Paper 1: Comparative textual analysis

Instructions:
Compare and analyze the following pairs of texts. Comment
on the similarities and differences between the texts, the
significance of any possible contexts, audience and purpose,
and the use of linguistic and literary devices.
You have 100 minutes.
Text A: From the website
www.gadventures.com/trips/egypt
BEST OF EGYPT:
North Africa / Middle East
Egypt
Highlights: This journey through
Egypt packs in the best of culture
and adventure in eight energetic
days. Explore the ancient sites
along the Nile and discover the
most famous of them all, the Great
Pyramids of Giza. Embrace the
culture and meet remarkable
people as you sample some traditional fare with a Nubian family in a
local village. Feel the buzz of vibrant bazaars in Aswan and Luxor, but
still manage to relax and watch life unfold as you sail the Nile in a
traditional felucca.
Day 1 Cairo
Arrive at any time.
Day 2 Cairo
Tour the Great Pyramids of Giza
along with the Sphinx before a
guided tour of the Egyptian
Museum. Overnight train to
Aswan.
Days 3-4 Aswan

Visit a Nubian village and enjoy

a home-cooked dinner with a
local family. Option to visit the
magnificent temples of Abu
Simbel.
Day 5 Nile River
Sail the Nile via felucca with a
support boat. Overnight on
board.
Days 6-7 Luxor

Guided visit to Edfu and Kom

Ombo temples. Donkey ride and
guided tour of the Valley of the
Kings and Temple of Hatshepsut.
Option to visit the Temple of

Karnak and Luxor Museum.

Day 8 Cairo
Fly back to Cairo where the tour
ends on arrival.

Text B: Excerpts from Zaat, by Sonallah Ibrahim

The president of the Republic: We should not be
ashamed that there are poor people in Egypt. What we
should do is work to make our country appear suitably
civilized because we need to attract tourists.
[] Inside there was more wailing to go with the
transmission: the water and sewage pipes in El Geish Street,
Saad Zaghloul Street, Palestine Street, and El Bahr Street
had burst as usual, then it had rained and the streets had
turned into ponds and marshes and the blended waters had
poured into peoples houses. [] Samihas niece, who had
been named after Egypts previous First Lady, and who was
an excellent student (in the preparatory exam she scored 95
percent), insisted on going to school. On the way her feet
slipped in the mud and she grabbed onto a lamppost and
was electrocuted.
Didnt anyone try to save her?
Passers-by picked her up in a blanket and moved her
away from the lamppost. They rushed her to the public
hospital, but she was dead when they arrived. The doctor
told them that if it were proved that she had died in an
accident there would have to be a post-mortem examination
of the body, but she could be spared that gruesome fate if a
death certificate were issued stating that the cause of death
was a precipitous drop in blood pressure due to a chronic
heart problem. He said to the father: Look, your daughters

dead, and thats that. It was her fate. May Allah compensate
you for her loss.