Allegory: a story that has more than one meaning/ is symbolic of something. For example: in Lord of the Flies (DON'T write about it in a scholarship essay). The killing of the pig could be seen as the killing of their own societal order.
Alliteration: repetition of initial consonants. Creates a mood from the sound eg "clinical chemicals" sounds sterile in the harsh speaking of the words. Creates the impression that the subject is not a friendly one as the words themselves support.
Ballad: Type of poem: tells a story either true or fictional. Either humorous or tragic.
Blank Verse: Poem without rhyme
Caesura: a significant phrasal pause in a line. For Example: "the song is gone; the dance..."
Elegy: Type of poem: Serious, deals with mourning or sorrow.
Enjambment: A line that runs over to the next in continuity of sense. For example: E.E Cummings' 'My sweet old etcetera': "war could and what/is more did tell you..." The slash indicates that another line is being quoted.
Expository: concerned with ideas and opinions. For Example "it's expository of foot soldiers' experiences of war"
Free Verse: Type of poetic style: does not follow any particular pattern (like a limerick or a haiku does)
Literal/Figurative Imagery: literal imagery is direct description using diction etc, figurative creates a picture using metaphor, personification etc.
Incongruity: disharmony of elements. Strange juxtaposition. Sort of like irony. For example: The Crucible has a strange justice system. If you confess to being a witch you are not hanged, if you don't confess it's assumed you are a witch and are hanged anyway.
Lyric: a poem expressing personal emotion. Words of a song too. For Example: "the lyrical poem 'Because I could not stop for death' romanticises Death as a lover and a gentleman"
Montage: A collage of smaller ideas that create a fuller picture of an idea.
Motif: A recurring element in a text's makeup. Different to montage. For Example: the continual use of bars and the colour blue in Christopher Nolan's film Memento. Shows the constant barrier that Leonard's memory poses for him.
Quatrain: four lines in a stanza. Notice "quad" in "quatrain".
Refrain: a recurring phrase or verse, like a chorus.
Satire: Criticism by mockery. Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest is full of this
Syntax: The way in which words are arranged in the sentence
Theme: The main idea or subject behind a piece of literature
Tone: The author's attitude towards the subject of writing. How he wants the text to come across to the audience. The mood is the atmosphere created by this tone.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Section A Work...
Section A is where you must write an essay comparing and contrasting an aspect of two unfamiliar texts, one poetry one prose. So, how to approach two pieces you've never seen before.
Always address the question. Tangents show lack of control. Include quotes and weave them in. This shows fluency and that you are taking from the pieces. Equal length for each text. Compare/contrast words are essential. Think about the purpose of the text itself. What is it trying to teach us about?
- Read each text. Don't write anything on it unless it sticks out like a sore thumb
- Note down tone, main theme and any interesting reading that could be taken into it
- Similarities and differences between texts.
- After this (10mins) begin with your compare/contrast essay
- At the end of this write your introduction. It'll be lots more interesting as a result. You're thinking as you're writing remember!
- You'll have written for about 40 mins. After all your essays are written, make sure you have time to read over them and check for inconsistencies etc.
Always address the question. Tangents show lack of control. Include quotes and weave them in. This shows fluency and that you are taking from the pieces. Equal length for each text. Compare/contrast words are essential. Think about the purpose of the text itself. What is it trying to teach us about?
Saturday, September 12, 2009
My Genre
The genres I'm going to narrow my band of research to are
Plays/dramas
Film
This way I can combine my Media Studies and Drama studies with English scholarship. The texts I already know a bit about are:
Othello - Shakespeare
Twelfth Night - Shakespeare
Pygmalion - George Bernard Shaw
Antigone - Sophocles
The Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde
Mother Courage and her Children - Bertold Brecht
The Pohutukawa Tree - Bruce Mason
More plays I should look at:
All for Love - John Dryden
The Crucible - Arthur Miller
Juno and the Paycock - Sean O'Casey
Antony and Cleopatra - Shakespeare
Children of the Poor - Mervyn Thompson (adapted from John A. Lee's novel of same title)
According to Greek Theatre, there were three types of plays: tragedy, comedy and satyr. These three types have become the base for defining many of today's plays in terms of content. In the Elizabethan era, Shakespeare also introduced the Historical play and arguably the Romantic play.
