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In our Area of Study essay, we were asked to develop and support our arguments/opinions using both the set text and at least two other texts of our own choice.
Using quotes not only supports essays, it demonstrates a clear and in-depth understanding and analysis of your text.
Obviously, there's no point in including random quotes from your texts. Think about how a quote will support your argument/opinion. Also remember to state its location e.g. Act 3, scene 1, its relevance and explore its meaning and significance.
Some good quotes are:
Act One, Scene Two.
TOM: You going away tomorrow?
MEG: We’re leaving really early.
TOM: Well… Have a good time.
MEG: Where are you going?
TOM: Up the coast. Some beach.
This opening dialogue establishes the action of Away as a physical journey. It introduces the Australian tone of the play through the use of the term ‘going away’ and through the idea of the non-specific destination ‘up the coast’, suggesting the sort of meandering camping trip habitually taken by Australian families in the 1950’s and 1960’s.
GWEN: We can’t spend all night here. Not if you two want any sort of holiday. Say your goodnights, Margaret. Have you got the keys?
JIM: Keys? I thought I gave them to you.
This is the beginning of Gwen’s first angry outburst. It is generated by her anxiety about the journey to be embarked upon the following day and the catalyst is the set of car keys – they are an essential component since without them, the journey ‘away’ cannot begin.
HARRY: Oh… we’re going to drive for a bit. See what we can find.
ROY: You seen much of this country yet? How long have you been out here?
VIC: Eight years. Not a lot of it, no, not yet.
The migrant couple have been settled for eight years but have spent this time working hard to build their lives and so have not travelled about the country very much. Their idea of taking a journey of exploration signifies their openness to new experiences and ideas, as does the fact that they have permanently left their homeland.
Act Two, Scene One
GWEN: You caravanning?
HARRY: Ohhh… no. Not exactly. We’ve got a tent.
JIM: Oh, a tent. Terrific. I miss the old tent sometimes.
GWEN: We’ve got a new caravan. Everything in it you could want.
JIM: If you need a couple of stretchers…
HARRY: It’s a small tent. We just put it up against the car.
GWEN: A lean-to?
HARRY: That’s it.
GWEN: Ohhhhh.
This exchange displays the socio-economic difference between the two couples, as well as the difference between Gwen and Jim. Gwen is immensely proud of the material comfort she lives but it’s clear that this state is a relatively new thing as Jim refers to the fact that they used to holiday in a tent. Gwen’s snobbery is expressed through the tone of her response when she finds out that Vic and Harry’s tent is of a very humble kind. Jim, on the other hand, admits to missing the simplicity of the tent holiday, which suggests the material comfort he works for is more to placate his wife than for himself.
GWEN: Where do they live?
MEG: It doesn’t matter.
GWEN: I want to know. They have no special privileges. No one asked them to come out to this country. They have no right to behave any differently.
Gwen’s prejudice against migrants is rabid. She discriminates on the basis of the suburb in which people live “Where do they live?” and is angered at the idea of difference. This reflects the government policy of the time which was one of assimilation – encouraging migrants to give up their own culture and ‘blend’ into Australian society – rather than the policy of multiculturalism with which we are now familiar.
HARRY: Planning the holidays was as important to your mother as actually going away.
TOM: I want to go.
HARRY: Something to look forward to.
TOM: Same for me.
HARRY: A few weeks just with ourselves. Just with you. It’ll be good.
TOM: It’ll be terrific. I’ve looked forward to it. Ever since you suggested it I’ve wanted to go. That day in the hospital and you brought in the tent and put it up in the ward. I couldn’t wait for summer to come.
This interaction shows how the anticipation of a journey can be as pleasurable as the process of it. There is a poignancy in Harry’s desire for ‘something to look forward to’ when it becomes known that he cannot look forward to his son growing up and having children of his own. The anticipation of the holiday journey must therefore take the place of the anticipation of a long and happy life together. The dynamic between father and son here, with Tom having to labour the point that he too is looking forward to the trip, reveals a mutual caring and respect as well as an underlying anxiety. We later find that this anxiety comes from Harry and Vic’s determination to conceal the serious nature of Tom’s illness from him.
