Elat 2010
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ITISCLARISSAHESAID
unfortunately i think it does play some role in your application post-interview - i know the TSA does for ppe (a friend of mine last year was told that his TSA score was the reason he wasn't offered a place, even though he was interviewed).
Do you have non-anecdotal evidence?
Hi guys, its my first post in here 
I took ELAT in Poland and had the same papers as you British people
I did the Dickinson and Oswald(such a beautiful poem!) comparison. I wrote much about emotions, symbols, very basic stuff like metaphores, similes ect. Can anyone give me a link to Alice Oswalds poem? I can't find that anywhere
I took ELAT in Poland and had the same papers as you British people
I did the Dickinson and Oswald(such a beautiful poem!) comparison. I wrote much about emotions, symbols, very basic stuff like metaphores, similes ect. Can anyone give me a link to Alice Oswalds poem? I can't find that anywhere Rayel
I did them too and something a lot similar. I looked at the representation of time and it's impact on mortality - with emphasis on the human reaction to being mortal and facing impending death and linked it in to the transience of the human soul (loads more on that last point in the Milton obv).
Also how the rhyme scheme and structure in Milton is controlled and regular - reflecting the poet/persona's calm and fearless view of death.
I'm not sure - was it okay if we jumbled the three topics (mortality time transience) and inter related it all or were we expected to separate them and analyse them like that?
Also how the rhyme scheme and structure in Milton is controlled and regular - reflecting the poet/persona's calm and fearless view of death.
I'm not sure - was it okay if we jumbled the three topics (mortality time transience) and inter related it all or were we expected to separate them and analyse them like that?
Yeah reactions to mortality/the inevitable passing of time was a big point in my essay. Now I'm wishing I did a bit more on the structure of the poems
Ah well, I wrote about other techniques pretty thoroughly so hopefully they'll not notice...Well all those themes were linked, so mixing them together was really to be expected I think. Lol, I talked ABOUT transience but I don't think I ever mentioned the actual word. Buggeration on a stick.
@ratk: I know, I thought that too, I just jumbled everything all together, comparing throughout. It seems more sensible to do that and less like writing two seperate mini essays.
AisAis
Do you have non-anecdotal evidence?
nope! but it's an anecdote i know (at least i think i do) to be true, so i don't think it's completely worthless.
either way, it's beyond our control anyway
Someone back here said the Oswald one was about natural growth and regeneration. I didn't see that at all... Eek. To me it was about them not making the most of the sun, translating the glorious imagery technically with an internal clash between narrator/character.
Milton I said the obvious stuff.
Points of comparison were poor: said stuff about theme, but made very little links stylistically. ****.
Milton I said the obvious stuff.
Points of comparison were poor: said stuff about theme, but made very little links stylistically. ****.
I did Oswald and Milton, and I found it okay. I just split my essay up into mortality, passage to the afterlife, and the presentation of time. I don't think my comparisons were wholly brilliant, but technically speaking I analysed the **** out of each poem. Definitely could have gone worse.
'Sunrise-'
I picked up on that too I think I identified it as the turning point of the poem, and the single-trochee line signified the couple's surprise and joy at the sudden beauty of the sunrise.
I also have a habit of putting a lot of emphasis on the aural qualities of poetry. So, for the last line of Oswald's poem, I wrote something like "The similar vowel sounds of 'going' and 'growing' seem to mutually reverberate, bringing a sense of dignified closure to the poem". What was funny was that, afterwards, this other guy doing the exam had used exactly the same line to say how the alliteration of 'g' created a guttural, choking sound effect signifying their slow deaths. So pretty much the complete opposite.
I guess that sums up the subjectivity of the ELAT :P
EDIT:
Here it is
-TE
harriepoppy
Yes, it was, in the second stanza of the Oswald poem when there was a single word line that signified change in the direction of the poem. Gosh, I'm still so nervous about the whole thing, I just wish I knew whether I'm going to get an interview or not.
'Sunrise-'
I picked up on that too
I think I identified it as the turning point of the poem, and the single-trochee line signified the couple's surprise and joy at the sudden beauty of the sunrise. I also have a habit of putting a lot of emphasis on the aural qualities of poetry. So, for the last line of Oswald's poem, I wrote something like "The similar vowel sounds of 'going' and 'growing' seem to mutually reverberate, bringing a sense of dignified closure to the poem". What was funny was that, afterwards, this other guy doing the exam had used exactly the same line to say how the alliteration of 'g' created a guttural, choking sound effect signifying their slow deaths. So pretty much the complete opposite.
