The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon

Curious Dog does has many points to comment upon.

 

Chistopher is different but not strange

Haddon presents Christopher as the hero of the story.

He is different. He assembles differently. Typically, he might be labelled as having an intellectual disability. Such people are often judged as ‘strange’. Haddon challenges this persepctive.

 

Haddon goes to great length to show that Christopher is merely different, and assembles and experiences the world in novel ways. For Christopher, a logical, factual, diagrammatic world is what he experiences and works with. And his way of understanding does take him to the point of his quest, to find out who killed the dog, a crime for which he was blamed.

 

This detective quest, unfortunately reveals for him some unsavoury facts about his past family life, revealing his mother’s abandonment of him, and an affair with the neighbour which was deeply resented by Christopher’s father.

 

Consider other characters who might be seen as ‘strange’....

 

Textual Conversations 

Sylvia Plath / Ted Hughes: Poets

HSC Standard Paper

Plath was an intense, extraordinarily talented human who was hyper-sensitive to the world, to the universe in which she lived. She, like most poets, had to do battle with her muse which was like a multi-laned highway of sensory awareness and perception going in all kinds of directions that included ritual, biology, forces of nature and the supernatural, charged with the forces of life and death. These elements and more intersected in her being and she took on the herculean task, through her talent of perception, of taming them into the expression of poetry.

To add, she was acutely aware of her past, what it had and had not given her, explained by her complex relationship with her father. Hughes, was something of a bystander, a witness to this unique flame of life called Sylvia Plath but was often blamed for her demise. The ability to so completely juxtapose such intense yet delicate sensibilities, reversing, modifying, invoking then causing to disappear high voltage, bitter-sweet perceptions, was her unique talent.

The orchestra which she conducted had instruments in it which she invented and only she knew how to play.

But it came at an awful price.

Shakespeare's Othello

Othello is a Moor - from Africa, and visibly different. He is man who is seen - but ironically cannot see. He fails to detect a counterfeit handkerchief that causes him to fall into a jealous rage; he fails to see the deceptions of Iago; he fails to see the true virtue and loyalty of both Cassio and especially of Desdemona.

It is often commented that the play is about racism. That is true to some extent but it is not the main theme. It is worth noting that Iago's ploy to discredit Othello, labelling him as a black lascivious man who has seduced Desdemona with witchcraft fails by the end of Act I. Othello is recognised socially as honourable and worthy of both the marriage and his status as a General, called upon to defend Venice against invasion.

Considering the racist angle fails for Iago, he then devises more ingenious plots to destroy Othello; he does this by driving him mad with jealousy based on false accusation and false evidence of Desdemona's fidelity. Iago's skill is in manipulating motivations and emotions. He destroys the reputation of those who are loyal to Othello - Cassio. Iago's dark talent is to recognise psychological weakness.

From Act II on we watch Iago 'spin his web'. He exploits a friendly relationship between Cassio and Desdemona.

Discovery in Shakespeare's The Tempest

There are many discoveries in Shakespeare's The Tempest.

Prospero, the usurped King, is marooned on an a desolate island with his daughter Miranda. He has the opportunity to finally take revenge on the wrong doers who plotted against him, taking his throne and setting him and his daughter adrift many years ago. Most importantly, the storm that sends his enemies towards him is a storm that Prospero has magically conjured.

The play itself works from the discovery of the island. The shipwreck carrying Alonso, Antonio and his party are taken away from their usual world to a sometimes dangerous and lonely place. Here the interplay of the imagined world and the real world takes place as Prospero decides what to do with his enemies.

We see many examples of wicked human behaviour, the wrecked team plotting against each other with dangerous subterfuge; we also see Caliban, who represents the bestial in man, drunk and always behaving badly. As such we see much evidence to suggest that harsh punishment is the only way to deliver justice and to create order in an unruly world. For the plotters they finally discover remorse for their actions; for Caliban he has nothing but regret for having discovered knowledge through language. He rather had stayed ignorant than to know of 'better' ways.

Prospero's daughter Miranda, seeing her first potential man partner ever, Ferdinand, discovers love, and also learns about her noble past. We also see the lovers playing chess at the play's conclusion, a reminder that love is a game that has rules; there is more to love than just passion and powerful emotions. As such, Miranda makes may discoveries which are unexpected.

Prospero however decides to pardon rather than punish Alonso and Antonio, the plotters, motivated by his consideration of the future world to be inherited by his soon to be married daughter Miranda. Prospero discovers virtue over vengeance.

A storm is an unpredictable thing, unleashing unpleasant chaos upon humanity. The Tempest is a storm, both metaphorical and real - it is the moment of fury, Prospero storm and his fury, a decisive moment of revenge for Prospero. The question is, how will he act towards those who have harmed him and who are now in his reach? How will he met out justice, if at all, in a world where plotting, murder and base desire are forever present, but a world into which those he loves will inherit and live in and hopefully….prosper? ( yes - it's a pun on the character's name !)

The play reminds us that life is not always smooth sailing, and that discovery can be both pleasant and unpleasant, with the consequences of responsible action.

The Handmaiden's Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Handmaidens Tale (1996) by author Margaret Atwood is an intense and powerful novel. One quickly notices that it resembles other dystopic novels such as Orwell's 1984 and Huxley's Brave New World in that THT is concerned with authority, its abuse and the human condition.

THT is significantly different, however, as the oppressive social schema it presents is based on the notion of reproduction and the role of women. Some are slaves; others are privileged but whatever the case you must fit in and obey the order prescribed to serve the need to populate.

The novel is seen through the eyes of a young female biological slave Offred as she reflects on her options, swimming through a dangerous world.

