essays/ analysis

(year 11 or 12?) Creative writing- fried bread disease

2012-01-22T18:27:00.000-08:00

(year 11 or 12?) Creative writing

Had to take a sentence from a poem and make a story out of it. Sentence: "I eat too much fried bread." Also had to use emotional and descriptive language, and the "show not tell" thing.

I EAT TOO MUCH FRIED BREAD. For breakfast, lunch, dinner, after dinner, for snacks, during class, ALL the time. I’m the fat guy in school. I have a flat nose, oily face, pimples, which is probably caused by all the fried bread I eat. Did I mention that? I like fried bread. I used to eat just any fried food, but then I got really fat, and switched to eating JUST fried bread.

I lost a lot of weight in my opinion, but the kids at school still call me fat. I have no friends, people don’t really mock me about my weight, I think they’re more disgusted by me. I can’t help it, I’m naturally fat, I smell… like fried bread, and I cant get rid of the excessive oil which is constantly dripping off my face, so I may look a bit unpleasant. But I think what people don’t like about me most is that I’m arrogant and think fried bread is superior to all other foods. I think everyone should eat fried bread, and that all other foods belong in the museum.

My story begins one lunchtime at school. My jaw dropped when I found an apple! in my lunchbox. I thought I had the wrong lunchbox, or that someone had played a disgusting trick on me. The following days, my bread kept disappearing! And being replaced by revolting alternatives of what people call ‘food’. Whoever it was that was behind this sick, cruel joke must be a foul, evil, nasty little inhumane person!

I found out later that it was my mum replacing the fried bread in my lunchbox. She wanted me to go on a diet. She betrayed me! She’s trying to kill me! The whole world is against me!!

I stomped off to my bedroom without dinner, because I was banned from fried bread. Because my parents don’t love me for the fat person I am. Because I’m unhealthy, which I’m not because I’m still alive. I stomped upstairs loudly with each angry thought that passed through my mind to make my parents feel sorry for me and ask me to come back down to dinner and that they’d give me fried bread. But they didn’t. I was puffing by the time I got to my bedroom, I guess thinking too much takes a lot out of you.

So I started stuffing my pockets with fried bread to bring to school. My pockets got all greasy, or maybe it was the grease from my own body, because I noticed that I ate more fried bread from then on, my skin was oilier, and looked unhealthy. I developed what looked like little spots on my arm, like folliculitis. They got bumpier over time, and looked like the sesame seeds on the fried bread that I eat.

One day on the walk home from school, I got attacked by birds. They pecked at me and I think one of them actually bit off a tiny chunk of my elbow, but it didn’t hurt. I guess the layers of my fat protect me from pain. With the fried bread restrictions at home, I became sort of ill. I couldn’t function properly without it. I had disordered thinking, uncontrollable crying, and behaved differently than normal. I heard those were the symptoms of Schizophrenia. Mum suspected it was OCD. Obsessive compulsive disorder. See what happens when I don’t have my precious bread? My own mother had deliberately made me get a disease!

I had a doctors appointment and was shocked by what I was told. I thought I was pretty healthy. I mean I lost a lot of weight from before, I'm only like around 120 kgs. Ok maybe im a BIT fat, but not as fat as I used to be, when I ate ANY kind of fried food. And I have excess oil on my face, but some people have “oily T-spots” so I thought it was normal. And I had extreme acne, but so do a lot of other people, but I guess It’s strange how they turned hard and look like sesame seeds.. The doctor informed me that I didn’t have schizophrenia, or OCD, but FBD. Fried bread disease. He said my skin was slowly turning into bread, and that it was too late to be cured. I would still be able to live, but I would eventually get attacked by birds, or be slowly eaten away by spiders or insects in my room when I go to sleep. Even if I did survive after a while, over time my skin would grow mould on it, gather bacteria, and I’d probably die from harmful germs, if not, I’d die from obesity.

I told you the world was against me. I couldn’t believe there were so many ways of me dying early. I had 4 different ways of dying. I had no idea how ill I was. I stayed up in my room all day to think about it, to write this all out to see this more clearly. I realized it was because I was so arrogant, because I don’t really have much knowledge about nutrituon, because I EAT TOO MUCH FRIED BREAD.

(Year 11) Short texts essay- Ideas: neglect & possession

2012-01-22T18:01:00.000-08:00

SHORT TEXTS

(Explain and discuss an important idea conveyed in 2 short texts. Neglect & possession.)

An important idea in ‘In the rubbish tin’ by Apirana Taylor is neglect, and in ‘My Leanne’ by Patricia Grace, is possession. They are important because they demonstrate what would happen when you are possessive or neglectful

In the story ‘in the rubbish tin’ by Apirana Taylor, a small girl Phillipa is neglected by her parents. Her mum spends most of her time at the pub because she is abused by her husband, is poor, but still spends most of her money on pills to mentally and emotionally escape from her life. It is shown in the story that Phillipa’s mum doesn’t care about her; because she says ‘It’s the brat’s birthday’. This shows her attitude towards her child, and she says she can’t afford a present, but she probably can but spends it on drugs. Phillipa's father doesn’t usually come home. It is already shown in the first sentence ‘Phillipas dad was away’. Yet phillipa has false hopes about her dad being good, and that he would come home and they’d ‘have fish and chips for dinner’, and that her mum would get her a bike for her birthday. We feel sad for phillipa because she is a little child getting her hopes up for nothing. She is neglected and used to being treated this way so much that she denies it and makes things up to get away from her life. This is shown when phillipa talks to her rag doll Chubby, which obviously cant talk back, yet she assumes that it argues with her and she says ‘don’t argue’ and ‘don’t you say its not’, and punches Chubby, and says ‘just like what dad does’, which tells us her dad is abusive. But she tells chubby ‘my dad is good’ which is what she wants to believe, she pretends to have the life she wants but cant have, because her parents are irresponsible.

