I can hear you thinking how innocent, naive, simplistic, idealistic, pathetic, childish!
Whatever! I found this quite moving and wanted to share it.
Happy New Year
Best wishes
David
Sunday 30 December 2012
A New Year Thought
Sorry I couldn't help myself.
I can hear you thinking how innocent, naive, simplistic, idealistic, pathetic, childish!
Whatever! I found this quite moving and wanted to share it.
I can hear you thinking how innocent, naive, simplistic, idealistic, pathetic, childish!
Whatever! I found this quite moving and wanted to share it.
Thursday 20 December 2012
AS ENGLISH LITERATURE - 2000 WORD ESSAY CONTEXT
AS ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
2000 WORD COMPARATIVE ESSAY – AO3 AND AO4 AND LINKS
Over Christmas you will need to be reading around the contextual elements of Equus and Spies as well as doing a little research into reviews of performances and articles containing other readings or interpretations of the texts. You will also need to read up on short biographies of Michael Frayn and Peter Shaffer.
EQUUS
Here is a Guardian Review of the 2010 production of Equus. This may be helpful for AO 3 http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2010/mar/07/equus-review
Here is a link to the Equus article on Wikipedia. There are some useful external links at the bottom of the article that you may find helpful including reviews and commentaries on the play. These links will be helpful for AO3 and AO4
Here is a link to the Wikipedia article on Peter Shaffer
SPIES
Here is a link to a documentary about the development of the suburbs. However the suburbs portrayed here are in north west London. The suburbs in Spies are of course situated in south west London. The film looks a bit old and rusty but it is a gem of a documentary. It could form part of your bibliography. Enjoy!!
Here is a link to a documentary about the development of the suburbs. However the suburbs portrayed here are in north west London. The suburbs in Spies are of course situated in south west London. The film looks a bit old and rusty but it is a gem of a documentary. It could form part of your bibliography. Enjoy!!
On a personal note I was living in Harrow in 1972 when this film was made. Harrow on the Hill was our Metropolitan Line station. I know Grims Dyke House.
A2 LL - SOME POINTS TO CONSIDER FOR THE COURSEWORK ESSAY
I found the contents of this post on a handout I gave out to students a few years ago. I thought it was a good handout so I've posted it to you. I suggest you read the post and build in this feedback into your first draft essays as you write them.
After marking your draft essays I realised there were many similar points I was making on each essay. I suggest you read this handout in conjunction with your essay draft and edit it as soon as possible. You could work on your drafts before we meet for our one to one interview.
- To enable you to write an essay in the right amount of detail, you should answer the essay question with reference to either, two poems per poet or two poems from one poet and one short story. Your essay must include the work of one poet.
- Remember to write a lot about a little. For every quotation you use try and write at least three relevant comments on the quotation. Your comments must draw from the literary and or linguistic frameworks. This includes commenting on grammar - verbs, nouns & adjectives - lexis, register – formal & formal, syntax – simple, compound and complex sentences, declarative, interrogative, exclamatory and instructional sentences – as well as imagery – metaphor, simile, personification, symbolism and sound techniques such as, rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, assonance & onomatopoeia. You can also refer to rhetorical devices such as, contrasting pairs, lists of three, direct address to the reader and repetition. You can also refer to the connotations or associations linked to key words. Remember to always comment on the effects of these techniques on the reader – us. Effects are usually emotional – anger or sympathy for example. Or techniques are used to create a strong impression; they make things stand out for us.
- If you are writing about Heaney or Frost do not write about the voice of the poems as the voice of Heaney of Plath. Refer instead to the poetic voice or narrative voice of the poems. Avoid biographical details of the lives of the poets. But you can write about the poems as having an autobiographical feel about them.
- Remember this is a comparative essay. I think ideally you write about one text in a paragraph. Then using a link sentence write a comparative paragraph to your comparison text. For example you may refer to Heaney’s poetic voice of excitement and enjoyment in nature in one paragraph. And in a second paragraph write about the child character in the Dubliners short stories full of excitement and anticipation. Use a link sentence to connect the two paragraphs showing how one writer is either similar or different to the other. For some of you, you will need to rearrange some of your paragraphs.
- All essays should include a full, detailed and concise introduction. An introduction the title and writers you are going to use, write a brief summary of the plot of short stories or main subject or narrative of the poems. You should state what you intend to compare in your essays be specific, for example, Hughes presents nature as hostile and wild; where as Heaney presents nature at first as exciting and then… . You could outline the main techniques the writers use to communicate their themes.
- Some of you try and communicate complex ideas in complicated sentences. But these can be confusing. Try and break ideas down into simpler sentences.
- Remember the paragraph structure of making a straightforward point, introduce a relevant quotation – by referring to the context of the quotation, quote - a quotation should be a word or a phrase, it should prove the point you want to make and have at least three different comments you can say about it, comment on the quotation – drawing on literary and language frameworks and the effect on us as readers - see bullet point 2.
- Make sure there is a structure to your essay, introduction, main body and conclusion. Write the most important and significant points and comparisons first.
- Make sure you adopt a formal academic register. Avoid colloquial language, buzz words etc.
- Remember to comment on the genre you are writing about – poetry and or prose. Let the examiners know you know about the short story and poetry genres.
· Finally, keep your draft essay. It will need to be submitted with your final essay.
Hope you find this helpful
David
Tuesday 5.30 am
A Christmas Greeting
This has been one of the toughest terms I've had at the college for lots of different reasons. However one the ways I survived the term was meeting and spending time with my students. I have thoroughly and genuinely enjoyed spending time with you all and I'm looking forward to seeing you all in the new year.
Have a happy Christmas and peaceful new year!
Have a happy Christmas and peaceful new year!
Hope you enjoy the musical setting of William Blake's The Lamb. You can read the poem here!
