Supervised Writing to Topic to Essay



Supervised Writing to Topic to Essay

Below are some sample prompts, along with some essay titles derived from responses to those prompts:

|Work |Sample prompts |Essay titles |

|The Hour of the |To what extent are the two primary characters affected by the backdrop |How Lispector’s rhetorical purposes are served by the |

|Star (Clarice |against which Lispector places them? |conclusion of The Hour of the Star |

|Lispector) |How far would you estimate the ending of the novel to be successful and on | |

| |what grounds? | |

|Broken April |There is clearly emotional 'electricity' created by Kadare between Diana |The interactions between Diana and Gyorg and their effect |

|(Ismail Kadare) |and Gyorg. How is this included in the plot and to what effect? |on Bessian’s character evolution |

| |The chapter on Mark Ukacierra, the steward of the Kanun, provides a number | |

| |of points of interest and clarification in the novel. How do you see Mark's| |

| |role in the novel? | |

|The Wind-Up Bird |What single minor character do you judge to have a critical effect on the |Lieutenant Mamiya’s contributions to the plot of The |

|Chronicle (Haruki |unfolding quest of the protagonist Tom? |Wind-Up Bird Chronicle |

|Murakami) |Particular events in Japan's history are imported into the plot of the |Murakami’s use of the Manchukuo and the Nomonhan incidents |

| |novel. Discuss Murakami's inclusion of one or two and their effectiveness. |in enriching his novel |

Narrowing your essay topic

• decide precisely on which topic you will pursue out of one of your pieces of supervised writing

• refer back to your text and decide whether you have a topic that is both true to the way the work is developed and for which you can gather enough evidence to support your argument

• conference with your teacher about the topic you have chosen. At this stage, it would be useful to have a short outline of the way you plan to proceed.

• look carefully at the criteria that will be used to evaluate your essay. They are as follows:

- How much knowledge and understanding has the student shown of the work studied in relation to the assignment?

- To what extent does the student appreciate how the writer's choices of form, structure, technique and style shape meaning?

- How effectively have the ideas been organized and how well are references to the passage integrated into the development of the ideas?

- How clear, varied and accurate is the language?

The draft

• This should be a clean copy without technical errors such as spelling and punctuation.

• The text used and its translation should be cited.

• Any secondary sources used should be properly and faithfully cited.

Source: Tyson, Hannah and Mark Beverley. IB Course Companion: English A Literature. Oxford University Press: 2011. Print. 136-140.

Sample: Supervised Writing to Essay

Read the following piece of supervised writing and the essay that grows out of it. It should give you a sense of how an essay can evolve from a prompt through supervised writing to a final essay.

Prompt: How far would you estimate the ending of The Hour of the Star to be successful and on what grounds?

In Clarice Lispector's The Hour of the Star, the ending is extremely successful; perhaps even the most significant part of the book. In the final eight pages of the book, from the moment Macabea steps into the street and is run over, to the final statement "Yes" (86), the ending ties together all the themes and messages of the novel with one clarifying thread: the narrator's personal experience. Rodrigo presents the reader with his own experience of writing the ending, which makes the experience suspenseful as Rodrigo discovers the events of the plot at the same time as he presents them to the reader and reacts profoundly to each development. Through Rodrigo's reflections, the significance of the book's themes is clarified: it becomes clear that the book is entirely Rodrigo's story, and Macabea and his readership both exist to serve his experience. The ending is at once suspenseful, as Rodrigo keeps Macabea alive, saying "the hour has not yet come" (82) and comfortingly resolving, as Macabea "become[s] more and more transformed into Macabea, as if she were arriving at herself" (81). Rodrigo also brings the reader into the story very directly one last time, admonishing when Macabea is dying, "Pray for her and interrupt whatever you're doing in order to breathe a little life into her" (82).

Rodrigo's own experience in writing the book is also forcefully summed up in the ending, as he emphasizes his deep involvement in the plot. He speaks of this "great joy" when he finds that the "hour has not yet come for the film-star Macabea to die" (82), claiming that he "shall do everything possible to see that she doesn't die" (80). And yet she does die, and his reaction is chaotic, as he seemingly goes mad, saying, "I am innocent! Do not devour me! I am not negotiable!" and bemoaning that "all is lost", he "cannot laugh", and finally says, "Macabea has murdered me" (85).

