English Advanced Question Thread

[melprocrastinator]

Thanks to everyone who helped with my last question.
I was wondering. Is "perusal" the same as "reading" because im looking for another word, though im not sure "perusal" fits in my sentence

....to teach Alice that reading/perusal improves judgement, thus allows one to broaden their mind and understanding of humanity.

 would that work there?
Thank you

[elysepopplewell]

Thanks to everyone who helped with my last question.
I was wondering. Is "perusal" the same as "reading" because im looking for another word, though im not sure "perusal" fits in my sentence

....to teach Alice that reading/perusal improves judgement, thus allows one to broaden their mind and understanding of humanity.

 would that work there?
Thank you

To peruse is to read something in a careful or thoughtful way. So, I think so! Perhaps if you have the word-limit luxury to use some more words, consider, "to teach Alice that exposure to literature..." or "to teach Alice that absorbing books..."

But, perusal sounds great! It is more archaic, but works

[melprocrastinator]

To peruse is to read something in a careful or thoughtful way. So, I think so! Perhaps if you have the word-limit luxury to use some more words, consider, "to teach Alice that exposure to literature..." or "to teach Alice that absorbing books..."

But, perusal sounds great! It is more archaic, but works

Thats a good idea, im sure i can find another place to tighten my expression, so that i can afford to use a few extra words.

[pels]

Hey all,

Got a few questions for you all

I'm finding it hard to find other readings of Shakespeare's Hamlet. If anyone had any readings or productions that are easily adaptable to Hamlet in explaining key ideas, please throw those my way.

Additionally, in Module C, I am using Malala's Speech Addressed To The UN (2013), as well as studying W.H Auden's poetry, and am wondering what is the best way of analysing the texts in Module C alone, as I find this is the most difficult module for me.

Thanks

[elysepopplewell]

Hey all,

Got a few questions for you all

I'm finding it hard to find other readings of Shakespeare's Hamlet. If anyone had any readings or productions that are easily adaptable to Hamlet in explaining key ideas, please throw those my way.

Do you mean reading as in publication of Hamlet? or do you mean reading as in perspective on the text? I think you mean the first, so I'll answer that Is your trouble trying to understand Hamlet really well? Have you read the No Fear Shakespeare version that has Shakespeare and plain English side by side? Also have a look at YouTube, there's always amateur productions, cartoons, summaries and what not there as well!

Additionally, in Module C, I am using Malala's Speech Addressed To The UN (2013), as well as studying W.H Auden's poetry, and am wondering what is the best way of analysing the texts in Module C alone, as I find this is the most difficult module for me.

Thanks

So I think when you analyse module C texts, you need to focus on the composer's intentions. So, you're not doing anything vastly different from your other modules: you're still analysing texts and seeing how textual manipulation has created an outcome. The only real difference is that this time you're bringing forward the composer's intentions as a huge deal. So everything the same + focusing on the composer's intentions.

Look at ideas of people - who are the people? Are the people collective or individuals? Are the people in power or out of power? Are they suppressed? Are they working with or against other people?
Look at ideas of politics - is it government? What type of government? What are the political intentions? What are the political realities? Is it politics V politics? Or politics V people?

Brainstorm these ideas and link between the texts - what is similar and what is different?

Then look at your textual analysis - You've picked quotes, so now look at how exactly each quote, or aspect of the text (rather than just a quote, it could be from the form/structure of the text) and look for techniques or literary decisions (can include things like tense, narration, modality - not just things like metaphors and similes) that convey something about people and politics that you're hoping to look into.

Then tie it all together, compare and contrast between the two texts - they may have some similarities or some complete differences. Don't be afraid to draw these comparisons!

Hopefully this helps. I'm not 100% certain this is what you were after so let me know if I totally missed the mark here haha!

[pels]

Thanks for the pointers elyse. 

By readings I mean like Freudian, Psychoanalytical, and using the perspectives of others to enhance my own argument.

Also, just a question on Module A, since its basically linking a text with its contextual references, what would be the best way to do this in a sustained manner throughout a response.

Cheers

Moderator Edit: Posts merged, you can use the 'Modify' button to the top-right of your posts to add to questions that haven't been answered yet.

[Shiv12345qwerty]

Just wondering, what sort of repetition do these quotes have:
"to prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet"
"Time yet for a hundred indecisions, and for a hundred visions and revisions"
"Is the stuff of our women's magazines, but it was the stuff of their life, their very existence"
And do these quotes have any techniques?
"The thousand sordid images of which your soul is constituted"
"I might call him a thing divine, for nothing natural i ever saw so noble"
"When no man was his own"
"When it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins"
"If the outer world is a mere reflection of the inner one, if as you refine the person so the outer aspects of the world are refined, so will social change work from the inside out"
"People have a way of carrying their resentments into a jury box"
"Time honoured codes"
Are these quotes metonymy?
"Night-fires going out"
"Now i do think i see some shred of goodness in John Proctor" (John Proctor says this)
Sorry for the huge list but I'd appreciate any help you could give 

[elysepopplewell]

Thanks for the pointers elyse. 

