Danielle Malinen's Specialist study

“The Wasp Factory” By Iain Banks

“The Wasp Factory” By Iain Banks is a gripping and unforgettable story, written in first person narrative and told from the perspective of sixteen year old Frank Cauldhame. The story is set over twelve days and each day is dealt with in separate chapters. The purpose of this essay is to show how the theme identity is shown throughout the novel and how Frank’s identity is presented.

Frank’s identity is crucial in the novel, as it is the major thing that is being pin pointed in the book. Initially the reader believes he is a boy then later find out he’s a girl, this is a turning point for the narrator as he has to redefine himself as a woman. The theme of dual or split personality is being presented, Frank is warped by his upbringing, although the causes are physiological, and so another Frank takes possession of his body expressing a brutal and revengeful side to Frank encouraged by his maltreatment. The novel is somewhat similar to Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde” in that the scientific side of Jekyll is paralleled in Frank’s father with his scientific curiosity combined with a selfish personal impulse; he creates different hormones that change Frank’s appearance and physical nature from a girl to boy. The ‘Mister Hyde’ character is mirrored through Frank as he tortures the innocent and seems to have no remorse or regrets over his actions. At the end of the novel the ‘Dr Jekyll’ side of Frank comes out as she has to rediscover her lost personality.

Frank’s real identity really shock’s the reader because at the start of the novel, Frank makes his hateful feelings towards women clear and he believes that they are: “weak and stupid and live in the shadow of men and are nothing compared to them.” Frank blames his mother for all the wrong doings in the family and resents her for abandoning them when he was a baby. Earlier on in the novel Frank says: “I hate having to sit down in the toilet all the time. With my unfortunate disability I usually have to, as though I was a bloody woman, but I hate it. Sometimes in the Cauldhame Arms I stand up at the urinal, but most of it ends up running down my hands or legs.” The fact that Frank has said “bloody woman” is ironic as he is actually a woman. Women are rather too close to him for comfort; there seems to be a degree of fear in Frank’s attitude towards them.

The character of Frank contributes majorly to the shocking ending of the book, as throughout he is seen as a strong and powerful boy, who will not let anything stand in his way. But at the end the reader sees a more vulnerable side to him after he is emotionally distraught by finding out he is actually a girl. Frank has two sides to his personality, he can be eloquent: “I told her she might get a chance, though of course I would have the ultimate control” this quote is important as it shows he is in control and knew exactly what he was doing. Yet on the other hand he can be rather juvenile: “I built a big kite”. This refers back to the theme of Frank having a split personality. Frank’s father is the least developed character in the novel and you form an opinion about based on what Frank chooses to tell the reader about him, this is due to the narrative structure of the novel. The first person narrative gives a real insight into Frank’s thoughts and strange reasoning.

Frank is presented as an aggressive macho character due to the fact he kills people and animals feeling no guilt. Frank is living in a male-dominated world and has no contact with women except Mrs Clamp the elderly housekeeper. The reader’s feelings towards Frank and his actions become less hostile as more is revealed about him and his troubles. It is not a feeling that his actions are excusable, but the realisation that Frank is a victim himself and that his violence is a confused and pathetic reaction to his situation, in which he has no responsibility; he is targeting his anger at the wrong things. At the end when we find out Frank is a girl, Banks forces the reader to form new sentiments about Frank. This changes how the reader feels about Frank as you are forced to sympathise with him rather than loathe him for committing three murders.

In spite of the harsh obstacles that seem to prevent the reader from identifying with Frank, whether we see him as a vicious killer or a confused soul, it remains that Frank comes across as a strong character who you cannot help feel pity and sympathy towards. The fact that at sixteen years old she has define who she is, in her new gender. Also by Frank’s father having him on a tight leash for so many years, he will find it very difficult to interact and communicate with people.

Spec study

Hi Miss
On your comments for my specialist study on 'Nights at the Circus' you said I should mention what Fevvers' gilt sword symbolizes... What does it? I'm bad at symbolism!

Kirsty

The countdown begins...

It may interest you guys to know that the exam is only 35 lessons away. I don't know about you but I find that very very frightening!!!

We have a lot of work still to do, folks, so let's get really focused now.

Just remember all the hours I have given to you in marking, preparation, revision, setting this blog up, drop in sessions, checking emails, going over prelims, informal chats....

Now it is time to show me just how much you appreciate it by really putting in the hours your self with revision at home and paying attention in class. I have invested too much of myself in you guys this year for you not to.

