Belonging Study Guide '09 - related material (includes "Numb" analysis). (1 Viewer)

[Schoey93]

Hi HSC '09ers and others,

if you haven't already finished studying belonging or would like some useful advice for the final HSC English Exam Paper 1, then you have come to the right place.

Related Material for Belonging (Suggested)

• The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
• What does blue feel like? by Jessica Davidson
• Numb [lyrics] by Linkin Park
• Liar Liar [with Jim Carey - please hear me out on this one!]

Reasons to use these various texts as related material

• The Time Traveller's Wife is a science-fiction romance. It deals with the anguish and despair caused by a man named Henry DeTamble, who time travels when his biological clock periodically resets every few days. He has rare chromo impairment, and his wife met him when she was 6 and he was 36. Henry met her in the present, when he was 28 and she (Claire) was 20. This novel relates to belonging as it questions the need to belong? Does Henry really want to belong? Does he want to be normal and never time travel? And, most importantly, this novel shows how two very different people can function in a single society together, be married across decades and, ultimately, belong and make the most of life. They do want to belong, and do anything they can to be normal, despite Claire knowing she would marry Henry over five years before he actually proposed to her.
• What does blue feel like? Is the ultimate verse novel. Funny, raw, touching, this is the perfect text for belonging as the storyline focuses mainly on Char (I think that's her name), short for Charlotte, who suddenly finds herself rather depressed for no reason (why she became depressed is never actually explained, she just became bored and got sad IMO). Char tries to fight her feelings and ward off depression by drinking gallons of alcohol at a time and having orgy after orgy with her new boyfriend, Jim. She cannot do it; she just does not fit in. She gets frustrated, gets sadder, and loses focus on obtaining a good Year 12 result (it is set in QLD). However, she perveres, caves to her mother's begging and sees a professional psychologist because the school counsellor would not sit with Char in silence - she told Char to "go away, if you don't have anything to say". The new shrink helps Char immensely...and her journey to belong in society and not stick out like a sore thumb begins at this point!
• Numb by Linkin Park is an excellent song to do, because you can use a lot more quotes as it is a catchy song, which is easy to remember. Also, songs are generally much easier to critically analyse than novels. (The exception is the verse novel, such as the aforementioned what does blue feel like? which are excellent to analyse and you can be extremely insightful. With a full-blown novel, you can of course still quote, but you have to focus more on direct incidents, the general plot and character development rather than the actual sound of the words and their effect on you.) Here are the lyrics to Numb:

Numb lyrics

I'm tired of being what you want me to be,
Feeling so faithless lost under the surface
I don't know what you are expecting of me
Put under the pressure of walking in your shoes
(Caught in the undertow just caught in the undertow)
Every step that I take is another mistake to you
(Caught in the undertow just caught in the undertow)

[Chorus]
I've become so numb I can't feel you there
Become so tired so much more aware,
I'm becoming this all I want to do
Is be more like me and be less like you

Can't you see that you're smothering me
Holding too tightly afraid to lose control
Cause everything that you thought I would be
Has fallen apart right in front of you oo, oo
(Caught in the undertow just caught in the undertow)
Every step that I take is another mistake to you
(Caught in the undertow just caught in the undertow)
And every second I waste is more than I can take

[Chorus]
I've become so numb I can't feel you there
Become so tired so much more aware
I'm becoming this all I want to do
Is be more like me and be less like you

And I know
I may end up failing too
But I know
You were just like me with someone disappointed in you

[Chorus]
I've become so numb I can't feel you there
Become so tired so much more aware,
I'm becoming this all I want to do
Is be more like me and be less like you

[Chorus]
I've become so numb I can't feel you there
I'm tired of being what you want me to be
I've become so numb I can't feel you there
I'm tired of being what you want me to be

