English Study Notes
English Study Notes
English Study Notes
Techniques
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English Advanced
Visual Techniques
Body language Facial expressions, gestures, stance or position - can convey the attitude, feelings or personality of the
and gaze individual shown. Take note of the direction of the subject’s eyes.
Camera Angle The angle at which the camera is pointed at the subject. It is the perspective from which the camera
shoots from which the viewer sees the image. Vertical angle can be low, level or high
Horizontal angle can be side on or frontal
Composition What is included is deliberately placed ( also applies to what is omitted). Consider all inclusions and
omissions eg. surroundings, objects, clothing, etc.
Colour, Hue, In black & white images examine the use of contrast, light and darkness. In a colour image, colours are
Tone used to signify feelings and evoke a response. eg. red = passion, hell, vitality, etc. blue = peace,
harmony, coldness.
Contrast The arrangement of opposite elements (light and dark, large and small, rough and smooth) to create
interest, excitement or drama.
Design The way particular elements are selected, organised and used in teh process of text construction for
particular purposes
Framing (and The same camera shots and angles relevant to film. Close ups, extreme close ups, medium shots. long
Angle) shots, tilted up or down shots, etc
Gaze Where a character looks, which then directs viewer’s eyes. A ‘demand’ gaze involves direct eye contact
between a character and the viewer, an ‘offer’ has the character look at something within the image,
drawing the viewers eyes there too. Can be used to express emotion/intent
Omissions What has been deliberately left out
Orientation, Relates to framing and angle: is the responder positioned above the image (looking down), below, or at
Point of view eye level?
Positioning Consider which objects have been placed in the foreground, middle ground or background.
Rule of Thirds Divide an image into thirds from the top and sides and look at the placement of people and/or objects.
An object in the top third is usually empowered whereas anything in the bottom third is
disempowered.
Sailience The part that your eyes are first drawn to in the visual. Colour, image and layout determine what the
salient image is.
Symbolism The use of an image to represent one or more (often complex) ideas.
Vectors The line that our eyes take when looking at a visual. composers deliberately direct our reading path
through vectors. eg. If all the subjects are tall, long and upright our eyes follow straight vectors that
lead to the top of the frame. This could make the subject seem powerful or inflexible
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English Advanced
Language Techniques
Allegory Story with a double meaning: one primary and one secondary
Alliteration Repetition of consonants at the start of words or in a sentence or phrase
Allusion A subtle or indirect reference to another thing, text, historical period, or religious belief
Anthropomorphism Act of lending a human quality, emotion, ambition or behaviour to animals, non-human
object or being
Characterisation Process wherein an author describes a character, which can be described directly by the
author or indirectly through he actions, thoughts and speech of the character
Cliché An over-used, common expression.
Consonance Repetition of consonants throughout a sentence or phrase.
Contrast Paradox, antithesis, oxymoron, juxtaposition, contrast in description.
Didactic Any text that instructs the reader or is obviously delivering a moral message.
Disjunction A conjunction (eg. but or yet) that dramatically interrupts the rhythm of a sentence.
Dramatic Irony Increase suspense or comedic effect by letting the audience know something important
Ellipsis A dramatic pause (…) creates tension or suggests words can’t be spoken.
Emotive language Words that stir the readers’ emotions.
Enjambment A poetic technique, when a sentence or phrase runs over more than one line (or stanza). This
assists the flow of a poem.
Euphemism Mild expression used to replace a harsh one.
Exclamation Exclamatory sentence ending in “!” to convey high emotion.
Form Purpose and features of a text influence its construction and will suggest its structure.
Figurative language and Metaphor, metonymy, hyperbole, smile, personification, assonance, alliteration, consonance,
sound devices onomatopoeia etc. These devices have a powerful impact as they work on our senses to
strengthen the subject matter of the text.
Fractured/truncated Incomplete sentences used to increase tension or urgency, or reflect the way people speak to
sentences each other.
Gaps and silences What is not said. Whose voice isn’t heard and whose voice dominates?
Humour Incongruity, parody, satire, exaggeration, irony, puns, etc. used to lighten the overall tone.
Icons A single person, object or image that represents complex ideas and feelings.
Imagery Vivid pictures created by words. Reader visualises the character and setting clearly.
Imperative voice Forceful use of the verb at the start of a sentence or phrase.
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English Advanced
Intertextuality A text makes a reference to other texts. May be explicit, implied or inferred.
Irony Gap between what is said and what is meant.
Juxtaposition Layering images and scenes to have a dramatic impact.
Language Features Features of language that support meaning eg. sentence structure, vocabulary, illustrations,
diagrams, graphics, punctuation, figurative language.
