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Key to success is selecting a literary line of inquiry - and it is best to focus on a writer's choice or a literary feature

The introduction establishes this line of inquiry - broad enoguh to enable analysis of the whole work but not so broad that the essay is superficial.

The line of inquiry needfs to allow for analysis/interpretation rather than lead the candidate into description or paraphrase.

Avoid focusing on contextual or political/philosophical/sociological themes

The line of inquiry is NOT a global issue

The essay should address a complete work, which means that one poem or one short story is insufficient.

Students who choose the same work must find different lines of inquiry

Choices of works must be appropriate in terms of level of challenge

Less well known titles are usually very welcome

A focus on song lyrics must address aspects of craft, not address context

The 1500 wod limit in strict. Anything less than 1200 words is likely to self-penalise

Secondary criticism is permitted but must not 'overpower the student's own voice and thinking'

A bibliography must be included. No need for a cover page. All essays must be anonymous. Helpful to use 1.5/double spacing

Crit A: Students must refer to the text in support of claims but use textual evidence carefully/ Precise reference to specific moments in a work can be as effective as actual quotations. Only use quotation if ur gonna analyse it or do something with it. Students should attent to details bust address the work as a whole.

Crit B: Typically, the most challenging criterion. The line of inquiry must focus on analysis of writer's choices. so WHAT the writer has done to make you think what you think and HOW they've made you think that. METHODS! Analysis must advance an argument that relates to the title/line of inquiry. Quotations must receive analytical attention and cannot 'speak for themselves'. AKA any quote you include has to actually be unpacked. Literary terminology is helpful but must be used appropriately and correctly. It is likely that features of the unique chosen genre will be beneficial. E.G. in NLMG look at novel form so narrative perspective, voice, motifs, symbols, characterisation, etc

Crit C: The introduction must justify the line of inquiry and explain its significance. so AUTHORIAL INTENT. Make introductions clear and focused. Make sure body paras are connected and serve to develop a cogent argument. Students need to know how quotations are integrated according to academic convention. Quotations typically need contextual information (so e.g. at the place, rochester said "fewfewf" at a significant time). Better to use short quotations (embedded or concise). Graphic novel panels should be integrated into the text. Paragraphs that are very long or very short betray a need for more care with the development of an argument (so all body paras should be roughly the same length). Conclusions should not just repeat things already said but attend to the argument that has been proven. Another option is to link the analysis to the wider concerns of the work (zoom out in conclusion thesis --> specific --> general).

Crit D: Writing needs ot be mechanically accurate - precision of vocabulary and syntax is important. A formal academic register should be maintained and students should not think of the essay as an opportunity to introduce arbitrary 'sophisticated' vocabulary. AKA don't be silly and just make sure everything is grammatically correct but not too flowery.

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I think that I need to increase my cohesion within my essay, and make sure that my essay flows well - the most successful essays I read consistently developed on their prior points and avoided unnecessarily repeating.

I think that one of my strengths is analysing a text broadly, and keeping my thoughts abstract - however, on the other side, I should ensure that I have more close textual analysis and keep my 'zooming in' consistent throughout the text. Right now I think that my essay is too broad and I struggle with keeping my ideas concise/under the word count. The most successful essays I've seen have been well under the word count because they've been able to be concise.

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Rough notes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18ZnxR5jNEJKGSz_Lqrm1_gNSPTkuJZDPLb3WEnIO9lY/edit?usp=sharing

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1. The White Suit

In 'Chronicle of a Death Foretold', Gabriel Garcia Marquez repeatedly uses the symbol of the white suit to highlight Santiago Nazar's juxtaposed gender identity and the inevitability of his death, by emphasising his femininity and ultimate lack of autonomy in deciding his own fate.

2. Blood

Through the graphic presence of blood in 'Chronicle of a Death Foretold', Gabriel Garcia Marquez suggests that bloodshed serves a role within society to regain honour, demonstrating a collective responsibility towards acts of violence which are socially acceptable.

3. Weather/rain

Gabriel Garcia Marquez uses the omnipresence of rain in 'Chronicle of a Death Foretold' to convey a sense of collective responsibility, highlighting that Santiago's death was driven by society as a whole, including a warped religion.

The rain washes away the sin of the murder

However, it's present even whilst Santiago is getting murdered -> highlights how everyone is complacent in his murder, including even the weather?

Shows that the society's warped perception of religion and God has resulted in this murder, because even their 'God' is helping them control the weather to hide away any guilt that may be felt.

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I think that speaking for that long with only a few notes required quite a lot of preparation. I think that I need to make sure I know my wider work very well so that I can refer to it in the questioning stage in order to refer to Zadie Smith as a whole. Know the text super well!!!!!! Don't just know the bullet points because you're going to get questions on the whole text not just the parts you focused on..

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/12MUSC89N6gIarto15ZvaP4MQXzq6x1ZFk5s2jEloz34/edit?usp=drivesdk

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Page 57:

What is significant about the relationship between Cecily and Algernon?