When looking at a play one must pay close attention to the original style of presentation, context of playwright, main messages and themes of play, language used, characters and settings. Also look at how these would be presented on stage.
To do (by 4 October... Billy's birthday!):
Plays/dramas
Film
This way I can combine my Media Studies and Drama studies with English scholarship. The texts I already know a bit about are:
Othello - Shakespeare
Twelfth Night - Shakespeare
Pygmalion - George Bernard Shaw
Antigone - Sophocles
The Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde
Mother Courage and her Children - Bertold Brecht
The Pohutukawa Tree - Bruce Mason
More plays I should look at:
All for Love - John Dryden
The Crucible - Arthur Miller
Juno and the Paycock - Sean O'Casey
Antony and Cleopatra - Shakespeare
Children of the Poor - Mervyn Thompson (adapted from John A. Lee's novel of same title)
According to Greek Theatre, there were three types of plays: tragedy, comedy and satyr. These three types have become the base for defining many of today's plays in terms of content. In the Elizabethan era, Shakespeare also introduced the Historical play and arguably the Romantic play.
When looking at a play one must pay close attention to the original style of presentation, context of playwright, main messages and themes of play, language used, characters and settings. Also look at how these would be presented on stage.
To do (by 4 October... Billy's birthday!):
- Read all plays once
- Written notes about all of them
- Researched into theatre forms of the time - Greek, Elizabethan, Brechtian, Stanislavski, American Realism, New Zealand Theatre, Artaud
- Researched into lives and influences of playwrights.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Anatomy of a Question
Section B:
There are questions included in a scholarship paper that will not always allow you to fulfill the criteria needed (in previous posts). Some of them don't leave room for using more than one text, whilst others cover topics that are hard to define. Choosing a question is one of the most important things when writing an essay.
Here's an example of a 'bad' question:
"Discuss Shakespeare’s exploration of the relationship between power and gender in a Shakespearean play you have studied"
Here, we see that it is referring to only one play that you have studied. Now here you could do a great Desdemona is used as a function essay for Othello, but it's not showing your knowledge of a range of texts. A comparison could be made between Othello and another text or two, but it's not going to create an attention-grabbing piece.
Another question is:
There are questions included in a scholarship paper that will not always allow you to fulfill the criteria needed (in previous posts). Some of them don't leave room for using more than one text, whilst others cover topics that are hard to define. Choosing a question is one of the most important things when writing an essay.
Here's an example of a 'bad' question:
"Discuss Shakespeare’s exploration of the relationship between power and gender in a Shakespearean play you have studied"
Here, we see that it is referring to only one play that you have studied. Now here you could do a great Desdemona is used as a function essay for Othello, but it's not showing your knowledge of a range of texts. A comparison could be made between Othello and another text or two, but it's not going to create an attention-grabbing piece.
Another question is:
"In live theatre, every technique learned by the actor, every curtain, every flat on the stage, every decision made by the director is made to enrich the appreciation of the audience.
Discuss this statement with reference to theatrical productions you have studied."
Here, there is a lot more room to create a good well-rounded essay. There are a few things that need defining ("appreciation of the audience") and there is a bit of narrowing in the question ("every technique...every curtain...flat on stage, decision made by the director") which would need to be addressed but an inclusion of many texts and eras of theatre can be compared.
In this section the main genres questions have been made around are:
Find open ended questions. Remember that "discussion" means you don't have to pick aside to argue, "to what extent do you agree with..." is an attitude question, make an argument. Check how many texts it wants you to talk about (one or many) and pick one that gives you the most freedom.
Discuss this statement with reference to theatrical productions you have studied."
Here, there is a lot more room to create a good well-rounded essay. There are a few things that need defining ("appreciation of the audience") and there is a bit of narrowing in the question ("every technique...every curtain...flat on stage, decision made by the director") which would need to be addressed but an inclusion of many texts and eras of theatre can be compared.