A2 LL A COURSEWORK EXAMPLE ESSAY
The following essay has been copied from a website and is an example of coursework for the ELLA 4 AQA specification, apparently double marked at an A* grade. I'm not convinced the mark is accurate. What do you think?
I suggest you read the essay carefully and identify the techniques the writer has used to convy the ideas in the essay.
As you read you should consider such things as essay and paragraph structure, the range of language and literary terms used, contextual elements, the register of the essay. Consider the lexis used by the writer.
You could also read the essay in conjunction with the marking criteria also posted on this blog.
The essay is 3175 words including quotations
Both D.H. Lawrence and Margaret Atwood explore the concept and implications of social hierarchy in their texts. Lawrence uses a varying frequency of techniques in his poems, such as parody in ‘How Beastly the Bourgeois Is’, description in ‘After the Opera’, comedy in ‘Poverty’, and metaphors in all three. These techniques are used in order to attack the hierarchy, by criticising the middle and higher, non-working classes of an early 20th century England. Similarly, Atwood portrays largely negative attitudes towards the hierarchical system in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ through the use of techniques like metaphors, imagery, and creating pathos in Offred. Both writers use working class characters to express their views of their hierarchies. D.H. Lawrence uses the narrators of his poems. Atwood uses her protagonist, Offred, who lives as part of the lower class of the novel’s fascist dystopia - one that has reverted back to a strong, male dominated, class system (revolved around combating infertility). At the same time, the emotional capacities of the lower classes are also explored by the two writers.
Offred is a handmaid, a woman forced to work and have sex with her male owner because his wife is infertile, and so falls low in both the sexual and social hierarchy featured in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’. Offred’s story is used to represent the lives and views of the lower classes. Atwood’s novel begins with Offred’s room being described with simple, monosyllabic, concrete nouns: “chair”, “lamp”, “blank space”, which create an image of emptiness and loneliness. This description, coupled with a lack of abstract nouns and the addition of “they’ve removed anything you could tie a rope to” gives an immediate image of a cruel, physical world in which the protagonist lives. Tying a rope connotes suicide, suggesting that there have been people so oppressed and numb in the lower class, that they had lost the very will to live. A semantic field of blandness also adds to this idea, with lexical choices like “white”, “blank” and “taken out” being used. This all contributes to the idea that due to oppression, there is little emotion in the people of the lower classes.
In another episode of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, Offred describes Ofglen, with the use of similes: “as if she’s voice-activated”, “as if she’s on little wheels” and “as if she’s on top of a music box” in order to make her seem mechanical, no longer human but robotic in her mannerisms. This reinforces the idea that the lower classes have - or at least act as though they have - lost their humanity and emotional capacity: they react in predictable and programmed ways. The use of the compound adjective ‘voice-activated’ and the concrete noun ‘wheels’ implies that Ofglen is comparable to a robot. This description of Ofglen is then used to exemplify what it is about the new hierarchical system that Offred hates. She goes on to state that “I resent this grace of hers” with “grace” being ironic because Offred resents Ofglen’s ability to effortlessly accept the rules of Gilead, rather than envying Ofglen’s grace because it is beautiful in itself. The comparison to a music box dancer is a parody of Ofglen, expressing that she dances prettily when asked to. This idea of complete subservience of the lower classes, particularly women, is seen throughout the novel in minor characters.
This idea in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, coincides with that of “After the Opera” by D.H. Lawrence, where he describes the upper class Opera goers as giving “lift looks of shocked and momentous emotion.” Here, the other end of the spectrum is shown from that of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’. The people high enough in the hierarchy to spend their time at leisure events like the opera, are shown to display a lot of emotion. The adjectives “momentous” and “shocked” are very strong and show exaggerated emotion, given the mundane situation of a proletariat man walking past a crowd of Opera goers. The use of alliteration in “lift looks” also adds to this effect, making the whole situation seem more playful and interesting than it really is. Lawrence suggests either that those who don’t live comfortably are already used to negative emotions, and as a result become numb, or that people who do live comfortably have so little excitement in their lives, that they find it in mundane situations.
Similarly to ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, D.H Lawrence also uses short, monosyllabic sentences by the working class narrator of “After the Opera” to exemplify emotionlessness in the lower classes e.g. “Down the stairs”, “ladies”. Another similarity is the frequent usage of concrete nouns in the poem, giving the idea that the narrator is used to a physical world like Offred in the beginning of Atwood’s novel; the narrator takes note of only what his senses show him: “large eyes”, “stone stairs”, “looks.” Therefore, “After the Opera” explores the very mentality of the lower classes at the time, and shows that they would react only pragmatically in this situation. Being written in first person adds great interest to the poem, as it gives an insight as to the exact thought processes of a proletariat man. D.H. Lawrence uses this to express his negative opinions of the English class system, making his views more believable when coming from someone with first hand experience.
Likewise, In ‘How Beastly the Bourgeois Is’ Lawrence reinforces the idea seen in “After the Opera” that the non-working classes of the English hierarchy feel more emotion. However, this time Lawrence directly criticises the sincerity of it, claiming that it is the non-working class who have lost their emotional capacity from living a life of comfort. The use of the very powerful negative adjectives: “seething”, “wormy” and “hollow” in conjunction with “full” and in reference to “feelings” attacks the upper classes for expressing themselves too much and too falsely. “He’s all gone inside” also reinforces this idea, with it being a metaphor for the upper class losing all sincere emotions. The adverb “all” implies that the upper class are completely devoid of emotion. This idea contrasts with the light hearted and full-of-emotion style (using rhyme “bourgeois is... species” and exclamations “wait!”) that the poem was written in (to imitate and parody the bourgeois), suggesting that all of the emotions that the bourgeois show are fake. This then implies that the lower end of the English hierarchy feel genuine emotion, and should take enjoyment from that fact.
