AQA English Lang / Lit ~ Pre-Relase Case Study (June 14th 2005)

Here we go again, me and my babbling. I spent aaaaaaaaall day in the library today, analysing stuff to within an inch of it's (and my) life, so heres my essay plan. By the way im typing what i wrote so its all in crappy note form, so ignore the grammar:
texts: King Lear, yellow wallpaper, bob monkhouse.
Linking themes: Abnormalities. relationships with family members and its link to the main characters mental state.
lear:
purpose- to entertain- hint of fables, tragedy.
audience- shakespearean crowds
context- set in england on a heath in a raging storm, lear only accompanied by his jester.
form- play script
atts and vals:
how insanity is shown.king babbles, shouts at storm, insane because of his ****ty daughters. repetition shows his confusion.shakes wants us to sympathise, as king was once great, but no longer is.we see how far he has fallen- fool is talking more sense than him! he asks fool "art cold"- 1st time any consideration for others. fool uses double talk- songs to give important messages.name a contrast as he is clever. value- status difference.king higher status, but fool in control, he is needed. considered nothing but a jester, but invaluable.shakess views on status, and how we shouldt assume.equality!
uses storm to symbolise lears mental state- he is in a mad rage himself "rage!blow!" links to yellow paper- using personification of things to symbolise mentalness.
storm also shows lears realisation of insignificance to world- acts as an epiphany for king- a turning point for how he conducts himself in future.has to humble himself greatly
relationship between 3 characers- lears dependency on fool, fool holds status- his prophecy at the end- massive power.despite kings madness, king still defers "sir"
religious- " gods/priests"
kent- used for oral narrative- his use of description reveals scenery to us "hovel"
how topic presented:
lear speaks in verse shows high status. initially, fool in prose "o nuncle" 1st thing we see is status difference, even though lear appears crazy.fool lower status than a crazy person! discourse moves to kings sense of insignificance and realisation, this is when fool begins verse.as kings status is lowered, fools is highered.fool uses rhyme in complex syntax- makes him stik out to audience, shows off superioir language- suddenly take note of his importance.his advice to king, his necessity. odd to shakes audience- fool acting as adviser.
kents position as narrator i play- way he describes-lexis full of description- very rhetorical, creates dramatic effect "wrathful skies", personification. moves story along by pushing ahead story- "here is a hovel"- not a key character in scene in literar terms, but is as a linguistic device.
Language use:
lears longer speaker turns, have short, fractured syntax, often with exclamations.increase of drama, hints at his sanity- shouting wild accusations at storm, sees it as personal.shakes take on insanity is explicit and extreme, as opposed to in yellow paper.
fool, when in rhyme, near iambic pentameter, which creates soothing, rhythmic tone- what king needs. kent uses some interrogs, helps convey a degree of perceived control, trying to command and assess.
fools particular semantic field difficult to interpret, uses riddles.plus prophecy.air of mystery around the fool.fool almost unbothered by storm, contrast.
storm described magnificantly, lots of linguistic techniques.vivid description(find quotes). onomatopoeia "blow crack" negative diction "battle/horrible), metaphor kings use of hyperbole dramatic.punctuated with exclamation to create a shouted, fractured, blah blah.
repetition, alliteration...pragmatics-prophecy is foreboding.use of poetry words put together things unlikely to happen, rarities " when every case in law is right"hmmmm try to think about it. (anyone with ideas about this propechy, post em!)

Yellow Paper
purpose- entertain, short story.
context, 19th centrury women considered mad if deviate from norms, if independent and "disobedient". semi- autobiographical- views are real, creats sense of reality, despiyte it being fiction.
atts and vals:
women insane- her own perspective on insanity.differs from monkhouse, or text 4, insane froim a 1st person perspective, point of view, etc.her confinement leads to her madness- values about how mad ppl were treated back then- just locked away...
shows madness thru delsuion- "more exciting than it used to be".repetitive obsession with fungus and smell, and yellow. "burn down house"- shows irrationality. sleeps in day, wakes at night- deviation form norm.
presented:
positioning of "it creeps all over the house"- own line on page- seaparate- powerful effect.
wallpaper symbolic of her state- link to lear.weather- rain and fog, bad weather- bad brain.
all in one room, 1st person.author wants our empathy, feel her pain. very vivid description of surroundings, thru different senses, we become her. acts in 3 ways- shows her madness, and obsession, but also shows the boredness and tediousness of her siuation, the repetitiveness.also acts as a literary device- vast description.
smell personified, becomes physical.diff dimensions to description.described in revolting ways (quotes), we go mad with her.
language
lots of linguistic capture imagery and feelings. deicitcs( if we can call it that)- "i turned it off"- almost autistic feel- expects us to know what she is talking about. "spent hours"- concept of time all the more sorry for her.personification of smell.negative lang, intonation, stress, prosodic features "smooch/creeps" helps convey way she sees things.can see her dottyness firsthand, as we are in her mind.extensive repetition "round round"- humourous (come on, we all laughed)- odd woman.
explicit lang to coney feeling, no neeed for pragmatics cus of her honesty.irony- she tricks herself into believing she likes it there. she uses phatic speech (yes phatic, not emphatic) to make it sound like cheap conversation- trivial chatter.