This story showed me the result of neglect. In this situation it goes in a cycle. Phillipas father abuses the mother, who then tries to escape from her life with drugs and neglects phillipa because she’s too busy at the pub. Phillipa will then end up the same, neglecting her children, because she argues with chubby because her parent’s behaviour influences her. It is shown when she says ‘Chubby you and I are going to end up like mum and dad’.This helped me understand the result of neglect. It can affect society a lot, by influencing other people. The children may learn to be abusive like the parents, and if they go to school, they may get into fights with other children or influence them, and it just affects everyone else in society.

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In the story ‘My Leanne’ by Patricia Grace, an insecure boy, Dean, is possessive of his girlfriend, Leanne. He starts off alright but begins to push people away, because he wants Leanne all to himself, which is shown when he says ‘I began to resent it if friends walked along with us or sat with us at lunch’.

He began to feel jealous of other people spending time with her and began questioning her about everything she did, he wanted to know who she sat next to in class and ‘what was so good about so and so’, about church and netball and accuses her of maybe cheating on him because he sees her with Rexie at the bus stop.‘He calls him Fartface Rexie’ which is actually rude since Rexie hasn’t done anything bad to him and was only with Leanne, it’s as if Dean doesn’t want Leanne to have any friends but him. Dean ends up pushing people away because of his insecurity and possessiveness. This is significant because Dean is doing this to be close to someone, however pushing them away in the process.

This story helped me understand the result of what would happen if you are possessive. It helps me understand why dean acts like that, how he thinks and feels and how it can affect other people around him. This suggests that it is not healthy; it is not good for a relationship, being possessive.

A relationship needs trust and that is something dean does not have. He couldn’t trust Leanne even though she was only with Rexie at the bus stop, and Dean even knew their history, knew what she was saying was true, but his possession took over and changed him.

Both short stories helped me understand the outcome of both possession and neglect. If you do not care about someone, or care too much, it can end up in bad situations. Both of these stories help me understand why people act like that and how they can affect other people.

(Year 11) film essay- Shawshank redemption

2012-01-22T17:52:00.000-08:00

FILM ESSAY- The Shawshank Redemption

(Explain & discuss how 3 production techniques helped you understand a theme in the film )

An important idea represented in the film ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ by Frank Darabont, is freedom. The 3 production techniques that helped me understand the theme were colour/ lighting, props/ costume and sound effects/ music

The idea freedom is presented in the scene earlier in the film when one of the prisoners asks Andy at the cafeteria ‘are you gonna eat that?’Andy didn’t want the food and handed it over which was fed to the tiny bird in the other mans pocket. The bird symbolizes freedom because when it had fully grown and was able to fly, it was set free by the man who took care of it. Freedom is shown by the production technique, lighting. The event takes place in a dark jail cell. Light shines through the bars of a little window, where the bird is set free. We understand the idea freedom when the bird flies out towards the light/freedom and is no longer confined inside the pocket of the man also kept in jail.

Freedom is most clearly displayed in the ‘rooftop scene’. Initially the setting is significant as birds can fly and go wherever they want and many of them choose to land on rooftops, perhaps a resting place for them. The rooftop is significant because it is a place for rest and represents freedom. Colour is used to help us understand how freedom is felt in this scene. The sky appeared a much brighter blue than all the other blues used in this film, which are more dark and grey, used on buildings, the sky, and uniform, to suggest a depressing environment. When Red got rejected from being let out of jail he was pushed out the door of the building, and the door slammed shut and echoed. This sound effect suggested the feeling of being trapped and helps you notice the difference in the sky and colours and sense the feeling of freedom on the rooftop. There has been a big difference in the moods throughout this film. The prisoners began to feel hopeful. The production technique, music was used to convey freedom in the scene that Andy played Italian opera over the intercom. It was calm and relaxing, ‘it was the first time that everyone felt like a free man’. It was just something that you would never hear in jail if Andy had not done that.

In the rooftop scene, props and costume, such as the beer and overalls help express freedom. Andy makes a deal with the prison guards to give all his co-workers beer, as they are all equal to him. He is respected by all the prisoners for his act of kindness, as things like this do not often happen in jail. Once Andy got beers for everyone, the scene was all calm and relaxed. Prisoners were lying around resting. There was a lot of lighting to show it was a bright sunny day. Some of the prisoners had their overalls half down and baggy which made them look like they were taking a break form work.

The props help us understand freedom in this scene because prisoners took beer from a bucket of ice, which symbolizes paradise or a vacation, because it is similar to ice in a cup of lemonade. This scene clearly displays freedom making it realistic as the prisoners are like free people in their leisure time drinking beer. Also, beer makes you drunk, and forget all your troubles, and is sometimes used to escape to freedom from all the problems.

Red once said to Andy ‘you’re gonna fit right in, everyone in here is innocent’.

This suggests that they’ll be friends, that Andy would fit in, and this tells us that the prisoners are innocent. Freedom is important because it has been taken away from the prisoners who are apparently all innocent. They suffer beatings from the cruel wardens and have a hard time in jail. It is significant that they are still able to feel free, yet trapped behind bars at the same time. Freedom is needed to survive through jail, to give you hope. It’s an important part of life because no one wants to be controlled and confined, if you do not have freedom, you aren’t able to do what you want to. There would be no point in living, except hoping to get your freedom back, your life back.

‘Hope is a powerful thing’, and in this case, hope is freedom.

2012-01-22T17:45:00.000-08:00

HOW THE CONSTANT GARDENER RELATES TO SOCIETY

In society, bad things are kept hidden, to protect people from the harsh truth. However, The Constant Gardener by Fernando Meirelles does not conceal the truth, but exposes it. The story is mainly set in Kenya, Africa, centering around the problems Africans suffer such as war, corruption, testing of untrialled drugs. It depicts the harsh reality of what is going on in the world, promoting awareness, so that we can see what goes on ‘behind the scenes’, things that we do not usually see.

