Structuring a Gwen Harwood Essay (1 Viewer)

[lil mon]

Hi everyone,
I'm having difficulty with the way that I structure my essay. For my class assessment and trials I had gone

• Intro
• glass jar - christian reading
• glass jar - psycho reading
• father and child - romantic reading
• father and child - post modern reading
• conclusion

But I have heard that it is better to structure it according to the themes like loss of innocence, parent-child relationship. Although, those themes are present in the above set up.
So would it be ok to go:

• Intro
• glass jar - struggle between good and evil (christian)
• glass jar - loss of innocence (psycho)
• glass jar - struggle between good and evil (christian)
• ......and so forth

Also, they say make the essay more personal rather than regurgitating someone elses analysis. How would I make it sound as if it is my perspective.

Thanks a lot. appreciate it!

 

[samuel slack]

If you're going to structure the essay in terms of themes then you're better off to choose a couple of themes that relate to a group of her poems, like the loss of innocence (the glass jar, Father and Child) parent-child relationship (the glass jar, Father and Child, The Violets)... and yes it is better to have your own personal perspective when examining these poems. My teacher really made that point clear when we were studying it, and while we looked at all the different readings she asked us what we actually thought the poem was about. I think you have to make up your own mind on the personal reading, using what you have already studied. Also when you're writing the essay use words like "I, my".. etc, if it asks for a personal response.

 

[kloudsurfer]

I had the same problem. This is the only module I just cant seem to get the hang of.

Anyway, I used to do it the first way, went terribly, and now I do it the second way and i seem to do better. Eg: 'The Glass jar explores the loss of innocence (explain, examples etc)...This alludes to the psychoanalytical reading...'
and so on...

 

[lil mon]

Thank you!
I was going to ask if you would use first person but you already answered it. But im scared that using 'I' and 'my' will make the essay sound less sophisticated.

Would you say "I view this text with a romantic perspective because it displays themes like memories......." or do they mean my own reading?

 

[samuel slack]

It completely depends on the question. If it asks for a personal response they'll be looking for first person, and your own reading. But, if they ask for a conversation between people with different perspectives then you have to use different readings, obviously... and perhaps not so much first person. Just make sure you answer the question and you'll be fine... I find that first person can make your essay sound less sophisticated, but if you word it well it doesn't sound too bad, e.g. Through my study of Gwen Harwood's poetry I have found that her use of the enduring themes of memory... thats all i could come up with.