Assignment 2
1. Choose a piece of text by a contemporary author that explores time and/or place; it could be an extract from a novel, short story or play, long poem (epic) or a screenplay, perhaps extrapolate a piece of text from song lyrics or a graphic novel. Your extract should be somewhere between 100 and 200 words long. That may not sound like a lot, but the extract from The Road (Project 4) was only around 120 words. The key thing is to choose your extract carefully to make sure you have enough to write about. In longer texts – novels, plays – beginnings are good for close reading because they usually throw up plenty of questions to get the reader interested and they may also have quite a bit of ‘establishing’ detail. Do a close reading of the text and write about your response, your interpretation and your feelings about the writing and its themes. Go back to the close reading exercises in Projects 3 and 4 to help you with points to think about. Include a copy of the text with your assignment submission. Don’t forget to mention: plot, structure, character, narrator, point of view, language and language techniques, as well as possible themes of time and place.
Write up to 1,500 words. This is slightly more than you’re asked to write for other parts of the course; this word count has been chosen to give you plenty of scope to express and develop your ideas. You won’t be penalised for writing less than this, but please write at least 1,000 words.
For this assignment, I have chosen to look at an excerpt from Markus Zusak’s ‘The Book Thief’, 2012 (Definitions)
Personally, I like a chocolate covered sky. Dark, dark chocolate. People say it suits me. I do, however, try to enjoy every color I see--the whole spectrum. A billion or so flavors, none of them quite the same, and a sky to slowly suck on. It takes the edge off the stress. It helps me relax.
**A SMALL THEORY**
People only observe the colours of the day at its beginnings and ends, but to me it’s quite clear that a day merges though a multitude of shades and intonations, with each passing moment. A single hour can consist of thousands of different colors. Waxy yellows, cloud-splat blues. Murky darknesses. In my line of work, I make a point to notice them.
As I’ve been alluding to, my one saving grace is distraction. It keeps me sane. It helps me cope, considering the length of time I've been performing this job. The trouble is, who could ever replace me? Who could step in while I take a break in your stock-standard resort-style vacation destination, whether it be tropical or of the ski trip variety? The answer, of course, is nobody, which has prompted me to make a conscious, deliberate decision--to make distraction my vacation. Needless to say, I vacation in increments. In colors.
I am going to take what is known as a ‘close reading’ of this text from the best selling, contemporary novel ‘The Book Thief’, by Markus Zusback. By doing a close reading, I am going to explore aspects of the text such as language, language techniques, characters and structure and how they affect my perception but additionally observe them in relation to time and place.
This section is taken from the first few paragraphs of ‘The Book Thief’ and when I initially read this excerpt, I am drawn into a conversation between myself (as the reader) and the narrator. Being written in the first person, I feel that this is what really draws us in from the start. As we gradually progress through the initial paragraphs we soon discover that this narrator has a unique position in the unfolding of the story. I assume this because this narrator is talking to us in first person about themselves, as opposed to a formal description of an opening scene or character.
Set in World War 2, we are learning about the life of the young girl, Liesel Meminger, through the perspective of our narrator. Liesel is a young girl who has been adopted by a couple in Germany just before the outbreak of war. We are taken through her experiences during a significant time and place within history. However, in the beginning we are unaware of the location of the story because we are being introduced to our story teller first. There are certain phrases that I believe relate to themes of time and place in this extract, which I will explore through this reading. Firstly though, just taking a close reading of this excerpt I assess that the speaker is relatable, and subject to the same mental anguish that most of us are faced with, with an almost comical yet rather bitter demeanour. For example, ‘It keeps me sane. It helps me cope,’. The language itself is conversational, which we can see from the structure of the text. The fact that there is a note within the paragraph giving a poetic outlook on what the narrator thinks of the colours around them, suggests a less formal way of speaking to the reader. We also have some shorter, brief sentences that offer a more serious tone in an informal way, for example ‘It takes the edge of the stress. It helps me relax’. As a reader, I am quickly drawn in to the narrator’s point of view, and a relationship is created between me and the narrator. They are talking directly to me about their current situation, they give me information as to how they are in that moment in time.
