Unseen Prose Flashcards
Key Themes of Unseen Prose
War, personal and social identity, changing morality, gender, class race, ethnicity, political, rebellion
Diachronic
Concerned with the way in which language has developed over time
Dynamic structure
Sequence of events- usually a series of ‘cause and effect’ events that create the plot.
Symmetric structure
Network or threads that run through the text.
DUFFY- Context
The eldest of 4 brothers
Raised in Stafford
Raised Catholic
Studied at Liverpool university
Poet Laureate
LGBT
The Long Queen
About Queen Elizabeth I and the influence she had, the reign she had over her women
“Time for a husband. Long live the Queen”
Personification of time for a husband rather than a man. Links to her being the virgin Queen, unwilling to give up her power for a man.
“No girl growing who wasn’t the apple of the Long Queens eye”
The Queen protective of the young girls she reigns over, symbolic of her loss of childhood.
Elizabeth I seen as illegitimate.
Women mentioned in ‘Beautiful’
Princess Diana, Helen of Troy, Cleopatra, Marilyn Monroe
‘The Diet’ context
Struggle of anorexia
Oppression of women by society
Diet culture
Struggle of identification
Theonomy
A religious government.
Patronymic
Name derived from a male ancestor
Puritan context in THT
Atwood feels she has a connection to Puritanism
17th century New England
Dedicated to Mary Webster, puritanism connection
Witchcraft
Presidential elections
1976 Carter election- milestone for the evangelical Christians
Disappointed with Carters policies
NO opposition to Pro Choice or church- state divide, this prompted Reagans candidacy in 1980.
The Moral Majority
Worked on behalf of Reagan and encouraged church goers to switch political allegiances.
Billings in moral majority as a religious advisors became involved in Department for Education.
