文科写作writing in arts full edition.docx
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文科写作writing in arts full edition.docx
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文科写作writinginartsfulledition
Lecturer'sadvice
1.Howwelldomoststudentsdointhepracticeessay?
Summary:
StudentsgenerallyreceivescoresinthePass/Creditrange,andimprovewiththesecondassignment.
Inthefirst-yearEnglishLiterature,thequalityofthefirstassignment(thepracticeessay)isoftendisappointing.Themostcommonproblemsarelackofunity,inadequateargumentation,andinformalpresentation.Markshigherthan14outof20arerare,andmanystudentsscore10.5or11.
Studentsclearlylearnusefultipsfromthis,however,andthesecondassignment(thefirstfull-lengthessay)usuallyindicatesamarkedimprovement,withmoresuccinctanddirectedwriting,inastylemoreappropriatetotertiary-levelwork.Manystudentsmoveupagrade,frompasstocredit,orfromcredittodistinction.
Backtotop
2.Whydowedoapracticeessayanyway?
Summary:
Togiveyoupracticeinwritingalineofargumentthatclearlysetsoutyourresponsetothetext,butthatalsotakesintoaccountdifferingviewpoints.
Ihopethatstudentswillusetheirresearchtodevelopafocusfortheirownresponsetotheliterarytext,andthatthey'lldiscoverthatmorethanoneresponseispossibleandlegitimate.Ihopethatduringthewritingoftheessaystudentsimprovetheirabilitytoargueacase,andthat,indoingso,willtakeaccountofconflictingopinions.
Backtotop
3.HowcanIavoid"justdescribing"?
Summary:
Don'tjusttalkaboutwhathappens,giveananalysisofwhyithappens.
Perhapsthemostfrequentproblemstudentshaveisatendencytojustdescribewhathappensinatext,whentheyshouldbeattemptingananalysisofwhyithappens.Anexampleof"justdescription"iswhenyoutellthestoryinyourownwords,oryouprovideasummaryofthenatureofthecharacters,butyouneglecttoindicatewhatthethemeofthestoryisandhowthevariouselementsinthestorycontributetomakingthethememoreevident.
Thethemeofthestoryisnotusuallyencapsulatedinsomedirectstatement.Thethemeofastoryemergesthroughyourinterpretationofthevariouselementsinthestory.Theseelementscaninclude,forexample,metaphorsthatareused,andparticularlysymbolicmoments,actions,orobjectsinthetext.
Sowhatastudent'sanalysisshouldbeaimingtoproduceisthecrucialideasthatlieatthecentreofthestory.Ifyousimplytellthereaderofyouressaywhathappensinthestoryyou'venotassistedthereaderinanywaytounderstandthestorybetter,becausethereadercouldhavedonethathimselforherself.
Onewayofindicatingwhysomethinghappensinatextistolookatthearrangementoftheplot,butalsotolookatthepsychologyofthecharactersandthetraitsofacharacterthatpushorpredisposethatcharactertoactinacertainway.Throughthatyou'regettingclosetoindicatingwhysomethinghappensinthestoryratherthanjusttellinguswhathappened.
Backtotop
4.HowdoIrelatetotheworldofthetext?
Summary:
Distinguishbetweentheconditionsandvaluesofyourownworldandthoseofthetext.
Anotherproblemthatstudentsfrequentlyhavewhentheyarewritingonliteratureisthattheydon'tdistinguishbetweenthevaluesandconditionsoftheworldinwhichtheythemselveslive-inthepresentday,inaparticularpartoftheworld-andtheconditionsandvaluesoftheworldofthetext.Inunderstandingthe"worldofthetext",wealsoneedtodistinguishbetweentheworldinwhichthetextisproduced(forexample,theworldasitwaswhenthenovel,JaneEyre,waswritten)and,mostimportantly,theconditionsoftheworldasitissetupanddepictedwithinthenovel.
Forexample,oneoftheunderlyingthemesinJaneEyreisthatwomenhavetofightharderthanmendointheirworld-intheworldofthenovel-tomakethemselvesheardandtoleaveamarkontheworld.Meninthenovelmayormaynotbetreatedsympathetically,buttheyaremorelikelytobeinpositionsofpowerthanwomenare,andtheytendtosetupsituationsinwhichthelivesofwomenarecircumscribed.Ifyoudon'trecognisethattheconditionsofJane'sworldaredifferentfromyourownthenyou'regoingtobeblindtosomeoftheimportantconcernsofthenovel.
Generallyspeaking,literatureofthedistantpastismorelikelytoinhabitaworldthatisdifferentfromourownthanliteratureofthepresent.AcaseofadifferentkindisWideSargassoSea(WSS).WideSargassoSeawasproducedmuchnearertoourowntime(1966),buttheactioninthenovelissetbackinthefirsthalfofthe19thcentury.
Theauthor,JeanRhys,hasinfactmadeexactlythekindofimaginativeleapfromherowntimetothetimeofthecharactersinthenovelthatreadersofliteratureneedtomake.Inanycase,a21st-centuryreaderofWSSneedstomakesomeallowanceforsocialrelationshipsastheywereintheWestIndiesintheearlypartofthe19thcentury-andaffectedastheywerebyethnicandracialantagonismsandhostilities.
