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Hey NicoleMc94,
attached is part of a sample answer I have written; check out my website www.ryjolc.wordpress.com for further material for the comparative and other sections and email me at ryjolc@gmail.com if you'd like further sample material/ answers.
Hope this helps.
John
‘Write a comparative essay on one or more aspects of literary genre on your comparative course that you found interesting’.
I found four aspects of literary genre, how a story is told, on my comparative course interesting. These are text type, genre, setting and narrative structure, each of which contributed to the unique way that a text tells a story. The three texts on my comparative course in which this was seen were the novel How Many Miles to Babylon (HMM), the drama Dancing at Lughnasa (DAL) and the film Inside I’m Dancing (ID).
The first aspect of literary genre on my comparative course that I found interesting was the text type of each story. I found it fascinating that something such as form, which is often considered so minute, can have a substantial role in how the audience experiences the story, seen in three different forms which are shown on my comparative course, novel, drama and film, each of which provides its audience with a unique experience as the story is told.
DAL is a drama. Here the emphasis is on performance rather than reading as with Austen’s novel above. Unlike the novel where the reader can picture what occurs, Friel’s play shows firsthand the happenings of the play. For example, he or she views how the five sisters appear, such as when they dance in the scene where Marconi works and emits music, as well as where they dance in the house, how Gerry limps, and what Father Jack’s British colonial tricorn hat looks like. Likewise, the audience does not have to imagine how the events of the story play out, as they are presented firsthand, allowing the audience to see and realise each episode as if they were present in the story themselves. This is seen in such episodes as when Rose teases Kate; we do not need to imagine the episode, as would be the case in a novel; here we see and hear Rose’s teasing tone as she implies Kate’s feelings for the local shopkeeper Austen Morgan, telling her “I know why you went into Morgan’s!... You wanted to see Austen Morgan”. Similarly we do not need to imagine Kate’s annoyance at this, as it is shown to us firsthand as Kate retorts in an outburst, replying angrily “For God’s sake, Rose, shut up, would you!”. HMM differs from DAL as it is a novel, which means the audience have a certain amount of power in the presentation of the text. Despite description from the author, the audience has the defining say on how the characters, events and where these are (the setting) appear in their minds. He or she will decide how the characters will appear, such as Alexander and his mother, and how they embrace before Alexander leaves for war, when he reveals “she pulled my face to hers. I kissed one cheek and then the other. She still held me.” It is up to them to decide exactly how the setting, the stately manor that Alexander lives in with his parents appears; Alexander may tell us of “the blocks of granite, the sleeping windows, the uncomprising greyness, the stern perfection of the building” but the audience can decide upon the size of the house, or how close the nearby hills are to the house, even if the narrator remarks that “Some mornings when I looked out of my window the hills seemed so close that I only had to stretch a hand out beyond the glass to touch them”; it is up to the reader to picture how they these exist, due to the freedom that the novel offers its audience. This is also the case with the plot, as the reader can imagine how its various episodes take place, such as when Alexander’s parents sit for breakfast; he comments on them “immaculate themselves, their heads elegantly bent towards the morning paper and the cream-drenched porridge, starched damask napkins folded neatly across their knees”, but we are left with freedom to imagine the scene as we wish, such as the location of the characters in proximity to each other, as is the case throughout the novel. ID contrasts from the other texts as it is a film. This means that it can tell its story in far more a sophisticated and advanced manner than a novel or drama. For example, the film can move the story to different places in relatively short spaces of time (even instantaneously), which allow us to view different settings quite easily in the text, such as at the text’s beginning when Rory and Michael are in Carrigmore, which Rory seeks to be free from, as he cannot do as he wishes; here he is told by the head nurse Eileen that “There are rules here” when he plays loud music from 1950s American television on his stereo at night, which results in his stereo being taken from him. Despite the obvious length of time it would take two disabled men to move their possessions and themselves from a country caring home into the city the film shifts instantaneously into town in a matter of seconds, so as to continue the story, which focuses on Rory and Michael’s attempt at independence, which means that such a change is needed, so as to move the audience onto the main focus of the text. The film immediately moves the scene into the inner-city flat where they move into, where the two attempt to find independence, employing a carer and enjoying a meal of Pot Noodles and champagne on their first night in their flat. Furthermore this does not require much explanation, as the view of these places alone makes it obvious to the audience that the film has switched locations. In the other text types shown this could not be achieved as easily; in a novel it would have to be mentioned – the journey to the past, or at least the description of the new place would need to be devoted page space. Elsewhere, in a drama the set would have to be altered in some way to acknowledge the new place, or the characters would have to make some mention of it. However in the film such changes can be achieved easily and quickly.
