About Margaret

Qualified English Teacher, BA/BT UNE, Registered with VIT, located in Berwick Victoria 3806. Contact 0418 440 277, email contact@englishtutorlessons.com.au

Revision for ‘The Women of Troy’ by Euripides

Posted on October 23, 2021 by Margaret

This Resource is for Mainstream English students studing ‘The Women of Troy’ play by Euripides in the English Curriculum in Victoria.

What is the Meaning of Euripides Play?

Many of the themes and issues Euripides presents in ‘The Women of Troy’ are confronting because Euripides means to confront us in every literal understanding of the word. The audience is forced to recognise and grapple with tremendous philosophical questions: Is this humanity? Is this morality? Is this a just war? He also makes the audience face their own moral inadequacies, as Euripides holds a mirror up to Athens. Euripides believed that it is women and children who pay the ultimate sacrifice for war; they suffer through it and suffer after it, as society’s most vulnerable, at the hands of the powerful. The play makes extensive moral arguments against unjust conduct in war by presenting a sympathetic look at the great suffering experienced by the vanquished women of Troy being at the mercy of their brutal Greek victors. Euripides play is both anti-war and pro-feminist. By giving power to the Trojan women through his narrative, he renders them as complete, complex people with strong voices, if not influence over their eventual fates. Even though slaughtering the men of Troy, sacking their city and sending their women away to be slaves was standard military practice at the time, Euripides chastises the Greek victors for their violence, comparing them with the volatile barbarians whom they routinely disparaged [mocked].

Themes

The Cost of War Euripides chose to focus on the aftermath of war and gives the women and children victims of war a voice in his play. He highlights how the women are treated like chattels divided up between their Greek victors and the atrocities of war on innocent people. Quote: “This is the crown of my sufferings, my last ordeal: to sail away and leave Troy in flames” (Hecuba).

Duty and Honour Hecuba and Andromache cling to the ideas of obligation and duty and are honourable women who built reputations in respect of their royal positions in Troy. Euripides places emphasis on a citizen’s service to family, friends and country which continues long after the death of their menfolk. Quote: Hecuba as leader of the women is “a mother bird at her plundered nest”.

Fate It is not until the last remaining lines of the play that Hecuba acknowledges the Trojans have always been fated with ill-luck and pleads with the gods to find another people to exercise their dastardly plans on. Euripides argues that fortunes are changeable and tragedy indiscriminate. Quote: “For what purpose have we suffered? Why call on them [gods] we called before and they did not listen” (Hecuba).

Loss The play is about loss on several levels – loss of a great war, loss of many lives both Trojan and Greek and the continual loss experienced by the survivors of war. The Trojan women have lost many things in a physical sense and symbolically they have also lost power, position and Troy. Quote: “How must I deal with my grief?” (Hecuba) “What words of yours can release pity to match your pain?” (The Chorus)

Gender Menelaus is portrayed in the play as weak and officious while the other male Talthybius is represented as sensitive and decent but torn between his chivalrous inclinations and his duty as a Greek soldier. In juxtaposition Euripides injects into the play the strength of the women who are disempowered. He portrays Helen as more than just the beautiful legend, rather he presents her as a more calculating character with ulterior motives. He presents Hecuba as one who has reasoning and strength of leadership, Andromache has pragmatism and Cassandra has revenge. Quote: He puts masculinity under the microscope when Hecuba warns Menelaus about Helen and him behaving “worthy of yourself … your race and of your family” (Hecuba)

Social Class After Troy is destroyed all the women prisoners are reduced to equality and united in their suffering and loss. Euripides chose to be realistic in his depiction of the Trojan royalty despite their torment, he comments on their social fall, deterioration of the class system and now they are reduced to mere slaves. Quote: “Everything is turned upside down: royalty enslaved” (Andromache) “No queen’s bed for me now: I shall lay my shrivelled body to rest on the floor, and wear faded, worn rags to match my skin and mock my royalty” (Hecuba)

Symbols

The Flaming Torch By entering the scene carrying a flaming torch, Cassandra is not only heralded as being different from the other women but also a vestibule of foresight. The torch can be seen as hope to the women ordering them to “raise the torch and fling the flame … flood the walls with holy light” (Cassandra). Also, the flaming torch can symbolise destruction of Troy at the end of the play “Let those officers appointed to fire the city now bring out their torches and use them well. Up with the flames” (Talthybius). The flaming torch can also symbolise the destruction Cassandra will reek on Agamemnon and his family when she sails to Greece as his slave.

The Walls of Troy Poseidon, God of the Sea exclaims the sorrow he feels as the great city of Troy and its magnificent walls crumble “Troy and its people were my city. That ring of walls and towers I and Apollo built, squared every tone in it”. The significance of the high walls of Troy are symbolic of a great city, good people and a great royal line, but also symbolise fallibility of the gods and the things the people of Troy cherished can easily be destroyed and brought down low. Significantly, the death of Astaynax who is thrown from the walls that should have protected him now are part of his brutal death. Talthybius says the young prince’s end is nasty “You must climb to the topmost fringe of your father’s towers, where the sentence says you must leave your life behind”.

Hector’s Shield The great shield of the Trojan prince Hector “the bravest of the Trojans” holds a special memory to those who loved him the most, his wife Andromache and his mother Hecuba. The shield first appears when Andromache enters the stage with her son on her lap and the shield by her side along with Hector’s armour. The saddest mention of the shield is when the body of Astaynax, broken and bloodied is carried atop it, toted by Talthybius and Greek soldiers. Talthybius carries the boy on the shield to give to Hecuba to bury. Andromache begged to give the child a proper burial with “this bronze-ribbed shield … which used to protect his father’s body in battle, should serve him instead as a coffin”. While Hector was protected in many battles from the shield, it was powerless to protect him from his ultimate death and also the death of his son and family. The shield in this instance also symbolises the dying of the Trojan royal family and the tragedy of the play.

Waves/Ocean As they wait shackled at the shore, the Aegean Sea serves as a constant reminder to the Trojan women that their fate is inevitable and soon, they will be parted from each other and will sail to their allotted locations in Greece. Much like the tempestuous ocean, their future is unpredictable and lonely. Hecuba has never sailed but considers the waves of the ocean as like fortune, calm or stormy and sailors helpless to do anything but submit to them “The tide has turned at length/Ebb with the tide, drift helpless down/Useless to struggle on/Breasting the storm when Fate prevails” (Hecuba)

Helen’s Clothing In direct contrast to the haggard appearance of the other Trojan women prisoners, Helen’s rich robes symbolise her difference from them and hint to the audience she will again live on the side of victory with Menelaus. Her appearance and hair are kept neatly symbolising how she will use her beauty to manipulate Menelaus to forgive her and not behead her as he said he would do. If Helen had pulled out her hair, scratched her face (as other women in mourning have done), she would have no leverage with Menelaus. Her beauty is her weapon. Hecuba exposes Helen’s superficiality and greed believing her dress and grooming shows “loathsome impudence” and that Helen feels no guilt for her past crimes.

