Exam Hints and Tips

Hello my dear, stressed students!

Writing your first University exam is stressful. it's also a very different skill to writing an essay at home. Here are some ideas to help you conquer the nerves and prepare yourself...

1 - Plan your time ruthlessly. If you're required to write an essay an hour, spend 10-15 mins planning and 45 mins writing. If you're not finished after an hour, MOVE ON. You can only ever get 50% of the marks for finishing 50% of the paper, no matter how beautiful your essay ends up being.

2 - READ THE QUESTION! There is no substitute. English is not a rote learning subject. Writing a beautiful essay you 'prepared earlier' isn't going to help get you marks - you have to answer THEIR question. Radical concept, I know.

3 - Invest 10 minutes to mindmap points you'd like to talk about. Make sure they're all relevant to the topic.

4 - Try to think of specific textual examples to back up your points. Remember, you don't have to reference in an exam situation.

5 - Try as much as possible to keep your spelling and punctuation crisp. You don't have to use big words or long sentences to be impressive. All you have to do is get your points across clearly and intelligently. I know we can manage this.

Most importantly: arrive in plenty of time for your exam. I believe you write on Tuesday 12th. Be there with loads of time to spare. Bring spare pens. Make sure you've eaten well (but not too heavily). Relax. No, really, relax!

Drop me an email and let me know how things went. I'm holding thumbs for you!

One-Stop Poetry Shop

As you know, UNISA prescribed a list of 20 poems for this year. You will be examined on 2 - one in ENN101 this semester and one in ENN102 next semester. A few extra classes and energy drinks later, we've broken all records and managed to actually go through each of those 20 poems. I hope you're as impressed as I am.

In case you couldn't make the last class (Danielle's Psych students had a clash), I will be offering a repeat extra class on THURSDAY 30th April at 12:50 in room 24.

In order to help you prepare for exams, here are brief reminders of each poem on UNISA's list. This is not a substitute for attending class, merely a reminder of some of the more salient points in each poem in order for you to complete a good general critical analysis in an exam situation.

*** This is a work in progress - keep checking back, as I post more on each poem ***

MATTHEW ARNOLD (1822-1888) - Dover Beach

Things to look out for:

Pathetic fallacy, religious allegory, the pulsing sea-like rhythm, 'sound effects' in alliteration and assonance.

SHABBIR BANOOBHAI (1949 - ) - When the First Slave Was Brought to the Cape

Things to look out for:

Form (particularly lack of capitalisation), positivity and tenses, blurring the boundaries between the possible and impossible through imagery, freedom of the spirit, the possiblities of refiguring the self.

WILLIAM BLAKE (1757-1827) - London

Things to look out for:

Mimesis in the endless, heavy rhythm, repetition, imagery, 'sound effects' in alliteration and assonance.

Seeing as they are only a couple of decades apart, it's particularly interesting to contrast Blake's representation of London with Wordsworth's in Composed on Westminster Bridge.

ROY CAMPBELL (1901-1957) - The Zulu Girl

Things to look out for:

Othering, association of women with the land/nature, foreshadowing of ominous future.

HART CRANE (1899 - 1932) - My Grandmother's Love Letters

Things to look out for:

Imagery and its implications, sense of female lineage and desire, sexual/familial positioning, the significance of line breaks, water/memory imagery.

ROBERT FROST (1874-1963) - Mending Wall

Things to look out for:

Rhythm and form as examples of mimesis, register, literal and figurative meanings.

FHAZEL JOHANNESSE - A Young Man's Thoughts Before June the 16th

Things to look out for:

Form (particularly the lack of capitalisation and punctuation), youthful, romanticised notions of martyrdom, the childlike - though not childISH - speaking voice, 'sound effects' produced by alliteration and assonance.

