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Help needed - Tempest and Translations

Reply 80

StaceYY

latin.snake

I said the last line reflected eternity ('a long pause'...) and in turn mirrored the longevity of the uncles life lol

oh...

GOOD on you though... sounds so much more intelligent than my response lol

Reply 81

kellywood_5

17

I love the way you can just blag your way through English exams. I started going on about how the first stanza being longer than the other 2 and the use of enjambement (don't even though if I spelt that right) was significant because it showed how the state the old man was in was dragging on longer than his youth did. I talked about the insect imagery (the simile of the grasshopper and the rubbing of hands together) was criticising how the elderly are treated in modern society. Then I said the speaker felt guilty for sticking her uncle in a home to make her own life easier and that they didn't have a very good relationship because they didn't know what to talk about. Oh, and also how the uncle had had bad relationships in the past and the only thing he was sure about was that he didn't want to marry. I said the last line could mean he didn't want to remember his youth and how his life once was because it was too poignant. August 17th will reveal whether my blagging worked :p:

Reply 82

Rainy

15

Definitely.

I spent most of it arguing about his loneliness, eternally trapped within his thoughts - hence the flowing stanzas (symbolising uncomfortable breaks in conversation/emptiness in life) and diminishing length of verse - yada yada. Then decided it was self imposed, to an extent. Lost faith in human relations after the engagement failed, and preferred isolated existence to possible hurt caused by other "girls" (became inconsequential - a distraction in the background like grasshopper). The relationship was not that of "uncle"/niece - impersonal & uncomfortable (hence breaks, short language). No wonder she put him in a home! Last line expresses inevitability of his worsening situation, and further relapse into loneliness.

Good fun...

Reply 83

Star_crossed

I did the prose, I thought it was a super-nice extract. Tempest question was horrible though. I did b...it was the least coherent essay I've ever written. It actually reads like it was written by someone who had never read either of the plays and was still in the early stages of learning to speak English. Oh well, ying and yang...

Reply 84

Mellie

1

I did the poetry. Didn't get to write as much as I'd have liked but I think I got most of my main points in.
Tempest/Trans was abit of a nightmare..but I think I did OK. I really thought I'd nail English but these two exams really caught me offguard.

The rest of my English class only discovered ten minutes before the exam that it was "closed book". Admittedly, I only worked it out when I look at this thread the other day. Our English teacher said on several occasions we were allowed our texts in the exam so why would we doubt the woman who was teaching us? I was obviously prepared because I'd worried I was the only one who was misinformed...I feel bad that I wasn't able to warn the others.

Reply 85

Stir Crazy

Didn't have anything as deep as any of you on the poem - I just said the long pause was him remembering his life and finding it empty and thus he is a tragic figure. Hopefully as long as I've written coherently they'll give me some marks :smile:

.

As for the Tempest/Translations, I did q a - was a disaster - my essay was contradictory and muddled. I'm so worried. I HATE EXAMS !!!!!

Reply 86

spookystarbuck

StaceYY

I did Unseen Poetry.. I think that went well... i could basically just blag my way through it! Did anyone else get the significance of the title?

I put a few interpretations for that 'coz don't you get marks for alternative interpretations?

I put it could have been the guys age, the age when he was admitted, the age when he died/year he died in, the year Feinstein wrote it or something more personal to the persona such as the room number of the Uncle.

I thought it was a woman's voice (like an autobiographical poem) but then went through and just put like his/her because it didn't necessarily HAVE to be autobiographical did it? It could have simply been Feinstein addressing a universal truth and therefore she meant it to be ambiguous because it broadens the score of whom it could have applied to.

Reply 87

spookystarbuck

Star_crossed

I did the prose, I thought it was a super-nice extract. Tempest question was horrible though. I did b...it was the least coherent essay I've ever written. It actually reads like it was written by someone who had never read either of the plays and was still in the early stages of learning to speak English. Oh well, ying and yang...

LMAO. Mine too.
I'm just hoping that if everybody wrote an essay like that then the grade boundaries will be lowered...that is my only hope, lol.

Reply 88

Flying Pythonette

spookystarbuck

LMAO. Mine too.
I'm just hoping that if everybody wrote an essay like that then the grade boundaries will be lowered...that is my only hope, lol.