All Resources created by englishtutorlessons.com.au Online Tutoring using Zoom for Years 11 and 12 VCE Mainstream English Students in the Victorian Curriculum

Escapism in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ by Tennessee Williams

Posted on October 16, 2021 by Margaret

This Resource is for students studying the play ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ by Tennessee Williams in the Victorian Mainstream English Curriculum

Background to the Play

First performed in 1949, A Streetcar Named Desire sprang from Tennessee Williams’ personal beliefs, reflecting his society as he saw it. In the 1920’s, the American dream of democracy, material prosperity and equality for all had fast disappeared with the Great Depression. This economic crisis began with the 1929 Wall Street Crash, and brought unemployment and great poverty to many. The depression passed, but the idea of such a state of perfection was proved to be unrealistic and unattainable. The characters in the play represent the jaded American dream, and the kind of lives, standards and tensions within which the immigrant population found themselves living.

The ‘Forward’ to A Streetcar Named Desire written by Tennessee Williams in March 1959

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The ‘Forward’ to the Penguin Books Edition 2000 of the play is written by Tennessee Williams himself and was first published in the New York Times on 8th March 1959. Williams’ own feelings of insecurity and escapism are literally true. At the age of 14 he discovered “…writing as an escape from a world of reality in which I felt acutely uncomfortable. It immediately became my place of retreat, my cave, my refuge”.

Fantasy’s Inability to Overcome Reality

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Although Williams’ protagonist in A Streetcar Named Desire is the romantic Blanche DuBois, the play is a work of social realism. Blanche explains to Mitch that she fibs because she refuses to accept the hand fate has dealt her. Lying to herself and to others allows her to make life appear as it should be rather than as it is. Stanley, a practical man firmly grounded in the physical world, disdains Blanche’s fabrications and does everything he can to unravel them. In relation to the Context ‘Whose Reality?’, Williams’ text enables the reader to explore this antagonistic relationship between Blanche and Stanley as a struggle between appearances and reality. It propels the play’s plot and creates an overarching tension.

Through character construction we can see how people like Blanche Dubois are doomed in the world. The play highlights the tragedy of one whose world and whose reality have no relationship with what is real. As the play unfolds the audience witness the destruction of one who craves the abstract notion of love. Blanche represents our desires and our capacity to imagine where we would like to be or how we would like to live. As a direct contrast, Stanley Kowalski epitomises the modern world – pragmatic, cruel, heartless and lacking in sensitivity.

Escapism in A Streetcar Named Desire

Escapism is something we all embrace as a way to unwind and remove ourselves from the hassles of daily life. However, we know we have to face reality and all its complexities. Blanche Dubois’ character suffers one difficulty after another and she is unable to face the harsh realities of her world. Escapism in A Streetcar Named Desire is represented by Blanche Dubois’ character who is unable to face the harsh realities of her world but in the end craves security, love and peace.

When she is raped by Stanley, her ability to distinguish truth from lies and illusion from reality is shattered. Stanley’s declaration before he rapes Blanche, that “We’ve had this date with each other from the beginning!” (Scene 10, p. 215) is a statement of his fundamental need to crush Blanche’s weakness, his “right” to exert his power over her sensitivity. He is the manifestation of a modern and insensitive society that fails to acknowledge those needing support and craving emotional designs rather than materialistic ones. Her rape symbolises society’s inability to tolerate those who fail to fit in to the real world.

Reality Triumphs over Escapism and Fantasy

Though reality triumphs over escapism and fantasy in A Streetcar Named Desire, Williams suggests that fantasy is an important and useful tool. At the end of the play, Blanche’s retreat into her own private fantasies enables her to partially shield herself from reality’s harsh blows. Blanche’s insanity emerges as she retreats fully into herself, leaving the objective world behind in order to avoid accepting reality. In order to escape fully, however, Blanche must come to perceive the exterior world as that which she imagines in her head. Thus, objective reality is not an antidote to Blanche’s fantasy world; rather, Blanche adopts the exterior world to fit her delusions. In both the physical and psychological realms, the boundary between fantasy and reality is permeable. Blanche’s final, deluded happiness suggests that, to some extent, fantasy is a vital force at play in every individual’s experience, despite reality’s inevitable triumph.

All Resources created by englishtutorlessons.com.au Online Tutoring using Zoom for Mainstream English Students in the Victorian Curriculum

Synopsis of ‘Death of a Salesman’ by Arthur Miller

Posted on October 15, 2021 by Margaret

This Resource is for students studying the play ‘Death of a Salesman’ by Arthur Miller in the Victorian Curriculum.

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Analysing Issues = Using MAPS

Ask yourself these questions using the following 4 prompts to help you analyse the issues in Death of a Salesman:

Message = What is the author’s message?
Audience = Who is the audience? How are they positioned?
Purpose = What is the purpose and author’s point of view?
Storytelling and Style Features = How are the characters portrayed? How does the setting influence the story? How does the plot shape characters? What is the form and genre? How does the form and genre influence point of view? What language is used?

**How does Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller fit the theme of “Whose Reality?”**

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Willy Loman, the protagonist of Death of a Salesman has been trading in deception all his adult life; in effect his livelihood has depended on it. He is depicted by Miller as a flawed character. Always a dreamer, Willy has swallowed the myth that material success represents the pinnacle of human achievement in the greatest country of the world, the USA, where anything is possible. For a salesman, ‘reality’ is whatever sells. Willy’s job has involved literally selling himself, inflating the truth, persuasion and making promises. His world implodes when the reality of his personal and professional bankruptcy becomes impossible to hide. Other members of the Loman family also thrive on self-deception and fantasy until their respective versions of reality bring them into conflict with each other and ultimately destroy the family unit.

The play’s atmospheric dimension is there to enhance the work’s narrative authority and appeal. It is a compelling representation of the dark underside of the so-called American Dream. Miller cleverly sets the scene for this stage play with his description of the Salesman’s house at the beginning of Act One as the curtain rises. The stage directions emphasise the Loman family’s vulnerability with their home small and fragile compared to the advancing urban expansion. The air of the dream, Miller says, “… clings to the place, a dream rising out of reality” (p.3 Act One).

In terms of “Whose Reality?” ultimately all the Lomans are trapped in the prison of their own subjectivity. Willy confuses the past and present, truth and lies, fiction and fact. He becomes increasingly alienated and disempowered. By the end of the play he is lost in his delusions choosing dreams over reality which descend into a nightmare.

It is worth investigating the fact that self-knowledge is a threat to the protective veneer the Lomans have constructed for themselves.

The Question of Willy’s Death in the Play

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One huge issue raised by the play is the question of Willy’s death. Is Willy a tragic hero or a delusional coward? His death makes the reader question if Willy is wholly responsible for his reversal of fortune or if the world and post-war American society has failed a decent, hardworking man. The two positions are not mutually exclusive and Miller’s text supports arguments for each. It is your job to unpack these arguments in the text and decide for yourself what Willy’s downfall is due to.

Even Willy’s family have contradictory perceptions on his suicide. In Willy’s mind the decision to take his own life is a deliberate sacrifice, an attempt to salvage something from his unsatisfactory existence and put his family ahead of the game. Willy’s bleak funeral is a far cry from the grand affair he has envisaged and a telling contrast to that of his icon Dave Singleman. However, when Linda asks “Why didn’t anybody come?” to Willy’s funeral (p.119 The Requiem), Miller clearly underscores the divide between Willy’s illusions and the brutal reality of his professional world. In the final analysis ‘attention’ (p.45 Act One) is not paid to such a small man, nobody cares except his family and one old friend.

