Costello Posted May 3, 2012 Report Share Posted May 3, 2012 Surprisingly there's no topic on English yet. So did you choose the poem or prose? How did you find it? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmi Posted May 3, 2012 Report Share Posted May 3, 2012 I had the TZ1 paper, so I can't answer your question about the silkworms.But I also chose the poem, which was about butterflies. I read the poem, then I started to read the prose, but the prose made no sense to me so I went back and did the poem. The poem was so full of things to talk about though! I think I did pretty well on this paper, which gives me a little bit of room for error on paper 2 which I'm weaker on. I said that the theme was something along the lines of life/beauty is short since the father killed the butterfly after it fell on the floor, did anyone come up with a similar interpretation? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Che Posted May 3, 2012 Report Share Posted May 3, 2012 I chose the prose, though I'm unsure of my interpretation. I can share my ideas with anyone who has done it. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hehe101 Posted May 3, 2012 Report Share Posted May 3, 2012 Did the poem for TZ1. I agree with Emy, it made a whole lot more sense than the prose, but the majority of kids in my school did the prose. I talked about the beauty of life as well; more specifically on the beauty of birth. Also I talked about the contrast between the artificial setting and the natural feeling of the birth. I thought it was a beautiful poem. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noxen Posted May 3, 2012 Report Share Posted May 3, 2012 The English A1 HL exam that I had was a little different than the one's described in this thread. The poem was something about owls and butterflies. The prose was an excerpt from John Edgar Wideman's The Fever. Apparently, it was about the Yellow Fever epidemic in Philadelphia in 1793. I talked about how Wideman uses the extended metaphor of the waters of life and the pestilence of the fever to explain how humans cause their own suffering and, in some metaphysical way, caused "The Fever." One of the quotes I remember is "the fever is a drought that consumes us within... the fever grows secretly in our hearts, planted there when someone decided to sell one of us to another."Did anyone else have this particular paper. Any thoughts, other interpretations, etc.? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpenick Posted May 3, 2012 Report Share Posted May 3, 2012 I also chose The Fever. Most of my class wrote about the collective unconscious, as it mentioned the flow of water between all things. I am worried that I saw it too superficially, I wrote about slavery and how the advent of it started the fever, as a punishment for severing our connection with humankind. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey Hein Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 (edited) I had the TZ1 paper, so I can't answer your question about the silkworms.But I also chose the poem, which was about butterflies. I read the poem, then I started to read the prose, but the prose made no sense to me so I went back and did the poem. The poem was so full of things to talk about though! I think I did pretty well on this paper, which gives me a little bit of room for error on paper 2 which I'm weaker on. I said that the theme was something along the lines of life/beauty is short since the father killed the butterfly after it fell on the floor, did anyone come up with a similar interpretation?it wasI chose this poem, and I kind of agree with you, though I took it in a little different direction. I said that it was about how man needs to exercise his power carefully because he can easily destroy the beauty of nature. I was kind of scared though, because a couple of the other kids at my school who said they wrote on the poem didn't even think the father had killed the butterflies at all! But thank you--you reassured me.Oh, and I was wondering if anyone could find a link to this poem--I wanted to reread it. I looked and looked, but all I could find were places to buy the book it's from. Thanks! Edited May 4, 2012 by Jeffrey Hein Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neko_K Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 I chose the prose, though I'm unsure of my interpretation. I can share my ideas with anyone who has done it.Did you do the one on the flood and the fever? If yes, what was your interpretation? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robyah18981 Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 That owl-eyed butterfly poem or whatever made NO sense to me (it was too simple, I cannot analyze William Carlos Williams type poems) but that PROSE (extract from Fever by John Edgar Wideman) was so RICH with vivid imagery and water metaphors and UGH, yes. That has got to be my strongest commentary thus far... Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbiftu Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 I also did the TZ1 Paper, the one with the Butterfly poem. To those who also wrote on the poem: At the end, I'm pretty sure he didn't kill the butterfly? A lot of people capture creatures and put them in jars for display. I'm almost certain that's what happened in the end. I thought the exam was pretty good. There was a lot to talk about with the poem, especially concerning larger themes and connections to the human nature and spirit. I was satisfied Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmi Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 I also did the TZ1 Paper, the one with the Butterfly poem. To those who also wrote on the poem: At the end, I'm pretty sure he didn't kill the butterfly? A lot of people capture creatures and put them in jars for display. I'm almost certain that's what happened in the end. I thought the exam was pretty good. There was a lot to talk about with the poem, especially concerning larger themes and connections to the human nature and spirit. I was satisfied I could have sworn that the father did kill the butterfly. I interpreted the final stanza's action where there's that line that goes something like "the wings flapped, fluttered, and were still" as it not moving anymore? And I could have sworn that earlier in that stanza the poet wrote that the father was going to kill it. Oh well, can't do much about it now Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Award Winning Boss Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 I could have sworn that the father did kill the butterfly. I interpreted the final stanza's action where there's that line that goes something like "the wings flapped, fluttered, and were still" as it not moving anymore? And I could have sworn that earlier in that stanza the poet wrote that the father was going to kill it. Oh well, can't do much about it now It was sleeping Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmi Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 I could have sworn that the father did kill the butterfly. I interpreted the final stanza's action where there's that line that goes something like "the wings flapped, fluttered, and were still" as it not moving anymore? And I could have sworn that earlier in that stanza the poet wrote that the father was going to kill it. Oh well, can't do much about it now It was sleeping You didn't even take the exam! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
