Paper 2 Essay

What do you think of the assertion that the meaning of a text is fixed and does 
not change over time?

For answering this question is important to consider three factors that are present in every text: the context of production, reception and historical. The first one is the context that surround that writer, in other words, what was happening at the time he wrote the text. The second one refers to the reader and what was happening at the moment he read the text. The third one is about the events that happened in the time that the story takes place. When an author writes a text, he is influenced by the events that are happening in his present (context of production), there is an specific target audience that he wants to reach to transmit a message. But with the passage of time the society faces new troubles, leaving the older ones behind, and their way of thinking changes, so the message that the author wants to deliver won't be equally understood by someone who lived at the time the text was written, to someone who reads it centuries later.
In "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, we have the topics of discrimination and more specifically the racism that the United States had in the early 20th century against afro-american people. This novel was published in 1960, and it is set around the twentieth's. Despite this the context of production and historical are similar, because the discrimination existed in a high level at both decades. The message that "To Kill a Mockingbird" transmit to someone who reads it at the time it was published is very direct because it is something present in his daily life, and the author's intention is to make the reader ponder about it and give a meaning to the text by relating the story with his present. But it would be different the meaning that a reader set in another context of reception gives to the text. Now a days the racial issues in the United States are much better, white and dark skinned people have the same rights, and there for the meaning that a reader, who lives in 2014, gives to Harper Lee's novel won't have the same focus that the one who lived in a time where discrimination was one of the main problems of the nation. The problem of todays are others and the reader is free to relate the story with whatever he considers important.
The novel "Fatelessness" by Imre Kertész, relates the story of a jewish boy who lived in Hungary while the Nazis were in the power. We can see again how the author wanted to express a situation to the readers that he lived. The historical context is II World War and jewish holocaust. The book was published in 1975, so the context of production isn't far from the historical. In the time he wrote it people were just starting to know about the treatment and pain that jewish suffered, and stories like this were meant to inform the people about it. Today is much more the information we have and it is not something that still happening. We are much far away from II World War that when Kertész published his novel. Thats the reason why we relate the meaning of the book with events that are more present for our lives.
In conclusion, I think that the meaning of texts aren't fixed over time, they change. Because at the time the author wrote the text he was influenced by the events that occurred in a time not far from his, and the problems that they had in those times aren't the same that we have now, so we can't apply directly the meaning that the writer meant to give to the readers. Thats how it happened in "To Kill a Mockingbird", where Lee writes about the discrimination in the US at a time were it was heavy. And the same with Fatelessness, the topic of jewish holocaust was fresh and there was a lot to say about it. But both books are focused on issues that today doesn't exist in the same level, so the reader of today doesn't has the same mentality that the one of the II World War, their way of thinking is different, and so is the meaning they give to texts.

Register: statements

How would you describe the register of the following statements?

• “Honoured guests, members of the board, Superintendent Johnson, and most importantly, graduates of the class of 2012, it is an honour to speak to you on this ocassion.” (Formal Register)

• “While I was pleasantly surprised by the menu selections for dinner service, I was disheartened by the lukewarm eggs at breakfast.” (Formal Register)

• “Yeah, right” (Casual Register)

• “I doubt it” (Consultative Register)

• “I’m tired of your rubbish” (Intimate Register)

• “I’m tired” (Consultative Register)

Idioms and Ambiguity

Meaning can often be complicated through the use of metaphors, idioms, or simply through ambiguous relationships between words. What are the actual meanings of the first two idioms below? What are the possible meanings of the next ambiguous sentences? 

Bite your tongue To use your teeth agains your tongue/ To remain quiet

Pull my leg A request for you to pull my leg/ To trick someone

He is my English teacher He teaches me English/ He comes from England

I saw the person with a telescope I used a telescope to see him/ He was with a telescope when I saw him

She doesn’t like short men or women She doesn't like short men and short women/ She doesn't like short men and any kind of women

Truth and Assumptions

The use of  certain verbs can imply the actual or probable status of events in a statement. In the sentence “I know the dog died”, the verb “know” is FACTIVE as it assigns the death of the dog as true. In “I believe the dog died”, the verb “believe” is NON-FACTIVE as the clausal object (the dog died) may not be a true fact.

Are the following statements factive or non-factive?