Don't let me or yourselves down.

Human Spirit

Human Spirit – Snake

The poet suppresses his own conscience and conforms to society rule. He snaps under the pressure and acts rashly.

“A pettiness” shows how pathetic he feels after reacting the way he did. He feels as if he is not worth anything because the way he threw the log was so weak and the way in which he responded to it made him appear as a subordinate to the snake.

The violent images such as “burning bowels” and “Etna smoking” show how the poet’s emotions are boiling within him. The voices from his upbringing become more urgent which builds a sense of panic. We can see how his conscience presides over his human spirit. The “peaceful, pacified” contrasts with the “burning bowels” in the following line as “peaceful and pacified” show how calm and unthreatening the snake is compared with the harshness of the “burning bowels”.
The alliteration in this example highlights the conflict created between the snake and the poet. The repetition of “was it” shows how the poet begins to doubt his own education but describes his morals as “cowardice”, “perversity” and “humility”. The repetition of of “black” again creastes a harsh image. When it is followed by “innocent” it shows how the usual connotations of a snake are being reversed which justifies the poet’s feelings.

Snake -- D.H Lawrence.

The Natural World And The Threat Of Industrialisation.

The poet is against industrialisation. This is shown through the conflict between the voices in the narrators head. One voice is arguing to kill the snake (representing education/industrialisation) and the other is the poets own opinon. The snake is a representation of his "manhood" and also the natural world.

Evidence that shows the poet meant the snake to represent his manhood :
"proceeded to draw his slow length curving round, and climb again the broken bank of my wall face." -- This depicts the idea of a man getting an erection.

"And as he put his..." This whole stanza depicts the act of sex, but it is decribed as a "horror" because of the supression of sex in society.

"Into the black hole" -- representative of a vagina.. described as "black" because he regrets this sexual act (due to pressures from society again.)

"Stared with fascination" -- although he feels guilty for enjoying this sexual act he cannot tear himself away.

"Wished he would come back, my snake." -- Regrets caving and giving into the voices which go against his personal beliefs and feels actually like less of a man, despite being told if he DIDNT kill it (eventhough he only tried to kill it he feels as if he did within his own head.) he would be less of a man.

During the early 1900's sex was something seen as crude and peverse. This is shown by the fact the snake is going into the "burning bowels of the earth" -- HELL. This peversion on sex put upon by society is one thing which adds to the narrators inner conflict. He has been conditioned to believe sex is bad, but as a man -- he enjoys it. This makes him feel guilty.

Natural Imagery & Poets Feelings :
The poet sees Industrialisation as a growing problem which is suffocating human nature yet his education supports industrialisation so to back it up has been pushed upon him for so long that to make way for it has become almost part of his subconscious. "Voices in me said, if you were a man.. you would kill him!" This need for the snake to be killed shows just how industrialisation is taking over as the snake is representative of the natural world.
The poets own views are contrasting as he favours the natural world. It is down to this contrast that a conflict arises. We can tell his views due to the way he describes the snake -- " Peaceful, pacified."
Despite the guilt he feels after the verse about sex he still states that he feels honoured - this shows how he favours naturalness over the industrialisation.
The fact that the industrialisation over comes him in the end shows just how bad the industrialisation has become.

Religious Imagery:
"Carob-Tree" -- Adam and eve. This is from a religious story and relates to his education.

"Snake like a god a king in exile, uncrowned" -- Seems to mean waiting, like Christ and his second coming.

Lawrence also suggests that the snake will be crowned again thus showing that the narrator feels guilt and realises he waill fo a penance for driving the snake away.

"Burning Bowels" -- Image of hell.

Religious images make the snake out to be evil at the start so you can see the education coming through, convincing him to go against his own beliefs and masculinity, so that industrialisation can improve. But it is almost as if the voices know that his masculinity is very important to him and they play upon this. "If you were a man".
He does feel guilty after he "severs" himself from his masculinity showing just how powerful industrialisation can be.
The guilt is shown through his constant questioning of himself.
"Was it cowardice..?
Was it peversity..?
Was it humanity..?

In the end when the narrator gives into preasures of society, and attempts to kill the snakes. Eventhough he fails, in his mind he has killed it and given into education instead of listening to his instincts. He feels like a broken man.

And it is this image of a broken man which we are left with -- illustrating the power industrialisation can have over natural things like, sexuality and manhood.

