Texts in Time - Essay Questions and Advice

Gents,

I would like you to tackle both of these essay questions - 800-1000 words max.

1. In what ways does a comparative study accentuate the distinctive contexts of Frankenstein and Blade Runner?

This is what the markers' summary was in response to the HSC answers they read:

In better responses, candidates considered how a comparative study highlighted composers’ contexts. They produced a sustained response, developing a thesis that genuinely addressed the question using a discerning selection of textual references.

In weaker responses, candidates tended to identify some similarities or differences between the texts, often with a limited understanding of their significance. They considered the comparison of texts in a superficial or generalised way. Treatment of context was not integrated into the discussion and was frequently a reference to the time of composition rather than an understanding of how context is reflected in the construction and reception of texts. They often relied on a few basic or inappropriate references to texts.

...

2. Analyse how Frankenstein and Blade Runner imaginatively portray individuals who challenge the established values of their times.


This is what the markers' summary was in response to the HSC answers they read:

In better responses, candidates considered the key notion of individuals challenging established values and produced a shaped response that developed and sustained a thesis which genuinely addressed the question and which used a discerning selection of textual references.

In weaker responses, candidates tended to identify some similarities between these texts, often with a limited understanding of the significance of these similarities. They often considered the key concept of established values of their time in a superficial or generalised way or ignored it. Treatment of context was not integrated into the discussion and was frequently a reference to the time of composition rather than an understanding of how context is reflected in the construction and reception of texts. They often relied on a few basic or inappropriate references to texts.

...

It should be obvious to you all by now that you have some wonderful resource notes that delve into both texts. There is more than enough information at your disposal to be able to tackle both these questions.

A reminding word of advice - remember what I said about 'understanding' and 'planning' your answers. This unit - as all HSC units do - reward those who know what they're going to say before they say it. Don't just write an introduction before you know what's going in your body. Plan your body, then write an introduction accordingly. It is the only way to ensure that you answer the question that has been asked of you.

You have done well engaging with this unit - the next step is to ensure that you write, correct, write, correct.

The task is distributed on Thursday 7th. That is one week from today. Your dedication to this task will reflect your mark. A well-delivered speech is a thing of beauty and will be rewarded. A poorly-delivered speech is awkward and shall be marked accordingly.

Remember, there are four things to remember when delivering your speech:

1. Posture - ensure your weight is equal on both feet and your legs are straight - don't slouch or sink into your waist. It suggests a casual blase attitude and you sure don't want your marker thinking you don't care.
2. Hand gestures - while they don't need to be over-the-top, they need to suggest you are trying to get the other boys to agree with your points of view.
3. Vocal projection - far too many boys speak too quickly and too softly. These will kill your speech in the water. Slow down, enunciate your words - get your point across. A shorter speech is better - trying to hammer through while ignoring your audience will show your marker you haven't changed your task delivery method; you're simply reading an essay - this is not public speaking.
4. EYE CONTACT - Why is this in caps? I think you all know the answer to that! Know your first 20 seconds off-by-heart, then read the criteria - "refer to, but don't rely on, your notes". Simple glances up are a necessity - knowing the last six words of each sentence will get your eye-contact where it needs to be! If you know it all verbatim and don't need notes, well, that's the upper echelon of marks.

Good luck - I'm here if you need me!

M

Bladerunner Info

To be able to write about Bladerunner, you obviously need to understand a little more about the context of Ridley Scott's film.

Due to the fact the 1980s weren't so long ago, sometimes it can be difficult to really understand the historical context of the period. To unpack the 19th Century is a lot easier as there is a wide scope of people - including historians - who have written about it. Thus, we are able to research, analyse and write about the times of Mary Shelley.

However, when it comes time to delve into the 1980s, the task isn't always so easy.

I've attached below a few paragraphs that will summarise what was going on at the time in the hope it may not only show you the time period in a clearer light, but will also show you how you can compare these ideas to Shelley's Frankenstein.

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Historical Context

The 1980s were typified by social unrest and disillusionment. Long established social practices and economic values were being challenged by aggressive advertising and marketing. This was brought about - among other things - by technological advancement, which made it much cheaper, easier and quicker to mass-produce items, especially in Asia. This lead to an increase in Asian-focused xenophobia as, in a relatively short period of time, the world became rather dependent upon the Asian workforce. The already heavily-populated countries - such as China and Japan - are represented in Bladerunner as being the overtly dominant races in the film. More than 2/3 of the extras for the film were Asian.

Then the world voiced their grouped concern on the world as it was becoming heavily polluted. Commercial exploitation, industrialisation, urbanisation and the excessive use of fossil fuels were the major concerns.