Similarly, in ‘Poverty’, genuine emotional capacity is said to be seen in the lower classes. The narrator uses the comical (because of its randomness and simplicity) exophoric reference of “this pine-tree” to create a metaphor of people who grow up in tough conditions -“grows out of rock”- and make something of themselves defiantly, repeating “plumes forth, plumes forth”. The use of “It has a natural abundance” to describe the tree is Lawrence expressing that people who are born in harsh conditions are more genuine and sincere (‘natural’) in their emotions than upper class people. The repetition of the verb “plumes” connotes both nature and excitation, suggesting once again that the lower classes are more real and alive than those who are not.
A third episode of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ contrasts with the first two mentioned. Atwood shows that the capacity for emotion of the lower classes is no different from anyone else. Atwood uses more abstract nouns such as “kind of hunger” and “invisibility”. She also incorporates metaphors with “kind of hunger” being one for Offred’s sexual desires towards Nick. The reference to Shakespeare “I have no rose to toss, he has no lute”, with ‘rose’ symbolising romance, or in this case the lack of it, shows how Offred and other lower classes still have the same wants and desires that they used to have. However, they know that they cannot fulfil them “which I can’t indulge”. The verb “indulge” has a negative tone and is used to create further pathos for Offred, who realises that in order to survive she must fight any urges she has to please herself. This emphasises the idea that satisfaction and happiness must be looked at as a threat to survival in the lower ends of the hierarchy. All of this greatly contrasts the previous episodes: rather than an emotionless, physical world, Offred is now shown to live in one full of repressed desire, and emotion.
This evolution of the representation of emotional capacity in the lower social classes adds dynamic to Atwood’s novel. She reveals a gradual increase in Offred’s emotions, who gains hope, due to the changing situations and stimulus she’s finally been given. She starts to get excited and thinks of Luke and Moira in the past, and ponders about replacing them. However, the underlying idea of not wanting to change is still there “they cannot replace each other. Nick for Luke, or Luke for Nick.” The repetition of Luke and Nick here shows how the ideas are flitting about in Offred’s head. Atwood shows by this, how people recently enslaved in a regime are torn between their past and their present life.
Another theme explored by both writers is contempt towards the upper classes by the lower classes. It is seen in Atwood’s novel when Offred states “I refuse to say my.” This shows that she is rebelling against the notion that her Commander has given her a room, and the notion that she has someone who can do such a thing. Offred accepts that the Commander owns her womb and her body, but not her as a whole, and not her spirit. The stress on the personal possessive pronoun “my” with italics, emphasises the idea that this room was forced upon her and she detests this. The comparison made between Offred’s surroundings and a nunnery is also an example of her expressing her disdain for the system she has found herself in “time here is measured by bells, as once in nunneries. As in a nunnery too, there are few mirrors” with the determiner “few” emphasising the idea that there is a lack of many things in her life, even something as basic and previously taken for granted as a mirror. The reference to a nunnery is also ironic, given the sexual nature of Offred’s role in the house and the celibacy of a nun. The use of the adverb “once” in “as once” also shows that she remembers seemingly unimportant things about the past in an almost reminiscent way, creating further pathos for Offred’s character, who is shown to grasp at the memories she has from before she was enslaved.
Gender inequality to women is also seen in Aunt Lydia’s teaching in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, of “he made you [women] different.” This refers to the idea that women are completely responsible for the sexual acts of men, not the men themselves, because “God made them that way.” The use of God as a source of morality and authority shows how religion is being used as at least the pseudo-highest rank in the hierarchy of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’. God is being used as a source of absolute authority by the ruling ranks of the hierarchy in the novel, despite the lax and sinful lives high officials like the Commander lead. This hypocrisy is used by Atwood to highlight how it is always the lower classes that are made to feel immoral and controlled, and the higher ones who use this to their benefit and don’t follow the rules themselves. The fact that God is referred to as male also reinforces male dominance and patriarchy within the social system.
D.H Lawrence also explores this idea that the lower classes dislike the upper classes in his poems. The use of the short sentences “and I smile” and “which pleases me” in “After The Opera” is used to show the contempt that lower classes have for higher ones, and the pleasure taken from their supposed disgust at seeing the lower classes and how they live. The repetition of “smile” (instead of speaking) encourages the idea that the narrator has nothing to say to the non working class because he knows it would be futile to speak out. Furthermore, D.H. Lawrence shows that when the lower classes smile, it has two implications for the upper classes. The one that the higher class understand is that it is a sign of politeness and respect. The other, more clandestine meaning, is that the lower class is actually mocking the upper class, showing them a sign of insincerity. The simile used of “ladies” being “like birds” and the adverb “anxiously” in “peer anxiously forth” implies that the bourgeois ladies are not very intelligent, and concern themselves more with making themselves look nice, than anything else. The use of “as if for a boat to carry them out of the wreckage” adds further insult to the ladies, implying that they are helpless and await for someone else to save them. These negative impressions of the women of the upper class shows contempt for them from the lower classes. It also makes reference to the fact that even at the higher ends of the British class system, there is still great inequality, because women are still subordinate to men, much like in “The Handmaid’s Tale."
Like in “After the Opera”, contempt is also shown in the poem “How Beastly the Bourgeois Is” with the imperative “let him [a bourgeoisie] meet a new emotion, let him be faced with another man’s need”. This similarly portrays the idea that the higher classes in a society are only happy and emotional because they don’t have real worries or “needs” that aren’t being fulfilled; the lower classes dislike this. The repetition of “let him” gives the impression of contempt for the upper classes by the author. Being written largely in the third person emphasises that the narrator is speaking for all of the people who are of the working class, adding to the idea that the bourgeois are isolated and disliked by others. The comparison of the bourgeois to a “mushroom” and the adjectival lexical choices of “wormy”, “hollow”, and “sickening” work together to create a very negative image of the bourgeois. The extended metaphor in “what a pity they can’t all be kicked over” creates the parody that the bourgeois are like an undesirable weed or “mushroom” in society. The use of the abstract noun “pity” shows that the narrator hates the bourgeois so much that he’d prefer that they simply were not there. The verb choice “kicked over” is a powerful and aggressive one, and further emphasises contempt. The additional usage of the verb “melt” of the bourgeois weeds - in conjunction with the desire for it to happen with the adjective “swiftly” - implies that if the bourgeois were to disappear, no negative consequence would occur, and that society would be better without them.
