English Notes: Tennyson Narrative Techniques

This is for the odd-numbered question in section A. For me, there's about a 90% chance I'll do Tennyson for section A (unless the fabulous Porphyria's Lover or The Patriot comes up for Browning) and I reckon a fair amount of people will feel the same way. Anywhere, here's a list of what I consider to be the 3 most important narrative techniques for each of Tennyson's poems - I've tried to go for quite broad, general things rather than very small, specific ones, because nothing says 'I'm scraping the barrel here' quite like trying to write a whole paragraph on one instance of caesura/alliteration.

The Lady of Shalott:
- Setting. Shitloads to say about setting, I won't cover it all here. My favourite quote for setting is 'Four gray walls, and four grey towers, Overlook a space of flowers'. The aggressive rhythm makes it sound 'strict' (horrendously bad word choice, but you get what I mean) and constraining, like a prison, and the syntactic repetition and use of 'grey' gives a sense of monotony. The personification ('Overlook') makes it sound powerful and controlling, like it's constantly watching/guarding, but the contrast of 'a space of flowers' makes it perhaps sound less threatening and more protective?
- Structure. Contrast of Shalott and Camelot - Shalott is isolated, a 'silent isle', whereas Camelot is busy and bustling, 'many-tower'd'. This juxtaposition gives us a rationale as to why leaves, explains her longing for the 'real' world rather than her world of 'shadows'. Shalott is repeated at the end of every stanza - she is constantly stuck with it, everything is just Shalott, Shalott, Shalott all the bluddy time for her. Camelot also interrupts pretty much every stanza, in the same way that it's a disruptive influence on her life. Part 3 shows a total shift to Lancelot - he is now the focus, he is now the 'pull factor'.
- Characterisation. She is presented as insubstantial, almost ghostly and supernatural 'Tis the fairy'. She only speaks 2 lines of dialogue in the whole thing. She never gets a real identity - she is only referred to as 'the Lady of Shallot', still tied to the place she tried to escape. It's even what she writes on the bluddy boat. And the people are still questioning at the end 'Who is this? and what is here?' just as they were in part 1 - nothing has changed, still no-one has any idea who she is.

Mariana
- Setting/Symbolism. Basically any quote from the first stanza, I personally would do the 'blackest moss' one, but you can pick whatever really. It's just the idea that she is so absorbed in despair that she isn't taking care of shit like she is supposed to - her neglect of her environment is directly linked to Angelo neglecting her. Her broken surroundings mirror her broken psychological state. Also you could talk about the isolation - 'lonely moated grange'. In here you can talk about the poplar tree as well, if you like, I guess there's a fair bit of symbolism for that. How it's one thing stood all alone, how it's a symbol of cock (and it's shadow falls 'upon her bed' because she wants the D), or (I prefer this interpretation, but that's probably just cause I like Greek mythology) how it's a symbol for grief, because Phaeton was struck down after trying to drive Helios' sun chariot, and then his nymph sisters turned into poplar trees because of their grief.
- Structure/Time. She is outside of natural cycles, everything is is carrying on but she is trapped in a timeless state of despair. She shuts her curtains in the day because she doesn't want her pain highlighted by the sun that's meant to bring happiness, and she isn't sleeping at night like the rest of the world. 'Her tears fell with the dews at even; Her tears feel ere the dews were dried' - the days are going by and nothing is changing, she's paralyzed and stagnant, time is relentlessly going on and she is still crying, still stuck in despair.
- Voice/Repetition. Here I'm talking about the refrain at the end of every stanza, the whole 'My life is dreary, I am aweary, I would that I were dead' thing. It's monotonous, the way her life is, and constantly repeated - every day is the same. It also shows how inactive and dependent she is, how everything is about her longing for Angelo - she keeps wanting him to come but 'he cometh not'. She says she wishes she was dead, but is clearly a massive whining pussy and does nothing about it, I guess she still hopes he'll turn up. She also keeps listing all this shit that she says is 'dreary', because she can't get joy out of anything, due to her psychological state. At the end there's a sense of recognition though - she recognises that SHE is dreary, that 'He will not come', and she 'wept'. However, there is still no resolution because she's still a bluddy pussy and is still depending on other people for shit - she calls out to God, praying for death, but still doesn't just bluddy kill herself. This is what pisses me off about this poem.

