Hey,
After recently completing Trials, one of my English tutors just told me that I can't actually use one of my related texts because it's from the wrong time period!
With just over 30 days till the HSC starts I really need a new related text. I was hoping someone could suggest a text that looks at minorities and their misrepresentations.
Any help would be amazing!
Hey,
After recently completing Trials, one of my English tutors just told me that I can't actually use one of my related texts because it's from the wrong time period!
With just over 30 days till the HSC starts I really need a new related text. I was hoping someone could suggest a text that looks at minorities and their misrepresentations.
Any help would be amazing!
Thanks for all your suggestions! My teacher has recommended that I look at the misrepresentation (or lack of representation) of women in the media and popular fiction throughout the era, so The Kitchen Debate looks really good for that.
My previous related text was The Hollow Men by T.S.Elliot, which looks really nicely at the philosophical paradigm, but unfortunately its written 20 years too early.
Quickly, do you have any tips on how to get better at essay writing for After the Bomb? In my Trials, I got a nice 22/25 for my creative, but only 18/25 for my essay, which I'm hoping to improve.
Thanks!
Im struggling to find a related text for ext 1 and my prescribed texts are the spy who came in from the cold and sylvia plath ariel ! does anyone have any good recommendations of related texts that arent widely used?
thank-you !!
I want to argue that the suffering of the populace i.e. the personal and philosophical paradigms are a direct result of "POWERLESS". And to do so, i will change the argument so that the quietism and predestination deeply instilled into the populace is a result of the government's unending exploitation and imposing of drastic conditions whether they be personally repressive or economically oppressive.
Hi ATAR Notes,
my upcoming essay on ATB is this Thursday is going well and I have the body paragraphs and analysis up to scratch. However, I sent a draft to my teacher and he believes my answer to the question is lacking. The question is:
“Composers needed to experiment with textual forms and features in order to communicate their ways of thinking in response to their shifting personal and political worlds?
To what extent does this perspective align with your study of After the Bomb?
In your answer you must refer to The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Waiting for Godot and one additional text of your own choice.
Right now, my thesis is: "To the extent that the 1945 atomic bomb’s descent over Hiroshima irrevocably altered global consciousness and prompted composers of the ensuing post-war era to grapple with textual experimentation so as to reflect the resultant underlying concerns in their texts."
Is there a better way to answer the question? I'm also wondering how to answer a "To what extent" question. I would be really grateful for any options or advice! Thanks!
hi there i have an ext 1 after the bomb essay due on wednesday (have to write it out) and we've been given the question in advance:
"how do texts from after the bomb expose and generate responses to the personal and political values relevant to the paradigms of the cold war?"
so, this is the first time we've written an ATB essay, and our teacher hasn't really explained much to the class. what are personal and political values? and how do i show ones that are relevant to certain paradigms? my texts are waiting for godot, the handmaid's tale and five ways to kill a man.
thanks in advance! :)
shree.
Hey everyone!
I recently received my Ext 1 creative story back and got an average mark of 20/25 (I really thought I could do better).
In my creative, I primarily focused my story on the domestic life of women during the 1950's and did not necessarily have any mentioning on the context of the Cold War or the nuclear bomb that heavily impacted society. However, since one of the marking criteria is to display the 'ways of thinking' of the time, I assumed writing about the domestic life of women was sufficient. Is it better, though, to mention something related to the Cold War? Is it necessary to get top marks?
Thanks!
Hey there. I have an upcoming assessment on a speech that we have to deliver in no more than 4 minutes on a related text of our own choosing, it needs to be a text that gives us a scope of how this climate of Cold War anxiety affected human beliefs and values. I've decided to use JFK's speech that he delivered in Berlin, do you have any advice on how to effectively structure it within the allocated time?
Hey! I think you'll find that 4 minutes is not a very long time at all. is it just the one text you need to discuss? There's lots of ways you could go about this. You could move through the speech and pick on aspects of it in sequential order and identify where they are seen in the world around (anx, panic, etc). Or, you could focus on different ways of thinking one at a time and then focus on the parts of the speech that support/foster these ways of thinking throughout.
Feel free to propose to me your intended structure and I can give you more specific advice :)
Yup it is just one related text we need to discuss, I was thinking I should start off with a bit of context, then discuss the overarching ideas, concerns and values before going into the analysis of his techniques sequentially. Do you have any advice on how to maintain the balance between dry facts and being able to present in an engaging manner? Also what ways of thinking would you outline in the context of this speech?
hi there i have an ext 1 after the bomb essay due on wednesday (have to write it out) and we've been given the question in advance:
"how do texts from after the bomb expose and generate responses to the personal and political values relevant to the paradigms of the cold war?"
so, this is the first time we've written an ATB essay, and our teacher hasn't really explained much to the class. what are personal and political values? and how do i show ones that are relevant to certain paradigms? my texts are waiting for godot, the handmaid's tale and five ways to kill a man.
thanks in advance! :)
shree.
Hey Peeps
For the After the Bomb elective, if you would like to get a bit more in depth understanding of the context you could check out these BBC podcasts :D
They are all related to events of the Cold War period, and hopefully they help!