Biff intones at his father’s graveside that “He had all the wrong dreams”…. “Charley, the man didn’t know who he was” (p.120 The Requiem). While Biff is talking about Willy in this instance, all the members of the Loman family fabricate their own romanticised versions of reality that enable them to live with their failures. However, it is Happy who uncritically articulates the creed that underpinned his father’s working life, to be ‘the number one man’ (p.120 The Requiem). Happy is willing to absorb his father’s message without questioning its integrity. It is left to his faithful friend Charley to speak in his friend’s defence to Biff when he says “Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream boy… It comes with the territory” (p.120 The Requiem).

Willy Loman is a Victim

One thing is certain; Willy in Death of a Salesman is a victim. While Willy’s story is intensely personal, Miller has made him an archetypal character whose predicament exemplifies the fallout suffered by those who cannot meet the bottom line. You have to ask yourself why Miller used the indefinite article “a” in the title of the play Death of a Salesman, suggesting that Willy is merely one of many such victims.

All Resources created by englishtutorlessons.com.au Online Tutoring using Zoom for Years 11 and 12 VCE Mainstream English Students in the Victorian Curriculum

Message of Author in ‘Burial Rites’ by Hannah Kent

Posted on October 3, 2021 by Margaret

This Resource is for Students studying ‘Burial Rites’ by Hannah Kent in the Mainstream English Curriculum in Victoria

Image result for pictures of burial rites by hannah kent

How do you elevate your essay to become more sophisticated, analysing with insight and thus achieve a higher mark in your SAC or exam? Include in your Body Paragraphs the Message of the Author that links directly to the essay prompt.

Why include Message of Author?

In your essay you are going beyond the literal [factual] meaning of the words in the text to find significant and unstated meanings of authors. Essentially you are examining how the author:

Sees something: their views ie. his/her opinion, perspective, way of thinking, impression or observation.
Thinks about something: their values ie. his/her principles, morals, ethics or standards.
Ways the author uses to construct the text.

As you construct your essay, based on the prompt, you need to determine what the author thinks about the issue and how they discuss their viewpoint in the text.

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Look at this essay structure where the prompt is answered clearly:

Prompt: “Burial Rites depicts a society in which power and strength are valued more than compassion and love”.

Body Paragraph 1 = Cause of power & strength of Icelandic society

Body Paragraph 2 = Response of individuals

Body Paragraph 3 = Consequence of why love and compassion is important to society

Message of Author is colour coded

Introduction / Message of Author

On face value 19^th century Icelandic society represented in Hannah Kent’s historical novel Burial Rites does endorse power and strength over compassion and love. The text depicts a harsh patriarchal society that is reflected in the severe, intolerant nature of the law and social structure it serves. In such a society, it is not uncommon for the poor and weak to be strongly disadvantaged and women to have little power relative to men. While power and strength may dominate in the wider community, the text also emphasizes the profound effect that storytelling has on individuals, eliciting empathy and understanding thus making a difference to those around them. Kent illustrates that the power of stories can surpass the prejudice ingrained in people, bringing comfort and love to even a brutal world, displaying how love and compassion are almost necessary in any society.

BP1 Cause = Main Contention / The harsh patriarchal society of Iceland depicted in the novel not only favours an intolerant and brutal judicial system but it also uses violence against the poor and disadvantaged as an instrument of power by its administrators.

BP1 Message of Author / Consequently Kent highlights in 19^th century Icelandic society the poor and women are strongly disadvantaged with little power relative to men.

BP2 Response = Main Contention / While power and strength may dominate in the wider community; the text also emphasises the profound effect that storytelling has on individuals whose Christian values of love are embedded in their culture.

BP2 Message of Author / Kent illustrates that the power of stories can surpass the prejudice ingrained in people, bringing comfort and love to even a brutal world

BP3 Consequence = Main Contention / The text promulgates that displaying love and compassion are necessary to any society

BP3 Message of Author / The text illustrates that compassion and love shown at the end of the novel are more powerful than power and strength as Toti, Margret and the family learn to see Agnes as a person ensuring her memory is not lost.

Conclusion / Message of Author

In the main, Burial Rites depicts a harsh society where the strong exercise power over the weak and there is little room for kindness or sympathy. However, Kent highlights that there are individuals in the text whose compassion and love for their fellow Icelanders offset the brutality of the context in which they live. This is particularly evident in the way that through the power of story-telling Agnes allows Toti, Margret and the family at Kornsa into her life’s narrative and the result is their love and compassion make a real difference to Agnes before she dies.

All Resources created by englishtutorlessons.com.au Online Tutoring using Zoom for Mainstream English Students in the Victorian Curriculum

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent a Brief Synopsis

Posted on October 2, 2021 by Margaret

This Resource is for Students studying ‘Burial Rites’ by Hannah Kent in the Mainstream English Victorian Curriculum

Strong prose, vivid characters

All page numbers referenced in this analysis of Burial Rites by Hannah Kent are taken from the Picador edition published in 2014 (as shown on the front cover above).

Genre of Burial Rites

Primarily a historical novel, the narrative was inspired by the true story of the last women Agnes Magnusdottir to be executed in 19^th century Iceland. As in the book, Agnes was convicted in 1829 and beheaded in 1830 for the murders of Natan Ketilsson and Petur Jonsson. Hannah Kent called her novel a ‘speculative biography’ in that she has used what is known of Agnes’ life and presented a possible version of the truth.

Agnes’ fate is a foregone conclusion but the key question running through Kent’s text is that of Agnes’ guilt. In this regard Kent does build up sympathy for Agnes and allows the reader to explore some mitigating circumstances of which the authorities at the time were ignorant or indifferent.

Post-Modernist Structure of Burial Rites

Kent adopts a post-modernist structure and framework of the narrative which follows primarily the last six months of Agnes’ life with the period of time she is held in custody at Kornsa. The novel commences in March 1828 immediately after the murders but moves to Toti’s appointment as Agnes’ spiritual guide the following June. It concludes with Agnes’ execution in January 1830. Within this framework Agnes recalls the events that led up to the murders. There are thirteen chapters which are book-ended by a short prologue and an epilogue that provides the last official word on Agnes’ execution.

Kent includes official historical texts about the trial and execution that depict the inflexible administration of justice. Official documents are juxtaposed against diverse texts, excerpts from Icelandic sagas, contemporary poems and the compelling first person narrative of Agnes, which seems to speak for the under-privileged and homeless people of Iceland.

So like many postmodernist texts, there is a perspective from the point of view of the powerless that exposes the cruelty and hypocrisy of the powerful. The setting of the novel is an immediate source of fascination, as we know so little about Iceland. Kent economically creates a frozen world, with its harsh beauty and isolation from the rest of Europe. Through Agnes’s eyes we feel the struggle to survive in 19th century Iceland, where fish skins substituted for glass windows.

