HSC Stuff > HSC English Extension 1
English Extension 1 Question Thread
Joelle F-J:
Hey all!
I need to select a related text for either Guillermo del Toro's film Pan's Labyrinth or Samuel T. Coleridge's poems Rime of the Ancient Mariner, The Eolian Harp, Christabel, and Kubla Khan - for the Ext1 elective Reimagined Worlds.
I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions?? (Preferably for the film, if possible!) :)
carl16:
hi! :D
my prescribed texts are frankenstein, metropolis, waiting for godot (we need to pick 2) and we also have to have 2 related texts.
it looks like frankenstein is romanticism, while the other 2 are from modernism/postmodernism eras. was wondering...for worlds of upheaval essay how do I link them together? is it enough to say they are all responses to upheavals (e.g. frankenstein responds to the upheaval caused by enlightenment era, abuse of science) ? if so, how do i go about picking related texts? so far, what i have in mind is Coleridge's this lime tree bower my prison, which forms a arc with frankenstein in that they complement each other; coleridge shows how imagination liberates individuals from their old pessimistic attitudes, whereas frankenstein discourages individuals from using imagination in a way that disrupts natural life cycle as victor frankenstein does. but how do I link these Romantic texts to modernism/postmodernism? would i be able to do an integrated essay or compare/contrast?
Thanks!
angewina_naguen:
--- Quote from: Joelle F-J on April 04, 2020, 05:53:03 pm ---Hey all!
I need to select a related text for either Guillermo del Toro's film Pan's Labyrinth or Samuel T. Coleridge's poems Rime of the Ancient Mariner, The Eolian Harp, Christabel, and Kubla Khan - for the Ext1 elective Reimagined Worlds.
I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions?? (Preferably for the film, if possible!) :)
--- End quote ---
Hey, Joelle F-J!
When I delivered the Extension 1 lecture earlier this year, I used Shirley Jackson's short story The Lottery as a related text example for Pan's Labyrinth. This text is quite popular though so I would be cautious about choosing it.
Some great novels which would couple well with the film include Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude, Tea Obreht's novel Inland, Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate and Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore. Elements of magic realism which Pan's Labyrinth employs can be found in all these examples and you can draw some connections with any of them with Coleridge too. While they're quite long and heavy texts, they'll have lots for you to work with and explore. Hopefully one of them piques your interest and gives you something awesome to read this holiday :D
--- Quote from: carl16 on April 06, 2020, 10:51:29 am ---hi! :D
my prescribed texts are frankenstein, metropolis, waiting for godot (we need to pick 2) and we also have to have 2 related texts.
it looks like frankenstein is romanticism, while the other 2 are from modernism/postmodernism eras. was wondering...for worlds of upheaval essay how do I link them together? is it enough to say they are all responses to upheavals (e.g. frankenstein responds to the upheaval caused by enlightenment era, abuse of science) ? if so, how do i go about picking related texts? so far, what i have in mind is Coleridge's this lime tree bower my prison, which forms a arc with frankenstein in that they complement each other; coleridge shows how imagination liberates individuals from their old pessimistic attitudes, whereas frankenstein discourages individuals from using imagination in a way that disrupts natural life cycle as victor frankenstein does. but how do I link these Romantic texts to modernism/postmodernism? would i be able to do an integrated essay or compare/contrast?
Thanks!
--- End quote ---
Hey, carl16!
You don't have to choose texts from similar contexts; in fact, I'd encourage choosing them from contrasting ones! You link them together by their thematic commonalities (shared ideas across both texts like imagination as you have highlighted in the example below with Frankenstein and Coleridge). You can broaden your discussion by exploring context but you can group the texts together based on common themes and representations of upheaval.
As for other related text options, since you've got a novel and poem in mind already, it really depends on what your other prescribed text is. Since you have two modernist/postmodernist texts, I would recommend something non-fiction to throw some genre variety in the mix. I have a list of recommendations here if you're interested in exploring some options!
Feel free to ask any follow up questions in this thread if you have any. Hope this helps and good luck to you both with your Ext 1 studies ;D
Angelina ;D
carl16:
Thanks Angelina!! 8)
my plan looks like this so far:
Thesis
Worlds of upheaval are often driven by an excessive focus on scientific, economic and sociopolitical progress without regard for its moral consequences. Composers encourage individuals and societies to develop a sense of moral responsibility to restore social unity.