Tithonus
- Natural/death cycles. A key part of this poem, and of Tithonus' misery, is his fixation on death and exemption from natural cycles. 'The woods decay...and after many a summer dies the swan' - everything natural decays, even the most regal of birds die, but Tithonus only has 'cruel immortality'. He has a preoccupation with death because he is jealous of it, he is jealous of 'happy men that have the power to die' and feels without it he is no longer human, he is unnatural and consumed by his own immortality.
- Chronology. We flit between the present and past, to get the full tragic tale from Tithonus - and can compare how he used to be filled with love and adoration when he saw Aurora get reborn, but now it only leaves him cold. 'With what another heart In days far-off, and with what other eyes I used to watch - if I be he that watch'd' - I really like this quote. It's exaggerated and hyperbolic, but shows just how different he is from how he used to be - there has been such an alteration of self-perception that he feels the man he used to be was an entirely different person to the man he is now. 'How can my nature longer mix with thine?' - 'longer' being the key word here, they used to mix fine, but that's over now, everything has changed, he just can't be with her anymore.
- Characterisation. There are two things we can talk about here. You can talk about the tone/voice of Tithonus - he uses a lot of rhetorical questions to sort of guilt-trip her, and uses a lot of imperatives 'let me go: take back thy gift' but these aren't powerful and authoritative orders, they are desperate cries of someone who is powerless to do anything himself. He also uses exclamations of grief to evoke pity/sympathy 'Ay me! Ay me!'. You can also talk about the contrast/juxtaposition of Aurora and Tithonus. She is the goddess of the dawn, and he is merely a 'white-hair'd shadow'. 'Immortal age beside immortal youth'. 'Coldly thy rose shadows bathe me' - she is warmth and light, he is cold and dark - he can't love her the way he used to, can't even feel her warmth, either because it only painfully highlights his own lost youth, or because he literally is old and feels cold.

Godiva
- Use of point of view/speaker. In my opinion, the (only) cool bit about this poem is the bit at the start where Tennyson is actually addressing us, up to around line 12. 'Not only we the latest seed of Time' - he's saying that we wrongly assume that we are the most morally advanced generation when all we are is 'the latest' generation and human nature doesn't change, and that we act in a superior, sanctimonious way, while all we do is 'prate' and not actually do anything - whereas Godiva actually did something. He clearly actually admires her, enough to 'shape the city's ancient legend into this', and talks of her like a hero who 'underwent and overcame' obstacles.
- Structure. The last 3 stanzas, the ones where she's doing the stuff, all start with 'Then' and this gives it a very active, orderly, structured feel - as though she's carrying out her task with unwavering resolve and military precision; she's accepted that the task must be done and so is focused on the goal and not indulging her emotions or hesitating. Also the repetition of  'And then she rode forth/back, clothed on with chastity' shows that her purity and goodness has not been lost or tainted by the act, she has maintained her modesty and goodness despite undergoing a normally degrading act. We also get a particularly strong resolution - that she 'built herself an everlasting name' and had strive actively for it - that good always wins in the end. 
- Setting. When she's riding through the town, the gargoyles and statues are personified; 'fantastic gables, crowding, stared' and 'had cunning eyes to see'. It feels to her like even the inanimate objects are watching and judging her, and this shows her purity in that she feels shame even from them, and by extension we can tell how psychologically hard this task was on Godiva, and how good she is to do it anyway. The juxtaposition of the setting is also used to act as a 'turning point' (both metaphorically and literally for Godiva) - 'The white-flower'd elder-thicket from the field Gleam thro' the Gothic archway in the wall'. Here she's reached the point where she can turn back and relief begins to spread through the poem, the use of natural imagery contrasts the previously-man-made elements of Coventry that were talked about, and the pure white 'gleaming' flowers stand out against the 'Gothic archway', symbolising hope and an end in sight for Godiva, and that she is still good despite her otherwise 'sinful' act.