In this section the main genres questions have been made around are:
- Shakespearean dramas
- Dramas/plays in general
- Journalistic/online texts
- Films
- Short Stories
- Poems
- Books
Find open ended questions. Remember that "discussion" means you don't have to pick aside to argue, "to what extent do you agree with..." is an attitude question, make an argument. Check how many texts it wants you to talk about (one or many) and pick one that gives you the most freedom.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Questions for Sections B and C
From the 2008 booklet:
SECTION B – Response to literature and language
Write a coherent and engaging essay in response to ONE of the following topics 1–16. Use the topic as the focus for an in-depth discussion of a relevant text or texts. Your discussion should reflect independent thinking and be substantiated by frequent, appropriate and integrated references or quotations.
DO NOT REPEAT CONTENT OR REFERENCES IN SECTIONS B AND C.
Either:
1. Many of Shakespeare’s plays focus on the ways in which complex characters respond to an environment infected by evil.
Discuss this statement with detailed reference to a Shakespearean play you have studied.
2. Discuss Shakespeare’s exploration of the relationship between power and gender in a Shakespearean play you have studied.
3. Discuss the view that there is little pleasure to be had from novels in which good finally triumphs, all problems are resolved, and love prevails.
4. “The greatest mystery of all is the human heart, and that is the mystery with which all good novelists are concerned.” (PD James)
Discuss how this concern is explored in a novel or novels you have studied.
5. Discuss what is lost and what is gained in a film adaptation of a text you have studied.
6. Discuss, with reference to at least one film you have studied, the ways in which images from today’s cinema allow people to recognise themselves and their culture.
7. According to Anthony Burgess, the danger of television, especially when its standards are established by commercial interests, is that it is an agent of social degradation.
Discuss the extent to which this statement reflects the state of New Zealand television in 2005. Support your views with detailed reference to one or more television programme(s) you have studied.
8. Thomas Hardy considered that a poet should express the emotion of all the ages and the thought of his own.
Discuss this statement with reference to poems you have studied.
9. Discuss how poetic language and form allow the poet to explore strong emotions in poems you have studied.
10. In live theatre, every technique learned by the actor, every curtain, every flat on the stage, every decision made by the director is made to enrich the appreciation of the audience.
Discuss this statement with reference to theatrical productions you have studied.
11. In the eighteenth century, Samuel Johnson wrote, “advertisements are now so numerous that they are very negligently perused, and it is therefore become necessary to gain attention by magnificence of promises, and by eloquences sometimes sublime and sometimes pathetic”.
Discuss the relevance of his statement to your studies of the language of advertising.
12. Short stories often focus on the experience of isolated individuals.
Discuss this statement with reference to short stories you have studied.
13. For generations, the short story form has been used by writers to explore significant aspects of cultural and / or societal values.
Discuss this statement with reference to short stories you have studied.
14. Discuss the qualities of a text you have studied that could be described as literary journalism.
15. Discuss the literary qualities of a non-fiction text you have studied.
16. Information technology is owned by us all. It has turned audiences into participants.
Discuss, with reference to on-line text(s) you have studied, the ways that on-line writing has altered the traditional relationship between writer and reader.
SECTION C – Exploring issues in literature and language
Write an essay in response to ONE of the following topics 17–28. Your essay should take the form of a coherent, engaging argument substantiated by relevant ideas and textual references. Your discussion should reflect independent thinking and show extensive knowledge of a range of texts, their purposes and the methods used in crafting them.
DO NOT REPEAT CONTENT OR REFERENCES IN SECTIONS B AND C.
17. “The best texts go to the edge and risk falling over it.”
Discuss the extent to which a range of texts you have studied has been enriched by the risks they take.
18. “Serious literature is like the decayed heart of a grand old city whose prosperous outer suburbs correspond to the popular genres, such as romance and crime fiction.”
With reference to a range of texts you have studied, discuss the extent to which pulp fiction has superseded more serious literature in today’s world.
