“A Little Cloud” recounts the reunion between two childhood friends one evening — one of which has moved from Dublin to London and found great fortune as in the publishing business and one who has stayed in Dublin and is clearly less than with his work and home life.
First, you can try a writing task similar to the “B” option of the exam which is based on a fragment from a scientific text. Although “A Little Cloud” takes place 100 years before social media even existed, the story’s central theme of comparing one’s life with others is possibly even more relevant today due to the rise of influencers and the ability to exaggerate our lives to friends and strangers on Instagram.Although the vocabulary level is likely a bit more challenging than what will actually be on the exam, it is a relevant topic. Before writing the essay, I would strongly suggest reading the graded essay samples from pages 39-42 of the Skola2030 sample essay material found here.
Writing Task: Social Media Comparisons
The next task uses a fragment from a podcast interview with an Irish poet and a Latvian poet who had recently published a collection of poetry in Latvian, English, and Irish language that contained both classic works and original works they had composed. In the fragment, the importance of poetry in both Latvian and Irish society is discussed and compared. This task is relevant to “A Little Cloud” as the main character wishes to become a poet, and it is important to understand how central poetry is to Irish culture just as it is in Latvian culture.
Listening Task: Irish and Latvian Poetry
The next listening task is centred on the first 5 minutes (the maximum length of a fragment on the exam) from a TED talk by motivational speaker Dean Furness who lost the ability to use the lower half of his body in an accident. This task continues the theme of comparing oneself with others which is central to “A Little Cloud.”
Listening Task: Stop Comparing Yourself to Others
The following reading task is designed to be similar to the first task on the reading section of the exam in which students will have to read a passage of text (up to 600 words) that is most likely non-fiction. This text is a slightly shortened version of an article from TheConversation.com called “States sue Meta for knowingly hurting teens with Facebook and Instagram − here are the harms researchers have documented.” The topic is a continuation of the previous listening task “Stop Comparing Yourself to Others” and is written by Christia Spears Brown, a professor of psychology at University of Kentucky. Although most of the article is written as a third person overview of the situation, the research by Professor Brown and her colleagues is described in the first person (although that section has been cut so that the text is less than 600 words as required for the first task).
Reading Task: Social Media Impact on Well-being
Now it is time to read the full text of the story. These tasks are designed to be similar to tasks 2-5 on the exam which are about three different related texts, although in this case, they are all about “A Little Cloud.” Task 2 usually asks students to mark which of the three text applies to the question, but in this case, students have to choose which of the characters (or both) the question refers to.
Reading Tasks: “A Little Cloud”
Finally, here are a few speaking tasks you and a friend can use to practice for the exam. The topics are connected with "A Little Cloud," and you should mention the story in your talk.
Speaking Task: Comparing Ourselves
Speaking Task: Achieving Goals
After completing the tasks, you can continue on to the ninth short story, "Counterparts".