opus92fan Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 So, how open is IB to different interpretations of passages? I'm a TZ1 and I did the fever prose passage. I had a slightly different interpretation than the others who have posted here so far. I suppose what I'm asking is are there "right" and "wrong" interpretations of a passage, or do the IB examiners accept different interpretations as long as they are properly explained, developed, cited, etc?In my commentary, I talked about the power of natural forces (the passage personified these) and how they ultimately dominate. I also talked a lot about the narration and the narrator's spiritual view on the cause of the fever as contrasted to "society's" view that certain people brought it over. I talked about how even though the narrator has previous experience with this fever, no one will ask him his opinion because they are so concerned about curing it (trying to beat natural forces in other words). Generally, the narration is confident in his assertions, but the last paragraph really reflected the overall uncertainty of the power of natural forces. I thought that the drum was a symbol for peace/harmony within the natural world, but I wasn't 100% sure how to tie that into the overall effect of the passage so consequently I ignored it. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peanut Butter Jelly Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 So, how open is IB to different interpretations of passages? I'm a TZ1 and I did the fever prose passage. I had a slightly different interpretation than the others who have posted here so far. I suppose what I'm asking is are there "right" and "wrong" interpretations of a passage, or do the IB examiners accept different interpretations as long as they are properly explained, developed, cited, etc?In my commentary, I talked about the power of natural forces (the passage personified these) and how they ultimately dominate. I also talked a lot about the narration and the narrator's spiritual view on the cause of the fever as contrasted to "society's" view that certain people brought it over. I talked about how even though the narrator has previous experience with this fever, no one will ask him his opinion because they are so concerned about curing it (trying to beat natural forces in other words). Generally, the narration is confident in his assertions, but the last paragraph really reflected the overall uncertainty of the power of natural forces. I thought that the drum was a symbol for peace/harmony within the natural world, but I wasn't 100% sure how to tie that into the overall effect of the passage so consequently I ignored it.Yup, you can interpret it any way you want as long as you support it and don't contradict yourself or say something that is clearly wrong (like if someone died in a passage and they really didn't).On the other hand, you do have to analyse the main parts of the passage and I think the drum was pretty important, but I also ignored it (oops). Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
opus92fan Posted May 5, 2012 Report Share Posted May 5, 2012 So, how open is IB to different interpretations of passages? I'm a TZ1 and I did the fever prose passage. I had a slightly different interpretation than the others who have posted here so far. I suppose what I'm asking is are there "right" and "wrong" interpretations of a passage, or do the IB examiners accept different interpretations as long as they are properly explained, developed, cited, etc?In my commentary, I talked about the power of natural forces (the passage personified these) and how they ultimately dominate. I also talked a lot about the narration and the narrator's spiritual view on the cause of the fever as contrasted to "society's" view that certain people brought it over. I talked about how even though the narrator has previous experience with this fever, no one will ask him his opinion because they are so concerned about curing it (trying to beat natural forces in other words). Generally, the narration is confident in his assertions, but the last paragraph really reflected the overall uncertainty of the power of natural forces. I thought that the drum was a symbol for peace/harmony within the natural world, but I wasn't 100% sure how to tie that into the overall effect of the passage so consequently I ignored it.Yup, you can interpret it any way you want as long as you support it and don't contradict yourself or say something that is clearly wrong (like if someone died in a passage and they really didn't).On the other hand, you do have to analyse the main parts of the passage and I think the drum was pretty important, but I also ignored it (oops).True, I suppose. However, I was always told that if you aren't 100% sure about something, just don't talk about it. You're better off not talking about it than making up some random BS that means nothing. But then, because it's an unseen passage, they may have given me the benefit of the doubt. Darn. Oh well. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepykid Posted May 5, 2012 Report Share Posted May 5, 2012 I do not really know why but a lot of my friends chose the fever passage because they said it was much more understandable to them, but when I read it I completely blanked. I instead chose the owl butterflies poem and talked about the theme of deception (the father with gentle hands kills the butterflies in the jar, the ferocious appearance of the butterflies' wings mask that it is extremely delicate, how the speaker starts of in a disconnected tone and language and ends up describing the birth with lots of captivating imagery) and how life can be taken away mercilessly. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheregretfulIBstudent Posted May 5, 2012 Report Share Posted May 5, 2012 When I read the silkworms I thought the poem was talking about bats o.o I didn't know what silkworms were! So I went for the passage. The passage was fine, not too hard but I didn't really have any other choice since the poem was just too confusing for me! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CkyBlue Posted May 5, 2012 Report Share Posted May 5, 2012 I'm changing this thread to an exclusive discussion of TZ1, since there isn't a specific tag and another existing thread already exists for TZ2. Sorry for the inconvenience guys. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
drmar Posted May 5, 2012 Report Share Posted May 5, 2012 Re: Birth of the Owl Butterflies - did anyone comment on the responsibility of man to nature, paralleled to the relationship of father to daughter? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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