The Fiftieth Gate: Simon Baker

The Fiftieth Gate is in essence a history, or to use a film term, a documentary. It focuses on the experience of The Holocaust in Eastern Europe occurring during WWII - (1939 -1945).
What is of particular interest is the way in which the book is composed; rather than being a single grand official narrative of the period, Baker uses a composite of narratives, both fictitious and real in conjunction with historical documents.

As such the book is  a history with many narrative dimensions: spiritual, cultural, linguistic, factual and institutional. The transition from one narrative to another is often seamless, Baker making the point that our experiences of history and events, telling and retelling is complex.

How do I approach creative writing?

Creative writing is about using your imagination.

When you are given stimulus it means you have to respond to an image or some words and use that to generate a very short story. The image usually has a theme, like Belonging. For example you may be shown a picture of a fish out of water; the idea is that fish usually belong in water.
Your task is to write a scene which describes this idea.

Students generally are too ambitious in their plot ideas. You only have 40  minutes in which to write. Its a good idea to create a character who is confronted by a single problem, the problem of not belonging. How does that look? What situation could describe being a fish out of water?

In this short time, the story must describe the problem and move to some resolution. Remember it is your job to keep the reader interested. What happens to the fish out of water character? Did she 'drown'? Did she learn to swim in air? What was it like being a fish out of water? Did she enjoy the freedom etc…..?

Lost in Translation

Lost in Translation

Dir: Sofia Coppola

Lost in Translation, directed by Sofia Coppola, is a romance. Bob (Bill Murray), a middle-aged American actor meets a younger woman, Charlotte, in Tokyo, Japan. Bob's life is disjointed as he is ‘taking a break from his wife’. He is making ads in Japan and the inability to understand the surrounding complex, seductive and fast paced Japan is mostly puzzling. His wife sends him carpet samples by post to look as decoration for the house back home in the USA - an absurd gesture. He is confused and depressed as he attempts to decipher the meaning of his life in Japan.

Whilst being directed to drink scotch in an ad, a ten sentence translated direction is put into a few words. The scene is comic and ironic. We see Bob sitting on the edge of his bed looking lost and bemused by his predicament.

Charlotte (Scarlet Johansen) is married to a photographer who pays her scant attention. We see her swimming through brightly lit game parlours that are attractive but meaningless. She says ‘I don’t know what I am meant to be’.

The irony is that these two characters who are in a foreign setting and who are both estranged find meaning through each other. If Bob cannot communicate with his wife, if communication is but a matter of faxes and carpets being sent through the mail, then what hope does the wider gap of inter cultural, cross-linguistic communication have?

Yet the two find comfort by at least expressing their dismay to the other….in the end love, or at least the respect that listening affords, wins in this film. 

Emma and Clueless

In Austen's novel Emma and in Amerling's film Clueless, we watch two young women, fixated on being social matchmakers, ironically coming to a realisation that meeting and connecting with a partner does in fact call for genuine and heartfelt honesty.

Emma and Cher both play a game where they hold the pieces. The game becomes unpredictable when they are no longer controlling events but are themselves caught  up in the matchmaking game, their hearts being drawn into what was for them a passionless arena.

In short, both works juxtapose pretentious social posturing against the more sincere concern of genuine love.

True History of the Kelly Gang

What is history? How do we know if a media form is accurately communicating historical truth?
The title of Carey's book True History of the Kelly Gang, clearly claims historical veracity (truth). It is, however, an artificial construction.  A study of this work should focus on how this artificial history is constructed to seem real or 'true'. In turn, this idea suggests that all history then is in fact artificial and therefore subjective.

Memorising your essay for the exam: a bad idea!!

A belief has emerged amongst HSC students that to get a good grade in English all you have to do is write one good essay and then ' tweak it' just to fit the question in the paper.

This is not a good idea.

Essays are unique responses to questions and examiners expect you to respond to the terms of the question. A pre-written essay is a response to one question only.  What if the question is different? This is like believing that if you remember the numbers to some equations in a past exam, then the same number sequences will appear in you next exam. Clearly, this is not the case.

What you can and should memorise is the PLOT  structure  - what happens, when and where - and how the how the CHARACTERS behave in these situations. If you are familiar with the work then you can begin to properly respond to the question with your opinion of the work. You are asked about THEMES usually, which are the concerns or meaning of the work.

An essay is not a mobile phone where you can just change the settings expecting it to fall into a different pattern. Words have to be assembled to create meaning. That is your task in the English exam.

Frankenstein and Blade Runner

Shelley's Frankenstein  (1818)  has as a secondary title, The Modern Prometheus. This comes from classical Greek mythology ( about 500 B.C) and tells us much about the PURPOSE of the novel.

Prometheus was the god who stole fire from the chief God Zeus and give it to the mortals. Zeus punishes him by sending down an eagle every day to eat his liver. 

What this story symbolises as a myth - where myths are psychological truths - is that to gain knowledge is to take power into one owns hands. It is a responsibility.

Both Frankenstein and Blade Runner present us with the responsibility that scientific knowledge and invention has given us. In Frankenstein, the monster seeks a partner not unlike a human but Dr Frankenstein denies him. In Blade Runner, the replicants, near perfect humanoid robots want more life...but cannot have it. 

Hamlet

Shakespeare's Hamlet does take some effort to understand.

We read plays and novels because we observe human behaviour in these works.

In the HSC you are are asked to comment on the behaviour of the CHARACTERS in the texts you have studied.

You enter the world of the text. When a character keeps doing something....then that is a THEME because the writer has decided to highlight that action.

When faced with the problem of bringing the murderer of his father to justice, how does Hamlet act? What are his thoughts? Was he successful? If not, why not?