Also, they are good inspiration for creatives :P
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07kfs3r/episodes/player?page=1
Hey, I have three questions that I am struggling with.
1) I've looked over past papers and I see that they ask for two prescribed and two related - should I do four body paragraphs, one on each, in this case? Also, can they specify a prescribed text that needs to be used? How would I link texts in this way?
2) How big is Postmodernism in the course? Apparently it's a minor aspect but I really think it's super-essential. Would it be weird and/or unconventional in a bad way if I discuss it as a main idea?
3) Second point leads me to third - should I discuss form as a main idea and a means of reflecting thematic concerns of the time? I have a stack of notes on form but I'm afraid that the question will prohibit my use of them. Should I find some convoluted way to fit it in? I know you wrote somewhere Elyse that going in with a direct approach could prove beneficial due to the abstract nature of the questions asked.
Hi there, i was just wondering how i relate the scientific and political paradigms to Waiting for Godot?
Hey,
This is kinda directed to Elyse, because I know she did this, but is it alright to use the same discovery and extension cw provided both fit the question? Or would it be better to change the discovery story from out of the cold war era.
My teacher says it looks bad, even though they did tell us to write about something we know (and I hope I know something about the Cold War now haha).
I was really thinking what "cw" meant for a while, I was thinking "content warning" haha! I'm with you now - creative writing. I can't imagine why it would look bad to a marker for either discovery or Extension. The same marker will not mark both. Plus, I know of quite a few discovery students who didn't study extension, and they planted their creatives into the scenario of other periods and settings - I know one was a Vietnam War one, one was a Cuban Missile Crisis..and none of these students studied Extension, it was just that they knew about the era and wanted to write a story about a specific setting.
If the perception from a marker is something like, "Oh they've obviously used the same" and the reason they think that is because you haven't adjusted to the question, then there's a problem. But I can't imagine a marker thinking it's lazy for you, when it's smarter studying.
Why does your teacher think it might look bad? In case it appears lazy?
Of course, I don't HSC mark, but I definitely think this is an OK thing to do and I know lots of students have done this. :)
I don't really know. My extension story was about the discovery of a nuclear weapon (and I was so hyped at the prospect of finding both a spiritual and scientific discovery). And I used it for trials (and it fit the stimulus and everything-"discoveries can challenge your worldview") but the marker, who happened to be an extension teacher, said it was lazy bc it seemed like an extension story....
Got marked down because of it and lost my first place ranking rip me...
There's nothing in the marking criteria that means you should be marked down. The only reason is if you weren't relating it properly to discovery, then of course you get marked down. But they are marking you on what is in the criteria, not what your potential study habits or processes were in order to get this piece out there.
If the "it seemed like an extension story" is because you clearly haven't worked towards the question in the exam room, then you know that's what you need to work on. But if it wasn't about your adaptation, then I think it's unfair criticism, personally. What were the comments in the marking guidelines?
She said it was a quite clever story with interesting structures and a clear discovery. However, the setting caused her to think it was obviously an extension story....
In my honest opinion, this does not warrant you being moved down in marks whatsoever. There's nothing in the criteria, which is what you are being marked by, to suggest this is a thing you should/could be penalised for. MANY students will use the same creative for Adv and Extension, and that's not to any discredit to any of these people, (me included), as long as each time the text is produced, it is addressing the demands of the module!
Experimentation with ideas and form within the texts of this module are reflective of the intensified questioning of humanity and human beliefs during their respective contexts.
To what extent does this statement reflect your study of After the Bomb?
In your response, refer to TWO prescribed texts from the elective you have studied, and at least TWO texts of your own choosing
Is this a plausible exam question that I just made up?
Currently starting Yr 12 English Extension, doing Module B and After the Bomb elective.
I'm having trouble finding specific economic paradigms that relate to this time period, are there any major ones that I should look into in depth?
Hi there! i was just thinking about writing another creative piece for after the bomb for this years HSC and i was wondering if it was alright to write about the korean war since most pieces i've read are based in America and the red scare and i wanted to try something different but i wasn't sure if it would be safe to do so. i would love some advice!
Thank you!
Ok thank you! I was wondering if I should include aspects on America in the creative or is it ok to solely base it on the war? Thank you :)
Hey guys!
Been trying to find some Ext 1 ATB past paper questions but only found a few from 2009 - 2015... I was wondering if anyone has any unique and different essay and creative stimulus? I'd appreciate it so much! :)
Thanks everyone! Keep pushing through! :)
I posted this on the EE1 question thread, but considering this is my elective I'll also post it here.
The story I have composed explores the Cold War angst through the famous 1972 Chess World Championship between Bobby Fischer (America) and Boris Spassky (Russia) and how this was a platform for the continuation of the Cold War and the attempts of one nation out-smarting the other.
I feel however that a lot of markers won't understand it and appreciate it, mainly because it is such a niche aspect of history, let alone the Cold War. I also feel that in order to appreciate this story, there is a need to understand, even briefly, the facts surrounding it whereas I feel the markers might just consider it a fabrication.
