English A Lit - HL Paper 1

[thirdculturekid]

Thoughts?

What did you pick, prose or poetry?

I'm in TZ2 and I picked the prose, 'Into Silence' by Barton. I thought it was quite straightforward and easy to understand; more so than the prose extracts from past papers! Quite happy with how it went overall.

[Ashling]

Hi,

I'm also in TZ2 and I did the same as you. But I found it challenging to come up with points. But I still managed in the end but I wouldn't say it was incredibly easy!

[Chris Schmitz]

I did 'Into Silence' as well! I thought it was easy to understand, definitely more so than the poem. It took me like 30 seconds of reading each to decide. My argument centered around the girl's (it was annoying that you couldn't say 'speaker's') deafness being more of a factor, or a catalyst, in her parents' troubled relationship than something that defined her. I said Barton readily makes use of metaphor incorporating the deafness (it sounded better then, I promise) to portray that it allowed the girl to shape her own perception of the world.

For anyone reading this thread in later years but unable to find a copy of our exam paper, the extract was from Marlin Barton's 'Into Silence', which is a short story, started with "'You didn't tell me', her mother said" and ended with "...out her throat and off her tongue." The poem was 'Better Days' by A.F. Moritz.

[ToDanceinFlames]

Hi fellow HL Eng Lits! I'm new here! I've been waiting for this thread to come up just to see what others did on their papers!

I did Into Silence by Marlin Barton too - the poem was a bit too abstract for my liking, or rather, I didn't take much time in analyzing it as I got what the prose meant almost immediately.

My points mainly revolves around how Janey transitioned from a bleak and dull 'world' into one with sound and beauty and also explored her tensed relationship with her mother (and kind of ventured off into how the mother is characterised in contrast to the father).

Though I didn't do the poem, I'd love to hear what the people think the poem means. I haven't really read deeply into it so it'll be interesting to see what others got from it!

[Lili75]

I did the prose too. I compared her perception of the world before and after school and how she gained control over some aspects of life over time while some aspects didn't change much (like her relationship with her mother).

[America Singer]

Did anyone do the prose (An invisble sign of my own by Aimee Bender) for TZ1?

[pumpplow]

America Singer - I did it. I think it was pretty straight forward overall. Good symbols, features, etc.

[Guest Mary Westre]

Did anyone do the poem "Better days", and if so what were your concluding remarks?

[Ibcrying]

Did anyone do the prose (An invisble sign of my own by Aimee Bender) for TZ1?

I did this one, although I'm not quite sure I analyzed it "correctly" I mainly talked about what literary devices the author used in order to show Mona's alienation from the world as a result of her OCD. Now that I'm talking to people about it though, it seems it was supposed to be more of the initiation to becoming a woman or something.

[ewenlee]

Did anyone do the prose (An invisble sign of my own by Aimee Bender) for TZ1?

I did this one, although I'm not quite sure I analyzed it "correctly" I mainly talked about what literary devices the author used in order to show Mona's alienation from the world as a result of her OCD. Now that I'm talking to people about it though, it seems it was supposed to be more of the initiation to becoming a woman or something.

I talked about Mona's isolation and how she was content with it. A lot of people talked about her independence and I was pretty worried that I misinterpreted. :/

[gabbysarah]

Did anyone do the prose (An invisble sign of my own by Aimee Bender) for TZ1?

I did this one, although I'm not quite sure I analyzed it "correctly" I mainly talked about what literary devices the author used in order to show Mona's alienation from the world as a result of her OCD. Now that I'm talking to people about it though, it seems it was supposed to be more of the initiation to becoming a woman or something.

I analyzed about the colors, the numbers and her alienation from the world as well! I didn't talk about her becoming a woman at all..

[ewenlee]

I analyzed about the colors, the numbers and her alienation from the world as well! I didn't talk about her becoming a woman at all..

WOW those were things I looked at too! And I also mentioned the repetitive knocking as like an echo, and the family dynamic.

[pumpplow]

Did anyone do the prose (An invisble sign of my own by Aimee Bender) for TZ1?

I did this one, although I'm not quite sure I analyzed it "correctly" I mainly talked about what literary devices the author used in order to show Mona's alienation from the world as a result of her OCD. Now that I'm talking to people about it though, it seems it was supposed to be more of the initiation to becoming a woman or something.

I analyzed about the colors, the numbers and her alienation from the world as well! I didn't talk about her becoming a woman at all..

Wait, what OCD? I mean it's an interpretation after all, so as long as you support your claim with textual proof than you are good to go. I talked about how the mother is given a nearly omniscient role (ex. she knows that a lie is a lie), and that even though she kick Mona out of the house, she still continues on and is associated with the haunting nature of the new apartament. I went more abstract, but also talked a lot about the symbol of the bed and the recurring number 19.

[biolover101]

Did anyone do the TZ1 poem, Watching for Dolphins by David Constantine? If so, what did you talk about?

[Ibcrying]

Did anyone do the prose (An invisble sign of my own by Aimee Bender) for TZ1?

