Hey everyone!
This will be the last of my ‘How to’ posts for English, as I’ve now covered creative writing, AOS, Mod A, Mod B and Mod C. As I think that the best way to learn to write an extension essay (specifically for Ways of Thinking: After the Bomb) is to be shown an example, I will once again be using one of my own pieces of work to explain how to structure a full marks essay.
Before I begin breaking down the requirements of the syllabus, I’d like to pass on a few pieces of wisdom about Ways of Thinking ATB that a very wise English teacher once told me. Firstly, although writing essays for Advanced English can sometimes feel as though you are ticking a series of boxes (and indeed, there are aspects of truth to this statement as the syllabus sets a very specific criteria), Extension 1 asks you to extend your own research and reading and provides you with more time during the examination to carefully craft your own unique thesis. This becomes especially important if you are studying ATB, as English teachers are very well read people and will be able to recognise the work of a student who has put in that little bit of extra effort. By this I mean completely immersing yourself in the period of time you are studying to truly understand the ways of thinking. This can be done by reading philosophical papers and books from that time, as well as watching films and TV shows either set in that era or made within that era.
You will need an accurate and detailed historical understanding of the years between 1945 and 1989. Obviously, this period spans several decades in which philosophy, social conditions, political tensions and national concerns in the various countries of the world changed dramatically. Yes, it is true that an underlying anxiety regarding nuclear weapons, domestic containment, grand narratives etc. remained ever present during this time, but an ATB student must be very careful not to make sweeping generalisations about the period and the different concerns of peoples and nations. An HSC marker will be looking to reward an essay that is able to make comparisons AND subtle distinctions between the concerns of different composers, characters and countries.
Breaking down the Syllabus:
“This module requires students to explore and evaluate a selection of texts relating to a particular historical period. It develops their understanding of the ways in which scientific, religious, philosophical or economic paradigms have shaped and are reflected in literature and other texts. Each elective in this module involves the study of at least two print texts, relating to a particular historical period, that demonstrate the influence of particular ways of thinking on literary and other texts. In addition, students explore, analyse and critically evaluate a range of other texts that reflect these ideas. Students explore the ways that values are inscribed in particular texts and how they are reflected by texts. They consider whether and why texts are valued in their own time. They also consider why and by whom those texts are valued today.”From this extract from the syllabus, we can take away several key points.
1) Your essay should be historically accurate and well informed, meaning that you should include reference to philosophical theories, political tensions, social conditions with evidence and quotations. For example, mention specific philosophers and their ways of thinking, and then go on to explain why this influence a composers representation of a particular paradigm in their work.
2) Paradigms both shape and are shaped by literature. Internalising the significance of this point will be the key to writing a good essay.
3) Texts are valued both today and in their own time. Make sure you are able to articulate why this is true of the particular texts you are studying. A fantastic way to do this is to mention the recognisable and enduring struggles of the human condition that are reflected in the work (and be specific, e.g. internal v external self, anxiety, disillusionment etc.) OR to say that texts are valued today by showing exactly how things have changed. If you can, try to extrapolate this subtle link between the things that change and the things that remain constant as a part of the human experience.
How to write an Introduction:
Lets look at an introduction that I wrote for the question ‘In what ways have the texts you have studied revealed that composers seek to capture the underlying struggles that dominate the period’
A response to worldwide war, mechanised genocide and terror, in 1945 the dropping of two atomic bombs irrevocably altered global consciousness, prompting composers of the subsequent Post-War era to grapple with resultant underlying concerns in their texts. Having been exposed to acute disillusionment regarding “man’s inhumanity” and a climate of anxiety, intensified by clashing ideologies, composers such as Vladimir Nabokov in his novel Pale Fire and Samuel Beckett in his play Waiting for Godot manipulate form and subvert literary conventions to reflect the dichotomies of an uncertain age. In a similar way, Sylvia’s Plath’s anthology of poetry Ariel and Alfred Hitchcock’s film North by Northwest explore the individual’s response to a state of powerlessness by reflecting a pervasive climate of anxiety amidst societal attempts to resurrect ‘conservative values. In this way, by drawing upon a multiplicity of competing discourses, composers seek to capture a variety of post-war struggles.
What I have tried to do in this introduction is provide a brief historical reference to context, identify the paradigms I will focus on in the essay, introduce my texts AND make a comment about the respective author’s methods and intentions. NOTE* When you are talking about a paradigm, you don’t actually have to say the word ‘paradigm’ every time. For example, if you are discussing philosophy, it is obvious that you are talking about the philosophical paradigm.