The Lotos-eaters and Choric song
- Setting. There's a shitload of quotes to use for this - stuff about the island being dreamy, paradise but with sinister undertones, timeless, all that stuff. Personification - 'the languid air did swoon', even the air is overcome with the relaxed, sleepy atmosphere of the island. 'It seemed always afternoon...and like a downward smoke, the slender stream Along the cliff, to pause and fall did seem' - there's this feeling of timelessness, unnaturally so. The references to downward smoke, while sounding hazy, surreal and dream-like, also sound quite sinister - similarly 'the mild-eyed melancholy Lotos-eaters' sounds very suspicious, why are they sad if everything is so pleasant? They sound like drug addicts, drained.
- Structure/Tone. The Choric song is the bit that I find really interesting about this poem. It's the lotos-mariners (that's the term I'm gonna use for them here, to differentiate from the ones that haven't eaten the lotos) presenting arguments for why they should stay on the island, like a response to judgement from others. They go through all sorts of arguments, how awesome the island is, how nature doesn't toil, how life is futile, how their families are better off without them, all that stuff, and present it quite powerfully and persuasively. Parts are defensive; 'Let us alone' being repeated, for example. And they use syntactic repetition to show how monotonous, troublesome and shitty life is - 'Trouble on trouble, pain on pain', 'Roll'd to starboard, roll'd to larboard'. There's also a feeling of unity among the lotos-mariners - they speak as 'we', as one, and say 'let us swear an oath, and keep it with an equal mind' - they're all in it together and all want to stay, eating the lotos gives them all the same mindset. We even get a definitive resolution, a completion of their argument - 'Oh rest ye, brother mariners, we will not wander more', they've made up their minds and now can't be swayed, the power of the lotos has turned them from strong willed adventurers to people fully invested in the idea of escapism and rest.
- Symbolism. The mariners use a lot of natural symbolism to get their point across, basically saying that nature just does it's thing without worrying or toiling for it - leaves grow and 'take no care', apples fall 'and hath no toil'. Nature doesn't invest in growing and falling, and doesn't put effort into doing stuff, it just goes through the cycles and accepts it. The apple thing could also be reference to Adam and Eve, the idea of temptation and 'the forbidden fruit' - like the island is the Garden of Eden and the Lotos is the forbidden fruit? There's also a bit at the end where they compare themselves to Gods, they want to be 'careless of mankind' and not have to worry about all the bad things in reality.

Ulysses
- Contrast/Juxtaposition. Contrast of him and Telemachus 'He works his work, I mine'. But what I think is more interesting/important is the constant use of the juxtaposition of good and bad throughout the poem 'the thunder and the shine', 'I have enjoyed greatly, have suffered greatly' - good and bad are equally valuable, he wants to feel them both, they're both part of the rich tapestry of life.
- Chronology/Time. It varies between his present disillusionment, his past adventures, and talk of the future that he longs to have and what is yet to come- 'death closes all:but something ere the end, Some work of noble note, may yet be done'. The past is talked about in a nostalgic way ('the drunk delight of battle with my peers'), and explains why he feels so dissatisfied now.
- Voice. He uses quite a persuasive, 'call-to-arms' tone - he's trying to charm the mariners into his rhetoric and get them to take him off adventuring again. It's persuasive, assured, powerful - particularly towards the end. It's inclusive as well - 'my mariners', 'come, my friends' - he's really trying to rally them up by directly addressing them. Interestingly, he also sort of sounds like an asshole at the start - he talks of  'a savage race, That hoard and sleep, and feed, and know not me' (side note - this is one of my favourite lines) which makes them sound like lowly animals, robotic, and he says 'an aged wife', after Penelope has waited this long for him. The first 5 lines are basically him slagging everything off.

