stefgi32
Meh
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2008
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- 84
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I don't know if I'm going about this the wrong way or what, but I simply do not know how to answer these English questions!! I was just wondering if I could get some advice from English Advanced savvys as to what I can do to improve my analytical and overall question-answering skills.
I'll show you an example of me answering an English question:
Here is the text:
WANDERLUST
When I was but thirteen or so
I went into a golden land
Chimborazo, Cotopaxi
Took me by the hand.
She wanted to travel
to the edge of the world
past the timberline
saw herself dancing to jazz
in a flimsy dress on an ocean liner
taking off in a Gypsy Moth
first stop Karachi
in the London to Sydney Air Race.
Reading Richard Halliburton**
in the dim-half light of the playroom
she swam in the Blue Grotto
till her arms and legs
were washed in azure
digging in the ruins embedded in gold dust
she rifled the Pharaoh’s bones
on her sled with the silent runners
powdering the snow
she outstripped the wolf pack
looking down from the tops of the Andes
the black forest spread
like smudges of ink
on white cartridge paper.
She put the books back on the shelf
and walked to the front gate
the moon was up she could smell
the orchard in the cold
the shorn ewes like ghosts
in the home paddock
stopped chewing to stare at her
the squint of their yellow eyes
remote and alien cold as snow leopards.
Here is the question:
Analyse how any the text emphasises the personal nature of the journey.
This is what goes on in my head:
What the fuck does that mean!?....
Okay, don't give up just write something...uhhhh....
MY ANSWER:
It emphasises the personal nature of the journey seeing that she is alone throughout the poem. Her being alone is emphasized at the end when the ewe stare at her and the use of the metaphor "alien cold", where aliens are considered foreign creatures to a land where no one knows them and sometimes they are not happily or warmly greeted by natives of the land which are represented to the sheep who look at her coldly because she is a stranger. This line being the only indication of her interacting with another being shows that she is isolated from any form of social contact, and that she is alone because it was her own personal desire to travel and see all these different lands and thus this is a personal journey of hers.
------------
And yes, I am aware my answer reeks of bullshit and crapitude...but really, how am I meant to answer that question?
5-10 minutes later, I sometimes come up with a better way of wording my answer when I look back and analyse what exactly they were asking...because I think I confused it a little with saying why it is a personal journey for the girl.
OTHER ANSWER:
It emphasises the personal nature of the journey seeing that she is alone throughout the poem and that there is no indication of social contact until the final stanza. In the final stanza, a group of ewe stare at her and the the metaphor "alien cold" is used to describe this. Aliens are considered foreign creatures to a land where no one knows them and sometimes strangers, especially literal aliens are not happily or warmly greeted by natives of the land which are represented to the sheep who look at her coldly because she is a stranger and thus she is excluded from their group. However, she doesn't seem to be trying to belong to any group either and as the first line says "she wanted to travel", in other words travelling and seeing the world is the girl's personal desire that no one else around her shares which emphasises the fact it is her personal journey.
-----
But yeah, I still feel that answer is crap and it definetly takes me wayyy too long to think of it. But I have no idea what I can say without really talking out of my ass..is it the way I'm interpreting the question, or am I not seeing things that I should be seeing? How would you answer a question like that lol I don't know I need help man. XD
Sorry for the long post..thanks to those who bothered reading it.
I'll show you an example of me answering an English question:
Here is the text:
WANDERLUST
When I was but thirteen or so
I went into a golden land
Chimborazo, Cotopaxi
Took me by the hand.
She wanted to travel
to the edge of the world
past the timberline
saw herself dancing to jazz
in a flimsy dress on an ocean liner
taking off in a Gypsy Moth
first stop Karachi
in the London to Sydney Air Race.
Reading Richard Halliburton**
in the dim-half light of the playroom
she swam in the Blue Grotto
till her arms and legs
were washed in azure
digging in the ruins embedded in gold dust
she rifled the Pharaoh’s bones
on her sled with the silent runners
powdering the snow
she outstripped the wolf pack
looking down from the tops of the Andes
the black forest spread
like smudges of ink
on white cartridge paper.
She put the books back on the shelf
and walked to the front gate
the moon was up she could smell
the orchard in the cold
the shorn ewes like ghosts
in the home paddock
stopped chewing to stare at her
the squint of their yellow eyes
remote and alien cold as snow leopards.
Here is the question:
Analyse how any the text emphasises the personal nature of the journey.
This is what goes on in my head:
What the fuck does that mean!?....
Okay, don't give up just write something...uhhhh....
MY ANSWER:
It emphasises the personal nature of the journey seeing that she is alone throughout the poem. Her being alone is emphasized at the end when the ewe stare at her and the use of the metaphor "alien cold", where aliens are considered foreign creatures to a land where no one knows them and sometimes they are not happily or warmly greeted by natives of the land which are represented to the sheep who look at her coldly because she is a stranger. This line being the only indication of her interacting with another being shows that she is isolated from any form of social contact, and that she is alone because it was her own personal desire to travel and see all these different lands and thus this is a personal journey of hers.
------------
And yes, I am aware my answer reeks of bullshit and crapitude...but really, how am I meant to answer that question?
5-10 minutes later, I sometimes come up with a better way of wording my answer when I look back and analyse what exactly they were asking...because I think I confused it a little with saying why it is a personal journey for the girl.
OTHER ANSWER:
It emphasises the personal nature of the journey seeing that she is alone throughout the poem and that there is no indication of social contact until the final stanza. In the final stanza, a group of ewe stare at her and the the metaphor "alien cold" is used to describe this. Aliens are considered foreign creatures to a land where no one knows them and sometimes strangers, especially literal aliens are not happily or warmly greeted by natives of the land which are represented to the sheep who look at her coldly because she is a stranger and thus she is excluded from their group. However, she doesn't seem to be trying to belong to any group either and as the first line says "she wanted to travel", in other words travelling and seeing the world is the girl's personal desire that no one else around her shares which emphasises the fact it is her personal journey.
-----
But yeah, I still feel that answer is crap and it definetly takes me wayyy too long to think of it. But I have no idea what I can say without really talking out of my ass..is it the way I'm interpreting the question, or am I not seeing things that I should be seeing? How would you answer a question like that lol I don't know I need help man. XD
Sorry for the long post..thanks to those who bothered reading it.