Task 2D: Taking on responsibility at a young age

Introduction

Task 2D requires you to create a text discussing a character who takes on responsibility at a young age. You may discuss one of the characters presented in text 9, or another character from a text or film that you studied in class.

In this section, we will discuss Sam from text 9, which is an extract from the novel Slam by Nick Hornby. You can also use this as inspiration to discuss another character of your choosing (including Alicia from the same extract).

Your text should cover the following points: introduce the character you are going to discuss, explore the challenges that the character faces when taking on these responsibilities, present and discuss the character’s thoughts and feelings while taking on this challenge or responsibility, and discuss how the text may affect readers’ understanding of what it means to be “old enough”.

Presentation of the character

Text 9 presents Sam, a 16-year-old “skater and school pupil” (l.1). He has an “on-again, off-again girlfriend, Alicia” (ll. 1-2). This suggests that Sam has typical preoccupations for his age. However, Sam and Alicia are also expecting a baby together. Sam lives with his mother; the extract does not mention his father and Sam says that he’s only been “on a few holidays with Mum” (l. 37), which could that Sam’s father might not be pr...