English Notes: Tennyson Summaries

Here are my 'summaries' for the 6 Tennyson poems that we get in the exam. I actually quite like Tennyson's stuff, and I think the summaries are decently interesting to write, but whatever. Oh, and by 'summary' I mean just the 'intro' paragraph where you're meant to give a brief overview and then purpose or insight or whatever. As usual, disclaimer; I'm just a kid so all of these could be totally wrong, and most of them are pretty clumsily written - you can probably do a far better job than I've done. Anyway, people ask me for these a lot of the time, and they were all over the shop in my folder, so this is a much easier way to structure them.

- Tithonus:
Tennyson explores ideas of envy and insubstantiality that result from being exempt from natural cycles, through the story of Tithonus, plagued by regret and pathetic powerlessness, after receiving immortality but not eternal youth. Perhaps delivering the message to 'be careful what you wish for'? 

- Mariana:
Tennyson's 'Mariana' examines the story of a woman, a victim of circumstance, forsaken by her lover and doomed to remain in a timeless cycle of longing and despair while the world continues to move on without her. Through this Tennyson explores the unrelenting grip of depression and helplessness, while also alluding to the role personal inaction and dependency plays in a 'victim's' psychological entrapment.

- Godiva:
In the poem 'Godiva', Tennyson tells the story of a town, Coventry, that is buckling under the strict rule of a 'grim Earl' and his taxes - only to be saved when his wife, the eponymous Godiva, trades her modesty for the townsfolk's salvation. In an ultimate selfless act she rides naked through the town, and through this poem Tennyson explores ideas of female independence, pride, and status, while perhaps also offering a criticism of modern day sanctimony, hypocrisy, and inaction.

- The Lady of Shalott
In 'The Lady of Shalott' Tennyson examines the story of a woman, tragically cursed to remain insubstantial and isolated, who attempts to seek freedom at the expense of her life. Through this Tennyson explores the familiarity, and even comfort, of oppression, and the dangers that independence and a quest for identity can bring.

- Ulysses
In 'Ulysses', Tennyson tells the story of the king of Ithaca, who returns after twenty years of fighting and journeying home, only to find his new self and old island are not compatible. Tennyson explores ideas of the monotony and insipid languor of a life spent existing rather than living, and the pursuit of adventure and excitement by discarding social responsibilities.

- The Lotos-eaters and Choric song
In 'The Lotos-eaters and Choric song' Tennyson explores ideas of the futility and endless toil of life, through the longing of Ulysses' mariners to forsake their strife-filled adventures and remain in permanent rest on the magical lotus-eaters' isle. Tennyson examines both the appeal of escapism, and its potential as a poisoned chalice; seemingly both glorifying and criticising those who long for the 'safety' of nonchalance and relief from reality.

English Notes: The Kite Runner Key Events

The issue with The Kite Runner, apart from it being just a shite book, is that, due to its length, in the exam you could well be wasting a good 10 minutes sifting through it to find quotes. You don't want to waste your time, and you don't want to end up with shit, half-assed quotes because you didn't have time to find anything better, so here is the key shit of the novel, that could be useful for a range of section B questions. This isn't a full chapter-by-chapter summary of the whole novel, just where shit happens that you could talk about, depending on the question.

Chapter 1:
Retrospective, chronology used to link to the past, we don't yet learn Amir's name; just everyone else's.

Chapter 2:
Description of Hassan, description of their childhood, religion talked about a bit (the thing with the mirror), cultural context talked about a lot (Hazaras), Baba ignoring/excluding Amir

Chapter 3:
Description of Baba, shit about the orphanage, religion talked about again (sin/stealing and how Baba is different to religious guys), Amir being a useless disappointment of a son

Chapter 4:
Parallels between Baba&Ali and Amir&Hassan, more shit about their childhood, Amir being an asshole (the changing of the words, 'imbecile', etc and at the end where he says all Hassan is is an illiterate servant or some shit like that), Rostam and Sohrab, Amir's first story, Rahim Khan being fatherly

Chapter 5:
Context stuff about the russian invasion, Assef first introduced and Hassan does the shit with the slingshot, Amir being a jealous dick (When Hassan gets his lip fixed as his birthday present)

Chapter 6:
First talking about the Kite Tournament, Hassan showing he'll bend over backwards for Amir and letting him win at cards and shit

Chapter 7:
The actual kite tournament, the rape

Chapter 8:
Nothing too interesting, just awkwardness between them. Only thing worth noting is where Amir asks if they can get new servants and Baba loses his shit. Also when Amir asks Hassan to hit him, and he refuses, so he keeps chucking pomegranates at him and Hassan still doesn't fight back, he just picks up a pomegranate and smashes it on his own head.