• I thought that today was your birthday. Non Factive
• I forgot that today was your birthday. Factive
• The teacher scolded me for not studying hard enough. Factive
• The teacher acknowledged that I hadn’t really studied. Factive
• The teacher realized the student had cheated. Factive
• The teacher assumed that the student had cheated. Non Factive

Abraham Lincoln Speech

“My friends: No one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kindness of these people, I owe everything. Here I have lived a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young to an old man. Here my children have been born, and one is buried. I now leave, not knowing when or whether ever I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington. Without the assistance of that Divine Being who ever attended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance, I cannot fail. Trusting in Him who can go with me, and remain with you, and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell.”

In this speech Lincoln refers to his friends in an affective and nostalgic way, using phrases like: "sadness at this parting" and "kindness of these people". Even though he became president of the United States, his words are humble to the people and the town in which he lived: "I owe everything", he also shows the pain he suffered "and one is buried". Next he talks about the difficulty of his duty "with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington", by saying this he is comparing himself with a national hero, something that may be risky because it is the people gives the one that gives the importance to the leaders, not themselves. He continues his speech referring to the uncertainty of his future, "Without the assistance of that Divine Being who ever attended him, I cannot succeed". In his nine line's speech four are used to talk about god. He probably did this to show to the people that he has the same values that they do, because in those times religion was far more important than now, and a man with doubtful beliefs wasn't likely to prevail.

Activity 8.6

For the extracts below state: 

1) Wether they are smilies or metaphors

2) What the literal and figurative terms are

3) What is named and/or what is implied

Discussions questions page 204

1) The author describes the ways he thinks beauty is. The black fat woman is not very attractive, but his objective is to show us that the real beauty is in the inside.


2) I don't think that the poem is about love, it is more likely to be  critic to the society.

3) There is a blank rhyme pattern throughout the poem. It is similar to the sea because of the amount of syllables in the first and second stanza.

Activity 8.5

Sight: fat, beauty, hibiscus, black, fields, waves, sea.
Sound: sea, waves, fields.
Taste: salt, oblivion.
Touch: sea, waves, hugh, breezed, hibiscus.
Smell: sea, breezed, feet.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Life

Alfred Lord Tennyson's Life on Dipity.

In Memoriam 3: O sorrow, cruel fellowship PREZI

The Kraken Analysis

"The Kraken"

Below the thunders of the upper deep;
Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea,
His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep
The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee
About his shadowy sides: above him swell
Huge sponges of millennial growth and height;
And far away into the sickly light,
From many a wondrous grot and secret cell
Unnumbered and enormous polypi
Winnow with giant arms the slumbering green.
There hath he lain for ages and will lie
Battening upon huge sea-worms in his sleep,
Until the latter fire shall heat the deep;
Then once by man and angels to be seen,
In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die.

Type of analysis: TP-CASTT

Title: By reading the title I can infer that the poem will be about a fiction tale told in a narrative way, maybe the adventure of an old sailor man.

Paraphrase: There is an old kraken living in the deep of the sea. It is giant and old, his time has already passes and now he is resting in the deep awaiting his dead.

Connotation: Behind the description of the great monster, the author keeps on repeating that the kraken is old and his time has come. That implies that even enormous, dangerous and old creatures are nothing when confronting the time, and soon or later it will die.

Attitude: The author talks in a melancholic way, as if he respected the Kraken and feel inspired by it, but it's time has come and the monster will die soon, so he makes this memorial of it.

Shifts: The lyric speakers keeps the same throughout the poem

Title: After reading the poem I know that the title referred to the creature and a description of it and his life.

Theme: The poet is saying that the kraken once was the fear of every living thing in the sea, but now he is in agony because of his age.

"Yesterday", Poem Analysis

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away
Now it looks as though they're here to stay
Oh, I believe in yesterday

Suddenly I'm not half the man I used to be
There's a shadow hanging over me
Oh, yesterday came suddenly

Why she had to go
I don't know, she wouldn't say
I said something wrong
Now I long for yesterday

Yesterday love was such an easy game to play
Now I need a place to hide away
Oh, I believe in yesterday

In the song yesterday written by Paul McCartney and realeased by The Beatles we can see the following elements:

        The rhyme in the first, third and fourth stanza is marked in the last word of each verse, in the syllable "ay". In the second stanza the rhyme is in the last syllable and has the sound "e". The first, second and fourth stanza have a sequence of twelve, nine, and eight at the number of syllables in each verse.
        In the third stanza, that is the chorus, the first and the third verse have five syllables each, while the second and the fourth have seven. There's rhyme only in the second and the fourth verse.