The writer further develops the narrator by giving them a sense of intellect and poetry, which reinforces the impression we are being spoken to. For example, ‘Who could step in while I take a break in your stock-standard resort-style vacation destination..’. This sentence alone tells us a lot about the narrator, that they have a role that is significant and they are irreplaceable. It is also where an interesting element of ‘place’ comes into the text. This character is telling us, through sarcasm, that they are trapped in their role. They look at ‘your stock-standard’ resorts as places we go to, not them. They can not go to the same places as us. This really made me empathise with them, because of the tone of the character’s struggle. Our narrator even draws out our empathy by stating themselves ‘...the length of time I've been performing this job’ and clearly explains that they use distraction of studying colours to help them cope.
The description of the colours that the narrator observes is poetically discussed with the use of metaphorical language, such as ‘cloud-splat blues’, which makes me think of a painted blue sky with ‘splats’ of white clouds. The ‘waxy-lemon’ instantly brings to mind the shades of ‘waxed lemons’ because of the associative words. As a reader I’m prompted to deeply consider the extensive palettes of endless colours throughout time as this time-defying perspective explains that none of the colours are ever ‘quite the same’. The way that the narrator explains that people tend not to observe the colours as they do, provokes the readers to reflect on what having an infinite amount of time can allow us to observe.
Looking in detail at some of the language techniques used, I like to consider the repetitive use of the word ‘Dark’ when describing the ‘Dark, dark chocolate’ of a ‘chocolate covered sky’ and later on the ‘murky darkness’ to emphasise this. This imagery not only reflects the ‘darkness’ of the character, but depicts the image of a dark sky. The writer really wants to emphasise the richness of their favourite colours by appealing to our senses, because when I think of dark chocolate I think of a bitter-sweet taste and luxury, mirroring the luxury of the narrator’s escapism. This is echoed by the metaphorical sky that the narrator likes to ‘slowly suck on’. This allows me to relate to our narrator. I also believe that their favourite colour of sky is likely a reflection of them, because the writer is continuously building on the character’s darkness and tastes. Personally, when I think of a dark chocolate sky, I think of a Summer night’s sky and remember the well known phrase ‘red sky at night, shepherd’s delight’! I see tones of red and brown because of the association with ‘chocolate’, even if it is very dark chocolate. The writing involves specific poetic devices to develop the character’s voice. For example, when they talk about colours of the sky being like ‘flavours’ and that they enjoy a ‘sky to slowly suck on’, we can hear the slow and sensual way that they would be speaking to us by using an alliteration of the sound that ‘s’ makes. The ‘hiss’ of the ‘s’ sounds builds the sinister and eerie tone.
The writer includes other poetic devices which reinforces to me that the writer wanted the speaker to have a degree of intellect and melody to their voice.
With the use of consonance and assonance throughout the paragraphs of dialogue I feel that is what really provides me with a sense of articulacy from the character, and really emphasising on the character as observant and intellectual. For example ‘a day that merges through a multitude of shades and intonations’ and ‘which has prompted me to make a conscious, deliberate decision - - to make distraction my vacation’. There are a few words in these phrases that blend sounds together, creating a flow of speech that gives greater articulation.
Reflecting on the information gathered so far, I can now explain that the character the writer created as our narrator is in fact the personification of Death.
Death is timeless, and has power over life itself. Knowing our narrator is Death itself explains the dark imagery, similar to how death is often portrayed in other media. For example, it reflects and builds upon the already well known personification of death, a ‘grim reaper’ type character. It also reminded me of the studies of ‘vanitas’ paintings earlier in the course, and how art uses death as a way to explore certain aspects of time. When they say ‘considering the length of time I've been performing this job’, this character of Death makes me consider Death as an endless occupation, and explains why they pay so much attention to details in colours. As living beings, we as readers only have a finite amount of time to observe the details in the world around us. Death, however, has no time limitations and is able to therefore observe that ‘A single hour can consist of thousands of different colours’.
Having the occupation of Death requires an omniscient presence, so in terms of place we know that Death is not confined in any way, and so later on in the story we wonder why they have taken particular interest in the area the story unfolds in. As I mentioned earlier, this story takes place in world war 2, Germany. There are multitudes of stories from this era, but rarely do we hear of the innocent Germans, the children for example. Given that this was one of Death's busiest times in history because of the war, it places more emphasis on what they took notice of. Because of the power that Death has over us, I have a great respect already for them and I feel more invested in their point of view. So the writer really wanted to emphasise the other side to the stories so often untold. Nazi Germany, even today, still carries with it the scars from its past.
Using the character of Death also enables me as a reader to exercise my empathy, to something that I wouldn't really consider empathising with. We develop compassion and understanding with Death because of the way they narrate their ‘life-style’ with us, which really echoes the theme of the book. We are being asked, as readers, to open our minds and reconsider our perspective of Germany’s history.