Similarly to the other two D.H Lawrence poems but to a lesser extent, “Poverty” also shows contempt for the upper, richer classes with the narrator stating that “I do not want to be rich”. The use of such a short declarative consisting of only monosyllabic words shows just how sure the narrator is.The idea that the narrator does not want to be rich implies that there is something wrong in being so, showing negative emotions. The use of the verb participle “imagined” in “imagined themselves rich” shows the narrator implying that being rich is not about having money, but about other, more spiritual things. This is made clear with the following seemingly taboo statement about the venerated Saint Francis. He is shockingly described with the adjectives “spoilt” and “rich”. This is an attempt at irony, with the implication being that some of the seemingly poor people are richer than most because they have more of something less materialistic (e.g. love, kindness, compassion, God’s love).
Resentment is also seen later on in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ but is expressed in a different way than in D.H Lawrence’s poems or in other sections of the Novel. Contempt is seen from the Handmaid’s towards their aunts, with Offred saying “I corrected her in my head” because she is too scared to speak out, but still seeks to diminish the respectability of her unwelcome superiors.This is reinforced when Offred reveals to the reader that she thinks negatively about her mistress, saying “Serena Joy, what a stupid name”, using the adjective “stupid” to belittle. Offred insisting that the name ‘Serena Joy’ is “like something you’d put in your hair” adds to the idea that the lower classes are bitter about how the higher classes treat them, and will make attempts to ridicule them when they get the opportunity. This ties in with the idea that the Handmaid’s were forced to become the property of their owners, being renamed after their male master’s name (of Fred = Offred).
In the final extract of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, resentment is also seen. By this, Atwood indicates that the lower classes do not learn to forgive and forget what the upper classes do to them, the hatred remains constant, perhaps even grows. The use of sarcasm and parody in Offred’s prayers “what we prayed for was emptiness” shows that Offred does not care for what she is being forced to do. The use of “with grace, with love, with self-denial, semen and babies” shows bathos, starting off with the expected and ending up with blunt and bitter comments “self denial” “semen”. This shows bitterness and resentment towards the upper classes. Atwood also includes the juxtaposition of Janine getting “carried away with this” to create humour and further bathos, with the idea that some people become so broken by their previous life or the oppression of the new system, that they start to believe and feel ridiculous ideas such as the fake prayer that Offred creates. Atwood may have done this to concede that although some people will no doubt buy into the system, they are a minority, and it is only the vulnerable and susceptible ones who do so.
To conclude, both writers portray the upper end of the relevant hierarchical systems in the texts in a negative way, and the lower end with pity and understanding. “The Handmaid’s Tale” focuses on oppression and pathos of the lower classes, whilst D.H Lawrence turns his attention to the negative aspects of being in the upper classes. Both writers portray the upper classes as having something missing in them, feeling too much emotion over mundane things. Moreover, the lower classes are consistently portrayed as holding contempt for the higher ones. In ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, Atwood explores the concept that the apparent emotionlessness of the lower classes is only there because it easier that way for them to survive. Atwood expresses that in reality, the lower classes feel and long for things just as much as anyone else. D.H Lawrence also expresses the idea that the lower classes may feel less than the upper, but it is only because their feelings are more genuine and sincere than that of the higher classes.
I suggest you read the essay carefully and identify the techniques the writer has used to convy the ideas in the essay.
As you read you should consider such things as essay and paragraph structure, the range of language and literary terms used, contextual elements, the register of the essay. Consider the lexis used by the writer.
You could also read the essay in conjunction with the marking criteria also posted on this blog.
The essay is 3175 words including quotations
Compare the ways in which the aspect of Social Hierarchy is represented in Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Handmaids Tale’ and poems by D.H. Lawrence
Both D.H. Lawrence and Margaret Atwood explore the concept and implications of social hierarchy in their texts. Lawrence uses a varying frequency of techniques in his poems, such as parody in ‘How Beastly the Bourgeois Is’, description in ‘After the Opera’, comedy in ‘Poverty’, and metaphors in all three. These techniques are used in order to attack the hierarchy, by criticising the middle and higher, non-working classes of an early 20th century England. Similarly, Atwood portrays largely negative attitudes towards the hierarchical system in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ through the use of techniques like metaphors, imagery, and creating pathos in Offred. Both writers use working class characters to express their views of their hierarchies. D.H. Lawrence uses the narrators of his poems. Atwood uses her protagonist, Offred, who lives as part of the lower class of the novel’s fascist dystopia - one that has reverted back to a strong, male dominated, class system (revolved around combating infertility). At the same time, the emotional capacities of the lower classes are also explored by the two writers.
Offred is a handmaid, a woman forced to work and have sex with her male owner because his wife is infertile, and so falls low in both the sexual and social hierarchy featured in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’. Offred’s story is used to represent the lives and views of the lower classes. Atwood’s novel begins with Offred’s room being described with simple, monosyllabic, concrete nouns: “chair”, “lamp”, “blank space”, which create an image of emptiness and loneliness. This description, coupled with a lack of abstract nouns and the addition of “they’ve removed anything you could tie a rope to” gives an immediate image of a cruel, physical world in which the protagonist lives. Tying a rope connotes suicide, suggesting that there have been people so oppressed and numb in the lower class, that they had lost the very will to live. A semantic field of blandness also adds to this idea, with lexical choices like “white”, “blank” and “taken out” being used. This all contributes to the idea that due to oppression, there is little emotion in the people of the lower classes.
