The cracked cup
An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.
Ellen carried the tea tray across the kitchen, counting the cups as she went. When the tray touched the edge of the table, one cup slipped, struck the fender and broke. Ellen stood still. She gathered the pieces into her apron and, hearing footsteps in the passage, pushed them behind the coal scuttle.
Mrs Bell entered and looked at the tray. “There should be seven cups,” she said.
Ellen kept her eyes on the carpet. “There are only six, ma’am.”
“I can count as well as you. Where is the other?”
Ellen brought out the broken pieces. “I dropped it. I was afraid you would send me away.”
Mrs Bell examined the pieces without anger. “The cup cannot be made whole by hiding it. Nor can a servant’s mistake be corrected if she will not speak of it.”
Ellen expected a sharp reply, but Mrs Bell only opened the cupboard and took out a plain earthenware cup. “Carry this to the parlour. Afterwards, you will sweep the fragments and tell me at once if anything else is damaged.”
Ellen served the tea with the plain cup among the china ones. When she returned, she said that she should have spoken immediately. Mrs Bell nodded. “Remember that, and you will have learnt more than the cup was worth.”
Evaluate how successfully the writer presents the importance of admitting a mistake. Refer closely to the passage as you develop your judgement.
In your response, you may wish to consider:
456 exam-style questions on Edexcel GCSE English Language 1.3 Content: prose fiction study requirements, covering 1.3.1 Read challenging prose fiction for the unseen 19th-century extract. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.