I did this one, although I'm not quite sure I analyzed it "correctly" I mainly talked about what literary devices the author used in order to show Mona's alienation from the world as a result of her OCD. Now that I'm talking to people about it though, it seems it was supposed to be more of the initiation to becoming a woman or something.

I analyzed about the colors, the numbers and her alienation from the world as well! I didn't talk about her becoming a woman at all..

Wait, what OCD? I mean it's an interpretation after all, so as long as you support your claim with textual proof than you are good to go. I talked about how the mother is given a nearly omniscient role (ex. she knows that a lie is a lie), and that even though she kick Mona out of the house, she still continues on and is associated with the haunting nature of the new apartament. I went more abstract, but also talked a lot about the symbol of the bed and the recurring number 19.

Throughout the excerpt, she did quite a large amount of repetitive actions that could be classified as obsessive compulsive behaviors. For example, she was not satisfied until she did actions multiple times, etc. Not sure if it's right though...

[pumpplow]

Did anyone do the prose (An invisble sign of my own by Aimee Bender) for TZ1?

I did this one, although I'm not quite sure I analyzed it "correctly" I mainly talked about what literary devices the author used in order to show Mona's alienation from the world as a result of her OCD. Now that I'm talking to people about it though, it seems it was supposed to be more of the initiation to becoming a woman or something.

I analyzed about the colors, the numbers and her alienation from the world as well! I didn't talk about her becoming a woman at all..

Wait, what OCD? I mean it's an interpretation after all, so as long as you support your claim with textual proof than you are good to go. I talked about how the mother is given a nearly omniscient role (ex. she knows that a lie is a lie), and that even though she kick Mona out of the house, she still continues on and is associated with the haunting nature of the new apartament. I went more abstract, but also talked a lot about the symbol of the bed and the recurring number 19.

Throughout the excerpt, she did quite a large amount of repetitive actions that could be classified as obsessive compulsive behaviors. For example, she was not satisfied until she did actions multiple times, etc. Not sure if it's right though...

It is right, I did not notice it at the first time. This can be attributed to many different things though, it all depends on the way you looked at it. Overall though it seems that it was not the hardest one ever. I feel good about it, and think that since I did have backed-up conclusions, it should be fine. We all made it far, let's be honest

[SeverusSnape]

Did anyone do the TZ1 poem, Watching for Dolphins by David Constantine? If so, what did you talk about?

Yes, I did!

I used TPCASTT as a model and talked about the connotations, shift, and theme. I had a really long paragraph for connotations where I commented on allusions, diction (use of sea specific words), imagery, figurative language and some other stuff like lack of rhyme scheme and meter.

Then, for the shift, I talked about how the pronouns changed from one to we and our (if that's correct?) There was some pronoun shift and I talked about what its implications where.

Somehow, although I wrote 8 pages on the poem, I'm having a hard time remembering what specifically I wrote about...

What about you?

[biolover101]

Did anyone do the TZ1 poem, Watching for Dolphins by David Constantine? If so, what did you talk about?

Yes, I did!

I used TPCASTT as a model and talked about the connotations, shift, and theme. I had a really long paragraph for connotations where I commented on allusions, diction (use of sea specific words), imagery, figurative language and some other stuff like lack of rhyme scheme and meter.

Then, for the shift, I talked about how the pronouns changed from one to we and our (if that's correct?) There was some pronoun shift and I talked about what its implications where.

Somehow, although I wrote 8 pages on the poem, I'm having a hard time remembering what specifically I wrote about...

What about you?

Wow, I have no idea what TPCASTT is But that sounds really good, I don't think I mentioned anything about a shift! I talked about structure (the enjambment mostly), allusions, diction, and imagery! What did you say the main idea of the poem was? I talked to a lot of my friends and we all had different interpretations. I said it portrays humans as selfish, as their sole aims are to fulfill their own personal desires without considering the implications of their actions on the natural environment.. or something of the sort. I wrote around 11 pages double spaced. Also I think the examiners are going to be really frustrated marking my paper because I forgot to dot my i's... it's become a habit for me to write without dotting my i's and I meant to force myself to dot them as I wrote but I forgot.. oops. Overall, I enjoyed the poem, how about you?

Also, for those who did the prose in TZ1: I'll be honest and admit that I never read it because I skipped right to the poem and quickly decided that's what I wanted to do. Is there any way I can somehow read it now? I'm curious as to what it was!

[Monie3036354]

I did the poem about dolphins as well. I got OCD out of the prose, but couldn't fathom writing about it! For the poem I wrote about how the natural elements resembled hope for the passengers. And the characters desperately desire hope. They all wanted to get through the small doors of the boat, etc. overall went pretty well I think!

[ohmygoats]

Did anyone do the poem "Better days", and if so what were your concluding remarks?

I did! I said the speaker used overwhelming/gross imagery to imply that his teenage-hood wasn't as idyllic as it maybe first appears; though he used to reminisce about it when coming into the struggle of early adulthood, now he is mature/in a stable place he realises what is truly valuable (hard work/artistry/independence, as illustrated by the old artist). Also talked a bunch about enjambment + rhyme.