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March 28, 2024, 10:46:36 pm

Author Topic: The Imaginative Landscape  (Read 8327 times)  Share 

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Just Another Person

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The Imaginative Landscape
« on: September 10, 2011, 11:28:07 pm »
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Hi there,

Is anyone studying the highly popular 'Imaginative Landscape' for context? And if so, what texts are you studying and how are you approaching the task? Or am I the only one finding it to be an insurmountable battle? All comments appreciated!

Tashi

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Re: The Imaginative Landscape
« Reply #1 on: September 13, 2011, 08:19:37 pm »
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lol

ulbasour

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Re: The Imaginative Landscape
« Reply #2 on: September 13, 2011, 09:42:12 pm »
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"Highly popular"????
very questionable (unless sarcasm), most schools stay away from it, due its vagueness, and the  sophisticated level of thinking required to score well in it.
I'm studying Island for it.
You really need a fluid approach to answering this context area, and be able to draw upon ideas and examples relevant to landscapes of a more complex level than just the physical and literal ones - i.e., branching into the emotional, traditional, family, memory and imaginative landscapes etc. that encapsulate the human mind. It is quite a hard context area due to its vagueness, even harder than whose reality which is a bit more tangible. I would say be very broad in approaching a prompt and look to expand upon ideas that can be headlined under various "landscapes," and then explore ideas specifically linked to the text you are studying, making sure you explore at least one idea thoroughly - you don't have to make 3 or 4 ideas as some teachers say. It's essentially all about the interactions between humanity and the different
'landscapes" that encapsulate and govern it, and how well you can explore these ideas either in expository, narrative or one other type of writing which i forget, or a combination of any of the three.
Another tip - never take the prompt literally or as a narrow idea, and don't be afraid to counter the suggestion of the prompt, it is simply a prompt (not a question with a right or wrong answer). Hope this helps, sorry if it is a bit vague.

Just Another Person

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Re: The Imaginative Landscape
« Reply #3 on: September 13, 2011, 10:30:55 pm »
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Thanks 'ulbasour. I'm also studying Island - but I find that the themes are limiting and tedious to study, like tradition, isolation, culture and family. (All of which, I personally, find very difficult to write upon) I have attempted to look at some poems by Robert Frost myself, but learning Frost from resources found on the internet is rather difficult; especially when you need to find a solid link between his ideas, the context, and your piece.
I understand the different aspects of context writing that is required; but I am struggling to come to terms is being able to link everything together. In class, we have been doing some brainstorming activities where students are required to think of various ideas to link to a prompt. For example, "The physical landscape is heavily influenced and dwells upon the imaginative landscape' and some of the ideas that have been raised include adoptions (changes in physical landscapes have drastic impacts upon the mind) and single child families where some children never had the opportunity to associate themselves with other people of similar ages at home and the possible impact that this could have had. Again, there is also difficulty in linking this with 'Island'.
What do you (or anybody else) think of these ideas and are there any other ways to go about writing a successful context piece?

ulbasour

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Re: The Imaginative Landscape
« Reply #4 on: September 13, 2011, 11:00:06 pm »
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I would go into exploring the notion that our perception of the literal and the tangible is ultimately influenced and shaped by our emotions, our memory and our experiences of the past. IN terms of Island, i would link this with "the boat" and " the return"
In the boat we see the perception of what the boat stands for is idealized by their tradition -  a means of sustenance and work, rather than a chance to escape - but this is all influenced by the mothers veiled outlook, and one eyed perception of the tradition that ties her and their family to the land -  the boat itself is named after he mother's maiden name.
For the return, the landscape of memory and childhood shapes his home, and it allows him to reconnect with nova scotia; without an understanding of his past, he cannot live in his present state. You could talk about how people cling to their memory and childhood, as it provides the basis for forming their perception and ideologies of the physical landscape. The physical landscape of NS/CB is only given greater meaning to him as a home, because he was never able to relinquish his memory and his childhood - the imaginative landscape brought him home to the physical, and gave is a basis.

I recommend when approaching topics, to first find ideas that can be linked in with the text, and be able to give text based examples, before exploring your own ideas - otherwise you can find yourself up shit creek pretty fast.

mykey

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Re: The Imaginative Landscape
« Reply #5 on: September 14, 2011, 06:18:51 pm »
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Yes I am doing Imaginative Landscape as well! Not entirely sure which text will become my focus when I really get stuck into exam revision, but I think all 4 texts (Island, Tirra Lirra, One Night the Moon, Frost poetry) have some good material, themes and ideas that can be incorporated into your own work.
I am most certainly not a creative writer, so I much prefer to do expository or persuasive - but unfortunately this context is so very much geared towards imaginative writing (hence the title of the context!) But I have been able to put some decent expository stuff together during the year, so hopefully this won't cause me too much stress.
Hoping that the prompt in the exam will be something along the lines of people's memories/experiences affect their interpretation/understanding of the landscape, and how much their experiences can mould the way in which people value the significance or importance of a landscape.

alindaz

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Re: The Imaginative Landscape
« Reply #6 on: September 14, 2011, 07:49:02 pm »
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lol :)