Language of Burial Rites

Kent’s prose is designed to complement the historical documents that preface each chapter with language that is appropriate to both the historical and geographical setting of the novel. Her language is rich and coveys a rural 19th century sensibility, while remaining accessible to modern readers. Kent frequently uses earthy similes such as: “Even as the light flees this country like a whipped dog.’’ (p.247), which sounds authentic to the modern ear. She gives a poetic voice to Agnes’s reflections: “We’re all shipwrecked. All beached in a peat bag of poverty.’’ (p.248)

At times nature is personified and the novel contains striking descriptions of the harsh elements that the people of Iceland had to deal with on a daily basis. Agnes describes the highland blizzards and seasons as “Winter comes like a punch in the dark” (p.70). In chapter 13 Agnes is close to the end of her life and knows the harsh wind “will scrape you up under its nails and take you out to sea in a wild screaming of snow” (p.319).

Convincing Characters in Burial Rites

Kent populates her novel with convincing characters but it is the character of Agnes that Kent explores with a deft touch. She is neither presented as an object of pity nor even of righteous indignation. Agnes’ inner strength and intelligence is noted by several characters, but it is a strength which is hard won. Agnes speaks how the authorities do not know her “I am determined to close myself to the world, to tighten my heart and hold onto what has been stolen from me” (p.29). Agnes articulates a determined struggle to hold onto a private sense of self despite cruel social labelling. “They will not be able to keep my words for themselves. They will see whore, the madwoman, the murderess, the female dripping blood on the grass and laughing with her mouth choked with dirt … But they will not see me” (p.30).

This novel tries to reach Agnes in a place of terrible loneliness, something that is achieved to a considerable extent through Agnes’ relationship with Margret, the wife of the District Officer who is required to accommodate Agnes. At first, Margret is initially distraught at the idea of Agnes coming to stay at Kornsa as she does not want the safety of her two daughters compromised by the presence of a notorious criminal. When Margret sees Agnes she is outraged by the woman’s condition and insists on the removal of Agnes’ handcuffs so that she can be thoroughly washed. Margret makes it clear to Agnes she must work for her keep as she has no use for “a criminal, only a servant” (p.62). Agnes wants to shake her head and say out loud “Criminal, that word does not belong to me, I want to say. It doesn’t fit me or who I am” (p.62). The slow thawing of the relationship between Margret and Agnes is handled superbly and becomes the mainstay of the novel.

The Significance of the Title

Burial rites in a conventional sense is a ritual or ceremony performed after death but in Agnes’ case the title suggests a rite of passage as a preparation for death. Agnes goes on a figurative journey that involves reclaiming her worth as an individual at least in the eyes of the Jonsson family with whom she establishes a connection. Sharing her story with the family at Kornsa and with Toti affords Agnes a kind of catharsis and the bonds forged between them help her to meet her death with some dignity.

The Historical Setting of 19^th Century Iceland

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Iceland in the 19^th century was a colony of Denmark and ruled by the Danish monarchy. It was deeply divided by class with land titles concentrated in the hands of a relative few. The bulk of the society was agrarian at which farmers produced enough food for themselves and their families but life was a tenuous existence. The society was conservative dominated by a religious ethos and traditional gender expectations. The peasants lived in turf houses that were made up of small crowded rooms with exposed turf walls that were dank and mouldy in the winter infesting the lungs of those who lived there. In the novel Margret’s fragile health is probably due to TB which is a lung condition common from breathing the dust inside her house.

The Landscape and Weather of Iceland

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Arguably, the landscape and the weather it spawns is the most powerful force in the novel, shaping days and deciding destinies for the Icelanders who live with such a restrictive climate. In fact the weather’s impact is unavoidable. Literally everything from burials to executions is contingent upon the weather. Simultaneously harsh and beautiful the landscape in this novel is almost a character in its own right.

Kent describes the Icelandic landscape as one that shaped both the body and soul of those who have to fight against it for a living. It is not a place of much warmth. Chapter 6 is where Agnes tells the story of one of the most harrowing sequences in the novel. Agnes’ foster-mother, Inga, dies giving birth, partly because a blizzard is so bad that it is literally impossible to get out of the house, let alone raise the cry for help. As a result the body of Inga’s stillborn child is put in the storeroom as the remains of Inga herself are likewise stored until the ground thaws enough to allow a burial. The weather adds further horror to Agnes’ narrative and we read of the terrifying image of a dead Inga lying kept “like butchered meat, drying in the stale air” (p.157).

The Odds are Stacked Against Poor Women

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Burial Rites demonstrates that for poor women there were few choices. Female servants were subject to their master’s will and society’s gender expectations were narrow. Women were expected to know their place in social hierarchy and poverty made women even more vulnerable. In Agnes’ case, Kent’s novel doesn’t take the easy way and blame a cruel God. Human agencies are at work, such as hypocritical treatment of children and single women, and a very flawed criminal justice system. Hypocrisy is evident in Blondal’s self-serving rationalisation of his selection of Natan’s brother, Gumundur Ketilsson, as the executioner. Indeed this historical novel shows the odds are stacked heavily against poor women.

Themes, Issues and Ideas in Burial Rites

Truth and Stories = Burial Rites is a fictional recreation of history that is presented by Kent as Agnes Magnusdottir’s story. Kent can only speculate on the truth and her interpretation allows for the possibility of Agnes’ guilt or as we readers obtain a version of the original story, we can make our own minds up. The novel questions the idea of truth as an absolute. We obtain the facts as to what Agnes tells us and she shares with us what she chooses to tell us.
Women’s Roles = Women had few opportunities in 19^th century Iceland and their roles were confined to the domestic with some status and respectability through marriage. Poverty made women even more vulnerable and created the double standard where women are seen as promiscuous but men are not. Agnes mother Ingeldur is judged as a ‘loose’ women and had three children to all different fathers from farms around the valley as she tried to find work and a refuge for her family. Unfortunately the price she had to pay was often another pregnancy and a new mouth to feed. Agnes later experiences similar exploitation.
Authority and Control = Maintaining law and order in Iceland was dependant on a punitive approach of the ruling Danish authorities. Bjorn Blondal as the District Commission has to keep control of the ‘corruption and ungodliness’ that the murders at Illugastadir represent. As a convicted prisoner Agnes is clearly disenfranchised by the law but she is also dehumanised by a brutal system that identifies her as being on the bottom rung of a rigid social structure. Chained like an animal and denied light and air she has been reduced to the status of a beast. Presented to the world and branded a ‘criminal’ Agnes is a shamed outcast.
Love = Kent presents love as a damaging emotion that inflicts misery and uncertainty and even destroys lives. The epigram “I was worst to the one I loved best” from the Laxdaela Saga at the beginning of the novel sets the tone for what is to follow. Unfortunately Agnes loves someone who is a notorious womaniser. Natan lacks a moral compass in his selfish treatment of Agnes and Sigga. Regrettably Agnes loves Natan and tolerates his appalling treatment of her because she has nowhere else to go and her loneliness makes her vulnerable. Once Natan feels suffocated by Agnes he ends the relationship. Looking back Agnes has to admit that the idea of love can be closely allied to hate. In chapter 11 when Natan throws Agnes out of the house in the snow it underscores his cruel nature but also the power dynamic between them that would never be an equal one.
Loss = Loss in 19^th century Iceland is clearly related to the harsh rural life under constant threat by the inhospitable weather. People are conditioned to accept loss as many infants die and women also die in childbirth. Agnes realises after her foster-mother Inga dies that life brings little certainty. When she is condemned to death Agnes is threatened with another kind of loss that compounds her dread. She fears the loss of her personal identity, a loss of self. Agnes’ final monologue reveals the extent of this terror. Denied Christian burial rites she feels that death will bring no permanent resting place. She will be lost and her memory will vanish into oblivion.
Redemption = As a Lutheran Minister Toti’s duty is to help Agnes atone for her sins and save her soul. Blondal’s interest in Agnes is less about the state of her soul than in containing a sensitive political issue. The execution is really an exercise in propaganda as it is in the law’s interests to be seen as God’s instrument. In reality Agnes’ salvation comes not from the unforgiving approach of the law but from being treated with fairness and compassion by the family at Kornsa. Agnes connection to Toti is also central to this process of redemption. At the end Agnes’ guilt or innocence becomes of less important than the faith that Toti and the family at Kornsa have in her. Being drawn into the loving circle of those around her is Agnes true redemption. As Agnes is taken to be executed Margret pressed her fingers tightly to Agnes and said “We’ll remember you, Agnes” (p.324).

