English A Lit - HL Paper 1

[ohmygoats]

I didn't get a chance to finish it though (ran out of time). Does anyone know roughly how many marks that'll lose me? No conclusion and very little about the second half of the poem :/

[Loganator]

Oh man, Haha I regret chosing the poem (TZ1 - Watching Dolphins) since apparently the prose hear was much easier. But I was able to understand the whole idea behind the poem and talked about aural imagery, symbolism, colours and some extended metaphor & I'm just hoping for a 4 lol

[America Singer]

Did anyone do the prose (An invisble sign of my own by Aimee Bender) for TZ1?

I did this one, although I'm not quite sure I analyzed it "correctly" I mainly talked about what literary devices the author used in order to show Mona's alienation from the world as a result of her OCD. Now that I'm talking to people about it though, it seems it was supposed to be more of the initiation to becoming a woman or something.

I analyzed about the colors, the numbers and her alienation from the world as well! I didn't talk about her becoming a woman at all..

Wait, what OCD? I mean it's an interpretation after all, so as long as you support your claim with textual proof than you are good to go. I talked about how the mother is given a nearly omniscient role (ex. she knows that a lie is a lie), and that even though she kick Mona out of the house, she still continues on and is associated with the haunting nature of the new apartament. I went more abstract, but also talked a lot about the symbol of the bed and the recurring number 19.

Throughout the excerpt, she did quite a large amount of repetitive actions that could be classified as obsessive compulsive behaviors. For example, she was not satisfied until she did actions multiple times, etc. Not sure if it's right though...

It is right, I did not notice it at the first time. This can be attributed to many different things though, it all depends on the way you looked at it. Overall though it seems that it was not the hardest one ever. I feel good about it, and think that since I did have backed-up conclusions, it should be fine. We all made it far, let's be honest

Would analyzing the setting and like the bed the tree, the house as a reflection of her coming of age and her mother as the motivation for to do it, over all what her mother did was a loving action so that Mona could move on and become an adult.

[J500]

I did Into Silence too! I talked about the issues that are caused due to Janey's disability.

[andsoshewrote]

I didn't get a chance to finish it though (ran out of time). Does anyone know roughly how many marks that'll lose me? No conclusion and very little about the second half of the poem :/

I depends on what you did manage to have time for. Look at the rubric and, no matter how scary it is (at least for me) try to grade your achievements taking the lack of ending and conclusion into account. I think that might give you a better understanding of the examiner's position as well, and might relieve some anxiety.

I mentioned enjambment, in the sense that the continuation from each line to the next represents the lack of beginning and end to the phases of his life, and provides the reader with an understanding that only in retrospect does the reader know what the significant memories are.

Additionally, I also focused most of my commentary on the poets use of devices to describe his personal memories as the speaker, to the readers, i.e. through the use of various forms of imagery.

I'm hoping it works out

[Lazuli]

Did anyone do the TZ1 poem, Watching for Dolphins by David Constantine? If so, what did you talk about?

Yes, I did!

I used TPCASTT as a model and talked about the connotations, shift, and theme. I had a really long paragraph for connotations where I commented on allusions, diction (use of sea specific words), imagery, figurative language and some other stuff like lack of rhyme scheme and meter.

Then, for the shift, I talked about how the pronouns changed from one to we and our (if that's correct?) There was some pronoun shift and I talked about what its implications where.

Somehow, although I wrote 8 pages on the poem, I'm having a hard time remembering what specifically I wrote about...

What about you?

I did that one too, although I think there was a rhyme scheme! It just shifted from stanza to stanza.

After its character implored the sea.

All, unaccustomed, wanted epiphany,

Praying the sky would clang and the abused Aegean

Reverberate with cymbal, gong and drum.

We could not imagine more prayer, and had they then

On the waves, on the climax of our longing come

Sea and epiphany, Aegean and then, drum and come, so that stanza was AABCBC.

[natasha64]

i did the TZ1 poem " watching for dolphins" and wrote about the desire for freedom by at the structure with the 6, 6 line stanzas and the use of enjambment ( although i couldn't remember the name of it at the time), the child and dolphin imagery, and the poems progression. i think it went well but I wont know until the marks come back

[pitapocket]

I did Into Silence as well.

I talked about the argument that was occurring in the present which had the reader wonder why, until the following paragraphs with the help of flashbacks try and explain the initial "problem". The author first exposes us to the tension between the two parents, and what Janey felt about; how her disabilities were "taken care" of by taking her to Talagon(?) and then how her mother was disinterested in her learnings as opposed to her father who learned to speak to her on the train - thus tying us back to the beginning where the mother took it as 'an offence' that Janey's father can talk to her but she couldn't.

which kinda got me confused - the mother wasn't interested in learning what Janey did right she was happy she (Janey) could read lips and understand her mum and "that's all that matters" and then Janey (described with great diction) asked what about her mum understanding her! So, bottom line - her mum was a slow learner but by the time of the quarrel between the two she learned how to understand Janey/???

Oh and in terms of literary devices I thought it was interesting how there was no imagery whatsoever but just feelings and sensory things all around; the smoke surrounding and all that. I wasn't sure if Janey was blind but I mentioned the absence of vivid explicit imagery perhaps because of that.

Edited May 8, 2014 by pitapocket

[ibsurvivor2014]

Did anyone do the poem "Better days", and if so what were your concluding remarks?

I did better days, basically I wrote about nostalgia, aging, regret and stuff like that! what did you put?X

[Alwaysanexttime]

Did anyone do the poem "Better days", and if so what were your concluding remarks?

Yep. I talked about the overall development of nostalgia and how the first memory moment was a representation of his adolescence and how he possibly dislikes the memory of it, and this in combination with the second section portrays the hardship he went through during this period. In the last section of the poem I talked about how he appreciates the serene nostalgic moment in the diner, and the ending line to the poem conveys the perpetual thoughts of better days he now has in heaven.

[SeniorStatus14]

Did anyone do the prose (An invisble sign of my own by Aimee Bender) for TZ1?

I did!!! Oh my gosh! I loved it! I felt it was so easy. I loved the symbol of "19" they used. Although, I did get a little confused on why she was knocking on the plant. (I said it was like she might have been pretending that it was like knocking on her mother's door for help) and I got a little confused on the part where she was talking about drugs. (I put something along the lines of, when you move out you do something and you think you'll be fine, but 5 seconds later you feel as though you need to call for help and make sure you're doing things properly) but those were the only two parts I had problems with!

[judIB]

Did anyone do the poem "Better days", and if so what were your concluding remarks?

I did! I said the speaker used overwhelming/gross imagery to imply that his teenage-hood wasn't as idyllic as it maybe first appears; though he used to reminisce about it when coming into the struggle of early adulthood, now he is mature/in a stable place he realises what is truly valuable (hard work/artistry/independence, as illustrated by the old artist). Also talked a bunch about enjambment + rhyme.

I did! I thought it was a good poem.

I basically talked about what ohmygoats talked about..reminiscing etc and also how (if I remember correctly) we can't choose our memories as whether good or bad they return to "haunt" us. I also distinguished between what we want to remember, and what we're forced to remember as he/she was talking about it being against his/her will.

Obviously, I said this in better words and it was more comprehensive than what I just wrote..but that's the basic outline lol

What did you do?

[nikekim]

Did anyone do the poem "Better days", and if so what were your concluding remarks?

I did the poem! In general I mentioned 'coming of age' as the central theme and also placed a focus on reality vs. memory and how a person's strong bond to the natural world weakens as we grow older.