Literature Homework

Q1.
From Geoffrey Lean’s article, we learn that the weather divides England into the drier South and East and the wetter North and West. The phrase “we are two nations when it comes to weather” shows how England is split in two because of our varying weather patterns. We learn that in certain parts of England, drought is a major factor as the amount of rainfall in the South and East is very low. We also learn that as there is a greater accumulation of rain in the North and West, there is a larger risk of flooding.

We also learn that England is to be built up even more. This is shown by the phrase “Another one and a half million homes have been planned for the overcrowded region over the next 15 years”. This shows us that the Government are planning to further increase the problem by using up the little space we have left by building even more housing. This increases the flood risk in most places as there is no land for it to drain off.

Also, we find out that many houses in Britain are on land that is likely to flood. “half of all the housing in Britain since the Second World War has been plonked down on land prone to flooding” shows that as the houses were placed very randomly, many homes are at risk of flooding. This means that damage rates will increases as the houses have been there for a long time, meaning they have probably been flood damaged many times.

Finally, we can see that the two sections of Britain act on each other. The phrase “ As the South East gets drier, the damper part of the country is likely to suffer increasing floods” shows how the dryness in one part of the country leads to increasing rainfall in other parts. We learn that as the South and East of the country is the driest part, the North and the West will therefore feel the opposite side effects.

Q3.
The first thought of Christopher Ondaatje was that where he was formed part of history. The phrase “on an inlet of a huge and beautiful expanse of water and thought about the role...