ENG2613 LATEST EXAM
PACK 2025
QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS
FOR ASSISTANCE CONTACT
EMAIL:
, lOMoARcPSD|31863004
ENG2613/001/3/0/2025
Question 1
Read the two short stories below, then answer the question that follows:
The Robin’s Lament
By Amy Gozelski
It was the spring that my husband was dying from cancer. His diagnosis was one
the worst possible, and our peaceful lives, once filled with activities like playdates
homework, had become a relentless chaos of doctor appointments, chemothe
treatments, and midnight trips to the ER. Our household had changed so quickly
barely had time to process it, let alone prepare for all of the inevitabilities careenin
toward us. How had we gone from suburban normalcy to all of…this…in what see
like one blurred instant?
I thought about all of this in a few, rare quiet moments alone in front of the kitchen
I gratefully soaked in the calming warmth of the water and the satisfaction of a ba
full of simple problems. When I heard a commotion coming from the backyard, I g
a grudging sigh and looked out the window. A female robin flew a frantic circuit fr
the fence at the end of the garden to the roof of the shed and then back
sweeping low over a place in the grass before stopping to rest in the trees behind
fence every few passes. As it flew, it gave a strange, panicked-sounding call—a h
pitched, uneasy sound that raised goosebumps along my arms and neck. I watch
as the little bird completed one more fluttering pass over the lawn and settled in t
branches of a spruce. Half-drying my hands on a towel, I stepped barefoot over a
scattered toys and onto the cool patio steps.
Crossing the still-greening lawn, I came to the place that seemed to have upset th
bird and looked down. In the grass lay another robin, dead and nearly featherless
thought it was too big to be a hatchling, but if it was an adult, what had happened
its feathers? Was it a nearly grown but ill fledgling? With a sick feeling, I wondere
it could be the robin’s mate. I had a fleeting, guilty thought about the members of
household, especially the cats and the dog, and wondered if any of them could ha
3 |P a g e
, lOMoARcPSD|31863004
ENG2613/001/3/0/2025
been responsible, even though I was fairly certain they had all been indoors curle
in front of a movie with the kids since breakfast.
Ignoring a surge of nausea, I knelt in the grass to look more closely. The fragile b
looked deformed and unnatural, its tiny bones in grotesque bas-relief underneath
naked skin. Squeezing my eyes shut, I realized that it reminded me of a cancer p
a frail body ruined in equal parts by disease and cure.
The emerging spring life surrounding me seemed almost vulgar by comparison. L
red rhubarb buds poked up through wet dirt. Young weeds set the stage for their
wanton Mardi Gras inside the borders of my neglected flower beds. Everything ar
me was preparing for a season of growth and life and fecundity. The very air was
and heavy with it. But here, in the middle of it all…this little horror had been place
a cruel memorial to everything I was about to lose.
In the space of one breath, everything within me turned to confront the injustice o
perverse tableau. And that one breath kindled a primal, guttural scream so full of
that it burned my throat and lungs and eyes. Holding onto the face of the Earth w
both fists clutching clumps of sod, I screamed out sorrow and rage and ancient d
until my ears rang and tears came, not caring who or what might hear. Then, all a
once, as if shoved backward, I sat up. Not bothering to brush away my tears, I loo
up into the spruce tree where the robin sat, watching.
We observed each other in consecrated silence for a moment that seemed to stre
out into generations.
As I watched her, I wondered what she would do now. If this was her mate, would
let their eggs go cold and start over again with a new partner and a new nest? W
she go back and try to care for her young on her own? Maybe this was one of he
babies, and the others had already flown away? I pictured her returning to an em
nest and wondered if the quiet would bother her.
Finally, with a quick fluff of her feathers, she gathered herself and flew away into
woods. I stood up, grass and soil clinging to my hands and knees. I started towar
4 |P a g e
, lOMoARcPSD|31863004
ENG2613/001/3/0/2025
house to look for something to put the little body into so the cat, the dog, or espec
the kids, wouldn’t find it.
I could figure out what to do with it after the dishes were done.
Source: https://flashfictionmagazine.com/blog/2024/02/21/the-robins-lament/
Why the bat flies at night
By Kgosi Kgosi
Once upon a time, many, many moons ago, there was a bush rat called
Legotlo was a close friend of Mamanthwane – the bat. The two of them were alw
together. But Mamanthwane was jealous of Legotlo. Legotlo had many friends an
everyone liked him more than the bat. Legotlo also had a wife who loved him very
much. The bat was jealous of all these things that Legotlo had.
Legotlo and Mamanthwane always ate together. When the bat cooked, the food w
always very good. “How is it that when you make the soup it is so tasty?” asked t
bush rat. “I always boil myself in the water, and my flesh is sweet. That’s what ma
the soup so good,” explained the bat. But he was lying. Mamanthwane offered to
the bush rat how it was done. He got a pot of warm water that was not hot enoug
burn anyone, but he told Legotlo that the water was boiling hot. Then Mamanthwa
jumped into the pot and quickly got out again. When Mamanthwane served the so
it tasted as good as usual. Legotlo was amazed. The bat’s trick really does work,
thought.
After they had finished eating, the bush rat went home and told his wife that he w
going to make good soup just like the bat’s. His wife asked how he was going to d
that. “It’s a secret!” said Legotlo. Legotlo asked his wife to boil some water, which
did. When his wife was not looking, Legotlo jumped into the pot. Soon he was bo
in the water!
“Help me! Help me!” he screamed. “I am burning!”