Paragraph 1
Mary Shelley’s gothic novel Frankenstein (1818) exposes the immorality of using science to create life by showing how the resultant creature has no means of attaining happiness. Written following the Age of Enlightenment, where some people saw scientific progress as an end goal whereas Romantics heavily opposed it for fear of its dangers, Shelley suggests that science can be pursued but only in a responsible manner.
Paragraph 2
Andrew Stanton’s animated film Wall-E (2008) explores the immorality of abusing the environment for sociopolitical power by showing how the resultant world is devoid of joy and natural beauty. In response to climate change denialists, Stanton promotes how moral responsibility through caring for the environment can restore beauty to the postmodern world.
Paragraph 3
Fritz Lang’s German expressionist film Metropolis (1927) criticises how a traditional focus on industrial efficiency creates class inequality and leads to the immoral exploitation of the working class. In response to the rise of industrialization in Weimar Germany, which saw the reparations of the Treaty of Versailles (1919-20) forsake the values of compassion and empathy, Lang advocates how these religious morals can restore unity to the working and higher classes.
Paragraph 4
William Blake’s poem The Chimney Sweeper (1789) condemns how a traditional focus on industrial efficiency leads to a loss of morality, as institutions manipulate children to perform labour and neglect their suffering minds and bodies. Disturbed by the prevalence of low pay chimney sweeping jobs at the start of the French Revolution,
I wanted some help on how to create a thread through my essay. so far i came up with something along the lines of morality, but im unsure how to talk about this in terms of a world of upheaval.
My teacher gave me a sample essay talking about "composers represent how change may serve as liberation from the loss of past societal values in order to expose how individuals' beliefs are challenged by shifting sociopolitical and economic paradigms" as the thesis. what is the "past/original" value and what's the new? for example, in frankenstein, would the enlightenment era focus on scientific development be considered the "past/original" and romanticism as a reaction to this is the upheaval,, or is Enlightenment the upheaval that destroys the peace of the old world of nature? or am i on the wrong track completely in talking about upheaval?
how does my plan so far ? I havent invested heavily in related texts so far, so i would really appreciate any suggestions for better related texts! also better thread/core arguments that run through the essay (trying to get the overall general direction of my essay right)
thanks so much!! ;D
Carl16
angewina_naguen:
--- Quote from: carl16 on April 09, 2020, 11:10:14 pm ---Thanks Angelina!! 8)
I wanted some help on how to create a thread through my essay. so far i came up with something along the lines of morality, but im unsure how to talk about this in terms of a world of upheaval.
My teacher gave me a sample essay talking about "composers represent how change may serve as liberation from the loss of past societal values in order to expose how individuals' beliefs are challenged by shifting sociopolitical and economic paradigms" as the thesis. what is the "past/original" value and what's the new? for example, in frankenstein, would the enlightenment era focus on scientific development be considered the "past/original" and romanticism as a reaction to this is the upheaval,, or is Enlightenment the upheaval that destroys the peace of the old world of nature? or am i on the wrong track completely in talking about upheaval?
how does my plan so far ? I havent invested heavily in related texts so far, so i would really appreciate any suggestions for better related texts! also better thread/core arguments that run through the essay (trying to get the overall general direction of my essay right)
thanks so much!! ;D
Carl16
--- End quote ---
Hey, carl16!
You're on the right track with creating the thread. You could explore morality as a complex force, given the worlds of upheaval that the individuals and collectives in your text are situated in. To make it more "Literary Worlds", I would look at how setting and the conditions of a world determine the way characters interact and their understanding of morality. You're already heading in the right direction; my advice would be to really draw from how those worlds are represented to explore it.
As for your thesis, I think it's looking fine as well! I think the word "excessive" is perhaps the only thing throwing it off balance but the rest of it aligns perfectly fine with the module. The thesis from the essay your teacher gave you, from my understanding at least, is looking at the idea of the worlds that face upheaval are reacting to the past and responding to conditions that are in flux and unstable (so as you've said, the movement from the balance, symmetry and order of Enlightenment to the individualism and expression of Romanticism). How you've interpreted upheaval is also valid though; that's the beauty about doing Extension 1 :D
My only other suggestion would be to change Wall-E. I absolutely adore the film but I can definitely see it your teacher, and HSC markers more broadly, not seeing it as "Extension 1" related text material. I would perhaps recommend George Orwell's Shooting an Elephant (1936) which can throw a nice WWII text into the mix. It's also an essay which gives a bit more contrast in your choice of media to explore in the essay (both Wall-E and Metropolis are films). Let me know if that helps and good luck with the assessment!
Angelina ;D
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