These aspects are only a few of the many that Rodrigo brings together in his ending, skillfully bringing together the story into one scene of great impact.

Essay Title: Effectiveness of the ending in Clarice Lispector’s The Hour of the Star

In the ending of The Hour of the Star, Clarice Lispector brings the plot to a powerful close in one climactic scene of Macabea's death. The scene is at once suspenseful, as Rodrigo keeps Macabea alive when she is dying, saying "the hour has not yet come" (82), and comfortingly resolving, as Macabea "become [s] more and more transformed into Macabea, as if she were arriving at herself" (81). Lispector uses this scene to skilfully tie together all the book's themes, from the theme of words being similar to music to the theme of life and death, thus leaving the reader with a clearer image of what Lispector intended to convey. In this scene, Lispector also brings the narrator, Rodrigo, closer to his readers, and clarifies Rodrigo's role in Macabea's story, which helps to resolve the confusing relationship between Macabea's plotline and Rodrigo's.

The first important effect in the end scene is the clear merging of Macabea and Rodrigo's stories. This scene emphasizes that The Hour of the Star is more Rodrigo's story than Macabea's. This is conveyed when the climactic event of Macabea's death is overshadowed by Rodrigo's personal reactions, as he bemoans that "all is lost, and the greatest guilt appears to be mine", and even claims, "Macabea has murdered me" (85). His reaction to her death is so strong that he seems to go crazy, saying, "I have been to the land of the dead and after the most gruesome horrors I have come back redeemed. I am innocent! Do not devour me! I am not negotiable!" (85). This focus on Rodrigo at a moment that is so important to Macabea's story reminds the reader of Rodrigo's statement at the beginning of the book, when he said, "obviously I am one of the more important [characters]" (12). Clearly, not only is Rodrigo one of the most important characters, as he may have appeared throughout the book, but he ends up being the most important character. This makes explicit the message that is present throughout the book: that Macabea's story is significant only in the context of Rodrigo's experience. This clarification is helpful because previously in the book, although Rodrigo is highly involved in the narration, it is unclear whether he still intends for Macabea's story to be a story on its own or simply to be part of his own story. When this scene completely merges Rodrigo's story with Macabea's, it helps the reader to better understand the rest of the book as each scene fits into the context of Rodrigo's experience and no longer needs to fully make sense from the perspective of Macabea's experience.

Besides providing clarity and closure, Rodrigo's direct involvement in the final scene also creates suspense, as he speaks of his "great joy" when he finds that the "hour has not yet come for the filmstar Macabea to die" (82), and then claims that he "shall do everything possible to see that she doesn't die" (80). His continual comments that create suspense, such as "I don't believe that she is going to die, for she has so much will to live" (83), increase the effectiveness of the resolution when Macabea does die and "is finally free" (85).

The second important effect in the end scene is the way Rodrigo brings the reader so directly into the story. Although Rodrigo addresses his readers directly in many parts of the book, the final scene involves the reader to an exaggerated degree, to the point where it almost seems as though the reader is one of the characters in the story. Towards the beginning of the closing scene, soon after Macabea is hit by the car, Rodrigo admonishes his readers, "Pray for her and interrupt whatever you're doing in order to breathe a little life into her" (82). A few sentences later, he brings the reader into his statement that "life is a punch in the stomach" by preceding it with, "Let my reader take a punch in the stomach and see how they enjoy it" (82-3).

This reader engagement is powerfully emotive because it keeps readers from reading the scene from a detached perspective, and instead makes them feel as if they are directly involved in Rodrigo's creation of the plot and therefore gives them a feeling of responsibility. Rodrigo even seems to seek the reader's approval of the plot, saying, "I have just died with the girl. Forgive my dying. It was unavoidable" (85). In the context of this scene, the particularly strong reader involvement increases the emotional impact of the scene as the reader is presented with Macabea's death after having been asked to "pray for her", and becomes directly involved with Rodrigo's despair as he pleads, "forgive my dying" and "Do not devour me!" (85). In the context of the whole book, Rodrigo's direct words to the reader bring closure to the whole plot, as he ends the book by first closing Macabea's story in her death, then his own story by saying "now it only remains for me to light a cigarette and go home" (86), and finally leaves the reader alone to think of a broad and somewhat unrelated issue, "the season for strawberries" (86).