It's interesting because Bobby Fischer broke a long line of Soviet dominance in chess and was persuaded into playing by Henry Kissinger, a famous US diplomat. In fact, it's stated that Nixon and Brezhnev would watch the matches in their respective offices. Anyway, I don't really mean to ramble but I like the concept and feel it sheds light on an esoteric way in which the Cold War was fought.
Hey guys!
Just wanted to say that this thread is SUPER SUPER HELPFUL! Just reading all this, has given me some sort of additional knowledge and feel of this course, so big thanks to everyones who written stuff on this thread so far! I've sorta asked this in the extension1 thread, but are extension 1 creatives historical based? Also, my prescribed texts are Spy who came in from the Cold, Sylvia Plath and Waiting for Godot. I'd like to start writing some practice responses for my first text but my teacher has never told us how to actually structure extension 1 essays in terms of what you actually say in the essay. I know its really different to the advanced structure but I just can't pinpoint on how. Could anyone help me clarify this please?
Thank you!
From theyam
Hello! Seeing you here has just reminded me I've got to reply to your PM, so I'll do that shortly :)
There were very few HSC resources on ATAR Notes during my HSC, but one of the ones there was is: https://atarnotes.com/forum/index.php?topic=160266.0
I based my own essay on this structure, which you can see here: https://atarnotes.com/note/exemplar-integrated-essay-after-the-bomb/
I studied all three same texts as you!
But let it be known, my first extension essays started super super simple. Like, one text per paragraph, no real integration of ideas - very separated. I didn't even really write an essay until term one of the following year, I think. I suggest writing small responses, or starting to construct paragraphs about different ideas, but I couldn't do much in the way of putting it all together until I'd studied at least two texts :)
Hey, I was wondering, for the Extension creative, does the story itself HAVE to be set in the designated time period? I'm doing the ATB module, so this would be the Cold War era, but would it be okay if I wrote about a homeless guy reflecting on his life as a Nazi prisoner and kinda criticising the dominance of trivial aspects that capitalism seeks - such as consumerism? (which will be shown by his abject disregard for people walking past the homeless guy consumed by their phones etc) I really have no clue where I'm going with this, like I want to set it in the 1960s if possible since that's kinda the "ideal" period but I'm not quite sure how. Like, I want to incorporate the guy's critique of the individual's possession by the media and such but I know phones weren't that much of a thing back then so idk. Ughh
Hi,
So for my holiday homework I have to write a creative using John F Kennedy's speech: Ich bin ein Berliner (June 26 1963) as my stimulus. The only ideas I've had so far is his speech writer reacting to his speech or a German person embittered by war reacting to such an optimistic speech. Because I'm studying "The Spy who came in from the Cold", I also maybe wanted to integrate the Berlin Wall as some sort of motif of moral ambiguity. And also possibly integrate ways of thinking that are similar to nihilism or absurdism. But other that that I'm quite lost, any ideas or suggestions? Thank you!
From theyam
Oh this is quite tricky! About the stimulus: what are the requirements? Are you just to use the speech as inspiration or do you have to specifically use the speech in parts of the creative - or it doesn't specify?
If you just have to use it as inspiration, the first thing that comes to mind for me is to write a speech in the reverse - be someone writing a speech from a side other than democracy?
But tell me more about the stimulus and what your ideas are and we can discuss :)
Hey!
I'm struggling for ideas for a creative piece.
What we've done so far in class, I feel, is very specific to analysing just Good Night and Good Luck (we've only studied this text at this point in time), and so I don't know any other paradigms/ways of thinking during the period we are studying, apart from the paranoia and fear surrounding McCarthyism, role of media in conveying the truth, etc. etc.
[My other texts are Godot & Ariel]
So now where should I start so I have some idea of what to write about for my creative? How do I ensure that it links to the rubric??
I just feel so lost because the era is so broad... and I also have no idea how to structure an ext essay, which I at least know is very different to adv.
Thank you! ;D
Can we struggle together XD Trying to do my creative now too, I get your feels~
theyam
Hey!
I'm struggling for ideas for a creative piece.
What we've done so far in class, I feel, is very specific to analysing just Good Night and Good Luck (we've only studied this text at this point in time), and so I don't know any other paradigms/ways of thinking during the period we are studying, apart from the paranoia and fear surrounding McCarthyism, role of media in conveying the truth, etc. etc.
[My other texts are Godot & Ariel]
So now where should I start so I have some idea of what to write about for my creative? How do I ensure that it links to the rubric??
I just feel so lost because the era is so broad... and I also have no idea how to structure an ext essay, which I at least know is very different to adv.
Thank you! ;D
Can we struggle together XD Trying to do my creative now too, I get your feels~
theyam
Hey!
I'm struggling for ideas for a creative piece.
What we've done so far in class, I feel, is very specific to analysing just Good Night and Good Luck (we've only studied this text at this point in time), and so I don't know any other paradigms/ways of thinking during the period we are studying, apart from the paranoia and fear surrounding McCarthyism, role of media in conveying the truth, etc. etc.