The film revolves around the transformation of Justin Quayle, a diplomat working for the British embassy. We learn about his baby dying at birth, how his wife and friend were killed in a car accident, and the mysterious death of an African girl, Wanza Kilulu while giving birth to her child. This presents to us the harsh reality of life. Families on TV, such as on cereal commercials, are presented to us as good looking, happy, clean, healthy people. A typical TV family usually consists of a husband and wife happily married with a son and daughter. However, in society, there are a lot of break ups, divorces and such, and The Constant Gardener shows us that. It shows us that sometimes one of the partners die leaving the remaining person lonely and depressed, going on in life without their partner, “I can’t go home, Tessa was my home.” The scene with Justin crying against the window expresses his pain and sadness. At the same time it is raining outside, symbolising tears, and the colours set the mood of despair. The camera cuts back and forth from the crying scene to the montage of Justin’s time with Tessa, when he was making love with her. The back lighting created a bright happy atmosphere. This juxtaposes the gloomy atmosphere with the happy one, reinforcing and contrasting the feelings of happiness and sorrow. The film shows us other harsh realities, like how children not always born healthy, some die of disease, and can die at birth, such as Tessa losing her baby. Beatings, murders and bandit raids are also other examples the film presents to us, showing us how life is not so perfect.

The film does not try to appeal to us like TV commercials that present the ideal, perfect families and lifestyle. It implies that life can be unkind and will not treat us that well, that everyone has different, varying problems upon them. The film presents one of the most extreme situations that people out there are suffering through, to let us know, to prepare us for bad situations, so that we are not fooled by cartoons, fairytales and happy perfect lifestyles that television and the media conveys.

A long panning shot of littered and broken strees as a man cycles through to get to work, puts us there in the moment, letting us feel what it is like to be there, conveying the reality of life in Africa. Justin’s wife Tessa asks him to take her to Africa with him, as she knows about the untrialled drugs being tested on Africans,but does not plan to tell him. Justin said he does not understand her, and she says “You can learn me.”

In one scene Justin is using repellent in his garden, and Tessa gets angry and yells at him. He is not aware of the corrupt drug company ‘Three Bees’, in which the repelant has its logo on. This exemplifies how couples get into fights and become distant from each other, because there are secrets, no communication, and misunderstandings. After Tessa’s mysterious death, Justin begins to investigate Dypraxa. He pieces together information which deepens his understanding of what is really going on, “I Think I understand you now Tessa.” He discovers the untrialled drug Dypraxa made by KDH, and that it is being tested by ‘Three Bees’ on African people resulting in many deaths. As Justin slowly uncovers Tessa’s research, we learn about the extent of corruption, how people who interfere get killed. This links to bystander intervention. Some people question why people who witness things do not intervene in situations to try and help. This film answers that. It shows how jumping into problems that are not yours can be risky and you could be harmed in the process. This film demonstrates the worst case scenario; bystander intervention leading to death. In society, when people interfere with another persons task, it leads to the other person getting frustrated and maybe yelling at the person or telling them to go away, or something along those lines. Tessa’s death shows us the extent of corruption in their situation, how people would go to the extremes of taking the lives of those who interfere, to carry out their task.

In another scene, Justin witnesses a research subject volunteer holding an Informed Consent form. She withdraws consent and is then abandoned by the local healthcare system, thus having no access to healthcare. Justin asks the doctor running the study why the girl is being refused medical care. The doctor says she was refusing medical care. However, Justin finds out that the girl only refused to participate in the experimental TB drug study. She was begging to receive needed medical care.

The African doctors were coercing their patients into becoming research subject volunteers by providing desperately needed healthcare only to those who agreed to do the study. This brings attention to the most extreme, unethical, inappropriate behavior displayed by a medical researcher. It creates a great sense of insecurity. If the authorities are secretly carrying out evil deeds for personal gain, who is going to be there to protect people? To keep evil at bay? to make things right? If high authority such as doctors are not doing their job properly, who is there to trust? The African lives are in the hands of the doctors, but the doctors are just exploiting them. This shows that there is no justice in the world, that the world is just a mess and is out of order. When people allow these things to happen, it questions whether there is any humanity in the world, whether life has any morals, and if there is any hope in the world.

However, there is hope. This is shown by Tessa’s character. She stands up in a lecture, not afraid to speak out and voice her opinions. A wide shot shows bored students sitting, surrounding her, making her stand out from the rest. She is persistent and argues with Justin while he is lecturing, not afraid to act immature and unprofessional, to stand up for what she believes in. This shows that there is hope, that when situations are bad, like in this film, you think no-one is watching, or listening. However there are the few rare people out there who care, that there are people trying to help. Tessa went out of her way to expose the experimental trial by Three Bees, and interfered to the extent that she was asassinated by Pellegrin’s orders.

Although The Constant Gardener reveals the harsh truth of reality, and shows the grim places out there that we may not know about, it also reassures us that there is also hope, there are people that care, that are watching, trying to help, and that there is good in the world.

3.7 Theme research- log book (year 13)

2012-01-22T17:38:00.000-08:00

3.7 Theme research LOG BOOK

Questions & answers used for this theme research report thing

http://essays-analysis.blogspot.com/2012/01/one-of-my-1st-assignments-for-year-back.html

Topic: Alienation/ isolation leads to self knowledge (got this from a list of topics on the net)

Questions:

1. To what extent is the character alienatied/ isolated? 2.What are the effects of alienation/ isolation? 3.How does alienation/ isolation lead to self knowledge?

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Title: I am not Esther By: Fleur Beale Text type: book Date of entry: 29/04/09

1. Esther was surrounded by many people and children in the family, yet was still isolated. Noone could relate to her 2. Because Esther had noone to talk to who understood her, she talked to herself in her head a lot and observed more . She became depressed at times and even became hysterical. 3. Esther somehow stayed strong and encouraged herself. She discovered who she was, therefore gained self knowledge.