Level of usage of Slang, colloquial, informal or formal.
language
Linear Sequential, in chronological order.
Metaphor Comparison of two objects where one becomes another. Adds further layers of meaning about
object being compared.
Modality The force of the words are delivered at. High modality = will, always, must, never. Low
modality = might, may, could, probably, perhaps.
Motif A recurring symbol which takes on figurative meaning
Narrative Voice Narrative is the telling of events.
3rd person — novels or stories; the writer presents info about characters by describing them
and what they do.
2nd person — use of ‘you’
1st person — use of ‘I’
Non-linear Non-sequential narrative. Events do not occur in chronological order.
Onomatopoeia A word that echoes the sound it represents. Readers hears what is happening.
Parody Conscious imitation for satiric purpose
Person First, second or third person.
Personification Human characteristic given to a non-human object. Inatimate objects takes on a life.
Perspective A particular way of looking at individuals, issues, events, texts, facts, etc.
Plosive consoants Harsh sounds in a sentence or phrase.
Repetition How a composer coveys meaning through textual features.
Satire Composition which ridicules in a scornful and humorous way.
Setting Location of a story - internal and external.
Sibilance Repetition of ’s’ - can sound melodious an sweet or cold and icy.
Simile Comparison of two objects using ‘like’ or ‘as’.
Symbolism Where an object represents one or more (often complex) ideas.
Syntax Short, simple sentences or truncates sentences create tension, haste or urgency. Com or
complex sentences are slower, often featured in formal texts
Tense Past, present, future.
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English Advanced
Theme Message or moral of a story - makes us ponder bigger issues in life.
Tone The voice adopted by a particular speaker to indicate emotion feeling or attitude to subject
matter. The author's attitude towards the subject and audience
Word choice or diction Emotive, forceful, factual, descriptive, blunt, graphic, disturbing, informative, etc. For
example, use of forceful verbs ‘insist’ and ‘demand’ can be very persuasive
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English Advanced
COMMON MODULE :
TEXT AND HUMAN EXPERIENCE
The Crucible
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English Advanced
Rubric Language
• How texts represent individual and collective human experiences
• How texts represent human qualities and emotions associated with, or arising form, these experiences
• (Ambition, Arrogance, Faithfulness, Modesty, Determination, Idealism, Imagination, Realism, Cynicism, Optimism)
• How texts may give insight into the anomalies, paradoxes, and inconsistencies in human behaviour and motivations
• Anomaly: something that deviates from what is standard, normal or expected
• Paradox: An absurd/contradictory statement which may be well founded true, or a statement which despite sound
reasons from acceptable premises, leads to a conclusion that seems logically unacceptable or self-contradictory
• Inconsistent: Not staying the same throughout, or, Not compatible or in keeping with
• Consider the role of storytelling throughout time to express and reflect particular lives and cultures
• Responder to see world differently, challenge assumptions, ignite new ideas or reflect personally
• Make informed judgements about how context, purpose, structure, stylistic and grammatical features, and form shape
meaning
• Challenge assumptions
• See the world differently
• Personal and/or collective qualities and failings
• Human resilience and determination
• relate and applaud depictions of inner strength, personal integrity or determination
• Empathise hopes, fears and suffering
• Creative and destructive forces — both individual and social
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English Advanced
Summary of Points
Impacts on Society
• “There is great contention, sir, about the cows”
• Cows are employed as a symbol of the economy of Salem, great contention about the functioning of the economy when
half the town is in jail
• “There are orphans wandering from house to house … no man knows when the harlots cry will end his life”
Impacts on Individual
JOHN PROCTOR
• “[The systems extreme control was] one of the things John Proctor would rebel against”
• Characterises him as a martyr figure that will have conflict with the system
• “Whatever you will do, it is as good as a man does it”
• Elizabeth’s statement elucidates how corrupt systems can force good people into morally compromising situations
• “Proctor tears the paper and crumples it, and he is weeping in fury but erect”
• Symbolically chooses death over conforming to corrupt system and condemning innocent people, erectness symbolises
his integrity being saved
Systematic Abuse
DANFORTH
• “I cannot pardon these when twelve are already hanged for the same crime. It is not just”
• Distortion of justice, Miller uses irony to make it clear that justice doesn’t exist anymore
• “Postponement now speaks a floundering on my part”
• Motivation to maintain his political power
• “I cannot withhold from them the perfection of their punishment”
• Distortion of the system resulting in social ramifications such as death and the contention about the cows
ABIGAIL
• Elizabeth Proctor, who “keeps an upright way” and “does only good work in the world”, is tried and convicted of witchcraft
because of the accusation of Abigail Williams, an adulterer, seeking “a whore’s vengeance”
• highlights how systematic abuse of power can sever consequences for innocent individuals
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English Advanced
Individuals
Abigail
USING THE SYSTEM FOR SELFISH MOTIVATIONS
Abigail is characterised as “a strikingly beautiful girl… • Characterises her as manipulative
with an endless capacity for dissembling.” • Increase of suspicion of her in audience
“I’ll beat you, Betty” and “my, you seem improving. I • Abigail vacillates between threatening and cajoling
talked to your papa and I told him everything.” • Demonstrative of her manipulative ways