Jane Eyre Written Task

Written Task

Jane Eyre

Mr. Rochester diary entry:

It has been just four days since I last wrote you, and I feel that everything is different inside me. I can barely remember my mood, my personality... my essence. Everything has become so blurry, and I can't even find a logical explanation for it. I'm not sure if it is the first time this happens to me, but there is without a doubt a hint of déjà vu. In my memories I cannot clearly distinguish between dreams and reality, so don't believe for sure everything I'm about to say; the only way out that I've got for this mental chaos is to recall the past events of my life, and do a cause and consequence process, or maybe I'll just waste my time.

Three days ago I was in Kingston upon Hull waiting for a meeting with a man named Luke Smith, who wanted to buy a distant piece of land that has belong to my family since the sixteen century. He picked me up at the motel were I was staying and drove us to his place, which was located at the centre of the city. When we finished dialoguing, he offered me to take me back to the motel, but I preferred to walk. I didn't notice that the night had parked upon Yorkshire’s skies, and suddenly the clouds let the rain fall. I was getting wet and there were no stores open. I could see at the distance a lantern. The moonlight was making her way between clouds and rain to shine, and I was trying to descry the distant light. I started running. When I finally arrived to the lantern, I got into a house beside. There was a man and he stood looking at me, "Good nights, my name is Edward Rochester, I was on my way when it started raining, I'm sorry but I had to rush in". I said, and he replied "Please, come, I'll lend you a towel. You shouldn't be walking this late and without an umbrella". I dried myself and he invited me to join him and friends of his, they were drinking and playing music at the third floor, they had a gorgeous pianoforte. Three men and three women, they weren't engaged but it was obvious that they had a sort of relationship. They were distracted and I got bored incredibly fast, so I thanked him for his hospitality and went out very disappointed. The rain had subsided and I had to walk about fifteen minutes to the motel, there was nobody walking in the gloom of the night, that made me think on how late it was. When I was finally in the motel I noticed that the receptionist was asleep, it was uncomfortable to wake him up, but I had to because he had to give me my room key.

The next day I woke up at dawn, the sun had just one third of itself above the water horizon. I liked the mood of the day, the sky was clear and birds whistled their lovely music. Probably this last fact gave me the idea of going to hunter and practice rifle shots. The motel didn't offer breakfast, so I thought of cooking one of the birds that I was going to shoot. I picked up my luggage, paid the owner of the place for the stay and went to saddle my horse that I tied yesterday to a tree. I remember that I felt very tense and repressed when I was departing Kingston, so I made my horse gallop as fast as he could. The refreshing breeze hit my face, counteracting the heat provoked by the sun and the adrenalin of the moment. The mountains looked prodigious, they inspired me, and the grass made me want to be laying on it, looking at the infinite sky. For that short moment I felt really free. Free of worries, free of myself. But then, the most instinctive and primary need that affects human being, and any living thing, shouted in my head. Hunger. And suddenly all my fears came back to me, I was coming back to reality and that depressed me. But there was nobody to talk to. I was alone and a feeling of nostalgia made me want to go back home immediately. The trip was long and the sun had gone by the time I arrived to my house. In the journey I suffered an accident and I sprained my leg. In my house I expected to see Adèle and Mrs. Fairfax and do the typical routine that involves them, but before I could get to my destiny I fell from my horse and got stunned. A woman who saw me offered me help very kindly. It was dark, but when I finally saw her face, the notion of time in my mind froze and a million of memories passed through my eyes. Every single moment of my life, that I was unwittingly seeing, made me feel a deep happiness inside. Suddenly the lapse ended and I couldn't even remember what I was doing an hour ago. Everything from then on had a justification from my soul, I have a reason to live, and every time I remember the woman that helped me, the feeling gets stronger. That was about four hours ago. I came to my bedroom as soon as I could, to retain all this information fresh and write it down, and get some conclusions. Now that I'm done, I have to say that everything is clearer and I understand now why I feel this way.


