To what extent is Miss Emily a hopeful character?

How far would you agree that Tommy believes that the system can be challenged?

How does Ruth change as the novel progresses?

Why don't the students rebel more against their fates?

To achieve the highest marks in your exam response, you will need to offer a personal and perceptive interpretation.

This means that you need to:

- ask questions of the characters

- think about all of the different ways we might view them - positive and negative

- think about whether they change throughout the play

- try to evaluate how far we can say they possess a particular characteristic

Remember that you will also need to show close analysis of the writer's techniques in presenting a particular character and relate your ideas to the key contextual factors surrounding the novel.

In this activity, you will evaluate how each character is presented in 'Never Let Me Go'.

You should always refer to your own text when working through these examples.  These quotations are for reference only.