the craft of writing

Question 1

how could Franz Kafka’s ‘Metamorphosis’ be used in an essay?

Answer 1

• imaginative writing
• rhetorical questions/hypophora
• written as in ‘expressionism’; art movement
• written in Kafka’s signature style; begins with protagonist in a bad situation, and things only continue to get worse as plot progresses
• instinctual of writers to make things work out in the end for the protagonist

Question 2

what are some quotes from Franz Kafka’s ‘Metamorphosis’ that could be referred to in a reflection?

Answer 2

• “When Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from troubled dreams he found himself transformed in bed into a monstrous insect.” - uses the technique of in medias res
• “Gregor’s eyes turned next to the window, and the dull weather - raindrops could be heard beating on the metal window-ledge - made him feel quite melancholy.” - uses the technique of pathetic fallacy
• “Perhaps his parents were sitting at the next table with the chief clerk, whispering, perhaps they were all leaning against the door and listening.” - uses the techniques of repetition and an unreliable narrator

Question 3

how could Margaret Atwood’s ‘Spotty-Handed Villainesses’ be used in an essay?

Answer 3

• discursive writing
• irony/first person/literary illusions/metaphors
• writing about her own experiences with misogyny
• title is a reference to ‘Macbeth’; Lady Macbeth constantly has spots of blood on her hands
• ‘angel’ vs ‘whore’ archetypes

Question 4

how could George Orwell’s ‘Politics and the English Language’ be used in an essay?

Answer 4

• persuasive/informative writing
• cliche/imprecision
• written as an essay, possibly rhetorical essay
• discusses how language can be used as a tool of ignorance
• language can distort political thought

Question 5

how could Gwen Harwood’s ‘Father and Child’ be used in an essay?

Answer 5

• imaginative writing
• enjambment/asyndeton/run-on sentences
• two poems- ‘Barn Owl’/’Nightfall’ ; first is a narrative, second is an ode, and they mirror one another
• relationship with the past
• power of significant memories
• growth, loss of innocence, change

Question 6

what is the key language from the rubric for the The Craft of Writing module?

Answer 6

• versatility
• power
• aesthetics

Question 7

what is versatility in language?

Answer 7

versatility in language refers to the ability of language to adapt or be adapted to many different functions

Question 8

what is power in language?

Answer 8

power in language refers to the ability of language to direct or influence the behaviour of others or the course of events

Question 9

what are aesthetics in language?

Answer 9

aesthetics in language refer to the set of principles of language concerned with the nature and appreciation of beauty

Question 10

what are some quotes from Margaret Atwood’s ‘Spotty-Handed Villainesses’ that could be referred to in a reflection?

Answer 10

• “To avoid the eternal breakfast, some of the characters must cause problems for some of the others.” - uses the technique of personal anecdote
• “If you think I’m flogging a few dead horses - horses which been put out of their pain long ago - let me assure you that this is because the horses are not in fact dead, but are out” - uses the technique of metaphor
• “But is it not, today - well, somehow unfeminist - to depict a woman behaving badly? Isn’t bad behaviour supposed to be the monopoly of men?” - uses the technique of rhetorical question

Question 11

what are some quotes from George Orwell’s ‘Politics and the English Language’ that could be referred to in a reflection?

Answer 11

• “Meanwhile, here are five specimens of the English language as it is now habitually written.” - uses the technique of intertextuality
• “In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defence of the indefensible.” - uses the technique of paradox
• “two qualities are common to all of them. The first is staleness of imagery; the other is lack of precision.” - uses the technique of rationality and a lack of ambiguity

Question 12

what are some quotes from Gwen Harwood’s ‘Father and Child’ that could be referred to in a reflection?

Answer 12

• “Daybreak: the household slept” - uses the technique of pathetic fallacy and foreshadows the name of the second poem (‘Nightfall’)
• “old no-sayer, robbed of power by sleep” - uses the technique of personification
• “those eyes that did not see mirror my cruelty” / “The blank eyes shone once into mine, and slept.” - uses the technique of synecdoche