Rationale

In this written task, I chose to write about Mr. Rochester's thoughts and feelings. In "Jane Eyre" he is a reserved and mysterious character that doesn't talks much about his self or thoughts, so I invented a diary entry in which he tells in first person that he is not the same that he was before, and to give an explanation to that, he recounts all the events that began two days ago and finished right when he is done recounting the events.
I chose this format because it forced me to write as it would write a man from Victorians times. In "Jane Eyre", the author Charlotte Brontë used complex words and sentences to express what she wanted. So in order to do something similar, every time I wrote a sentence I changed the ordinary nouns, adjectives and adverbs for more accurate ones. "The rain had subsided and I had to walk about fifteen minutes to the motel, there was nobody walking in the gloom of the night", words like subsided and gloom are an example of accurate words. This is the main connection between the written task and the chapter Language and style.
The possible audience of this text would be "Jane Eyre" readers, or people who saw one of the films.

1983 film clip questions + Analysis questions chapters 3 – 4 – 5

What liberties do you think the director took in adapting the novel into a film? 

The director mostly cut some scenes that he doesn't consider important. He is free to add original parts that the book doesn't mention, because he wants to show his interpretation of the novel.

What criticisms can you offer to the portrayal of Victorian Times presented in the film?

The way parents educated children in victorian times was really wrong, and we can see that in the lot of children that died, the ones that had permanent traumas and the way they suffer.

In a contemporary context, how would society manage the constant abuse and bullying against a child within the heart of his/her family? 

Now a days parents must be very careful because the law is able to take away their sons in case of domestic violence.

Chapters 3-4-5 quiestions

1. How would you describe the relationship between Jane and Mr Lloyd? How do you think this affects her?

Jane received almost no love at all. Mr. Lloyd was one of the few persons that treated her like a girl and not a dog. That is very important to her because otherwise she wouldn't know how does it feels that someone is kind to you, creating serious psychological problems.

2. How did Jane’s character changed in her confrontation with both Mr Brocklehurst and Mrs Reed?

Jane acted in a very brave and direct way (admirable), she told to Mrs. Reed how much she suffered while she was living at her house.

3. What is your first perception of Lowood School? What do you predict for Jane’s future at Lowood? 

I thought that things will go better for Jane (I hoped so), but really it was much worse than gateshead, most of the teachers were awful persons.

Jane Eyre: Reflection Statement

If I was falsley accused I would always insist in my innocence, because it is the truth and if I'd say the opposite I would be lying and getting a several punishment for something that is false. It would be awful for me to have all my classmates against me, and that is another reason of why I would insist in my innocence, so they know I am a thruthful person. Nobody can live alone, and that's why it is very hurtful to have no friends at all.

1) What is your opinion of Mr. Brocklehurst's philosophy of education?

I think that now a days is very easy to know that to make people and children suffer and feel bad is wrong. Mr. Brocklehurst probably believed that the way he was raised up is the correct way of educating children, or maybe he could be a very cold man incapable of feeling empathy for the rest.

In Search of the Brontës Quiestions

1. Who is said to have influenced the sister’s lives and WHY?

The father. Because he wanted their daughters to be writters, so he told them that since they were child, and he succeed.

2. What tragedy struck the Brönte family?

They lost her mother, Maria, who died because of cancer. And later some of the sisters died because of tuberculosis.

3. What’s the Brönte father’s background?

He studied at Cambridge University, a very prestigious and expensive one. His economic situation was good.

4. How is it said that Emily Brönte coped with homesickness?

In her poetry she expressed all of her emotions.

5. What is Haworth described like in the times the Bröntes lived there?

It is described as a gothic building, Brontë's times are set in 1800-1850

6. What is a recurrent theme in Charlotte’s writing (based on her experience as a child)?

The departure of her mother and the life she had after that.

7. How did the Brönte father try to salvage the situation with his family after his wife’s death?

He wanted her daughters to have another model and mother. So he married three times.

Image Analysis

Yorkshire's skies are light grey, their buildings are dark gray and there is no people. It's lonely, reflective, sad, full of nature. The grey rocks and the green grass are the only colours you'll see. I think that the streets and the buildings shone once, when there was no graveyards, no sickness. Come and share the nightmare, the phantom city, where I live, and in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you made.

Charlotte Brontë Timeline

Charlotte Brontë on Dipity.