Science Fiction

You must know that Bladerunner mixes science fiction, detective fiction, film noir and the epic genres. The most prevalent two must be science fiction and film noir.

• Science fiction questions what it is to be human
• Advertising and mass-media dominate the landscape; this strange introduction from Scott flies in the face of the typical science fiction film, yet seems to work very well in conjunction with the film noir genre, made famous when French critics were describing Hollywood films of the 1980s

Film noir / Neo-noir

• An acid-rain infested, decaying world with an overarching atmosphere of impending danger
• Film noir (apart from being a film technique) is also view on humanity. As such, it presents a nihilistic opinion on the world, where morals, ethics and religious principles are ignored with the basic underlying notion that life is meaningless.
• Chiaroscuro lighting techniques and the discorded mis-en-scene compositions depict a dehumanising environment marked by human anonymity and vulnerability.

As Susan Doll and Greg Faller assert, "in film noir, the site of morality IS the protagonist, the lone detective" BUT in "science fiction, society as a whole questions its assumptions of morality".

I'll post some more information on the setting of the film and how it relates to the context later today, along with some notable information about characters in the film.

M

Texts In Time

And it's time...

The ultimate unit for your HSC.

Labelled 'Texts In Time', this unit looks at the novel 'Frankenstein' by Mary Shelley and the film 'Bladerunner' by Ridley Scott.

When initially studied there appears to be very little between the texts, yet upon closer inspection there are finite similarities in both their contextual history and their themes. It is imperative that you understand both elements. 

The novel was written in the early 19th Century while the film was released in 1982.

For starters, take a look here...

http://nebo-lit.com/film/Blade%20Runner/Blade-Runner-Context.html

Speak soon...

Another sample essay...

Again, this one is not perfect, but it may be of use...

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The famed American psychologist William Glasser once wrote that “we are driven by three genetic needs: survival, love and belonging”. Glasser speaks philosophically of man’s innate need to belong. Indeed, as humans, we feel more comfortable, stable and optimistic when we have that security; the security that comes from belonging to a wider group of people, defined by many parameters such as race, religion or family. Arguably “belonging involves a character’s relationship with people, places, groups and events” which perpetuates a sense of belonging which pervades humans innermost desires. Emily Dickinson’s two poems “I died for beauty but was scarce” and “I had been hungry all the years” attempts to articulate this intrinsic aspiration of belonging, albeit, in an ambivalent fashion. Mirroring Dickinson, the 2002 film “Australian Rules” directed by Paul Goldman and the picture book “The Islander” written by Armin Greder explore the involvement of the characters and their relationships with other people, places, groups and event.

Pervading Dickinson’s poetry is a form of belonging which intrinsically links the relationship an individual has with their society, and the sense that to belong to ones society, one must forego their own sense of self. In the surreal poem “I died for beauty but was scarce”, the ideas of freedom and captivity are explored in relation to mankind and nature. This poem is essentially romantic; identifying what is true in life with its beauties, exploring the ideas of truth and beauty that John Keats discussed. Through the repetition of “beauty” and “truth” in the first two stanzas Dickinson explores whether either death or nature provides belonging. The literary allusion “in an adjoining room” ironically pictures beauty and truth together in heaven. The gothic imagery is almost haunting as these deceased characters express their failure to belong amidst their failed quest. Use of dialogue “and I for truth” personifies the search for meaning in society. In stanza three, “until the moss had reached our lips”, there is the idea that we live in the natural world but not truly belonging in it. This is the paradoxical juxtaposition that Dickinson reaches as decay of life and mankind’s reactions are all usurped by natural forces.

Relationships between parents and children are fundamental both to our lives and to comprehending the meaning of human experiences. Like Dickinson, ideas of freedom and captivity are conveyed in Goldman’s “Australian Rules” through a young European boy “Blackie” immovable between the white and black community. He deals with the hidden disgraceful secrets of racism and domestic violence portrayed through the characterisation of Bob Black. The use of the last name Black is ironic as his father despises the black aboriginal “mission” demonstrating his failure to belong to the entire town community.  His father strives to belong in the white community involving poverty, drinking at the pub, hasty criticism toward the blacks and being involved with the local AFL.