In another episode of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, Offred describes Ofglen, with the use of similes: “as if she’s voice-activated”, “as if she’s on little wheels” and “as if she’s on top of a music box” in order to make her seem mechanical, no longer human but robotic in her mannerisms. This reinforces the idea that the lower classes have - or at least act as though they have - lost their humanity and emotional capacity: they react in predictable and programmed ways. The use of the compound adjective ‘voice-activated’ and the concrete noun ‘wheels’ implies that Ofglen is comparable to a robot. This description of Ofglen is then used to exemplify what it is about the new hierarchical system that Offred hates. She goes on to state that “I resent this grace of hers” with “grace” being ironic because Offred resents Ofglen’s ability to effortlessly accept the rules of Gilead, rather than envying Ofglen’s grace because it is beautiful in itself. The comparison to a music box dancer is a parody of Ofglen, expressing that she dances prettily when asked to. This idea of complete subservience of the lower classes, particularly women, is seen throughout the novel in minor characters.
This idea in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, coincides with that of “After the Opera” by D.H. Lawrence, where he describes the upper class Opera goers as giving “lift looks of shocked and momentous emotion.” Here, the other end of the spectrum is shown from that of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’. The people high enough in the hierarchy to spend their time at leisure events like the opera, are shown to display a lot of emotion. The adjectives “momentous” and “shocked” are very strong and show exaggerated emotion, given the mundane situation of a proletariat man walking past a crowd of Opera goers. The use of alliteration in “lift looks” also adds to this effect, making the whole situation seem more playful and interesting than it really is. Lawrence suggests either that those who don’t live comfortably are already used to negative emotions, and as a result become numb, or that people who do live comfortably have so little excitement in their lives, that they find it in mundane situations.
Similarly to ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, D.H Lawrence also uses short, monosyllabic sentences by the working class narrator of “After the Opera” to exemplify emotionlessness in the lower classes e.g. “Down the stairs”, “ladies”. Another similarity is the frequent usage of concrete nouns in the poem, giving the idea that the narrator is used to a physical world like Offred in the beginning of Atwood’s novel; the narrator takes note of only what his senses show him: “large eyes”, “stone stairs”, “looks.” Therefore, “After the Opera” explores the very mentality of the lower classes at the time, and shows that they would react only pragmatically in this situation. Being written in first person adds great interest to the poem, as it gives an insight as to the exact thought processes of a proletariat man. D.H. Lawrence uses this to express his negative opinions of the English class system, making his views more believable when coming from someone with first hand experience.
Likewise, In ‘How Beastly the Bourgeois Is’ Lawrence reinforces the idea seen in “After the Opera” that the non-working classes of the English hierarchy feel more emotion. However, this time Lawrence directly criticises the sincerity of it, claiming that it is the non-working class who have lost their emotional capacity from living a life of comfort. The use of the very powerful negative adjectives: “seething”, “wormy” and “hollow” in conjunction with “full” and in reference to “feelings” attacks the upper classes for expressing themselves too much and too falsely. “He’s all gone inside” also reinforces this idea, with it being a metaphor for the upper class losing all sincere emotions. The adverb “all” implies that the upper class are completely devoid of emotion. This idea contrasts with the light hearted and full-of-emotion style (using rhyme “bourgeois is... species” and exclamations “wait!”) that the poem was written in (to imitate and parody the bourgeois), suggesting that all of the emotions that the bourgeois show are fake. This then implies that the lower end of the English hierarchy feel genuine emotion, and should take enjoyment from that fact.
Similarly, in ‘Poverty’, genuine emotional capacity is said to be seen in the lower classes. The narrator uses the comical (because of its randomness and simplicity) exophoric reference of “this pine-tree” to create a metaphor of people who grow up in tough conditions -“grows out of rock”- and make something of themselves defiantly, repeating “plumes forth, plumes forth”. The use of “It has a natural abundance” to describe the tree is Lawrence expressing that people who are born in harsh conditions are more genuine and sincere (‘natural’) in their emotions than upper class people. The repetition of the verb “plumes” connotes both nature and excitation, suggesting once again that the lower classes are more real and alive than those who are not.
A third episode of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ contrasts with the first two mentioned. Atwood shows that the capacity for emotion of the lower classes is no different from anyone else. Atwood uses more abstract nouns such as “kind of hunger” and “invisibility”. She also incorporates metaphors with “kind of hunger” being one for Offred’s sexual desires towards Nick. The reference to Shakespeare “I have no rose to toss, he has no lute”, with ‘rose’ symbolising romance, or in this case the lack of it, shows how Offred and other lower classes still have the same wants and desires that they used to have. However, they know that they cannot fulfil them “which I can’t indulge”. The verb “indulge” has a negative tone and is used to create further pathos for Offred, who realises that in order to survive she must fight any urges she has to please herself. This emphasises the idea that satisfaction and happiness must be looked at as a threat to survival in the lower ends of the hierarchy. All of this greatly contrasts the previous episodes: rather than an emotionless, physical world, Offred is now shown to live in one full of repressed desire, and emotion.
This evolution of the representation of emotional capacity in the lower social classes adds dynamic to Atwood’s novel. She reveals a gradual increase in Offred’s emotions, who gains hope, due to the changing situations and stimulus she’s finally been given. She starts to get excited and thinks of Luke and Moira in the past, and ponders about replacing them. However, the underlying idea of not wanting to change is still there “they cannot replace each other. Nick for Luke, or Luke for Nick.” The repetition of Luke and Nick here shows how the ideas are flitting about in Offred’s head. Atwood shows by this, how people recently enslaved in a regime are torn between their past and their present life.
