the number one way to ensure you are writing a part 2 is to answer the question!.. well thats my advice. :-)
failing that this might help... :-)
ENGLISH EXAM NOTES (PART 2 TEXT RESPONSE)
I would like to turn your attention to the first section of the English examination paper - Text Response - most particularly, the Part 2 text essay. As you know, there are two text essays required in the final examination. The Part 1 essay is the type of analytical essay that you have been writing since the early years of high school. To my mind, Part 2 is the more interesting essay, but many students find it the more challenging. Examination responses are, in the words of the Chief Examiner, ?often quite brilliant? while ?the less successful tend to generalise with a complete loss of text?. So I think it is a useful idea to use some of the next ten weeks to clearly identify in your own head what is required for a good Part 2 response. Let us begin ?.
What are the differences between Part 1 and Part 2 text essays?
To put it simply, Part 1 essays focus on the elements of structure, character, form, plot, setting, language and tone. Part 2 essay topics focus on how the text reflects social and cultural values, concepts, context, perspectives and implied views. One way that the differences can be perceived is by recognising that the two sections are different ways into the text. One is through a close examination of what is happening within the text, such as the interaction of character; and the other is looking at the text as a whole entity from outside, identifying what it says to you about particular ideas. The simple diagram below tries to illustrate this subtle difference in emphasis when studying your texts. Part 1 asks you to get inside the text and explore all its component parts, while Part 2 asks you to stand back, put all the parts together, and consider the overall meaning of the total text.
Part 1 essays ask you to separate the book into its component parts, to focus on the individual elements that blend together to make up the novel. On the other hand, Part 2 essays ask you to look at the text holistically - to decide how all the elements of Part 1 work together to create a particular meaning. It is here that you are consciously asking yourself - Why did the author write in this way? What is his purpose? What meaning is he communicating? What values are evident in his story? What is he saying about the world?
What do Part 2 essay topics look like? If you look at the VCE examination papers from recent years, you will become familiar with the types of questions asked for Part 2 Text Response. They are most often written from the perspective of the whole text, and they focus on a particular concept, value or context.
For example, these questions were on the 2006 paper ?
The Kite Runner ?The Kite Runner demonstrates that people are motivated more by self-interest than by honour.? Discuss.
The Wife of Martin Guerre ?This text shows that morality is meaningless without compassion.? Discuss.
I?m Not Scared ?I?m Not Scared demonstrates that a vast gap between wealth and poverty in a society generates corruption and violence.? Discuss.
What pitfalls are there in Part 2 essays?
The major error students make in their examination responses is to tackle the topic as if it were an issue essay, rather than a text essay. They write generalised responses that address the theme, but at the expense of the text. Let us look at the text The Quiet American for a moment. A Part 2 topic for this text could be:
?The Quiet American shows that it is not always best for a country to accept Western values.? Discuss
Instinctively, you are likely to agree with this statement. But why? Nowhere in the novel does Greene come out and state explicitly that he is against Western values in Indo-China, yet as readers we are keenly aware that this is the underlying message. How do we know this? ? the presentation of Western characters like Pyle and Granger who are so uncaring and disparaging about the local people and culture of Indo-China that we are positioned as readers to despise their values
? the weariness of the French Captain who wants to save the lives of his St Cyr colleagues and return home rather than fight in Indo China
? the pastoral vision of IndoChina as an agrarian society that is presented in the novel and appears at complete odds with the technology of a highly industrialised USA
? the presentation of Pyle as a rabid ideologue blinded to the inadequacies of his mentor York Harding who, in practical terms, only spent a few days in the country
? the death of innocents that occurs at the hands of Pyle ? and his callousness at being more comcerned for the state of his shoes than the loss of Indo-Chinese lives
? the stereotyping of the French/British presence as war weary and impassive, while the Americans appear as a blundering, blind force
Notice how you must go back to the text to identify all the examples and quotes that support your instincts that The Quiet American perceives western ideals as foolish and uninformed. The danger for some students is that they write a generalised discussion on western liberal democracy and fail to link it back specifically to the book. This is incorrect. In Part 2 essays, you use the text to evidence your discussion of the concept/value/perspective identified in the topic.
How do I write a Part 2 essay?
As with any essay, there are no absolutely right or wrong ways to write a Part 2 response. They can be written in many ways successfully. As in Part 1, the most important thing is to answer the question. However, perhaps I can give you a few ideas to tailor your writing more precisely to fit the Part 2 model. 1. Your introduction must address the concept/value/perspective identified in the topic. Define it clearly . Outline your interpretation. Don?t get caught up in textual detail in your introduction. Remember to phrase ideas in terms of the whole text.
2. Just as the topic uses the whole text approach e.g. ?The Quiet American shows ..? , so your answer should adopt the same pattern. Use phrases like ?this novel tells us that?, ?this film implies that?, ?Lantana addresses the issue of?, or talk about the intentions of the author/director ? ?Miller articulates his feelings on?, ?Sarah Watt uses the tracking shot to? and ?Greene identifies his own moral ambiguity when he ? ?.
3. Focus your topic sentences on some angle of the concept, or on the author/director?s intention. Use textual evidence in the paragraph to support your position in the topic sentence. Each paragraph may begin in a non-textual manner, but the body of the discussion refers in close detail to the text.
For example, here is the introduction and topic sentences for a Part 2 essay on The Quiet American - The Quiet American shows that it is not always best for a country to accept Western values. Discuss.
The Quiet American highlights the deadly consequences of imposing Western liberal ideology upon agrarian, peasant-based nations such as those like Indo-China. Graham Greene challenges the legitimacy of America?s foreign intervention during the 1950s which sought to use violence as a means of ?building a national democratic front?. Ultimately, the reader is positioned to view the Western ideals of liberty and democracy as ?isms and ocracies? or ?half-baked ideals? which are largely irrelevant to an ancient ?rice field? country. Greene stresses that to ?blunder? in and impose one?s ideals without looking at the facts is to do a lot of harm; it is one of the dilemmas of democracy that a small amount of good must be sacrificed for the sake of a much greater good. In writing this novel, Greene wishes us to question the morally expedient actions of the United States across the world. He seeks acknowledgement that action ?can be a most dangerous thing? when abstract political values are enforced upon a nation that is far removed from the values of the Western world.
Body paragraph 1 Western political ideals have little value to a south-east Asian country torn between French colonialism and independence.
Body paragraph 2 The inherent flaws in the application of Western ideas to Indo-China stem from the radically different cultural context of the East contrasted to the self-interested motivations of the United States.
Body paragraph 3 Greene shows that too much faith in Western idealism can have horrific consequences for those involved.
Body paragraph 4 Greene?s incessant focus on the ?innocence? of Pyle?s character is not an exoneration of his heinous actions but a comment on the culpability of the United States.
As you can see, Part 2 essays aren?t really difficult. They just require some practice. Make use of the ten weeks of third term to master this essay format, so that you can confidently tackle the task in the final examination.
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