Firstly, Algernon had never intended to fall in love when he came on this trip. His first meeting with Cecily is clearly one to test the waters and compare her against Jack, who is the only guideline that he has to what the 'country' is like.

Cecily appears to hold power over Algernon in their first meeting. "You are under some strange mistake." "I don't think you should be so proud...". This might be ironic because Algernon really holds more power in terms of knowledge because she is being tricked into believing that he is really her 'wicked cousin Ernest'.

Because of this strange power dynamic where both believe themselves to be 'dominating' (maybe?), there seems to be a lot of banter between them.

What themes around class and culture are being explored here?

Deception and hypocrisy within classes, maybe as entertainment?

The contrast between Jack's and Algernon's motives for lying -> Algernon is trying to create chaos whilst Jack is trying to end it? As a result both result to concealing the truth, although Jack technically is revealing the truth in a strange roundabout manner

What role does Chasuble play in their perceived 'reconciliation'?

Chasuble acts as comedic relief in his lack of desire to inquire more about the situation. His comedic timing mirrors that of Miss Prism's.

Chasuble's faithfulness to his religion could be what leads him to agree to christen both Jack and Algernon. (I will be reading up more on Christianity shortly as I don't feel that I know enough to answer this well!)

How is Wilde commenting on public vs private persona?

Wilde uses the characterisation of Jack and Algernon in different settings. In the city, we see the 'private' Algernon, and 'public' Jack. The inverse is seen in the country. By utilising parallels, Wilde highlights how setting can have an impact on one's behaviour.

The 'private' and 'public' is also explored in terms of 'private' and 'public' motivations, through the character of Dr. Chasuble. His personal motivations of pleasing Miss Prism may not always align with his values as a Reverand, and so he is often at conflict with himself on how to portray himself in a place where both his 'public' and 'private' values are required.

Page 64:

In what onguidstlic ways are Cecily and Algernon a good fit?

Cecily and Algernon are both quick-witted and have a similar sense of humour, using dry back-and-forth banter to further their relationship (many epigrams).

They both seem to have unrealistic ideals for a conventional marriage - "We have been engaged since February the 14th...I think it is rather hard that you should leave me for so long a period as half an hou.r Couldn't you make it twenty minutes?" "I'll be back in no time." Neither of them question the ridicule of the other's demands, and this kind of acceptance could be what makes them 'work' so well together. They both seem to romanticise romance itself.

What social comment is Wilde making on the marriage market of the time?

Marriage is extremely superficial and trivial -> its foundations are often weak (Cecily's 'engagement' with Algernon being an example), and oftentimes there is no real reason to marriage.

On the other hand, Wilde also uses characters such as Lady Bracknell to critique the role of marriage later in the play. Marriage is seen as a transactional matter, where Jack is questioned for all of his means, including his background, income, and class. Marriage for the sake of love therefore cannot exist as marriage is one of the few ways that women could ascend the social hierarchy in Victorian times.

How have absurdist tropes been utilised in this scene?

Wilde makes use of the fact that everything that is said is taken at face value - there is a kind of lightheartedness to the play that allows the audience to travel to another world where society's rules do not apply. As such, it is not a shock when Cecily and Algernon fall in love BEFORE first sight, seemingly having been engaged for months.

Marriage proposals were a serious matter as the woman was practically being traded off (hopefully for a better life). However, it is downplayed in IOBE, and treated as haphazardly as any other get-together would be.

Many contradictions are not addressed - at least, not immediately by the characters. When Jack states that his brother is dead, and said brother 'returns from the dead', not a single character follows up on Jack to confirm if he was lying. The matter is not addressed again.

How has Wilde created humour?

Wilde contrasts the serious nature of Lady Bracknell, Dr Chasuble, and Miss Prism (all who have titles of some kind) with the witty characters of Cecily, Gwendolyn, Jack, and Algernon. The humour lies in the dry exchanges between the 'old' and the 'young', and the degree of seriousness to which the 'old' characters treat the story, as compared to the 'young' characters. Lady Bracknell seems much more concerned over Gwendolyn's marriage than Gwendolyn herself.

Wilde also relies on a rule of threes heavily - two serious lines, followed by a sarcastic epigram

Even when addressing social issues such as the class system and marriage within Victorian societies, Wilde conceals the information under a large amount of humour so that the shift in tone within the play is never too dramatic.

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How does Wilde utilise setting in his play 'The Importance of Being Earnest' to represent the class struggle during the Victorian Era?

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New Historicism:

The literary theory that emphasises link between historical context and literature

You can't really understand a text unless you understand the context in which the text is written

Setting of post-emancipation Jamaica:

Abolition of slavery was in 1833 and came to force in 1834 -> however there were laws that meant slaves were not immediately free and renamed as 'apprentices' where they earned minimum wage

Apprenticeship system serves to develop tension between slaves and slave owners

Antoinette is white/Creole -> a lot of them were economically ruined because they had once been slave owners and 'elite' but were now hated by both the slaves and the British because they couldn't fit in either -> instabiliy

Mr Mason -> British colonial settler that comes to Jamaica -> he can't understand the cultural tensions and doesn't take the racism seriously which is why it's burnt down.