Title: Of mice and men By: Gary Sinise Text type: Film Date of entry: 06/05/09

1. Curly’s wife wasn’t allowed to talk to anybody. 2. She started to think back on her life and felt regret. She could’ve had better, could’ve been a movie star. She feels lonely, stuck in a rut, isn’t content with her life 3. Isolation caused her to realize what she wants, she gained more knowledge about herself

Title: Of mice and men By: John Steinbeck Text type: book Date of entry: 10/05/09

1. Even though George and Lennie had each other, they caused trouble and were alienated from society. 2. It caused George and Lennie to be strong and hopeful, to constantly visualise and talk about a positive future for themselves even when they were not even close to that kind of lifestyle. 3. George and Lennie are separated from everyone else, and not influenced by other people. So their thoughts are their own, which is self knowledge. They learn what is acceptable and what is not through observation. “People like us are lonely..” “People like them..” etc..

Title: The doll’s house By: Katherine Mansfield Text type: Short story Date of entry: 21/05/09

1. Kezia had different thoughts to everyone else. No one could relate to her. To her the lamp was the best of all in the doll house, but was insignificant to her sisters. Something that really meant a lot to her was ignored and went unnoticed. 2. This caused Kezia to act on her own, differently to others. She let the kelveys in her house, even when she was told she wasn’t not to go near them. 3. Because Kezia was different and didn’t understand social standards, she formed her own opinions, did not follow everyone else like the other children, which lead to self knowledge, thinking for herself.

Title: The Garden Party By: Katherine Mansfield Text type: Short story Date of entry: 21/05/09

1. Laura expressed her concerns about the dead man to have them laughed at/ taken lightly. She didn’t understand the behavioural expectations of her social class 2. Laura realized she didn’t like her social class and wanted to have friends like the men who helped put up the marquee. 3. Laura learnt more about herself, what she wanted, and formed judgements about other people. She experienced feelings she never had before, about death, people, and went through self discovery.

Title: Who I am hates who I’ve been By: Relient K Text type: Song lyrics (poetry) Date of entry: 21/05/09

1. The writer was lonely and didn’t talk to anyone. “I talked to absolutely noone, couldn’t keep to myself enough” 2. The writer sounds like he was at an all time low, feeling lonely and depressed “The things bottled inside had finally begun to create so much pressure that I’d soon blow up”. 3. Isolation caused him to think to himself, reflect on life and realize these things. He hated who he was and did not want to be that way again. Isolation lead to change/ self discovery.

Title: The shipping news By: E. Annie Proulx Text type: book Date of entry: 21/05/09

1. Quoyle does not have many people in his life. 2. He feels sad/lonely, like he has no meaning in life.

3.Quoyle feels his life is uneventful. It however sets a blank page, a fresh start to the story of his life. He has hope that something will happern/ wonders when his life will begin 3. Quoyle realized he was not content with his life, and knew what he wanted.

Title: The Perks of being a wallflower By: Stephen Chbosky Text type: book Date of entry: 26/05/09

1. Charlie started highschool and hasn’t found any friends. 2. - 3. -

Title: Go ask Alice By: Anonymous Text type: book Date of entry: 28/05/09

1. The writer didn’t make any friends at her new school that she moved to. 2. The writer discovered drugs and loved the feeling so much she couldn’t wait to try all of them. She started doing drugs all the time because it was ‘wonderful’ because her life wasn’t exciting. 3. -

Title: Spirited away By: Hayao Miyazaki Text type: Animated film Date of entry: 21/05/09

1. Chihiro, a human, stepped into the spirit world. Her parents ate the food of the s pirits without permission, thinking they could pay later. The spirits looked at her with disgust thinking her parents were greedy and that she was the same. She was seen as a spoilt brat because she had never worked/ done chores before. She is isolated in the spirit world. 2. Because Chihiro got her name ‘taken away’ and replaced with Zen, she began to forget herself, and felt lonely as she was on her own (being a human in the spirit world) and no one could relate to her. 3. Chihiro found her going away card in her pocket which had her original name on it. She remembered who she was and became stronger and more courageous. After overcoming that feeling of isolation, she made friends along the way with her kindness, and became a better person/ more experienced.

Title: Mrs Pratt goes to China By: Shonagh Koea Text type: Short story Date of entry: 08/08/09

1. Mrs Pratt has a husband who likes to have things neat and clean. His family came around often as it was his house. Things were to be done in a certain way. She was different from the people surrounding her. 2. She was driven crazy by his neatness. She felt like she didn’t matter. She wanted to get away with him after they married. He didn’t even consider her opinion. She was neglected. 3. After her husband died, she felt in control again. Without her husband preventing her, she could do what she wanted. She told his parents not to come around, since he was gone, she is no longer connected with them. She now knows what she wants and can start living again.

Title: What I loved By: Siri Hustvedt Text type: book Date of entry: 08/08/09

1. Leo’s son had died. His colleagues and students gave him ‘silent respect’. 2. His wife adopted the same behaviour. They became robotic and withdrawen. Leo was distant from his wife. Her doctor directed her to an analyst, who wanted to see Leo too but he refused.

3. Leo’s wife left him because he had become ‘dead’ too. Later he realized what he had become and wanted her back.

3.7 Theme research report (year 13)

2012-01-19T16:26:00.000-08:00

One of my 1st assignments for the year back in yr 13 english was to do "theme research", a report type thing. We had to make questions about the theme and answer them by reading a bunch of books, extract meaning from them that related to the theme of choice, and use the info to answer the questions. We had to kinda combine all the info together in a report to prove a point about our chosen theme.

