Bianca come il latte, rossa come il sangue: What comes up on the Leaving Cert
What are the questions like from the book? This is a question I’m often asked by students preparing Bianca come il latte, rossa come il sangue by Alessandro D’Avenia for the Leaving Cert. In this article we’ll take a look at what has come up before, looking at the common themes.
The book was first published in Italy in 2010 and first came up on the Leaving Cert as an Unseen Literary Passage in 2014. This means that students were unaware that it was to be examined in 2014.
In 2018 it appears as a Prescribed Literary Passage. This means that students were aware that it is to be assessed, and can thus read the book in advance in preparation for the exam. It remains on the syllabus for 2023.
The following is the pages from which the questions were taken:
2014 (unseen): pages 16, 91, 92.
2018: pages 49, 50.
2019: pages 180, 181, 182.
2020: pages 235, 236, 237
2021: pages 22, 23, 24
2022: pages 51, 52, 53
In 2014 the question is all about Il Sognatore: Leo’s first impression of him, when he visited Leo in hospital, and how to make your dream a reality.
In 2018 there is a dialogue with Silvia about dreams, interspersed with Leo’s thoughts about dreams and how to discover them. We learn that Silvia knows her dream but Leo doesn’t really have any idea of what his might be.
2019 features a dialogue between Leo and his father about ‘mitching’ school. It is a moment where we can reflect on their relationship throughout the book.
2020 was about Leo’s summer holidays, what he plans to do when he returns, and a variety of text messages.
In 2021 the themes were Leo’s early opinions on school, what he thinks about parents, and reincarnation.
2022 again features Il Sognatore with a dialogue, and again talks about dream-finding and why Silvia somehow plays a part in Leo’s dream.
This is what has come up before and one may assume that the same passages probably won’t come up again, but the themes do repeat themselves. Dreams and dialogues are popular, and if you’d like to take a look at preparing the LC Italian exam with me, get in contact here.