Writing essays for fragmentary novels

[BlackFrost]

Hey guys!
Recently I've got this huge assignment that requires me to write an essay on how the novel, 'Catch 22' by Joseph Heller, effectively satirizes the American Amry. Catch 22 is a fragmentary novel , and I was wondering how I could support my points in my essay without slipping into recounting since the novel is full of vignettes.

Thanks

[angewina_naguen]

Hey guys!
Recently I've got this huge assignment that requires me to write an essay on how the novel, 'Catch 22' by Joseph Heller, effectively satirizes the American Amry. Catch 22 is a fragmentary novel , and I was wondering how I could support my points in my essay without slipping into recounting since the novel is full of vignettes.

Thanks

Hey, BlackFrost!

Great question! The best way to support your points is to use quotes and techniques as the basis for your evidence. This is a big Advanced English thing but it also applies to Extension 1 as well! Using textual evidence allows you to draw your focus towards analysing the content of the text to see how ideas are being explored, rather than what is being explored. Some good techniques to use if satire is the prescribed focus for the question include irony, pastiche, parody, hyperbole, burlesque and caricatures 

If you still find yourself slipping into recounting, my advice would be to reread your analysis and ask yourself if it highlights what conceptual understanding you (i.e the reader/audience) have gained from the text. It's one thing to talk about what a simile or metaphor does, but it's another to explain how that technique operates within the text to generate meaning that leaves an impact of some kind. Gearing your thinking this way can help you engage deeper with the intentions of the composer and to glean the effects the text has across different contexts and audiences. Hope this makes sense and good luck on the assignment!

Angelina