Lady Lazarus

Sylvia Plath said, rather provocatively, that “Lady Lazarus” was “light verse”. She also remarked that it was about a “good, plain, resourceful woman.” These descriptions do not even begin to describe the power this poem, and its protagonist, possess. As in the previous poem, “Ariel”, we see the poet remaking famous myths, as she creates her own original and disquieting version of the biblical story in which an old man is raised from the dead. Sylvia Plath’s female Lazarus proves herself to be a formidable woman.

The alliteration and assonance of the title roll off the tongue smoothly, languorously. Our initial response to this work will already be very different from the impression gained when reading the fierce attack of “Daddy”, which Sylvia Plath composed a fortnight earlier. This is a different kind of assault. The luxuriant sounds of the title befit a speaker who is confident in her ability to die “exceptionally well”; so effectively, in fact, that she draws a large crowd, who are enthralled by her phoenix-like reappearance every decade. Lady Lazarus speaks to us directly, questioning us haughtily, “Do I terrify?” she wants to intimidate as well as amaze. Sylvia Plath presents her as a very theatrical persona; her deaths are presented as an “art”, she has a “call”. Like an actress, this woman is drawn to perform, addressing the crowd as “Gentlemen, ladies”. But what exactly does her “big strip tease” consist of? It is an astonishing journey through pain to vengeful rebirth.

Sylvia Plath juxtaposes images of brilliance with horrifying evocations of the Holocaust right from the start of the poem. The effect is startling. Lady Lazarus may be a “miracle”, but the components that make up the miracle are grotesque. The speaker anatomises her parts in stanzas 2 to 6. is she deliberately dehumanising herself by employing a listing technique? Her skin, her right foot, her face, nose, “eye pits”, “full set of teeth” and “sour breath” are increasingly repugnant. The precision of these images places the reader in the position of the “peanut-crunching crowd”: we are voyeurs as we watch Lady Lazarus’s display. Sylvia Plath describes her creation in such a way as to make us feel we are moving in on the speaker gradually, eventually coming so close that we can smell her breath. At this point we are pushed away, repulsed by the image of Lady Lazarus’s flesh, which, the poet says, with diabolically playful sound patterning, “The grave cave ate”. What sort of horrible curiosity would bring an audience in this close, especially to observe someone who feels persecuted? She has compared herself to a Jew twice with her references to linen and the “Nazi lampshade”, a particularly disturbing simile (the Nazis reportedly had lampshades made out of the skin of their victims). No wonder Lady Lazarus sees us as her enemy.

Nonetheless, Lady Lazarus seems pleased with her performance so far. She is smiling. She knows she has 2nine times to die”, and this is only “Number Three”. Glorying in her ability to annihilate decades, she is defiant and powerful. But we are aware that her striptease is performed at an enormous cost. In the very first stanza she talks about how she has to “manage” her resurrections. The verb suggests physical exertion; rebirth is not easy. Now, in stanzas 9 an 10, the audience becomes more intrusive. They shove in so that they can see Lady Lazarus being unwrapped. She has to defend herself; in stanzas 11 and 12 she is perhaps apologising for her “skin and bone”, reassuring the spectators that she is “the same, identical woman” they were expecting to see. In spite of the great effort she has to gird herself for, she will not disappoint.

Lady Lazarus’s history is explained in stanzas 12 to 14. in spite of her power and self-belief, she sounds increasingly victimised. Her first rebirth “happened” to her, it was an “accident”. After her second death she meant to “not come back at all”, but the ominous “They” could not escape her “call”. But how it wounds her. Sylvia Plath’s repeeateed use of colloquial slang in stanzas 16 and 17 contrasts vividly with the simple elegance of the language of the preceding stanza. It is shockingly intimate and direct. We are forced to confront the idea that Lady Lazarus is not simply a walking miracle; she is a real woman, who feels “like hell”.