“Regarded (children) as young adults .. [and] never • Biblical reference expounds how empowered Abigail has
conceived that the children were anything but thankful for been by her manipulation of the system
being permitted to” speak at all • Ironic, however because she is not a charitable or “good”
figure and is abusing the system for selfish motivations
Elizabeth Proctor, who “keeps an upright way” and “does • Abigail’s abuse of the system in an attempt to murder
only good work in the world”, is tried and convicted of Elizabeth demonstrates the capacity of political systems to
witchcraft because of the accusation of Abigail be bent for bad
Williams, an adulterer, seeking “a whore’s vengeance”
Proctor
MORAL CONFLICT ABOUT CONFORMING TO THE SYSTEM
“It was also … one of the things John • Proctor is explicitly made a symbol for standing up against the entrenched
Proctor would rebel against” culture of surveillance and oppression of individuality
“This warrant’s vengeance! I’ll not give my • Proctor rip up the warrant for Elizabeth
wife to vengeance!” • Symbolises a contempt for the court and its corruption
• Strong emotional display that he does not want to conform with the system
“We are only what we always were, but • Whilst Proctor does not want to conform, he accepts that he must expose
naked now” his own sin, sacrificing himself for his wife and Salem
“Whatever you will do, it is a good man • Oppressive political systems can force good people to make morally
who does it” compromising decisions
“He moves as an animal, and a fury is • Moral conflict between integrity and life
riding in him, a tantalised search” • Does not want to retain his pretence of innocence as he does not think he
is worthy of dying as a saint
• Proctor becomes tragic hero
• Thus the audience blames the system
“Proctor tears the paper and crumples it, • Proctor tears up his confession that would save his life
and now he is weeping in fury but erect”
• Symbolically chooses death over submitting to the corrupt system and
condemning Rebecca + the others hanged
“Now I do think I see some shred of • Heroic redemption because he has chosen integrity
goodness in John Proctor
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English Advanced
Hale
ARDENT BELIEF CORRUPTED BY ITS ABUSE
“(He) shall not proceed unless (Salem is) prepared to believe • Hale’s political motivation were originally to perform
(him) if (he) should find no bruise of hell upon her” God’s duties with honesty
• He has nothing to gain in terms of reputation or
vengeance
“The systematic campaign against Rebecca” who “the general • The witch trials will have ramifications for the pinnacle
opinion of … was so high” of morality in Salem
• Demonstrates the far-reaching effects of such a
government system (which Hale inadvertently facilitates)
Hale enters, he “is steeped in sorrow, exhausted, and more • Previously “being called … to ascertain witchcraft” was “a
direct than he ever was” beloved errant for him”
• His passion has been diminished by the tyrannous abuse
of his knowledge
“There is blood on my head! Can you not see the blood on • Metaphor elucidates guilt
my head!!” • Attempts to right his wrong by encouraging Christians
to “believe themselves” by confessing to witchcraft for
their life
“Where I turned the eye of my great faith, blood flowed up” • Recognises his principles contributed to the murderous
trials
Concepts
Moral Conflict of Sacrificing Life for Integrity
“We are only what we always were, but naked now” • Whilst Proctor does not want to conform, he accepts
that he must expose his own sin, sacrificing himself for
his wife and Salem
• Could conform and hide sin, but chooses not to
“He moves as an animal, and a fury is riding in him, a • Animal imagery
tantalised search,” • Moral conflict between integrity and life
• Does not want to retain his pretence of innocence as he
does not think he is worthy of dying a saint
• Proctor becomes tragic hero and thus the audience
blames the system
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English Advanced
“[Proctor tears the paper and crumples it, and he is weeping • Proctor tears up his confession that would save his life
in fury, but erect]” • Symbolically chooses death over submitting to the
corrupt system and condemning Rebecca + the others
“Now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John hanged
Proctor” • Heroic redemption because he has chosen integrity
“I blacken all of them when this is nailed to the church the • Proctor recognises that by confessing to witchcraft in
very day they hand for silence” order to save his life, his lie will be condemning those
who were already hanged
“Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth • He does not want to compromise his integrity by
the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live condemning others who did the right thing and “hang
without my name” for silence”
• Moral conflict escalated by wanting to do the right thing
but wanting to live
“Great stones they lay upon his chest until he read aye or • System takes everything from you, and there is no
nay” but “(Giles Corey) stand mute, and died Christian possibility for fighting back and winning; only choice is
under the law. And so his sons will have his farm life or land
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English Advanced
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English Advanced
MODULE A :
TEXTUAL CONVERSATIONS
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English Advanced
Rubric Language
• Where resonances and/or dissonances are in each text
• How a text has been reimagined or reframed
• How texts mirror, align or collide with each other
• What the common or disparate issues/values/assumptions or perspectives are in and between texts and how they are
depicted
• Understanding of how motifs, allusions and intertextuality are used to connect and distinguish between texts
• Understanding of how innovating with language concepts, form and style can shape new meaning
• By comparing two texts students understand how composers (authors, poets, playwrights, directors, designers and so on)
are influenced by other texts, contexts and values, and how this shapes meaning.