I didnt read all the books completely, just skimmed through it and got quotes from bits of the story I understood that somewhat related to my theme, and if it didn't completely relate, I could just kinda twist it to make it relate to my theme lol

My topic was: Alienation/ isolation leads to self knowledge (I got this from a list of topics on the net)

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3.7 Report

Alienation/ isolation leads to self knowledge

Introduction

This investigation examines the way humans respond to the situation of alienation and/or isolation, and what effects it has on them. It seems that a sense of isolation is formed when one is left out and is not able to find people that understand or relate. Isolation is a phase that a person goes through during the time when they have not yet found their true identity. It is an experience that can allow the person to experience self-discovery and leads to self-knowledge.

To what extent is a character alienated and isolated?

In ‘I Am Not Esther’ Kirby’s mother abandons her and sends her away to live with her other family members whom she didn’t even know existed. Kirby gets her name changed to Esther, a biblical name, as her other family belongs to a cult with strict rules. Looking at one’s reflection was not allowed as vanity was considered a bad thing. Kirby felt scared as her identity started to slip away. “I kept on trying to find something that would show me my reflection. I kept having nightmares about looking in a mirror and having no face.” Losing her identity created a sense of isolation. Her behaviour is unacceptable to them and goes against ‘the Rule’ of the cult. She immediately feels alienated from the rest of the family because no-one understands her and it is as if she is on another planet. She starts to feel like she is all on her own at this time of her life as no-one at her new religious school can’t relate to her, which leads to alienation. Similarly, in the short story ‘The Garden Party’ a young girl Laura is alienated when she tells her brother and mother her concern about the neighbour that died. They give nonchalant reactions. “To Laura’s astonishment, her mother behaved just like Jose”. At this moment Laura was taken aback by their unexpected responses and felt alienated as no-one understood her. You do not need to be alone to feel isolated or alienated. Even though Esther is surrounded by many children in her family, she is alienated from them all because of their different beliefs and how they cannot relate to her. She was better off and happier in her family of two, just her and her mother. Therefore even if you have less people in your life, it does not make you isolated. Laura has many people in her life as well, yet she is also alienated because she is not aware of the social expectations and behaves differently to the people of her social class. The main thing which sparks that sense of alienation/ isolation, is not being accepted or understood by people or not meeting social standards. Alienation can be as little as being left out or different to the people surrounding you. Isolation is being alone or separated from other people for a longerperiod of time, which can be due to alienation. Esther and Laura are young and their situations show that Isolation occurs at the time when a person has not found their true identity.

What are the effects of alienation/ isolation?

In ‘What I loved’ Leo’s colleagues and students gave him ‘silent respect’ when they knew his son had died. His wife adopted the same behaviour. Her gestures were ‘brisk and mechanical’. His responses to her were robotic. “I performed my duties of holding her or if she didn’t want me near her, sitting silently on a chair a few feet away but the gestures and words that passed between us seemed to evaporate immediately and leave nothing behind them. We no longer slept in the same bed. There was no sex between us.” This shows that with no communication, a relationship becomes dead. Because of all the feelings bottled up, the two went from being deeply in love, then all of a sudden, to complete strangers. The same situation occurs in the song lyrics ‘Who I am hates who I’ve been’. The writer says ‘I talked to absolutely no-one’ and he ‘couldn’t keep to himself enough‘. He felt that he would ‘soon blow up’ from the pressure created from all the things bottled up inside and says he ‘can’t let that happen again’ because his heart was in the ‘saddest state it’s ever been‘. This showed us that being alone left him in a depressive state, the saddest he has ever been, and he does not want to go back there ever again or even think about living like that because he says ‘this is no place to try and live my life.’ This tells us that it is not healthy to keep things bottled up inside as it leads to depression. If you are not connected with people in society, then you are isolated from life, your life loses meaning, and you become ‘dead’.

In the short story ‘Mrs Pratt Goes To China’ Mrs Pratt’s husband liked things to be neat. “His detailed neatness and his relatives had nearly driven her crazy”. She had layed on the carpet crying “saying she wished they had poison in the house so she could drink it and die”. Her husband didn’t take her seriously and just said “I’ll just hang up your coat”. This shows that Mrs Pratt does not matter in the relationship. Her comment on wanting to die does not affect him. Her husband does not take her seriously. After that she got up and cooked lunch, as “Arnold liked a cooked lunch and he liked coats to be hung up”. This makes Mrs Pratt sound like a servant to her husband. She knows what Arnold likes and how he likes things to be done. She does things for him as nothing else in her life matters since no one cares about her concerns. “When they were newly married she begged to be taken away”. Arnold “would not move” and said “I was born here. What would my parents think?” This shows that he decides everything in the relationship without consideration and discussion with his wife. He ignored what she really wanted. Her opinions do not matter, and she is neglected. Because she was ignored, her life was dissatisfying and had no meaning. When people do not consider your opinions, as if your thoughts do not matter, then your life becomes meaningless as what you say or do will not mean anything. It would not make a difference if you were living or not.

In ‘I Am Not Esther’, Esther is usually getting in trouble for speaking her mind, and realizes that no one relates to her. She becomes observant and thinks to herself more. “They were going to lock me in?” “Where could I go?” It sounds like one of the darkest times in her life as she starts to get really depressed, to the point that, at an incident at school when she caught fire in cooking class, she started to laugh hysterically. She even got a knife and chopped away at her hair, not knowing why she did that. Yet even through this she somehow managed to find inner strength and encouraged herself to cope with the situation. “Wait ‘till school starts Kirby, be patient.” “My name is Kirby, I am not Esther.” A similar thing happens in the film and story ‘Of Mice and Men’. “Guys like us that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place” “...with us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us.” The two men travelling together develop a positive attitude of hope and courage to carry on through this tough time in their life, as they have no-one else.