Human interaction and the development of relationships are essential to produce personal feelings of entirety and to aid one’s self in defining identity to feel completely fulfilled.The poem “I had been hungry all the years” explores the ideas of abjuration and desire as an element of self and is forfeited by membership to various social institutions. The repetition of “I” and hunger” show the physical need to belong, seen in the title “I had been hungry all the years”. The metaphor of the window reveals the persona’s isolation and alienation from other people. She was an observer of belonging which is emphasised as we learn that “the birds and I had often shared in nature’s dining room”. This metaphor explores the displacement in nature showing the persona, natural and beautiful, suffering a strange remoteness. Paradoxically, “So I found that hunger was a way of persons outside windows, the entering takes away” the persona, even when accepted feels segregated from society as belonging makes them feel “ill and odd”. Correspondingly Goldman deals with the concept of not belonging which is explored through the characterisation of Blackie. Blackie deals with alienation and seclusion when found trapped between his relationship with an aboriginal girl, Clarence, and the expectations of his father “you will never see that black bitch again”. The idea of belonging is complex, ambiguous and contains difficulties according Goldman and Dickinson.

Similarly The Islander explores the ideas and concepts of not belonging through its language use in relation with associated images. Each image unifies the text in order to emphasize the concept of not belonging. The story begins with; “One morning, the people of the island found a man on the beach, he wasn’t like them.” The direct use of ‘wasn’t like them’ immediately initiates the concept of alienation between the people of the island and the foreign man. In conjunction with the text, the imagery complements it, a lone man, sketched naked in the corner of a large white page. The image and its connotations naturally comment on alienation, perpetuating the central concern of the text.

In contrast to the voice of the narrator, the island people sound ignorant, highlighting their absence of knowledge about action in an uncertain circumstance, saying “I am sure he wouldn’t like it here, so far away from his own kind.” The use of ‘own kind’ substantiates the concept of belonging, referring to a distant place or individual not belonging to them. The text again is complemented with the powerful use of visual imagery, to appraise the idea of contrast, creating larger, more pronounced figures in cohesion with the ‘stranger’.

The Island establishes its own connotations and is defined as; any piece of land isolated from other significant landmasses by water, thus complementing the concept of not belonging to anything in its wake. An island is isolated, alienated and alone, metaphorically strengthening the complex nature of the ‘stranger’, who embodies these exact qualities.

 Emily Dickinson, Paul Goldman and Armin Greder communicate the idea of belonging through characterisation, imagery and literary techniques. Dickinson invites us to deal with ambiguity and resist the impulse to unify her meaning of simple formulas. Her unique cryptic style engages the reader exploring the effect nature has upon humankind. Greder investigates belonging, in a sophisticated manner as it not only features symbolic imagery in conjunction with language techniques; it embodies the clauses in a characters experience of not belonging.

 M

Essay Question

Obviously, we will stick to the standard question.

"How is the concept of belonging and not belonging represented in two of Emily Dickinson's poems and two additional texts?"

However, if any of you - hint, do it - would like to answer the following question too, if would benefit you...

“The concept of belonging allows for two things above all else: a feeling of security and the confidence to soar.”

Discuss this statement with reference to TWO Emily Dickinson’s poems and TWO other texts.

Remember, you don't have to write an entirely different essay. You need to get used to - just like you'll do with your short story and different stimuli - moulding your paragraphs and information to any given essay topic.

M

Additional Text perhaps?

See below the lyrics of the song, 'We Are Australian' written in 1987 by Bruce Woodley and Dobe Newton.

Very good for Belonging.

Might just be what you're after!

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We Are Australian

1987 – Bruce Woodley and Dobe Newton

…

I came from the dream-time, from the dusty red soil plains
I am the ancient heart, the keeper of the flame.
I stood upon the rocky shore, I watched the tall ships come.
For forty thousand years I've been the first Australian.

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian

I came upon the prison ship, bowed down by iron chains.
I cleared the land, endured the lash and waited for the rains.
I'm a settler, I'm a farmer's wife on a dry and barren run
A convict then a free man, I became Australian.

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian

I'm the daughter of a digger who sought the mother lode
The girl became a woman on the long and dusty road
I'm a child of the depression, I saw the good times come
I'm a bushy, I'm a battler, I am Australian

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian

I'm a teller of stories, I'm a singer of songs
I am Albert Namatjira, I paint the ghostly gums
I am Clancy on his horse, I'm Ned Kelly on the run
I'm the one who waltzed Matilda, I am Australian

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian

There are no words of comfort that can hope to ease the pain
Of losing homes and loved ones the memories will remain
Within the silent tears you’ll find the strength to carry on
You’re not alone, we are with you. We are Australian!

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian

There are so many heroes whose stories must be told
They fought the raging fires of hell and saved so many souls
From the ashes of despair our towns will rise again!
We mourn your loss, we will rebuild. We are Australian!

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian

I'm the hot wind from the desert, I'm the black soil of the plains
I'm the mountains and the valleys, I'm the drought and flooding rains
I am the rock, I am the sky, the rivers when they run
The spirit of this great land, I am Australian

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian
I am, you are, we are Australian!

We are one ….. We are many ….. We are Australian!

