Other points

Question 1

Great Expectations

Answer 1

Writing for money- worked as a reporter for two london papers
Title puts the emphasis not on the life of its main character but on the delusion that propelled him
Extraordinary- with caricatures but with a fairytale structure
Retrospective narrative
Pip is to be admired for wanting to better himself but not for being a snob when he achieves this
Getting into debt = moral failure
Both victims of society
The novel is fundamentally a tragedy

Question 2

Wife of Bath

Answer 2

1st person narrative
Irony
Wob- irony/ patriarchy/ no development
Multilayer narrative- tale and teller
Performance- affects rhyme and rhythm of play/poem etc
Written in middle English (mix of french/latin/german)
His work is often regarded as ironic/witty/sharp/thought provoking
whereas Chaucer the pilgrim is naive/foolish/innocent/compliant/takes things at face value/easily impressed
iambic pentameter
rhyming couplet
kent dialect

Question 3

Billy Collins

Answer 3

Is any of collins’ work original? always follows the same type of format
Writing for money/ commercialised
Billy collins- no development/ never a set persona/ unknown voice
Short lyrics
“The most popular poet” the new york times
“Easily the most accessible poet”
Insecurity- reflected in the rival poet
Materialism in 21st century
Reflects on history- troubadour and brooklyn museum of art
Can be very self absorbed- rarely talks about anyone else
Unreliable narrative- never really him/always a persona
Therefore not much development

Question 4

Billy Collins Critics

Answer 4

“You find your voice when you are able to invent this one character who resembles you…but is not equivalent to you”
“He is a daydreamer, obviously unemployed, plenty of time on his hands, spends a lot of time by himself.”
“He is kind of a remodeling of this earlier Romantic character, the poet who would find himself daydreaming on a wayside bench somewhere”

Question 5

The Dead

Answer 5

Distance between the living and the dead
Distance between estella and pip
Only addressed as a concern in collins’ work
Other works live in the present and accept death as merely something that happens
Sinister undertones- they are waiting for us to die

Question 6

Workshop

Answer 6

Mocks poetry
Analyses and breaks down his own poetry
Context changes as the writer gets paid and writes to please an audience
Poetry should be more accessible