Paragraph One:
In paragraph one, you want to introduce your discussion of your first major paradigm issue. As with most Extension One paragraphs, you should probably try to integrate discussion of two texts, or at least make some sort of comparison between two of your texts to show the marker that you are conscious of existing similarities and differences:
Influenced by an underlying sense of distrust that characterised the post-bomb period, composers pursue questions of ‘certainty’ in order to explore a (potentially futile) struggle for meaning. Such is true of Samuel Becket, a playwright whose scepticism towards exegesis is prompted by, in the words of Jean-François Lyotard, the postmodern “incredulity towards metanarratives”. Beckett sets his play, Waiting for Godot, within a non-descript universal wasteland, “A country road. A tree. Evening” to reflect a post-war world devoid of forthcoming meaning. By imbuing Waiting for Godot with a titular suggestion of passivity, Beckett further explores the notion that man is ‘condemned’ in his struggle to discern meaning from life. To enhance this pervasive atmosphere of nihilism, Becket employs a cylindrical narrative structure and has his protagonists Vladimir and Estragon repeat the refrain “nothing to be done”. For this reason, their asinine routines– such as struggling with boots – symbolise the futile, ‘Sisyphean’ activity man adopts in order to “pass the time” when confronted by a reality “deprived of illusions” (Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus). Waiting for Godot expounds a sense of metaphysical anguish that Albert Camus defined as “a confrontation between our demands for rationality…and the indifferent universe”. Consequently, when Vladimir asks Estragon “Do you remember the gospels?” Becket incorporates ineffectual theological discussion to reinforce the inadequacy of religion to explain man’s post-bomb world. In a like manner, Vladimir Nabokov seeks to capture the unreliable nature of metanarratives or ‘meaning’ throughout his novel Pale Fire. Utilising high modality language, Nabokov conveys rejection of religion when his character John Shade states, "I cannot disobey something which I do not know”. By further highlighting John Shade’s struggle to accept “a great conspiracy
of books and people”, ultimately, Nabokov emphasises both individual and societal inability to establish definitive answers in response to life’s existential questions. Paragraph Two:
Paragraph Two should ideally be used to ‘extend’ your analysis of the first two texts you have discussed, as the ideas that Extension One asks you to grapple with are often very complex and require much analysis:
Nabokov and Becket extend this thinking by satirising notions of ‘truth’ in their examination of man’s struggle to comprehend a fundamentally absurd postmodern reality. A work of metafiction, in the tradition of the “self conscious narrative”, Nabokov’s text Pale Fire positions responders to question textual authority by highlighting the function of John Shade’s poem as a pastiche for the morally opaque persona of Charles Kinbote to usurp. Kinbote’s admission that his interpretation is “distorted and tainted by wishful thinking” demonstrates Nabokov’s postmodern scepticism towards texts that purport to have privileged access to truth. Engaging with post-structural discourse, Nabokov further parodies scholastic exegesis by placing comic emphasis upon Kinbote’s narcissistic commentary, “without my notes Shade's text simply has no human reality at all”. Comparatively, Samuel Becket explores the absurdity of the human condition through his use of stage position humour. When characters state their intention to depart by repeating, “I’m going”, Beckett stifles these announcements with stage directions such as “(He does not move)”. Furthermore, by including other vacillating directions such as “An hour ago (he looks at his watch, prosaic) roughly (lyrical)” Beckett satirises the dependence of characters such as Pozzo upon measuring time – an action that exemplifies Jean Paul Satre’s notion of ‘bad faith’. Ultimately, Beckett’s use of arbitrary anticlimaxes –most strongly embodied by Pozzo’s statement “the light gleams an instant, then it's night once more” – reflects his belief that definitive truths cannot be uncovered. In this way, both composers explore the underlying absurdity of man’s rational efforts to make sense of ‘truth’ in an irrational world. Paragraph Three
Paragraph Three is often a good place to introduce your next major idea and text. This paragraph probably doesn’t need to be integrated, but should hold some analysis that you can later draw comparisons to when discussing your fourth text.
