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Author Topic: How to Write a Module B Essay  (Read 81398 times)

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bowiemily

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Re: How to Write a Module B Essay
« Reply #45 on: February 22, 2017, 10:09:21 am »
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How do I draw links and connections if I am doing Yeats poems?

I drew connections between the recurring imagery, themes and inspirations for his texts. These can be based on how they evolve over the oeuvre, or how they work together to form the 'seamless, integrated whole' textual integrity requires.
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Sukakadonkadonk

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Re: How to Write a Module B Essay
« Reply #46 on: February 22, 2017, 11:36:40 pm »
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Hi there,

Could you guys recommend some example topic sentences in relation to a Yeats based essay please?
Quite stumped in trying to generate a decent one...

Thanks!  :)

elysepopplewell

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Re: How to Write a Module B Essay
« Reply #47 on: February 23, 2017, 12:17:39 am »
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Hi there,

Could you guys recommend some example topic sentences in relation to a Yeats based essay please?
Quite stumped in trying to generate a decent one...

Thanks!  :)

Hey there! I studied Yeats and really enjoyed this unit and his texts. I always talked about balance and tension in Yeats poems. In the Wild Swans at Coole, we see the tension between young and old, immutability and change, permanence and change, and live and non-living natural elements. In the Irish Airman poem, we see the tension between Yeats' anti-war sentiment and the need to fulfill Lady Gregory's request. So for me, Yeats has always been about tension and balance for me. Also, yearning. I wrote about yearning in some of my essays for Yeats too. He yearns to be younger, to be immutable, to have Maude, and for peace.

Hopefully these give you some ideas :)
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Sukakadonkadonk

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Re: How to Write a Module B Essay
« Reply #48 on: February 23, 2017, 05:24:02 pm »
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Hey there! I studied Yeats and really enjoyed this unit and his texts. I always talked about balance and tension in Yeats poems. In the Wild Swans at Coole, we see the tension between young and old, immutability and change, permanence and change, and live and non-living natural elements. In the Irish Airman poem, we see the tension between Yeats' anti-war sentiment and the need to fulfill Lady Gregory's request. So for me, Yeats has always been about tension and balance for me. Also, yearning. I wrote about yearning in some of my essays for Yeats too. He yearns to be younger, to be immutable, to have Maude, and for peace.

Hopefully these give you some ideas :)


Hi again,

Thanks for the quick reply but unfortunately, I am in need of help again.
Do you have any tips in writing an essay paragraph on Yeats's "Among School Children"? To me, its one of his more complicated poems.

Also, I was made aware that it may be important to include some quotes from other critics. Do you happen to know some links to critics towards Yeats's work?

Thank you :)

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Re: How to Write a Module B Essay
« Reply #49 on: February 24, 2017, 04:45:20 am »
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Hi again,

Thanks for the quick reply but unfortunately, I am in need of help again.
Do you have any tips in writing an essay paragraph on Yeats's "Among School Children"? To me, its one of his more complicated poems.

Also, I was made aware that it may be important to include some quotes from other critics. Do you happen to know some links to critics towards Yeats's work?

Thank you :)

Hey, I think Among School Children is really tricky, it was the poem that spoke to me least as a reader but it's also just long, and tricky to approach. Have a look at my own notes on this poem, there's two critics mentioned at the top of the notes as well so you might be able to find some of their works online. You can download my notes here. I find that when I'm trying to find scholarly articles, I type the topic, Yeats, and then "scholar" or "University" or "academic" into Google next to each other. But for something like Among School Children, you could look beyond Yeats' scholars and into scholars of ageing. If you're into that idea, I suggest starting with Stanford Bennett: Old Age Its Cause and Prevention (1912). It presents complicated ideas and this is a trickier road to go down, but it could definitely elevate your work :)

For the record, I certainly didn't study Bennett in High School. So, you don't need it to do well, but using it well will surely give you great marks. I briefly studied Bennett in a Uni literature class. :)
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Sukakadonkadonk

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Re: How to Write a Module B Essay
« Reply #50 on: February 24, 2017, 07:38:29 am »
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Hey, I think Among School Children is really tricky, it was the poem that spoke to me least as a reader but it's also just long, and tricky to approach. Have a look at my own notes on this poem, there's two critics mentioned at the top of the notes as well so you might be able to find some of their works online. You can download my notes here. I find that when I'm trying to find scholarly articles, I type the topic, Yeats, and then "scholar" or "University" or "academic" into Google next to each other. But for something like Among School Children, you could look beyond Yeats' scholars and into scholars of ageing. If you're into that idea, I suggest starting with Stanford Bennett: Old Age Its Cause and Prevention (1912). It presents complicated ideas and this is a trickier road to go down, but it could definitely elevate your work :)

For the record, I certainly didn't study Bennett in High School. So, you don't need it to do well, but using it well will surely give you great marks. I briefly studied Bennett in a Uni literature class. :)

Thanks for the advice Elyse,

My teacher has been showing us some footage from Helen Vendler to use as a critic for Yeats. Have you heard her work? If so, what do you think?

elysepopplewell

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Re: How to Write a Module B Essay
« Reply #51 on: February 24, 2017, 09:34:44 am »
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Thanks for the advice Elyse,

My teacher has been showing us some footage from Helen Vendler to use as a critic for Yeats. Have you heard her work? If so, what do you think?