Isolation basically has a negative effect on one’s mood. The person experiences an all time low point in their life, varying from feelings of loneliness to more severe cases of depression and hysteria. The person can be so isolated that nothing they say will mean anything to the people around them, making their life pointless, and it is as if they are dead. An amazing thing that happens is that the characters tap into something like hidden strength. Even when they have no-one to help or encourage them during the darkest times, they somehow find the strength within themselves to go on. They encourage themselves with positive affirmations and have a strong sense of hope and motivation to better the situation. When they overcome it, the effects are good, leaving them a stronger person.

How does alienation and isolation lead to self knowledge?

“Why couldn’t she have workmen for friends rather than the silly boys she danced with and who came to Sunday night supper? She could get on much better with men like these.” This thought of Laura’s from ‘The Garden Party’ is evidence of one of those little realizations during alienation. She is starting to observe, question herself, form opinions about life such as her social class and other people, and has learned something about herself at this moment. She has realized that she is not content with the people she has in her life, and would rather have other people like these men. She now knows what she wants, and has negative opinions about her social class and their behaviour. Therefore she is thinking for herself, which is self knowledge, unlike the other people around her who are following conventional social standards.

Leo’s wife, Erica in ‘What I loved’ announced a change. “I’ve decided to accept the position at Berkeley. They still want me. I can’t live with you anymore because... you’ve gone dead too.” After the death of her son Matt, Erica and Leo had become cold and distant due to their feelings of grief bottled up inside. Erica had seen a doctor about her weight, which directed her to an analyst. He had asked to see Leo but he refused. Erica could no longer live like this and finally broke free from her dead life. After leaving Leo, he finally ‘woke up’. He realized he should’ve gone with her to the analyst. “I can see that now. I should have gone because Erica wanted me to go. My refusal became the sign of withdrawal from her without hope of return.” When you ignore things in life and take them for granted, you finally notice those things when they leave you. You realize what you have become, and take what happened as a sign for change.

“Funny- an afternoon at the beach and they weren’t allowed to swim or take off their heavy clothes and they’d had a ball. If you don’t have much, little things are really special.” This analysis was made by Esther in ‘I am not Esther’, when she took the younger kids in her family to the beach. Because of their religious rules, they still had to keep their hot long clothing on to cover themselves. After living by the roles of this family, Esther thought that this was not the life to live, but after watching them, she realized how much fun they had and how special this was for them. Overtime she started to change her point of view about this family. When you are isolated, you start to observe life and learn things on your own. Isolation puts you in a situation which makes you feel dead and unsatisfied with life. Once you realize that, It’s as if you have woken up from your ‘dead’ state. you start to find yourself and know what you want, gaining self-knowledge.

Conclusion

I have discovered from my research that characters experience different extents of isolation or alienation, but the things they go through are very similar. They become more observant, go over their thoughts and reflect on life, and soon their true identity starts to manifest. Isolation or alienation occurs due to many things such as not having many friends or people in your life, to being surrounded by many people however being the odd one out, not being understood or able to relate to anyone. Isolation can start out as something little as being left out and different, and then lead to something more severe. It has led characters into a depressive state and even almost close to insanity and hysteria. The character usually is not aware of the situation, they are so deep in that dark state of isolation and do not notice what is happening around them. But when they do, they wake up, realize what has been happening, and start to change. It is as if they were dormant their whole life and have just become active. Isolation and alienation is an experience which separates a person from the factors influencing one’s behavior, allowing one to clarify one’s thoughts and feelings, thereby gaining valuable self-knowledge.

Bibliography

(used in answering questions)

Book: I Am Not Esther - Fleur Beale Short story: The Garden Party - Katherine Mansfield Song lyrics/poem: Who I am hates who I’ve been - Relient K Film: Of mice and men - Gary Sinise Book: Of mice and men - John Steinbeck Short story: Mrs Pratt goes to China - Shonagh Koea Book: What I loved - Siri Hustvedt

_ _ _ _

Short story: The doll’s house - Katherine Mansfield
Book: The shipping news - E. Annie Proulx
Book: The Perks of being a wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
Book: Go ask Alice - Anonymous
Animated film: Spirited away - Hayao Miyazaki

3.2 Short story english essay- Katherine Mansfield

2012-01-19T16:09:00.000-08:00

16/03/09 term 1 3.2

To what extent do you agree that nothing much seems to happen in short stories? Discuss views with references to atleast two short stories.

I think that although nothing much seems to happen on the surface of short stories, there is a lot happening in the story when you deeply analyse it. Literally nothing much happens, such as people having a garden party, or children receiving a doll house and telling people at school. They’re just minor events in life, but the way its written, the style and the theme and main ideas the author is conveying, enhaces the content. Short stories focus on detail of an event.

Visual imagery composed of symbols, metaphors, and similes are used to make us think further, analyse the story and make us extract meanings from it.

For example, in The Dolls House by Katherine Mansfield, the story focuses on three children receiving a dolls house and telling their peers at school about it, then inviting them over to their house to see it. The contents of the dolls house are described in such a way that it is special in the eyes of the children, though it may seem like a “plastic toy” to adults. The contents of the doll house are mentioned with a bit of detail in a long list, to show how amazing they are from the children’s point of view. “They had never seen anything like it in their lives...” “..pictures on the walls painted on the paper, with gold frames complete. Red carpet covered all floors except the kitchen, red plush chairs in the drawing room, green in the dining room..” The list goes on mentioning the colours, giving us the children’s impression of the doll house, showing how new and amazing it is because they have never seen anything like it. Describing the doll house with such detail shows rather than tells us how the children feel about it.