Antoinette and Tia -> she can't escape the categories that she's been brought up as. Seeing Tia as a 'black slave' despite everything -> social isolation

Affects her sense of belonging -> Antoinette is consistently ostracised by both parties

Her disparity in race could lead to her dissociation and alienation from herself

Rochester can't understand her because she's not black, and not white either

How they shape motivations and actions -> abolition of slavery leaves a legacy on every aspect of the novel

Antoinette's mother needs to remarry in order to allow security for her children -> which is why she marries Mr Mason because he is white and can provide security

Antoinette's mother goes into feminine norms

Some characters subvert racial norms

Christophine is viewed as a powerful woman -> even though she was viewed as a slave and she stays with the family

Antoinette and Rochester is a relationship of true total control -> Rochester is trying to colonise her to gain power?????

Engages with historical justice -> warps the perception of relationships

Antoinette is fragmented between two identities -> leads to mistrust and a power imbalance between Antoinette and Rochester

Antoinette cannot escape the power imbalance because it is what she was born into and what she grew up learning

The slaves are free but they're not really an actual voice because there's no strength behind their voices

Rochester doesn't accept Christophine as a woman of power

Rochester marries into this relationship and he can never escape it -> he can't divorce, so he's trapped into the relationship and in a perpetual cycle of destruction and alienation

Representing race more than gender

Psychoanalytical / Psychodynamic:

Analysis of dreams, fractured self, fractured ego

Id --> innate instinctive impulses

Ego --> sense of self-importance

Superego --> moral decisions

Repetitive compulsion --> coined by Freud (why do we do things? what drives us?)

Antoinette's life throughout three sections in the book

Her childhood produces a deep yearning for love and dread for rejection --> manifests as her attachment with Sigmd Frued

Antoinette and Rochester's marriage is a battlefield of control --> Rochester renames her as Bertha

Antoinette's internal conflict makes her vulnerable to Rochester's control over her. Love becomes a symbol of validation which is doomed to fail. Rochester forces his racial viewpoints onto her. He must become mad so that she can become sane.

Rochester abandons his sense of self and has to place it onto Bertha? Reshape her into something which she is not.

Motif of fire --> Id's revenge against the superego (fire is the only language that Antoinette can manifest and control at the end of the novel)

Motif of hair --> becomes a marker of identity and autonomy. Rochester is obsessed with taming hair (he talks about her hair during honeymoon, her hair is described as free when she is burning down the house)

Shows how he wants to take over her psyche

Doll metaphor --> encapsulates loss of agency (Antoinette loves mirrors (she's a reflection of everyone else))

Narration style:

Rhys uses fragmented narration to depict Antoinette's madness because she is unreliable as a narrator

A result of her ego collapsing under oppression and gaslighting. Rochester's cultural erasure of her becomes the superego's tyranny.

Rochester is shocked when she wakes up from a dream and describes it to him --> superego is taking over Antoinette's identity as she is forced to leave Jamaica and adapt to a new world that she was never supposed enter

Antoinette's dreams:

What you dream is your subconscious, suppressed desires

Rhys channels her own fractured self (she is a Creole woman herself) into Antoinette's dreams. Rhys' trauma lives through Antoinette's distorted perceptions and her dreams.

Marriage is salvation and fantasy.

Post-colonialism:

Most vivid perspective?

Post-colonial traits are most evident in the Creole identity.

Death of her pet shows how post-colonial readings shape Antoinette's identity.

Fire at Thornfield --> ultimate rejection of post-colonial legacy

Christophine challenges Antoinette's passivity

Jamaica vs other setting: much more lush, vivid description

Lens:

Emerged in late 1920s --> studies texts that are produced by colonised AND colonisers

Analyse how power, culture, religion, and resistance are represented by texts

Core objectives of what literature wants to achieve is to expose colonial ideologies

Allow the colonised to reclaim their voice

Characters usually have a hybrid identity formed from the clash between identities/cultures

How characters resist oppression and reclaim their autonomy

Antoinette is isolated from both white and black Jamaican population

Power dynamic shifts between race, gender, and class

Motifs/symbols

Motif of madness/psychological fragmentation --> madness is a madness of colonial displacement and fragmented control

Rochester's gaslighting and renaming as Bertha represents psychological confusion as a result of colonialism

The existence of the novel is post-colonialist --> a woman from Jane Eyre being given a voice.

The act of naming

Rochester renames Antoinette as Bertha

Also seen in TFA where indigenous names are erased (a colonialist act to remove the identity and voice of the colonised)

The reclaiming of language and identity by marginalised groups.

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If the binary terms are too reductive, redefine the terms. Make sure to focus on both parts of the binary terms (strengths AND weaknesses) -> turn into a moral question?

E.G. look at Good characters/settings vs Bad characters/settings

Try and have a comparative topic sentence at the beginning.

Motifs/symbols/broad concepts/techniques -> be very clear of what you want to say throughout the essay

Know your texts inside out!!

Techniques -> how does it develop throughout the text?

GENERAL:

Think/read more around these texts!