[My other texts are Godot & Ariel]
So now where should I start so I have some idea of what to write about for my creative? How do I ensure that it links to the rubric??
I just feel so lost because the era is so broad... and I also have no idea how to structure an ext essay, which I at least know is very different to adv.
Thank you! ;D
Can we struggle together XD Trying to do my creative now too, I get your feels~
theyam
Wish I could help you guys content wise but I did Romanticism! I just looked for you though - maybe have a look at this document - https://www.englishteacher.com.au/resources/command/download_file/id/240/filename/113_Waiting_for_Godot_.pdf
It is both broadly looking at ATB and its paradigms whilst also focusing on Waiting for Godot. It is part of the Metaphor publication by the ETA (English Teachers Association) so it would definitely be a handy resource!
In terms of structuring ENE essays - usually people will say integrated is the best, but it gets messy if not done right. I personally did mine simple - one para for each text discussing 1-2 ideas in each para. You can integrate your texts in such a way (this is from my Romanticism essay). If I was discussing Frankenstein, which warns against the potential dangers of the human imagination, in my essay I would look to use one or two sentences to contrast it with another one of my texts I have discussed earlier. Here's an example: While Coleridge's Lime Tree Bower My Prison celebrates the power of the individual imagination in enlightening the individual, Shelley's Frankenstein presents a warning against the creative power of man through the characterisation of Victor Frankenstein... then you can go into your Frankenstein analysis.
If you are not confident integrating... don't do it! I didn't and still got 48/50 so don't think that you need to fully integrate to get good marks, do what YOU are comfortable with :)
SpoilerOhmygod, you guys have literally described my exact situation from only a few weeks ago. I was studying "Good Night and Good Luck" too as my prescribed text and our lessons were essentially ALL centralised around the age of anxiety, the political contention between communism and capitalism, fear of dissent... blah blah blah - all of the shit that is associated with the McCarthyism era. We were told that we had to have a completed 1500 word creative draft handed in by the end of these holidays, so I was freaking the fuck out because I had little to no knowledge about anything but McCarthyism. Even my knowledge of that seemed pretty limited honestly - it seriously felt like all my teacher did was repeat the phrase 'age of anxiety' five hundred million times and nothing else lol. I thought the phenomenon was quite interesting, but honestly I felt like I needed to explore all my options first - as you said, the After the Bomb period is quite broad so there obviously was MUCH more beyond just McCarthyism - so I did my own research. First, I tried to find observations from the public from people who had lived during the cold war to establish the general sentiments from the ordinary individual. I probably looked through a hundred sources that entailed anecdotal experiences, in addition to reading excerpts from books published at the time. Then, I looked into the political/personal consensus on significant events that were characteristic of the time, such as both the erection and dismantling of the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction, the Gulags, the Petrov affair, the assassination of John F Kennedy, Los Alamos, death of Stalin, the Marshall plan, Rosenbergs, the Korean war... just to name a few. I even read through events that occurred before the period during the actual war itself. For example, I read through memoirs and anecdotes written by people who had first-hand experiences of the Dresden bombings in 1945. I did this so that I had more to work with, and so that I could generate my own ideas and beliefs about how these experiences of the war potentially contributed to the climate of anxiety that ensued. Honestly, it's quite fascinating to read about this stuff and I would happily spend hours per day just trying to consolidate my understanding - it didn't even feel like I was doing so under academic obligation. I didn't take any notes or anything though, just let the information sink in enough so that I was able to get a "taste" of each perspective/event.
In the end, I conceded that, however it would be done, I wanted to ultimately have a creative that critiqued the materialistic influence of capitalism on the psyche of the individual by contrasting it against the egalitarian principles that drove the sense of affinity which was prevalent in East Germany (and was much more prominent than what we have today). I wasn't sure how I'd go about it because my teacher didn't recommend addressing too many ideas, but I think I pulled it off okay. I wrote it with a paramount focus on reducing the brutality of the GDR regime to a personal level, rather than just the impersonal totalitarianism of the regime. I did this through the eyes of a young child by exploring the Stasi, which I used as a means to emphasise the anxiety and mistrust that permeated the environment as a result of arbitrary surveillance. These are just a few of the many ideas I grappled with, I still have a long way to go in the refining process hahah!
I think you'd really benefit by ensuring you have a comprehensive understanding of the specific event first! The way I achieved my "outline", was by picking a few concepts that I liked the most - capitalism vs communism; the Stasi; and the dismantling of the Berlin Wall. Then, I fleshed out these ideas into extreme specifics so that I could develop possible links with eachother in order to achieve a seamless, plausible storyline. I had probably 3 or so propositions, and I ended up integrating one of them into my response. During the actual writing process, I played around with the structure intensely and even my storyline changed a bit. Initially I was doing something about the Gulags and the Siberian concentration camps/death marches and I had written 700 words written in that regard before I completely ditched it for this one lol. Seriously though, I spent exponentially more time researching than writing the piece itself. I'd recommend "After the Wall" by Jana Hensel, it's a fairly quick read but provides quite an insight from the lens of a girl who grew up during the instability of East Germany. In particular, its examination of the cultural effects of the fall of communism and the transfer toward West German customs places great emphasis on the difficulties that the East population had assimilating - which I thought was incredibly interesting. Just immerse yourself in the time period honestly, you can't really go wrong with that.
