Question 2: Model Answer (WJEC Eduqas GCSE English Language)

How does the writer try to make his trip to see gorillas sound like a very tiring but memorable experience?

You should comment on:

• What he says

• His use of language, tone and structure

• Other ways the writer tries to show that the visit was very tiring but memorable       [10]

You must refer to the text to support your comments.

If there is a safari that brings you closer, on foot, to wild beasts capable of mauling you, I’m not sure I care to be on it.

One second you are exhausted, struggling through thickets of bamboo in Rwanda’s National Park, pulling yourself up a steep slope, step by painful step. The next, you turn a corner and you gasp. Seated perhaps 30 feet away is one of the roughly 900 mountain gorillas remaining on Earth, a female, lovingly cradling an infant in her lap. She wraps one arm around the 6–month–old while scratching her own ear with a finger.

We freeze, then tiptoe forward to give all eight trekkers in our group a clear view. Cameras are lifted faster than pistols at a gunfight. Soon two siblings tumble out of the brush, abruptly disrupting the female’s one-on-one time. As they wrestle and roll, the mother flops on her back in surrender.

At the time of my trip, the gorilla family we saw consisted of a dominant male — the enormous silverback, Munyinya, — six females, five juveniles, and six infants. Thirty years ago, the gorilla population in Rwanda’s National Park had been thinned by poaching disease and habitat loss to an extremely endangered 250. Conservation efforts have brought the number gradually back to 480.

Access to the national park is severely restricted, with only 80 visitors permitted to take one of the guided gorilla treks each day. Groups of up to eight people are allowed to spend just one tightly monitored hour with the gorillas.

The park’s guides have expert knowledge of the national park, making it rare that guides do not find the gorillas. The trekkers have an early 6am start and it can take more than three hours of intense hiking to reach them. Our group ranged from a 29-year-old Italian woman to a 61-year-old Mexican man and we all managed just fine, although even the fittest of us were huffing and puffing twenty minutes in. Walking sticks were provided to each trekker, although everyone stumbled down a hill on their backside at some point.

Our guide offered one basic rule for gorilla watching: stay at least 22 feet away. They sometimes like to show off, so don’t freak out if the silverback suddenly starts beating his leathery chest, but if a gorilla moves toward you, just move calmly out of the way. Although guides do carry a gun, in more than 30 years, they have never had to shoot a gorilla and no visitor has ever been harmed in an incident involving one.

Our guide then demonstrated a few of the sounds that are used to communicate with the apes. ‘Mmmmm mah-mmm,’ he growled. Translated roughly, he said, this meant ‘good morning’. I wondered if there might also be a sound that, translated roughly, meant ‘smile for the camera’.

We found Munyinya in a shaded alcove, sitting upright with his legs crossed and his great furry hands draped over his knees. His size and the sweeping crown of his head distinguished him from the others. Surveying his domain, first left and then right, he could not have looked more like a king. As two youngsters tussled at his feet, he nudged one away so he could groom the other with long, nimble fingers.

Throughout our hour with the apes, the enduring wonder was just how close we could get. Keeping our voices low, our telephoto lenses poked through branches to find the new mother suckling her infant. There were magical moments when a juvenile twirled its way down a bamboo stalk and scampered past my leg, and a large female, perched just above us in low-hanging branches, methodically stripped bamboo stems.

Conservation in the park has become a national priority and much of the income from tourists is dedicated to fighting poaching. Rangers find many traps in the park each month. The intended prey are usually antelope and buffalo, but gorillas also occasionally find their way into the snares, one of the guides told us.

Permits to visit the gorillas are limited and expensive. But so long as the tourists keep coming, and the Rwandans continue to protect the gorillas’ habitat, they should continue to thrive.

The writer tries to make his trip to see gorillas sound like a very tiring but memorable experience by describing the effort it took to get to the animals in the jungle and by outlining how special it was. [Marking comment]

The writer begins by revealing that he knows of no other safari that would bring you as close to dangerous wild animals. However, to get to see the gorillas, he describes how physically difficult and exhausting the trek was, as he is described as “exhausted” and “struggling through thickets of bamboo”. He is also presented as climbing a steep slope “step by painful step”, which implies a slow and arduous journey. This is made worthwhile by the first sight of the gorillas, however, which makes him “gasp”, which is the reader’s first indication of how awe-inspiring this experience is. The figure of “roughly 900 mountain gorillas” emphasises what a rare and special sight this is. [Marking comment]

The writer indicates that what they are witnessing is memorable because their “cameras are lifted faster than pistols at a gunfight” suggesting that all of the group are keen to capture on film what they are seeing. [Marking comment] The rarity of the gorillas is highlighted through references to them being “extremely endangered” and the “conservation efforts” to protect them, and the trekkers themselves are in a special and privileged group as access to the National Park is “severely restricted” to just “80 visitors”. They are kept in small groups of eight people and are only allowed to spend an hour with the gorillas, thus conveying what an exclusive and memorable privilege the experience is.

As the passage progresses, the writer makes it clear that getting to the gorillas is a challenge. [Marking comment] They have an “early 6am start” and it can take “more than 3 hours of intense hiking” to get to the area where the gorillas live. The writer details the range of people in his group, highlighting the fact that “even the fittest of us were huffing and puffing”, showing how tiring and physically demanding the trek through the jungle is. However, it is also clear that what they experienced will stay in their memories, especially their encounter with the silverback, who could “not have looked more like a king”. The comparison of the male gorilla Munyinya to a monarch implies his power, strength and the imposing effect he has on the watchers. [Marking comment]

Towards the end of the passage, the writer reacts with astonishment and awe at how close they were able to get to the gorillas in their natural habitat, calling it an “enduring wonder”, suggesting that the memory will endure and stay with him. In addition, he mentions the “magical moments” he experienced, with the use of the word “magical” suggesting that this was something hardly to be believed. [Marking comment] He ends by reminding the reader that “permits to visit the gorillas are limited and expensive”, again reinforcing the exclusivity and rarity of the opportunities to have a similar experience, and therefore just how memorable it is if you are lucky enough to have one. [Marking comment]