SACE English Literary Studies Practice Questions

The repeated empty chair establishes a routine whose meaning is not explained. The new singer interrupts that arrangement, and Neri’s unfinished movement towards speech suggests an impulse to object or explain. The conjunction “then” shifts attention from that withheld response to practical assistance: moving the stand enables his participation. Her response therefore appears divided between attachment to the earlier arrangement and accommodation of its change.

The action does not prove that she welcomes him without reservation. Nor does the empty chair establish a death, dismissal or particular prior occupant. The text makes the change emotionally suggestive while withholding its history. Neri’s care is shown through an action that helps the singer, rather than through an explicit declaration of acceptance. The miniature thus permits a qualified reading of adjustment: she acts to include him even though the interrupted speech leaves her initial reaction unresolved.

Original marking guide: one mark for each distinct achievement below. Credit other supported interpretations; do not award the same observation twice.

1. Identify the empty chair as an established routine, citing repetition.
2. Explain the new singer’s interruption of that routine.
3. Interpret the unfinished speech without inventing its exact words.
4. Connect moving the stand with enabling participation.
5. Develop a qualified account of mixed or changing response.
6. Explicitly distinguish a plausible inference from an unsupported backstory.