My teacher is completely useless too though, don't worry haha! I hope you guys make some progress soon :) Just start researching, you'll be hung up on nitty gritty details before you know it lol
Wish I could help you guys content wise but I did Romanticism! I just looked for you though - maybe have a look at this document - https://www.englishteacher.com.au/resources/command/download_file/id/240/filename/113_Waiting_for_Godot_.pdf
It is both broadly looking at ATB and its paradigms whilst also focusing on Waiting for Godot. It is part of the Metaphor publication by the ETA (English Teachers Association) so it would definitely be a handy resource!
In terms of structuring ENE essays - usually people will say integrated is the best, but it gets messy if not done right. I personally did mine simple - one para for each text discussing 1-2 ideas in each para. You can integrate your texts in such a way (this is from my Romanticism essay). If I was discussing Frankenstein, which warns against the potential dangers of the human imagination, in my essay I would look to use one or two sentences to contrast it with another one of my texts I have discussed earlier. Here's an example: While Coleridge's Lime Tree Bower My Prison celebrates the power of the individual imagination in enlightening the individual, Shelley's Frankenstein presents a warning against the creative power of man through the characterisation of Victor Frankenstein... then you can go into your Frankenstein analysis.
If you are not confident integrating... don't do it! I didn't and still got 48/50 so don't think that you need to fully integrate to get good marks, do what YOU are comfortable with :)
Ohmygod, you guys have literally described my exact situation from only a few weeks ago. I was studying "Good Night and Good Luck" too as my prescribed text and our lessons were essentially ALL centralised around the age of anxiety, the political contention between communism and capitalism, fear of dissent... blah blah blah - all of the shit that is associated with the McCarthyism era. We were told that we had to have a completed 1500 word creative draft handed in by the end of these holidays, so I was freaking the fuck out because I had little to no knowledge about anything but McCarthyism. Even my knowledge of that seemed pretty limited honestly - it seriously felt like all my teacher did was repeat the phrase 'age of anxiety' five hundred million times and nothing else lol. I thought the phenomenon was quite interesting, but honestly I felt like I needed to explore all my options first - as you said, the After the Bomb period is quite broad so there obviously was MUCH more beyond just McCarthyism - so I did my own research. First, I tried to find observations from the public from people who had lived during the cold war to establish the general sentiments from the ordinary individual. I probably looked through a hundred sources that entailed anecdotal experiences, in addition to reading excerpts from books published at the time. Then, I looked into the political/personal consensus on significant events that were characteristic of the time, such as both the erection and dismantling of the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction, the Gulags, the Petrov affair, the assassination of John F Kennedy, Los Alamos, death of Stalin, the Marshall plan, Rosenbergs, the Korean war... just to name a few. I even read through events that occurred before the period during the actual war itself. For example, I read through memoirs and anecdotes written by people who had first-hand experiences of the Dresden bombings in 1945. I did this so that I had more to work with, and so that I could generate my own ideas and beliefs about how these experiences of the war potentially contributed to the climate of anxiety that ensued. Honestly, it's quite fascinating to read about this stuff and I would happily spend hours per day just trying to consolidate my understanding - it didn't even feel like I was doing so under academic obligation. I didn't take any notes or anything though, just let the information sink in enough so that I was able to get a "taste" of each perspective/event.
In the end, I conceded that, however it would be done, I wanted to ultimately have a creative that critiqued the materialistic influence of capitalism on the psyche of the individual by contrasting it against the egalitarian principles that drove the sense of affinity which was prevalent in East Germany (and was much more prominent than what we have today). I wasn't sure how I'd go about it because my teacher didn't recommend addressing too many ideas, but I think I pulled it off okay. I wrote it with a paramount focus on reducing the brutality of the GDR regime to a personal level, rather than just the impersonal totalitarianism of the regime. I did this through the eyes of a young child by exploring the Stasi, which I used as a means to emphasise the anxiety and mistrust that permeated the environment as a result of arbitrary surveillance. These are just a few of the many ideas I grappled with, I still have a long way to go in the refining process hahah!
I think you'd really benefit by ensuring you have a comprehensive understanding of the specific event first! The way I achieved my "outline", was by picking a few concepts that I liked the most - capitalism vs communism; the Stasi; and the dismantling of the Berlin Wall. Then, I fleshed out these ideas into extreme specifics so that I could develop possible links with eachother in order to achieve a seamless, plausible storyline. I had probably 3 or so propositions, and I ended up integrating one of them into my response. During the actual writing process, I played around with the structure intensely and even my storyline changed a bit. Initially I was doing something about the Gulags and the Siberian concentration camps/death marches and I had written 700 words written in that regard before I completely ditched it for this one lol. Seriously though, I spent exponentially more time researching than writing the piece itself. I'd recommend "After the Wall" by Jana Hensel, it's a fairly quick read but provides quite an insight from the lens of a girl who grew up during the instability of East Germany. In particular, its examination of the cultural effects of the fall of communism and the transfer toward West German customs places great emphasis on the difficulties that the East population had assimilating - which I thought was incredibly interesting. Just immerse yourself in the time period honestly, you can't really go wrong with that.
