I hate my discovery prescribed text

[hyukrn]

We're studying Che Guevara's Motorcycle diaries and it's so hard for me to get into this book and try draw out analysis and techniques from it. It feels too much like a translated recount so I'm struggling to even read it once more. Is there any way to solve my predicament?

[jamonwindeyer]

We're studying Che Guevara's Motorcycle diaries and it's so hard for me to get into this book and try draw out analysis and techniques from it. It feels too much like a translated recount so I'm struggling to even read it once more. Is there any way to solve my predicament?

Hi! Welcome to the forums!! Let me know if you need help finding anything 

My response depends just how much you are having difficulty. Of course, I recommend you do a bit of a Google for some extra resources, go to your teacher and ask for some direction and clarification, and utilise the ATAR Notes forums, to get you the help you need to get re-motivated and access the techniques in the text!! There is no shortcut here unfortunately (though there are resources around that are pretty close, I'm sure), just hard work!!

If the text is seriously giving you grief, and you massively hate it to bits and nothing can change that, then maybe you might consider changing your text to one of the others prescribed for the AoS? Maybe? Perhaps? At a stretch?

Seriously though, that's a last resort. It definitely creates more work for you in the short run. Do it only if you are 100% sure you are done with your current text, I don't recommend it otherwise, and you'll want to chat to your teacher about it too!

I hope this helps! 

[elysepopplewell]

We're studying Che Guevara's Motorcycle diaries and it's so hard for me to get into this book and try draw out analysis and techniques from it. It feels too much like a translated recount so I'm struggling to even read it once more. Is there any way to solve my predicament?

Try focusing on the text in a really basic way, and slowly dig deeper and deeper. It may not be interesting as a whole, but hopefully some parts are interesting to you and you can focus on them! I had this same problem with an Extension prescribed

But remember, you can always choose a related text that you love, so the AOS will balance out in terms of interesting-ness

[WafaK]

We're studying Che Guevara's Motorcycle diaries and it's so hard for me to get into this book and try draw out analysis and techniques from it. It feels too much like a translated recount so I'm struggling to even read it once more. Is there any way to solve my predicament?

You are right that since Guevara's book is not fiction he tends to talk in a straightforward manner, and not use elaborate metaphors and imagery as a fiction text would. However try to consciously look for examples where he intentionally chooses more emotionally charged words rather than objective words to state a point....he tends to do this when describing the poor political situation of Latin America or when he starts idealising his own potential for improving Latin American society. Some examples of techniques include the use of emotionally provocative imagery in ‘the couple, frozen stiff in the desert night…were a live representation of the proletariat of any part of the world’ , and the use idealistic imagery in ‘I knew that when the great guiding spirit cleaves humanity into two antagonistic halves, I will be with the people.’. As for analysis, The Motorcycle Diaries pretty much revolves around Guevara's discovery of himself, beginning as a disillusioned medical students who wants to take a break from his studies, to a man who would eventually be a Cuban revolutionary. The book also focuses on his discovery of social inequality (the health and economic gap between Latin America and the privileged North America society Guevara came from). Try to focus on these two key aspects, although there are other small instances of discovery e.g. discovery of friendship with Alberto and discovery of travel, human hospitality, etc.

Hope that helps.