A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat (Edexcel IGCSE English Language A)

• The title is a juxtaposition of the Western game of polo with the ridiculous and barbaric image of a headless goat:

  • Polo is a sport with imperial and colonial connections, and it is still considered an upper-class sport

  • The image of the headless goat is both absurd and primitive, with goats associated with a simpler and less sophisticated way of life in the East

• The writer describes her assumptions, which are influenced by the West, and the reality of the race:

  • The use of parenthesis in “(no lane discipline here)” shows her Western perspective about the rules of the road

  • This is further emphasised when she “assumed the winner was the one who completed the race”

• Levine also uses Western cultural references, such as “Wacky Races” and “Formula One without rules” to give the reader some reference points with which to compare her experience:

  • She appears incredulous at the “complete flouting of every type of traffic rule and common sense”

• Cultural differences are highlighted at the end of the passage, when Yaqoob reveals that he is underage and doesn’t have a licence, which he and Iqbal find hilarious:

  • Levine was “glad he hadn’t told me before” as she views this as a breach of rules and the law

  • The whole race and how it is conducted is an example of something that simply would not happen in Britain

• The tension at the end of the race, caused by the arguments over the winner, mean that Levine’s two young drivers decide to remove her from the situation:

  • They were “nervous of hanging around a volatile situation” and ordered her to stay inside the car

  • This suggests that the situation might turn quickly into something more hostile, emphasising the lack of rules or laws governing the event

• There appears to be very little concern for the donkeys’ welfare, as the animals are racing with a variety of vehicles which “jostled to get to the front of the convoy”:

  • The donkeys had to race into oncoming traffic, and the leading donkey fell at the end of the race

  • The difference in cultures between the writer and the people of Karachi is observed by Levine

• The passage begins in the middle of the action, referring to the “lads” without context or explanation:

  • This adds to the sense of excitement

• The events are described in the chronological order of the race, as though the events have some sense of order and control:

  • This is ironic as the entire race seems to be disorganised and chaotic

• Levine refers to her drivers as “lads” and uses colloquialisms such as “punters” and “massive pile up”:

  • This is to make the passage relatable to Western readers

• The abrupt ending “The race was over” contrasts with the previous more complex sentences, making the end of the race an anti-climax

• The humorous tone of the passage is meant to entertain and to highlight the cultural differences that Levine observes

• Levine employs cartoon-like imagery, suggested by the reference to the cartoon “Wacky Races”, to imply she cannot believe what she is seeing:

  • “In front of a cloud of fumes and dust” and “dive into the ditch” evoke the action in chaotic, mad-cap cartoons

• While Levine finds the donkey race chaotic and possibly dangerous, the local people find it completely normal:

  • This may be a warning not to impose Western ideals and expectations onto different cultures

• The writer employs onomatopoeia in “horns tooting, bells ringing” to emphasise the chaos and excitement

• The tone of the passage could be considered to be judgemental, as the author compares what she considers to be normal to the sense of lawlessness she finds in this event:

  • This implies that this culture is perceived to be uncivilised in comparison

• Rule of three, or triads, are used in “voices were raised, fists were out and tempers rising” to build the tension and atmosphere, which seems to be getting more out of control

• The vehicles following the donkeys are “roaring up in their wake”, suggesting a fierce pursuit

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