I'm sad to say I haven't heard of Helen Vendler. But I can see on Google she wrote a book about Yeats and his poetry called Our Secret Discipline. If you haven't already, getting your hands on that might be helpful too. Have you found her to be useful? From my quick glance, she seems to target Yeats' poetic form more than his subject matter. Is this right?
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Sukakadonkadonk

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Re: How to Write a Module B Essay
« Reply #52 on: February 24, 2017, 04:18:05 pm »
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I'm sad to say I haven't heard of Helen Vendler. But I can see on Google she wrote a book about Yeats and his poetry called Our Secret Discipline. If you haven't already, getting your hands on that might be helpful too. Have you found her to be useful? From my quick glance, she seems to target Yeats' poetic form more than his subject matter. Is this right?

From the videos we've been shown in class, yeah I would say that she does target the poetic form more than Yeats' subject matter. But I think that she is really helpful in breaking down the various poems.
So do I need a critic that targets both poetic form and subject matter equally? Or is one aspect prefered over the other?

Sukakadonkadonk

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Re: How to Write a Module B Essay
« Reply #53 on: March 03, 2017, 07:36:32 am »
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Hello,

Could someone please explain to me the structure in the 'art' paragraph of a Mod B Yeats essay please?

Thank you

elysepopplewell

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Re: How to Write a Module B Essay
« Reply #54 on: March 04, 2017, 05:38:34 am »
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From the videos we've been shown in class, yeah I would say that she does target the poetic form more than Yeats' subject matter. But I think that she is really helpful in breaking down the various poems.
So do I need a critic that targets both poetic form and subject matter equally? Or is one aspect prefered over the other?

A variation is always good - you won't necessarily need one over the other. The purpose of using scholars and critics is to talked about how they informed your own response - so if they have contributed more to the form, or more to the subject matter, then you can certainly privilege that :)

Hello,

Could someone please explain to me the structure in the 'art' paragraph of a Mod B Yeats essay please?

Thank you

I'm sorry I don't quite know what you mean about the "art" paragraph? Do you mind fleshing this out a bit? :)
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Sukakadonkadonk

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Re: How to Write a Module B Essay
« Reply #55 on: March 04, 2017, 10:33:08 am »
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A variation is always good - you won't necessarily need one over the other. The purpose of using scholars and critics is to talked about how they informed your own response - so if they have contributed more to the form, or more to the subject matter, then you can certainly privilege that :)

I'm sorry I don't quite know what you mean about the "art" paragraph? Do you mind fleshing this out a bit? :)


Haha I'm pretty much in a similar position, but my teacher told us that the 3rd 'art' paragraph should include explanation on how Yeats uses the poetry art form to essentially resolve some of the tensions and conflicts seen in the poems.
Eg. How he touched on the resolution on the meaning of life in "Among School Children".

Seeing that you are not sure what this 'art' paragraph is, do you think it is important to include?

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Re: How to Write a Module B Essay
« Reply #56 on: March 05, 2017, 06:32:06 am »
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Haha I'm pretty much in a similar position, but my teacher told us that the 3rd 'art' paragraph should include explanation on how Yeats uses the poetry art form to essentially resolve some of the tensions and conflicts seen in the poems.
Eg. How he touched on the resolution on the meaning of life in "Among School Children".

Seeing that you are not sure what this 'art' paragraph is, do you think it is important to include?

I'm assuming that your teacher has suggested this as a particular structure she or he thinks works for students, but in a HSC essay, the markers aren't actively searching for an "art" paragraph. I think this is purely a suggested structure, not at all a requirement for good marks. I, in fact, believe that you should be talking about the manipulation of form in every single paragraph. I really don't think I can endorse a dedicated paragraph for poetic form, with absence of form in the other paragraphs, because I don't think it's wisest. This is assuming that I understand what your teacher means by "art" of course!

If you were to talk about the poetic form for each - I'd be looking particularly at the poetic movements. The romantic period was departing prevalence in Yeats' earlier works, and it is considered in poems like When you are old and Wild Swans at Coole, that he's mourning the ending of this period. So he learns to adapt his style to modern features, whilst still treating his subject's with personal sensitivity. I'd also be talking about the deliberate features of poetry, like enjambment, refrains, repetition, stanzas, etc...All of these form features I think would fit into an "art" paragraph :)

Let me know if this sounds like it is or isn't in line with what your teacher is suggesting...I've certainly never heard the term before :)
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Sukakadonkadonk

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Re: How to Write a Module B Essay
« Reply #57 on: March 05, 2017, 10:48:46 pm »
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I'm assuming that your teacher has suggested this as a particular structure she or he thinks works for students, but in a HSC essay, the markers aren't actively searching for an "art" paragraph. I think this is purely a suggested structure, not at all a requirement for good marks. I, in fact, believe that you should be talking about the manipulation of form in every single paragraph. I really don't think I can endorse a dedicated paragraph for poetic form, with absence of form in the other paragraphs, because I don't think it's wisest. This is assuming that I understand what your teacher means by "art" of course!

