HL English A1 2013 Paper 1 - Interpretations?

[Yap]

Okay!

So now it has been 24 hours (actually a bit more) since I wrote the exam paper and I am now free to discuss the exam freely

What is your thought about the paper?

I found it quite, hard, to be honest... or at least the prose... I have been analysing the older English A1s and just one A2 and I can say that this year's exam at least was far more closer to the A2 one.

You may ask me, doesn't it make it easier? Well, perhaps, but the language was far less complicated in A2 and A1 and so I found it harder to discuss diction as it was more simplified

This all in all makes it harder to raise topics about structure, and other things as there is less variability.

However, I ended up discussing the prose as a reunion between a boy(man) and a woman and discussed mainly the first part of the extract as I found more literally techniques there compared to the later.

[PurpleVixen]

I did the poem - Language as an Escape from the Discrete, and I'm having second thoughts about my commentary. What did you guys write about?

[Saucy]

I did the poem Soap Suds.

Pretty easy to understand

[13cullisonc]

I am quite confident in my commentary I talked about how the speaker saw the power and effect of language. I did a lot of analysis compared to my practice ones so I didnt quite leave myself enough time for a conclusion which I'm not scared about. My teacher said if the essay is good it won't matter that much but still. I liked the poem but it seemed a bit too surface level for my taste.

[Kelsia]

I chose the Tunnel. I talked about the emphasis on individuality through the use of First Person Narrative Point of View, visual imagery, references, and characterization. I also included some minor literary features.

[cjy]

Anyone do TZ2 English Lit A HL on Soap Suds?

[Harsh Agarwal]

Yes I did Soap Suds. That was quite interesting and captured me to the fullest. It really took me to my childhood memories.

It was a flashback and there was a lot of analysis on structure, diction, language. What did you all do ?

[cjy]

Yeah I'm not sure how mine went frankly. Could have been a 4 or a 7. Who knows?

[TykeDragon]

I did a commentary on the prose extract - with Tsige. I focused on the passage in 3 sections, shifting mood from tension to joy to sadness, and said that the theme was fate/spontaneity of the future, shown through events such as death of child/coincidental reunions, and the unpredictable mood swings.

[cjy]

Soap Suds was good. I enjoyed it, although I think I messed my structure up

[Matsu]

I did Soap Suds. Talked about diction, syntax, symbolism and sound. I interpreted the poem somewhat negatively. Said it was about the tragedy of growth and man's inability to escape time. Quite confident actually, though I only filled up 4 pages. Only part I'm not too sure of was I said the experience was synesthetic because of how the olfactory quality of the soap suds evokes a visual and even auditory experience for the persona.. it might not be correct because reminiscing might not exactly be the same as a visual and auditory experience. Small part of my commentary, but it's been bugging me a bit. What do you guys think?

[GeekChloe]

I did the Tunnel by William Gass (the prose piece). Poetry just isn't my thing.

I talked a lot about family dynamics, and how the ice cream flavour chosen for each family member was allegorical for their position in the family/personality traits. I.e., the child chose rainbow because enjoyed randomness and indecisiveness (I also talked about the juxtaposition of deciding on indecisiveness)...the mother with chocolate as a "narcotic" indicated her distance or even withdrawal from the family, as well as her ability to be manipulated, even. The father was ambiguous because we never learn what he chooses, and how this reflects him as a character...

I also compared the character of the child and his love of chaos, per se, with the structure, narration and language in the extract because it varied a lot as well. Discussed cynicism and maturity (i.e. the father) vs. youth and innocence. I finished with a Tabula Rasa reference, which made me happy Hehe.

Plus, the typical...imagery, sentence structure, etc...at times I was worried my answer was a little out there, but I was actually enjoying myself when writing it and I usually don't feel too great about English, LOL. So we will see.

[Award Winning Boss]

I did the soap suds poem. I quite liked it.

I wrote about the words and stuff

[Guest Fiorella]

I did the The Tunnel as well and like GeekChloe pointed out, my main theme was how the parents (mostly the father) views/perspectives differenced so much from child's. I used how they each viewed the icecream and their thoughts on this to show it. I used characterization, tone, visual imagery enhanced by similes and the extended metaphor/symbol of the rainbow!

I honestly don't know what to predict for myself...in my class we had more practice for paper 2 than paper 1...so I felt more comfortable with today's exam. However, seeing as though my teacher predicts a 5 or a 6 for me, I'll give myself a 5 for paper 1. I could have done better, I had to write my conclusion in 5 minutes lol quite the challenge. Please reply to me if any of you had somewhat similar interpretations to mine!

[dasreaper22]

I wrote on the tunnel and i kept my analysis close to the basic literal aspects of the prose. I Basically said how the author used diction and imagery to communicate the character's disdain towards a certain flavour of ice cream. Some where in there i discussed how his interpretation reflects his great level of knowledge of certain flavours of ice cream. And then for the other half, I said the author used metaphors and diction to communicate the character's passion, love and desire for the other rainbow ice cream. I should have said that he saw a level of perfection and that he craved the rain bow flavour =/

[Guest Fiorella]

So I mentioned the some of the stuff you did (desreaper22) like diction enhancing the visual imagery...hopefully that counts for something lol. I think you're alright if you gave some sort of importance to the rainbow flavor!

[dasreaper22]

thanks i hope so! English is the one course that i am really scared about because i was border lining a 4 on the writing assignment. And if i get below a 4 i will lose my uni offers .... I can't wait till my physics exam on monday !

Edited May 3, 2013 by dasreaper22

[JackalJack]

I wrote about he prose passage called "The Tunnel" by William Gass. I looked at the poem and I said, "Noooo nooo." Then prose

I'm unsure if I went way too literal with my analysis because I discussed my theme about how much a good thing can actually be a bad thing. I talked about the juxtaposition of the ice-cream flavours between Rainbow and that other flavour when that character was describing the taste and then talked about how this character loves the Rainbow ice-cream because he advocates for it so much. Then I talked about the symbolism of the Rainbow representing popularity and redundancy as its been repeated so many times throughout the piece and that the reason the father is so mad is because he makes the Rainbow ice-cream so much and he considers the ice-cream as terrible. Finally I talked about how Gass juxtaposed the pro-rainbow to the non pro-rainbow ice-cream and backing up my point of how the character is now sick of the ice-cream.

I don't remember exactly what I wrote but that's close to it. I know I forgot some stuff though, like tone, lit devices, some plot points, quotes, etc.

I should have mentioned that the character was on the verge of getting sick of the ice-cream but oh well.

I also had no time to incorporate why the prose cut off at that last line so that was a bummer.

I'm thinking I did terrible on this because my analysis sounded so literal, someone correct me if I actually went in-depth or not because I'm at a conundrum and will discover how I did when I get IB mark back. I'm border-lining at a 4 I think, I have no idea but I was predicted that and I hope I can make it and get that uni credit.

Edited May 3, 2013 by RedTopHats

[BJD]

This Tunnel prose is this for a different time zone because mine involved a character named Tsigie

[dasreaper22]

red top....i think you ripped your commentary with your interpretation...I know no one in our school would have been able to think of that! I think you will get a 6 minimum on paper 1!