Rationale

I chose to make an interview to a musician that writes jingles, a person who knows how to send a corporation's message through the lyrics of a song. This character is called Sam Wilkinson and he is in the fiction TV show that I made up called "In The Culture Studio" where different types of artist show up to talk about their work and to keep people informed about the news in the art's world. The presenter asked to the musician about how he could make some songs fit into a movie or into a TV advertisement "Presenter: -Very interesting. Tell me, how is it different to compose music for jingles than for rock stars?". Sam Wilkinson referred to the types of media, language and music that he could use to reach young and adults. I chose this format because the focus of the conversation can be easily lead by the interviewer avoiding getting to far from the topic. I wrote also about the corporations and how they try to get a particular image so the audience can get the essence of them and the publicity then is more effective. " The most important thing is to know what is the image that the company wants to project to the people. For example coca-cola relate their product with happiness."

Written Task 1

Presenter: -Welcome again to another episode of "In The Culture Studio", where we talk about the art, music, novels and much more. Don't lose the tonight's interview with Samuel Wilkinson, a jingles writer who worked in campaigns for industries such as McDonald's, Pepsi, Nike, and also Barack Obama's presidential elections campaign. He will refer to us how they used the media to send the messages and how it can reach different people. Now, welcome everybody Samuel Wilkinson (applause). Good evening Sam, how are you tonight?

Wilkinson: -Hello, I'm very glad of being here, thank you for the invitation.

Presenter: -You are welcome, please take a sit. So tell me about your life Sam, where did you study?

Wilkinson: -After high school I chose to study music composition in Juilliard School. When I was a young boy I used to watch all this big starts such as David Bowie playing their music in big concerts, with all the fans shouting mad; and I wanted to be like that. When I grew up I lost that dream of being a rock star, though I didn't lose the love for music. So I decided to join the music industry as a quite composer, I made music for campaigns, important idols such as Madonna, and movie's soundtracks.

Presenter: -Very interesting. Tell me, how is it different to compose music for jingles than for rock stars?

Wilkinson: -That's a good question. The most important thing of this business is to know how music can fit different needs. Sometimes music is free to play whatever the artist wants, that's the case of independent bands or a contemporary composers. But when music is at the mercy of others, for example religion or movies, the composer isn't free to do whatever he wants; he must use it to transmit a specific message. The last jingle I wrote was for a jacket brand. The most important thing is to know what is the image that the company wants to project to the people. For example coca-cola relate their product with happiness. In this case, the jackets brand, that is called "South Pole", wanted to make a relation between their clothes with the warm sensation of being at home with the family in winter season. So I can't just drop a pair of electric guitar riff and a hard percussion as if I was composing for a rock band. I need to be selective at the time of choosing the instruments, melodies and the most important, lyrics.

Presenter: -I think that the song from the South Pole's ad is awesome. It's very interesting to know from the words of a real composer these types of differences that are more technical. But how does the lyrics of your songs varies according to the message, the audience and the medium by which it will be transmitted?

Wilkinson: -Well, when an agency calls me to work with them, there are other bureaus that take care of those aspects of the publicity. Once I receive all the information about the media, the target audience and the image that they want to project, I can start writing. The media I commonly work with is TV, Internet, mp3 and radio. Those are the ones by which it's possible to reproduce a song. If the target audience is teenagers then the ad will be reproduced on certain TV shows, at a specific hour and station in the radio, and the Internet is much precise at this point because it offers profiles of the users. To reach teenagers we must know what they consider attractive, things like alcohol, parties, friends, doing sports, having a good time is what they like. So when a brand wants to link to a concept, they must consider to whom that is attractive. My songs lyrics can go from marriage to anarchist, it all depends whom are we trying to reach. And the music is vital, because generations identify themselves with different styles and genres. For example, if I try to catch the attention of an old man, I will surely write a classic rock ballad, something soft, acoustic and rhythmic. But if I want to catch a teenager, then I'll have to use synthesizers, a fast tempo, a loud melody, something that he would like to hear in a discotheque. The lyrics may have slang and jargon, but the image that the brand wants to represent is the main focus of the song's lyrics.

Presenter: -So the image that the company wants to project is the most important thing?

Wilkinson: -That's right. I cannot say in my lyrics only subjects that will call the audience attention, I must find the balance between the message that the company wants to deliver, and the things the audience wants to hear.

Presenter: -Sam Wilkinson, thank you very much for being part of tonight's show. I hope we can se you here again soon. Thank to the audience and see you the next weekend with more of In the Culture Studio. Goodnight.