5 |P a g e
PACK 2025
QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS
FOR ASSISTANCE CONTACT
EMAIL:
, lOMoARcPSD|31863004
ENG2613/001/3/0/2025
Question 1
Read the two short stories below, then answer the question that follows:
The Robin’s Lament
By Amy Gozelski
It was the spring that my husband was dying from cancer. His diagnosis was one
the worst possible, and our peaceful lives, once filled with activities like playdates
homework, had become a relentless chaos of doctor appointments, chemothe
treatments, and midnight trips to the ER. Our household had changed so quickly
barely had time to process it, let alone prepare for all of the inevitabilities careenin
toward us. How had we gone from suburban normalcy to all of…this…in what see
like one blurred instant?
I thought about all of this in a few, rare quiet moments alone in front of the kitchen
I gratefully soaked in the calming warmth of the water and the satisfaction of a ba
full of simple problems. When I heard a commotion coming from the backyard, I g
a grudging sigh and looked out the window. A female robin flew a frantic circuit fr
the fence at the end of the garden to the roof of the shed and then back
sweeping low over a place in the grass before stopping to rest in the trees behind
fence every few passes. As it flew, it gave a strange, panicked-sounding call—a h
pitched, uneasy sound that raised goosebumps along my arms and neck. I watch
as the little bird completed one more fluttering pass over the lawn and settled in t
branches of a spruce. Half-drying my hands on a towel, I stepped barefoot over a
scattered toys and onto the cool patio steps.
Crossing the still-greening lawn, I came to the place that seemed to have upset th
bird and looked down. In the grass lay another robin, dead and nearly featherless
thought it was too big to be a hatchling, but if it was an adult, what had happened
its feathers? Was it a nearly grown but ill fledgling? With a sick feeling, I wondere
it could be the robin’s mate. I had a fleeting, guilty thought about the members of
household, especially the cats and the dog, and wondered if any of them could ha
3 |P a g e
, lOMoARcPSD|31863004
ENG2613/001/3/0/2025
been responsible, even though I was fairly certain they had all been indoors curle
in front of a movie with the kids since breakfast.
Ignoring a surge of nausea, I knelt in the grass to look more closely. The fragile b
looked deformed and unnatural, its tiny bones in grotesque bas-relief underneath
naked skin. Squeezing my eyes shut, I realized that it reminded me of a cancer p
a frail body ruined in equal parts by disease and cure.
The emerging spring life surrounding me seemed almost vulgar by comparison. L
red rhubarb buds poked up through wet dirt. Young weeds set the stage for their
wanton Mardi Gras inside the borders of my neglected flower beds. Everything ar
me was preparing for a season of growth and life and fecundity. The very air was
and heavy with it. But here, in the middle of it all…this little horror had been place
a cruel memorial to everything I was about to lose.
In the space of one breath, everything within me turned to confront the injustice o
perverse tableau. And that one breath kindled a primal, guttural scream so full of
that it burned my throat and lungs and eyes. Holding onto the face of the Earth w
both fists clutching clumps of sod, I screamed out sorrow and rage and ancient d
until my ears rang and tears came, not caring who or what might hear. Then, all a
once, as if shoved backward, I sat up. Not bothering to brush away my tears, I loo
up into the spruce tree where the robin sat, watching.
We observed each other in consecrated silence for a moment that seemed to stre
out into generations.
As I watched her, I wondered what she would do now. If this was her mate, would
let their eggs go cold and start over again with a new partner and a new nest? W
she go back and try to care for her young on her own? Maybe this was one of he
babies, and the others had already flown away? I pictured her returning to an em
nest and wondered if the quiet would bother her.
Finally, with a quick fluff of her feathers, she gathered herself and flew away into
woods. I stood up, grass and soil clinging to my hands and knees. I started towar
4 |P a g e
, lOMoARcPSD|31863004
ENG2613/001/3/0/2025
house to look for something to put the little body into so the cat, the dog, or espec
the kids, wouldn’t find it.
I could figure out what to do with it after the dishes were done.
Source: https://flashfictionmagazine.com/blog/2024/02/21/the-robins-lament/
Why the bat flies at night
By Kgosi Kgosi
Once upon a time, many, many moons ago, there was a bush rat called
Legotlo was a close friend of Mamanthwane – the bat. The two of them were alw
together. But Mamanthwane was jealous of Legotlo. Legotlo had many friends an
everyone liked him more than the bat. Legotlo also had a wife who loved him very
much. The bat was jealous of all these things that Legotlo had.
Legotlo and Mamanthwane always ate together. When the bat cooked, the food w
always very good. “How is it that when you make the soup it is so tasty?” asked t
bush rat. “I always boil myself in the water, and my flesh is sweet. That’s what ma
the soup so good,” explained the bat. But he was lying. Mamanthwane offered to
the bush rat how it was done. He got a pot of warm water that was not hot enoug
burn anyone, but he told Legotlo that the water was boiling hot. Then Mamanthwa
jumped into the pot and quickly got out again. When Mamanthwane served the so
it tasted as good as usual. Legotlo was amazed. The bat’s trick really does work,
thought.
After they had finished eating, the bush rat went home and told his wife that he w
going to make good soup just like the bat’s. His wife asked how he was going to d
that. “It’s a secret!” said Legotlo. Legotlo asked his wife to boil some water, which
did. When his wife was not looking, Legotlo jumped into the pot. Soon he was bo
in the water!
“Help me! Help me!” he screamed. “I am burning!”
5 |P a g e