Read other articles about the texts

Have more ideas! Have academic discussions! (study groups/yap sessions)

More scholarship in general

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(Grounding the text -> focuses on the 5 Ws (who, what, when, where, why))

How is the relationship between the characters established?

This extract from 'Absent Friends' by Alan Ayckbourn focuses on the characters of Diana and Evelyn who are talking in Diana's house. Throughout the extract, the tension in their relationship is palpable, establishing a sense of ... a power struggle and a wealth of information unspoken and not shared with the audience. The writer conveys the fraught "friendship" through... (technique is sometimes optional)

Evaluation -> Adding/determining a value to the writer's methods (weighing the success - the level of effect on audience)

Close textual analysis -> zooming into the text and specific words/sentences

Introduction should have at least WHAT and HOW, but not yet WHY.

Paper 1 doesn't necessarily need a WHW structure, but focus on method and effect throughout.

Make sure to signpost and link paragraphs together (last paragraph should echo first paragraph).

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We need to read more

With purpose

Widely

Often

Need practice in establishing literal meaning (what is happening in the text)

Need practice in reading and comprehending at speed

The paper is incredibly short

Need to have a good sense of techniques

List of literary techniques

Beginning to keep a focus on method -> effect

Action plan

Read wider!

More plays/poems/novels/non-fiction

Timed paper 1 practices in exam conditions

Revisit feedback regularly

Come to class and engage in lessons

Paper 1 will become more of a priority for the remainder of this academic year

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Portfolio Task:

1. What can we learn about Oscar Wilde in his private letters vs his public trial?

Oscar Wilde is clearly not one to back down from accusations -> although he attempts to shake away the claims of sexual relations with Lord Alfred Douglas, it is clear that his own personal morals mean enough that he is unwilling to lie. It could also be implied that Wilde was unwilling to publicly declare his 'lack of faith' towards Lord Alfred.

2. What do we learn about Oscar Wilde’s relationships?

"Dearest of all boys", "My own Darling Boy", "My Own Boy" -> Wilde is clearly quite the romantic, and is unafraid to show his emotion to others. However, his desire for intellectual conversation is also quickly apparent - "Your sonnet is quite lovely, and it is a marvel that those red-roseleaf lips of yours should be made no less for the madness of music and song than for the madness of kissing." Wilde might be attracted to Lord Alfred because he is able to be the 'in-between' that Wilde needs - someone who is able to straddle both a larger-than-life social status, and create literature.

3. Is there a moral consideration to be made here about what we read and what we don’t?

Oscar Wilde's personal letters being leaked like this is an extreme breach of his privacy. Irregardless of how famous he was at the time of his trial, it could be argued that this evidence should have never gone public, much less without Wilde's approval (as far as we know, no consent was given). The ethical problems behind reading literature that was not created to be read are then raised upon reading his intimate letters to a lover. Is it alright to break privacy in order to learn more about the history behind an author? Plenty of journals and diary entries are open-source online, so it is hard to say where the line can be drawn between what is and isn't socially acceptable.

4. What emotions do these sources provoke?

The most emotion that is felt is most likely a sense of sympathy for Oscar Wilde. Despite his controversies for being engaged in a homosexual relationship, Wilde represents the 'forbidden love' of all kinds that is still familiar to many today - whether that be from arranged marriage or discrimination, such as the discrimination that Wilde faced on account of being with Lord Alfred.

Jekyll and Hyde

The novel is often critically acclaimed for being a representation of isolation, loss, or dissociation from the outside world. However, if applying a homoerotic reading to the story, it could be suggested that Hyde represents Jekyll's suppressed homosexuality, which allowed for the liberation of queer literature 'in plain sight' - by disguising controversial topics under Gothic themes, authors would have been able to write about much more complicated issues through a large extended metaphor.

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'Aesthetes' during Oscar Wilde's time -> Oscar Wilde was a convict of the time. Wilde represented 'art for art's sake', which was what the aesthetes largely revolved around. He was known for simply doing 'what he enjoyed'

Surrounded by men who were 'urban', 'conscious', and 'highly modern' -> in order words, men that were very educated and aware of social expectations/hierarchies

There was 'post-Christianity' amorality within the writing of Oscar Wilde's associates

"All art is quite useless", "books are well written or bad written, that is all"

An attempt to liberate nature and reading literature just for its 'content'

All art is not moralistic.

Wilde is separated by his predecessors because he had an extremely strong sense of the social and political implications of art

Wilde was interested in the way that women dressed and other social 'phenomenons'

He was interested in both historical and 'futuristic' culture, and how/why the norms would change

Wilde wanted to submerse himself into the new age of media that was emerging

Wilde would encourage a certain manner of dress in order to 'liberate' women -> is this not hypocritical in its very nature?

Mona Lisa -> human evolution

Human psychology was a culmination of things over time (very complex) -> could be impacted by one's personal history (view of the aesthetes developed into the idea that media is the depiction of a specific moment in the human psyche)

Art could be used to understand politics and ethics at specific moments of time

Oscar Wilde was a 'natural teacher'

Society's quality can be inspected by looking at the quality of the landmarks around you

Romanticism vs Modernism

Wilde might be progressive, but he wanted to make his life a work of art, rather than works of art his life.