If you were to talk about the poetic form for each - I'd be looking particularly at the poetic movements. The romantic period was departing prevalence in Yeats' earlier works, and it is considered in poems like When you are old and Wild Swans at Coole, that he's mourning the ending of this period. So he learns to adapt his style to modern features, whilst still treating his subject's with personal sensitivity. I'd also be talking about the deliberate features of poetry, like enjambment, refrains, repetition, stanzas, etc...All of these form features I think would fit into an "art" paragraph :)

Let me know if this sounds like it is or isn't in line with what your teacher is suggesting...I've certainly never heard the term before :)


Yeah, I guess that is more or less what my teacher is suggesting.
But after some frustration, I emailed my teacher asking about this and she replied with an example paragraph. (lol pls, no one just copy it directly, my teacher got it from a past student that didn't want their paragraph to be reproduced...)

Here is the sample paragraph, see what you make of it:

Spoiler
Therefore, Yeats seeks resolution to the intrinsic tensions of human experience through the “shapely stillness” of artistic endeavour (Chew). In Easter 1916, Yeats’ accumulative rhetorical questions as he struggles to harmonise his ambivalence symbolise the unrest of both revolutionary Ireland and his conscience, the truncated sentence “I write it out in verse,” revealing his desperate search for spiritual serenity and stability in art which is unbounded by inexorable time and change. He attempts to reconcile his mortality with the youthful vitality of his imagination, creating divine symbols, as O’Neil asserts, to make “permanent embodiments of feeling and inspiration.” This is evident in The Wild Swans at Coole as Yeats expresses his despaired dotage and unfulfilled love in his palindromic “lover by lover” pairing of the youthful swans “whose hearts have not grown old,” aggrandising the “brilliant” swans as a symbol of perfection in their achievement of his coveted ideals. However, art’s idealistic escape from reality prevents true resolution, embodied in Yeats’ emotional torment in Among School Children. His odal call to the young “body” swaying to idyllic “music” and the matured “brightening glance” of age represents his struggle to distinguish the real and ideal, “the dancer from the dance?” Despite his inconclusive resolution, Yeats epitomises the successful struggle of art; his exploration of existential dilemmas resonates with all humanity, enabling his poetry to transcend contextual boundaries.

With that being said, yeah you're right about how it shouldn't only be about the form of the poems as that should be explored in all the paragraphs.


elysepopplewell

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Re: How to Write a Module B Essay
« Reply #58 on: March 06, 2017, 01:41:55 am »
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Yeah, I guess that is more or less what my teacher is suggesting.
But after some frustration, I emailed my teacher asking about this and she replied with an example paragraph. (lol pls, no one just copy it directly, my teacher got it from a past student that didn't want their paragraph to be reproduced...)
With that being said, yeah you're right about how it shouldn't only be about the form of the poems as that should be explored in all the paragraphs.

Ok, I see what's been done here. That is a beautiful, wonderful paragraph. I understand now. I think your teacher is suggesting this because it's worked so beautifully before, so she is suggesting an interesting structure, but it definitely isn't a structure that every teacher suggests to their students. The question of how poetry as an art form addresses bigger issues will work with just about any single essay question, so I can see it's benefit. I did a similar thing with module A, comparative study. This shouldn't stop you from talking about form where it's necessary elsewhere, but I can definitely see the effect of this kind of paragraph.

Do you think you'll write an "art" paragraph?
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Sukakadonkadonk

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Re: How to Write a Module B Essay
« Reply #59 on: March 06, 2017, 11:18:33 am »
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Ok, I see what's been done here. That is a beautiful, wonderful paragraph. I understand now. I think your teacher is suggesting this because it's worked so beautifully before, so she is suggesting an interesting structure, but it definitely isn't a structure that every teacher suggests to their students. The question of how poetry as an art form addresses bigger issues will work with just about any single essay question, so I can see it's benefit. I did a similar thing with module A, comparative study. This shouldn't stop you from talking about form where it's necessary elsewhere, but I can definitely see the effect of this kind of paragraph.

Do you think you'll write an "art" paragraph?


Most likely I will write an "art" paragraph as my word count so far in just on the brink of 800 words so I think I can fit a small one in.
So what sorts of ideas would you talk about in this paragraph relating to 'Easter 1916' and 'Among School Children'?
My thought is to say that Yeats uses the Easter 1916 poem as a "song" to memorialize the martyrs and people who suffered in the fight. And for Among School Children, I will say how he tries to find the answer to the meaning of life in the final lines of the poem.

Do you think these are suitable?