My teacher is completely useless too though, don't worry haha! I hope you guys make some progress soon :) Just start researching, you'll be hung up on nitty gritty details before you know it lol
Hello Lumenoria~
THANK YOU SO MUCH YOUR TIPS AND SHARING YOUR METHOD IN HOW YOU WROTE YOUR CREATIVE!! I honestly feel a lot less lost reading your post so thank you so much!
From theyam:)
Yes, thank you both for your responses!
I'm less lost now ;D
Hi Elyse/ anyone that can help!
I am new to the forums/ATAR notes in general, but i need some help with an essay that we have been asked to write for Ext 1 English. The question is-
Re-read 'Waiting for Godot'.
Select the quote/conversation/sequence that BEST reflects the anxiety of the After the Bomb era. BE SELECTIVE - you are being asked to critically evaluate the work in light of the ways of thinking of the time.
In 800 - 1000 words, justify your choice.
This is a persuasive piece and needs a strong Introduction and Conclusion. Refer to the philosophers you studied and your assessment tasks.
Do you have any ideas for significant quotes that convey the anxiety in the ATB period? I'm struggling to find something that links to significant ideas and philosophers in the period. I also have no clue how to structure it.
Thank You!
Hey!
Admittedly, this does seem like quite a challenging task - predominantly due to the fact that you appear to be limited by just one textual reference? Is this correct? I haven't personally studied Waiting for Godot in class yet, so I won't have that much to offer in that regard; however, I do have a very general understanding of the text from a bit of research here and there. I think that the feeling of anxiety can by and large manifest in a multiplicity of ways, and perhaps, you're approaching it a bit too stereotypically? From what I can tell, the characters don't experience an anxiety that aligns with the connotation of panicking, going crazy, consumed by unrelenting hold of paranoia etc. Rather, it is one that is physically, and to some extent, verbally subtle but psychologically much more debilitating. For example, upon reading the first line "nothing to be done", you can obviously tell that there is a tone of defeat as this very proposition suggests that the character is so exhausted to a point beyond redemption; thus has defied the traditional determination that is characteristic of humanity. They seem to be entrapped in the fate which is provided to them by life itself, and it is this inability to alter that fate which fuels their anxiety; they know they must accept the circumstances in spite of their own sentiments. If I recall correctly, there's a novel called "What is to be done" by Lenin that reads "humanity cannot be helped, new ideals cannot change the human condition..." (I completely forgot the rest of it but look it up, I think the quote is quite pertinent to this and you might find that you'll agree too). Though the character seems like he has given up, he really hasn't and it is this harsh realisation of reality that allows him to come to terms with the inhumanity of the world and how the ordinary, anxious individual is expected to be complacent with it. Obviously there are religious aspects you can delve into aswell, such as the fact that they have been so defeated that their only hope is God, an entity that has neither be proven or disproven, but nonetheless it is the slim possibility of his existence that both fuels their anxiety in the wait, and in a way, keeps them sane. This can also be attributed to the fear of nuclear annihilation during the Cold War, where citizens were consumed by anxiety for what was ultimately a lost cause. Again, I have only read one line and I may be completely miscontruing the play but just some ideas to play with. I reckon you could even evaluate the structure of the play by fleshing out your specific observations (which could probably be achieved without explicitly quoting, if that is what the task asks) and elaborate on the way in which this reflects the nihilistic perspectives that permeated the psyche of the individual during the ATB period.
In terms of structure, I would personally split it into literally all the ideas that could possibly be inferred from whatever quote you decide to work with. Perhaps find one that is more universal to all the paradigms so that you have more scope to work with? I think pieces of dialogue would even be good for this because multiple perspectives can be ascertained. Otherwise, I would just be extremely specific in my argument and literally refer to the "philosophers studied" as MUCH as possible to support my arguments - ensure they are judiciously selected and not just at random though. Maybe consider looking at Marxist studies and existential philosophies both specific to the play and that time period to help broaden your horizons? This would also assist in the task of extrapolating your ideas to a level that is applicable to the ways of thinking during the ATB period in a general sense.
I know this probably isn't helpful at all, but I thought I'd contribute some food for thought just on the off chance it might be! Good luck :)
Hey!
