ENGLISH TEXT SUMMARY NOTES The Golden Age - TSSM

[Pages:45]ENGLISH TEXT SUMMARY NOTES

The Golden Age

Text guide by: Kimberley Cunningham

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Copyright ? TSSM 2017

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Contents

AUTHOR NOTES.................................................................................................................................................. 5 Written Works .................................................................................................................................................... 5

HISTORICAL CONTEXT..................................................................................................................................... 6 1950s Perth and Polio ......................................................................................................................................... 6 Budapest, Hungary ............................................................................................................................................. 6

GENRE ................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Historical Fiction ................................................................................................................................................ 7 Romance ............................................................................................................................................................. 7

STRUCTURE ......................................................................................................................................................... 8 Features and Conventions................................................................................................................................... 8

STYLE .................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Use of Character ................................................................................................................................................. 9 Symbolism .......................................................................................................................................................... 9 Poetry.................................................................................................................................................................. 9

SETTING.............................................................................................................................................................. 10 The Golden Age................................................................................................................................................ 10 Freedom and Restriction................................................................................................................................... 10

PLOT SUMMARY............................................................................................................................................... 11 Chapter 1: Light ................................................................................................................................................ 11 Chapter 2: The Golden Age .............................................................................................................................. 11 Chapter 3: Elsa.................................................................................................................................................. 11 Chapter 4: Cockatoos........................................................................................................................................ 11 Chapter 5: Franks Vocation............................................................................................................................. 12 Chapter 6: The Poet .......................................................................................................................................... 12 Chapter 7: The Trains ....................................................................................................................................... 13 Chapter 8: The First Time Frank Saw Elsa ...................................................................................................... 13 Chapter 9: The Dark Night ............................................................................................................................... 13 Chapter 10: The Loving Body .......................................................................................................................... 14 Chapter 11: Bellbirds ........................................................................................................................................ 14 Chapter 12: Angel Wings ................................................................................................................................. 14 Chapter 13: Meyer Walks Home ...................................................................................................................... 14 Chapter 14: Margaret in Her Garden ................................................................................................................ 15 Chapter 15: Christmas ...................................................................................................................................... 15 Chapter 16: The Veranda.................................................................................................................................. 16 Chapter 17: The Sea ......................................................................................................................................... 16 Chapter 18: A Long Cool Drink ....................................................................................................................... 16 Chapter 19: Lidja .............................................................................................................................................. 16 Chapter 20: The Queen ..................................................................................................................................... 17 Chapter 21: Ida and Meyer ............................................................................................................................... 17 Chapter 22: The Concert.................................................................................................................................. 17 Chapter 23: Albert ............................................................................................................................................ 18 Chapter 24: Ann Lee......................................................................................................................................... 18 Chapter 25: Blue Air......................................................................................................................................... 18 Chapter 26: The Third Country ........................................................................................................................ 18 Chapter 27: Poetry ............................................................................................................................................ 19 Chapter 28: The Hunch..................................................................................................................................... 19

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Chapter 29: The Call......................................................................................................................................... 19 Chapter 30: The Separation .............................................................................................................................. 19 Chapter 31: The Visit ....................................................................................................................................... 20 New York ......................................................................................................................................................... 20 CHARACTER PROFILES................................................................................................................................... 21 Major Characters .............................................................................................................................................. 21 Minor Characters .............................................................................................................................................. 23 Relationships between Characters .................................................................................................................... 24 THEMES AND ISSUES ...................................................................................................................................... 25 Aloneness/Isolation .......................................................................................................................................... 25 Freedom/Outside .............................................................................................................................................. 26 Love .................................................................................................................................................................. 26 The Other .......................................................................................................................................................... 26 Family ............................................................................................................................................................... 27 IMPORTANT QUOTATIONS ............................................................................................................................ 28 CREATIVE WRITING ........................................................................................................................................ 36 The Creative Writing Process ........................................................................................................................... 37 Common Pitfalls ............................................................................................................................................... 38 The Written Explanation .................................................................................................................................. 39 Creative Writing Ideas to Consider .................................................................................................................. 39 ANALYTICAL WRITING .................................................................................................................................. 40 Understanding and Responding to Analytical Essay Topics ............................................................................ 40 Essay Planning...................................................................................................................................................... 42 SAMPLE ANALYTICAL ESSAY TOPICS ....................................................................................................... 43 FINAL EXAMINATION ADVICE ..................................................................................................................... 44 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................................................... 45 References used and References for Students .................................................................................................. 45

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AUTHOR NOTES

Born on 24 July 1948, Joan Elizabeth London is an Australian author known for her short stories, novels and screenplays. She studied English and French at the University of Western Australia. London has taught English and currently works as a bookseller, living in Fremantle, Western Australia.

