The story, 'Mijbil the Otter', has it all – emotions, humour, certain surprising incidents and the freshness of a new and unique type of story. Explain how Maxwell has highlighted these in his story. (Mijbil – The Otter)
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · 2026-06-15 07:19 · grounding rag
Model Answer
Maxwell skillfully blends emotions, humour, surprising incidents, and freshness in the story:
- Emotions: Maxwell's deep bond with Mij is evident when Mij nuzzles his face on the aeroplane and sleeps in the crook of his knees, showing mutual affection.
- Humour: Londoners mistake Mij for a walrus, hippo, brontosaur, and leopard "that had changed its spots," creating comic situations.
- Surprising incidents: Mij independently learns to turn on the bathroom tap and invents his own game with a ping-pong ball on a sloping suitcase.
- Freshness: Mij belongs to a species previously unknown to science, later named Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli — Maxwell's otter — making the story genuinely unique.
Source: Mijbil the Otter, Chapter 6
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Explanation
The examiner expects you to address all four aspects mentioned in the question — emotions, humour, surprising incidents, and freshness — with a specific example from the text for each. Since it is 3 marks, covering all four elements concisely with textual evidence is key. Avoid writing only about one or two aspects. The examples used here are directly from the passages provided, which is what earns full marks.