Hiya miss I was just wondering, when are we getting our trick essays back? And are you going away to France on wed or thurs?
Becca D X
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Monday, May 07, 2007
tRICK ESSAY ON IDENTITY
HELLO MISS WOULD IT BE POSS IF YOU COULD LOOK OVER THIS ESSAY AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK PLEASE! MUCH LOVE XX
Choose a novel which the writer uses different techniques to convey the main theme.
Focus on how you feel these techniques are specifically important for an overall understanding of the novel and the main character.
In “The Trick Is To Keep Breathing” by Janice Galloway one of the main themes is identity. This essay will focus on the main techniques that the writer uses to portray the theme of identity. The novel is about a grieving young Scotswoman, our protagonist, Joy Stone. She has lost her partner, Michael, in an accident on holiday where he tragically drowned, after banging his head, when diving into the pool. We see Joy at her worst right through to her recovery and Joy begins to adopt her own identity towards the end.
Joy makes various comments about herself which give us proof that she fees she has no identity. “This is my workplace. This is where I earn my definition, the place that tells me what I am.” This is an early reference to Joy’s identity. It is an example of Joy distancing her from herself, she feels she is known by her job, a drama teacher, but not for who she is but “what” she is. She uses her job to disguise her true identity, she feels her real identity will not be acceptable, so uses her job as a security blanket to protect her from other people. Joy also begs “can you speak to me, just speak to me!” Showing her complete insecurity, she feels she has to beg for someone to speak to her, not just ask “can I speak to you?” She does not feel anyone wants to listen to what she has to say.
Janice Galloway uses script to further exaggerate this idea, the script shows how Joy thinks she should behave and so, she finds this quite simple to act out by following her mental script. In these scripts she is a PATIENT, EMPLOYEE, HARRIDAN, IMPATIENT, however she is never JOY in these scripts, but she is, in one script, ME – this is when she is recovering, Janice Galloway uses ME in this script reflecting her confidence and a realisation of her own self. In this conversation Joy is shown to be more confident and strong rejecting Tony “No!” hence the reason Galloway feels the need to use ME in this script. Also in the novel she says “It’s okay. It’s just me. It’s me..” once again not referring to herself as Joy separating Joy from the person she wants people to see. Janice Galloway repeats Joy’s feelings of low self-confidence once again by saying “It’s just me.” She feels insignificant.
Joy’s identity is so lost that she can’t even identify with her own body. Not only can Joy not identify with anyone else but she can’t identify with herself. Joy does not see her body as a whole she sees it in separate parts “to accommodate the tilting, adjusting, redistributing pieces of myself.” Without Michael she no longer feels like a whole person and without Michael she no longer feels she has an identity. She feels she is just a body she is nothing, this idea is emphasised at the service when the minister gives his sympathies to Michael’s wife and family, but she is not mentioned, “I didn’t exist.” “The miracle had wiped me out.” She feels completely lost as her source of identity, Michael, was dead and she was not even allowed to be acknowledged for being part of his life. This repeats the feeling of her being insignificant.
Galloway uses magazine articles to show how Joy is in search of her identity. As she cannot find her own solution, she feels that an agony aunt will tell her. However because no one else has a problem she can identify with she once again feels loss “I push the magazine aside and let the tears drip.” She gets upset when she finds that no one has the answer for her and that there isn’t anyone she can identify with. The horoscopes are a way for Joy to try to create an identity instead of seeing what could happen she uses them as a guideline of how to live. However as Joy begins to recover she acknowledges she needs her own dependence “I have to stop reading these fucking magazines!” This moment is highly significant for Joy who begins to re-identify with herself.
Galloway’s different techniques are very effective in showing the theme of identity, or lack of it. In Joy’s situation it is natural for her to feel loss of part of herself. Re-identifying with herself was necessary for her to fully recover. However this theme would not have been as well portrayed had it not been for the stream of conscience narrative which Galloway adopts. Allowing the reader to empathise with Joy and really feel her sense of confusion and loss of her identity. The use of script and magazines showed also to be very effective as the reader feels like they are reading the magazine with Joy or using a script with her. These techniques help the reader to have an overall understanding of the recovery of Joy Stone and how she comes to realisation of her problem with the central them- identity.