Written Works

,,Joan London is the author of two prize-winning collections of stories, Sister Ships, which won The Age Book of the Year in 1986, and Letter to Constantine, which won the Steele Rudd Award in 1994 and the West Australian Premiers Award for Fiction. These stories have been published in one volume, as The New Dark Age. Her first novel, Gilgamesh, won The Age Book of the Year for Fiction in 2002 and was long-listed for the Orange Prize and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Her second novel, The Good Parents, won the 2009 Christina Stead Prize for fiction. Joan Londons books have all been published internationally to critical acclaim. The Golden Age is her third novel. (Biographical details, The Golden Age).

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HISTORICAL CONTEXT

The dual nature of The Golden Age presents two very different settings and relevant historical contexts. The current narrative in the story is set in 1950s Perth, Australia at the end of a polio epidemic. There are regular flashbacks and sections devoted to the story of Frank Golds experience of hiding in a ceiling in Hungary, before moving with his parents as a refugee to Australia.

1950s Perth and Polio

Australia, especially Perth, had been ravaged by major polio epidemics throughout the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Approximately 70,000 people were affected. Polio, medically called poliomyelitis, first arrived in Australia in the late nineteenth century. It caused great fear due to the lack of understanding about how it occurred, how it was transmitted, the impact it had on the human body and, ultimately, how to treat patients. In 1955, an American, Dr Jonas Salk, announced that he had successfully trialled a vaccine and it was quickly made available to those at risk of catching the disease. The vaccine was highly effective and rapidly led to the end of the outbreaks that had been ravaging the predominantly younger generation for decades. Some common treatments included the iron lung, a large contraption that assisted patients to breathe and the immobilisation of patients in the Thomas Brace that left sufferers spreadeagled.

Budapest, Hungary

Some short sections of the text, predominantly narrated through the character of Ida, show the reality of life in Budapest in the lead up to World War II for the Jewish population. In Hungary, as in areas throughout Austria and Germany, many Jewish individuals, were sent away to labour camps. There were heavy restrictions placed on the Jewish population and many Jewish people went into hiding. Budapest was also extensively bombed and the Jewish population sent to internment, concentration and death camps. There were very few survivors.

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GENRE

Understanding the genre of a novel allows the audience to deepen their understanding of the message and meaning being conveyed by the author. Primarily, The Golden Age is a historical fiction, though it can also be perceived as a romance novel, with innocent love forming between the two young main characters. Finally, it is important to acknowledge how the inclusion of poetry shapes and changes the story.

Historical Fiction

The Golden Age is a well-researched fictional story based on historical events, with some degree of accuracy. London completed extensive interviews with a number of polio sufferers and included many of these onset stories and experiences with recovery into The Golden Age. As historical fiction, there are references made to real events of the time: the bombing in Budapest, the royal visit and how polio was managed. The encounters and stories from these real events are, however, fictionalised:

Romance

Though the romance in The Golden Age can be viewed as a matter of survival, it is evident that Frank and Elsa fall heavily in love. There is also the rekindling of relationships between Meyer and Ida and the sparks of passion never acted on by Meyer and Sister Olive Penny. As a romance, The Golden Age focuses on the stories and encounters between two individuals. Symbolism is also used throughout the text to reflect the growing relationships. Frank and Elsas physical recovery parallels their emotional relationship and bond, along with their growing independence from their families and dependence on each other.

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STRUCTURE

The Golden Age is divided into 32 chapters. The first 31 are numbered chronologically, whereas the final chapter, simply labelled "New York", acts as a post-script. The first fourteen chapters are devoted to characterisations of the different characters, though each separate story shapes the audiences understanding of Frank, whose story is the primary focus.

Features and Conventions

Feature/Convention Poetry

Titled chapters

Final Chapter

Explanation Frank and Sullivans poetry is interspersed throughout the entire novel. This allows the reader to further understand what is going through the minds of both boys. Each of the first 31 chapters is both numbered and titled. This allows London to shape the readers understanding prior to reading the chapter and to distinguish between characters, time and place. The final chapter is not listed as a post-script, but represents a significant jump in time and the reader is made aware of how the stories panned out for Elsa and Frank. This removes much of the sentiment and hopefulness that would remain without the final chapter.

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