All Resources created by englishtutorlessons.com.au Online Tutoring using Zoom for Mainstream English Students in the Victorian Curriculum

Suspense Writing Explained

Posted on October 1, 2021 by Margaret

This Resource is for students studying English and need to develop some creative skills in writing stories. Suspense writing is one option you should consider to help you get A+ for English.

What makes a story a page-turner, exciting from the first page?

A truly suspenseful book, short story, novella or other literary work is much like a theatrical performance. Just as a well-written and superbly acted drama keeps the audience on the edge of their seats until the curtain call, a suspense filled thriller should captivate the reader until the final word.

When you think about the last story you read that seemed to grab you by the throat and not let go, what exactly made it gripping?

Horror film - Wikipedia

Did you feel the excitement from the first page? Were the characters captivating? Was it the heart pounding events that took place? More than likely it was all of these things combined that made the story exciting.

I always judge a book by how late I stay up to find out what happens next. If I’m still wide awake at two in the morning, that’s a fantastic book. So, how do you keep your readers up to the wee hours of the morning? You have to get them hooked.

What Makes Us Keep Reading a Good Book?

definitely the characters count for me, if I don’t like them then I don’t care what happens to them in the book
the book proposes questions that need to be answered with a hook that doesn’t let go
basically a mystery that drives me to find out the ending
emotional intensity between being scared out of my wits to heart-broken

To make a suspenseful piece of work you need to use many techniques from playwriting

If you think of the most famous playwright, William Shakespeare, he understood the necessity to build up to a suspenseful climax by feeding his audience tidbits of information during the first and second acts of his plays. He would then finish his dramatic theatric piece by using the most emotionally-intense scene with the climax in the third act.

Making Your Characters Real

In any great play, there are characters with whom the audience can relate. Whether they are lovable or loathsome, viewers find some speck of familiarity or general humanity within them. This keeps the audience actively engaged. When you are writing your short story or novel, if your readers don’t like the people who populate the book, then they will not care less what happens to them.

So there is one really important point, you must give the readers a character that is fleshed-out and real so the readers can care about them

By making the readers care, you give them a reason to go on with the story and to find out what happens to this person you have created. The wanting to know keeps them reading.

The Setting Must Make Sense

Just as your characters must be realistic in your story’s world, so must your setting seem to make sense. Your readers must be able to see the universe through the narrator’s eyes, smell the odours, and hear the sounds. Without solid descriptions, your readers cannot become entangled enough in your work to truly enjoy the roller coaster of suspense. Take nothing for granted, tell your readers the setting and don’t assume that the reader understands your fictional world as well as you do.

The Plot Must Be Logical Not Impossible to Follow

It is difficult to build suspense if your plot is impossible to follow. Like a stage play, your plot must have some kind of logic to it. If it doesn’t, your readers might be too distracted by the complicated plotline to become involved in the suspense. It is more critical to tell the most important steps your characters have taken rather than describing every movement. Nothing spoils suspense for a reader like having to flip the pages of the book wondering, “Did I miss something?”

Build up to a Suspenseful Climax within your Fiction

Don’t spring a suspenseful moment on the reader without some kind of foreshadowing. It is a good idea not to start your work with an emtionally-intense scene. As in a drama, work your way up to a suspenseful peak. If you just keep hitting your readers with suspenseful moments without any context, you will only leave your audience perplexed, rather than engaged in the suspense.

Can you think of the last book you read that deeply affected you?

Emotionally charged books by Monica McInerney affect me. Many times I have shed a few tears along with the characters and laughed with them too. What was it that caused this effect? I know for me, it was the characters, their believability. However, it is really a combination of many things – characters, timing, plot and believability. A good idea is to re-read a book or story that had a strong effect on you. See if you can figure out how the author accomplished this. Pay attention to the different techniques the author used.

The Gathering by Isobelle Carmody

So many different techniques go into a suspenseful book. One of the most suspenseful and horribly graphic books I have read that affected me was The Gathering by Isobelle Carmody. I had to teach an excerpt from this book to a Year 10 Class. The section we were reading was very descriptive, horrific in its nature, intense and suspense filled. It affected me so much that I had to put the book down and walk away from it for a while to gather my thoughts before I could write up my lesson plan for class. If you have read The Gathering, then you will know the part I am referring to: chapter 26, pages 212-215 where Nathanial’s dog is burnt alive.

Carmody’s language techniques captivated and terrorised all at the same time

What I realised is that Isobelle Carmody crafted such a brilliant novel with clever use of language forms, features and structure that I was spellbound, captivated and terrorised all at the same time. The suspense is created by development of the mood from normal to foreboding and fear. The build up of terror is emphasised by Nathanial’s frantic attempts to get free from the boys holding him. Buddha is so evil he has poured petrol on Nathanial’s dog Tod. When the match is lit we know something horrible is about to happen. Is there some hope that Tod will survive? The end result is emotionally and physically shocking. Carmody achieved what she set out to do.

All Resources created by englishtutorlessons.com.au Online Tutoring using Zoom for Years 11 and 12 VCE Mainstream English Students in the Victorian Curriculum

Characters in the play ‘Extinction’ by Hannie Rayson

Posted on October 1, 2021 by Margaret

This Resource is for Mainstream English Students studying the play ‘Extinction’ by Hannie Rayson in the Victorian Curriculum.

Analysing Characters in a Drama

When characters are portrayed by actors, characterisation depends on what is conveyed through visuals and sound as much as on the words in their dialogue. In this way playwrights can directly portray the many ways in which people communicate without using words. They can also use the aural qualities of speech to enhance and sometimes complicate the literal meaning of the character’s dialogue.