Resonance Idea, issue theme between paired texts resonate and recognition of durability of contexts
while the idea remains valid
Dissonance Contemporary text suggests that ideas and issues represented in earlier text are no longer
valid/suitable
Reimagining Reimagine how previous ideas apply to a new context through language concepts —
allusion, intertextuality — appropriation that allows transformation while maintaining
textual conversation between the texts
Reframing Change in context — reframing of plot, themes and/or values
Mirror Feautres/characters.ideas in new text mirror older text = faithful representation, values
continue to be relevant in new context
Align Feautres/characters.ideas in new text align older text = composer has created parallels ,
emphasise similarities and/or to represent sustainable features
Collide Feautres/characters.ideas in new text collide older text = composer challenging previous
text, different worldview where values of original text cannot be reconciled
Common (issues, values, Issues which will always be of concern — issues relating to identity — unrealised aspiration,
assumptions, perspectives) unfavourable bias, low self-esteem, fear of mortality, perceptions of loyalty, etc. These issues
transcend time and place
Disparate (issues, values, Due to shift in context, some issues in the past are obsolete. Disparate issues evolve with
assumptions, perspectives) time and place
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English Advanced
• Shakespeare explores how individuals can ignore their conscience and commit evil such as the murders of Clarence who
hesitate only for a moment before taking his life or Buckingham who supports Richard until he makes that mistake of
having to consider whether he supports the murder of the two young princes – “He did all the dirty work and propped up
the king”.
• The existence of conscience is a constant in the play. Richard sees it as a weakness – using personification and alliteration.
• The entire scene of Richard’s dream and the cursing of the ghosts is a representation of conscience.
Duplicity
• Richard III is never what he seems. He is only honest with the audience informing them of his plans and celebrating his
success. He uses irony skilfully to hide his ruthlessness and lack of conscience. Even after all of the bloody deeds he is
able to convince the people, albeit for a brief time, to support him.
• As one actor observes in Looking for Richard “so now all that’s left is winning the people!” Pacino sings gleefully “He’s got
the whole world in his hands!”
• Example: he persuades Anne to marry him after killing her husband because he claims to have done this out of love for
her. She is susceptible to his flattery.
• The Archbishop is convinced to hand over the children from the sanctuary of the church so that Richard can “protect”
them in the tower.
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English Advanced
Tragic Anti Hero • (Elizabethan Age - enigmatic of tyrannical criminals were in vogue on centre stage)
• Richard dominates the play
• 1st 3 Acts - Richard is established as a compelling villain
• Act IV and V - Shakespeare distances audiences with the diminishing powers of the villain, King
loses control, self doubt creeps in; he becomes introspective and reacts to events rather than
controlling them - methods of persuasion fail him, wit deserts him
• Weaker and less compelling YET in the battlefield he is courageous
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English Advanced
Purpose
King Richard Looking for Richard
• Writing for political propaganda • About making Shakespeare available to American
• Chronological/linear structure audiences
• Melodrama/entertainment • Looking for answers as to why the play is so popular
• Composed for an audience familiar with medieval • Text of ‘discovery’ and ‘persuasion’; propaganda for
hierarchy Shakespeare
• Support for Tudor throne
• Cement the Tudor myth
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English Advanced
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English Advanced
• Shakespeare emphasises Richard’s physical deformity as a angle. Voiceover narration
metaphor for the corruption of his mind and soul as a • Pacino’s recurring shadow motif conveys to his audience
consequence for valuing power in a monarchial society Richard’s villainy and values
Boar motif to suggest that he has lost human traits for his • Richard works in the seat of power in his world - one
lust for power.
