Advanced Module C: History and memory

Q: hi for module C, memory and history, we r doing fiftieth gate and we have to find two related texts, for one im doing the Mascot the novel by Mark Kurzem…and for the second im thinking about Schindler’s List the movie…
but for schindlers list could u help me plz in  terms of how it represents memory…thanx.

A: I don’t know the novel and it’s been a long time since I saw the film. I do remember the red coat that is the spot colour in a b/w film. Look at choices like those? It’s a representation of memory, more remote than the Baker.When it was released there was a lot of material on Schindler and his altruisim published. It seemed to be like opening Pandora’s box. There is also the modern and symbolic gesture at the end. You also have spielberg’s reasons for making it. In his later career he has made these sorts of choices. I’ll have to come back to you on this,

A: first of all i’d like to thank you for your time and effort in helping me. I really appreciate it.
For Schindler’s List i wasa thinking well since module C is about memory and history and its representation..could i write about it as how its the ‘distortion of history’ through memory. The film is based on the book Schindler’s ark which is based on a survivors memory who was saved by Schindler..so maybe say that Schindler is remembered ‘fondly’ because of his heroic actions in saving thousands of Jews although the Schindler they remember is not the true historical Schindler..and maybe contrast the real HISTORICAL Schindler with the Schindler in the moviie….and maybe say how emotion distorts the truth and relate it to Yossl how he remmebers it as winter when in reality it was summer? Am I making sense?
THanks alot, muchly appreciated

A: I’d rather say a ‘perception’ or ‘perspective’ than ‘distortion’. There’s a fine but real difference relative to the module. It is through the director’s eyes/experience/personal memory. The book was Thomas Keneally from memory so a little research (Wikipedia?) will give you his purpose which to me is all part of the perspectives and representation thing. That said you still need to focus very clearly on the film. I’d look closely at the scenes mentioned in the notes and Spielberg’s ‘representation of those incidences because you have his purpose from the notes I sent – the wiki notes. I think you’re on the right track with your comments. Good luck! I assume Trials are very soon,

Advanced Module B: Kenneth Slessor

Q: I am doing Kenneth Slessor for Module B. In class, we have been studying ‘Five Bells’ and ‘Beach Burial’. I’m not sure on how to begin composing my essay. Should I look for common themes between the two poems? Should I add context? Are critiques required for this module? Any help would be appreciated.

A: It’s my belief you can’t answer a question until you have it and that focussing on two poems is very limiting because the question may be such that your two poems aren’t the best from the ones you’ve studied to answer the question. Particularly at Advanced level. That said, Death is a common element in both but contrasting in its contexts. This module requires that you have the context for the poems so that you can appreciate that they can be ‘read’ in different ways depending on the context in which they are read eg today. Reading a poem from different contexts is a form of critiquing. You will bring a different reading to the poem to me who had a father who fought in World War 2. If you have a migrant background, say Lebanon or Afghanistan, then you will appreciate the idea of ‘Beach Burial’ if not the literal context. Don’t forget Slessor’s use of techniques to make his meaning.

Standard Module B: Wilfred Owen

Q: ‘m having a really difficult time developing a thesis for this module in general. What sorts of things should i be looking to include in it?I have a specific question for an in-class essay on friday, but i’d rather develop a general one for HSC and then mould it to the question i’ve been given for friday.Should i be including aspects of my topic sentences for each theme im doing in relation to the poetry i’ve chosen?

A: This Module requires you to be able to closely read each poem for its ideas, forms and language features. Forms and language features are the way the poet expresses their idea (or makes meaning). The poems selected will have some sort of common thread. For Owen, at least the war experience. You will have touched on this in class with your teacher so you will have this information in your notes. Organise your notes around these areas for each poem: ideas, form, language features. When you’ve done all your poems, look for commonalities. This last part might give you what you want in terms of a thesis.

