English Ext 1, Major Work (3 Viewers)

[BronwynKate]

Kipling would be really productive for an appropriation.

So would Dickens.

I've enjoyed Hard Times.

Maybe you could use a scenario to do with work or education. Hard Times is very profitable that way.

Also you might like to look at how Dickens manipulates his plots and creates his characters. How does he make you think about them? How does his writing make you feel about them? How are you going to do the same utilising the conventions of realism?

What conventions of realism have you identified in these works which your class has done?

And I like Balzac: The Little Chinese Seamstress among them. What are the Balzac extracts you're talking about? There's so much on him on line! More than any other French writer of the 19th century if I have my period right.

 

[BronwynKate]

And aren't you meant to be doing extensive reading outside your direct coursework?

 

[Wooz]

Yeah we were told to read one other Realist text for our half yearly exam.

 

[BronwynKate]

What text have you chosen?

 

[Wooz]

Im reading some poetry by the Bronte sisters and some short works by Jack London.

 

[BronwynKate]

Awesome.

Anne Bronte's poems convey the conventions of realism very well.

And Jack London is more than realism, really, he's Social Darwinism.

What else have you picked up on.

I'm sure through reading them you will have had lots of techniques for your Major Work.

 

[passion89]

From what I know, a lot of people do gothic literature and realism. Last year, in prelim, my class did utopian/dystopian literature - it was heaps better than stupid crime fiction haha so interesting, too.

 

[BronwynKate]

WOW!

I like what you said about utopias/dystopias.

They have captured my imagination since I was little.

I do beg to differ on crime fiction, though.

HSC/VCE students should experience all sorts of genres in their school reading and in their recreational reading.

 

[passion89]

I do beg to differ on crime fiction, though.

Maybe I should rephrase.
Compared to utopian/dystopian literature (for me), crime fiction is not as interesting because even though both genres force the responder to examine societies on a deeper level, U/D creates a better understanding of the human actions undertaken to find that perfect society. I just love how they present a message that forces the audience to rethink their own society and where it's heading in terms of (eg technology, communism, totalitarianism. On this level, I believe that U/D literature is more interesting.
That said, I like cri fi and what it represents. The extensive reading I undertake is actually fun (to learn about sub-genres of cri fi)