DANIELLE LOCKE
Choose a novel which the writer uses different techniques to convey the main theme.
Focus on how you feel these techniques are specifically important for an overall understanding of the novel and the main character.
In “The Trick Is To Keep Breathing” by Janice Galloway one of the main themes is identity. This essay will focus on the main techniques that the writer uses to portray the theme of identity. The novel is about a grieving young Scotswoman, our protagonist, Joy Stone. She has lost her partner, Michael, in an accident on holiday where he tragically drowned, after banging his head, when diving into the pool. We see Joy at her worst right through to her recovery and Joy begins to adopt her own identity towards the end.
Joy makes various comments about herself which give us proof that she fees she has no identity. “This is my workplace. This is where I earn my definition, the place that tells me what I am.” This is an early reference to Joy’s identity. It is an example of Joy distancing her from herself, she feels she is known by her job, a drama teacher, but not for who she is but “what” she is. She uses her job to disguise her true identity, she feels her real identity will not be acceptable, so uses her job as a security blanket to protect her from other people. Joy also begs “can you speak to me, just speak to me!” Showing her complete insecurity, she feels she has to beg for someone to speak to her, not just ask “can I speak to you?” She does not feel anyone wants to listen to what she has to say.
Janice Galloway uses script to further exaggerate this idea, the script shows how Joy thinks she should behave and so, she finds this quite simple to act out by following her mental script. In these scripts she is a PATIENT, EMPLOYEE, HARRIDAN, IMPATIENT, however she is never JOY in these scripts, but she is, in one script, ME – this is when she is recovering, Janice Galloway uses ME in this script reflecting her confidence and a realisation of her own self. In this conversation Joy is shown to be more confident and strong rejecting Tony “No!” hence the reason Galloway feels the need to use ME in this script. Also in the novel she says “It’s okay. It’s just me. It’s me..” once again not referring to herself as Joy separating Joy from the person she wants people to see. Janice Galloway repeats Joy’s feelings of low self-confidence once again by saying “It’s just me.” She feels insignificant.
Joy’s identity is so lost that she can’t even identify with her own body. Not only can Joy not identify with anyone else but she can’t identify with herself. Joy does not see her body as a whole she sees it in separate parts “to accommodate the tilting, adjusting, redistributing pieces of myself.” Without Michael she no longer feels like a whole person and without Michael she no longer feels she has an identity. She feels she is just a body she is nothing, this idea is emphasised at the service when the minister gives his sympathies to Michael’s wife and family, but she is not mentioned, “I didn’t exist.” “The miracle had wiped me out.” She feels completely lost as her source of identity, Michael, was dead and she was not even allowed to be acknowledged for being part of his life. This repeats the feeling of her being insignificant.
Galloway uses magazine articles to show how Joy is in search of her identity. As she cannot find her own solution, she feels that an agony aunt will tell her. However because no one else has a problem she can identify with she once again feels loss “I push the magazine aside and let the tears drip.” She gets upset when she finds that no one has the answer for her and that there isn’t anyone she can identify with. The horoscopes are a way for Joy to try to create an identity instead of seeing what could happen she uses them as a guideline of how to live. However as Joy begins to recover she acknowledges she needs her own dependence “I have to stop reading these fucking magazines!” This moment is highly significant for Joy who begins to re-identify with herself.
Galloway’s different techniques are very effective in showing the theme of identity, or lack of it. In Joy’s situation it is natural for her to feel loss of part of herself. Re-identifying with herself was necessary for her to fully recover. However this theme would not have been as well portrayed had it not been for the stream of conscience narrative which Galloway adopts. Allowing the reader to empathise with Joy and really feel her sense of confusion and loss of her identity. The use of script and magazines showed also to be very effective as the reader feels like they are reading the magazine with Joy or using a script with her. These techniques help the reader to have an overall understanding of the recovery of Joy Stone and how she comes to realisation of her problem with the central them- identity.
DANIELLE LOCKE
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