AS ENGLISH LITERATURE 2000 WORD CHILDHOOD ESSAY FEEDBACK

AS ENGLISH LITERATURE
LITERATURE POST 1900 - 2000 WORD COMPARATIVE ESSAY
SPIES / EQUUS – CHILDHOOD ESSAY FEEDBACK

updated Wednesday 13 February & Friday 15 February - in bold

Here are some general feedback points I found while marking all 2000 word comparative essays

You must think really carefully about the topic you are writing about. Consider the definitions of the topic you have chosen. What are secrets – what are they in these texts? What is childhood – and who are the main children in the texts? How are they presented?

 

You do not have to analyse language in the same way as you did for the 1000 word essay. Instead show how a topic is presented and compare or contrast it with the second text.

 

Use short simple sentences to communicate your ideas rather than long complex ones.

 

As part of your essay introduction you should give a concise and detailed summary of the action of the play or novel. You will need to introduce quotations you use showing briefly where in the novel or play the quotation comes. Context within the novel or play

 

It’s also a good idea to refer to the historical context of the text in the introduction but try and refer to it elsewhere.

One contextual point I think will be very useful to refer to in all your essays regarding Equus and the explicit sexual content and language is the reference to the publication of Lady Chaterely’s Lover written by D.H. Lawrence and the trial that followed under the Obscene Publications Act 1959. Check out the details here and here and then scroll down to the trial.

Here are some specific feedback points I found while marking the childhood essays

In the presentation of childhood you should focus on Alan and Stephen. Alan is about 17. Stephen is about 11. Both boys are presented as innocent, not part of the adult world. Both boys are looking for escape from family and parents – embarrassment for Stephen / too dominating – for Alan. Both boys have little or no experience of girls – Barbara Berill for Stephen / Gill for Alan. The boys are isolated – Stephen’s friendship with Keith / Alan has no friends. The boys feel trapped. The boys are trying to do manly things – catch a German spy for Stephen / have sex with a girl for Alan. The boys don’t have much power or control.

Escape is a really significant feature for both Alan and Stephen – both seek escape from the dull routine world of family and school – Stephen and family and work – Alan. Stephen wants adventure and excitement. Stephen is trying to recapture a single moment in childhood that seemed to give his life meaning and purpose.

Rigid structures are a good way of looking at childhood for Stephen and Alan. Stephen’s life is dominated by school, Keith’s friendship, doing what is right, class and status. Alan’s life is dominated by the dull routine of work and strong opinionated and dominating parents.

ALAN

·       Alan is over 17 years old – not a 11 or 12 year old as Stephen is. Therefore you should emphasise the differences between these two ages.

·      Alan is presented as a child in the way he is naive and innocent about girls, seems childlike because he’s not very educated, he has had a sheltered up-bringing, he is dominated by two powerful parents – his mother is a devout Christian, his father is an atheist – and probably a socialist.

·       Probably the most obvious presentation of Alan as a child is in his relationship with Dysart. He is like a stroppy teenager in the consulting room, he is rude, turns up late, is really provocative and challenging, uncommunicative. And Dysart treats him like a child. Dysart is like a parent in fact. He rewards Alan, he punishes him, he encourages him, he wants to make Alan better. Alan trusts him. If I was writing an essay on childhood I’d make a lot of these points. Dysart pretends to Alan and Alan believes what Dysart tells him. There are very clear paragraphs here. Write them!

Following on from these early scenes in the play you could then examine the scene with Alan on the beach with Trojan. Here is Alan a child aged 6. How is he presented here? How do Dora and Frank treat Alan in this scene.

Alan's nakedness in the whole stables scene can be seen as a symbol. He is vulnerable, exposed, innocent, fragile, weak, frightened - like a child? Gill's nakedness is different. She is confident, at ease with herself, she is seductive and sexy.

STEPHEN

·       Stephen is trying to act like an adult. He is trying to do the right thing – catch a German spy. He is trying to contribute to the war effort. However his intentions get mixed up with being a child. He gets bored easily. It is a bit like play. It is a bit like work. If they were serious about their suspicions they would call the police.