Topic 10 (session A) - Prose analysis > Bilgewater: General > Task A > Our answers

Bilgewater: General

Task A: Our answers

Question 1: How many interviews does the candidate experience?

There are three interviews.

Question 2: What order are they presented in (i.e. which sentences relate to which interview?)?

The three interviews are not presented in chronological order. This discoursal reordering indicates viewpoint manipulation. Sentences 1-13 are related to the third and final interview. Sentences 14-17 refer to the first interview, and sentences 18-37 are about the second. Then, from sentence 38 onwards, we return to the third interview and what happens immediately after it. Effectively, then, sentences 14-37 form a 'flashback' to earlier parts of the candidate's day, suggesting that these earlier experiences are remembered by the candidate while she is in the middle of the final interview.

Question 3: At the end of the prologue has the candidate been offered a place or not?

We are not explicitly told that she has been offered a place, but because the third interview is an interview for a scholarship (see sentence 41), which are normally awarded to the best candidates, we can infer (via schematic knowledge about Oxbridge), even though it is not stated, that she must have been offered a place.

Question 4: Would she take up the place if one were offered?

The candidate appears to have definite reservations about going to Cambridge. It is described as a rather unwelcoming place (cold and dark) with people who have not treated her kindly (cf. the description of the first interview in particular). But in the third interview, and after, the principal seems more human, and we see some nice things (e.g. the courtyard of lovely proportions). So the candidate's attitude seems to become more positive as the passage goes on, and although we are not told so explicitly, it looks as if she is moving towards acceptance. In fact the rest of the novel (apart from the epilogue - which we won't tell you about, so as not to spoil the ending!) describes the experiences of the candidate (who we later learn has the nickname 'Bilgewater') in the summer in between school and university.

Do you know the derivation of 'nickname'?

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