Hi,
I was wondering in our discovery essay for our related texts do we need a line explaining and introducing the plot of our related text? Or can we assume the reader already knows the text.
Thanks
Yes- but it should be rather brief and focus on how the text's synopsis represents the themes/ideas of discovery. Then as you construct your related's paragraph, you elaborate on how it represents discovery through various key events in the texts.
Example: The Pearl by Steinbeck
The Pearl scrutinises the fallibility of the human condition in Kino's discovery of The Pearl, evoking a deeper consideration on the destructive nature of humanity as Steinbeck transports his character from a stable setting to the dynamic natural world; allowing its restorative power to initiate change through confrontation and thus enlightened discoveries.... Then the rest of the paragraph would follow the formate
- Kino’s discovery of the “Pearl of the World”--> questions of the essence of human nature and its destructiveness conveyed in the gradual degradation of Kino’s morality in his quest to protect material things above the consideration of morality/humanity. Highlights the disorder and chaos that accompanies man’s ambitions to “rebel against the way things are”- highlighting the inherent fallibility of the human condition, marked in Kino “transfigure[ation]”from good, “trustworthy” man to violent and vengeful. Made aware by his wife
- Employ of a master-servant dynamic through the story via his immersion into 'civilisation' (a new milieu through death)---> consider the impacts of power acquired through the pearl, as Kino embraces a persona identified with the “civilised world” of his colonial oppressors defined by “ignorance, cruelty, and sin”; conveying how power corrupts the individual. Emphasised in the ant metaphor (realisation)
- Death of his son--> evokes a recognition that the narrator’s demise is his own doing, and thus total annihilation of the edifice of his existence must occur to be stripped from ignorance and mortal vices, enabling him to emerge with “power and promise”.
Hope this helps

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