Prose

Question 1

Name the form where the novel is partially told through letters

Answer 1

Epistolary Form

Question 2

Kathy narrates in …….

Answer 2

Retrospect, showing us memory CAN be unreliable.

Question 3

What type of narrator is Kathy?

Answer 3

Partially unreliable- her naivety and avoidance of the truth isn’t purposely misleading but she isn’t 100% reliable.

Question 4

How many narrators are there in Frankenstein?

Answer 4

3, Walton, Victor, The Creature

Question 5

Describe 3 Philosophical concepts in science and ethics that link to both novels.

Answer 5

Utilitarianism: Moral act is one which gives the greatest good to the greatest number of people
Consequentialism: Moral act if it leads to a good outcome rather than relying on strict laws.
Ontology: Are the creature and the clones human beings in the same way as other people?

Question 6

Describe 3 psychological concepts that can be linked to both novels.

Answer 6

The Other: Refers to anything different from yourself/ the norm –> terrifying subversion of what a ‘normal’ person is.
The Uncanny: Freud’s theory that things are eerie if we look at things strangely familiar e.g. robots or dolls make us feel fear/disgust as they remind us of aspects we want to suppress e.g. sexual/violent tendencies.
The Double: Concept of a doppelganger/evil twin but Ishiguro shows us from the perspective of the clone (double) themselves.

Question 7

Discuss political acts that are relevant to Never Let Me Go

Answer 7

1990 Embryology Act- permissible for illnesses to be treated using cloned stem cells
2001 Human Reproductive Cloning Act- prohibited for clone human embryo to be placed in a woman

Question 8

Give 5 important historical dates surrounding scientific advances

Answer 8

1952- first tadpole cloned
1963-first fish cloned
1996- first fully cloned animal Dolly the sheep
1998- Human stem cells first isolated
2002-Human embryos first cloned.

Question 9

What ways does NLMG have dystopian elements?

Answer 9

Nightmarish vision of the world- however it’s set in the past=more disturbing as events have already happened

Question 10

Describe a literary influence on NLMG

Answer 10

Kathy reveals she’s reading Daniel Deronda, where he is known to help other often at the expense of himself which is echoed in the function of clones in society.