Influenced by a climate of anxiety in this irrational world, composers seek to capture the individual’s struggle to reconcile personal identity with the expectations of ‘domestic containment’. Demonstrating a simultaneous desire to conform and rebel, Sylvia Plath’s text Ariel is written in the style of ‘confessional poetry’ and embodies the ‘schizoid’ character of her era. Having failed to internalise a doctrine of domesticity, Plath expounds her underlying sense of estrangement from her new identity as a mother by utilising the titular homonym of ‘mourning’ in her poem “Morning Song”. Echoing Simone de Beauvoir’s statement that a new baby “is either a hindrance or a jewel”, Plath suggests that her child is both by employing a simile that likens her baby’s life to a “fat gold watch”. Though Plath recognises the value of her child, harsh alliteration of “g” and images of roundness are used to suggest occupied space. Furthermore, expression of an empty “echo” created aurally through repeated “i” sounds is reinforced by the impersonal image of her baby as a “New statue” in a “drafty museum” (something to be looked at, but not touched) that is incongruous with the responder’s expectations regarding the reception of a child’s birth. Fulfilling a variety of ‘roles’ as poet, mother and wife, Sylvia Plath is no Eve Kendall who in North By Northwest declares “I’m twenty-six and unmarried. Now you know everything”. Instead, she is beguiled – particularly in her private writing - by a dominant 1950s construction of feminine propriety. Nevertheless, the reality of her ‘awkward’, “cow-heavy” response to motherhood manifests throughout Ariel as a struggle to understand her deeply fractured sense of identity. Paragraph Four:
Use this paragraph to draw comparisons or highlight stark differences in authorial intentions and ways of thinking:
In similar manner, Alfred Hitchcock captures the plight of ‘undesirable citizens’ who are punished by a post-bomb world for struggling against societal constraints. Utilising intersecting lines in the opening credits of North by Northwest, Hitchcock first alludes to ‘domestic containment’ by establishing a grid motif that strongly symbolises ‘entrapment’. Elevated shots with downward camera angles further convey the diminished power and vulnerably of Hitchcock’s protagonist Roger Thornhill, a man whose status as a twice-married advertising executive marks him as an ‘undesirable citizen’. By mirroring Jacques Derrida’s assertion that the West bases its worldview upon binary oppositions, Hitchcock insinuates that, in the Cold War context, Thornhill’s ‘unpatriotic’ and self-absorbed lifestyle is a cause for national concern. Possessed of an unstable identity – visually symbolised by the ‘O’ in his initials (ROT) that stands for “nothing” – Thornhill is mistaken for a spy named George Kaplin. Towards the end of the movie, Thornhill is pursued by a crop duster flown by unseen operatives who make several attempts on his life. Applying a series of quick-fire ‘point of view’ shots, Hitchcock intensifies the state of anxiety and initial confusion felt by both his protagonist and responder. By limiting all use of sound to solely that of the approaching plane, which proceeds to douse Thornhill with toxic chemicals, Hitchcock further captures his protagonist’s abject horror. In doing so, Hitchcock symbolically ‘punishes’ Thornhill and thus mirrors the way in which a Cold War world ‘punishes’ those who struggle to internalise societal expectations. Paragraph Five:
I’ve used this paragraph to extend my integrated analysis once again. Unless you are a fast writer, it is unlikely you will get to write another paragraph of this length, however is it always helpful to have a ‘spare’ paragraph!
Hitchcock and Plath expand on their underlying concern with ‘domestic containment’ by exploring the individual’s struggle to reassert their identity amidst a post-war state of disorientation and disempowerment. This can be seen in North by Northwest, where Roger Thornhill’s increasing contact with the clashing ideologies intensifies his questioning of self, prompting him to ask “what’s wrong with men like me?” Therefore, when confronted with an opportunity to symbolically ‘redeem’ himself in the eyes of his country, Thornhill ultimately conforms to his new role as a spy and fulfils his ‘societal duty’ by marrying Eva Kendall. Thus Hitchcock seeks to capture the futility of struggling against post-bomb societal constraints. By contrast, in “Fever 103”, Sylvia Plath strives to attain a sense of empowerment and control over her identity. In “Fever 103”, Plath draws upon a wider political context and applies it to her microcosm of anguish. Representing herself as a victim, Plath employs allusions to the “radiation and ash” of Hiroshima as a source of “heat” and “light” that paradoxically cleanses away “sin”. Masterfully applying repetition and assonance when she writes, “the sin, the sin/The tinder cries”, Plath further imbues the structure of her poem with a ‘feverish’ feel. Extending the metaphor of ‘fever’ as a damaging yet ultimately beneficial force, the persona of Plath undergoes a violent but cathartic exorcism. Discarding “old whore petticoats” that represent the evil of the world and her past relationships with men that threaten her sense of self, Plath is able to metaphorically purify and elevate herself, rising like a “virgin/Attended by roses” to “Paradise”. In this way, resurrected from the depths of self-doubt, Plath highlights that although transformation from a state of impotence to agency is fraught with anguish, societal constraints upon identity can be figuratively shed.Conclusion: Reflecting a variety of discourses that dominate the post-bomb age, texts reveal that composers seek to enhance their responder’s comprehension of the underlying struggles that accompany fundamental shifts in personal and global consciousness. Drawing upon clashing expectations and ideas, composers explore the conflicts of an absurd postmodern reality in which individuals strive to reconcile their identity with prevalent social constructs. Ultimately, by subverting the responder’s expectations and experimenting with traditional conventions, composers seek to capture the underlying concerns of an uncertain world. I hope this guide and example has been of use to you, good luck!
Other Guides:How to Write a Module C EssayHow to Write a Module B EssayHow to Write an Area of Study EssayWriting an English Advanced Module A EssayCreative Writing - Advice from a Cambridge Uni Student
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