19. Author Julian Barnes asks, “Why does the writing make us chase the writer?” Is it voyeurism or does knowledge of the writer give us insight into the writing?
Discuss with reference to a range of texts you have studied.
20. With reference to a range of texts you have studied, discuss the extent to which literature loses or retains its value over time.
21. Andy Serkis, who ‘plays’ the character Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, said of him: “I wanted the audience to feel that they had some connection to this character, that he wasn’t just a black and white villain, an absolute villain, because you’d get bored with him after two minutes.”
With reference to the villains in a range of texts you have studied, discuss the extent to which their portrayal makes them engaging.
22. Eighteenth-century satirist Jonathan Swift noted that, “satire is a sort of mirror, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own”.
With reference to a range of texts you have studied, discuss how satire is used to comment on society.
23. “The real art is not to come up with extraordinary clever words but to make ordinary simple words do extraordinary things.”
Discuss this statement with reference to a range of texts you have studied.
24. “Reading or viewing texts of quality enables us to explore different ways of seeing things, without feeling obliged to take a particular point of view.”
Discuss this statement with reference to a range of texts you have studied.
25. James Joyce described the writer as an artist who, “like the God of the creation, remains within or behind or beyond or above his handiwork, invisible, refined out of existence, indifferent, paring his fingernails”.
Discuss the significance of the writer’s invisibility (or presence) in a range of texts you have
studied.
26. Dr Seuss described fantasy as a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope.
With reference to a range of texts you have studied, discuss the extent to which fantasy connects with real life.
27. Discuss the extent to which a range of texts you have studied succeeds in combining social
commentary and artistic excellence.
28. Discuss the ideas about culture that are promoted by a range of text types you have studied.
In the next post I'll list the genres generally asked about.
SECTION B – Response to literature and language
Write a coherent and engaging essay in response to ONE of the following topics 1–16. Use the topic as the focus for an in-depth discussion of a relevant text or texts. Your discussion should reflect independent thinking and be substantiated by frequent, appropriate and integrated references or quotations.
DO NOT REPEAT CONTENT OR REFERENCES IN SECTIONS B AND C.
Either:
1. Many of Shakespeare’s plays focus on the ways in which complex characters respond to an environment infected by evil.
Discuss this statement with detailed reference to a Shakespearean play you have studied.
2. Discuss Shakespeare’s exploration of the relationship between power and gender in a Shakespearean play you have studied.
3. Discuss the view that there is little pleasure to be had from novels in which good finally triumphs, all problems are resolved, and love prevails.
4. “The greatest mystery of all is the human heart, and that is the mystery with which all good novelists are concerned.” (PD James)
Discuss how this concern is explored in a novel or novels you have studied.
5. Discuss what is lost and what is gained in a film adaptation of a text you have studied.
6. Discuss, with reference to at least one film you have studied, the ways in which images from today’s cinema allow people to recognise themselves and their culture.
7. According to Anthony Burgess, the danger of television, especially when its standards are established by commercial interests, is that it is an agent of social degradation.
Discuss the extent to which this statement reflects the state of New Zealand television in 2005. Support your views with detailed reference to one or more television programme(s) you have studied.
8. Thomas Hardy considered that a poet should express the emotion of all the ages and the thought of his own.
Discuss this statement with reference to poems you have studied.
9. Discuss how poetic language and form allow the poet to explore strong emotions in poems you have studied.
10. In live theatre, every technique learned by the actor, every curtain, every flat on the stage, every decision made by the director is made to enrich the appreciation of the audience.
Discuss this statement with reference to theatrical productions you have studied.
11. In the eighteenth century, Samuel Johnson wrote, “advertisements are now so numerous that they are very negligently perused, and it is therefore become necessary to gain attention by magnificence of promises, and by eloquences sometimes sublime and sometimes pathetic”.
Discuss the relevance of his statement to your studies of the language of advertising.
12. Short stories often focus on the experience of isolated individuals.
Discuss this statement with reference to short stories you have studied.