Wilde 'put his talent into his art, but his genius into his life' -> he devoted himself entirely to his social life (famous by being famous)

The 'lovely life's image'

Wilde represents a transition period

Using traditional forms but with unconventional ideas

He drew on traditional French comedy to create some of his greatest works, such as 'Importance of being Earnest' -> noted as being an 'opera'

Witty language that forces the audience to think

Stylised in order to politicise comedies?

Wilde was attracted to 'commodity culture'

He wrote in prison that he regretted being too 'materialistic' -> Oscar Wilde had been torn between his intellect and his love of a 'fashionable' life

His intellect and hard work did not fit into the pre-existing, cool image of a 'dandy'

Wilde could write literature and create art for many different audiences -> poetry, comedies, etc...

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Book covers and critical readings - 13/5/25

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Book covers and critical readings - 13/5/25

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I personally prefer the second book cover over the others because I believe that it demonstrates the beauty of the world from Antoinette's perspective, while simultaneously showing her entrapment and isolation. However, the fact that she's still so enlarged and clearly out of place demonstrates that she's been 'placed' there by someone else, implying her oppression by Rochester. Antoinette is being 'enveloped' by Coulibri, her childhood.

Applying critical readings involves analysing texts through different theoretical lenses and frameworks.

They could:

Uncover layers of meaning to the text

Apply historical or biographical contexts to the text

The time of writing and inspiration that the writer took is more important to some than others

E.G. George Orwell's 'Animal Farm' was stated by the author to be about Russian politics. However, some people would say that this is irrelevant because 'death of the author'

New criticism/formalists: removing external factors like authorial intent or historical context (it's not up to us to decide what the text meant) - focusing on the interplay of elements.

Focusing on the form of the text. The form of the text is inseparable from its content.

Feminist criticism: How literature portrays gender roles, the treatment of women, and the power dynamics between men and women.

More contemporary feminist criticism may also consider race, class, sexuality, and other factors that intersect with gender

Marxist criticism: Class struggle and social power - how literature reflects/reinforces/critiques social/economic power dynamics, and the relationship between different social classes.

Analysing how texts either support or critique dominant ideologies. E.G. a novel set in a capitalist society might be read through a Marxist lens in order to understand how it portrays the capitalist system and its impact on the characters' lives and decisions.

Psychoanalytic criticism: drawing on Freudian theory to analyse characters' unconscious motivations, desires, and repressed emotions. Focusing on a character's dreams, irrational behaviours, or internal conflicts.

Oedipal complex and symbolism: used to analyse familial relationships and symbolic elements in the text. E.G. in Hamlet, the relationship between Hamlet and his mother could be explored using Freud's Oedipal theory.

Postcolonial criticism: The effects of colonisation on both the colonisers and the colonised. Explores themes of identity, race, power, and resistance, focusing on how literature portrays the legacy of colonialism and struggle for independence.

Might explore how characters navigate the complexities of cultural identity in a postcolonial world.

Structuralism and semiotic: Signs and symbols to create meaning.

Binary oppositions: e.g. light vs dark, male vs female, good vs evil...

Deconstruction: Developed by Jacques Derrida, argues that language is inherently unstable and that texts are full of contradictions, ambiguities, and hidden meanings. Aim to expose these tensions and highlight how meaning is always deferred and never fixed.

Challenging authorial intent.

Ecocriticism: Representation of nature, environment, and ecological issues in literature. Explores how literature reflects human relationships with the natural world.

Environmental activism: how literature can inspire environmental consciousness and activism.

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Is Rhys trying to subvert Jane Eyre's perspective? It doesn't seem like she's trying to simply overthrow Jane Eyre's perspective, because she allows the audience to witness Rochester and Grace's viewpoints as well.

Is 'Wide Sargasso Sea' a challenge to the Canon, by trying to contradict existing voices.

What is the 'right' knowledge? Who's truth matters?

Unreliable narrator -> narrative authority.

Verisimilitude -> the idea that literature can or should somehow be true to reality. Aspects of literature should be lifelike in order for it to have impact. Descriptions of places should be realistic.

Homodiegetic narrator -> a character who is also a character within the story (e.g. Great Gatsby and Nick Carraway)

Heterodiegetic narrator -> a narrator who is not a character in the story (e.g. Wuthering Heights).

Focalisation -> the perspective from which the story is presented, or who sees the events of the story.

Internal focalisation -> the narrative is presented from the perspective of a character within the story. The narrator knows only what this character perceives and experiences. (E.g. 'The Turn of the Screw')

External focalisation -> the narrative is presented from an outside perspective, focusing on actions or physical events, but without insights into characters' thoughts or feelings (e.g. 'The Great Gatsby' - description of events from a neutral stance)

Zero focalisation -> The narrator has knowledge of all characters' thoughts, feelings, and events (omniscient narration, as seen in 'Middlemarch')

Temporal order of the narrative -> how time is manipulated in the narrative, noting the relationship between the order of events in the story (the fabula) and the order of events as they are presented in the narrative (the syuzhet).

