Common Test

All Murder lectures should be in the KM document library, fyi. When revising, remember that theme and style should be interrelated (i.e. style serves to reinforce themes and themes explain certain stylistic structure choices). Group the information you have under various categories and remember, these categories are always interrelated. Create mindmaps and you find that all these various elements of the text are somewhat linked.

Your common test question tests you on whether you can pick the right links to discuss. Just because the question asks you on specific things doesn't mean that you can't talk about related things. Sometimes, it's all a matter of finding a way to phrase these related things so they will be relevant to the question. Break down the questions and look at related concepts and see if you can bring in these related concepts into discussion.

So, general pointers for common test answering:

1) READ QUESTIONS. BREAK DOWN KEY TERMS OF QUESTION. EXAMINE HOW QUESTION IS PHRASED. What is the question asking for? 'Discuss' and 'Examine' are interchangeable. 'Evaluate' asks you to assess the extent and degree of something, so you can't just put down something generic for your thesis in reply, e.g. "it's good" or "it's true". How good/true is it? Explain your judgment. You have to look at the key terms and find something to say about these terms.

2)GENERATE INFORMATION. Think about what you know about these terms and generate links on related concepts. See if you can bring these related concepts in.

2)FIND SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT THESE KEY TERMS/ FIND THE ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION. This will constitute your thesis statement/main thing that you are arguing.

3)PLOT YOUR POINTS/ TOPIC SENTENCES FOR PARAGRAPHS ACCORDING TO THIS THESIS STATEMENT. Your entire essay should be a systematic, detailed, well-supported, well-developed explanation of your thesis statement.

4) END OFF WITH A SATISFACTORY BANG (not a whimper). Finish off -- DO NOT REPEAT YOUR THESIS STATEMENT WORD FOR WORD -- with your thesis statement rephrased in a way that does not make it seem too curt or abrupt.

20th century motif (not necessarily common test related)

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper. -- The Hollow Men, T.S. Eliot

One of the recurring ideas in 20th century literature is the sense of futility and deflating/anti-climatic disappointment due to the disillusionment of ideals or the rejection of expectations of realising a glorious future/consequence. Reality falls short of promises and possibly comes across as an absurd farce.

Consider this in the context of your texts:

Murder -- think of this text as Eliot's reaction to the above. The Chorus reflect some of this disillusionment. Becket says "Human kind cannot bear very much reality."

Owen -- many of poems reflect this idea, esp. with the bitterness of soldier-personas taken in by the propaganda, only to end or live the rest of their lives ignominously or in despair.

Heart of Darkness -- Marlow's feelings towards the entire colonial endeavour (seen in instances such as the French Man-Of-War firing into what seems to be nothing).

Poetry Reading

Anyone up for reading poetry? Ms Jasmine Seah is having an open mic poetry session at the Arts House with a friend on the 5th of April, 7 pm, and she would like one or two students to read. If anyone's interested, please get back to me ASAP.

Common Test

Nothing much to say at this point, except that if you haven't started revision, then you're shooting yourself in the foot. Bring out those Murder and Wilfred Owen notes and critical readings, and more importantly MAKE YOUR OWN NOTES. You can expect the questions to be styled the way they were during your tests and assignments.

If you're still traumatised over the PC, stop whining. The teachers will take the shortened time limit into consideration when marking. And no talk about not encountering drama, because you've done a bit before at the start last year and this year, with Duchess of Malfi. You have a brain to figure out what's going on (i.e. the conflict).

I've also heard things about some of you guys not reading your texts like that -- I know that's true in my class. What's up with the complacency?!

Can we look beyond the common test and see all this preparation and exercise as necessary steps leading to the A levels? Nobody ever said it would be easy, and that you can bullshit and get away with things. And if you're just looking to pass, then I suggest you go think harder about what you're doing with your time. Be responsible for your own progress and learning. Get your act together. Especially now, when you guys are eighteen or going onto eighteen and about to enter university. Don't wait till things are too late. And trust me, when things are too late, the regrets can last a lifetime.

