1. Unit at a glance
- This unit contains only the prose story “Going Places” by A.R. Barton; no poem is included.
- Central theme: adolescent fantasising and hero-worship.
- Sub-theme: family relationships and the gap between dreams and socio-economic reality.
- Focus on inferential comprehension of a teenager’s inner world and secret hopes.
- Highlights the use of present participles to show simultaneous actions and colloquial teenage expressions.
- Extension tasks include interviewing admired people and relating the theme to other stories or films.
2. Prose
Summary
Sophie, a schoolgirl from a modest working-class family, repeatedly fabricates glamorous dreams of owning a boutique, becoming an actress or fashion designer, and especially of meeting the Irish footballer Danny Casey. She tells her brother Geoff a detailed story of encountering Casey in an arcade and arranging a secret meeting by the canal. Geoff half-believes her; Jansie and her father do not. On the appointed evening Sophie waits alone, realises Casey will not come, and returns home carrying the sadness of her unfulfilled fantasy.
Setting
A cramped, steamy house in a working-class neighbourhood; the arcade; the canal path with a solitary elm and wooden bench; the football stadium.
Main characters
- Sophie: imaginative schoolgirl who constantly escapes into unrealistic dreams.
- Geoff: Sophie’s quiet, three-years-older brother, an apprentice mechanic whom she idealises.
- Jansie: Sophie’s practical classmate, earmarked with her for the biscuit factory.
- Sophie’s father: weary, grimy, short-tempered man who works hard and distrusts Sophie’s stories.
- Danny Casey: young Irish football prodigy whom Sophie hero-worships.
Sequence of key events
- Sophie tells Jansie she will open a boutique or become an actress/fashion designer.
- At home she tells Geoff she met Danny Casey in the arcade and arranged a date.
- Geoff informs the father; the father reacts with disdain.
- On Saturday the family watches United; Casey scores.
- Jansie learns of the story through her brother and questions Sophie.
- Sophie waits alone by the canal after dark; Casey does not appear.
- She returns home, already imagining how she will live with the disappointment.
3. Poem
No poem is present in this unit.
4. Themes and messages
The writer shows how adolescents from limited backgrounds use hero-worship and daydreaming to cope with a restricted future. Sophie’s father’s warning—“One of these days you’re going to talk yourself into a load of trouble”—and her final realisation of “the hard burden” of sadness illustrate the painful gap between fantasy and reality.
5. Literary devices
- Simile: “Words had to be prized out of him like stones out of the ground.”
- Metaphor: “they made their weekly pilgrimage to the United.”
- Imagery: “The table lamp cast an amber glow across her brother’s bedroom wall.”
- Personification: “she felt the pangs of doubt stirring inside me.”
- Irony: Sophie imagines Casey’s autograph and affection while standing alone in the arcade.
- Imagery: “a blend of innocence and Irish genius, going round the two big defenders.”
6. Vocabulary
- incongruity – something that seems out of place
- chuffed – very pleased
- prodigy – young person with exceptional talent
- wharf – platform by a river or canal where boats load/unload
- pangs of doubt – sudden sharp feelings of uncertainty
- earmarked – set aside or destined for something
- arcade – covered passage with shops
- amber glow – warm, yellowish light
- solitary elm – single elm tree standing alone
- desolate – lonely and sad
7. Exam pitfalls
- Assuming Sophie actually met Casey (the text never confirms it).
- Writing that Geoff fully believes Sophie; he remains sceptical.
- Forgetting the working-class indicators (biscuit factory, father’s grimy face, small cluttered room).
- Confusing Jansie’s and Geoff’s reactions to the story.
- Missing that the canal meeting is entirely imagined by Sophie.