However, this victim refuses to accept humiliation. She turns on her persecutors, sarcastic when she says “That knocks me out”. She retains her pride. If you wish to touch her there is “a very large charge” (her words sound like a warning at this point). Lady Lazarus becomes confrontational again, addressing her enemies – they are all male – by name. She knows her own worth, “I am your opus, / I am your valuable, / The pure gold baby”. But we cannot escape the idea that she is being pushed way beyond the limits of endurance; she “melts to a shriek” like a Jewish victim of the gas chambers, turning and burning like someone tied to a stake; she is reduced to ash that “You poke and stir” in the hope of finding some valuable item. Yet she retains her playfulness even at this dreadful moment; disdainfully she says “Do not think I underestimate your great concern”. Sylvia Plath’s use of rhyme – burn / concern – insists on the speaker’s power. This is entirely appropriate because Lady Lazarus is about to take her revenge. She has trapped her enemies; “there is nothing there” for them to find. “Beware / Beware she calls threateningly, “I eat men like air”. The final stanza provides defiant closure. In “Daddy” and her poem “Ariel” Sylvia Plath is ambiguous about the possibility of rebirth, but here she seems to present us with a more positive conclusion. The extraordinarily resourceful Lady Lazarus has triumphed over her persecutors: death allows her to wield enormous destructive power over the masculine crowd that has gathered. And she reclaims her sexual allure too; her “red hair” is a symbol of her desirable vitality. Earlier in the poem the reader will have been uneasy about the strange eroticism of the dead woman’s striptease, but here we can applaud Lady Lazarus for using her blazing beauty cruelly.

As we read this poem from a feminist perspective, we might feel that Sylvia Plath achieves something remarkable in “Lady Lazarus”. Lady Lazarus denies God’s power; she reinvents herself and has worshippers of her own. Not only this, but Sylvia Plath also sets up, subverts and then denies the male gaze. Her brazen female persona questions and commands her masculine enemies as she flaunts her scars, ridiculing the men for falling for her act, for jostling to touch her flaking corpse. And having seduced her tormentors, she rounds on them swiftly, voracious in her appetite for revenge. Her exhibitionism ultimately serves her turn. Being objectified has worked to her advantage; Herr Doktor, Herr enemy, Herr God and Herr Lucifer are all waiting there, conveniently, to be assaulted. Will the resurrection become Lady Lazarus’s personal massacre of the guily?

Valentine*

Valentine.

Nothing materialistic or fancy.

I give you a kiss.
It is a tender promise wrapped with sincerity.
A promise of love.
Simple as it is yet still so beautifully intricate.

Here.
Let it burn your tongue
Like acid.
Let it stain your lips
Like ink marking you with my name.

I am trying to be truthful.

Not a ring, a locket, or a beautiful bouquet.

I give you a kiss
Just a brush of the lips like a note,
Passed between lovers
Between the shadows and sheets,
Read into it what you will.

Take it.
Its delicacy crushing if delivered correctly,
A fatal blow.
Understatement.
Taste the desperation eternally,
Sinking beneath your skin.


* i fixed the clumsy line* - Joj

Here.

I give you an Onion.

Plath, Plath, Plath, Plath

Okay, so after a vote of the few who were in class today we are going to look at another couple of poems and at least one will be by Plath.

Just keep away from those gas ovens!

MIISSSS....

Yehs. It is Me.
I HAVE HAD A BRAINWAVE.
*none of the following applies if u have already dun the mag lol*

SINCE I HAVE BEEN STUDYING.
And then we have the holiday...
There is no way this mag will b ready...
But i have alot of reeli good stuff from people to put in it..
So how about we just jiggle it a little..
And make it the not so much valentines day issue....
But more like... A february issue with the left overs from valentines day it in??
LOL!
??????
Well i think it is a good idea lmfao.

but yeh.

Well done!

Well folks,

it's all over now. It is all done but the marking. I just hope that it wasn't as awful as you all anticipated! See you next week.

Post Prelim Relief.*

Or, comiserations.
But woot.
Wasn't that fun?

*yawn*

I am so tired lol.

-end-

Tomorrow's Prelim

Hi folks,

I am guessing taht since no one has posted anything this weekend taht you are all feeling super confident for tomorrow's exam. Pleased to hear it. just rememeber you all have very strong close reading skill so use them to your advantage. if you manage to get an A here it takes the pressure off the essays. Not that you should be thinking that way, but it should make you feel better about the whole situation. Remember Statement, Quotation, Analysis in every main paragraph and answer the question.

I have faith in your abilities. Just make sure you do to. You need to go in with a positive attitude and all will be fine!!!

Good luck!

Critcal Essays...

A reminder:

you will fail if

1) you do not answer the question
2) you do not have any textual evidence
3) you do not have a conclusion
4) your spelling, punctuation, expression or structure are weak.


YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

Revision

Only 7 days to go....

I hope that you are learning those quotes?

"I stay in bed because it's warmer and pile the cover with books, magazines and bits of writing paper, drinking tea till I'm sloshing like a water bomb."