Some points to note about Numb - Linkin Park

• The song is essentially about being who you are and not changing yourself so that you appear more attractive to others.
• However, the song also has the theme of belonging running through it
• Comment on things such as:
• "I don't know what you are expecting of me / put under the pressure of walking in your shoes" helps create a sense that the song's persona is confused and is unaware that he has a right to belong and function as a valuable member of society. "Walking in your shoes" reinforces the idea that he does not feel he fits into society as who he is; therefore he changes himself to suit a friend’s/relative’s/girlfriend’s/higher person’s needs and is a lot less happier as a result. A very powerful image of a man walking in shoes too big for him, and stumbling down the footpath, is created in the responder’s mind. This idea of wearing shoes “too big to fill” communicates the idea that some challenges are, perhaps, too large to overcome and although the human response to this is often to give up, we as people should persevere. The male persona of the song needs to persevere and try his best to belong as who he is, not a fragment of himself created merely to please other, shallow people.
• The repetition of “I’m tired of being what you want me to be” reinforces the idea that changing ourselves to suit others needs or wants has adverse effects on not only our general health and wellbeing, but our personalities as well. The repetition of this line is very effective, and often paired with “I’ve become so numb I can’t feel you there” communicates a deeper message of hatred for the person who has done this to the song’s persona. “I can’t feel you there” indicates that he does not know who he is anymore, and cannot look at the person who has done this to him. The effect of the repetition of these two lines on the responder is to create a tense atmosphere that is quite pleasant for listeners as it gives the song power as a story. People love stories and this song is a real story, a powerful journey to belong, and this repetition is one of the chief reasons why this song works so well as an actual story. Repetition makes the concept of belonging be emphasised, and thus the song can be used to highlight this important issue in society.
• See how much detail you can go into? I’ve only just scratched the surface – English Advanced students should definitely go further than that, but this is the standard that Bands 5 and 6 English Standard students require.

Liar Liar
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Liar Liar is a wonderful text to use for the AOS Belonging. Not only is it funny, it communicates issues important to society and questions our need to belong.
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Fletcher, the film’s protagonist, is a lawyer who makes his living through lying in court and in his personal life.
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Especially disappointing is how Fletcher always lets his son Max down by only rarely visiting him.
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Fletcher and Max share an unmatched bond – comment on “the claw”, if you like.
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Fletcher questions whether he really enjoys spending time with Max. “How ‘bout that? I really do wanna see him!”
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Fletcher feels that lying is an essential part of adult living in today’s world and that it is a vital tool to help him belong and function as a member of society.
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Fletcher is proven wrong when he feels pangs of guilt after winning a case for a client, even though he did not lie, he sees the damage lying does to families and the further damage caused by greed.
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Max and Fletcher’s love for one another is emphasised in the final scenes where Fletcher dashes to the airport to chase down Jerry, his ex-wife Audrey and his son Max.
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Together, Max and Fletcher belong, as they are united by love and a desire to spend time together. This sounds corny, but I believe it to be “true”.
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]I only recommend Liar Liar to students very good at film analysis, as if you use it as related material, you should really go much deeper than I have with the analysis and comment on how do the film techniques used in Liar Liar create a sense that belonging is or is not an essential part of human life?

I hope this helps. I may write some more or start a new thread on the Core Study of a Text for the Curious Incident of the dog in the night time and Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

 

[Schoey93]

Please note that I am in year 10. However, this does not make my study advice and study options void. I have a keen interest in English and love writing short stories (I have written about two dozen of them, then edited most of them). Not to mention that I also have two girl friends (friends who are female) in Year 12, who have study belonging and we have discussed their first essays on the concept during recess/lunch in our group of six.

Suggestions on how to use this thread:
- Say what related material you have used and WILL use in the exam (or not, it is fine to be private about this)
- Suggest ways to study effectively (not "study hard", we all know from Year 9 that that's a waste of time! (Suggest something other than doing past papers for once, that's the best way to study yes we all know that by now, but there are ways to prepare for actually doing the past papers! )
- Make lists of synonyms to help you show an articulated vocabulary in Paper 1 and in Paper 2, as well as the English Extension paper.
- Assess the valididity of my advice and suggestions.
- Suggest specific alternative related material such as visual art (paintings, sculptures, etc.) or historic sites (?).

Thank you for your help if you do end up contributing - it should help others. Please note that this thread is far removed from the "Related Material suggestions" thread; THIS is about study technique, helping each other succeed in English and treating each other with respect, while contributing valuable study resources.

