p34/35 Laim and Aidan's House: exploring what it tells us about the characters and about Paddy's perceptions.

Notes:

Description
‘darker than ours’
‘all the chairs and things were bursting and falling apart’
sofa ‘full of hollows’
‘all the doors were open’
‘broken biscuits’
‘the material didn’t have any colour’
‘the kitchen table was the same as ours’
‘all different chairs’

What Paddy Thinks of It
‘it wasn’t dirty, the way a lot of people said it was’
‘messing on the sofa was great’
‘nobody ever told us to get off it’
‘I liked their house’
‘it was better for playing in’
‘I liked sitting in the hollow’
‘the material was great’
‘I didn’t like that’
‘all I ever had was sandwiches’

Other detail
Cadbury’s

Response:

The extract tells us that Liam and Aidan’s house is not very well looked after, as Paddy says ‘all the chairs and things were bursting and falling apart’ and the sofa was ‘full of hollows.’ This gives us a sense of the disorganisation in the house due to the death of the boys’ mother. Furthermore, Paddy describes that ‘all the doors were open’ in the house, suggesting the carelessness of Mr O’Connely regarding his sons as he lets them wander freely from room to room when they please. It is implied that the sofa is old and not cared for with the quote ‘the material didn’t have any colour’ as the colour of a material fades over time. It could also suggest that a lot of time is spent on the sofa, because the colour could rub off onto clothing etc.  

P10/11 Extract: What do we learn about Paddy and his father from the extract?

Notes:

Close

‘He put his hand on my shoulder’ –comforting and leading body language with which his father shows the close bond between him and Paddy.

‘I let him take it’

‘He held me so I didn’t fall off the chair’

Father tries with him

‘He dragged the armchair over for me to stand on’ –making an effort to ensure that Paddy can see a simple fingerprint.

‘Are they the same?’

Teaching

‘Did you know that?’ –enjoys teaching Paddy new things.

Trust

‘Who gave you this? he said

-You’ –he could have lied.

‘He held me so I didn’t fall off the chair’

Statement

Evidence

Xplanation/xplore

Response:

We learn more about the relationship between Paddy and his father from the extract. One aspect of this is their closeness. Their closeness is implied by the quote 'He put his hand on my shoulder' because his father uses this comforting and leading body language to show a close and influential bond. Another quote from the extract is 'I let him take it,' which shows that Paddy's father only needs to do so much as 'put his hand on the magnifying glass' for Paddy to respond in the way that his father wants him to. 'He held me so I didn't fall off the chair' is another piece of evidence, because it insinuates that his father doesn't want Paddy to get hurt and takes extra care to ensure that this doesn't happen.

Another thing we learn is that Paddy's father tries fairly hard with their relationship. We know this due to the quote 'He dragged the armchair over for me to stand on' which shows that his father is making an effort to ensure that Paddy can see something as simple as a fingerprint, and can learn from it. His father also asks him 'Are they the same?' knowing the answer to the question, yet giving Paddy a chance to answer it for himself, and he patiently does so again when Paddy metions the size difference and his father says 'Besides that.'

We also learn that a big aspect of their relationship is teaching. The quote 'Did you know that?' suggests that Paddy's father enjoys teaching him new things and being looked up to. This is emphasised further when Paddy answers with 'No' and his father says 'Well, now you do' almost as though he is quite smug with himself.