Burial Rites
What is this thread for?This thread is for discussing and understanding the text
Burial Rites. It is a central place for inter-state discussion and sharing of resources, as well as a place to ask questions and discuss themes. Everyone is welcome to contribute; even if you're unsure of yourself, providing different perspectives is incredibly valuable. Please don't be dissuaded by the fact that you haven't finished Year 12, or didn't score as highly as others, or your advice contradicts something else you've seen on this thread, or whatever; none of this disqualifies you from helping others. And if you're worried you do have some sort of misconception, put it out there and someone else can clarify and modify your understanding! There'll be a whole bunch of other high-scoring students with their own wealths of wisdom to share with you, so you may even get multiple answers from different people offering their insights - very cool.
Summary:Burial Rites is a re-imagining of the events leading up to the last public execution in Iceland, the beheading of Agnes Magnúsdóttir. The narrative opens in 1829, when the condemned woman is transferred to the isolated home of Jón Jónsson’s family to undergo spiritual counselling with the young assistant reverend, Tóti, and await her execution. Kent captures the domineering, unforgiving nature of the landscape of northern Iceland and its influence over the characters’ lives. As the story of Agnes’s early life and the circumstances surrounding her crime become apparent, preconceived notions of innocence and guilt are challenged, and powerful relationships are formed. The text’s richness is achieved through the use of flashbacks, multiple narrators and excerpts from archival material. The various perspectives humanise the protagonist and highlight the unreliable nature of stories. With accessible language and a compelling plot, this text has the capacity to transport the reader to another time and place.
Themes:Themes From VCAA Interpretation:
-Isolation (2015)
-Belonging (2016)
-Life & Death (2015)
Free Notes:These notes from the AN notes section are super comprehensive and I found them really helpful: here!
Feel free to upload your own
here.
Writing feedback & ideas:-
Detailed essay feedback -
drehara's essay on guilt + comments
jedly's essay on punishment + comments
Meganrobyn's excellent breakdown of a prompt about the setting
Other Resources:• English Works Article
Ignore the references to Geraldine Brooks, and you might want to skim read the sections that deal with the background information (provided you're already familiar with it,) but overall, this is the most detailed and analytical discussion of the text available, and the quote integration is exactly what you should be aiming to do in your own pieces.
• Review and Analysis
This isn't VCE specific, and everything after the embedded video is just general/irrelevant stuff about the author and media landscape, but there's some great stuff here about the language in the text, which would be invaluable if you got a structural prompt.
• Study Guide
Some of this is just general English discussion pertaining to the exam and the different essay types, but if you scroll down to page 13, there's a good breakdown of a prompt and a sample response that might be useful. There are also a few summative questions about possible interpretations of the text scattered throughout.
• Stella Prize Guide
Kind of short, but probably the most succinct overview of the most important details you'll need to know. Great refresher if you're coming back to the text after a few weeks or months of not studying it, and potentially a useful introduction to complement your first/second readings.
• Herald Sun, Teacher's Review
This is just a broad textual overview, but may help form your interpretation of the text and shape how you view certain characters' actions.
• Text Review
This one's got some good stuff about Agnes as a character and the big questions in the text about justice and accountability.
• Author Q and A
Technically it doesn't matter if your opinion aligns with the author's intentions, but for those who demand the 'right' answer to questions of interpretation, you might find it useful to hear Hannah Kent's perspective on the story she told, as well as some of the surrounding details.
• Bookrags Guide
Not all of this guide is accessible unless you're willing to pay (and tbh, I wouldn't bother) but there's a fair amount of chapter and character analyses here to make it worth checking out. Aside from the opening plot summary, you'll only be able to read the first few paragraphs of most entries though.
• Discussion Questions & Themes
These aren't prompt-style questions, but might help to consolidate your knowledge of the text. They are the kinds of talking points that exam topics might be structured around though (i.e. number 5 is really similar to one of the 2015 VCAA prompts.) Questions 2 and 8 would also make for likely prompt material in future years. Scroll down for a brief exploration of some major themes too.
• Sunday School Podcast
This is a discussion with a VCE teacher who takes you through some interesting parts of the text. The first third is mostly about background info and summative details, but later they get into things like metaphor and language when they start taking calls.
helpful things I found include this video, the book trailer and Hannah Kent talking about Burial Rights.
Happy studying!
prompts
Agnes' will to survive is her strongest attribute. Do you agree?
Burial Rites suggests there must be rights for the dead, and the living. Discuss.
“I am knifed to the hilt with fate.” What role does fate play in Burial Rites?
In what ways is Agnes disempowered in Burial Rites?
This text is about Agnes being restored to humanity. Discuss.
Hannah Kent’s Burial Rites is essentially a critique of Icelandic society and the patriarchal strictures that bind it. Discuss.
