Dinner at Mangan’s House - The Perse Upper School 11+
Source passage
When the short days of winter came, dusk fell before we had eaten our dinners. When we met in the street the houses had grown sombre. The space of sky above us was the colour of ever-changing violet and towards it the lamps of the street lifted their feeble lanterns. The cold air stung us and we played till our bodies glowed. Our shouts echoed in the silent street. The career of our play brought us through the dark muddy lanes behind the houses, where we ran the gauntlet of the rough tribes from the cottages, to the back doors of the dark dripping gardens where odours arose from the ashpits, to the dark odorous stables where a coachman smoothed and combed the horse or shook music from the buckled harness. When we returned to the street, light from the kitchen windows had filled the areas.
If my uncle was seen turning the corner, we hid in the shadow until we had seen him safely housed. Or if Mangan's sister came out on the doorstep to call her brother in to his dinner, we watched her from our shadow peer up and down the street. We waited to see whether she would remain or go in and, if she remained, we left our shadow and walked up to Mangan's steps grudgingly. She was waiting for us, her figure defined by the light from the half-opened door. Her brother always teased her before he obeyed, and I stood by the railings looking at her. Her dress swung as she moved her body, and the soft rope of her hair tossed from side to side.
Writing instruction
As well as the fun the boys appear to have playing together, the passage suggests this is not necessarily a wealthy area to live. Write a description of the inside of the house during dinner time.
Things you could include might be:
- Describe the setting of the inside of the house
- Explore the behaviour of family members during dinner time
- Describe what Mangan does next
💡 Writing Tips
- •
- Stay within the winter setting suggested by the passage.
- •
- Suggest limited wealth through details rather than stereotypes.
- •
- Describe everyday family behaviour at dinner.
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- Show Mangan’s teasing personality from the source.
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- Include what Mangan does after being called inside.
📝 Sample Answer
Mangan pushed open the kitchen door and brought a gust of cold air in with him. His sister followed, shutting it quickly before the warmth could escape.
The room was narrow, with a table squeezed beneath the window and a blackened kettle resting beside the stove. Steam clouded the glass. A patched cloth covered the table, where four mismatched plates waited beside a loaf of bread. The smell of cabbage and hot potatoes filled the air.
“Wash your hands,” his mother said without looking up from the pan.
Mangan began to argue that they were perfectly clean, but his sister glanced at the black marks on his fingers. She raised one eyebrow. He muttered something under his breath and went to the little sink.
When the family sat down, the chairs creaked against the floorboards. His father asked about the day's work, while the children talked over one another about what had happened outside. Mangan described a daring race through the back lanes, making his narrow escape sound more heroic than it had been.
“That's not how it happened,” his sister interrupted, smiling into her cup.
He protested, and for a moment everyone laughed. The room was modest and the meal plain, but the stove burned steadily and nobody seemed in a hurry to leave the table.
After dinner, Mangan collected the plates with a theatrical groan. From the window, he glanced towards the dark street, wondering whether his friend had finally gone home.
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