Admittedly, this does seem like quite a challenging task - predominantly due to the fact that you appear to be limited by just one textual reference? Is this correct? I haven't personally studied Waiting for Godot in class yet, so I won't have that much to offer in that regard; however, I do have a very general understanding of the text from a bit of research here and there. I think that the feeling of anxiety can by and large manifest in a multiplicity of ways, and perhaps, you're approaching it a bit too stereotypically? From what I can tell, the characters don't experience an anxiety that aligns with the connotation of panicking, going crazy, consumed by unrelenting hold of paranoia etc. Rather, it is one that is physically, and to some extent, verbally subtle but psychologically much more debilitating. For example, upon reading the first line "nothing to be done", you can obviously tell that there is a tone of defeat as this very proposition suggests that the character is so exhausted to a point beyond redemption; thus has defied the traditional determination that is characteristic of humanity. They seem to be entrapped in the fate which is provided to them by life itself, and it is this inability to alter that fate which fuels their anxiety; they know they must accept the circumstances in spite of their own sentiments. If I recall correctly, there's a novel called "What is to be done" by Lenin that reads "humanity cannot be helped, new ideals cannot change the human condition..." (I completely forgot the rest of it but look it up, I think the quote is quite pertinent to this and you might find that you'll agree too). Though the character seems like he has given up, he really hasn't and it is this harsh realisation of reality that allows him to come to terms with the inhumanity of the world and how the ordinary, anxious individual is expected to be complacent with it. Obviously there are religious aspects you can delve into aswell, such as the fact that they have been so defeated that their only hope is God, an entity that has neither be proven or disproven, but nonetheless it is the slim possibility of his existence that both fuels their anxiety in the wait, and in a way, keeps them sane. This can also be attributed to the fear of nuclear annihilation during the Cold War, where citizens were consumed by anxiety for what was ultimately a lost cause. Again, I have only read one line and I may be completely miscontruing the play but just some ideas to play with. I reckon you could even evaluate the structure of the play by fleshing out your specific observations (which could probably be achieved without explicitly quoting, if that is what the task asks) and elaborate on the way in which this reflects the nihilistic perspectives that permeated the psyche of the individual during the ATB period.
In terms of structure, I would personally split it into literally all the ideas that could possibly be inferred from whatever quote you decide to work with. Perhaps find one that is more universal to all the paradigms so that you have more scope to work with? I think pieces of dialogue would even be good for this because multiple perspectives can be ascertained. Otherwise, I would just be extremely specific in my argument and literally refer to the "philosophers studied" as MUCH as possible to support my arguments - ensure they are judiciously selected and not just at random though. Maybe consider looking at Marxist studies and existential philosophies both specific to the play and that time period to help broaden your horizons? This would also assist in the task of extrapolating your ideas to a level that is applicable to the ways of thinking during the ATB period in a general sense.
I know this probably isn't helpful at all, but I thought I'd contribute some food for thought just on the off chance it might be! Good luck :)
Hi Elyse/ anyone that can help!
I am new to the forums/ATAR notes in general, but i need some help with an essay that we have been asked to write for Ext 1 English. The question is-
Re-read 'Waiting for Godot'.
Select the quote/conversation/sequence that BEST reflects the anxiety of the After the Bomb era. BE SELECTIVE - you are being asked to critically evaluate the work in light of the ways of thinking of the time.
In 800 - 1000 words, justify your choice.
This is a persuasive piece and needs a strong Introduction and Conclusion. Refer to the philosophers you studied and your assessment tasks.
Do you have any ideas for significant quotes that convey the anxiety in the ATB period? I'm struggling to find something that links to significant ideas and philosophers in the period. I also have no clue how to structure it.
Thank You!
Hey guys,
Ive tried writing a sorta brainstorm/plan thing. The only text I've done so far in class is "The Spy who came in from the Cold" and the mains things I remember standing out was the distrust and anti-communist sentiments. The thing that stood out to me the most was the depiction of the Berlin Wall in the novel and I was pretty interested in how people escaped it and why they did. So for my creative I've sort of tried to incorporate that with quotes JFK's anti-communist speech: Ich bin ein Berliner. Is it possible if someone could read the dot points I have so far and give me some direction on what I should do next and how to make the creative more sophisticated, possibly how to incorporate the paradigms within the creative because I feel thats what I'm lacking at the moment?
Thank you all~
From theyam :)
Hello
I was just wondering if someone could explain to me why someone would want to escape from East Berlin to the West. I've done some research but I've come across very conflicting answers. On one hand, people say the communist system created poor living conditions while other people say that life was quite comfortable. I'm not exactly sure what to believe. Can someone help please?
Thank you
from theyam
Hi Elyse!
Thank you for your advice...
If anyone is doing/ has done "The Spy who came in from the Cold"
How would you guys approach this question?
“Out of the secret world I once knew I have tried to make a theatre for the larger worlds we inhabit. First comes the imagining, then the search for the reality. Then back to the imagining, and to the desk where I’m sitting now.”John Le Carre- The Pigeon Tunnel (Stories from my Life), 2016
To what extent has your understanding of the ways of thinking in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold been shaped by considering both imagining and a search for reality in the text. You can add a related text to the essay question if you are ready.
theyam :)
Mod Edit - Merged posts :)
Hello
I was just wondering if someone could explain to me why someone would want to escape from East Berlin to the West. I've done some research but I've come across very conflicting answers. On one hand, people say the communist system created poor living conditions while other people say that life was quite comfortable. I'm not exactly sure what to believe. Can someone help please?