Chapter 9:
Amir getting Hassan accused of stealing and just being an asshole, Hassan 'saving him' again by taking the blame. Hassan and Ali leaving 

Chapter 10:
Them traveling out of Afghanistan, Amir feeling sick and shit and Baba being all heroic. 

Chapter 11:
Baba hating America, and Soraya introduced towards the end

Chapter 12:
Baba getting cancer, and then Amir deciding to ask for Soraya's hand in marriage

Chapter 13: 
Stuff about inequalities for women (Soraya being treated like a slut, when if a guy did it he'd be a lad) and Baba dies. They think about having a kid, but learn Soraya can't have kids.

Chapter 14:
Rahim Khan rings

Chapter 15:
Cultural context shit

Chapter 16:
Told  from Rahim Khan's perspective, stuff about Hassan as an adult

Chapter 17:
Hassan's letter, and Amir deciding to go and get Sohrab

Chapter 18:
Bugger-all happens here

Chapter 19:
Stuff with Farid. I'd say the only thing worth noting is the last line, where Amir shoves money under their mattress like he did when he framed Hassan - shows character development.

Chapter 20:
Kabul is a shithole now, we're told Sohrab is good with a slingshot like his father.

Chapter 21:
Amir goes back to his old house for a bit, stoning of the woman

Chapter 22:
Assef reappears and Amir stands up to him a little bit. Amir gets the shit beat out of him, but laughs as he's getting hit, then Sohrab does the slingshot thing and gets Assef in the eye, essentially saving them both.

Chapter 23:
Bugger-all happens here.

Chapter 24:
Amir tells Sohrab he wants to take him to America, the bloke who's in charge of this tells him it's near impossible, then Sohrab tries to kill himself.

Chapter 25:
The hospital, then Amir takes Sohrab home, then they fly kites and that's basically it.

English Exam Notes: General Exam Structure

General:

- Pick your questions well, you don’t want to do an intro for one and then change your mind, so it’s worth spending a good 2 or 3 minutes picking.

- Plan your answer before you do it. You get marked on A01, which is how good your actual essay is – so if your structure is all over the shop, and your essay feels confused, then you’re buggered. It’ll be way easier for you if you have a plan too. Definitely worth spending 5 minutes on a plan for section B, and 2 minutes for each of your section A plans.

- Use clear topic sentences (this is the kind of thing that naturally develops from having a plan), clearly state the technique you're gonna talk about, but most importantly say what is significant about it; how it is important in telling the story.


- Don’t use over-sophisticated, flowery language. If you are writing a sentence to sound cool and show off what words you know, don’t write it. You should have ideas that are so good/insightful that they stand out; regardless of the language you use to express them. If you use a word that you aren’t 100% sure of the meaning of, then you’re only gonna look like a mug

- Don’t pick shit quotes. If your quote is shit, then you’ve already buggered yourself. Totally at a loss for which quotes to pick? Pick what you think is the coolest line of the poem/story – there’s probably some sort of technique that’s unique/prominent in that poem that draws you to it.

- Speaking of quotes – learn some, or rather, just make sure you know some. If you know the poems/stories well enough, there will be quotes that just stick in your head – ‘as tho’ to breath were life’, ‘let what is broken so remain’, ‘I am quite sure she felt no pain’ – these stick in my head because I think they’re quite cool. Also ‘the cock sung out’ – no explanation necessary.


