section a & b eng literature

Sample exam instructions presentation

English Literature Section A & B - poems and prose

Section A - Poems

Compare the ways in which poets present the idea of conflict in ‘The War Correspondent’ and one other poem of your choice fromPoems of the Decade: An Anthology of the Forward Books of Poetry 2002–2011. In your answer, you should consider the following: • the poets’ development of themes • the poets’ use of language and imagery • the use of other poetic techniques. (Total for Question 1 = 25 marks)

author

Ciaran Carson

He was born on 9th of october 1948 in United kingdom and died on october 6th 2019 due to cancer. Carson was a poet and musician. He debuted in 1976 with 'The New Estate'.

“There are three points about stories: if told, they like to be heard; if heard, they like to be taken in; and if taken in, they like to be told.” ― Ciarán Carson, Fishing for Amber”

Basic information about ''The War Correspondent''

3 ) From the title we can deduce that the poems are directly about a conflict and the effects that it leaves afterwards

1) ) It is a part of collection of 7 poems written by Ciaran Carson, all of which happen during the Crimean War in the years 1854-1856

2 ) Only two are in our anthology and those we might expect on the exam - ''Galipolli'' and ''Balaklava''

4 ) It is a tribute to the war reporting of Sir William Howard Russell

Themes

1. conflict
2. society and cultures
3. past and present
4. death
5. alliance
6. violence
7. history
8. memories

Poems with similar themes / with which to comapare '' The War Correspondent'' during our exam

• '' The Deliverer '' by Tishani Doshi - modern issues, different cultures
• '' History '' by John Burnside - memories, writing history, war
• '' Giuseppe '' by Roderick Ford - memories, negative feelings towards war
• '' The Gun '' - violence

Structure, persona and tone ''Gallipoli''

Tone

Persona

Structure

• doesn't say much about the war
• sad
• nostalgic

• number of stanzas : 10
• number os lines ( each ) : 5
• it is important because it presents the continuity of the war and the inevitable cycles of it
• rhymes : each stanza rhymes with the first line of the following stanza, the second line of each stanza rhymes with the second line of the following stanza

• written from 3rd person point of view
• perhaps the title war correspondent ?
• describing the events and surroundings
• passive - only observing, not taking action

Structure, persona and tone ''Balaklava''

Tone

Persona

Structure

• much more descriptive in terms of war than ''Gallipoli''
• sad
• nostalgic

• written from 3rd person point of view
• perhaps the title war correspondent ?
• describing the events and surroundings
• passive - only observing, not taking action

• number of stanzas : 4
• number of lines ( each ) : 8
• rhymes : each stanza rhymes with the first line of the following stanza, the second line of each stanza rhymes with the second line of the following stanza

Rethorical devices''Balaklava''

Rethorical devices''Gallipoli''

Answering the instructions

The ''War Correspondent'' and ''History''

Due to contextual factors we know that it is directly about a conflict in between people, cultures, empires - more precisely the poem is a form of ''report'' from the Crimean War, military conflict in between Russian and Ottoman Imperium that took place in 1853-1856.

'' smoking like a fleet of British ironclad destroyers '' ''then populate this slum with Cypriot and Turk '' ''The Turks marched in dense columns '' ''the failing prowess of the Allied Powers ''

Answering the instructions

THE ''WAR CORRESPONDENT'' AND ''HISTORY''

The Poem explores the theme of conflict by showing the negative outcomes of of the conflicts in between people - what impact does it have on individuals and societies . It is in fact showed on the example of war although it can be interpreted as even - real life, small conflicts and consequances that they lead to. In the Poem we can see how horrible is the standard of living of people that are in the middle of the military conflict. While reading we can clearly visualize the image that the persona as a correspondent is presenting to us.

'' The smell of sweating men and horses smothered by flora'' ''smells of rotten meat'' ''the tenements deployed by bad employers'' ''a temporary hospital or two, a jail, a stagnant harbour redolent with cholera, and open sewers running down the streets ''

Answering the instructions

THE ''WAR CORRESPONDENT'' AND ''HISTORY''

It explores the theme of conflict through the structure of poems and the fact that they are placed one after another - ''Gallipoli'' which much more about difference in cultures and how the conflict affects individuals is first and ''Balaklava'' - more descriptive in terms of military conflict itself - second. Through that we can see the clear contrast as to how a military conlifct can quickly transition and change.

''Balaklava'' ''Sunlight flashed on the polished barrels of their firelocks '' ''As the Turkish infantry advanced'' ''where the slain of October 25th had found their last repose'' ''The skeleteon of an English horseman had tatters of scarlet cloth hanging to the bones of his arms ; all the buttons had been cut of his jacket''

''Galipolli'' ''take the garlic-oregano-tainted arcades of Bologna'' ''dress them in turbans, shawls of fancy needlework, fedoras, fezzes, sashes, shirts of fine Valenciannes'' ''and French Zouaves, camel-drivers, officers, and sailors, sappers miners''

Answering the instructions

THE ''WAR CORRESPONDENT'' AND ''HISTORY''

Same as in ''The War Correspondent'' from the contextual factors we know that ''History'' is in fact about a historical event - 9/11 - which can be seen as starting a a conflict between USA and the terrorist group. Throught the poem the persona - most likely author presents the evnt to us through metaphorical descriptions.

