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English Comparative!
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24-04-2007 9:19pm#1Hi, I just finshed a Cultural Context comparative on Silas Marner, Witness and Death and Nightingales..Just looking for peoples opinions on it etc, cos my english teachers a complete dope.I dont even know if the structure/layout etc is right! And if anyone has one done on General Vision and Viewpoint, id love 2 have a look, just 2 get the layout...teacher should be fired..
Comparative Study- Cultural Context
As part of my Leaving Certificate English comparative course, I studied a variety of texts under the comparison mode of “cultural context”. Cultural context, described broadly, can be viewed as the way we look at the world inhabited By the characters in each text; it can also be seen as the way this world shapes t5he personalities if the characters; or as the way the surrounding world shapes the plot and the eventual outcome of the text. In order to compare and contrasts these worlds, I have chosen specific texts set in different eras, varying from old to modern.
Among these texts, the first I studied was Silas Marner written by George Eliot. This is a tale set in 18th century England, set in a world significantly different from those of the other texts I studied. The main character, Silas, moves through a series of phases in his life, from one of exclusion by religion, to one of greed, to one of happiness and fulfillment. The next text I studied was the dramatically entertaining novel Death and Nightingales, written by Eugene McCabe. This story is set in sectarian Northern Ireland in the late 19th century. We are told of the passionate, yet seriously flawed relationship between Beth Winters and Liam Ward. It is clear how sectarianism has influenced their relationship, and how it shaped the text as a whole. The last text I studied was the film Witness, directed by Peter Weir, and set in 1980’s Pennsylvania. Set in a near-modern era, we are clearly shown the differences between the religious Amish community, and the modern day city inhabitants these differing communities cause both the creation and the destruction of a budding relationship between lead characters, Book and Rachel.
In order to compare these three texts, I studied them under a multitude of focal points. The first of these was the notion of how Religious Beliefs affected the texts. Religion plays a significant role in all of the texts. In Death and Nightingales, we seed the clear division between the Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland. Beth Winters is the Catholic daughter of local Protestant landlord, Billy Winters. She finds life difficult having a Protestant father; especially as she has been told she will only receive Billy’s lands in his will if she marries a Protestant man. It is also clear in this novel how religion divides the community, even in job structure. Protestants own the land, and are involved in professions, for example, Billy- a Protestant- is a landlord and a quarry-owner. However, Catholics have job titles such as farm laborer and servant, for example Mickey and Mercy Boyle. We also see a similar religious divide in Silas Marner. At the start of this novel, Silas lives in a religious cult in Lantern Yard. His free will is severely restricted, as that of Beth’s in Death and Nightingales. He lives life by routine. However, he becomes marginalized by this sect, and comes to realise that there is a different way of life. Silas’ religion is in contrast to that of Dolly Winthrop’s Church of England beliefs, which give her far more freedom of choice. She can come and go as she pleases, and does not have every minute of her life laid down before her. She does not live under a strict, authoritarian regime. It is clear in my opinion that religion shaped the lives of the characters in these two texts. In the third text, Witness, we also see a parallel to the two above discussed texts. The two main characters, Book and Rachel, originate from culturally diverse backgrounds. While Rachel lives in the strict Amish community, similar to the authoritarianistic Lantern Yard in Silas Marner, Book lives in the outside free world. As in the first two texts, we see the freedom of an individual restricted due to their religious beliefs, i.e. Rachel. Her father-in-law, Eli, does not approve of her relationship with Book, due to their differing creed. If it were not for religion, each of these texts would have a dramatically different outcome.
Another focal point I studied in relation to “cultural context” was how Social Customs and Recreation shaped the plots. Each of these texts show differing social customs, and different pass-times. We see the largest array of recreational activities relating to social customs in Silas Marner. Here, the characters engage in a plethora of activities for recreational purposes. The Squire, Godfrey and Dunstan all take part in hunting and horse riding, sports reminiscent of that particular era of time. We also see how local men gather in the Rainbow Inn to drink, meet and talk. A New Year’s Ball is organized at the Red House, showing the willingness of characters in the novel- and that era- to socialise. In dramatic contrast to this, I examined the social customs and recreational activities and the Amish community in Witness. Drinking and dancing were strictly forbidden in this restrictive community, reflecting their nature as a serious people. Most time was given to chores and jobs within the community, such as the building of the new barn, and sewing by the women. Due to their negligence in adapting to new, modern ways of living, less time became available to the Amish for socializing, with the majority being spent on work. Social customs in Death and Nightingales are more like that of Silas Marner, than Witness. As it is Ireland, drinking remains a popular pass-time, with the men in the story, such as Ward and Dolphin, regularly going drinking. It is also clear that the people of this era liked to meet with other people, and go to the theatre, for example the Percy French concert on Monaghan, attended by Billy. Billy meets here numerous acquaintances; including representatives from both sides of the religious dived, showing how recreation can bring together even the most polar of attitudes.