"The uninhabited places are as cruel as any executioner."
How does Kent convey a sense of loss in the novel?
Discuss the significance of dreams and the supernatural in Burial Rites.
Burial Rites is a scathing condemnation of patriarchal societies. Do you agree?
In Burial Rites, Hannah Kent shows how memories are stronger than stories. Discuss.
‘Most good people are soon enough underground.’ Kent's novel suggests that good deeds don’t guarantee longevity. Discuss.
Blöndal is an irredeemable villain in Burial Rites. Do you agree?
Gossip, rumour and prejudice determine Agnes’s end. To what extent do you agree?
"‘For the first time in my life, someone saw me, and I loved him because he made me feel I was enough."
Agnes' tale is ultimately a depressing one. Do you agree?
Burial Rites is about the difference between who we are seen to be, and who we believe ourselves to be. Discuss
Engage
Despite her position as an outcast for the majority of the novel, Agnes is the character most readily positioned to recieve reader sympathy. To what extent do you agree?
"They said I must die. They said that I stole the breath from men, and now they must steal mine."
Kent offers a strong critique of the inherent cruelty and inadequacies of a system of justice that includes capital punishment. Discuss.
"To know what a person has done, and to know who a person is, are very different things."
Burial Rites suggests that understanding an individual means much more than hearing their past. Discuss.
Iceland is not just the setting of the novel, but a character in its own right. Discuss.
Burial Rites is critical of both men and the patriarchal structures that enable their dominance over women. Discuss.
"Memories shift like loose snow in a wind, or are a chorale of ghosts all talking over one another."
What comment does Burial Rites offer on memories and their effect on those who hold them?
What is the effect of intermingling letters, notices, and other historical documents with the central story in Burial Rites?
Agnes thinks to herself: "Everything I said was taken from me and altered until the story wasn't my own."
The greatest suffering for Agnes stems from the refusal of others to believe her story. To what extent do you agree?
Tóti defends his relationship with Agnes by stating: “I provide her with a final audience to her life’s lonely narrative.”
What is the true role of the relationship between the Reverend and the condemned woman in Burial Rites?
What role do sagas and superstitions play in Burial Rites?
VATE
2015:
i. Agnes is doomed from birth by her social standing. She cannot escape her past. Discuss.
OR
ii. The shifting points of view in Burial Rites compel readers to make their own determination about who is guilty. Discuss.
ATAR Notes 2015 exams
Exam 1:
i. Discuss the importance of memory in Burial Rites.
OR
ii. "To know what a person has done, and to know who a person is, are very different things."
To what extent does the novel suggest that people's identities are more than just their actions?
Exam 2:
i. “They said that I stole the breath from men, and now they must steal mine.”
The world of Burial Rites is plagued by a false sense of justice. Do you agree?
OR
ii. To what extent is Agnes a powerful character in Kent’s novel?
Exam 3:
i. How does Burial Rites show the importance of stories and storytelling?
OR
ii. The characters in Burial Rites are victims of their circumstances. Do you agree?
Exam 4:
i. Agnes is the victim of others’ prejudice. Do you agree?
OR
ii. The real question in Burial Rites is not whether the characters can understand one another, but whether they can understand themselves. Discuss.
ATAR Notes 2016 exams
Mid-year:
i. Burial Rites shows how the past can affect the present. Discuss.
OR
ii. "Most good people are soon enough underground."
Discuss the portrayal of justice in Burial Rites.
Exam 1:
i. Kent’s novel is about what it means to be guilty. Discuss.
OR
ii. "They see I’ve got a head on my shoulders, and believe a thinking woman cannot be trusted."
To what extent does prejudice influence the behaviour of the men in Burial Rites?
Exam 2:
i. Discuss the importance of credulity and trust in Burial Rites.
OR
ii. Kent’s novel showcases the difficulty of ensuring that the punishment fits the crime. Do you agree?
Exam 3:
i. In what ways is Agnes an outcast in Burial Rites?
OR
ii. Discuss the role of judgement in Kent’s novel.
Exam 4:
i. "It was not me they stared at. I understood that these people did not see me."
To what extent does Agnes’ awareness of her isolation affect her?
OR
ii. Burial Rites is about deprivation. Discuss.
VCAA
2015:
i. Burial Rites is about death, but it is also about life. Discuss.
OR
ii. "I am determined to close myself to the world."
Although Agnes is imprisoned at the farm, she retains her internal freedom. Discuss.
2016:
i. Natan shouts: "Remember your place, Agnes!"
Agnes’s problem is that she has no place to belong. Do you agree?
OR
ii. "Everything I said was taken from me and altered until the story wasn’t my own."
Agnes’s fate is determined by the stories told by others. Discuss.
Home
Help
Search
Login
Topic: Burial Rites (Read 3499 times)