Oh good, I thought it was just me - I managed to write 4 pages for the Temp/Trans question...but only cause I kept crossing out huge crappy paragrahs and so wasting space :frown:

Whoever thought up that question needs to be shot.

lol - Jess xxx

Reply 89

Obscured

^ Completely agree with you Jess- who ever thought up those questions should be shot. Anoyingly people in my class came out saying what I good paper it was, surely they cannot of understood the question? (my class is full of idiots). I do think that they made the drama section hard because of the poem being relatively straight forward. I actually wish that it had been the other way round :frown:

. Still one exam to go (sociology) so no time to dwell on English, I just hope the boundaries get massively lowered.

Reply 90

fairygirl21

2

i did question b) - i didn't really understand it either but i kind of moulded it so my ideas fit with the question.
in relation to the language & power, i did one paragraph saying how language in abused by characters eg. Prospero who manipulates, Caliban who uses it to curse, the English in Translations who abuse the actual process of Translation, and use language to demean others eg. when Lancey uses monosyllabic language to address the Irish in Act 1. all these points linked with the question and i stated how the above are NOT for the influence of good, basically agreeing with the question.
then i wrote a paragraph on how language CAN actually be for the influence of good - for example, in relationships between Yolland & Maire, and Miranda & Ferdinand - based on equality, love is emphasized through the use of litanies, repitition etc - therefore, language CAN be for the influence of good.
then i did another paragraph saying how some characters in both plays believe that violence will lead to the influence of good..eg Donnelly twins, Doalty, Lancey's threats & also Prospero's use of magic but actually these don't lead to the influence of good, but infact promote brutality.
my final paragraph was on submission & reconcilement & how this also allows for the influence of good.
bleh.

Reply 91

Flying Pythonette

Obscured

^ Completely agree with you Jess- who ever thought up those questions should be shot. Anoyingly people in my class came out saying what I good paper it was, surely they cannot of understood the question? (my class is full of idiots). I do think that they made the drama section hard because of the poem being relatively straight forward. I actually wish that it had been the other way round :frown:

. Still one exam to go (sociology) so no time to dwell on English, I just hope the boundaries get massively lowered.

How bout you and me go down and sort that bloody exam board out yeah? :p:

Lol - your class is full of idiots? Mine isnt but we all came out saying "what the hell" apart from this one girl who kept saying how much of a "gift" it was... after we're done with the examiners you wanna help me take her down too? :wink:

I have soc left too - crime and deviance - good luck with that,
Jess xxx

Reply 92

minibailey27

Hey all, I thought the criticism and comparison exam was fine.

I did the prose for the first section, which i thought was an incredibly kind passage, i just wrote about weather and description and language etc etc...

For the Tempest/Translations i did question 6b - about language being a possible influence for good. My main argument was about how language has the power to do good, but it depends how it is used - i.e Ariel uses it for mischief and creating anarchy, Owen uses it for material gain and mistranslates. Caliban and Manus both blindly dismiss English as a language.

Another point i brought in was how Friel and Shakespeare combined show us how language can be a force for good in that it allows love to blossom. I blabbered on about how Ferdinand and Miranda are able to express their love for each other immediately and thus their relationship soars, while Yolland and Maire fail to establish a relationship because of a lack of common language between them.

I'm feeling pretty confident overall, i think the points i raised were relevant (at least I hope they were!!!) Anyone have any comments to make about what i wrote about in my essay? Just to get someone else's viewpoint.

Reply 93

spookystarbuck

^^ Oh f*** you! lol.
Just make me feel bad why don't ya? lol

Why is it AFTER the exam I get a few relatively good ideas?!

Reply 94

Stir Crazy

I dont know why I torture myself by looking at these threads! I have to get 3 As for York next year and, although I managed to do that last year, they were pretty low As so I'm really not that optimistic about my chances - I found all my exams really tough urgh. yuck. Anyway I have finished my A levels now and am gonna stop looking here to torture myself and go have fun!!!

Sorry

Lol, I totally agree.
I come onto this thread, look at what everyone says about the exam and think - oh yeah, why didnt I think of that? Its so damn obvious.
Alas, I dont think it was meant to be :frown:

Jess xxx

Help needed - Tempest and Translations

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