Happy Valentine's Day

Something outside of class for a while, to commemorate Valentine's Day. Back in my JC days, my lit tutor played the video of Il Postino for Lit instead of conducting class, a 1994 Italian film about the unlikely friendship between renowned poet Chilean Pablo Neruda, who becomes exiled in a small Italian village for his Communist beliefs, and an Italian postman. The film is essentially about poetry and friendship. Here are some clips from the film:

Did anyone catch the literary allusion?

(Towards the end of the film, when Pablo Neruda leaves the village)


And here's one of Neruda's poems (translated):

If You Forget Me by Pablo Neruda

I want you to know
one thing.

You know how this is:
if I look
at the crystal moon, at the red branch
of the slow autumn at my window,
if I touch
near the fire
the impalpable ash
or the wrinkled body of the log,
everything carries me to you,
as if everything that exists,
aromas, light, metals,
were little boats
that sail
toward those isles of yours that wait for me.

Well, now,
if little by little you stop loving me
I shall stop loving you little by little.

If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you.

If you think it long and mad,
the wind of banners
that passes through my life,
and you decide
to leave me at the shore
of the heart where I have roots,
remember
that on that day,
at that hour,
I shall lift my arms
and my roots will set off
to seek another land.

But
if each day,
each hour,
you feel that you are destined for me
with implacable sweetness,
if each day a flower
climbs up to your lips to seek me,
ah my love, ah my own,
in me all that fire is repeated,
in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,
my love feeds on your love, beloved,
and as long as you live it will be in your arms
without leaving mine.

For tutorial

Ms Chua says that she's going to start off lecture from the Congo, so our aim in class is to get to the Congo.

(If that doesn't make sense, it means you should READ YOUR TEXT.)

(By the way, your lecture test turned out horrendous.)

Lit A -- beginnings of knowledge in the Heart of Darkness

Today's tutorial for Lit A didn't seem like it was going anywhere, but we just have to keep in mind that everything should eventually make some sense. Besides the atrocities of the Congo, can everyone keep the idea of knowledge and knowing at hand : examine how the characters know, how Marlowe knows, what they know, what should be known, how we, as the reader, get around to knowing what Conrad wants us to know, and the idea that nothing can be truly known at all. Also, contrast the processes of knowing with the processes of understanding (i.e. are they essentially different, or are they the same thing?). What kinds of knowledge or ways of transmitting knowledge are there? Sounds profound, difficult and possibly useless and ridiculous, but hey, we're not doing H2 lit for nothing. There's a reason why Heart of Darkness occupies a space of respect in the literary canon and why people gasp whenever you mention tackling the text.

I think the construction of the narrative itself performs its point on knowledge -- consider the assessment of Marlowe's attitude (i.e. outside the kernel); it's almost like a message to the reader on how to read the text. If you, as the reader, keep wanting to see if there's a point to this text, that the meaning is within the shell of the text, waiting to be cracked and revealed, then perhaps you'll never get the "point" of this text.

When Annabel said, "Marlowe cares", unlike the other seamen, it's true; Marlowe does care, but what does he care for? What has been affected by his experience? The natives? Or something else?

Read the introduction for a better understanding on how to approach the text. Also, read it because there will be a short test during lecture this week on the Intro.

Tutorial this week

We are going to look at HOD, so please bring your text to class (annotation copy).

Here's some news about your common test: we'll be giving you a lecture test in week 8 (PC) and testing you on both Murder in the Cathedral and Wilfred Owen during the lit common test. No comparison questions though, just set text questions.

Wilfred Owen in the bookshop

Hi everyone,

The Poetry of Wilfred Owen and The Duchess of Malfi should be in the school bookshop so get your copies if you haven't done so.

Also, I will be compiling critical readings on Owen soon, but don't expect them in by common test.