Chapter 4 A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

Chapter 4

Narrative Structure

We have been discussing Eggers' use of a variety of narrative and structural devices to present his story. He uses drawings, diagrams, scripts, musical notations and he experiments with structure and form all the way through.  He is the first to agree that some of these devices are just gimmicks and throughout is very self-conscious of himself as a writer. This is particularly prominent in the opening section of the book. However, he uses them to inject some fun and humour to what is essentially a tragic story, creating a fragmented and post-modern narrative.

One way in which Eggers explores himself as a writer and his relationship with Toph is through the construction of dialogue. As he suggests in the preface, the dialogue "has of course been almost entirely reconstructed. The dialogue, though all essentially true - except that which is obviously not true, as when people break out of their narrative time-space continuum to cloyingly talk about the book itself - has been written from memory, and reflects both the author's memory's limitations and his imaginations nudgings." (Preface ix)

Write a paragraph on the how Egger's uses the dialogue between him and Toph as a narrative device in pages 114 - 119.

What is he actually doing in this section? What does the dialogue reveal about Eggers as writer? Why is he writing? What does the dialogue reveal about Eggers as a parental figure? What do we find out about his relationships with his parents? What emotions come out from this section? Why does he write about it from 'Toph's' point of view?  Support each idea with one quotation from the text.

Symbolism

Close analysis of page 122

Complete the table here as you closely analyse the etc. What do we learn about Eggers and his feelings in this section? What does this whole section symbolise?

Key terminology for your analysis:

negative lexis
adjectives and noun phrases
lists
minor sentences
simple sentences
declaratives
stative verbs
dynamic verbs
onomatopoeia
juxtaposition
interrogatives
symbolism
first person plural

ELLA 3 Section B Waiting for Juan and Letter Writing

Analysing Non-Fiction Texts: Exploring Letter Writing

This lesson you will be looking at the key language and discourse features of both personal and formal letters.

Task One:

Read the example of the personal letter which is taken from an exam response for Section B. Download the letters and using the comments tool, aim to comment on as many features as you can about the linguistic and structural choices the writer made. If you would like to have some prompts, use the next link. When you have finished, check your points against the explanations.


Personal Letter

Personal Letter with prompts

Personal Letter with explanations

When you have done this, look at how the student's commentary matches the structural and linguistic devices used and also links to meaning.

Task Two: 

Read the letter from Kurt Vonnegut (author of Slaughterhouse 5). Comment on how the language and structure is used to reflect the letter genre. 


Kurt Vonnegut Letter

Task Three:

This a very quick task. You might be asked to write a formal letter. Using the Framework below, complete the table to make a note of some of the key language features you would or would not find. 

Formal Letter Framework Analysis

This link might give you some prompts: Writing a letter of complaint


Task Four: Text Adaptation Task Planning for next week

•Imagine that you are Petra and you decide to tell your family about Juan. Write the letter home where you explain the details of your life and relationship with Juan.

•Write your letter, deciding to which member of your family it is addressed.

•You should adapt the source material, using your own words as far as possible, without using direct quotations from the original text.

•Your letter should be approximately 300 – 400 words in length. 

Focus on these three areas of the text:

Page 214 - 216 “This episode began…to…I’ll be fine now”

Page 218 -219 “Back to bed…to…I knew it was so”

Page 223 – 224 “ In the town…to the end”

•Plan the key content points you could include.

•Make a note of the key linguistic and stylistic features you will need to use to ensure you match the genre, audience and purpose of the text.

You will be given 1 hour next Friday to write a full response to the task and to write a commentary. You may bring your notes and your planning to use.

Extension Task:

What attitudes to gender and masculinity are presented in the text? Find examples from the text to support your ideas from 213 – 216.

Focus on:

•the narrator’s thoughts

•the reference to Manolo

•the character of Juan

•the response of the police

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Overview


Chapter 3 continues to describe Dave and Toph's life in San Francisco. It describes their search for a new place to live, as they have decided to live on their own, without Beth (sister), Kirsten (Dave's girlfriend) and Katie (a friend) (p.73)


They eventually find a place and Dave can pay for it for a whole year. Dave reminisces about his parents and money (p.76). There is detailed description of the house they are in (p.78) and there is a focus on the chaotic life they leave. They are messy, late for everything (p92/93), muddle through with cooking (p.86) and cleaning. They continue to play games, have fun, be rude to each other (p.81/82)


There is also a focus on relationships. We get an insight into how Beth and Dave are dealing with the situation they are in in different ways (p.88) and also a hint of the role that Bill has in the family (p.77) Dave imagines relationships with women and there is a sense of him being conflicted about wanting someone to be settled with someone to provide stability for Toph and wanting have the freedom to date and flirt, like any man in their early twenties would(p.74/75 & p.98) .


Throughout the chapter we get a sense of what their family life is really like and the paranoia Dave feels about his situation with regards to taking responsibility for Toph and what others must be thinking about him (p.102/103). We continue to get an insight into the conflict Dave feels about being a brother and a parent to Toph and the fact that he isn't a parent and that it is all pretend (p.83 & 90).


Task One


The structure and discourse of this chapter is really interesting. Eggers continues to play around with the form of his writing, creating a very idiosyncratic style of narrative. He continues to push the boundaries of what narrative writing is.


Looking through the chapter, what different techniques has Eggers used to create his idiosyncratic style? If you would like some ideas, click here! Why has he used certain techniques? How do they link to his character and situation?


Task Two


Using the summary above, find 8 key quotations / specific references  that support ideas about the relationships and the way Dave and Toph are living their lives. You will find evidence on the pages identified. What effect do they have on the reader? What are we supposed to think and feel? What is Eggers trying to tell us?


EXT / Challenge Task instead of Task 2


Write an analytical response on how Eggers presents relationships in Chapter 3. Integrate evidence from the text, and explore using appropriate terminology. You should be able to comment on the structure and discourse, as well as some of the specific language features used.


Post all work on your blog / padlet page.


Have fun!!


Nina

Section B Ella 3 - Barefoot at Shanzu and Diary Writing

This lesson you are going to complete an exam task based on 'Barefoot at Shanzu' by Errol Trzebinski.


You need to read the question and the extract very carefully.


To approach this task you need to do two things.


1) Make sure you know what makes a diary a diary. What should your diary be doing?  Refer back to your work on diaries last lesson. Follow the link below for the overview given last lesson. It is good practice to make a note of the key features as this will help you to write the commentary. Think about the question: how many entries are you to write? What sort of time scale are you writing about?


Writing Diaries


2) Jot down all the details that you will need to include from the text that are relevant for the task. Think about the genre, the audience, the point of view you are writing from to help you make those decisions. What would an 11 year old boy be interested in and how would he have experienced the situations described by his mother? It is good practice to note all the elements that you will need to include from the text. You need to include as much detail as possible. To get all this information you need to understand all the vocabulary from the original text.




Once you have planned the points you want to use, you need to start writing it.


In the exam you have 40 minutes to complete this part of the task.


You then have 20 minutes to write a commentary.


Have a look at this overview of commentary writing (in your pack too): Commentary Writing


Have a look here for the type of approach you need to take. This example has good focus on lexis and semantics but does need some more grammar points. However it shows good awareness of audience and purpose.


Write a commentary for the piece of writing you have just done explaining how you made it sound like a diary, how you captured the voice of Bruce, what effects you were trying to create.