Characters and Stage Directions

When analysing a play script it is important to remember that the play is meant to be performed in front of an audience. While students are reading the play, take particular notice of the stage directions that can indicate essential visual elements of character, such as costumes, facial expressions and body movements. Pay attention to how the Director Hannie Rayson wants a word or line to be delivered by the actor, perhaps indicating an emotion such as anger or empathy and the vocal tone. The tone in the character’s language can link with the way the Director wants to convey information about the characters and how these words convey ideas and values to the audience.

Characters and Relationships

In the play ‘Extinction’ the physical interactions with other characters is relevant to the themes and values Hannie Rayson wants the audience to connect with and reflect on their own values. Within the structure of the play all characters have equally important parts. Note how the Director wants to reinforce relatonships through thoughts and feelings and differences of opinions. The play presents the values of characters through their intense relationships with each other and the conflicts that arise between them. In ‘Extinction’ several characters compromise their core values in order to achieve their goals and the play highlights their difficult choices linking the tension between economic and environmental values that Hannie Rayson wants to endorse. It is Piper who says “We all exist in relationship with one another” and the concept of how vulnerable all life on earth is conveyed through the relationships of the characters in the play. Hannie Rayson wants to draw attention to how we all exist in relationship with other living creatures. She also wants the audience to recognise that human beings can be vulnerable and at times influenced by others in negative ways.

A Brief Synopsis of the Characters from the play ‘Extinction’:

Piper Ross

Dr Piper Ross is a 30-year-old American zoologist on secondment from the San Diego Zoo. Piper works at CAPE and volunteers at a wildlife rescue centre in the Cape Otway rainforest run by veterinarian and boyfriend Andy Dixon. Piper views the Otways as “paradise” (p.103) and values the restorative qualities of the Australian bush where her time in the wilderness allows her the chance to “renew” (p.78) herself to experience “awe” and “to feel reverence” (p.78).

An idealist who believes that all species are “worth saving” (p.83). Piper is optimistic that “everyone transforming the way they live” (p.113) will be what saves the planet from destructive forces. As a woman who values all life and considers it the role of every member of the human species to safeguard the lives of all animals, her anger at Andy when he euthanises the wounded tiger quoll is palpable.

She is emotional and at times her judgement can be clouded. While she is in love with Andy, she is unsure about his commitment to her which leads to her compromising her beliefs and values by having a sexual relationship with Harry Jewell and accepting a job from him. She tells Harry that she wants to be a person who “faces up to things” (p.116) and ultimately, she is able to make a strong commitment to stand by her own words “if you loved someone and they were dying, you would do everything you could to help them (p.90). This shows her courage and compassion. It also enables her to redeem herself for the abandonment of her principles and her earlier betrayal of Andy.

Andy Dixon

Andy Dixon is the 35-year-old brother of Heather Dixon-Brown, in a relationship with Piper Ross, a vet and a committed conservationist, who is suffering from GSS a rare, hereditary, fatal neurodegenerative disease. Andy, like the quoll, is a symbol of imminent extinction. Rayson’s portrayal of Andy as the innocent victim of circumstances beyond his control reinforces a thematic link between him and the quoll.

Until the end of the play, only he and Heather know about his illness. His seemingly heartless euthanising of the dying quoll reflects his embittered attitude to his own inevitable death. He is unwilling to reveal the truth about his condition to Piper knowing she is the sort of person to “stay up all night looking after a bloody possum” (p.86) and rejects her desire to “marry … have babies and live in a house together” (p.104) seems to be part of his desire to spare her the pain of watching him degenerate and die.

He is an idealist who is passionate about the natural world and shows a strong commitment to environment values by condemning mining and even disapproves of using computers to run a diary farm (p.82). Yet he is also “stubborn” and “rude” (p.106) when he disagrees or dislikes people. This is true about his views of Heather’s acceptance of funds from Harry Jewell as “environmental vandalism” (p.119).

Ultimately, Andy’s cynical worldview is challenged by the appearance of a live tiger quoll at the play’s conclusion. In highlighting the fragility of life, Rayson reminds audiences not to take our survival, either as individuals or as a species for granted.

Heather Dixon-Brown

The 50-year-old director of CAPE, Heather Dixon-Brown, is the sister of Andy, boss of Piper, an ecologist in the process of a divorce and is acutely aware of her responsibility to ensure funding for the institute and the 25 people on staff at the institute who “rely on [her] to come up with their salaries” (p.79). At first, she is portrayed to be a morally upright character, pragmatic and intelligent, aware of the issues that conservation faces with limited funding available.

Heather’s desire to assist endangered species with her Dixon-Brown Index is moderated by a realistic understanding that “You should only invest in those that are going to give you a good return” (p.99). When Harry Jewell arrives on the scene, she compromises her environmental principles and her professional ethics by accepting his “dirty money” (p.100) and by sleeping with him. She also uses spite and jealousy to try and get rid of Piper as a rival for Harry’s affections. Rayson shows a stereotypical representation of an older woman who regards her own old age a disadvantage against the younger, Piper that Harry finds attractive, simply because he “prefer[s] a younger woman” (p.129).

Harry Jewell

A 45-year-old MD of Powerhouse Mining, Harry Jewell is recently divorced and has returned to the Otways in search of comfort. Introduced by Rayson at the start of the play as a sensitive, charming and responsible character who is trying to save a quoll he has accidently hit, as the play progresses the audience see there are hidden depths and complexities to his character. Andy calls him “Mr Evil” (p.80) and as such Harry has little sympathy for the farmers whose land he will destroy in his search for coal. As a ruthless and heartless businessman, he is unlike the tender-hearted quoll rescuer in the opening scene of the play.

The audience and Piper struggle to come to terms with a man whose money enables him to live “a big life” (p.113) but who also seeks to use his fortune to do what he can to save the tiger quoll from extinction. He recognises the harm the coal industry has done to the environment but also contends that “if you want to make a difference to the environment you have to be rich” (p.113).

Harry is also a shrewd operator, convincing Heather to accept funding from a coalmining company and uses his sexual power to exploit both Heather and Piper for his own enjoyment. While he complains about his wife’s infidelity, he seems untroubled by his own duplicity.

Through the construction of Harry’s character, Rayson makes a strong connection with the notion of extinction. As a miner of coal, not only will Harry further erode the habitat of endangered species, but coal-fired energy will increase greenhouse gases, contributing to the unsustainability of life on earth (and hence extinction).

All Resources created by englishtutorlessons.com.au Online Tutoring using Zoom for Mainstream English Students in the Victorian Curriculum

‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee : A Brief Synopsis

Posted on July 31, 2021 by Margaret

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a Worthy Recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in 1961

Author of To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee, in local coutrhouse while visting her home town.

Novelist Harper Lee

It does not matter how many times I teach To Kill a Mockingbird to Years 7-10 English students, I find a deeper understanding of Harper Lee’s beautiful novel each time I read it. What’s not to love about this amazing novel?

It’s a story about a man wrongly accused of rape and a lawyer who confronts racial prejudice to defend him in a small Alabama town riddled with the poverty and racial tensions of the American South in 1935. Yet when you look deeper it also chronicles the journey of its characters to do what is right, no matter what humiliation or consequences plagued them.