SomeoftheseissuesarepresentedasbeingextremelycomplexintheworldofWSS.Nowwe'vegottoaskourselveswhataworldwouldbelikeinwhichthesewereimportantfactors.Sothat'sthekindofimaginativeleapthatstudentsoftenneedtomakewhentheyarewritingonaworkofliterature.
Itmightstillbethecasethatastudentcouldallowforthefactthatthetext'sassumptionsabouthumanrelationshipsarenormalforthetime,butneverthelessthestudentmightstillwanttosay,"that'swrong,that'saninadequacyintheworldviewofthetext".Theycansaythat,butitrequiresquitealotofconfidenceonthepartofthestudent,andalsotheywouldneedtohavefacedtheirownvaluesystemtomakethatkindofjudgement.
OneofthereasonsforstudyingLiteratureistobroadenmentalhorizons,andthatinvolvesquestioningtheassumptionsofyourowntimeandplace,yourownculture.Youneedtobeawaretoothattherearepossibilitiesforcriticismoftheworldinwhichyoulive.Thetextgivesyouanopportunitytoevaluateyourownassumptions.Thereallyworthwhileliteratureveryrarelysimplifiesitsmoralpositions;itusuallyshowsawarenessofthecomplexityoftheissuesbeingtalkedaboutandthiswilloverlapwiththeworldwelivein.
Backtotop
5.Whatisthedifferencebetweentheauthorandthespeaker?
Summary:
Thepersonwho"speaks"inthetextisoftenthe"narrator",oracharacterinthetext,andisnotthesamepersonastheauthorofthetext.
There'soneotherthingthatstudentsneedtobemindfulofandthatisthedifferencebetweentheauthorandthespeaker.Forexample,thereisatemptationtothinkthatthepersonwhospeaksinJaneEyre(thatis,JaneEyreherselfbecauseshe'stellingherownstory)istheauthor,CharlotteBronte.Thatis,wetendtothinkthatthecharacterJaneEyreisauthoritative,hasthelastword,andthereforethatweshouldacceptwhatJanesaysinjudgementofotherpeople.IfwebelieveJaneEyretobea"reliable"narrator,itoughttobebecauseofwhosheis,becauseofwhatweknowabouthercharacter,notbecausesheisCharlotteBronte's"representative".
Thedifferencebetweenthespeakerandtheauthoriscrucialinrespectofpoetry.Becausesomanypoemsareshortandsomanypoemsusethefirstperson,andbecausetherearetimeswherethepoethasusedidentifiablybiographicalexperiences,thetemptationistosaythatitisthepoethimselforherselfwhoisspeaking.
Idon'tobjectactuallytostudentssaying"thepoetsays"asanunidentifiedorgeneral"poetspeaker",butwhatIdoobjecttois"JohnDonneorWilliamWordsworthwasfeelingthisonaparticularday..."Sothedistinctionbetweenthespeakerandtheauthorisausefulone;itallowsformuchmoreflexibilityandsensitivitytointerpretationoftheliterarytext.
Backtotop
6.HowcanIimprovemywriting?
Summary:
Makesurethatyouhaveaunifiedargument
Linkyourideas
Remindyourselfofthekeytermsofthetopic
It'simportantwhenyouarewritingyouressaytomakesurethatitisaunifiedpieceofwork.Inotherwords,whatyouarearguingforinyouropeningparagraph-ortheclaimsyoumakeaboutthepieceofliteraturethatyouareinterpreting-theseneedtobesupportedanddevelopedinthesucceedingparagraphs.Theconclusionoftheessayshouldrelatetotheopeningparagraph,soifyoufindthatthekeytermsintheopeningparagraphsarenotvisibleintheconcludingparagraph,thatmightbeasignthatyou'vewanderedfromthepoint.Sobedefiniteinyourexpositionatthebeginningoftheessayandmakesurethatyoucarryoverthesenseofyourargumentfromparagraphtoparagraph.Don'tgetledawayintogeneralities.
Thebestthingtodowhenyouarewritinganessayistoremindyourselfofthekeytermsofthetopicthatyouarewritingon.Askyourselfinrelationtoeachofyourownparagraphs:
IsthisaparagraphthatisrelevanttothetopicthatIundertooktoanswer?
Youdon'taskyourselfwhethertheparagraphisrelevanttosomethingimportant,sayinJaneEyre,whichitmaywellbe,butwhatyouaskyourselfiswhethertheparagraphisrelevanttothataspectofJaneEyrethatyouweregoingtodiscuss.Sorelevancetothetopictakespriorityoverrelevancetothetext.
Backtotop
7.WhatanalyticalframeworkshouldIusewhenreadingtexts?
Summary:
Beguidedbytheindividualassignmenttopic.Generallyspeaking,mostofyouressayswillbeverytext-focused.
Therearesomanydifferentlegitimatewaysofgoingaboutreadingatext,analysingit,anddescribingit,sothesafestguidelineforthestudentistolookattheparameterssetupbythetopicandstickwiththem,becausedifferenttopicsmayrequiredifferentreadingapproaches.
Thesubjectbookletalert
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