I also studied how Gender Differences and Inequality influenced these texts, and in particular how it restricted the free will of women. This is most evident particularly in Death and Nightingales, where we see contrasts between Billy Winters and Beth Winters, and also of the social role played by Mercy Boyle in the text. It is clear that, as a male, Billy has complete dominance and control over Beth, an example of which we see when he beats her severely. As a woman, she is almost defenseless, and Billy does not have a problem in taking advantage of this situation. He forbids her from seeing Ward. As a male, he can restrict Beth as and when he likes. We also see how Mercy Boyle is a servant, due to the fact that she is female. However, the rest of the male workers, like Mercy’s brother Mickey, work outside, and have more freedom in their jobs, by fact that they can be outside. We also see a similar constriction of freedom due to gender in Witness. Eli evidently restricts Rachel’s freedom, even though he has no right to do this. If it were not for Eli, Rachel and Book could have continued their relationship. Women in Witness are portrayed in the typical role, expected to stay at home, and do the washing and cleaning, whilst the men folk do the outside labour. This is an extremely narrow-minded attitude to gender equality. In Silas Marner, although women do have significantly more freedom, for example Dolly Winthrop, they are still viewed in the same narrow-minded way as the above two texts. Dolly Winthrop is the typical housewife, caring alone for her son, Aaron. The women tend not to have jobs, like Nancy Lammeter. Women do not play a significant role in the world of Silas Marner; men, for example, The Squire, fill important positions. We also see an absence of women in the Rainbow Inn, indicative of the fact that socilaising in this way was a male dominated pastime. As can be seen in all three texts, women do not have the same social standing or power as men. Inequality is present in all three, although to different extents.
Throughout the texts that I studied, there were differing Attitudes to Money in each, dictated by the world and circumference of each. In fact, money actively shapes how the story unfolds, even to a dramatic extent, in each text. In Witness, without money, and in particular, corruption due to money, the story would collapse. We are shown wide-scale corruption in the police force in Pennsylvania in the 1980’s, corruption leading to financial gain by certain individuals. In fact, some police officers were willing to kill the lead character, Book, in order to keep their scam quiet. Without financial gain and greed, this situation would not have arisen. We also see in Witness how the Amish community place little emphasis on money, contrasting to that of the police officers. They do not believe in spending large sums of money, preferring instead, for example, to build their own barn. This is a key moment in Witness, as we see how the people in this particular world come together to benefit each other. We also see how money has a dramatic effect on the story of Death and Nightingales. Beth Winters is fooled into thinking that Liam Ward is actually in love with her. In fact, he is using her to get his hands on Beth’s father’s money. His attitude to money is such that nothing will get in his way. He has enough cunning ability to convince Beth that he loved her, to blind her to his real ambitions. In fact, Ward loves money more than anyone or anything. In a key moment in the novel, Beth overhears Ward talking about killing her. She is shocked and repulsed, compounded by the fact that she had just discovered she was carrying Ward’s baby. Beth endured a severe beating from her father in her effort to steal money for Ward, only to find out that he was willing to kill both her and his unborn baby. However, on hearing of his plan, Beth plots her own revenge. In a dramatic climax to the story, Beth drowns Ward in a lake. There are clearly similarities between Witness and Death and Nightingales in relation to attitudes to money. In both texts, the will to kill is prevalent in order to gain financially. We also see how attitudes to money affect the story of Silas Marner. From the start of the novel, it is clear that certain individuals in Lantern Yard place more emphasis on money than on relationships and emotions. William Dane, once Silas’ best friend, is willing to let Silas take the blame for a crime he did not commit for his known financial gain. He is blinded by wealth. Later in the novel, Silas’ attitude to money in Raveloe seriously impedes his ability to interact with other people. He spends his time at home, counting his money, afraid to let anybody into his life in case they steal his money. However, he soon acknowledges that love is more important than money, when he takes on the role of fathering Eppie. Attitudes to money are again similar in Silas Marner to the first two texts, with it generally having a negative impact on characters.
To sum up, it is clear that there are a myriad of similarities and differences between the three texts, ranging from gender differences, to religious belief, and attitudes to money. All of these similarities and differences help to construct the world in which the stories are set, painting for us a dramatic watercolour of life at these various eras. Without these abstract images, the stories would be drab and dull.
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Im not doing these texts but this seems really good! imo the most importat thing about the comparative is to make sure you explicidly state the contrasts/similarities between the texts,,, i see u have a lot of this is similar to etc above which is really good as this is the most important thing to do in any comparative question wheter it b cutural context or general vision and viewpoint ,,,just remember you can never have enough this is similar/disimilar to in your answer!!!
As regards paragraph and spacing there are two ways to approach it
the first way is what uve done above i.e discussing the three texts as regards one focal point in one paragraph.
The other way is to start with one paragraph on your anchor text e.g witness and discuss it regarding ur focal point e.g religion then start a new paragraph with this is sim/ in cotrast to and discuss how the focal point in the second text is similar/in contrast to the anchor text,, then start a third paragraph with this is sim/in contrast to and discuss how the focal point in the third text is in contrast/ similar to that in the previous two texts.
the layout looks like this
Intro
Anchor text and focal point
2nd text and how focal point is similar/contrast to anchor
3rd txt and how focal point is sim/contrst to anchor and 2nd text
repeat this two more times
Outro
I hope this makes sense and sorry if its just a big confusing mess,, like i said your way of doing it is perfectly fine aswell
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