Another aspect of literary genre I found interesting on my comparative course was the genre of the text. While it is often thought that the humorous or tragic elements of the text are a consequence of the plot, I came to realise that the genre of the text, the aforementioned humorous or tragic elements of a story, directly influence how the story is presented to its audience.
This is seen in DAL. The story is told tragically, as it focuses (in part) on the struggle of individuals to adapt to a progressive world. This is the reason for the inclusion of the issue of the modernisation of Ireland, as this results in Agnes and Rose losing their knitting jobs because of the opening of a nearby knitting factory, reflecting the transformation of Ireland into a modern, economized country. Michael’s terming of the phrase that ‘The Industrial Revolution had finally caught up with Ballybeg’ is suggestive that the individuals in Ballybeg are not suited to modernity and indeed some of the characters in the text, unused to such a way of life, struggle to deal with this. Agnes and Rose exemplify this; they cannot work in such conditions, in particular Rose, who it is assumed would not attain a job there due her developmental disability, and cannot create knitted products as quickly or in as large amounts as the factory. With no income as a result of their labour lost to the more effective factory, the sisters believe they would be better emigrating to England, however here they likewise struggle and Michael finds Agnes dead and Rose in a hospital for the destitute twenty-five years later. The unsettling and bleak message is that that modernization is not effective and beneficial to all – while it has contributing to turning our country into what we are used now, modernization left behind many who were used to and could only function in life before its conception, such as Rose and Agnes. Indeed, the unsettling nature of the Industrial Revolution is symbolized by Gerry, as he arrives on his motorcycle – much like the motorcycle is part of modernization, which Rose and Agnes are irreconciliably opposed to, Gerry troubles the family, with his detrimental effect on Chris, and thus the sisters, who must endure her depression when he leaves. Elsewhere, the inability of the sisters to manage ‘Marconi’, is also symbolic of their inability to function in the modern world. HMM mirrors DAL. The text is told tragically, as it focuses on the radical changing views of Alexander Moore of his home, which are so depressing that these force him to fight in war. Moore at the text’s beginning that ‘Because I am an officer and gentleman they have given me notebooks, pen, ink and paper. So I write and wait’. Moore is waiting to be sentenced to death, for crimes at war, and as we then hear his story we tragically see how his faded love for his home led him to such an end. Initially Moore is satisfied with his surroundings, as he views his home and wonders ‘if it would ever be possible to love any person’ as he loves his home; he holds a deep connection to his surroundings, revealed in such moments as when he speaks of the hills ‘which protected us from the world’. His admiration of the swans in his lake mirrors that of Yeats in Coole: ‘The swans floated for nine months of the year to and fro on the water, sometimes taking off with a great cracking of their wings, then, overcome with the energy they had used up, they would allow themselves to drift on the wind like huge crumpled pieces of paper hurled up in the sky.’ However soon Alexander grows tired of the same environment, and believes that his home, and those in it, will not remain as idyllic as that which he has come to love. This is symbolized as he views his father’s office, which soon is ‘a room full of shadows, a watching room’, where Alexander believes ‘no matter where I stood or sat someone was just behind me, not just wanting the quick conciliatory smile over the shoulder, but someone stern and demanding.’ This belief stems from his view of his parents’ relationship, which steadily declines, and he soon realises “They would grow old immaculately, their implacable hatred of each other hidden from the world.’ Alexander resolves to leave, and his aforementioned embrace with his mother on the day of his leaving symbolizes his unwillingness to be confined there anymore: ‘I finally reached her and her hands flew like two birds around my neck and she pulled my face to hers. I kissed one cheek and then the other. She still held me. I put up my hands and unfastened hers.’ ID matches the other texts. The text is told tragically, as it focuses on the depressing situation facing Rory, a man with cerebral palsy, as he must deal not just with his disability but the entrapment facing him in Carigmore Residential Home. This is why he struggles with this imprisonment, as noone in Carrigmore (where they live) appreciates or understands his need for independence or freedom, and thus will not willingly allow this. Eileen’s control of Carrigmore Residential Home largely contributes to this, as the only choice she allows for the patients imprisoned in the home is whether they wish to go to Mass, which in itself represents an imposing of values on those who reside there. She tells Rory ‘There are rules here’ when he plays loud music at night, from 1950s American television, and this incident, as she removes his stereo, is indicative of the plight facing Rory, as Eileen controls all aspects of life in Carrigmore. Such is the lack of control Rory possesses that he believes he is not just imprisoned, but lacking life, and remarks ‘If they can hear me, at least they know that I’m alive’. The poignant irony of Rory’s situation is epitomized by Eileen’s remark that Rory needs ‘to have consideration for the other people’; she does not have this for Rory, and thus she cannot appreciate or understand his natural want for liberty.
hey johnryan.. thank you so muh, this was a great help much appreciated
NicoleMc94,
no problem - if you'd like the full answer just email!
John
