darn, that wasted so much of my time last night ._. haha couldn't stop watching it, it's so funny. well! the choices in today's paper were quite...limited. i ended up doing qn9; although i think i would've done better in q5, but i misread the question and thought 'mouthpiece' meant the writer's opinion or message. more on that soon!
5. All characters in a novel are mouthpieces for their author. From a consideration of some characters from at least two novels you have studied, say how far you agree.
the main issue here: 'mouthpiece'. i don't get that! does that mean writer's intention? or could you discuss how, for example, Twain uses the character Tom as a foil to Huck to better articulate Huck's moral growth thus far blahblahblah. or does the question specifically want you to talk about the writer conveying his message to the reader? i thought that was ambiguous. if it were the latter, Huck would be an obvious choice- Twain's skepticism of religion and issues with racism are known to us. between siddhartha and Paddy, i'd choose sidd; more of by elimination, because Doyle's personal message doesn't come through very clear. i think we did learn in class of an interview with him where he did express some distaste for Catholicism (i can see why) but then again, the pope did recently apologise for priests defiling kids, so maybe they're not so bad after all. maybe you could talk about how the aspects of childlikeness in Paddy might mirror those he observed in his sons Rory and Jack. but then, unfounded postulations these are since there is no evidence to back that up, and so that'd be a very weak case. in sidd, however, you can talk about quite a bit- largely because the novel is allegorical. how kamala may represent sidd's anima; elaborate on psychoanalysis and talk about hesse's own experiences with Jung. i don't remember much of that, though- only studied it last year. sidd himself can be discussed- he's *probably* an allegorical figure of hesse himself imo, going on his journey of self discovery etc. so, Huck and sidd for this question!
6. Discuss the ways in which at least two writers you have studied have used the imagery of light or darkness or storms in their works.
siddhartha is a clear choice for this one- mr lim went through a lot of that in class. and it's quite simple; light represents enlightenment, and darkness the opposite (unenlightenment?). i'd talk about the foreshadowing in the very first sentence of the book, then about how 'light and darkness' flowed through sidd's eyes somewhere in the middle of the novel- i interpret that as some milestone in his journey; he's halfway there. then at the end, how govinda mentions in passing that his way is 'often dark'. the problem, then, would be selecting the other text- there are no clear instances where light/darkness/storms come into play in those texts. or is there? the material is sound although it doesn't look substantial- but i guess if you elaborate sufficiently, it'd be enough. if only we could use lear, right.
9. ugh, not really in a mood to talk about what i wrote. mostly about structure, though. haha, i spent too much time thinking and on Paddy instead of sidd. yes, i didn't use huck in the end. man, my part on sidd was quite a mess :/ well. i mostly talked about how the reader had to be intelligent to grasp the nuanced meanings layered under the texts- and you need to be intelligent to appreciate that beauty. very troublesome approach. the question itself is rather vague, though, haha no choice but to blame ol' me for trying it.
10. All writers reveal something about themselves in their writing. How far and in what ways do you find that self-revelation is an important aspect of two or three works you have studied.
i think this goes quite in line with my interpretation for question 5. it's probably more dangerous though- i don't think anyone did it anyway. not something to talk about.
11. By what means have the writers presented the importance of education (whether it be provided by an institution or by the "school of life") in any two or three of the works you have studied?
without the statement enclosed in the parentheses, you'd probably fear that the examiners're only looking from education acquired from school; however the question takes the step to make things clearer- "school of life" is probably what you want to talk about. i think the question's still vague, though- what do you mean by 'education'! knowledge? moral education (wasn't that a subject from primary school)? either way, i'm not sure how i'd discuss that question using our texts...meh, i don't even feel like thinking about this question because it's just so weird imo. i'd dread doing this question. does anyone have an approach to this question? i am quite lost regarding it.
12. How have writers in your study used denials to create novels that interest or disturb the reader?
...unless you can recall specific, important denials in the text well, i doubt anyone'd want to do this. oh, i heard one guy did it. shaun ling? impressed :D the only denial i'd remember is Paddy's in response to the degeneration of his parents' relationship. he knows it's happening, but doesn't want to believe it. Freudian denial! i'd definitely write a lot about that. 'it was all well again. i'd made it like that.' i think that'd be good evidence. still, i guess it's one of those unpossible questions to do.
decided not to bring my keyboard and mouse home today! so no starcraft, and here i am on my laptop insteaed. i did get some gray's anatomy, courtesy of sam :D heh, at last, something other than starcraft replays to watch. and big bang theory! heck, i'll watch anything now, i'm feeling so free :D ah darn, PQ for naresh. delayed it by 4 days already- that's what he gets for misspelling my name as 'Steward'. and not failing to send it to the entire class, too D:< rawr i miss his lessons, though. if only i'd revised when i got home earlier in the year.