Theme is also introduced into the story as much attention is brought to the lamp. It symbolises hope because it brings light to the room. Although it does not mention what the lamp represents in the story, the lamp is present in many situations in the story which implies that there is meaning behind it. Nothing is explained about it which allows the readers to have their own opinion about what it may stand for, which makes short stories so meaningful. In The Dolls House there is a tiny little lamp which Isabel leaves out when describing it to the kids at school, but Kezia reminds her of it, which shows how much it means to Kezia. This shows that even though there are little things that seem unimportant and ignored, that there will be atleast one person to take notice of it and appreciate it. This is the same for the Kelveys. They are the lower class people who sit by themselves at lunch who people usually ignore, yet Kezia acknowledges them and invite them over to her house. This shows the breaking of social class barriers, and the lamp represents that because Our Else who hardly speaks, mentions it after seeing the doll house and the story ends with the line “I’ve seen the little lamp.” The lamp is the symbol of hope, the light that shines and overcomes the darkness, “The lamp was perfect...the lamp was real.” This contrasts with the dolls in the house that were “too big for it”. The mother and father dolls did not fit the house and were “sprawled very stiff as though they had fainted in the drawing-room”. It is ironic how the dolls dont belong in the ‘doll’ house, but the lamp outshines the dolls despite it’s size. I think the reason why the dolls did not fit was because a doll house is supposed to have a cozy, warm homey feeling. But the mother and father dolls reflect kezias family, showing that her family doesn’t act warm and friendly like a doll house family should, and the lamp represents her hope, that it will always shine brightly, and will always be there. It’s the only ‘real’ thing in the story. Because when Kezia asked why she couldn’t invite the Kelveys over, it seemed like a reasonable, real question. Aunt Beryl said ‘Certainly not’ as if they were some rules that were built into them, she couldnt justify her answer, it was ‘just because’, no real reason. Therefore Kezia is more ‘real’ just like the lamp, yet everyone else is not.This is how a lot happens in short stories. Not much literally happens, but metaphors, similes, heavy description, themes and symbols make us think further and get a lot of meaning and themes out of it.

In The Garden Party by Katherine Mansfield, a family is preparing for a garden party, hear that a man dies, and they have a party anyway, but the story cuts to the end of the party and we do not hear the details of it. Therefore nothing much actually happened, yet a lot did because we get to read the characters’ stream of consciousness from a third persons point of view. We are put into the situation right then and there and get to hear the different opinions of the characters, through their speech, actions, thoughts and responses to situations, such as Laura wanting to end the party after hearing about the man’s death, and everyone else’s surprised reactions to Laura’s intentions. This conveys the theme of class distinction, and although it’s a story of a party being prepared for in the beginning, we get a lot of meaning out of it near the start of the story, where Laura meets the workmen and likes how friendly they are. It is as if she had discovered a new species, whom she would rather be surrounded by rather than the people she is stuck with in her own class. This is shown when she says “Why couldn’t she have workmen for friends rather than the silly boys she danced with and who came to Sunday night supper?” This little thought means a lot as Laura realizes she doesnt like the people she is surrounded with, and doesn’t like the way her social class acts. She is stuck in a different world of people in which she doesnt belong. She later breaks out of her class after going to the dead man’s house and experiencing a completely different environment. She gets a feeling of how wonderful life is after seeing the dead man because she has never felt anything like that before, because all that was in her life was garden parties and the sound of “tinkling spoons and laughter”. Literally in this story all that happened was a party and a death. These two events opened the eyes of a young girl to a new world of experience, and changed her life and who she is. Her journey of self discovery and the breaking of social barriers consisted of a party and a death of a man whom she did not know. This shows that every little thing that happens can change someones life, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem, they are special and meaningful to someone and that big things come in small packages. Therefore I agree that a lot actually happens in short stories.

Katherine Mansfield- short story analysis. The dolls house, The garden party, How Pearl Button was kidnapped.

2012-01-19T15:52:00.000-08:00

Short story response- Katherine Mansfield

-The Dolls House

-The Garden Party

-How Pearl Button was kidnapped

(This was an exercise/ practice essay I did back in year 13. Looking back on it, it doesn't really sound well written but hopefully it helps other people get ideas on things to write about it^_^ My english teacher got me to print this out so she could photocopy it and give to the class to get ideas, so I thought I'd do the same thing by putting a bunch of my old english work/essays on a blog:-) all the quotes from the stories are in a different colour to make it easier^_^ (The lines____ separating bits made it easier for me to separate info/ideas and made it easier to read. Just dont put them in a real essay)

TOPIC: Are themes of short stories relevant to real life? Explain and discuss

I agree that themes of short stories are relevant to real life. The Doll’s House and The Garden Party by Katherine Mansfield both depict situations that occur in real life such as class distinction, power and people obsessing over material possessions. Mansfield shows the significance of these through her short stories.

In The Doll’s House, The Burnell children can’t wait to boast about their new doll house that they received from Mrs Hay. Isabel says “I’m to tell first because I’m the eldest.” This shows how in society, some people have power over others. Some feel that they are more important due to their high social status, birth order or having more material possessions which is revealed later in the story. ‘At playtime, Isabel was surrounded. The girls of her class fought to put their arms around her, to walk with her, beam flatteringly, to be her special friend.’ This shows us what the girls at school are like. They suddenly want to be her friend because they are interested in the doll’s house. This shows how people are drawn to material possessions. In real life many people are like this. Things are not what they seem to be and some people may have hidden agendas as to why they do things. In this case, people surrounding Isabel aren’t really her friends but are just interested in seeing the doll house.

‘The only two that stayed outside the ring were the two who were always outside, the little kelveys.’ This shows that in this story, things are done a certain way. There are set rules and behaviours because the Kelveys were always outside the ring. In society there are set rules and behaviours as well, rules that everyone knows and sticks to, even though not explained, such as cliques. Different groups associate with certain types of people similar to themselves.

That is just the way things work, just like in ‘The Dolls House’. The parents had ‘no choice’ but to send their children to that school as it was the only one for miles. The ‘consequence was that the judges little girls, the doctors daughters, the storekeepers children, the milkmans, were forced to mix together.’ This has a negative implication that the mixing of these different people is not right. The listing emphasises the different occupations by which people are classified.