By readings I mean like Freudian, Psychoanalytical, and using the perspectives of others to enhance my own argument.

Also, just a question on Module A, since its basically linking a text with its contextual references, what would be the best way to do this in a sustained manner throughout a response.

Cheers

Moderator Edit: Posts merged, you can use the 'Modify' button to the top-right of your posts to add to questions that haven't been answered yet.

Oh sorry! I totally misread your work

Ok, so I haven't read Hamlet (I know...I just lost all credibility) but I do know some things about it! Moral relativity is a big deal, so I'd be looking at some post-modernists who explore this really well. John Bell is an Australian actor and theatre producer, and has said of Hamlet, "“he doesn’t commit himself to any one stance....he didn’t have to believe anything.  His great objectivity lead to ambivalence because life is ambiguous." so that's interesting! Furthermore, existentialism wasn't an established reading in Shakespeare's time, but Shakespeare certainly explores existential notions in Hamlet. So in some ways, Shakespeare was extremely ahead of his time, and an existential reading would be handy!

As for Mod A: I always found that I'd start a paragraph with something like a thesis, then a sentence on context, and then I'd just drop little bits of relevant context as I needed it throughout the paragraph to support whichever piece of textual evidence I'd need at the time. Some teachers suggest all the context at the beginning of a paragraph, but I think coupling it with a piece of the text is really beneficial!

[elysepopplewell]

Just wondering, what sort of repetition do these quotes have:

Some of these are tricky because I don't know the context, but try to take away some of the patterns I'm using to analyse this!
"to prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet" Faces: metonymy? Second person narration.
"Time yet for a hundred indecisions, and for a hundred visions and revisions" hyperbole? Also rhyme.
"Is the stuff of our women's magazines, but it was the stuff of their life, their very existence" inclusive first person = our.
And do these quotes have any techniques?
"The thousand sordid images of which your soul is constituted" Hyperbole - thousand. Sordid images - connotations/denotations.
"I might call him a thing divine, for nothing natural i ever saw so noble" First person narration
"When no man was his own" Metonymy - man. Past tense.
"When it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins" Word - metonymy for argument, voice, ideas.
"If the outer world is a mere reflection of the inner one, if as you refine the person so the outer aspects of the world are refined, so will social change work from the inside out"
"People have a way of carrying their resentments into a jury box"
"Time honoured codes" Personification
Are these quotes metonymy?
"Night-fires going out" Could be - depending on the context. Not quite sure with this one!
"Now i do think i see some shred of goodness in John Proctor" (John Proctor says this) If John is distancing himself from himself, then yeah, I believe so! He's recreating an out-of-body reflection.
Sorry for the huge list but I'd appreciate any help you could give 

Hopefully this gives you a hand! It's tricky without knowing the context. Always look for: narration type, tense, and then you can also focus on specific words and their connotations/denotations

[Shiv12345qwerty]

Yes thanks Elyse!
Just with the below quotes, i didn't need to know what other techniques they had, rather what type of repetition? At your lecture i remembered you talking about different types and i wasn't sure which these were.
"to prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet"
"Time yet for a hundred indecisions, and for a hundred visions and revisions"
"Is the stuff of our women's magazines, but it was the stuff of their life, their very existence"
Also, "People have a way of carrying their resentments into a jury box"  - is this personification because they don't literally carry them?

[elysepopplewell]

Yes thanks Elyse!
Just with the below quotes, i didn't need to know what other techniques they had, rather what type of repetition? At your lecture i remembered you talking about different types and i wasn't sure which these were.
"to prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet"
"Time yet for a hundred indecisions, and for a hundred visions and revisions"
"Is the stuff of our women's magazines, but it was the stuff of their life, their very existence"
Also, "People have a way of carrying their resentments into a jury box"  - is this personification because they don't literally carry them?

Right right! Here is the link to the powerpoint slides from the lecture if you want them! I suggest having a look through them: http://atarnotes.com/note/hsc-advanced-english-lecture-uts-2016/

As for the last one about the jury - it isn't quite personification because you can carry more than just people, you can carry objects. I'd be more inclined to talk about "carry" as a deliberate word choice that has connotations of heavy lifting, thus emphasising the weight and significance of the resentments.

[pels]

Hey all!

Just a few questions I had while writing notes:

Is a soliloquy a dramatic technique in Hamlet? So far I have notes for setting, characterisation, conflict, special effects, symbols and a few more. Are there any others that are integral to answering Hamlet questions? 

Apart from themes, characters, scenes and use of dramatic techniques, what is usually involved in answering Hamlet questions.

Thanks again

[marynguyen18]

how do you develop a thesis?

Also with a thesis what do we include in a thesis to make it a strong one?

Moderator Edit: Merged posts, you can use the 'Modify' button to the top right of your post to add to an unanswered question

[zachary99]

What are the biggest mistakes for advanced english students?

[jamonwindeyer]

What are the biggest mistakes for advanced english students?

Hey Zach! Check out this article!