JOHN KEATS (1795-1821) - When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be

* Commentary coming *

PHILIP LARKIN (1922 - 1985) - Talking in Bed

This is Larkin's intricately structured examination of a dying relationship. Look at RHYME STRUCTURE, IMAGERY that reflects an uneasy relationship and the ironies of the title and FORM. Remember our discussion of the significance of the breakdown in rhyme and formal structure from the 'clean' first stanza through to the increasingly messy structure breakdown that occurs further on. This is can be seen as an example of mimesis - mirroring the breakdown in the relationship. Recall the significance of the number 3 in this poem - the odd number, three's a crowd etc. Also consider expectation ("should be the easiest") versus reality ("but more and more time passes silently"). Focus on those last, paradoxical "words at once true and kind/or not untrue and not unkind."

OSWALD MTSHALI (1940 - ) - Men in Chains

Do NOT get this confused with Sepamla’s The Loneliness Beyond!

Look at:

Dehumanising animal imagery vs humanising sun imagery (personification) and the implications of this, anticlimax of doomed prophesy in final line.

EDNA ST VINCENT MILLAY (1892 - 1950) - I, Being Born a Woman and Distressed

Things to look out for:

Subversive use of the sonnet form, line breaks, feminist perspective.

JOHN MILTON (1608-1674) - On His Blindness

Milton's sonnet addressing his encroaching blindness. Although it is never good to conflate poet and speaker, in this case we can say that the speaker IS Milton himself. This is a very personal testament to his struggle with faith and purpose after failing eyesight has called into question his life choices. Look at STRUCTURE (particulars of Petrarchan sonnet and its typical association with love), ENJAMBMENT and its effect on the sense of RHYME, IMAGERY (particularly dark/light) and PUNS/WORD PLAY. Recall the Biblical parable of the Talents.

ESSOP PATEL (1943 - 2007) - In the Shadow of Signal Hill

A short, yet powerful call for violent revolution against Apartheid laws. Look at the IMAGERYand its IMPLICATIONS, as well as the TITLE and lack of PUNCTUATION/CAPITALISATION. Remember our geography quiz? District 6 is associated with forced removals, Langa is a township near the airport (where many black evicted residents might have gone) and Robben Island (where the "heroes" call from) is easily visible from Signal Hill. Signal Hill itself is famous for the noonday gun - a military symbol of the passing of time. What kind of alternate militant symbols of passing time are being called for in the poem?

SIPHO SEPAMLA (1932 - 2007) - The Loneliness Beyond

Do NOT get this one confused with Motshali’s Men in Chains!

Things to look out for:

Look at IMAGERY (particularly animal/human contrasts and the themes of people's lack of individuality. Ask yourself whether, in the last few lines, there might be a subtle sense of forboding.

MONGANE SEROTE (1944 - ) - Alexandra

Things to look out for:

The speaker's inner child-voice that changes register, regression into childhood to parallel helplessness, imagery, continuous play between person/place (Alexandra as woman’s name and Alexandra as township).

PERCY SHELLEY (1792-1822) - Ozymandias

Look at form, as well as line breaks. Notice and comment on the 'story within a story' approach.

WOLE SOYINKA (1934 - ) - Capitol

A scathing political statement against the capitalist trade of a country's (and, thus, people's) access to basic natural resources. This poem is replete with PUNS ("germ", "dough", "tender", "sad"). Look also for basic contrast in IMAGERY (happy, smiling faces to sadness, embers to ashes etc).

STEPHEN WATSON (1955 - ) - The Rain That is Male

It's important to recognise that this poem is a poetic interpretation and translation of the Bleek and Lloyd Collections, whcih are, themselves, translations of !Xam narratives and myths. that means that the politics of this piece are pretty fascinating, given your course preoccupation with 'selves and others'.

Things to look out for:
Form, male/female binaries.

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH (1770 - 1850) - Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, Spetember 3, 1802

Things to look out for:

Unusual figuration of the city/culture as feminine (and nature as masculine), extended metaphor of London as a beautiful woman, use of sonnet form, unusual Romantic extolling of the virtues of the city as pseudo-pastoral space.

William Butler Yeats ( 1865-1939) - The Second Coming

Things to look out for:

Image of spirals, revolution and thwarted communication, apocalyptic religious imagery, 'sound effects' in alliteration and assonance.

The End is Nigh...

Hi everyone.

