Up, up and away

I have produced a model answer for the June 2011 Past Paper Question 2 many of your completed in class on Tuesday. For those of you who didn’t complete the task and opted for Question 1 please read this and look at the Idiot’s Guide to Question 2.  Source below followed by answer.

Source 2

Up, up and away–the day that armchair travel really took off

by Valentine Low

As the young stowaway says in the film Up: “You know, most people take a plane.” Jonathan Trappe did not take a plane. Yesterday as the sun rose over the Kent countryside he filled several dozen balloons with helium, strapped himself into a chair and headed across the English Channel.

Four hours later he landed in a cabbage field in France, the first cluster balloonist to cross the Channel and, for the French police who arrived to question him, possibly the most unexpected visitor of the year.

Mr Trappe, 36, just thinks it is fun. And much better than a hot-air balloon, “It is unique,” he said. “A hot-air balloon is beautiful but makes a huge roar. A gas balloon is the only kind of aircraft that flies in complete silence. I can hear the waves from a thousand feet.”

“Didn’t you have this dream,” he said, “just this wonderful fantasy of grabbing on to toy balloons and floating into open space?”

The Channel was, he said, an “iconic ribbon of water”, and yesterday he set off from the Kent Gliding Club to a destination unknown; although with any luck it was going to be in France rather than, say, the sea: with no immersion suit, Mr Trappe was ill equipped for a water landing.

“There are risks and we work methodically to reduce the risk so we can have a safe and fun flight,” said Mr Trappe, a trained pilot. “Because really it’s only about dreams and enjoying an adventure and that’s only enjoyable when it is safe.”

After touching down near Dunkirk he described sailing over the white cliffs of Dover as “an exceptional, quiet, peaceful and beautiful experience”.

Now here’s the question from the paper and my model answer using the Idiot’s Guide to Question 2. I have used the checklist and have separated each point so you can clearly see this. 8 solid and developed points made here! Therefore I would be awarded 8 marks! It’s not rocket science.

Now read Source 2, the article and the picture which goes with it called ‘Up, up and away – the day that armchair travel really took off’ by Valentine Low.

2. Explain how the headline and picture are effective and how they link to the text. (8 marks)

The headline is effective because it encapsulates what the text is about; Jonathon Trappe has gone up, tied to the helium balloons by a chair and crossed the Channel to France.

The headline is bold so therefore stands out on the page attracting the reader.

The repetition of ‘Up’ in the headline provides a picture in the reader’s mind as ‘up’ is the way you go in a balloon much like Trappe in the article. ‘Up’ also links to the recent Disney film that is referenced in the first line of the article – ‘As the young stowaway says in the film Up: “You know, most people take a plane.”’

 ‘Armchair travel’ works like a pun here and is ironic because armchair travellers just talk about going places or watch others but don’t, themselves, go anywhere, whereas Trappe has strapped his armchair to the balloons and gone ‘up and away’ –he is literally doing armchair travel.

The picture is effective because there are numerous written references to what is in the picture – ‘several dozen balloons’, ‘strapped himself into a chair’, ‘grabbing on to toy balloons’. The danger of Jonathon Trappe’s task is reflected in the picture as well as in the text: ‘there are risks and we work methodically to reduce the risks’.

The picture has a prominent position under the headline therefore engaging the readers instantly.

The picture is colourful and eye catching – the use of primary colours for the balloons can be interpreted as almost child-like which contrasts sharply with the challenge Mr Trappe has faced.

The picture is effective as it is very dramatic. Looking at bunch of ‘party balloons’ with a man strapped underneath; the view of the coast is breathtaking and quite beautiful and in contrast the chair looks very small and vulnerable. The picture is almost humourous and thus questions the reader. 

Miss O