'' people jogging, or stopping to watch as the war planes cambered and turned in the morning light '' ''local forms of history'' ''Im dizzy with the fear of losing everything'

Answering the instructions

THE ''WAR CORRESPONDENT'' AND ''HISTORY''

In ''History'' the conflict is not directly described, explored - it is more so - recounted by comparing the tragic event and the conflict in general to marine life - how even with difficulties it always carries on, telling about it through metaphors rather than real, detailed reports

'' and the quiet, local forms of history : the fish lodged in the tide beyond the sands '' gathering sheels and pebbles finding the evidence of life in all this driftwork'' ''but this is the porblem : how to be in all this gazed-upon and cherished worl and do no harm a toddler on a beach sifting wood and dried weed from the sand and puzzeled by the pattern on a shell his parents on the dune slacks with a kite plugged into the sky all nerve and line patient; afraid; but still, through everything attentive to the irredeemable''

Links

here are some links to videos which analyse ''The War Correspondent''

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkinMqxXgeg

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_-yaXkUugE
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlRLN7LqXBA

*The last one is especially great because it analyses all the Poems from our material !

Section B - Prose

“ The book shows us that wealthy people got respect and high place in the Social hierarchy through corruption ”In the light of this statement explore how Adiga presents the theme of corruption as an influencial factor in the lifes of Indian society in the novel. In your answer, you must consider relevant contextual factors.

Author

Aravind Adiga

Adiga is an Indian wrier and journalist who was born on 23 October 1974. What is importnant about him when it comes to the contextual factors of the book is the fact that - as Adiga himself mentions - he was born in a pretty wealthy family in India, his father was a doctor and as not many Indian citizens he was able to afford a good university - Columbia. Through the book he wants to become voice for poverty stricken people that don't have it due to their social status.

“See, the poor dream all their lives of getting enough to eat and looking like the rich. And what do the rich dream of?? Losing weight and looking like the poor.” ― Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger

''THE WHITE TIGER'' plot

The white tiger is Arvaind Adiga's debut from 2008. The book got worlwide succes and even won the 40th Man Booker Prize.Novel in a form of never - sent letters to a Chinese Premier tells a story about - Balram Halwai ( from his perspective ! ) - a poverty stricken man, desperate to get out of his toxic envirnoment, family and get a higher status in the social hierarchy. In order to do that he decides to become a driver in a rich 'family' of two - Mr.Ashok and his wife Pinky. What at first seems as a good solution for all his problems becomes tiring - main character becomes of still being treated like worse, not worth respect and decides to commit crime - kill his master. Throught the book we can clearly see how poor people are treated worse than the rich and what influence does the money and corruption have in India.

Main themes

power of the rich

immorality

corruption

voicelessness

inequality

dark side of India

The rooster coop - explanation

The Rooster Coop is an very important element in ''THE WHITE TIGER'' and it is crucial to understand it.The Rooster Coop is Balram's metaphor for describing the oppression of India's poor -''Roosters in a coop at the market watch one another slaughtered one by one, but are unable or unwilling to rebel and break out of the coop'' - its the same with poverty stricken people they are unable to do anything with their fate so they just accept it - even if it is not moral. Balram believes that the traditional Indian family unit keeps the Rooster Coop of social inequality alive.

“... But where my genuine concern for him ended and where my self-interest began, I could not tell: no servant can ever tell what the motives of his heart are... We are made mysteries to ourselves by the Rooster Coop we are locked in.”

“The greatest thing to come out of this country... is the Rooster Coop. The roosters in the coop smell the blood from above. They see the organs of their brothers...They know they’re next. Yet they do not rebel. They do not try to get out of the coop. The very same thing is done with human beings in this country.”