- Don’t repeat yourself. This not only wastes time, but makes you sound like a bit of a mug. I repeat myself a fair bit, and fact of the matter is when you do this it’s either because 1. You aren’t quite sure of what you’re saying, or feel like you’ve drifted a bit off topic and need to pull it back in OR 2. You’ve got two points to say, but they’re pretty similar, and you don’t know which to use so you say both. Way to avoid repetition? COMMIT to what you’re saying. Don’t try to overcompensate for feeling a bit unsure of yourself.

Section A – Odd: [21 marks]

- Pick Tennyson or Browning – if you pick the Kite Runner you’re gonna spend a good 20% of your time trying to find quotes, unless you’re properly into the book and know a load of quotes or something. I personally think it’s a piece of shit, so I would never choose Kite Runner for this one, but y’know, up to you.

- You are marked on A02 ONLY. That’s evaluation of narrative methods. This is sort of annoying, cause you can’t really talk about anything cool or interpretations, but oh well.


- Don’t pick shit narrative methods. This is pretty key. If you’re looking at Mariana and thinking about doing a paragraph on alliteration, then you’re probably gonna be buggered. You have to pick the 3 or 4 MOST IMPORTANT ONES. No-one gives a shit about alliteration, alliteration is bollocks – do bigger, more interesting things like ‘setting’, ‘structure’, ‘time/chronology’, ‘voice’.

- Do an intro, but not something that’s boring. Don’t just talk about the events of the poem, talk in a meaningful, insightful way (with abstract nouns and shit) and think about the deeper themes that the writer was trying to explore.


- Don’t bother with a conclusion, you’ll only be repeating yourself – just start your last paragraph with ‘finally’, and that’ll do.

Section A – Even: [21 marks]

- This is the more interesting of the two, here you’ll be given a debate-style question, so make sure you have a debate, get both sides in, get a good amount of evidence in, and be critical with your analysis.


- HAVE A STRONG PERSONAL RESPONSE. This is definitely the best bit of advice for this question. It’s a debate, so freaking make it lively – don’t reel shit off just because you think the examiners are looking for it. If it asks whether or not you think Porphyria’s lover is a bastard, really have a think about it – get your own personal response. Best way to do this is to think what you’d say if someone you know was asking you the question – that way you stop thinking in a way that’s gonna ‘get you a good grade’ and actually think of your own stance on the matter

- Look at all the words in the question. Don't just write a basic bitch argument - really think about what it's asking you and if you can say something cool. I'm still kicking myself for my shitty mock even-numbered question, cause I didn't stop to think about cooler stuff to say. Oh well, live and learn I guess.


- Write an intro setting up the debate, and a conclusion solidifying your stance on the matter.


- You’re assessed on A01, A03, and A04. So basically: Write/structure your essay well, think about alternative interpretations and be unique/insightful, and put some context in. Context is a bugger, cause it’s boring – but don't force it, use shit that supports what you're saying; stuff like the views of women at the time, taboos about religion, mental illness/disability, but to be honest the question sort of sets it up for you.



Section B: [42 marks]


- Here you’re assessed on A01, A02, and A03. This is awesome, because now you don’t have to talk about shitty context stuff. This basically means, write/structure your essay well, talk about narrative methods well, and think about alternative/interesting interpretations of stuff, and you’re golden.


- Do an introduction. The way I do it is pick the most significant method of using [whatever] in each text, and give these a brief mention - say what's significant about the way [whatever] is used, don't just list it.


- Then you’re gonna do 3 mini-essays. You want to write roughly the same for each text – if you’ve got 3 pages on how awesome Porphyria’s Lover is, and 1 page on the Kite Runner, it’s gonna be really obvious that you think the book is a piece of shit. You’ll be spending around 15 minutes on each writer.


- For Lawrence, pick one story – whichever is best for the question. For the poets, pick 1 or 2 poems. I personally would rather go for one, and talk about it in depth, but depending on the question you could go for 2 (e.g if it’s about titles, you might find it easier to talk about 2 poems rather than just 1)


- You don't necessarily have to do a conclusion, but you could maybe say which technique is most effective or something, I don’t know, just something quick. If you've got nothing else interesting to add, just don't bother.