I guess that sums up the subjectivity of the ELAT :P
EDIT:
she-elf
Hi guys, its my first post in here
Can anyone give me a link to Alice Oswalds poem? I can't find that anywhere
Can anyone give me a link to Alice Oswalds poem? I can't find that anywhere
Here it is
Original post by For many hours there’
Long ago they remember walking very slowly to the window.
They let their hearts sink to one side
And stood in their old clothes growing frost at the edges.
For hours nothing else was there,
Only their eyes increasing into tiny stars. And then
Sunrise -
A sudden eruption of circumstances.
This had never happened before.
There had never been so much beauty.
The sky, up to now unknown,
Burned a way out through a nearby horizon.
Their eyes were in disarray.
They began to sway, rubbing their hands together,
They moved cautiously to the brink of one glance and back.
And at each turn, morning was more there.
Like in the winterís splitting cold a crocus
Opens and then more opens.
They saw the horizon growing hard and contracted
As a steel template dipped in water
And they leaned, it looked as if their wings were caught in their coats …
All up the fields there was whispering and singing
And a whole surrounding atmosphere of persuasion;
Please realise, friends, time is moving in this neighbourhood.
This is Dawn, the unspeakable iridescence of all swiftness
Impatiently brushing past, be quick Ö
But their eyesight slid down,
It fell at their feet, they
Shrank into sleep, their mouths
Dried, their dreams rattled in their pods.
After all, they had only their accustomed answers.
They hardly knew who they were, they felt like twists
Of jointed grass, going on growing and growing.
They let their hearts sink to one side
And stood in their old clothes growing frost at the edges.
For hours nothing else was there,
Only their eyes increasing into tiny stars. And then
Sunrise -
A sudden eruption of circumstances.
This had never happened before.
There had never been so much beauty.
The sky, up to now unknown,
Burned a way out through a nearby horizon.
Their eyes were in disarray.
They began to sway, rubbing their hands together,
They moved cautiously to the brink of one glance and back.
And at each turn, morning was more there.
Like in the winterís splitting cold a crocus
Opens and then more opens.
They saw the horizon growing hard and contracted
As a steel template dipped in water
And they leaned, it looked as if their wings were caught in their coats …
All up the fields there was whispering and singing
And a whole surrounding atmosphere of persuasion;
Please realise, friends, time is moving in this neighbourhood.
This is Dawn, the unspeakable iridescence of all swiftness
Impatiently brushing past, be quick Ö
But their eyesight slid down,
It fell at their feet, they
Shrank into sleep, their mouths
Dried, their dreams rattled in their pods.
After all, they had only their accustomed answers.
They hardly knew who they were, they felt like twists
Of jointed grass, going on growing and growing.
-TE
Squibakou
@ratk: I know, I thought that too, I just jumbled everything all together, comparing throughout. It seems more sensible to do that and less like writing two seperate mini essays.
Well, obviously the other passage is mentioned throughout, but personally I find doing it in a 'Point 1: examine both, Point 2: examine both' fashion makes the essay unnecessarily fragmented and potentially a little robotic. It makes far more sense to me to build up a cohesive picture of one piece, then work off of that. Aside from anything else, there are usually several points in an individual piece that could contradict each other, and the subtleties of that can be easily lost otherwise. I don't know, I just think in general it makes for more pleasant reading.
KIDS!
i have received a somewhat stressful email from the admissions people, regarding PPH's and all that jazz. has anyone else? if anyone is willing to enlighten me then i would be most grateful! damned oxford colleges.
i have received a somewhat stressful email from the admissions people, regarding PPH's and all that jazz. has anyone else? if anyone is willing to enlighten me then i would be most grateful! damned oxford colleges.
hello, i love you.
KIDS!
i have received a somewhat stressful email from the admissions people, regarding PPH's and all that jazz. has anyone else? if anyone is willing to enlighten me then i would be most grateful! damned oxford colleges.
i have received a somewhat stressful email from the admissions people, regarding PPH's and all that jazz. has anyone else? if anyone is willing to enlighten me then i would be most grateful! damned oxford colleges.