Another theme explored by both writers is contempt towards the upper classes by the lower classes. It is seen in Atwood’s novel when Offred states “I refuse to say my.” This shows that she is rebelling against the notion that her Commander has given her a room, and the notion that she has someone who can do such a thing. Offred accepts that the Commander owns her womb and her body, but not her as a whole, and not her spirit. The stress on the personal possessive pronoun “my” with italics, emphasises the idea that this room was forced upon her and she detests this. The comparison made between Offred’s surroundings and a nunnery is also an example of her expressing her disdain for the system she has found herself in “time here is measured by bells, as once in nunneries. As in a nunnery too, there are few mirrors” with the determiner “few” emphasising the idea that there is a lack of many things in her life, even something as basic and previously taken for granted as a mirror. The reference to a nunnery is also ironic, given the sexual nature of Offred’s role in the house and the celibacy of a nun. The use of the adverb “once” in “as once” also shows that she remembers seemingly unimportant things about the past in an almost reminiscent way, creating further pathos for Offred’s character, who is shown to grasp at the memories she has from before she was enslaved.
Gender inequality to women is also seen in Aunt Lydia’s teaching in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, of “he made you [women] different.” This refers to the idea that women are completely responsible for the sexual acts of men, not the men themselves, because “God made them that way.” The use of God as a source of morality and authority shows how religion is being used as at least the pseudo-highest rank in the hierarchy of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’. God is being used as a source of absolute authority by the ruling ranks of the hierarchy in the novel, despite the lax and sinful lives high officials like the Commander lead. This hypocrisy is used by Atwood to highlight how it is always the lower classes that are made to feel immoral and controlled, and the higher ones who use this to their benefit and don’t follow the rules themselves. The fact that God is referred to as male also reinforces male dominance and patriarchy within the social system.
D.H Lawrence also explores this idea that the lower classes dislike the upper classes in his poems. The use of the short sentences “and I smile” and “which pleases me” in “After The Opera” is used to show the contempt that lower classes have for higher ones, and the pleasure taken from their supposed disgust at seeing the lower classes and how they live. The repetition of “smile” (instead of speaking) encourages the idea that the narrator has nothing to say to the non working class because he knows it would be futile to speak out. Furthermore, D.H. Lawrence shows that when the lower classes smile, it has two implications for the upper classes. The one that the higher class understand is that it is a sign of politeness and respect. The other, more clandestine meaning, is that the lower class is actually mocking the upper class, showing them a sign of insincerity. The simile used of “ladies” being “like birds” and the adverb “anxiously” in “peer anxiously forth” implies that the bourgeois ladies are not very intelligent, and concern themselves more with making themselves look nice, than anything else. The use of “as if for a boat to carry them out of the wreckage” adds further insult to the ladies, implying that they are helpless and await for someone else to save them. These negative impressions of the women of the upper class shows contempt for them from the lower classes. It also makes reference to the fact that even at the higher ends of the British class system, there is still great inequality, because women are still subordinate to men, much like in “The Handmaid’s Tale."
Like in “After the Opera”, contempt is also shown in the poem “How Beastly the Bourgeois Is” with the imperative “let him [a bourgeoisie] meet a new emotion, let him be faced with another man’s need”. This similarly portrays the idea that the higher classes in a society are only happy and emotional because they don’t have real worries or “needs” that aren’t being fulfilled; the lower classes dislike this. The repetition of “let him” gives the impression of contempt for the upper classes by the author. Being written largely in the third person emphasises that the narrator is speaking for all of the people who are of the working class, adding to the idea that the bourgeois are isolated and disliked by others. The comparison of the bourgeois to a “mushroom” and the adjectival lexical choices of “wormy”, “hollow”, and “sickening” work together to create a very negative image of the bourgeois. The extended metaphor in “what a pity they can’t all be kicked over” creates the parody that the bourgeois are like an undesirable weed or “mushroom” in society. The use of the abstract noun “pity” shows that the narrator hates the bourgeois so much that he’d prefer that they simply were not there. The verb choice “kicked over” is a powerful and aggressive one, and further emphasises contempt. The additional usage of the verb “melt” of the bourgeois weeds - in conjunction with the desire for it to happen with the adjective “swiftly” - implies that if the bourgeois were to disappear, no negative consequence would occur, and that society would be better without them.
Similarly to the other two D.H Lawrence poems but to a lesser extent, “Poverty” also shows contempt for the upper, richer classes with the narrator stating that “I do not want to be rich”. The use of such a short declarative consisting of only monosyllabic words shows just how sure the narrator is.The idea that the narrator does not want to be rich implies that there is something wrong in being so, showing negative emotions. The use of the verb participle “imagined” in “imagined themselves rich” shows the narrator implying that being rich is not about having money, but about other, more spiritual things. This is made clear with the following seemingly taboo statement about the venerated Saint Francis. He is shockingly described with the adjectives “spoilt” and “rich”. This is an attempt at irony, with the implication being that some of the seemingly poor people are richer than most because they have more of something less materialistic (e.g. love, kindness, compassion, God’s love).
Resentment is also seen later on in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ but is expressed in a different way than in D.H Lawrence’s poems or in other sections of the Novel. Contempt is seen from the Handmaid’s towards their aunts, with Offred saying “I corrected her in my head” because she is too scared to speak out, but still seeks to diminish the respectability of her unwelcome superiors.This is reinforced when Offred reveals to the reader that she thinks negatively about her mistress, saying “Serena Joy, what a stupid name”, using the adjective “stupid” to belittle. Offred insisting that the name ‘Serena Joy’ is “like something you’d put in your hair” adds to the idea that the lower classes are bitter about how the higher classes treat them, and will make attempts to ridicule them when they get the opportunity. This ties in with the idea that the Handmaid’s were forced to become the property of their owners, being renamed after their male master’s name (of Fred = Offred).
