1. Poetic Devices The technique behind the words

13. IN THE MIDST OF HARDSHIP

18. ‘ QWERTYUIOP’ by Vivien Alcock is about a young graduate, Lucy Beck who has just finished her ‘O’ levels at Belmont Secretarial College. Being a slow typist, her principal has no confidence that she will find a job. Fortunately, she is offered a job by Mr. Ross, the Manager of Ross and Bannister’s. On her first day in office, as she sets down to work, she encounters peculiar incidents . Later, she discovers the ghost of Miss Broome, a previous long-time secretary, who now haunts her typewriter. Towards the end of the story, Lucy gets rid of the spirit, which is adamant in holding on to her position as the company’s secretary. She communicates with ‘Miss Broome’ through the typewriter and suggests that Mr. Bannister who has passed away needs her service ‘up there’ and bids her farewell.

20. Characters

22. Do not judge a book by its cover. Do not judge a person by his/her physical appearance or qualification. When we really want something , we should persevere Problems can be solved effectively through thoughtful actions and compassion

23. Diction (the choice of words used in the story) use of vocabulary to create eerie, paranormal atmosphere … There was something odd! A sudden wrongness felt by her fingers, a tingling, an icy pricking simple vocabulary; short dialogues; lots of exclamation marks (!) to show emotion; different fonts to indicate typed messages – e.g. capital letters to indicate Miss Broome’s anger in her typed message; use of italics ( her) to show emphasis

24. Simile The story has many interesting similes e.g . shot off like a scalded cat; with your fingers flying over the keys like white butterflies; straight as a rule;, like a squat, ugly monster; like badly fitting false teeth; like melting ice-cream; eyes like currants, etc. Metaphor e.g. You’re not the timid mouse you look, Miss Beck. You’re a right little lion .; mouse-colored Onomatopoeia The word imitates and echoes the sounds it tries to describe e.g. rattle, snapping, tapping , etc. Colloquial language e.g. the old bag (the elderly lady); who would get the chop (who would be dismissed from the job) Imagery e.g. –grey hair - a thick icing of white hair