Ambiguity regarding Conventions of Crime Fiction (1 Viewer)

[Dragon Fanatic]

I have 2 sets of crime fiction conventions, which are the universal set I should use in the hsc exam to structure my response by?

My Teacher claims the first set are specified somewhere in the rubric?
FIRST SET:
1. Mystery as key element
2. Logical Acretion of evidence
3. Solution through rationality
4. Mystery used as vehicle for other purposes (social comment etc)
5. Invitation of reader to solve mystery prior to denoument

SECOND SET:
1.Sleuth Hero
2.Crime/ Crimes to be solved
3.Plausible and detailed setting
4.Denouement
5.Dangerous situations

 

[Sleiphnir]

I've structured my notes/essays around the second set, but it doesn't seem very extension-y aka I have no idea and would like to know the answer.

 

[finishline]

sorry to disturb you but i really need to know how to make a thread, could you pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease tell me how ???
thank you

 

[Sleiphnir]

Click on the new thread button the red arrow is pointing to in the subforum you want to post to.

 

[kami]

I have 2 sets of crime fiction conventions, which are the universal set I should use in the hsc exam to structure my response by?

My Teacher claims the first set are specified somewhere in the rubric?
FIRST SET:
1. Mystery as key element
2. Logical Acretion of evidence
3. Solution through rationality
4. Mystery used as vehicle for other purposes (social comment etc)
5. Invitation of reader to solve mystery prior to denoument

SECOND SET:
1.Sleuth Hero
2.Crime/ Crimes to be solved
3.Plausible and detailed setting
4.Denouement
5.Dangerous situations

From my memory, one of the key lessons for this module was that conventions are not absolute rather they are shifting products of their contexts so that there is usually not a complete uniformity between different subgenres and their conventions ( Ms. Marple series versus Big Sleep for instance). So it would make little sense for the rubric to state that your composition must comprise a set of pre-specified conventions - which is why it doesn't do that.

Rather you are expected to be aware of the conventional plot structure, characters, values, language and so on in order to be able to satisfactorily produce a text from a range of sub-genres or to subvert those sub-genres (know all the rules, and know how to break all the rules). This extends to understanding the way the conventions are played with in your prescribed texts as it is possible they may ask you to write a scene in the worlds of those authors.

Which is why I'd say that a blanket acceptance of either is unsatisfactory - you should employ as much as you can to authenticate your genre writing (or subversion) as possible and that may well require something of a compromise between your convention list and the HSC exam question when the time comes.

 

[Indhu]

what i do to prepare is create a list of conventions
eg:
- accretion of evidence
- detective/ sleuth hero
- setting
- restoration of order/ denouement,
and i make notes of how each of these conventions are represented in all the texts i will be using. That is, whether the conventions have been transformed, expanding the limitations of the crime fiction genre etc.., or have remained the same. Explain subversion, or lack there of through values and attitudes and context, as each text is reflective of the epoch in which it is produced.
eg. the fragmentation in Anil's Ghost depicts the complex nature of contemporay life.

and be prepared to link this back to the fluidity of the crime fiction genre.

 

[ellejay145]

Yes, i do the same as Indhu. We have been told to use the second set, as it generally applies more "universally" to texts.