We can also acknowledge that Death never stops. There is no escape for Death because they are everywhere, and so the suggestion of Death on a ‘stock-standard resort-style vacation’ becomes comical. Imagining a ‘grim reaper’ type figure in a ski resort is in fact, funny! Which is a characteristic we don't often assign to Death, and so the personification is developed further. But on a more serious note, where could Death ever escape? Because of their necessity, their omnipresent significance, there is nowhere for them to ‘vacate’. So when they explain that they vacate ‘in increments’ and ‘in colors’, I interpret their place to escape is in their distraction. Death has no place to hide or to rest, so Death uses their own internal ‘place’, a place inside of themselves, to find solace.
I'm aware it's not uncommon to consider Death as being, but I personally had not considered what it would be like to actually see their perspective as an observer of life. They are outside of our social reforms and politics and therefore unbiased, which is perhaps why the writer chose Death as a narrator given that Germany still carries the weight of its past from its political actions in world war 2. Though it does not stop me from sympathising with them.
I also do not assume that Death is all-knowing, like a God of some kind. I think this is because within the dialogue, the page break notes are entitled ‘a small theory’. A theory being a hypothetical idea and not necessarily a fact. Also, even the fact that Death is able to create their own thoughts about colours and people further develops the personification as a cognitive being. I would say these were technicalities but they have more implication than I realised before examining.
I have read this novel many times before and have always enjoyed the unraveling of the story, and the writer’s clever play with narratives to prompt consideration and understanding of a period in time where the world was under immense strain and turmoil. Having taken a small section and dissected it for scrutinisation, I feel I have gained greater respect for the skills required to write and write successfully. I also can understand why language plays such an important role in communicating and expressing human thoughts and emotions, and why words and techniques used in language can bear such power.This book made so much impact back when it was initially published in 2005 that it was later translated into a film,
including the infamous narrator, the personification of Death.
Word Count: 1951
2. To conclude, write a commentary of about 500 words, drawn from your learning log and notes, reflecting on what you have learned in this part of the course and how you have put this into practice in your assignment piece.
With this section of the course, I was initially keen to study this subject as I enjoy writing poetry and lyrics as a hobby, and already kept a ‘writing’ sketchbook for my own leisure. Also, being more observant of the way writing has developed and how it surrounds us every day was actually a bit of an eye opener, as I often take it for granted!
Upon reflection, I have found it somewhat challenging at times because some of the work seemed to be rather laborious and tedious, but once developing greater understanding and building my confidence with my knowledge of language and writing, it became more liberating and enjoyable.
Going back to the beginning of this section, I found Hazel Smith’s essay ‘Creative Writing and New Media’ to be more difficult and probably the hardest part of this section to work through. I think this was because of the complex language and density. Being one of the first few tasks, I had begun to worry I was out of my depth with studying literature at a degree level. I am somewhat proud of myself for working through it though. I was also interested to learn about ‘the hero’s journey’ and how it can be a template for almost any story, whether it is told through book or film. Writing a novel or a play has always seemed to me to be somewhat complicated to me, and although I still see that it is, I think I have a better understanding of how writers work and the tools they use.
It seemed to make writing more accessible to me, like taking apart an appliance backwards to see how it is made. Similarly, I knew very little about Aristotle though the name was familiar, and I’d never heard of Vogler! Although the course has touched upon only one aspect of their work, I feel I’ve gained a little insight into why it’s all still relevant today and how their work is still being used.
I believe I have furthered my joy of poetry again, as I was taken back to my first encounter with close-readings when I studied for my GCSCE’s back in 2004. Although I had some knowledge of poetic devices, it had been a long time since I had studied them or really looked at them in literature. Re-learning the skills of close reading is what helped me most in this assignment, and rather than just observing what techniques are used I was able to take the skills I’d learned from the close reading of ‘Fern Hill’ to confidently conduct my own and investigate a piece of literature independently.
I would like to take some of the new techniques I’ve learned, and develop them further in my own time by incorporating them into my own writing as well as paying more attention to literature and stories that I come across. I actually feel more confident in watching films or reading books I didn't previously fully understand, and would like to explore them again using these new perspectives and insights. I also hope that my own writing and language skills have developed further, and I would like to continue growing my vocabulary for future works and assignments.
Word count 537
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