In the final extract of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, resentment is also seen. By this, Atwood indicates that the lower classes do not learn to forgive and forget what the upper classes do to them, the hatred remains constant, perhaps even grows. The use of sarcasm and parody in Offred’s prayers “what we prayed for was emptiness” shows that Offred does not care for what she is being forced to do. The use of “with grace, with love, with self-denial, semen and babies” shows bathos, starting off with the expected and ending up with blunt and bitter comments “self denial” “semen”. This shows bitterness and resentment towards the upper classes. Atwood also includes the juxtaposition of Janine getting “carried away with this” to create humour and further bathos, with the idea that some people become so broken by their previous life or the oppression of the new system, that they start to believe and feel ridiculous ideas such as the fake prayer that Offred creates. Atwood may have done this to concede that although some people will no doubt buy into the system, they are a minority, and it is only the vulnerable and susceptible ones who do so.
To conclude, both writers portray the upper end of the relevant hierarchical systems in the texts in a negative way, and the lower end with pity and understanding. “The Handmaid’s Tale” focuses on oppression and pathos of the lower classes, whilst D.H Lawrence turns his attention to the negative aspects of being in the upper classes. Both writers portray the upper classes as having something missing in them, feeling too much emotion over mundane things. Moreover, the lower classes are consistently portrayed as holding contempt for the higher ones. In ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, Atwood explores the concept that the apparent emotionlessness of the lower classes is only there because it easier that way for them to survive. Atwood expresses that in reality, the lower classes feel and long for things just as much as anyone else. D.H Lawrence also expresses the idea that the lower classes may feel less than the upper, but it is only because their feelings are more genuine and sincere than that of the higher classes.
A2 LL - COURSEWORK DEADLINES
A2 ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
ELLA 4 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS THROUGH INDEPENDENT STUDY
COURSEWORK DEADLINES
DEADLINES
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DATE
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Coursework essay titles decided
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w/b
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Completed detailed essay plan
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w / b
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CHRISTMAS BREAK
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First draft essay deadline
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by
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First draft returned and 1: 1 feedback
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Coursework deadline
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WEDNESDAY 11 FEBRUARY
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Wednesday 19 December 2012
A2 LL - LINKS TO POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
A2 ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
ELLA 4 INTEGRATED ANALYSIS THROUGH INDEPENDENT STUDY
COURSEWORK LINKS TO POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
Here is a list of the poems and short stories we’ve studied this term. Each title is a link to the complete poem or short story. All you need to do is click on the title to take you to the relevant page on the internet.
Many of these poems have links to articles about the poem. Click on the title to follow the link. Remember if you are going to quote from these works of criticism you must site the author and note down the publication and web name and address.
You must record any further research you have undertaken or you may be accused of plagiarism. A serious offensive that may mean you will be disqualified from this A Level by the exam board.
Many of these poems have links to articles about the poem. Click on the title to follow the link. Remember if you are going to quote from these works of criticism you must site the author and note down the publication and web name and address.
You must record any further research you have undertaken or you may be accused of plagiarism. A serious offensive that may mean you will be disqualified from this A Level by the exam board.
WRITER
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TEXT
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Seamus Heaney
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Sylvia Plath
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Robert Frost
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James Joyce
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A2 LL - COURSEWORK INTRODUCTIONS
A2 ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS THROUGH INDEPENDENT STUDY
INTRODUCTIONS – SOME BASIC NOTES
Here are some notes to guide you in writing your introduction.
FEATURE
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EXAMPLE
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1
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Immediately address the essay topic. Define the topic specifically for both of your writers.
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For example if you are writing about settings then explain the rural farmland setting of Seamus Heaney. Whereas Frost’s setting is the urban setting of Dublin.
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2
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Assert a main comparative or contrasting point between the two writers.
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For example – Heaney describes the physical landscape of the countryside as a way of evoking and creating a strong sense of place. However Frost uses the rural setting of farmland to tell his readers about an aspect of being human.
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3
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You could introduce the texts you are going to write on in your essay. Avoid quotations from the texts in your introduction.
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For example – the poem Stopping by Woods describes the thoughts of a man on an isolated winter road between village and home.
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4
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Include relevant biographical details that led to the production of these texts.
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For example – ‘the poem Daddy is difficult to read without also thinking about Plath’s own relationship with her father who died when she was eight years old.’
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5
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Include relevant contextual features of your writers and the cultural forces that led to the production of these texts.
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For example ‘Plath draws on the recent events of the second world war especially the holocaust for inspiration and imagery.’
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6
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Comment on the specific genre or sub genres used by the writers you’ve chosen
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Frost’s poetry ranges from short formal ballad to long narrative poems that are dramatic monologues.
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7
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Summerise the main language features used by each of the writers.
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Both Heaney and Plath use extreme imagery in their poetry and draw on quite disturbing even shocking images. Heaney is highly descriptive whereas Plath is offers brief impressions of place.
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Tuesday 18 December 2012
A2 LL- COURSEWORK CONCLUSIONS
A conclusion should
include a comment about the two writer's. And a comparative comment
about the texts you've just written about. I don't expect you will write
anything new in this part of the conclusion.
Secondly you could make an observation about the poets or poems you have written about. It may not be strictly relevant to your essay but you may consider it an interesting and thoughtful observation and this is worth sharing.
Don't worry about a conclusion at this point. Two or three short paragraphs giving an overview of the topics and observations you've made about the topics you've covered will be fine.
Secondly you could make an observation about the poets or poems you have written about. It may not be strictly relevant to your essay but you may consider it an interesting and thoughtful observation and this is worth sharing.