The Moral Courage in To Kill a Mockingbird

American actor Gregory Peck, as Atticus Finch, stands in a courtroom in a scene from director Robert Mulligan's film, 'To Kill A Mockingbird,' 1962....

By observing her father, Scout gradually discovers that moral courage is both more complicated and more difficult to enact than the physical courage most familiar and understandable to children. To Kill a Mockingbird reveals the heroic nature of acting with moral courage when adhering to social mores would be far less dangerous. At a time in the South when it was outrageous and practically unthinkable for a white person to look at the world from a minority’s perspective, Harper Lee has Atticus explain to Scout: “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view—until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”. For Atticus Finch, climbing into someone’s skin and walking around in it represents true courage. This would have to be my all time favourite quote.

Focus on the Trial of Tom Robinson with Atticus Finch as the Lawyer

To Kill A Mockingbird

The novel focuses on the Finch family over the course of two years, lawyer and father Atticus Finch; his ten-year-old son, Jem; and his six-year-old daughter, Scout (whose real name is Jean Louise). Scout serves as the narrator of the book. Her narration is based on her memories of the events leading up to, during, and after her father’s defence of a black man, Tom Robinson, accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell. Through Scout’s inexperienced eyes (she is only eight at the conclusion of the novel), the reader encounters a world where people are judged by their race, inherited ideas of right and wrong dominate, and justice does not always prevail. However, by observing Atticus Finch’s responses to the threats and gibes of the anti-Tom Robinson faction and his sensitive treatment towards Tom Robinson and his family and friends, the reader, again through Scout’s eyes, discovers what it means to behave morally. In fact, do the right thing in the face of tremendous social pressure.

**What I Love About To Kill a Mockingbird is the Other Side to Scout**

To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird also chronicles the journey of a girl who challenges gender stereotypes in her determination to remain a tomboy. Harper Lee clearly explores Scout’s unconventional female characteristics. Aunt Alexandra tells Scout Finch to act like a lady and wear a dress so she can “be a ray of sunshine in [her] father’s lonely life.” Scout does not respond positively: she retorts that she can “be a ray of sunshine in pants just as well”.

In fact, Scout does not respond positively to anything feminine, preferring reading instead of sewing, playing outside instead of inside, and the nickname “Scout” to the girlish “Jean Louise.”

On the other hand, the culture that Harper Lee depicts does not respond positively to Scout’s tomboyish inclinations. Scout lives in Maycomb, Alabama, a rural Southern town, during the Great Depression. In this setting, society dictates strict gender stereotypes, and people rarely cross the barrier between masculinity and femininity. Maycomb is a place where “[l]adies bathed before noon, after their three o’clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum”. Scout, however, refuses to be a “soft teacake.”

Through her actions, Scout demonstrates a flexible view of gender. Scout is not born with an innate predisposition to be a tomboy; rather her behaviours define her as a tomboy. As she consistently repeats unconventional behaviours, she presents her own conception of what gender means. Harper Lee depicts gender as a standard that alters according to each individual.

Gender Bending During WWII

The twentieth century brought a shift in attitudes towards tomboys. During the years in which Harper Lee grew up and wrote her novel, America advocated the home as a woman’s domain. During WWII views changed as women entered the workforce assuming positions previously considered to be masculine. Michelle Ann Abate in Tomboys: A Literary and Cultural History. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 2008 (p.146) refers to Rosie the Riveter as an icon of “tomboyish toughness”. However, society’s high regard for gender-bending females was temporary, when the war ended, women once again returned to their homes (Abate p.150).

To Kill a Mockingbird also Reflects this Ambivalence Concerning Gender-bending Females

The novel contains characters who both support and disapprove of Scout’s tomboyism. For instance, Aunt Alexandra wants Scout to wear a dress, while Atticus allows her to wear overalls. Moreover, other characters paradoxically condemn feminine mannerisms while simultaneously expecting them. Scout’s brother Jem, for instance, frequently teases her for being a girl, but he also commands, “It’s time you started bein’ a girl and acting right!”.

Scout Stays Resolute

Even though she endures these conflicting principles, Scout stays resolute. For example, when Jem criticizes her “girlish” fear of the Radley house, she shows masculine bravery and joins him in sneaking into the Radley yard. On the other hand, when he suggests she “take up sewin’ or something,” Scout replies, “Hell no”. Reflecting the twentieth-century’s hesitation over the changing roles of women, Jem has shifting expectations for Scout as a female. Scout, however, remains steadfastly opposed to conventional femininity.

What’s not to love about this amazing book? I can’t think of anything.

All Resources are created by englishtutorlessons.com.au Online Tutoring of Mainstream English using Zoom

‘On the Waterfront’ Directed by Elia Kazan Film Techniques

Posted on July 31, 2021 by Margaret

For students studying the film On the Waterfront Directed by Elia Kazan with either play The Crucible OR Twelve Angry Men.

It is important to note the film techniques in On the Waterfront when you write your comparative analytical essays.

Significant Film Techniques from the film On the Waterfront

Film style = black & white, realistic documentary style (film noir)

Mise en scene = setting – not a set but the actual docks of Hoboken New Jersey

Landscape = cinematography – fog, smoke, mist, clouds, smoky grey sky, nature uncivilised & uncontrollable

Lighting = use of dark to represent evil & light goodness like Edie

Sounds & music = diegetic ie. music, soundtrack, non-diegetic ie. sounds like machinery, ships horn, whistles

Costumes = poor clothes for longshoremen, pseudo-business attire of Johnny Friendly & his gang to draw attention to a certain air of respectability that defies and conceals the extent of their entrenched corruption

Camera angles = deep focus, point of view close up shots, low angle to high suggests power, two-shot 2 people at mid-range, low angled single shot of Terry after his beating in last scene

Settings & Visual Style in Detail

On the Waterfront is a black and white film that represented a 1950’s gritty documentary style with a morally ambiguous (film noir) crime film of the period. Kazan’s use of setting is intended to register the oppression and destruction rife on Hoboken Docks.

Boris Kaufman’s camera distils a skyscape which is menacing, insular, if not claustrophobic. Dark settings emphasise not only the dream and danger the residents face, but also the labyrinth network of corruption. The workers exhibit ill at ease, slouched postures in conjunction with the deep and dark urban underbelly. The shrouded light of day is diffused by cloudy skies and thick fog. It highlights the uncertainty in relation to obtaining work and also fear. Kazan’s endeavour was to create disquiet in viewers emphasising the danger and fear that the longshoremen live under and therefore creating tension amongst the viewers.

The dark and seedy interiors, such as the bar, reinforce Johnny Friendly’s power and aggression, while the dingy, shabby and cramped apartments highlight the workers’ desperation. Pa Doyle is one of the most desperate of the workers, caught because of his desire to support Edie’s education. He like many others are psychologically imprisoned by the “deaf and dumb code”. Anyone who breaks the code or is suspected of dubious loyalty is unlikely to receive a work token.

The competitive fight for the tokens on the Hoboken wharf literally shows the “dog eat dog” environment that belittles and dehumanises the men. Kazan uses circus-like music to reinforce their animal-like behaviour as they become play-things of the bosses.