Main characters

1. Balram Halwai - the main protagonist and narrator, other names that were give to him''Munna'', ''THE WHITE TIGER'', ''Ashok Sharma'', originally from poor family living in Laxmangahr, became a rickshaw driver and then a self - made entrerprnour, chosen to live on his own terms, ironic
2. Mr. Ashok - Balram's rich master, the stork's son, returned from America, different from his family - milder, hands out bribes for politicians, after Pinky's departure changes - starts drinking more and hiring prostitutes, more commpasionate towards Balram than other wealthy people
3. Pinky - Ashok's wife, ''americanized'', described mostly with her physical traits, cruel mistress to Balram often laughing at his lack of education or knowledge on certain topic, left India after the hit and run accident
4. Kusum - Halwai's grandmother which - after death of his parents - was the one in charge of the household, extremely manipulative and controlling, traditional, hungry for money, protagonist hated her
5. Kishan - Balram's older brother who which falls in the trap of Kusum and decides to marry a young girl from the village in order to live a stable life and gain some money for his family
6. Vijay - main character's hero from Laxmangahr, has and ''entrepreneurial'' spirit, becomes a bus driveer and later on through corruption - most likely bribes - a political activist and finally a part of the Great Socialist Party
7. The Stork - one of four animal landlords of Laxmangahr, Ashok's and Mukesh's father, bulk of his family's fortune, distributes bribes to politicians
8. The Mongoose - Mukesh Sir, Ashok's older brother, returned form USA, distributes bribes, does not like Balram and during their first meeting mentions that something is wrong with him,
9. Ram Persad - Ashok's first driver, at the beginning much more important than Balram, was hiding his true religion and name in order to work, due to being exposed by Halwai he quit his job

Main / the most important events and their significance

• Balram becoming a driver and being hired by Mr. Ashok - it is important because it starts a new journey for the main character and afterwards leads him to climbing higher in the social hierarchy and achieving his dreams, moreover the scene shows that Ashok was the only person that decided to hire Halwai ( Ashok's compassion )
• Death of Balrams father - due to tuberculosis and not enough doctors - Balrams father died on the floors of hospital while his son was powerless, this event is very significant because it shows the horrible life of India's poor and how they do not even have access to health care and is later on connected to the murder of Ashok
• Pinky's Hit and Run accident - it shows the influence that money has - the family's contacts in police and getting information that a regular person would not have, immorality of the wealthy towards the poor and their horrible treatments towards their servants - Balram was the one that was supposed to take the blame, leads to Pinky's departure, is connected with another hit and run accident mentioned later on in the book
• Pinky's departure - after the hit and run accident Pinky leaves India and goes back to the US, she keeps it a secret, Balram drives her to the airport, she most likely did that because she was scared that she was going to face the consequances of the accident ( even if it was clear that no one saw anything ) and missed the life that her and Ashok had abroad, it starts the downfall of the master
• Balram hiring a prostitute - this event again shows the unproportional treatment of rich and poor in India - when Ashok pays a lot of money for one of the women he gets a beautiful natural blonde, Balram is jealous so he starts stealing money from his master in order to hire one for himself although it comes out that the amount he raise was not enough and Balram gets a dyed blonde not as beautiful as Ashok's, he becomes furious and even hits the girl
• The murder of Ashok - it is connected with the death of Balram father in a way when Ashok dies a part of Halwai's father dies with him, compared to the slaughering of chickens in the Muslim culture, opens a new chapter for the main character, he starts using Ashok's name and opens his own compamy - although has to hide from police
• 'White Tiger' driver hits a child - this accident reveals the true colors of ''changed'' Balram, he became like poeple he depsized - the rich, when a driver from his company hits a child with a car Halwai pays for the family of the kid in order for them to stay quiet and not report the accident

Answering the instructions - partial agreement argument PRO

The corruption actually positively influenced lifes of many and got them to the place they wanted to be - in power. As an example we can take three people - Vijay, Ashok and Balram.Vijay was just a simple bus driver back in Laxmangahr althoug through corruption and handing most likely bribes he became - at first a political activist - and afterwards and official member of the Great Socialist Party. Ashok was already born in the rich family which got the high status in the social hierarchy through bribes as well, their career was based on corruption. Balram made his dreams of becoming independent come true after commiting a crime and killing his master.

Answering the instructions - partial agreement argument AGAINST

The corruption created the social inequality extremely visible. Rich people clearly had more power and were able to have more privilages than the poverty stricken population. As an example we can take the idea of the ''Rooster Coop'' - those in power have the control over the weak - which have to just accept their horrible fate - and Balram's father death. Main protagonist's father passed away on the floors of hospital due to tuberculosis, there werent enough doctors - the awful thing is the fact that if he was rich he probably could've afforded the private health care, get cured, and never actually die. This event had a huge impact on Halwai and his views later on in life ( killing Ashok was connected to this event as well ).

Answering the instructions - partial agreement argument AGAINST

We can clearly see that the whole corruption happening in India has its negative influence not only on the poor but on some rich as well - does money always give happiness ? I would say that no - and as an example we can take Pinky and Balram. When it comes to Pinky - When she and her husband returned to India from the US we could notice that she was not happy there, even if they bought a property in an americanized district she missed her ''home'' and did not feel complete on the other side of the globe. Balram on the other hand even if made his dreams come true - was still thinking about the murder ''many a night'' which shows that he was not a cold blooded killer, still needed time to process what he did and if it was the only decicion that he was able to make.

Thank you !

Oliwia Korycka