I got that earlier. Part of me just wants to not fill it in so it defaults to option 1, but then I'm not really sure if I want to live in a PPH, so maybe option 3?
Yes it is the 15th Jan for results, I got given some official sheet thingy which I think I've lost already which explained how to access your result online.
I don't know what sort of evidence you expect to get other than anecdotal, apart from the Ox website which states that the entrance tests are one factor of many in deciding whether to offer candidates a place. I'm not an expert by any means but I do think it's a common misconception that the once you get an interview at Oxford that's the only factor that the tutors care about, because afaik they consider it in relation to all other aspects of your application. I was specifically told last year that I just missed out on the last place at the college I applied to because they thought someone else's written work (which included the ELAT which the tutors had reread) was slightly better.
I did the Oswald and the Dickinson, like many others I think! Struggling to remember what I wrote though, even looking at the poems. Looking at this though it seems Alice Oswald herself thinks her poem's about a whole load of shiz none of us probably thought of!
I think the sort of question I set myself, you know when you outline what you're going to do in the intro was something along the lines of 'I intend to examine the ways the poets consider the opposition of life and death, with particular reference to the use of imagery' which was pretty vague, non-commital stuff! I'm annoyed that I didn't get to write more on form/structure/metre which is typical of me, plus I wanted to make a point about poetry being an immortal way to record a moment, whereas human experience itself is ephemeral, but I ended up rushing my conclusion, as ever. I said some stuff about the conflict between life and death in the two, the lack of control and Oswald being resigned yet almost celebratory towards mortality, whereas Dickinson's narrator tries to fight it but is caught in a sort of limbo. I think I wittered about assonance more than I ever had in my life, probably wasn't all that relevant but nm. Said something about Dickinson's use of grammatical ellipsis, using only the most salient words (For only gossamer my gown, / My tippet only tulle.) to get her point across and compared that with Oswald's sudden use of loads of polysyllabic words later in her poem contributing to a quickening pace and how these examples both demonstrated an attempt to fit as much as possible into the time constraints which mortality puts upon humanity. Not sure that makes any sense haha!
Anyhoo I'm just very glad it's over and I think/hope it was slightly better than last year so fingers crossed!
ITISCLARISSAHESAID
unfortunately i think it does play some role in your application post-interview - i know the TSA does for ppe (a friend of mine last year was told that his TSA score was the reason he wasn't offered a place, even though he was interviewed).
AisAis
Do you have non-anecdotal evidence?
I don't know what sort of evidence you expect to get other than anecdotal, apart from the Ox website which states that the entrance tests are one factor of many in deciding whether to offer candidates a place. I'm not an expert by any means but I do think it's a common misconception that the once you get an interview at Oxford that's the only factor that the tutors care about, because afaik they consider it in relation to all other aspects of your application. I was specifically told last year that I just missed out on the last place at the college I applied to because they thought someone else's written work (which included the ELAT which the tutors had reread) was slightly better.
I did the Oswald and the Dickinson, like many others I think! Struggling to remember what I wrote though, even looking at the poems. Looking at this though it seems Alice Oswald herself thinks her poem's about a whole load of shiz none of us probably thought of!
I think the sort of question I set myself, you know when you outline what you're going to do in the intro was something along the lines of 'I intend to examine the ways the poets consider the opposition of life and death, with particular reference to the use of imagery' which was pretty vague, non-commital stuff! I'm annoyed that I didn't get to write more on form/structure/metre which is typical of me, plus I wanted to make a point about poetry being an immortal way to record a moment, whereas human experience itself is ephemeral, but I ended up rushing my conclusion, as ever. I said some stuff about the conflict between life and death in the two, the lack of control and Oswald being resigned yet almost celebratory towards mortality, whereas Dickinson's narrator tries to fight it but is caught in a sort of limbo. I think I wittered about assonance more than I ever had in my life, probably wasn't all that relevant but nm. Said something about Dickinson's use of grammatical ellipsis, using only the most salient words (For only gossamer my gown, / My tippet only tulle.) to get her point across and compared that with Oswald's sudden use of loads of polysyllabic words later in her poem contributing to a quickening pace and how these examples both demonstrated an attempt to fit as much as possible into the time constraints which mortality puts upon humanity. Not sure that makes any sense haha!