could argue that the high rise buildings in New York
Shadow motif of death, contrasted with “sun” and “golden” serve the same purpose for Pacino in our globalised,
images of king Edward and Richmond, who are much fitter capitalist world
rulers because they have gained the throne through • Pacino embodies the machiavellian ambition to
legitimate means. challenge the stereotypical inferior understanding of
Shakespeare in the 21st century
• Pacino cast superiority upon ‘learned’ scholars to assert
authority on his firm, and himself as director despite the
fact that the academic
“simply (does) not know”
PROVIDENTIALISM/DETERMINISM
King Richard Looking for Richard
• Theocentric viewpoint • LFR reflects a secular world with no reference to
Open with “unless to see my shadow in the determinism
sun” (foreshadowing, connotation, symbolism) “A solemn vow, in this time, was a solemn thing. Only people
• Aims to defy the divinely appointed King who wanted to go to hell were willing to make vows and not
“Determined to prove a villain” keep them”
• Duchess of York foreshadows the dire consequences of • In LFR there is minor reference to providentialism as the
his evil: 21st century context is “absolutely the opposite” and
“Bloody thou art, bloody will be thy end” supports views of secularism
• Richard represents the machiavellian character scheming • LFR is a self-determinist text
to undermine the divine authority of the monarch. He is • Piety as a value is not explored as the focus is on
from the Yorks and the reigning tudors in Shakespeare’s humanist self-determinism in order to relate to the 21st
time are the Lancaster’s century audience
“Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer • Much of the heavenly and diabolical references have
by this son of York” been excluded from the film because of the existential
• Margaret is always cursing Richard and calling on divine secular belief that one is responsible for their own
justice to punish crimes he committed in the past. In destiny
this way, Margaret embodies the divine will of “The pursuit of power has totally corrupted him” (with
retribution and suggests that history is shaped by Church bells chiming)
providential design • Has an eerie tone to it. A modern audience would
She says Richard is a “foul deface of God’s handiwork” interpret this as a bad reflection on the catholic church.
That religion and power goes hand in hand
• The idea of the supernatural becomes comical for the
actors as they visit Shakespeare’s original home, satirising
“I was almost expecting an epiphany, an outpouring of the
soul”
• Pacino re-interprets Richard’s visitation, by adopting
visual flashbacks in sharp and fleeting motion as an
experience that is religiously detached in connotation
“how we think and feel today”
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English Advanced
FREE WILL/HUMANISM
King Richard Looking for Richard
• Recurring motifs within the play raise the question of • Pacino’s strong desire to overcome American filmmakers’
whether someone can become so corrupt that they cease stereotypical inferior understanding of Shakespeare
to be human anymore
“teeth before his eyes”
• KRIII is responsive to existing tensions between
Elizabethan society’s shifting providentialist though to
the emergence of humanism and the secular exploration
of an individual’s free will
DUPLICITY
King Richard Looking for Richard
• Richard is never what he seems Pacino sings “so now all that’s left is winning the people!”
• His only honesty is when he talks to the audience
“I’ll marry Warwick’s daughter” - dramatic irony
• This ensnares the audience and furthers the
understanding that Richard is a treacherous character
that defies the monarch
• He persuades Anne to marry him after killing her
husband ‘out of love for her’
“Thus I clothe my naked villainy … seem a saint when I most
play the devil”
GENDER ROLES
King Richard Looking for Richard
Obviously restrictive society in terms of freedoms given to Camera angles of Richard saying “I’ll have her” repetition
and expectations placed upon women during Lady Anne Wooing scene highlights the still
common male dominance over females
Richard’s woos Anne into marrying him despite the death • Pacino’s choice to give value to the powerful tone of
of her husband and father, psychologically manipulating Penelope Allen when disputing the value of women:
her as she “grossly grew captive to his honey words” “by diminishing their importance you diminish a man’s
actions”
