Ideas on an assignment on Emma/Clueless !! (1 Viewer)

[woohyuky]

I received a Q for this module and am not sure of how to begin and structure it. Plz help!

"A text is a product of culture that is steeped in values."

 

[Born Dancer]

the statement is basically saying that the values in a text and the things that are held as important (in a realist etxt like emma its things like wealth, social position etc) are a result of the context (19th Century England) in which it was produced.

you would basically talk in general about how texts are shaped by their context, then go in depth on each text, particularly explain how Clueless has been changed because of its new context.

i hope that gives you some ideas!

 

[woohyuky]

Thanx heaps for ur reply, so it is actually quite general as in similar to other qs like jus focus on values and talk about changes occured in diff context and wts da diff n sim ryte?

 

[Born Dancer]

Kind of, but remember the mistake that a lot of people make is to take a passage from Emma, find the corressponding scene in Clueless and talk about how they have been changed in talking about the similarities and differences.
It is important to say how the differences in the text have come about BECAUSE of values and attitudes.
for example, during emma's time the "nouveau riche" (those who have worked their way into being rich) were not generally accepted - Emma's wealth is inherited, and she is greatly accepted as a result of it
In clueless, Cher's dad is an example of the nouveau riche, and he is accepted as a result of 20th Century values and attitudes.
When i say talk in "general" i mean that as an introduction you could be talking about how in a text certain things are important because of the attitudes at the time.

i hope that helps - sorry this post is a bit late, but let me know if you have any problems

 

[ujuphleg]

Have a look at this

http://www.boredofstudies.org/community/showthread.php?t=65427