The third and final aspect of the closing scene that I find particularly effective is the way it brings together the important themes in the book. Rodrigo does this particularly effectively by using one theme that runs through the book - that of music and silence - to weave through the entire final scene and to bring up references to other themes in the book. Each statement that involves music in the final scene is powerful and simple. Firstly, Rodrigo uses music to clarify for the reader his own perception of death, saying, "I know that when I die, I shall hear him playing and I shall crave for music, music, music" (82). Secondly, he uses music to conclude Macabea's story, saying, "I now understand this story. She is the imminence in those bells, pealing so softly" (85), and then defines Macabea with a musical metaphor: "At heart, Macabea was little better than a music box sadly out of tune" (86). This is a powerful way for Rodrigo to conclude Macabea's story because the aural imagery of bells "pealing" and a "music box sadly out of tune" is very clear and emotive. The third way Rodrigo uses references to music and silence is in connecting back to the beginning of the book. For example, his statement in the final scene, "I hear the ancient music of words upon words" (84) ties back to the connection he makes at the beginning between writing with making music, saying, "Those words are sounds transfused with shadows" (16). In another part of the final scene, Rodrigo's statement, "Silence. Should God descend on earth one day there would be great silence" (85) seems to use silence to bring Rodrigo to the conclusion of his desire to discover the world and its God (18). There is also specific aural imagery created with silence, so that the reader can visualize "Macabea [struggling] in silence" (82) and can feel the "silence ... such that thought no longer thinks" (85).

Clearly, by referring to music and silence in the final scene, Rodrigo effectively brings together many themes, creates emotive aural imagery, and provides a clear and emotionally impactful conclusion to Macabea's life and to his own reflections on death.

In conclusion, the ending of The Hour of the Star is very effective for many reasons. It is very climactic, providing clarity and resolution for the reader by concluding Macabea's plotline, which ends in her agonized death, in the context of Rodrigo's experience. The climactic effect is enhanced by Rodrigo's references to music and silence, which in themselves are themes that run through the book, and are also used to tie together other important themes and therefore provide resolution and closure to the complex story. The clear aural imagery created by the references to music and Rodrigo's particularly direct involvement of the reader also adds to the emotional impact of the scene, strengthening the conclusive messages that Rodrigo conveys.

(1352 words)

Works cited:

Lispector, C. 1992. The Hour of the Star. Trans. Giovanni Pontiero. New York. New Directions Paperbook.

Felstiner, J. 1980. Translating Neruda: The Way to Macchu Pichu. Chicago. Stanford University Press.

Examiner Comments:

The supervised writing begins some lines of discussion that will develop in the essay, such as the portrayal of the voice of Rodrigo through his expression of his attitudes toward Macabea and the suspense the candidate sees emerging. The question of where Lispector has placed her focus - Rodrigo? Macabea? - is also raised.

In the essay, the candidate elaborates on some of these points and adds another, the relation of words to music in the novel. Life and death, words, silence and their relation to music are considered, as is Rodrigo's relation to Macabea as the teller of her tale.

In terms of the four descriptors for the essay, the essay delivers a strong sense that the candidate has detailed knowledge of the text and a good deal of perceptive insight into the characters and their construction. However, the candidate could have provided a more ample demonstration of the merging of the two characters. In 1352 words, the candidate would have had an opportunity to explore this strand of the argument.

The candidate provides sufficient evidence of knowing how to express an appreciation of the author's choices, using the appropriate terminology (climactic event, suspense, metaphor, aural imagery, for example) and showing in particular the choices governing structure and their effect.

Ideas are persuasively organized, although there is some sense that a tight structure has excluded some further textual evidence and development of the argument. One almost has the sense that a rigid structure has taken precedence over considerations of delivering full treatment of the materials to the reader.

Language is accurate throughout as well as effective.

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