Aspects of narrative in Auden (aqa as lit)???

Anyone got any aspects of narrative for Auden other than the typical narrative perspectives, setting, dialogue etc.?
(Also, if anyone has anything for Gatsby, Frost, and Kite Runner, it would be much appreciated :P)

Reply 1

amybetmitvin

Any particular poem or just in general?

Reply 2

rachelthehuman

OP

8

Original post by amybetmitvin

Any particular poem or just in general?

Just in general really. I'm thinking of using him for part B so it would be good to make connections between them all :smile:

Reply 3

amybetmitvin

I'm doing Auden for section A I think, but happy to give you what I've got, it's relevant for all of it ^_^

One of the things Auden does best I think is characterisation, which is an aspect of narrative, and can be seen in most of his poems; personal fave is Miss Gee where her initials are e.g, showing that she is a nobody, just an example of another lonely woman.
Also voices are used a lot in his poems to tell the story, kind of comes under dialogue like you mentioned but helps in characterisation too, for example in Victor, the character Victor is characterised through voices of the other characters ("too mousey to go far")

Maybe time too? Lots to say about that. It is personified in Victor and As I Walked Out One Evening, giving a sense of impending doom, he speeds it up and slows it down for effect e.g events leading up to Annas death are slow, but the actual murder is quick/skipped out

Structural details can also help tell the story, e.g. the rhyme changing/becoming irregular when the story changes or something is wrong, the syntax in Musee Des Beaux Arts at the beginning putting emphasis on suffering, the fact that Musee only has two sentences- is continuous just like life, it carries on...

Sorry if that was too rambly/sectionA-ish but hopefully I helped a bit!

I know Gatsby is meant to be 100x easier but I find it harder, any advice for that? Good luck btw!

Reply 4

SarahAC

4

What would everyone's main points be if musse des beaux comes up for section a question 1

Reply 5

rachelthehuman

OP

8

Original post by amybetmitvin

I'm doing Auden for section A I think, but happy to give you what I've got, it's relevant for all of it ^_^

One of the things Auden does best I think is characterisation, which is an aspect of narrative, and can be seen in most of his poems; personal fave is Miss Gee where her initials are e.g, showing that she is a nobody, just an example of another lonely woman.
Also voices are used a lot in his poems to tell the story, kind of comes under dialogue like you mentioned but helps in characterisation too, for example in Victor, the character Victor is characterised through voices of the other characters ("too mousey to go far")

Maybe time too? Lots to say about that. It is personified in Victor and As I Walked Out One Evening, giving a sense of impending doom, he speeds it up and slows it down for effect e.g events leading up to Annas death are slow, but the actual murder is quick/skipped out

Structural details can also help tell the story, e.g. the rhyme changing/becoming irregular when the story changes or something is wrong, the syntax in Musee Des Beaux Arts at the beginning putting emphasis on suffering, the fact that Musee only has two sentences- is continuous just like life, it carries on...

Sorry if that was too rambly/sectionA-ish but hopefully I helped a bit!

I know Gatsby is meant to be 100x easier but I find it harder, any advice for that? Good luck btw!

If the Gatsby question for part A, I would want to do Auden so this is super helpful, so thank you :biggrin:

I'll see what I can do about Gatsby:
What I find to be the most important aspect of Gatsby is Fitzgerald's manipulation of time and tense. We know that Nick is 'writing' this story two years after the events, and so it is largely past tense. However, sometimes Fitzgerald does slip into present tense. This is important because it reflects how time is convoluted for each of the characters: Gatsby is perpetually reaching into the past, living in a bygone age ("I'm going to fix things just the way they were before"); Daisy is "careless" and only considers the present - often at the expense of others; Myrtle is more visionary, looking into her future with Tom and leaving Wilson.

Another part of Gatsby which is pretty important is the heavy reliance on symbols and motifs, predominantly the idea of "the eyes of Dr T J Eckleberg" who "watches over" the Valley of Ashes. This idea of an omniscient onlooker is stark, as it sort of emphasises the decadence of the 1920's, and the potential loss of faith after the war (the eyes are "faded"). What I found quite interesting is how the idea of glasses and eyes is repeated when Nick and Jordan meet Owleyes in Gatsby's library. Isn't it interesting how something so tightly linked to god in the novel is reflected at Gatsby's party, the very heart of the novel's decadence. Perhaps it is supposed to imply how even god has given up on hope (hope being a reoccurring theme throughout the novel). This interpretation is very tentative though, and may just be a product of over analysis; a general reader would be unlikely to pick up on it.
Other themes and symbols include:
Green
Machinary/ technology
Wealth (old money vs new money)
Alcohol

Finally: narrative voice. Obviously the narrative is told through the voice of Nick who is an intradiagetic narrator. Nick lends himself to being a good narrator as he is more of an observer rather than someone who takes part in the action. His main role in the novel is to be there when interesting stuff happens (perhaps a flaw in Fitzgerald's as there are times when Nick has no reason to be in a place). However, there are certain times when the voice changed. I can't remember which chapter it was in, but at one point the voice switches to Jordan - this could be due to the fact that she is revealing information that Nick could not possibly know (how Gatsby and Daisy met). Also, it sometimes seems as if the voice switches to Fitzgerald himself (especially in the final pages when Nick reflects on Gatsby's "belief in the green light. The orgastic future that year by year recedes before us"

Anyways, sorry I basically just sent you an essay on it :P (I really love The Great Gatsby).

Thanks for your help with Auden and good luck to you too :biggrin:

Reply 6

rachelthehuman

OP

8

Original post by SarahAC

What would everyone's main points be if musse des beaux comes up for section a question 1

All I can really think of that one concerns structure. The poem is split into three stanzas. However, the middle stanza is just one line. In a way, it separates the innocence of animals from the follies of men (men who would ignore a boy falling out of the sky). The animal is scratching itself; such a natural and innocent action in comparison to the implied ignorance and selfishness of man. By separating this action from the rest of the narrative, Auden is perhaps critisising the human tendency to ignore "suffering" in order to maintain an easy life without any drama by drawing attention to the animal's innocence.

Aspects of narrative in Auden (aqa as lit)???

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