My Literature Practice Exam Regeneration/ Hedda Gabler comments much appreciated

[Spreadbury]

Exam Condition: REGENERATION and HEDDA GABLER practice

HEDDA GABLER:

Hedda Gabler is a play about the mundane and dull aspects of Victorian life. The play shows the entrapment and struggle for power of Hedda who, while allowing herself to be controlled by society's rules also struggles against them in her quest for power.

Throughout the play Hedda is shown to be on a constant quest for power. The play shows the struggles and difficulties Hedda must face if she wishes to achieve this power.

Hedda is distant from the Tesman's over the course of the play. Passage 1 shows Hedda's resistance towards joining the Tesman family. Because of the Tesman's, Hedda feels trapped and isolated. Hedda tries to gain power so that she will be able to live through them.

Hedda expresses this to Ejlert Lovborg in Passage 2. Due to her gender she is unable to lead a life she finds interesting so she gains and exerts power over Ejlert so that she may be able to have a glimpse of a world that she otherwise could not. In passage 2 Hedda expresses her deepest fear to Lovborg; scandal.

Scandal is Hedda's "nemesis" in the play. Hedda's fear of scandal is a hindrance to her throughout the play and leads to her eventual suicide after falling into the hands of Judge Brack.

Passage 3 shows Hedda's conflict with Judge Brack and her submission. Due to Hedda's previous actions - such as giving Ejlert the pistol - she is cornered by Judge Brack. Passage 3 shows Ibsen's use of stage direction which indicate who is "winning" in the struggle.

Stage directions show not only Hedda's struggle for power but also her isolation from society. Hedda's movements around the glass doors show her entrapment in the Tesman household but also her desire to escape. Throughout the play characters often move around the easy-chair - a symbol of power in the play.

Brack and Hedda constantly lock horns for control over the easy-chair - an important motif in the play. Brack and Hedda's movements around the easy-chair indicate who is in control of the situation.

Over the course of the play Hedda's fight for power is shown. During the final scenes of the play Judge Brack "wins" (although Hedda commits suicide so it can hardly reamin a victory) and gains power over Hedda. But Hedda resists by shooting herself in the temple, defying not only Brack but society as well.

Hedda Gabler chronicles one woman's rise and fall from power. The play questions societies rules and values, presenting a more progressive and unique view of the life of a Victorian-era woman.


REGENERATION:

Regeneration is an anti-war novel that vividly depicts the damage caused due to war. It shows the grotesque and vile experiences the soldiers must face and then, what must be done to "heal" them. Regeneration focusses on Rivers who listens empathically to the mens stories and tries to regenerate them.

Rivers, like many in the novel has a duty to society. Rivers must send them back, the men must go back. The sense of duty brings up many internal conflicts between their personal conviction and their duty to society.

Sassoon is shown with two types of courage; military courage and personal conviction. Sassoon, who condemns the war would rather fight it for the men and to protect them. Sassoon despises society for their "callous complacency" for experiences they could not even imagine, but despite his condemnation of the war he will fight it for the men. Passage 1 shows Sassoon's desperation to return to the front so he can fulfill his duty.

Prior is contrasted with Sassoon throughout the novel. Prior joined the war because it is the "club to end all clubs". Prior, like Sassoon judges society and its views on the war. Passage 2 shows societies ignorance, but also class distinction.

Prior despises the class system. The separation in society and the front. The officers who are a "gaggle of noodle-brained half-wits" and why they deserve power over the men.

Both passages condemn how and why the war is being fought, but more importantly question the need for healing. Sassoon was sent to Craiglockhart for his Declaration, not his mental state. Prior constantly fights River's methods of treatment "You know one day you're going to have to accept the fact that you're in this hospital because you're ill. Not me. Not the CO. Not the kitchen porter. You." - Rivers, pg. 97. Regeneration frequently questions the legitimacy of one person deeming another insane.

Barker uses many techniques to help create the realism and imagery of her novel. Barker allows the conversations in Regeneration to flow naturally between characters and is very descriptive in her writing, using colours or actions to help create the realism of the situation. "Callan pushed.........clasped hands." Pg 232.

The title captures the entire idea of the novel. The men must be regenerated so that not only can they live with their war experience but they can understand it also. Rivers tries to regenerate the men, to create them anew so that them may live their life.

Regeneration clearly and vividly captures the horrors of war and shows what must be done to heal the men. It blurs the line of sane and insane, questioning societies "rules". Regeneration shows a need for change in society, but most importantly; the need for the men to be healed.


any help or advice would be great

[EvangelionZeta]

Recommended reference exam example: http://vcenotes.com/forum/index.php/topic,17643.msg180686.html#msg180686

The most glaring issue with your reading is length; 500 words is inadequate for the exam, and you should really be aiming for something like 1000 at least.

Secondly, it seems to me as if you're being too broad.  Your exam argued readings need to be very much engaged with what you've been given; what you've written sounds too vague and related to the text as a whole.  What the examiners are looking for is engagement with the language and imagery of the passage provided - you need to stick very close to it (using quotes a lot more than you are now) whilst extracting meaning from it simultaneously. 

[Spreadbury]

thanks, much appreciated

[iamdan08]

Yeah you would probably want to be aiming for about twice the length of what you are writing at the moment. I haven't studied your texts, but you will defiantly need to go a lot deeper in your discussion. It seems at the moment you are just making a lot of statements. Really go deep and try and say something profound. If you do this, you will easily be able to write a lot more. Good Luck!!

[Eriny]

Just going through the first essay:

Throughout the play Hedda is shown to be on a constant quest for power. The play shows the struggles and difficulties Hedda must face if she wishes to achieve this power.

How? What in the passages provided makes you think that? What are the events? How does the language/tone/voice make you think that?

Hedda is distant from the Tesman's over the course of the play. Passage 1 shows Hedda's resistance towards joining the Tesman family. Because of the Tesman's, Hedda feels trapped and isolated. Hedda tries to gain power so that she will be able to live through them.

Unnecessary apostrophe in "Tesman's". What in the passage shows us that she is resistant? What does she say? Just as importantly, how does she say it? How do you know that Hedda 'feels trapped', give an an example. How do we know that Hedda is trying to gain power? Look over every single claim about the play you make and show your reader how you came to think that using evidence from the passages. This is a recurring problem in your essay, and given that a high proportion of your mark comes from providing text-based evidence, you really need to work on this.

Stage directions show not only Hedda's struggle for power but also her isolation from society. Hedda's movements around the glass doors show her entrapment in the Tesman household but also her desire to escape. Throughout the play characters often move around the easy-chair - a symbol of power in the play.

Brack and Hedda constantly lock horns for control over the easy-chair - an important motif in the play. Brack and Hedda's movements around the easy-chair indicate who is in control of the situation.

This is much better, but it has some clarity issues. You really need to explain what you mean when you talk about symbols.

The piece also reads a little flat. Try brightening it up with quotations.

I'm not too worried about length - it is a little short but if you go into your analysis with a little more depth then the length will follow. If you're having timing issues then the only thing you can do is practice.

Your strength is that you definitely have a reading of the play which is very clear and you don't seem to really go off topic (some extra sentences to link back each of your points to your contention would be helpful though). All you need to do is show the examiners why you think what you do about the play, in other words - provide lots of evidence!

My advice from here would be to redraft this essay with those and the above comments in mind, and post it again, and then we can work on improving it even further.