ATAR Notes: Forum
VCE Stuff => VCE English Studies => VCE Subjects + Help => VCE English & EAL => Topic started by: orgekas on June 17, 2015, 09:10:26 pm
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This is my topic based on Raymond Carver's book 'Will You Please be Quiet Please?"
‘At first reading, Raymond Carver’s short stories seem pointless. However, beneath the surface of apparently ordinary lives, undercurrents of tension engage the reader’s sympathy for the characters and their experiences.’ Discuss.
Can someone provide me with a few ideas on how to approach this?
Thank you.
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Have a think about why Carver presents life as having so little 'happening'. What does this say about human existence? Consider the extent to which any story has a denouement or resolution - or whether there is just a suspended resolution or zero ending. Why would he do this? How does it compare with real life?
Then you might even think about the random Kafkaesque or surreal moments - why are these thrown in? To contradict banality, or to highlight it through juxtaposition?
Also, have a think about the psychology of the characters: how happy they are, how self-aware, what their individual capacity for change is.