The rooftop symbolises Joey’s attraction to the birds; he becomes one of many pigeons outplayed by the hawks. The pigeon cages reflect the longshoremen’s inability to break out of their prison-like oppressive conditions on the wharf and their basic preoccupation with survival and existence. The hawks symbolically represent Johnny Friendly and his gang. The hawks ‘go down on pigeons’, which reflects the bosses’ philosophy of looking after their own interests.

Landscape / Fog & Smoke in Detail

The location of the docks and the landscape were used by cinematographer Boris Kaufman to make the most of the fog and smoke that were part of the freezing January landscape but also used deep focus to position the characters within the landscape and to emphasise the ever-present connection between the individual and the group. Depicting the waterfront society connected to the society of the time is a reminder that individuals in this world are locked into a complicated set of relationships with their fellow workers and the powerful people they work for.

Day time scenes the smoke and mist express the mood of uncertainty that prevails in the film. The constant mist and smoke characterise the mise en scene of the film as a visual clue of the moral choices that people make. The freezing January is a symbolic power in the scenes on the roof where the character’s desire is to rise above the murky waterfront world below is cast into doubt by the rising mist and the billowing smoke from the chimneys and smoke stacks.

In the majority of the scenes that take place at night, the smoky pale grey daytime look gives way to a highly stylised use of light and dark. The use of dramatic lighting stresses the claustrophobic nature of the character’s world. In the scene where Terry and Edie are chased down by a truck driven by Friendly’s henchmen, the lighting creates the impression that Edie and Terry are caught in a narrow tunnel with no way of escape.

Sounds and Music in Detail

One of the memorable aspects of the film is the ambient or background noise. Sound is used to great effect in the scene where Father Barry persuades Terry to tell Edie about his involvement with Joey’s murder. The jarring mechanical rhythm of the machinery in the background contributes to our growing awareness that Terry is just one small element of a much larger world over which he has little control. In a very dramatic moment, the horn of a ship drowns out the conversation between Terry and Edie.

The musical score was written by Bernstein with the soundtrack foreboding, even military sounding. The opening scene features threatening sounding drums and brass with the fight shots of Friendly met with the sound of a dry saxophone, which foretell not just the murder about to happen, but set the scene for the landscape as one of conflict. Audiences recognise that the men who are exiting the clubhouse are no law-abiding citizens. This is accompanied by rhythmic crashes of timpani which register the enormity of the situations.

The other music themes are the gentler strings that typically accompany scenes between Terry and Edie and indicate hope. In the scene where the mob invade Father Barry’s church, mixed percussion and shrill strings are used to create an atmosphere of confusion and desperation. The final scene is the most powerful in creating suspense and tension with a tone of unresolved chord in the strings, inferring the struggle is not over, maneuvering audiences to question the fate of the workers.

All Resources created by englishtutorlessons.com.au Online Tutoring using Zoom for Mainstream English Students in the Victorian Curriculum

‘Maestro’ by Peter Goldsworthy A Brief Synopsis of the Importance of ‘Place’ in the Narrative

Posted on July 30, 2021 by Margaret

This Resource is for students studying Mainstream English in the Victorian Curriculum.

Place is integral to an understanding of the characters in Maestro by Peter Goldsworthy.

In some ways, the cities of Darwin, Adelaide and Vienna parallel the growth of the characters. In other respects, the character’s attitudes towards the cities reveal their motivations and, in the case of Keller, the mystery of his past. Darwin and Adelaide exemplify the most obvious and literal examples of the polarity of North and South.

“Up North” Darwin in the 1960’s – a Wild Frontier Town

See the source image

“Up North” in the 1960’s traditionally represented the outpost of civilisation in Australia, with Darwin as its wild frontier town. In pre-Cyclone Tracy Darwin, there were few opportunities for public entertainment or cultural events. The town’s residents had a reputation for heavy drinking, fast driving and little regard for fine music or the arts. In 1967 few homes had air conditioning so that Darwin’s wet heat had to be alleviated with iced drinks, ceiling fans and evening sea breezes through louvred windows. Initially John Crabbe described Darwin’s inhabitants as “wife-beaters, fugitives from justice, alcoholics and maintenance dodgers” (p.17). Darwin was “the terminus … A town populated by men who had run as far as they could flee” (p.17).

Goldsworthy Portrays Life in Darwin as a Rhythm of Dramatic Contrasts

Life in Darwin is portrayed as a rhythm of dramatic contrasts between day and night, and the Wet and Dry seasons. Thunder is “the sound of February, of deepest, darkest Wet” (p.4). The Wet exaggerates nature in every way. The hard-drinking customers at The Swan where “it was always Wet season” (p.17), provide the background rhythm to Paul’s lessons with Keller and their wrangles over the choices of compositions for his lessons and practice. The change of season to the Dry marks an important point in the characters’ moods. Everyone’s mood is lightened and refreshed at the beginning of “seven months of clear, enamel-blue days” (p.28), when meals are taken outside in “a nightly cooling ritual” (p.30). Throughout the novel, Goldsworthy uses the imagery of night and day, Wet and Dry, sunshine and darkness to symbolise or illustrate his characters’ states of mind.

Darwin confronts the Crabbes with Physical and Mental Challenges

The Crabbes’ move to Darwin, a career promotion for John, confronts all three family members with both physical and mental challenges. To Paul, Darwin is a tropical paradise; to his parents it is, initially too hot, humid and uncivilised. John Crabbe declares Darwin is “A city of booze, blow, and blasphemy” (p.9) but Paul loves Darwin from the moment he steps off the plane from Adelaide: “I loved the town of booze and blow at first sight. And above all its smell: those hot, steamy perfumes that wrapped about me as we stepped off the plane, in the darkness, in the smallest hours of a January night. Moist, compost air. Sweet-and-sour air …” (p.9).

Goldsworthy Describes Darwin in Lush Descriptive Passages

Goldsworthy devotes considerable attention to crafting lushly descriptive passages which evoke Darwin’s exotic quality, its multicultural population and the strong emotions of sexuality. Paul delights in the dense foliage of their garden, at the “unnatural greenness” of leaves, and marvels at the brilliance of parrots, butterflies, huge insects and grubs: “Everything grew larger than life in the steamy hothouse of Darwin, and the people were no exception. Exotic, hothouse blooms” (p.11).

Darwin for Eduard Keller was an Exile

See the source image

For Herr Eduard Keller, the maestro, Darwin was an exile, a self-imposed punishment stemming from his perceived responsibility for the deaths of his wife and child. Darwin is the maestro’s decision to live as far as possible, both literally and metaphorically from his cultured European background. Paul vividly remembers his first encounter with the maestro. He was fascinated by Keller: “I’d seen nothing like him before. He was short: migrant-height, European height…The hair above that flaming face was white, sparse, downy. On his red nose he had placed … a pince-nez… Above all, I remember the hands: those dainty, faintly ridiculous hands” (p.5). Despite Darwin’s oppressive heat, Keller is dressed in a white linen suit, crisp and freshly laundered. As Paul pushed his way through the drinkers in The Swan each Tuesday for his piano lesson, he found it “easy to place Keller among these fugitives” running away from things they chose not to remember.

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