Developing a thesis for the module does not necessarily enable you to answer the question you get on the day. You need to know your work (all the poems, not just the ones you like) well enough to be able to answer the question you are given rather than lay a pre-prepared thesis (or essay) on to it. Practicing past papers and getting questions to answer from your teacher will develop your thinking about the text and the module and better prepare you for the HSC. Probably a bit late for this week. Get back to me if you need to,

Advanced Module C: Ted Hughes

Q: I was wondering what related texts there are which are relevant to Hughes and Plath’s relationship, but are not their poetry.

A: You can look more broadly than their relationship as literary history is peppered with difficult relationships. There are suggestions at: http://www.e-rudite.net/Adv_Modules09.htm#Advanced_Module_C . Scroll down to conflicting Perspectives.
A Google will find interviews etc on their relationship. I imaginbe Trials are coming and it is getting late to get quality related material organised.

Advanced Module A: Austen and Weldon

Q: I’m really stuck at the moment with my pride and prejudice and letters to alice essay for module A.
This is what I’ve got so far:

To what extent are texts enriched through their connection with other texts?

Thesis: Through examining the relationships between texts it enables the responder to gain insight into how the meanings of texts can be shaped and reshaped by the context and values surrounding each text. The exploration of the connections between the texts often also enhances the understanding of the values and contexts of each text; this is particularly true of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Fay Weldon’s non-fiction text Letters to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen. Despite the prodigiously different contexts, there are some intriguing similarities between the texts and their language forms and features.

 

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice can be seen as primarily concerned with courtship and marriage and status. Through understanding the context, values and ideas associated with these themes in Austen’s novel and in Weldon’s Letters to Alice, readers are better able to understand and appreciate how they contrast and compare with their own context and values.                                                                                                                    

Austen presents marriage as being the sole purpose of a young woman, because in Austen’s time of Regency England, women were not good for much else and was the only way in which they could move up a social class. Thus, marriage is portrayed as more of a commodity than a means for the unison of two people in love. Rather, the goal is to obtain the best position in life through marrying well. This idea is reflected through the characterisation of Mrs Bennet and her frantic worry of her friend having a daughter married before any of her daughters are, “Lady Lucas will have a daughter married before I have…”                                                                                                      Furthermore, Austen demonstrates her representation of marriage as a commodity through Charlotte Lucas’s marriage to Mr Collins despite her ill impressions of him. Austen expresses this through the employment of an omniscient narrator, “…Miss Lucas, who accepted him solely from the pure and disinterested desire of an establishment…”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Austen continues to develop the idea of marriage as a commodity through the examination of the ‘codes’ surrounding the class system of the time. The English class system during the Regency period was extremely rigid and the aim was to preserve one’s estate. Joining estates was the only way to consolidate power, hold onto one’s wealth or increase it. This Law of Primogeniture was strictly followed and is reflected in Pride and Prejudice through Lady Catherine De Bourgh’s desire for Mr Darcy and her daughter to marry.  Austen also draws attention to a new occurrence taking place during her time; the lower classes increasingly desired to move to a higher one. This is Lady Catherine’s perceived reason for Elizabeth wanting to marry Mr Darcy, so that she could “quit the sphere’ in which she was brought up. Lady Catherine’s desperation in preventing such a union can be attributed to the fear of a diminishing estate as can be seen in the fall in power of many wealthy landowners during Austen’s day.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Weldon places a certain emphasis on making sure that the reader is fully aware of the context of the English Regency Period, particularly the details pertaining the experiences and hardships of being a woman during this time. The factual information she presents enables both the internal reader (Alice), and the external reader (audience) to better understand the characters and situations described in Pride and Prejudice. For example, in Letter 2 entitled ‘A Terrible Time to be Alive’, Weldon encourages the reader and Alice to empathise with the antics of Mrs Bennet, “…only thirty per cent of women married… Women inherited only through their husbands, and only thus could gain access to property…No wonder Mrs Bennet, driven half-mad by anxiety for her five unmarried daughters, made a fool of herself in public, husband-hunting on her girls’ behalf.” Aunt Fay’s appreciation for the knowledge of context in gaining a better understanding of the text encourages Alice and the external reader to empathise with the plight which surrounded women in Austen’s text.                                                                                                                             

