Key moments in texts can influence our sense of the general vision and viewpoint.
(a) Discuss the extent to which your sense of the general vision and viewpoint of one text on your comparative course is influenced by one key moment in the text. Support your answer with reference to the text. (30)
(b) Compare the extent to which your sense of the general vision and viewpoint of two other texts on your comparative course is influenced by at least one relationship in each of these texts. Support your answer with reference to your chosen texts.
*Teacher changed 2017 Comparative Question from relationships to key moments. Credit: Caoimhe Moran.
#625Lab. Corrected by experienced examiner, graded as H4 with feedback on how to improve below. You may also like: Leaving Cert English Complete Guide (€).
I have studied two books and a film for my comparative, “Nineteen-Eighty Four” (1984) by George Orwell, “The Handmaid’s Tale” (HMT) by Margaret Atwood, and “Unforgiven” directed by Clint Eastwood. In this essay, I aim to explore the way in which key moments can influence a reader or viewer’s understanding of the General Vision and Viewpoint (GVV). (Avoid flagging what you’re going to do,”In this essay”, engage rather than repeating the questions.)
In a key moment at the beginning of 1984, we as readers (L) experience the gloomy vision of the novel darken even further. In this moment, Winston Smith, the protagonist of the text, is in a room with other members of what is known as the record department where Winston works. In this room, there is a ubiquitous telescreen, a device controlled by the dictators of the novel that is built to take in take in and give out information simultaneously. The moment of the “two-minute hate” begins with a grinding screech, and the face of Emmanuel Goldstein, who is referred to as the “enemy of the people,” appears on the telescreen. A two-minute video is played for the spectators in which Goldstein abuses the leading dictator Big Brother. This causes the spectators to let out ‘uncontrollable exclamations’ of anger, and they even begin to throw things at the telescreen. At the end of the hate, the workers begin a chant, “B.B…B.B…” This unnerving chant fills Winston with horror, but due to the unwavering power of Big Brother and the Party, he has no choice but to partake. During the hate, Winston is filled with a barbaric desire or “kill, to torture, to smash faces in with a sledgehammer.” This particular detail has a colossal effect on my understanding of the GVV as a reader. I felt that it showed the influence Big Brother and The Party had over everybody, even the people who, like Winston, claim to hate them. The moment in its entirety influenced my understanding of the GVV as it reduced the optimism I had originally harbored for a rebellion. The GVV of the novel had been gloomy from the beginning, where Orwell had used words like, “cold,” “vile” and “gritty” in the first few lines of the novel to convey the dark, dreary world in which Winston lives. However, the GVV is darkened by the influence of of (L) the Two-Minute Hate as it shows the tenacious power of The Party, and the disconcerting effect their manipulation has on the people in the Dystopian novel. (Is this the end of section A?)
The second novel I have studied is “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood. In this novel, there is a moment similar to the Two-Minute Hate that also negatively influenced my understanding of the GVV. In this key moment, Offred, who like Winston is the protagonist of the novel, attends a ceremony called the Women’s Prayvaganza, in which an arranged marriage takes places between young girls and men known as Commaders, who, like The Party, have power in the novel. After this ceremony, what is known as the Particicution takes place, and the key moment that can be compared to 1984 occurs.
The Particicution begins like 1984, with a loud, piercing sound – a whistle. However, the hate figure in this case is live rather than on a screen, and the women – known as Handmaids – are invited to attack the hate figure as revenge for the crimes he has allegedly committed. Offred, who like Winston hates the dictators, also has uncharacteristically barbaric thoughts and a desire to “tear, to gouge, rend.” She too is disgusted at herself and the others around her when the whistle is blown and the Particicution comes to an end, “shock, outrage, nausea.” The seemingly unbreakable power of the dictators is once again shown as we see how enthusiastic the other minor characters act in the situation. For example, (Avoid using “for example” it breaks the flow of answer.)in 1984, we witness a girl throw a heavy dictionary at the screen, and call Big Brother her “saviour” and similarly in HMT, one Handmaid has “blood across her cheek and a clump of blond hair in her hand.” Again, my understanding of the GVV was darkened here, as like 1984, the dictators are in full control, and the possibility of a rebellion seems near impossible. (Good use of key moment more engagement with the question needed throughout not just at the end. However all the comparisons made ,while very good, are not between the 2 texts in B, HM and UF. You are not answering question B.)
The film I have studied for my comparative is “Unforgiven,” directed by Clint Eastwood. The film is set in a town known as Big Whiskey, run by the dictating Sheriff, Little Bill Daggett. Although the film is not Dystopian, there are many moments throughout it that can be compared to the other two novels. One key moment in particular can be compared to the Two Minute Hate and the Particicution. In this moment, a cowboy known as English Bob comes to the town in search of a 1,000 dollar reward. The women working in a brothel in Big Whiskey had promised a 1,000 dollar reward to the man who killed the two cowboys they wanted dead as revenge for disfiguring a girl called Delilah’s face with a knife. However, Little Bill publicly unarms and beats English Bob until he, like the live hate figure of the Particicution, cannot move, “he has become an ‘it.’” Like Winston and Offred, it is clear that the majority of the townspeople are disgusted and horrified at Little Bill’s ruthless violence, but they do not speak out due to fear of what would happen if they did. Little Bill is the town’s dictator just as the Commander and the Aunts are the Dictators in HMT, and as Big Brother and The Party are in 1984. Again my understanding of the GVV of the film at this point darkened considerably due to the fact that I was comprehending the sheer strength of the power Little Bill had over the townspeople, and again realising that there was no chance of a rebellion due to fear. (I feel by using 1984 in section B it is encroaching on the connections made between HT and UF. This is what should be dealt with in B. As you have used 1984, the depth of the points made needs to be amplified. You know your KM very well but the engagement needs to be more detailed.)
In conclusion, both novels and the film have many key moments that influenced my understanding of the GVV.
- 22/30. Move the information from B about 1984 to part A and engage with the question inn more depth.
- B.22/40. Concentrate on the chosen 2 texts HT and UF. Make all your links between these 2 in relation to how your sense of GVV was influenced. Reference 1984 but don’t let it take over.
Good expression throughout.
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