girls' grammar school before
going on to university where she
studied English and Drama,
graduating with a top degree.
EXAM INFORMATION
Written paper which
is 45 minutes long
25% of
qualification
A02:10%; AO4:15%
Candidates respond to one
question on one of the set texts.
Passage-based questions, essay
questions.
Characteristics of high achieving responses:
Focus on the
question, referencing
key words occasionally
in the body of the
response as well as in
the opening paragraph
Illuminating
references to the
social, cultural and/or
historical context
Illuminating references
to related events in
other parts of the novel
(passage-based
questions)
Effective use of
embedded quotations
Use of direct quotations
with attached comments
tying the quote back into
the point being made;
often also back to the
initial (topic) sentence of
the paragraph (PEE
structure)
Specific analysis of
language (AO2). This could
include the novel’s structure;
the use of figurative
language; the use of irony;
reference to grammatical and
graphic features (punctuation,
sentence length, italics)