hay
please can someone help me with this question
i really need ideas
its for an in class essay
using snow falling on cedars by david guterson
"how has guterson's choice of form, features and language been used to shape meaning in snow falling on cedars?"
in your response make a detailed comparison of how conflicting perspectives are represented in your prescribed text ( and a given text- which is given on the day in class)
any input will be greatly appreciated
Dear god, SFOC. Was not a fan of that text.
Some ideas for consideration:
Since you have to do a comparison between the texts you're going to need an overarching thesis for your response. You'll have to do some adjusting on the fly because you don't what the text is yet but you can still come up with some concepts that will work well with the conflicting perspectives that you've chosen. Eg the extent to which an author uses conflicting perspectives to espouse their own philosophical views or whether an author privileges one view over another (like if you do the racial conflict in the novel, it's clear that Guterson intends for his audience to dislike Etta). You can use the way Guterson uses Ishmael's character to provide a sense of unity to the multiple narrative strands and how prioritising him in this manner gives Ishmael's voice more authority than other characters.
After identifying a baseline argument, figure out which conflicting perspectives reflect this the best. I mainly did the conflict between the natural and human environments and how this reflects Guterson's philosophical view of the universe (using Ishmael as an authorial mouthpiece). Other ideas might include the conflicting views arising out of gender difference, generational conflict or duty vs desire.
Then talk about how the features/language of SFOC reflect these conflicts. Eg the introduction of SFOC where the imagery of the town is contrasted sharply with the natural environment (Realist vs Romantic style). Also how the storm which engulfs the island reflects and enhances the characters' uncertainty and moral strife during the trial (there's some really explicit comparisons between the weather and the moral choices facing the characters somewhere around the last third of the novel, IIRC). But the storm also contrasts with the trial because Ishmael says somewhere that the trial was "no mere accident of wind and sea" but rather "in the hands of people". Relate this thematic discussion to your overarching argument, which in my case was the way Guterson still espoused a clear authorial ideology even in the midst of all the conflicting views.
Anyway, hope that helps somewhat. If you want to run through some more ideas or practice essays, give me a PM
. I've got an essay to do tonight but after that I can re-engage with HSC English to my heart's content lol.