Anachrony -> the Deviation from chronological order.

Flashback (analepsis) -> a narrative that moves backward in times

Flashforward (prolepsis) -> a narrative that moves forward in time, foreshadowing future events.

Chronology -> The natural order of events, with no deviation from the sequence of time as they occur in the story.

Distance (narrative distance) -> The emotional or intellectual distancwe between the narrator and the events being described, as well as the degree of detail the narrator provides.

Narrative distance -> Genette explores how closely or distantly a narrator engages with the events. A narrator might be intimately involved, or they could maintain an aloog or detached stance.

Direct discourse -> The character's own words are directly quoted (e.g. 'I am going to the story', he said)

Indirect discourse -> The narrator paraphrases the character's words, without direct quotation.

Free indirect discourse -> A blend of the narrator's voice nad the character's voice, allowing the character's thoughts or speech to be presented without quotation marks but still reflecting their perspective (e.g. She was tired. She has no idea what to do next).

Narrative time and duration

Scene -> When narrative time and story time coincide (i.e. the narrative is 'playing out' events in real time)

Summary -> When the narrative condenses time, summarising events that take place over a long period in a few lines.

Ellipsis -> the omission of certain events or period, where the narrative skips over time without explanation.

Pause -> When the narrative halts the action to provide descriptive detail or commentary.

Voice vs Focalisation -> narrative voice (who tells the story), and focalisation (the lens through which the story is perceived).

Voice concerns the identity and function of the narrator.

Focalisation concerns the perspective from which events are seen or described.

Implied author vs Narrator.

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Why is it called 'Wide Sargasso Sea'? - 22/4/25

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Why is it called 'Wide Sargasso Sea'? - 22/4/25

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Sargasso Sea -> covered in thick free-floating seaweed called Sargussum, which is capable of trapping ships for days on end.

Antoinette could be trying to 'wade' through the Sargassum in order to stay afloat and preserve her identity -> is it called 'Wide' Sargasso Sea because we as the audience know from 'Jane Eyre' that she is unable to escape the overwhelming expanse? Potential foreshadowing

Antoinette is the only person able to wade through the sea because of her ambiguous identity as a Creole person.

Antoinette is reflected in the biodiversity of the sea -> or could she be isolated by the biodiversity, which in itself leads to her lack of identity and therefore madness?

The Sargasso Sea bridges the path between England and Jamaica -> could it be that Antoinette herself sees the sea as much wider than it is because it represents her loss of freedom?

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"Rhys's novel can be seen as a palimpsestic narrative, where the silenced subaltern woman's voice is both inscribed and erased."

Antoinette's identity is fragmented -> although we can extrapolate ideas such as her race and personality, she seems to deliberately keep her own race 'vague', despite race and identity being such an important part of Antoinette's voice, particularly at the beginning of the novel, when she reminisces on her childhood.

Because her race is questioned so much by critics, how she is viewed can therefore change.

"The novel does not appropriate blackness in the service of Euro-Creole subject constitution. In fact, it constantly thwarts an easy identification with the white Creole protagonist."

I believe that the novel focuses less on 'identification' with the concept of race, and more on the impacts of postcolonial legacies on characters that cannot fit into these concepts of race. In other words, Antoinette is not necessarily exploring her 'black' or 'white' heritage, but rather how her ambiguity in terms of race leads to a loss of identity. We never really find out whether she is truly 'white', but it is inherent from the beginning that Antoinette identifies strongly with Jamaican culture.

"Christophine is tangential to a narrative written in the interest of the white Creole protagonist."

b

"The premises of the colonialist discourse do not falter and lose ground when the black subalterns speak but paradoxically when they are silenced and stereotyped."

"Wide Sargasso Sea thus exposes the conventional cultural constructions through which Antoinette, like Rochester, represents her racial others."

"Black resistance in Wide Sargasso Sea is located in the complex interplay between colonial strategies and subaltern practices."

"The novel's complex delineation of the plural histories and cultures of the Caribbean forecloses a facile celebration of an insulated voice's recovery."

"Rhys does to her own protagonist Antoinette what she has been acclaimed for doing to Brontë’s Jane Eyre, i.e., shows her as constituted within and by the processes of colonization and imperialism."

"The novel does not, as Spivak argues, appropriate blackness in the service of Euro-Creole subject constitution."

"Wide Sargasso Sea calls forth a model of reading that scrutinizes the negations and devaluations which such a definition of identity may involve."

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Nature and Environment

Rhys explores how the environment acts as a reflection of Antoinette's slow descent into madness.

Coulibri vs convent school vs Massacre

The people around Antoinette also act as her environment - Sandi, Annette, Rochester

Antoinette seeks comfort in the dark from the beginning - was she fated from the beginning for a tragic end?

Cultural Displacement

Rhys explores the impact of cultural displacement on a postcolonial society through the parallels demonstrated between Anette and Antoinette.

Freedom and Entrapment

Rhys explores how the illusion of freedom can lead to self-entrapment through the relationship between Antoinette and Rochester.