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English Advanced
MODULE B :
CRITICAL STUDY OF LITERATURE
Great
Expectations
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English Advanced
Rubric Language
• Informed and personal responses to the text
• Under stand the distinctive qualities of the text, notions of textual integrity and significance
• Close analysis of text’s construction, context, and language
• Investigate and evaluate the perspectives context with regard to the text’s composition and reception
• Explores the ideas in the text, further strengthening their informed personal perspective
• Compose creative and critical texts
• Analyse the text’s specific language features and form
• Express complex ideas using appropriate register, structure and modality
• Develop personal and intellectual connections with the text, expressing a considered perspective of its value and meaning
Genre
• Example of a bildungsroman — progression of a central character as he matures into an adult and experiences significant
psychological growth along the wayThe close focus on Pip’s journey to psychological and emotional mature, made evident
through a first-person narration — bildungsroman genre
Features
Foreshadowing
• Pip narrates events from a perspective where he can see how one thing led to another — give reader hints about things of
importance, foreshadowing later plot events
• After describing his first visit to Satis House, Pip pauses to reflect that “That was a memorable day to me, for it made
great changes in me”
• In looking back on this event later in life, Pip foreshadows future events that will stem from his fateful encounter
with Miss Havisham and Estella
The Fog in the • “Wet lay clammy and the marsh-mist was so thick” — day that Pip meets Magwitch the convict
Marsh • Weather foreshadows the encounter Pip will have with the convict, and the uncomfortable secret
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English Advanced
Pip’s Encounter • Man with the file — “the guiltily coarse and common thing it was, to be on secret terms of conspiracy
with the man at with convicts”
the Pub • Foreshadows later discovery that Magwitch has been Pip’s benefactor all along, and the horrible
shame and guilt this discovery unleashes in Pip
Miss Havisham’s • The unhappy love lives both Pip and Estella will lead — Pip unmarried, Estella in unhappy abusive
Wedding Dress relationship
Motifs
Recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes
DOUBLES
• Dickens’ commitment to intricate dramatic symmetry
• Two convicts on the marsh (Magwitch and Compeyson), two invalids (Mrs Joe and Miss Havisham), two young women
who interest Pip (Biddy and Estella), etc
• Two secret benefactors:
• Magwitch — gives Pip his fortune
• Pip — secretly buying Herbert’s way into the mercantile business
• Two adults who seek to mould their children after their own purposes:
• Magwitch — wishes to “own” a gentleman (Pip)
• Havisham — raises Estella to break men’s hearts in revenge for her own broken heart
• This doubling theme adds to the sense that everything in Pip’s world is connected — Dickens’ novelistic universe
Point of View
• First person point of view, with Pip acting as both the protagonist and narrator (looking back at his life)
• Retrospective narration and point of view that allows Pip to reveal his motivations for his behaviour
• Reflects on what he now knows would have been the better course of action
Symbols
Satis House • Gothic setting with elements that symbolise Pip’s romantic perception of the upper class
• Miss Havisham’s wedding dress on her decaying body — ironic symbol of death and degeneration
• Wedding dress + feast - symbol of Miss Havisham’s past
• Stopped clock — her determined attempt to freeze time by refusing change
• Crumbling dilapidated stones of the house + darkness and dust - general decadence of the lives of
its inhabitants and the upper class as a whole
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English Advanced
The Mists on the • Symbolise danger and uncertaintyWhenever Pip goes into the mists, something dangerous is likely
Marshes to happen (Magwitch in woods at beginning, later Orlick nearly murders him)
• Pip must go through the mists when he travels to London after receiving fortune — alerting
reader that this apparently positive development in his life may have dangerous consequences
Bentley Drummle • Drummle provides Pip with proof that social advancement has no inherent connection to
intelligence or moral worth.