Bob Monkhouse

purpose- entertain, inform,
audience- intelligent observer readers.
form, newspaper article- can therefore expect bias from outset- can see she plans to be poisonous.bob craves accpetance blah blah, bob looks old and ugly blah blah, very cynical. uses quotes from others to reinforce views( as journos always do)uncomfortable reading shes a bitch.
obssesive compulsive (his abnormality)- tin/comic collection linked to his family not loving him enuff.linkks with lear and yellow paper- way familiesare cause of mental ****.nature/nurture debate- seems nurture is winning in these texts.
presented
all her views. explicit in critical analysis.contrast in ways mentalness is perceievd, hat angles its looked at in. seen from uninformed aspect.yellow has informal, 1st hand account, but biased- her own view.lear, a dramatised hyperbolic view, written hundreds of years ago- historical difference. all biased thoug in some way, contrast to text 4- scientific and fact based.barbr uses his shittest jokes- unflattery yet again.
lang
listing syntax "older, meeker, smaller, tireder" accumulation enforces her critique
conversational tone, showing own idiolect "but boy, it doesnt come easily/smoothie chops"- creates informality, we relate to her, then are persuaded by her- a common journalistic persuasive technique.
declaratives "this is his tragedy" no room to argue with her.
simile- "like a door salesman", then extends it ."drinks like a fish"
more complex lang- written for clever clogs "refrain/validate"( yes they arent that complex but thats cus we're all super- brains).complex syntax structure, long, requires staying power.
similrites/differences
abnormality
way family affects mindset- nurture influence
perceptions an dimensions of abnormalities, way others see it
diff viewpoints- bias, factual, fault of others.
was goind to type my evaluation, but annot be bothered, hope the rest of u put ur ideas oin here to, i ran out, and i dont think it is enough at all yet- but we have until tuesday........

am i allowed to swear?! f**king brilliant, i will read it later. LOL!

oh cheyaz! *blush*

Wow i'm so glad i found this forum & topic!
Can someome please explain the coathanger approach please & how i would apply it? I kinda understand, just a bit confused!

With regards to the second question of the synoptic paper, i have some notes from my teacher from a while ago:

Essentially ou need to show awareness and understanding of the concept of appraches and methods, but that does not mean you state bland, meaningless statements like "I read through the texts" or "I read them repeatedly" and then "highlighted the key words". This approach underlines the fact that texts have explicit meaning in them and if you look closely enough you will find it which is obvious.
Ask questions like:
--Which text(s) was most useful as an organising standpoint? Why?
--Did you organise them according to theme? What was the effect? How did it assist you?
--Other organising prinicples may include:
a particular feature of linguistic analysis, e.g. symbolism, imagery
perspective, e.g. kraken, frankenstein, fungus the bogeyman (if any of you did the monster themed paper that'll make sense)
In my class at college, we all used different approaches such as religion, psychoanalytical, sociological, time-period and purpose.
--How is the audience addressed?
--Attitudes and values - use of linguistic framework to then show how they are represented by language choices
--Generica differences - how do they assist in differentiating meaning?
--Contextual approaches

Ultimately you must explain what was useful and why, but do not repeat what was said in the first question or give analytical detail.

I don't know if that will be any use at all. But i know i'm going to struggle with the second question

Anne is the author but she was originally the person who experienced this insanity when told not to write again, obviously she did because she wrote the book! you just need to say that she is portraying her own thoughts and feelings through Jane

oh yeh sorry, i dont know then.. now im confused lol

Yeh im with you! maybe this Anne has bin popped in for a laugh! someone wants us to fail KEEP WRITING ABOUT ANNE SHES THE BEST lol

lol ok...

http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/wallpaper.html

that site has got the full text and im not sure who annie is, or anne even