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Name the author

Shows that this is a work of fiction - also lets students expand on author's intent

No specific literary technique - broad - lets people expand

Thesis statement isn't very long

Nuanced and specific vocabulary

There is a specific focus

Is there a relevant social and historial context?

Add a literary element (such as character)

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9/10

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Learner Portfolio Task:

Antoinette suggests something about the children who taunt her by describing their hair. How else does Antoinette describe the appearance of her tormentors?

1. Discuss what her descriptions infer - especially the possibility that they are the children of mixed race - male slave owners and women slaves, perhaps?

2. Create a character chart for Antoinette, Sandi, the boy and the girl who taunt Antoinette, and Helene. List the comments, thoughts, and physical descriptions given in the text about their hair and any other physical characteristics that seem important.

What meaning are you extrapolating from the descriptive details?

Antoinette appears to see herself reflected within her descriptions of the children that are clearly mixed race, with "horrible" characteristics such as "negro's hair, but bright red". Antoinette places heavy emphasis on the horror that is the 'white' traits mixing with the 'black' traits - the descriptions of the children may be a physical representation of Antoinette's depiction of herself - despite being 'white' by appearance, her upbringing has led to a mashup which has caused her to identify closely with the culture in Jamaica. She is unable to place a label on herself, and this could be why she demonises 'white' characteristics - she herself is seen as an outlier as a result of the colour of her skin, and she projects this onto the characters around her. Antoinette's struggle with identity and race is something that is made inherent from the beginning of the novel, and continues to trace her life through to adulthood.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MwgISDQ2IHHBM8ex2j3M5cNmamMgxLPL3J88pn1tl70/edit?tab=t.0

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"watching us being pathetic" -> pathetic instead of confused or unsure, shows Kathy's perspective of herself

"I see they really went out of their way" -> she empathises strongly with them (as a donor who isn't supposed to show strong emotions)

"We were glad we had each other" -> after she just mentioned that she would later do the same (aka watch them be pathetic). was she also glad of the newcomers when she became a veteran? also shows her empathy and strong emotion

Conversational and reflective

First person narrative

Narrative voice suggests homogeneity within group

Plural pronouns for the singulaer indicates lack of identity

Personal internal monologue

Emotional internal monologue and less emotional external monologue

Is dystopia personal or a shared experience?

Descriptions through internal dialogue

Difference in taboonness shows the different societal expectations

Her maturity heightens her tragedy

Narrative style is limited at the beginning and becomes more nuanced to represent her realisation

Dramatic irony

Impoverishment in her style

Voice is polite

No obscenity

No demonic register

Her voice suggests that she's a copy

She sometimes speaks in cliches

Kathy addresses the readers as if we were clones at other institutions

No concept of the audience

Writing is art made out of debris in the flat fields of nothing

Aesthetic marked by low-key ambitions

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Similarities between Jane and Antoinette

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Similarities between Jane and Antoinette

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Both are made aware of their poverty

Both are rejected by their mothers and sent to boarding school (boarding school is haven for Antoinette but not Jane)

Rochester in WSS

All about passion

He does not love Antoinette and she does not love him

Bertha and Jane

Bertha is Jane's 'dark double'

Both referred to as wild animals, physically restrained in a locked, dark group

England is not real to Antoinette -> 'their world'

Grace speaks to Bertha the same way that Jessie speaks to Jane

Jane refers to herself as a 'rebel slave'

Jane calls Bertha a 'demon' and a 'creature' -> she refers to her as 'it'

Jane dehumanises Bertha

Bertha sees herself as that ghost

Minor Characters

Christophine calls them 'pretty like pretty self' -> as pretty as can be

Annette and Antoinette are constatnly preening in front of mirrors, and they're both suggested to be promiscuous

St John tells Jane that she is 'formed for labour, not love' -> cannot sexually satisfy

Richard Mason

One dimensional character -> greedy, weak, short-sighted

Old Mason

Genuinely loves Annette? Fond of Antoinette?

Came to make money in the West Indies

'You were the widow of a slave-owner... but you've never been molested'

Mason cannot understand that they are white, but they are not European

Old Cosway

Promiscuous

Daniel Cosway

Very bitter

product of the system

Parallels are made between Annette and Antoinette

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Annotations are all in my copy of the play

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How does Rhys explore the impact of the Emancipation Act in the opening of 'Wide Sargasso Sea'?

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How does Rhys explore the impact of the Emancipation Act in the opening of 'Wide Sargasso Sea'?

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In my opinion, we should never define someone by their history and legacy. There is no reason for persecution based on someone's past. However, that is not to say that the traumatic events that ex-slaves faced should be discounted at the hand of 'This wasn't my doing', because descendants of slave owners must be aware of the impact that they must have on others. ........

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Theme of Memory and Ishiguro's structures

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Theme of Memory and Ishiguro's structures

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I think that by emulating a 'realistic' recalling experience (starting with the most volatile or emotional experiences before moving on to 'typical childhood' memories), Ishiguro is attempting to demonstrate the humanity behind Kathy's words and show that she has the same thought processes as any other human. I think that Ishiguro is showing how Kathy, like any other normal young child, is more likely to remember traumatic experiences (such as the tokens) over less 'strange' experiences such as playing make-believe with friends.