I will add more when I’m not so lazy and tired.
Using quotes not only supports essays, it demonstrates a clear and in-depth understanding and analysis of your text.
Obviously, there's no point in including random quotes from your texts. Think about how a quote will support your argument/opinion. Also remember to state its location e.g. Act 3, scene 1, its relevance and explore its meaning and significance.
Some good quotes are:
Act One, Scene Two.
TOM: You going away tomorrow?
MEG: We’re leaving really early.
TOM: Well… Have a good time.
MEG: Where are you going?
TOM: Up the coast. Some beach.
This opening dialogue establishes the action of Away as a physical journey. It introduces the Australian tone of the play through the use of the term ‘going away’ and through the idea of the non-specific destination ‘up the coast’, suggesting the sort of meandering camping trip habitually taken by Australian families in the 1950’s and 1960’s.
GWEN: We can’t spend all night here. Not if you two want any sort of holiday. Say your goodnights, Margaret. Have you got the keys?
JIM: Keys? I thought I gave them to you.
This is the beginning of Gwen’s first angry outburst. It is generated by her anxiety about the journey to be embarked upon the following day and the catalyst is the set of car keys – they are an essential component since without them, the journey ‘away’ cannot begin.
HARRY: Oh… we’re going to drive for a bit. See what we can find.
ROY: You seen much of this country yet? How long have you been out here?
VIC: Eight years. Not a lot of it, no, not yet.
The migrant couple have been settled for eight years but have spent this time working hard to build their lives and so have not travelled about the country very much. Their idea of taking a journey of exploration signifies their openness to new experiences and ideas, as does the fact that they have permanently left their homeland.
Act Two, Scene One
GWEN: You caravanning?
HARRY: Ohhh… no. Not exactly. We’ve got a tent.
JIM: Oh, a tent. Terrific. I miss the old tent sometimes.
GWEN: We’ve got a new caravan. Everything in it you could want.
JIM: If you need a couple of stretchers…
HARRY: It’s a small tent. We just put it up against the car.
GWEN: A lean-to?
HARRY: That’s it.
GWEN: Ohhhhh.
This exchange displays the socio-economic difference between the two couples, as well as the difference between Gwen and Jim. Gwen is immensely proud of the material comfort she lives but it’s clear that this state is a relatively new thing as Jim refers to the fact that they used to holiday in a tent. Gwen’s snobbery is expressed through the tone of her response when she finds out that Vic and Harry’s tent is of a very humble kind. Jim, on the other hand, admits to missing the simplicity of the tent holiday, which suggests the material comfort he works for is more to placate his wife than for himself.
GWEN: Where do they live?
MEG: It doesn’t matter.
GWEN: I want to know. They have no special privileges. No one asked them to come out to this country. They have no right to behave any differently.
Gwen’s prejudice against migrants is rabid. She discriminates on the basis of the suburb in which people live “Where do they live?” and is angered at the idea of difference. This reflects the government policy of the time which was one of assimilation – encouraging migrants to give up their own culture and ‘blend’ into Australian society – rather than the policy of multiculturalism with which we are now familiar.
HARRY: Planning the holidays was as important to your mother as actually going away.
TOM: I want to go.
HARRY: Something to look forward to.
TOM: Same for me.
HARRY: A few weeks just with ourselves. Just with you. It’ll be good.
TOM: It’ll be terrific. I’ve looked forward to it. Ever since you suggested it I’ve wanted to go. That day in the hospital and you brought in the tent and put it up in the ward. I couldn’t wait for summer to come.
This interaction shows how the anticipation of a journey can be as pleasurable as the process of it. There is a poignancy in Harry’s desire for ‘something to look forward to’ when it becomes known that he cannot look forward to his son growing up and having children of his own. The anticipation of the holiday journey must therefore take the place of the anticipation of a long and happy life together. The dynamic between father and son here, with Tom having to labour the point that he too is looking forward to the trip, reveals a mutual caring and respect as well as an underlying anxiety. We later find that this anxiety comes from Harry and Vic’s determination to conceal the serious nature of Tom’s illness from him.
I will add more when I’m not so lazy and tired.