Weldon’s Letters to Alice reflects a context where women were more concerned with their independence and individual notions of success living in a patriarchal society rather than securing a husband as a means of financial security. Weldon both explicitly and implicitly comments on the third wave of feminism during the 1980s in her novel through Aunty Fay who berates all types of rules put in place by the society in which her niece, Alice lives and the institution she attends. Although Fay condemns such rules, she develops her own strict codes of instruction and so, contradicts her own advice. For example, “Don’t type, Alice, if you persist in your insane literary plan; use a pen. Develop the manual techniques of writing, so that as the mind works the hand moves.” Thereby, Letters to Alice is not only didactic in form but also undermines its own didacticism.

 

WIth the last 2 paragraphs, i’m not sure if i should swap them around? I still haven’t finished the last paragraph nor the essay, I’m just finding this to be the hardest essay I’ve ever written, even extension english is better!

I need to develop the last paragraph into something about education  – Weldon says Literarture can be used for moral instruction – i need to show show this is reflected in pride and prejudice but am not sure.

Also, are there any other connections? + what is the best way to talk about the use of epistles in both texts?

A: I’ve attached the essay and comments should appear on the right hand side if you are using Word 2007. If you’re using Word 03 go to View/Toolbars/Reviewing.
You’ve made some good points but they aren’t connected in that you don’t look at an issue on relation to both texts eg marriage. The question requires you to do that. Find three issues and discuss each through reference to both texts. If you start with Austen you can reflect on contextual change quite naturally. Remember that Weldon is deliberately referencing Austen:

• a great writer whom she admires – the role of the writer is something she discusses.
• a way of reflecting on women and change
• the use of the letter (epistolary) style allowing her to create a character as a sort sounding board and a style familiar to an Austen audience

 

Advanced Module C: Conflicting Perspectives

Q: I just have a question, for conflicting perspectives we studied Birthday
Letters by Ted Hughes. And i know that we have to use two related texts.
Will we have to refer to each poem in Birthday Letters? Will we be marked
down, if we don’t make mention of every poem we studied?

A: No, you don’t have to refer to every poem. I think two is sufficient to show a depth of knowledge and understanding of Hughes and the concept, conflicting perspectives. You do need to have a knowledge of all the poems you have studied so that you can make the strongest choice of which two to use to answer the question you get on the day.

Advanced Module C:History and memory

Q: Well, we’ve started history and memory and I’m having a tought time finding a good related text. Our core text is the Fiftieth Gate (Mark Baker). I’m thinking of doing “Life is Beautiful,” but otherwise I have no clue as to what would be good.

Also, what is your opinion on the type of text that would do well? My teacher tells us that it’s easier to have all the texts being Holocaust based so that we don’t have to recontextualise, but I’ve also heard that having texts with different event backgrounds can help display the depth gained from the module.

Any help would be appreciated!

A: There are lots of good films on Nazi Germany, but you could do another conflict such as Vietnam or Cambodia. “The Killing Fields” is both a film and a biographical account. The central character is real. There’s two Clint Eastwood films:” Flags of My fathers” and “Letters to Iwo Jima” that look at the war in the Pacific. They represent two sides of the same battle. They are a set although you wouldn’t have to do both, you could make knowledgeable reference.
Other films: Downfall; Inglorious Basterds, Swastika, Schindler’s List, The Pianist. (I’ve been selective.)
Another alternative is a letter collection. ‘The Reader’ is both a book and a film which takes a view of people who worked for the Nazis that is different.
You need to find a text that is mature and hopefully everyone won’t be doing – less competition. A good way to show your strengths with something less common. Just thought of the graphic novel, Maus I & II by Art Speigleman which is allegory as well. There are anime and manga on the Japanese perspective on the war. Your teacher is right but within that it’s make sure you pick good texts. You can look at different aspects of the same war and some of the suggestions I’ve given allow you to do that.
Have a think and get back to me if you have other questions. You need to be comfortable (if not happy) with what you select,