Anyhoo I'm just very glad it's over and I think/hope it was slightly better than last year so fingers crossed!
hello, i love you.
KIDS!
i have received a somewhat stressful email from the admissions people, regarding PPH's and all that jazz. has anyone else? if anyone is willing to enlighten me then i would be most grateful! damned oxford colleges.
i have received a somewhat stressful email from the admissions people, regarding PPH's and all that jazz. has anyone else? if anyone is willing to enlighten me then i would be most grateful! damned oxford colleges.
Hi I received the same email. Perhaps it's a standard email sent to all, so colleges are not overcrowded!? I'm not sure yet what option to go for :-s
- Squibakou - I might have seen you at Glasgow Academy at the test.
hello, i love you.
KIDS!
i have received a somewhat stressful email from the admissions people, regarding PPH's and all that jazz. has anyone else? if anyone is willing to enlighten me then i would be most grateful! damned oxford colleges.
i have received a somewhat stressful email from the admissions people, regarding PPH's and all that jazz. has anyone else? if anyone is willing to enlighten me then i would be most grateful! damned oxford colleges.
Yeah, I just got that too. having read through the options, I think the PPHs give you another option if you'd be happy going to one, but I don't think it would harm your chances of getting a place if you choose to decline or increase your chances of getting a place if you choose to accept. I went for option three because I don't really like the idea of being in such a small college (40 apps a year!) and I figured that if Oxford want me then they'll find a place for me somewhere in one of their main colleges. Did you follow the link? It's all there for you to see.
I did something a bit different in my intro and didn't actually say what I was going to do with "I'm examining", I just underpinned the philosophical argument that I would be addressing, so, "both extracts address the transience of human life, and solutions to this, particualrly in addressing the embrace of missed opportunities, such as Oswald's sunrise."
"it looked as if their wings were caught in their coats"
I got something along the lines of - their life traps them from ascending into the sunlight/sky/afterlife because the angelic connotation of wings suggests their souls are trapped beneath the coats - representing life.
It just struck me - does that actually make sense? Or is it too vague and and retarded sounding to get me good marks. I wish I didn't relive parts of the essay and worry over them but heck.
I got something along the lines of - their life traps them from ascending into the sunlight/sky/afterlife because the angelic connotation of wings suggests their souls are trapped beneath the coats - representing life.
It just struck me - does that actually make sense? Or is it too vague and and retarded sounding to get me good marks. I wish I didn't relive parts of the essay and worry over them but heck.
Prince-Myshkin
bad kip last night?
i have heard of no-one who did the same texts as me, conrad and dickinson. eurgh. so reassuring!
i have heard of no-one who did the same texts as me, conrad and dickinson. eurgh. so reassuring!
I just joined TSR and came across this thread. It has been strangely comforting to hear what other people wrote for their ELAT, even though everyone else here seems like a complete English genius... Anyway, if it helps, I also wrote about Conrad and Dickenson. What did you write about for them?
connected
Hi I received the same email. Perhaps it's a standard email sent to all, so colleges are not overcrowded!? I'm not sure yet what option to go for :-s
- Squibakou - I might have seen you at Glasgow Academy at the test.
- Squibakou - I might have seen you at Glasgow Academy at the test.
Oh wow, you sat your ELAT at Glesca Academy? Me too! What a small world.
fever skin
I just joined TSR and came across this thread. It has been strangely comforting to hear what other people wrote for their ELAT, even though everyone else here seems like a complete English genius... Anyway, if it helps, I also wrote about Conrad and Dickenson. What did you write about for them?
wrote about how they both dealt with daeth in quite an offhand way, but used different techniques to bring it about. dickinson used an offputting form vs content clash, but the further the poem developed this deteriorated. 2nd stanze only pararhymre,3rd no rhyme, 4th has a spondee in the first line and loses a foot. said that this shows a slowly increasing feeling as the 'journey' with Death progresses that her she rgrets her almost apologetic attitude to mortality in the first line
said conrad also handled death in a nonchalent way. no sense of drama in his writig, suggested mr verloc could have saved himself by the repetition of 'leuisurely'. instead he just fantasised about possible escapes, he didn't seem to take the matter seriously, and this was mirrored by the writing. no build up to stabbing, it just happens, he can only sigh etc
something along those lines
hows about you?Quick Reply
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