Source A: An extract from the novel ‘Regeneration’ by Pat
Barker
This extract is taken from a key moment in the novel in which a soldier during World War I
suffers from shell shock (PTSD) remembers the bombing of his trench.
1 He had first trench watch. He gulped a mug of chlorine-tasting tea, and then
started walking along to the outermost position on their left. A smell of bacon frying.
In the third fire bay he found Sawdon and Towers crouched over a small fire made out
of shredded sandbags and candle ends, coaxing the flames. He stopped to chat for a
5 few minutes, and Towers, blinking under the green mushroom helmet, looked up and
offered him tea. A quiet day, he thought, walking on. Not like the last few days, when
the bombardment had gone on for seventy hours, and they’d stood-to five times
expecting a German counter-attack. Damage from that bombardment was
everywhere: crumbling parapets, flooded saps, dugouts with gagged mouths.
10
He’d gone, perhaps, three fire bays along when he heard the whoop of a shell,
and, spinning round, saw the scrawl of dusty brown smoke already drifting away. He
thought it’d gone clear over, but then he heard a cry and, feeling sick in his stomach,
he ran back. Logan was there already. It must have been Logan’s cry he heard, for
nothing in that devastation could have had a voice. A conical black hole, still smoking,
had been driven into the side of the trench. Of the kettle, the frying pan, the carefully
15 tended fire, there was no sign, and not much of Sawdon and Towers either, or not
much that was recognizable.
There was a pile of sandbags and shovels close by, stacked against the
parapet by a returning work party. He reached for a shovel. Logan picked up a
sandbag and held it open, and he began shovelling soil, flesh and splinters of
20 blackened bone into the bag. As he shovelled, he retched. He felt something jar
against his teeth and saw that Logan was offering him a rum bottle. He forced down
bile and rum together. Logan kept his face averted as the shovelling went on. He was
swearing under his breath, steadily, blasphemously, obscenely, inventively.
Somebody came running. ‘Don’t stand there gawping, man,’ Logan said. ‘Go and get
some lime.’
25
They’d almost finished when Prior shifted his position on the duckboards,
glanced down, and found himself staring into an eye. Delicately, like somebody
selecting a particularly choice morsel from a plate, he put his thumb and forefinger
down through the duckboards. His fingers touched the smooth surface and slid before
they managed to get a hold. He got it out, transferred it to the palm of his hand, and
30 held it out towards Logan. He could see his hand was shaking, but the shaking didn’t
seem to be anything to do with him. ‘What am I supposed to do with this gobstopper?’
He saw Logan blink and knew he was afraid. At last Logan reached out, grasped his
shaking wrist, and tipped the eye into the bag. ‘Williams and me’ll do the rest, sir. You
go on back now.’
35
Q4: Focus this part of your answer on the second part of the source, from line 11 to the end.
A student, having read this section of the text, said: “In this part of the text, the writer shows the
horrifying effects of the bombing.”
To what extent do you agree?
In your response, you could:
Consider your own impressions of the effects of the bombing
Evaluate how the writer creates a sense of horror
Support your opinions with quotations from the text. [20 marks]
Barker
This extract is taken from a key moment in the novel in which a soldier during World War I
suffers from shell shock (PTSD) remembers the bombing of his trench.
1 He had first trench watch. He gulped a mug of chlorine-tasting tea, and then
started walking along to the outermost position on their left. A smell of bacon frying.
In the third fire bay he found Sawdon and Towers crouched over a small fire made out
of shredded sandbags and candle ends, coaxing the flames. He stopped to chat for a
5 few minutes, and Towers, blinking under the green mushroom helmet, looked up and
offered him tea. A quiet day, he thought, walking on. Not like the last few days, when
the bombardment had gone on for seventy hours, and they’d stood-to five times
expecting a German counter-attack. Damage from that bombardment was
everywhere: crumbling parapets, flooded saps, dugouts with gagged mouths.
10
He’d gone, perhaps, three fire bays along when he heard the whoop of a shell,
and, spinning round, saw the scrawl of dusty brown smoke already drifting away. He
thought it’d gone clear over, but then he heard a cry and, feeling sick in his stomach,
he ran back. Logan was there already. It must have been Logan’s cry he heard, for
nothing in that devastation could have had a voice. A conical black hole, still smoking,
had been driven into the side of the trench. Of the kettle, the frying pan, the carefully
15 tended fire, there was no sign, and not much of Sawdon and Towers either, or not
much that was recognizable.
There was a pile of sandbags and shovels close by, stacked against the
parapet by a returning work party. He reached for a shovel. Logan picked up a
sandbag and held it open, and he began shovelling soil, flesh and splinters of
20 blackened bone into the bag. As he shovelled, he retched. He felt something jar
against his teeth and saw that Logan was offering him a rum bottle. He forced down
bile and rum together. Logan kept his face averted as the shovelling went on. He was
swearing under his breath, steadily, blasphemously, obscenely, inventively.
Somebody came running. ‘Don’t stand there gawping, man,’ Logan said. ‘Go and get
some lime.’
25
They’d almost finished when Prior shifted his position on the duckboards,
glanced down, and found himself staring into an eye. Delicately, like somebody
selecting a particularly choice morsel from a plate, he put his thumb and forefinger
down through the duckboards. His fingers touched the smooth surface and slid before
they managed to get a hold. He got it out, transferred it to the palm of his hand, and
30 held it out towards Logan. He could see his hand was shaking, but the shaking didn’t
seem to be anything to do with him. ‘What am I supposed to do with this gobstopper?’
He saw Logan blink and knew he was afraid. At last Logan reached out, grasped his
shaking wrist, and tipped the eye into the bag. ‘Williams and me’ll do the rest, sir. You
go on back now.’
35
Q4: Focus this part of your answer on the second part of the source, from line 11 to the end.
A student, having read this section of the text, said: “In this part of the text, the writer shows the
horrifying effects of the bombing.”
To what extent do you agree?
In your response, you could:
Consider your own impressions of the effects of the bombing
Evaluate how the writer creates a sense of horror
Support your opinions with quotations from the text. [20 marks]