Monday's Revision Session

Hi folks,

just to let those of you who are interested in the revision sessions know that Monday's session will be entitled "How to Write the Perfect Critical Essay". This is a session quite a few of you could do with!!

We will be looking at introductions, use of quotations and answering the question!!!

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Prelim Date

Just to let you know folks that the prelim date has been changed form the 1st of February to the 5th. That gives you a few more days to learn those quotes!!!

The Prelim!!!

The prelim (just like the final exam) consists of two papers. Paper 1 is a close reading paper and paper 2 is the critical essay paper.


Paper 1:

You have 90 minutes to read and answer questions on two passages. The examiner will be testing your skills in Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation.

Understanding: In your own words and context questions

Analysis: link question, sentence structure, imagery, word choice.

Evaluation: the last question will always ask you to compare the two passages and show which passage you think is the most effective at conveying the information in a certain way. This question is always worth a number of marks and should be treating like a mini essay. You must comment on both passages if you hope to gain full marks.

Paper 2:

You have to write two essays in 90 minutes (roughly 45 minutes each) on two different genre. You cannot write two essays from the same section.

The examiner will be looking to see your understanding of the text, your understanding of the question, your analysis skills, your evaluation skills and you actual writing ability. You can fail on your own inability to spell, punctuate or structure.

You must finish the essays or you will automatically fail.

Revision Sessions

I have put time aside after school on the following days for revision sessions. These will last for an hour and I am leaving them open to you regarding their subject matter. At least one of these will be writing an essay and I am leaving the others open to you depending on what you would like to go over. All suggestions should be posted on here by the end of the week.

Dates:

Monday 22 January
Wednesday 24 January
Monday 29 January
Wednesday 31 January


Remember that the prelim is on the 1st of February. These sessions are not compluslory but an option for those of you who are starting to panic!

Church Going

This is a copy of the next poem we will study called "Church Going" and it was written by Philip Larkin.



Once I am sure there's nothing going on
I step inside, letting the door thud shut.
Another church: matting, seats, and stone,
And little books; sprawlings of flowers, cut
For Sunday, brownish now; some brass and stuff
Up at the holy end; the small neat organ;
And a tense, musty, unignorable silence,
Brewed God knows how long. Hatless, I take off
My cycle-clips in awkward reverence.

Move forward, run my hand around the font.
From where I stand, the roof looks almost new -
Cleaned, or restored? Someone would know: I don't.
Mounting the lectern, I peruse a few
Hectoring large-scale verses, and pronounce
'Here endeth' much more loudly than I'd meant.
The echoes snigger briefly. Back at the door
I sign the book, donate an Irish sixpence,
Reflect the place was not worth stopping for.

Yet stop I did: in fact I often do,
And always end much at a loss like this,
Wondering what to look for; wondering, too,
When churches will fall completely out of use
What we shall turn them into, if we shall keep
A few cathedrals chronically on show,
Their parchment, plate and pyx in locked cases,
And let the rest rent-free to rain and sheep.
Shall we avoid them as unlucky places?

Or, after dark, will dubious women come
To make their children touch a particular stone;
Pick simples for a cancer; or on some
Advised night see walking a dead one?
Power of some sort will go on
In games, in riddles, seemingly at random;
But superstition, like belief, must die,
And what remains when disbelief has gone?
Grass, weedy pavement, brambles, buttress, sky,

A shape less recognisable each week,
A purpose more obscure. I wonder who
Will be the last, the very last, to seek
This place for what it was; one of the crew
That tap and jot and know what rood-lofts were?
Some ruin-bibber, randy for antique,
Or Christmas-addict, counting on a whiff
Of gown-and-bands and organ-pipes and myrrh?
Or will he be my representative,

Bored, uninformed, knowing the ghostly silt
Dispersed, yet tending to this cross of ground
Through suburb scrub because it held unspilt
So long and equably what since is found
Only in separation - marriage, and birth,
And death, and thoughts of these - for which was built
This special shell? For, though I've no idea
What this accoutred frowsty barn is worth,
It pleases me to stand in silence here;

A serious house on serious earth it is,
In whose blent air all our compulsions meet,
Are recognized, and robed as destinies.
And that much never can be obsolete,
Since someone will forever be surprising
A hunger in himself to be more serious,
And gravitating with it to this ground,
Which, he once heard, was proper to grow wise in,
If only that so many dead lie round.