Thank you
from theyam
Hello
Is it possible if someone could please help me identify the political, philosophical, economic and religious paradigms found in Spy who came in from the Cold?
So far I have
- A clash of politics (communism vs democracy) (political)
leading to
- lack of amorality as each side goes to extreme lengths to achieve their goals
- this creates a climate of anxiety
- nihilism (philosophical?)
But ye, the ones I've listed above, I'm not too sure what categories those even go into so any help would be much appreciated.
I've noticed in a few past Qs that they've asked to use a main character/setting of one prescribed text for the creative...
Should I prepare one entirely based on those?
Or go with another original idea which I have in mind?
Much to the prepared student's dismay - Extension 1 creative stimuli have been verrrry diversified in the past. Have a look through some past papers and see how they can really throw a spanner in the works. One time you had to creative a story based on two people who are significantly connected but never meet (I think 2013 cohort? But I'm just guessing).
So to answer your question - you should go with another original idea, but be prepared to change it dramatically in an exam. There's no way of getting around it other than by pushing your creative to the limits and out of its comfort zone!
Okay, thank you!
Also, I have this idea for a creative...SpoilerCentres around a scientist working for USSR… but eventually his moral compass becomes compromised - 1) while researching he stumbles across footage from Hiroshima and is uneasy about the horrors inflicted upon people and 2) when he views the detonation of the most powerful bomb at the time that he was a part of constructing and realises that the consequences are even worse
He burns everything and has potentially stopped the Cold War… [stops here more hopeful ending - qualities of existentialism?] OR finds out through a spy that USSR has been monitoring and copying his work [more dismal ending - no control in paranoid era]
From this basic outline does it sound okay to proceed with? Thank you! :)
Hey there!
Okay so I really like your idea. I have to say I don't properly understand the second alternate ending: a USSR scientist was spied on by a USSR spy? I'm keen to know about him stopping the Cold War - perhaps it's not a logical thing to write about but could you somehow internalise this to be a metaphor? I like the direction this is going in!
Thank you!
Now that I think about it, it doesn't make much sense :P
But I wasn't sure how else he would find out about the government essentially monitoring him, and spies are indicative paranoia of each of the superpowers so I thought about slipping it in somewhere. Maybe it will be too cliched?
I have no idea how to end it haha... maybe I can just leave it at the realisation that his morals were being compromised?
Hi,
I'm doing my first Ext 1 assessment currently (it's a speech). My prescribed text is Godot (50s) and related is One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (70s). I am struggling to find the links between the context of the specific decade and the ways of thinking in that decade beyond what I have been told in class. For example how does the context of Detente relate to Cuckoos nest's critique of institutional structures? I've tried searching online (using phrases like "cold war literature") but haven't really found anything good.
I was just wondering if someone could point me in the right direction.
Thanks.
Hi there,
I haven't actually done Godot yet so I can't provide much help, but if you're looking for more contextual stuff or research I found these presentations quite helpful,
- I found this prezi quite useful: https://prezi.com/hxd-4novla4l/after-the-bomb/?webgl=0 (they provide a lot in my opinion and link it to paradigms)
- Also, this powerpoint has some analysis on Godot (Godot analysis starts on slide 89) and other ATB texts: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/15Wdh0H3nHQueWsA7h6gyxxRiDP37IPQmPqXJVDFxzz4/edit?usp=sharing
Good luck
Hello,
Was just wondering if someone could give their opinions on what related text would work well with Sylvia Plath's poetry. Or just any existentialist texts?
Thanks
theyam
Hey, everyone!Yes I think so :) You'd only be caught out if the question specified you speak about a scientific or economic paradigm in particular. But I wouldn't go changing your story now for this - because you can never ever guarantee you are 100% prepared for an extension creative unfortunately. Just consider how you could make these ideas more prominent if you needed to :)
I have a question about the creative writing section :D If my creative doesn't explicitly address economic or scientific paradigms but subtly hints them (using skyscrapers as motifs to comment on urbanisation) and whatnot, would it still be okay to fulfil the scopes of the elective? ???
Hi, I've been looking for ATB related texts and have stumbled upon The Hunt For Red October (film). Would this be a suitable pairing with The Spy Who Came in from the Cold? Is the release date of a text a big issue since this came right at the end of what is considered the Cold War?
Hey guys :)
I'm a bit stuck with my essay for ATB. I know there are 500 different ways to structure it, but how did you guys do it?
My prescribed texts are waiting for godot, plath's poetry and good night and good luck. For my essay, my original plan was to use godot and plath, and then the handmaid's tale (novel) and the lottery (short story) as related texts. However now that i'm reading back over my essy in preparation for trials, it's a bit of a mess and i'm thinking i should use GNGL, the lottery, plath and maybe the kitchen debate as my related.
Does anyone have any advice/ideas?
Also, if anyone has any notes/ analysis on the kicthen debate that would be much appreciated!! I'm struggling to find anything online