 

[kaz1]

For Numb wouldn't you have to analyse the music melody, rhythm, bass and all that stuff?

 

[bored of sc]

For Numb wouldn't you have to analyse the music melody, rhythm, bass and all that stuff?

Not really. The dux of english at our school did song lyrics but still managed a band 6 (and didn't analyse musical concepts, ironically he was a musician).

By the way, excellent job original thread poster.

I'm doing television series 'Summer Heights High' created and written by Chris Lilley and popular song 'Mad World' version by Roland Orzabal as my related texts. I'm thinking of doing a novel and/or static image too just to broaden my horizons.

'The Time Traveller's Wife' sounds awesome. I think I might use it as a related text. So thanks a tonne.

 

[Schoey93]

You're welcome. Yeah, I didn't go into too much depth with the "Numb" analysis, mainly because I haven't listed to the song really closely. And I'm more of a words man than a music man.

I can, however, play piano and sing, funny that. If you want to do extremely well you should do into quite some depth of course. Analysing techniques is not essential, as bored_of_sc said. "The Time Traveller's Wife" is very awesome! My Uncle Adrian recommended it to me. He reads some great books, so I chose to act on his suggestion and I am glad that I did. However, be aware that the book has a few anomalies (e.g. watching "The Parent Trap" in the early 1980's. I think the film cam out in 1999.)

Nonetheless, it is a great book. No matter how tempted you are, PLEASE do not read ahead like I did. What a shit move to make. Anyway, it's still GREAT!

 

[bored of sc]

Analysing techniques is not essential, as bored_of_sc said.

Wo, hold up. Analysing techniques is essential. If you are talking about musical techniques than you are correct, it's not required especially if you not musically inclined.

By the way, song lyrics is a different textual form to poetry. Lyrics tend to be more simplistic and repetitive while poetry is more flowery and eloquent.

 

[Schoey93]

Wo, hold up. Analysing techniques is essential. If you are talking about musical techniques than you are correct, it's not required especially if you not musically inclined.

By the way, song lyrics is a different textual form to poetry. Lyrics tend to be more simplistic and repetitive while poetry is more flowery and eloquent.

I was referring mainly to musical techniques. Yes, song lyrics are a different textual form to poetry. That said, I have done School Certificate essays, which have been awarded 17/20 and included no analysis of language techniques whatsoever. In the end it really depend what the text is about. A novel doesn't require as much in-depth analysis of techniques as a poem does for example, provided that it is not a verse novel. Last year my English teacher, Mrs Sewell, introduced our class, Yr 9 English 1, to poetry appreciation. It was tough stuff! Now poetry is where you deinitely need quite a heavy anaylsis of form, technique, style, rhythm, etc. It really does need to be quite in-depth to get you the top marks, but if you're talking about two related texts, one a poem and one a novel, I'm quite sure you could skip some of the details with the poetry analysis provided that you excel in explaining how the novel's events and themes relate to your AOS - Concept: Belonging.

 

[GUSSSSSSSSSSSSS]

wow big effort for a yr 10 fella

but nice lol

 

[bored of sc]

I was referring mainly to musical techniques. Yes, song lyrics are a different textual form to poetry. That said, I have done School Certificate essays, which have been awarded 17/20 and included no analysis of language techniques whatsoever. In the end it really depend what the text is about. A novel doesn't require as much in-depth analysis of techniques as a poem does for example, provided that it is not a verse novel. Last year my English teacher, Mrs Sewell, introduced our class, Yr 9 English 1, to poetry appreciation. It was tough stuff! Now poetry is where you deinitely need quite a heavy anaylsis of form, technique, style, rhythm, etc. It really does need to be quite in-depth to get you the top marks, but if you're talking about two related texts, one a poem and one a novel, I'm quite sure you could skip some of the details with the poetry analysis provided that you excel in explaining how the novel's events and themes relate to your AOS - Concept: Belonging.

Oh, I see. Not sure I agree with the novel not requiring a less in-depth analysis than poetry but I can see where you're coming from.