13. For generations, the short story form has been used by writers to explore significant aspects of cultural and / or societal values.
Discuss this statement with reference to short stories you have studied.
14. Discuss the qualities of a text you have studied that could be described as literary journalism.
15. Discuss the literary qualities of a non-fiction text you have studied.
16. Information technology is owned by us all. It has turned audiences into participants.
Discuss, with reference to on-line text(s) you have studied, the ways that on-line writing has altered the traditional relationship between writer and reader.
SECTION C – Exploring issues in literature and language
Write an essay in response to ONE of the following topics 17–28. Your essay should take the form of a coherent, engaging argument substantiated by relevant ideas and textual references. Your discussion should reflect independent thinking and show extensive knowledge of a range of texts, their purposes and the methods used in crafting them.
DO NOT REPEAT CONTENT OR REFERENCES IN SECTIONS B AND C.
17. “The best texts go to the edge and risk falling over it.”
Discuss the extent to which a range of texts you have studied has been enriched by the risks they take.
18. “Serious literature is like the decayed heart of a grand old city whose prosperous outer suburbs correspond to the popular genres, such as romance and crime fiction.”
With reference to a range of texts you have studied, discuss the extent to which pulp fiction has superseded more serious literature in today’s world.
19. Author Julian Barnes asks, “Why does the writing make us chase the writer?” Is it voyeurism or does knowledge of the writer give us insight into the writing?
Discuss with reference to a range of texts you have studied.
20. With reference to a range of texts you have studied, discuss the extent to which literature loses or retains its value over time.
21. Andy Serkis, who ‘plays’ the character Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, said of him: “I wanted the audience to feel that they had some connection to this character, that he wasn’t just a black and white villain, an absolute villain, because you’d get bored with him after two minutes.”
With reference to the villains in a range of texts you have studied, discuss the extent to which their portrayal makes them engaging.
22. Eighteenth-century satirist Jonathan Swift noted that, “satire is a sort of mirror, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own”.
With reference to a range of texts you have studied, discuss how satire is used to comment on society.
23. “The real art is not to come up with extraordinary clever words but to make ordinary simple words do extraordinary things.”
Discuss this statement with reference to a range of texts you have studied.
24. “Reading or viewing texts of quality enables us to explore different ways of seeing things, without feeling obliged to take a particular point of view.”
Discuss this statement with reference to a range of texts you have studied.
25. James Joyce described the writer as an artist who, “like the God of the creation, remains within or behind or beyond or above his handiwork, invisible, refined out of existence, indifferent, paring his fingernails”.
Discuss the significance of the writer’s invisibility (or presence) in a range of texts you have
studied.
26. Dr Seuss described fantasy as a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope.
With reference to a range of texts you have studied, discuss the extent to which fantasy connects with real life.
27. Discuss the extent to which a range of texts you have studied succeeds in combining social
commentary and artistic excellence.
28. Discuss the ideas about culture that are promoted by a range of text types you have studied.
In the next post I'll list the genres generally asked about.
Marking Know-How for Outstanding
Get 7 or an 8 points in your essays by showing:
• fluency - there is a structure and order which flows nicely.
• confident use of terminology to describe content, processes and crafting
• use of texts and references suitable to purposes of the argument (question / topic)
• references are interwoven - weaving quotes and such.
• perception - being perceptive, knowing what the question is asking and why.
• some substantiated independent thought
• high level of response - personal opinion needed.
• close academic and critical referencing - referring to texts and critics.
• coherent discussion - structure, ideas that don't conflict, looking at opposite viewpoints of a subject and then evaluating it.
• independent views - personal opinion, what you think.
• arguments structured, coherent and deliberate response to topic
• high level of engagement - it's interesting to read.
• personal response
• fluency - there is a structure and order which flows nicely.
• confident use of terminology to describe content, processes and crafting
• use of texts and references suitable to purposes of the argument (question / topic)
• references are interwoven - weaving quotes and such.
• perception - being perceptive, knowing what the question is asking and why.
• some substantiated independent thought
• high level of response - personal opinion needed.