• Drummle is a lout who has inherited immense wealth —> Joe is a good man who works hard for
the little he earns
• Drummle’s negative example helps Pip to see the inner worth of characters such as Magwitch and
Hoe — eventually discards immature fantasies about wealth and class in favour of a new
understanding that is both more compassionate and more realistic
Style
• Wry and humorous
• Pip describes events that are tragic and unsetting, but he typically does so in a way that relies on dark humour rather than
evoking pity
• When he mentions his 5 dead siblings he refers to them as having “gave up trying to get a living exceeding early in the
universal struggle”
• The humours style shows Pip’s tendency to avoid being vulnerable both with readers and with the characters around him,
— does not want to be an object of pity or defined by difficult childhood circustances
Tone
• Regretful and wistful
• Pip reflecting on behaviour of past — judgemental and cruel
• Pip notes that “I often wondered how I conceived the old idea of his ineptitude, until I was one day enlightened by the
reflection, that perhaps the ineptitude had never been in him at all, but had been in me"
• The tone of his reflections is also often resigned to the fact that the past cannot be changed
G Robert Strange
• “It is the story of a young man’s development from the moment of his first self-awareness, to that of his mature acceptance of
the human condition”
• “The young man of talent who progress from the country to the city, ascends in social hierarchy, and moves from innocence to
experience”
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English Advanced
Quotes
Themes
AMBITION
Quotes Analysis
“the best step I could take towards making myself uncommon Pip’s best way to change his current status is to educate
was to get out of Biddy everything she knew” himself — through Biddy. Pip believes he can change his
ambition — class system was rigid at time in Britain and
the “self-made man” was rare
“I had believed in the forge as the glowing road to manhood Pip realises his career goals have changed — because of
and independence. Within a single year all this was changed” exposure to Miss Havisham and Estella Pip dreads
becoming a blacksmith apprentice with Joe
MONEY
Quotes Analysis
“These people hated me with the hatred of cupidity and Despite Miss Havisham’s relatives resenting Pip, because he
disappointment. As a matter of course, they fawned upon me has money they treat him with far more respect and
in my prosperity with the basest meanness” reigned admiration than they did when he was poor, like
many others the “new” Pip encounters
“We spent as much money as we could, and got as little for it Pip reflects on his past — was irresponsible. Excessive
as people could make up their minds to give us” spending
SOCIAL CLASS
Quotes Analysis
I though how Joe and my sister were sitting in a kitchen, and After visit to Satis House see’s his family’s way of life in new
how Miss Havisham and Estella never sat in the kitchen, but negative light — low class. Pip doesn't want to be seen as
were far above the level of such common doings” common
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Characters
PIP
Quotes Analysis
“after looking at me for a moment, turned me upside down Symbol of Pip’ life is turned upside down by Magwitch
“the world lay spread before me” Miltonic phrase — Pip’s departure from forge parallel to the
expulsion fo Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden
“I wanted to make Joe less ignorant and common, that he “My society” — division of classes. Pip is learning the
might be worthier of my society” shallowness and superficial habits of a gentleman — judges
by external criteria of status and wealth
“…so bound up with my fortunes and misfortunes and yet so Retrospective POV — development of conscience yet
unknown to me except as miserable wretch who terrified me idealistic views and desire for a higher social class.
two days in my childhood”
“…went out to the memorable old house that it would have Pip believes he would have been happier if he had never
been so much the better for me never to have entered , never been exposed to Satis house and its inhabitants
to have seen”
“I live in a state of chronic uneasiness” Corrupted by his expectations. Dickens shows need for
"my conscience” balance of industrial humanism/human need
“sense of my own worthless conduct” Expectations > corruption > redemption. Money corrupts
— capitalism. Pip is getting a grip on reality
ESTELLA
Quotes Analysis
“That girl’s hard and haughty and capricious to the last Herbert reveals he knows about Estella — sees her
degree, and has been brought up by Miss Havisham to wreak personality and its origins to Miss Havisham’s teachings
revenge on all the male sex”
MISS HAVISHAM
Quotes Analysis
“While I and everything outside it grew older, it stood still” Pip referring to Satis house, with the clocks stopped in
time, cobwebs and darkness — metaphor -- Miss Havisham
refused to move on with life due to heartbreak.
“Well? you can break his heart” Destructive — malicious, using Estella for revenge
‘Beggar him,’said Miss Havisham to Estella
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English Advanced
MODULE C :
The Craft of
Writing
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English Advanced
Rubric Language
• Convey ideas and emotions with power and precision
• Express insights, evoke emotion, describe the wonder of the natural world, shape a perspective or share an aesthetic
vision
• Appreciate, analyse and evaluate the versatility, power and aesthetics of language
• Reflect on the complex and recursive process of writing to further develop their self-expression
• Experimentation with various figurative, rhetorical and linguistic devices (allusion, imagery, narrative voice,
characterisation, and tone)
• Consider purpose, audience and context
• Produce highly crafted imaginative, discursive, persuasive and informative texts
Reflections
• Techniques and stylistic features — identified in described text AND own writing (use quotes)
• provide explanation of how this text has clearly influenced your own writing
• Reflection structure — description, analysis, outcomes or action, quotes, techniques an textual references to specifics in
text, (relation to prescribed texts)
• Aim/goal of piece of work
• Relation to prescribed texts (stylistic features and their influence)
How you:
• Solved a problem
• Reached a conclusion
• Found an answer
• Reached a point of understanding
• Alternative interpretations or different perspectives on what you have read or done in the topic you are studying
Useful Phrases:
• The text explores …
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• My interest in … arose from …
• … influenced my ideas because …
• After reading/experiencing …
• The work appeals to …
• The choice of … reflects the aim of …
• The audience may …
• The purpose of the text is to …
• This is communicated through …
• The concept of … is best conveyed when …
• This idea is similarly explored through …
Imaginary
Represent ideas, feelings, and mental images in words or visual images in forms including short stories, poems, and recreation or
explorations of existing texts
McCann
“What time is it now, where we are?”