Kathy writes when she is 31 and Ruth and Tommy are already dead, but "this information is withheld... not stated upfront".

Their lives have a "horrible end limit" to them, but this also chimes to our process of aging. As we get older, we become less ambitious and more dreadful of the future.

"What are the things you hold on to, what are the things you want to set right? What do you regret?" - Kazuo Ishiguro to journalist

Kathy wants to "order all these old memories" -> advertising that this is a book of memories

Childhood memories are typically seen as unreliable and distant

"This was a long time ago so I might have got it all wrong"

"The past can be reconstructed in such a way to console our life as it is now"

Kathy plays between distant and recent memories -> a form of digression. "But I've gone off a bit"

"Narrative is an act of telling"

Chronological movement forward, but Kathy is "zigzagging across time", and she orders her memories.

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I was maybe 7 or 8 and trick-or-treating. I'm not sure if it was really Halloween Night, but I think I was probably dressed up as some kind of cat. A few of my friends came over and I went around a bunch of houses with them and my brother. I rode my bike for the first time on this night - my dad took the wheels off my training bike and just let me go. I remember being quite terrified as I turned the corner, but somehow managed it. I don't really think I fell off my bike until I was much older. I remember always trying to pick the best candy - I loved chewy things like Mars bars and gummies, things that my parents wouldn't really buy for us. Actually, I don't think that I would have been that young, because I have a vague memory of my foster dog sitting on our front porch - she was cream-coloured, and had short, wiry fur. We had probably had her for a few months at this point, because I was no longer overly excited when I saw her.

I don't remember what things smelled like - I have a very bad sense of smell so that's not really unusual for me. I think this memory was probably special to me because I rarely went outside after it got dark, so wandering around my neighbourhood in pitch black was really cool to 8-year-old me.

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Three main settings are used throughout the novel 'Never Let Me Go' - specifically, Hailsham, the Cottages, and the donor recovery centre. Throughout the text, Ishiguro repeatedly uses the setting to allude to a world which is not as it seems - the places depicted appear on the surface as caring and innocent, but in reality they hide something much worse. Furthermore, it is interesting that the setting is mostly contained within these three settings - in fact, there are only really four main places that the characters visit. This narrow and unexplored world serves to mirror Kathy's understanding of the world, and her 'imprisonment' and lack of understanding of what surrounds her. In addition to this, the location of setting within the text also remains vague and obscured, which only serves to add to a sense of mystery within the text - the text opens with Kathy struggling to remember the exact location of Hailsham, which indicates that her perception of reality is skewered. Overall, Ishiguro uses setting to add to the mysterious and uncanny tone of the text.

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Other TFA annotations are in the book

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/16gM0-vQ4sxJpczNp-JYFk83EsKM4QZQ9q9HYYuOhmpY/edit?usp=drivesdk

Discuss the significance of the rural and/or the urban in two literary works.

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The Road Not Taken - Essay Plan (8/10/24)

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The Road Not Taken - Essay Plan (8/10/24)

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Never Let Me Go provides a fascinating debate on the morality of cloning.

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Kathy

The narrator of the novel

Has been working for a long time as a 'carer'

Can be quite sullen; others think they are dull

Struggles to show much emotion about their life

Remains (mainly) strong throughout

Not as pre-occupied with Hailsham and the past

Very good at their job

Not very creative

Tommy

Picked on by other children at Hailsham

Finds it difficult to control emotions

A very kind and loving person

A strong sense of right and wrong

Remembers Hailsham particularly fondly

Has tantrums, especially when a child

Rather withdrawn and despairing by the end

Wants to avoid their 'fate' - perhaps more than the others

Sociable with fellow donors

Intelligent and inquisitive

Ruth

Tries to make amends for selfish behaviour at the end

Learns the value of ove and friendship

Leader of the Secret Guard at Hailsham

Proud

Passively accepts their fate, even more so than the others

Can be overbearing and manipulative

Becomes less confident as the novel progresses

A dominant character

Seeks desperately to fit in with others at The Cottages

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I feel the book explores themes of morality and humanity, as well as the line between human and not. Kathy is accepting of her fate as not-human but is still trying to survive, demonstrating the instinctual need to stay alive.

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Prologues were used because many plays were first debuted at large parties where there was a lot of drinking, and many participants weren't paying attention

They were also used because much of the audience were not "highly educated" and playwrights wanted to prevent their storylines from becoming too complicated for the common crowd

Once works are created, they are no longer the author's, but the audience's instead

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27/8/2024  - English First Choices Reflections

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27/8/2024  - English First Choices Reflections

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How are you feeling about studying your selected English A option?

I am relatively satisfied with my course. Although I am still considering switching to the HL Literature course, I am confident that my deep-rooted appreciation for literary works will make English Literature the right course for me. Having previously taken History and becoming familiar with analysing non-literary works such as posters or magazines, I have come to realise that I much prefer analysing literary texts.