Module B: 'A Home In Fiction' Flashcards
Australian author Geraldine Brooks reflects
the qualities of a brilliant speaker in her final Boyer lecture ‘ A Home In Fiction’ (2011) in which she explores the power and value of fiction and language in examining timeless human concerns and emotions.
When
2011
Despite delivering her lecture in an ABC radio broadcast, Brooks’
passion enables her to surpass this barrier as she conveys the immense power of fiction.
A) Immense power of fiction) This is demonstrated through anaphora in the lines
A) “I believe fiction matters. I know it has power… jailers and the despots wouldn’t be so afraid of it.”
A) Effect “I believe fiction matters. I know it has power… jailers and the despots wouldn’t be so afraid of it.”
A) (anaphora) which combined with truncated sentences amplifies the political effect of literature, whilst challenging those who seek to censor the conscience though it provides society.
A) Repeated use of first person I in “I believe fiction matters. I know it has power… jailers and the despots wouldn’t be so afraid of it.”
A) establishes ethos emphasising her credibility and her sincere passion for literature.
Brooks’ lecture is similarly effective in
conjuring an appreciation for fiction and its role in connecting readers to the past. Like Deane, she uses intertextuality to reiterate her message…
B) conjuring an appreciation for fiction and its role in connecting readers to the past. Like Deane, she uses intertextuality to reiterate her message,…
B) referencing Enrst hans Gombrich in the analogy “like lighting a scrap of paper… dropping it into a bottomless well.”
B) Effect Like Deane, she uses intertextuality to reiterate her message,referencing Enrst hans Gombrich in the analogy “like lighting a scrap of paper… dropping it into a bottomless well.”
B) Conveys immense history which has shaped society, whilst highlighting vastness of writing.
B) Brooks’ passionate peroration further highlights this notion as she states
B) “This is what I know: they loved, as I love. And that is as good a starting point as any”
B) Effect Brooks’ passionate peroration further highlights this notion as she states “This is what I know: they loved, as I love. And that is as good a starting point as any”
B) through parallelism between the author and the character Brooks highlights our shared humanity whilst openly exposing her belief that it is her duty to convey untold histories as a way of enriching our society.
C) By combing direct address and high modality in the phrase
C) “You will recognise her- her anger, her sense of injustice, her awareness…” (link to atwood-female protagonists silenced by men)
C) By combing direct address and high modality in the phrase “You will recognise her- her anger, her sense of injustice, her awareness…”
C) Brooks convinces her audience of the absolute power of imagination and fiction in vocalising the injustices of past contexts so as to prevent them from reoccurring.
Furthermore she alludes to how we can find our identity by connecting to the past.
C) Brooks uses evidential reasoning to justify her portrayal of female characters using
C) dirimens copulation in the phrase “Some critics…[complain] my narrator’s voices are too feminist. I urge them to read some court transcripts.”
C) Effect Brooks uses evidential reasoning to justify her portrayal of female characters using dirimens copulation in the phrase “Some critics…[complain] my narrator’s voices are too feminist. I urge them to read some court transcripts.” Effect
C) We discern that fiction has its origin in fact, thus is extremely powerful in portraying timeless issues through the voices of characters and connecting us to our past.