• Metafiction — the work self-consciously calls attention to itself as a work of fition. Similar to breaking the fourth wall in
theater, metafiction suspends the disbelief of the reader by specifically addressing the reader or discussing its own status
• Style — image laden
• Structure — (non) linear narrative
• Focalisation (character-viewpoint) — multilayered, multiple viewpoints
• Author —> Writer —> Character
• Setting — Narrative frames
• Theme — interactive nature of the creative process
• text <—> author … (reader)
• Switches POV
• Punctuation — random development of ideas
• “almost inhabits the very trees that want to step off the cliff” — personification
• Inclusive pronouns — “We should feel our own”
• Purpose of story — choosing the purpose of story
• “The living and the dead” — signposting what is about to occur
• “The phone rings: it rings and rings and rings”
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English Advanced
Gwen Harwood
“Father and Child”
• Father has authority over daughter
• "who swooper home at this hour” - envy freedom of owl
• Sensual imagery - “urine scented hay”
• Change in tone of the story — arrogant point of view but after shooting owl is afraid (moment of awakening seeing
reality of what she has done)
• “could not bear the light nor hide hobbled in its own blood” — objectified mirrored in the eyes, reflecting her cruelty
• “own blind in early sun for what I had begun” — images of blindness and sight, images of child and father different to the
start, treatment of nature, reversal
• 2nd half — retrospective looking back on life + relationship with father
• “home with the child once quick to mischief, grown to learn what sorrows, in the end, no words, no tears can mend” — full
circle, completing yet contrasting first section
Discursive
The discussion of an ideas or opinions without direct intention of persuading the reader/viewer/listener to adopt a point of view
Texts whose primary focus to explore an idea or topic. Without direct intone of persuading. Can be serious, informal,
humorous
F First Person
R Resolution — open ended or reflective
E Exploration of issue from various angles
E Experiences you’ve had
C Conversational Tone
L Language can be colloquial and figurative
A Anecdotes and other evidence
M Make your reader care/engage
P Point of View
AN ENGAGING DISCUSSION
Review Essay (non-linear): first person, evaluation of another work, wit, humour, opinion
“Spotty handed Villainesses” speech (Non linear): Rhetorical question, intertextuality, confronting opinions, imagery,
symbolism
Margaret Atwood
“Spotty Handed Villainesses”
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3 Attacks conventional masculinist categorises. Intertextuality
Pushes for imperfection + reality
4 Defines “spots” as imperfection — guilt Humour, rhetorical questions,
tone — confrontation
5 Attacks feminism and explores portrayal of Rhetorical questions
women
6 We need women who disrupt social order … Personal anecdote, Intertextuality, metaphor
not breakfast
7 Personal experience anecdote Ironic, satirical
8 Digresses further into breakfast Metaphor
9 Need for excitement. Attack on clichés and Reinterprets cliché
genres
10 Characters — how author uses, constructs Rhetorical question, Intertextuality, simile
gender. Confronting comparison: God=writer
11 What is a novel? confronting comments. R-Q, aggressive tone
Every artists — a con artist
12 Con-artists!
13 Novels are NOT society Argument by negation, Brecity
14 Not political tracts
- crime?
15 Not how to books Irony, satire, tone
16 Not moral tracts
17-23 Literary critics Categorical, expository
- a digression, exploration
24-27 Genres of literature and the characterisation Intertextuality, metaphor of cauldron + mud
of women
28 Controversial, confrontational Intertextuality
29-30 Feminism and its challenge to literary genres Categorical, description, angry tone?, critical
and conventions. Challenges clichés and
categories of patriarchy.
- Spotiness to be celebiated
33 Criticism of Feminism Insinuation
35-36 Feminist critique of Snow White + other Refusal to critique but does, exclamation,
fairytales. Personal experience abstract long, imagery, lists
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38 Symbols, preaching, deconstructs binary Logical analysis
Polemic good/bad
39-43 Types of bad women. Lists + love
46-49 Generalisation and resolution, insightful Tone — less confronting, sentence length —
short
Persuasive
Primary purpose is to put forward a point of view rather than explore, or persuade a reader/view/listener
P Proof
R Repetition
O Opinion
T Tone of Authority
E Emotive Language
S Strong Opening and Ending
T Three Points Plus
E Exaggeration
R Rhetorical Questions
CONVINCE ME
Informative
Provide information through explanation, description, argument, analysis, ordering and presentation of evidence and procedures
• un-emotive
• neutral in its tone
• objective
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