Sample Belonging Essay

It's not perfect by any stretch, but it's a start for those who are stuck...

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Belonging is the fundamental element in our lives. American psychologist William Glasser once wrote that “we are driven by three genetic needs: survival, love and belonging”. His poignant observation asserts that belonging acts as the foundation of our beliefs, values and characteristics. In human history, poets, writers and directors portray the idea of belonging and show contrasts between being included and being excluded. Emily Dickinson writes about belonging in “This is my letter to the world” and “I gave myself to him”. Additionally, Kevin Rudd's delivery of the "Sorry Speech" in 2007 aimed at giving the Aboriginal people a sense of belonging to the country they have inhabited for thousands of years. Finally, Niki Caro, the director of "Whale Rider", demonstrates the idea of belonging in a film about a young Maori girl who struggles to find her place in her clan and family.  

Emily Dickinson’s poetry is a reflection of the feelings of alienation and isolation in her mind; one haunted with sorrow and sadness. In the line “This is my letter to the world” followed by “That never wrote to me”, we hear the loneliness and isolation she feels, caused by society at the time that frowned on women such as Dickinson. This use of personification not only effectively portrays the cold and lonely idealism in her mind, but also the sense of not belonging to the society in which she lives. The line "her message is committed to hands I cannot see," gives nature female characteristics with the entire connotation of nurturing and caring. The synecdoche "hands" refers to the possible readers of her "letter", as she hope that her "countryman...judge tenderly of me".

Furthermore, her poem, "I gave myself to Him", mentions her thoughts towards marriage. Dickinson suggests that marriage does not involve any love and care; it is only a contract between two parties. The quote, "The solemn contract..., this way", provokes the image of coldness and hopeless future to the marriage after signing the "contract" by two sides. This caused the lost of identity of women after marriage; loveless and perfunctory. The use of coldly emotive word “solemn", emphasises the monetary side of the "contract" of the marriage. And the word "ratified" is formal and aloof in the purpose of helping emphasise the relationship as a business one. From most of her poems, she mentions only the idea of isolation. In the last stanza, the line "Some found it mutual gain" gives a positive ending for the poem which concedes that many pairs did gain and find profit in the contract of love and marriage. Followed by the line "Sweet debt of life", she presents this bankruptcy as an oxymoron; this is typical of Dickinson’s views of nature and the world. However, the contract still illustrates a loss of life and identities, not a gain. Through the use of various poetic techniques, Emily Dickinson portrays the ideas and feelings of not belonging and the loss of identity that is caused by the isolation from the world. From most of her poems, she mentions only the idea of isolation.

Unlike Dickinson's poetry, the "Sorry Speech" attempted to break down the boundaries between white Australians and the Aboriginal people. The speech acts as a bridge to show the Aboriginals that they are included and belong to Australia. Kevin Rudd says "Where all Australians are equal partner, with equal...of this great country" in order to include those had lost their own culture and identities. By admitting the wrongs that were done decades before and using masterfully inclusive language, the Australian Prime Minister told Parliament that “for the breaking up of families and communities…for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture…we say sorry…we say sorry”. Many Aboriginal children felt like they had lost their sense of belonging and identity. Rudd uses repetition, simple language and inclusive language to unite the victims of the ‘Stolen Generations’ and assist them by giving them a public apology; a base and foundation upon which to build their road to recovery.

Similarly, in "Whale Rider", Paikea is a girl who wants to feel like she belongs to her family and become clan leader. As a result of her grandfather's unhelpful actions, Paikea feels that she is isolated by Koro and not belong to the clan anymore. By saying “she doesn’t mean anything to me" when Paikea's father comes back from Europe, Koro once again breaks Paikea's heart. The director, Niki Caro, uses dark lighting, low camera angle and a big close up to Koro's face in order to enlarge the angry and portray his powerful image. As an audience, we know Paikea loves the clan and her grandfather and in the scene where Koro found the Whale teeth that Paikea retrieved, Caro uses cold and dark settings to illustrate the sadness and frustration he feels at his rejection of her. In this journey of fighting for belongings, the use of different film techniques, lighting and camera angles, demonstrates that we all have our own identities and we should not isolate ourselves even though we are alienated by the society.

Whether it is Emily Dickinson, Kevin Rudd or Niki Caro, they all portray the ideas of belongings to the audiences and readers with the use of different techniques. Dickinson shows us her disappointment and frustration towards the isolation of her hometown in a dark and negative tone. The story of the New Zealand Maoris and Paikea shows us the battle of finding her own sense of belonging and identity with the use of film techniques by Caro. Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, uses inclusive language and repetition to apologise for the historical wrongdoings to the Australian Aboriginals with a warm and positive tone.