• close academic and critical referencing - referring to texts and critics.
• coherent discussion - structure, ideas that don't conflict, looking at opposite viewpoints of a subject and then evaluating it.
• independent views - personal opinion, what you think.
• arguments structured, coherent and deliberate response to topic
• high level of engagement - it's interesting to read.
• personal response
Monday, September 7, 2009
Performance Standard for 2009
English Scholarship students will be expected to
Key terms that need defining:
According to the official "Scholarship Performance Standard" document from NZQA:
So what is involved in an English Scholarship Exam?
First of all there will be three papers or sections:
Section A: Close Reading of Unfamiliar Texts. A compare/contrast essay, most likely a piece of poetry vs a piece of prose.
Section B: Response to Language and Literature. Pick a genre to study, eg Shakespearean plays, New Zealand literature, short texts (though with this you must show a range of texts studied), film (but you may want to narrow to one or two genres within this), pre-twentieth century plays or post-colonial literature etc etc.
Section C: Response to Issues in Language and Literature. This is related to ideas that surround literature that we read. Culture, theoretical readings of texts, effect of the author, political and challenging etc. Ideas vs genres. Make sure you learn the difference between the two.
Marking System
Each essay is marked out of 8 points with a total of 24 points. Obviously the better your essay is, the higher your marks are, and the better your overall mark will be.
This means referring to a range of different ideas and materials. Exam questions will hopefully will be the next post.
- respond critically
- Demonstrate extensive knowledge of texts - refer to a range of different books, poems, plays, films and other written mediums and "know methods used in crafting them".
- Sustained critical response with "mature ideas and independent reflection" - be original and insightful with your main points and ideas.
- Ability to synthesise knowledge, understanding and argument - come up with your own opinion and argue it using collaborated evidence from texts you write about.
Key terms that need defining:
- critically: to "judge the truth/merit of a subject, careful evaluation and judgement of material used".
- synthesise: To form a truth or statement from collaborating information from other sources.
According to the official "Scholarship Performance Standard" document from NZQA:
1 This standard is derived from English in the New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 1994) up to and including level 8.
2 The method of evidence collection is reading and writing by means of three essays. The student’s responses will derive from their understanding and experience across the written, oral and visual strands of the English curriculum.
3 Text is spoken, written and visual means of communication. (EINZC)
4 Demanding text and questions provide scope for the student to apply a high level of critical thinking. It is not necessarily the complexity of the text but how students respond that makes it demanding.
5 Respond critically is under-pinned by the essential metacognitive skills of interpretation, analysis and evaluation in EINZC, up to and including level 8. At Scholarship these skills are applied in contexts that require mature appreciation of more demanding text and questions. For example, a student may show the ability to: initiate an alternative reading or application of theory; take a fresh approach to accepted interpretations; challenge the reader’s understandings; apply or deconstruct theoretical models.
Knowledge of methods used in crafting will be demonstrated through critical thinking about common and specific conventions used in written, visual and oral texts, such as structure, style, layout, delivery techniques, figurative language, editing, method of narration, rhetorical devices, sound effects, dramatic techniques, characterisation, costume and scripting.So what is involved in an English Scholarship Exam?
First of all there will be three papers or sections:
Section A: Close Reading of Unfamiliar Texts. A compare/contrast essay, most likely a piece of poetry vs a piece of prose.
Section B: Response to Language and Literature. Pick a genre to study, eg Shakespearean plays, New Zealand literature, short texts (though with this you must show a range of texts studied), film (but you may want to narrow to one or two genres within this), pre-twentieth century plays or post-colonial literature etc etc.
Section C: Response to Issues in Language and Literature. This is related to ideas that surround literature that we read. Culture, theoretical readings of texts, effect of the author, political and challenging etc. Ideas vs genres. Make sure you learn the difference between the two.
Marking System
Each essay is marked out of 8 points with a total of 24 points. Obviously the better your essay is, the higher your marks are, and the better your overall mark will be.
This means referring to a range of different ideas and materials. Exam questions will hopefully will be the next post.
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