Don't worry about a conclusion at this point. Two or three short paragraphs giving an overview of the topics and observations you've made about the topics you've covered will be fine.
A2 LL- Assessment Objectives for Coursework Essay
Assessment Criteria for Coursework
Below are two lists of Assessment Objectives and mark band descriptions used to mark your essays. Although they are written principally for teachers I think it’s a good idea to assess your own work against the criteria. I’ll put a key explaining some of the technical language used. Clearly the register and lexis is aimed at teachers, and the purpose is to inform.
To be placed in a particular mark band, it is not necessary for a candidate to demonstrate
achievement under every point. Internal assessment should therefore assess a candidate’s work
under the ‘best fit’ principle.
MARK BAND DESCRIPTORS (AO1) out of 30
Select and apply relevant concepts and approaches from integrated linguistic and literary study, using appropriate terminology and accurate, coherent written expression.
Upper Band 4 (26–30)
• use of framework(s) illuminates textual interpretation
• shows an overview of the text
• engages closely with the meaning of the texts and analyses patterns
• conceptualised and often sophisticated analysis
• fluent, cohesive writing
Lower band 4 (23–25)
• coherent use of framework(s)
• some analytical probing of features and patterns
• thoughtful engagement with texts
• interpretation evident through approach taken
• fluent writing
Upper band 3 (20–22)
• uses framework(s) to highlight reading
• describes significant features/patterns
• shows awareness of stylistic and linguistic features
• engages with texts through explanation of features; possibly under-developed in places
• competent writing
Lower band 3 (16–19)
• uses a suitable framework(s) purposefully
• refers to a range of relevant points
• sense of patterns emerges in places; but comments under-developed
• distinguishes between different features fairly accurately but little comment on effect of features
• clear, straightforward expression
Upper band 2 (12–15)
• applies framework(s) to show awareness of some of writer’s choices
• largely accurate comments on texts but tending towards a feature-spotting approach, or a limited use of appropriate terminology
• broad comments on effects of features
• approach may be superficial
• expression communicates ideas but lacks flexibility
Lower band 2 (9–11)
• attempts to use framework(s) but with limited effectiveness
• identifies some points but understanding is not clear
• limited analysis occurs; much paraphrase
• some awareness of the focus of a text
• superficial sense of how language works
• writing communicates some ideas but lacks precision and accuracy
Upper band 1 (5–8)
• little coherence in selection of ideas
• little application of framework(s)
• lacks textual engagement offering instead implicit views of language use
• superficial ideas
• inaccurate expression and little sense of appropriate style
Lower band 1 (1–4)
• rudimentary awareness of narrative
• little awareness of frameworks
• minimal coherence/relevance of response
• markedly brief response
• frequent technical errors and weaknesses in expression
Zero marks (0)
• response failing to fulfil any of the lower band 1 requirements
MARK BAND DESCRIPTORS (AO3) out of 30
Use integrated approaches to explore relationships between texts, analysing and evaluating the significance of contextual factors in their production and reception.
Upper band 4 (26–30)
• assimilates and contextualises references with originality
• overview that offers observations on wider contexts
• significant similarities and differences are analysed and in an original, personal, or conceptual, manner
• texts effortlessly integrated
• consistent and flexible focus on texts and theme
Lower band 4 (23–25)
• skilful and secure analysis and commentary
• clear sense of context/variation/contextual influences underpins reading
• sustained focus on texts and theme
• coherently compares and contrasts writer’s choices of form, structure, mode, language
• confident comparison
Upper band 3 (20–22)
• expresses clearly comparisons and contrasts between two texts
• clear interplay between text and context/sense of contextual variation
• comments clearly on a variety of points/areas
• analysis may be imbalanced; possible imbalance in text coverage but comparative framework clear
• clearly developed focus on texts and theme
Lower band 3 (16–19)
• points are made but not always clearly developed
• comparative analysis may be implicit
• some comments on language use in texts
• possible imbalance in coverage
• mainly consistent in focus on texts and theme
• context commented on
Upper band 2 (12–15)
• comparative framework(s) used but may be partial/simplistic
• develops a line of argument underpinned by comment on overall context
• probably list-like in construction
• imbalance in coverage of texts
• lacks evidence in places
• occasional loss of focus on texts and theme
Lower band 2 (9–11)
• makes use of comparative framework(s) but unable to apply them effectively
• general awareness of writer’s techniques and impact on meaning
• responds to obvious or broad links or comparisons
• may lack detail and evidence
• focus on texts and theme unsustained
Upper band 1 (5–8)
• insecure or superficial idea of context
• some points made but with limited understanding
• insecure focus on texts and themes
• lacks detail and probably little evidence used
Lower band 1 (1–4)
• rudimentary awareness of context
• ideas very limited or undeveloped
• contextual features identified but misread
• weak focus on texts and themes
Zero marks (0)
• response failing to fulfil any of the lower band 1 requirements
Key Words
Here is a list of key words and the meanings used in the marking criteria which was published by the exam board in the specification – [genre] to inform – [purpose] teachers – [audience]. Hope you find this helpful.
Framework(s)
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the analytical approaches available to analyse texts. For example poetic - imagery and phonetic techniques, grammar, lexis, syntax, register and rhetoric
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Conceptualised
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ability to appreciate and understand abstract concepts - essay topic, topics and themes
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Stylistic
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literary or specifically poetic writing style
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Feature-spotting
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identifying a technical features in a text but without commenting on the effect of this feature on readers
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Implicit
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knowledge assumed rather than made explicit or stated clearly
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Rudimentary
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basic
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Assimilates
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bring different parts together to make coherent and fluent – probably refers to different parts of a paragraph or different comparative points from poets
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Contextualises
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Refers to the relevant biographical or cultural conditions present when the writer produced the text. May also refer to the order in which the text was written in relation to other texts written by the same writer.
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