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A210 Approaching Literature

Question: “The Realist Novel constructs a sense of coherent identities undergoing change or development and there is usually some blame or praise suggested by the narrator.”

Discuss the main examples of such changing identities in Pride and Prejudice and Fathers and Sons, paying attention to the way they are presented through the narrative techniques of ‘showing’ and ‘telling’.

Do their narrators judge the characters and, if so, how is the judgement conveyed?

TMA 03

Answer: The genre of the Realist Novel is best characterized as the fictitious attempt in narrative form to provide an effect of realism through the representation of often complex characters with mixed motives. In the case of these two novels, the language used depicts realism through a representation or illusion of reality by juxtaposing the moral and social conventions of society against the narrative.......(short extract) to download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit an essay

Question: Write an essay of not more than 1500 words, referring to Great Expectations and Frankenstein, discussing how origins are explored through realist and other conventions.

Answer: Similarly, the anti-hero Pip’s search for his origins also results in the deaths of many, though not quite so directly as the creature. His origins are realised when Magwitch declares he is his ‘second father’ (p.293). It is ironic that his blood daughter Estella has also been treated in awful way – being constructed to wreak Miss Havisham’s revenge like Pip has been made ‘a gentlem......(short extract) to download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit an essay

Question: TMA 01 A210
Pride and Prejudice

1) How do the narrative techniques of ‘showing’ and ‘telling’ work at this point in the novel?
2) How does this passage relate to the themes of the novel as a whole?

Answer: The passage relates to one of the main themes of Austen’s novel, the fact that in her society, during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, women were expected to get married; this was their pre-determined role in life. Austen produced her novel during a time when ‘Evangelicalism was a growing force throughout English social life’, which stressed the condemnation of ‘frivolity in behavi......(short extract) to download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit an essay

Question: TMA 02 A210

Write an essay of not more than 1500 words comparing the use of narrative voice in Fathers and sons, and either Frankenstein or Great Expectations.

Answer: I have chosen to compare the narrative voices of Frankenstein and Fathers and Sons, as the perspectives in these two novels differ from one another. Frankenstein’s narrative voice contains tales of three characters within one narrative, none belonging directly to the author, whereas the narrative voice of Fathers and Sons, is that of the author alone. Examples I will be using are taken from �......(short extract) to download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit an essay

Question: Analyse the poem ‘Washing-Day’ by Anna Laetitia Barbauld and comment on the poetic form and language used (for example, rhyme, rhythm, metaphor, imagery, tone, word order, alliteration, point of view) and the way they contribute to the meaning and effects of the poem.

OU TMA 03 A210

Answer: This section of the poem provides a distinct contrast. Here we witness the frivolity of child’s play, ‘though oft her spectacles / With elfin cunning hid’ and the tolerance of at least one woman in the house, which is emphasised with use of a caesura at the end of line 73. The overall lift in mood is reflected in the rhythm which appears more calm and composed. The only interruption to this ......(short extract) to download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit an essay

Question: In an essay of 1500 words, explore the theme of the creation of women’s identities in The Color Purple and one other prose text from Literature and Gender, with a detailed examination of how the form of each fiction contributes to the impact of the narratives.

Answer: The female identity is an important theme in Alice Walker’s, The Color Purple and Jamaica Kincaid’s short story, ‘Girl’. These texts explore the way women are regarded by society and their individual responses to these expectations which are forced on them. The fictions’ differ greatly, however, in their presentation of the theme, which goes beyond just the differing genres into a vari......(short extract) to download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit an essay

Question: Write an essay of 1500 words, in which you compare and contrast the following Romantic poem and an extract from a Romantic poem: Blake’s ‘The Schoolboy’ from Songs of Innocence and Byron’s Don Juan, canto 1, stanzas 37-48.

Answer: Byron’s Don Juan and Blake’s ‘The Schoolboy’ are both examples of poems from the Romantic era written by two of the most famous and admired Romantic poets. They share a number of common poetic devices, however, it is apparent they handle their subject matter through differing poetic form and language which creates unique final works. William Blake’s poem ‘The Schoolboy’, taken fr......(short extract) to download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit an essay

Question: Write an essay of not more than 1500 words referring to Great Expectations, and either Frankenstein or Fathers and Sons, discussing how origins are explored through realist and other conventions.

Answer: Both of the novels, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, were written in the nineteenth century and could be categorised under the genre of ‘Realist Novel’. However, the conventions of the realist novel: progressive plot and characters; approachable and engaging text; believable setting, events and characters; a liberal view of an individuals value; and a g......(short extract) to download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit an essay

Question: Top Girls is concerned to dramatise conflicts between women as much as their shared experiences.
In an essay of 1500 words discuss this statement, with reference to both the play text and the video.

Answer: Top Girls, a play by Caryl Churchill, is set during the 1980s and explores the issuses surrounding powerful career women, their family and friends, and society as a whole. It focuses on Marlene who has just been promoted to managing director of an employment agency, and who symbolises the phenomenon of the career ‘superwoman’. The play opens in a restaurant where Marlene is having a cele......(short extract) to download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit an essay

Question: Carefully read the poem ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ by John Keats.

Write an essay of not more than 1500 words in which you analyse the poem and comment on the poetic form and language used and the way they contribute to the meaning and effects of the poem.

Answer: In his poem, ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’, John Keats uses poetic form and descriptive language to evoke interest for what is a fairly mundane object - an urn depicting scenes from ancient Grecian society. He uses a variety of techniques to hold the reader’s attention, to explain his feelings and to convey his message. He uses the ancient form of an ode, which follows a formal structure that con......(short extract) to download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit an essay

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A210 Approaching Literature

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