In society people are judged by their occupations as well. How successful someone is shows that they are hardworking, therefore the higher up someone is, the more respect they gain. The “lower class” people are looked down upon as shown by this quote “The Kelveys were shunned by everybody. Even the teacher had a special smile for the other children when Lil Kelvey came up to her desk with dreadfully common looking flowers.” Alliteration emphasises the teachers special smile so we can imagine her treating the Kelveys differently to the other children. Even she displays this exclusive behaviour because she judges the Kelveys by their low status, and their ‘common looking flowers.’ In society, a teacher’s purpose is to teach and must treat everyone equally. This shows the change in times, how severe class distinction was back then. Although it is not so strong now because everyone is encouraged to treat everyone equally, it still goes on to some extent.

Exclusive behaviour comes in many forms: cliques, social status, having more material posessions than others, societal rules, judgements and expectations, all this behaviour still happens in society today. ‘The Dolls House’ displays these behaviours in the form of class distinction, which shows the views of these people and how low status is frowned upon.

Similarly, in The Garden Party, by Katherine Mansfield, Laura is helping set up a garden party. She meets the workmen putting up the marquee and feels more at ease with them. They are much freindlier compared to the people of her social class and she wishes she had people like them rather than the ones that surrounded her. ‘Why couldn’t she have workmen like these for friends rather than the silly boys she danced with on Sunday night supper? She would get on much better with men like these.’ This shows how Laura has discovered a part of life she was not aware of. She has found people that are like her, and this rhetorical question challenges us to think, why doesn’t she have friends that are more like her? It is because of class distinctions. They are the barrier preventing her from being herself.

In society, there are similar barriers that prevent people doing and experiencing things in life (such as a basketball player too ‘cool’ to try singing). Little things lead to other things, and thats what makes life what it is. Judgements, opinions, societal rules can prevent someone from experiencing things in life, in this case, Laura not having people more like her because she was brought up in a high social class environment, away from other people she may identify with more.

When Laura hears about a neighbour dying, she says to her brother “Josie! However are we going to stop everything?!” “Stop everything Laura! What do you mean?” This illustrates how in life, people have different opinions and priorities, and that some people will not understand others. It also shows us that there are different types of people, and that Laura is different from the rest of her family. She tells her mum, who acts the same as Josie. “People like them don’t expect sacrifices from us.” This portrays Mrs Sheridan as unsympathetic and insensitive. It gives the impression that her whole family is just focused on having garden parties and showing off their material possessions. It also shows the ‘devalued’ life of the man, because he is of low social class and referred to as ‘people like them.’ This also happens in real life. People are judged and prioritized by social class, the higher people seen as more important.

Another one of Mansfields short texts that depict class distinction is How Pearl Button Was Kidnapped. When Pearl is outside her house, she sees two fat woman walking down the street, ‘talking to each other and smiling’. ‘They had no shoes and stockings on’. The comment brings attention to this, insinuating that shoes and stockings are the normal things to be worn from Pearl’s point of view. This makes the two women a bit different which immediately separates Pearl from the two fat women.

One of the ladies ask “You all alone by yourself? Where’s your mother?” Pearl replies “In the kitchen, ironing-because-it’s-Tuesday”. The lady questioning where Pearl’s mother was implies that Pearl should be with her mother, because she is too little to be outside by herself. Pearl’s reply shows us that her mother is too busy to keep an eye on her. Ironing clothes is also an act of trying to make clothes look perfect, which shows that Pearl’s mother focuses on being neat and orderly, a priority put first before her child. The answer and words ‘because-it’s-Tuesday’ suggests that is a normal routine, again emphasising Pearl’s neat and orderly mother.

The two women take Pearl with them to their ‘room full of other people the same colour as they were.’This again reinforces that the two women are of a different culture. People came close to her, ran their fingers through her hair, gave her fruit, she was the centre of attention. ‘Pearl felt shy but happy at the same time.’ This tells us that Pearl is being introduced to something new and is enjoying it. The lack of attention she gets from her parents contrasts against the fact that she is getting more attention from a bunch of strangers.

Pearl ‘carefully pulled up her pinafore and dress and sat on her petticoat’, due to the dusty floor, ‘as she had been taught to sit in dusty places.’ Pearl tells one of the women in a frightened voice that she has spilt all the juice down her front after she eats the fruit. The woman says it doesn’t matter. This enforces the culture differences. It shows us that Pearls family enforces social ettiquette and neatness while this culture does not. The people of this culture give Pearl affection and attention, while it is not mentioned that Pearl gets this from her own family, and it is also hinted that she doesn’t as ‘Pearl had never been happy like this before’.

Pearl was taken outside with the group and saw the outside world. She saw the sea, the sand, all things in nature that she was frightened of but was reassured that they were beautiful things that would not hurt her. This shows that Pearl does not know about these things which hints that her parents have not taken her out. She went for a swim in the warm sea and enjoyed the experience. Her expereience was cut off as ‘a crowd of little men in blue coats came running towards her with shouts and whislings to take her back’.

We know that they are policemen described from the women’s point of view. They are seen as anonymous intruders with their shouting and whistling, coming to take back Pearl. The style of narration consists of descriptions of things rather than the actual names as if it is alien to us, because it is from Pearls point of view. This makes the readers feel as if they are being introduced to these things for the first time, with no judgements or prior knowledge. Mansfield introduces us to the pacific island culture and emphasises their friendly nature. The policemen are described as frightening intruders taking Pearl away from them. This shows that there was a misunderstanding. Mansfield helps us understand the other side of the story of the ‘kidnapping’ and lets us know that the women did not mean to harm anyone. It also shows us that people have different points of views and that things can be interpreted differently.

Mansfield helps us understand class distinction and different people’s perspectives through her short stories which consist of many examples that relate very much to real life.