Phew! Things have really been heating up, with the result that blog posts have been few and far between these past few weeks. I'll be picking up the pace prior to your exam, though, so keep checking back.

This week marked our last official class together. As I mentioned to you, it really will be the last class, as I won't be returning next semster. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sad about that.

Never fear, though, I won't be dumping you in the deep end just yet! First, lets get through this exam period together. I'll be posting loads of tips, revision and some poetry reminders over the next 2 weeks - check in regularly to take advantage of this.

As a special offer to blog readers/students, I'm offering an EXTRA CLASS on Tuesday 21st April in LR 27 at 11:30. Be there with questions on the course and be ready to cram some of the poetry we didn't make it to. I'll also be posting one or two thoughts on Madonna of Excelsior on this site afterwards.

***

As an end-of-semester event, I suggested we go and see Decadence at the Intimate Theatre in town in the first week of May. It's horridly expensive - R60 - so not for everyone, but for those who'd like to join, I can guarantee it'll be a goodie. Here are details:

This naughty little number is a feast for all the senses. Sex, temptation, indulgence, and glorious extravagance meet desire and a touch of murder.

Steven Berkoff’s comment on British society traces the sensual exploration of two couples’ hysterical love affairs and unusual fetishes. DECADENCE comments on the complex dynamics of mans’ relationships not only with the opposite sex, but with food and copious amounts of money. Helen, Steve, Sybil and Les have seemingly nothing in common, except for their apparent inability to resist temptation...

This risqué story of love and obsession, written by infamously mischievous Steven Berkoff, is performed by Scott Sparrow and Emily Child, and directed by acclaimed comedic expert Christopher Weare. It runs from the 29th April – 16th May at the appropriately named Intimate Theatre on 37 Orange Street Cape Town.

Emily and Scott are ridiculously talented (and ridiculously hot). If you want to come, you should bring money to class on Tuesday and I'll book on the spot for you. The theatre is on the UCT drama campus in town (Orange Street, opposite the Mount Nelson).

Friends, Students, Theatregoers!

Whilst the fabled ides of March may have come and gone, Qaphela Caesar is still running at Hiddingh until friday. A combination of the schools of dance, drama, music and film, it's a pretty spectacular production. Hardly any of the original Shakespeare makes it into the show, with text being interpreted mainly through movement and music.So what can you expect? Half naked women in duct tape doing dances with fire extinguishers, full-body painted men doing choreographed dances with playing cards and black leather shoes, not to mention rather interesting combos of togas and high heels. And that's just for starters. Go and see it - it's a legal mind-altering experience.

Assignment Panic? Never!

I know a lot of you are starting to face the hand-in horror of Friday. Here are a couple of helpful hints; take a deep breath and read them through!



If you're writing on the Press poem:


I suggest that paragraph 1 should set up your understanding of the speaking voice - who is the speaker and what is their position on the refugees? Once you've explained some of the complexities around what is said versus what is implied in this poem, your analysis will flow a lot smoother.

Now, take my worksheet of questions that I gave you in class, and turn a couple of your favourite points into one paragraph each. Remember, whenever you're trying to make a point, it helps if you use a quote from the poem (properly referenced, of course!) to back up your ideas. Don't just drop a quote in cold - use it in a sentence. Make it work for you.

Above all else: don't rush your points. Take the time to do your ideas justice. You have 3 pages - use them! Remember my 3 critical analysis questions and APPLY them.

If you're writing on the Conrad:

This is a lovely, but broad essay topic - like Marlow, you will need to navigate your own path through the jungle of ideas. You HAVE to use quotes from the text in this! They will act like road signs and draw your reader back to the text, making your final mark that much higher.

Remember: one idea per paragraph. If you speak of the "heart of darkness" being the literaral geographical space of Africa as represented by Colonial Europeans, don't suddenly begin referring to the brutality that lies in the Coloniser's own hearts - it mixes ideas! You need to insert a nice, fresh paragraph break. That way, your marker won't get theme-claustrophobia.

Please remember to reference all quotes using Harvard conventions: ".....quote....." (Author surname, year of publication: page number).

Your essay will consist of three or four main points (ideas as to what the "heart of darkness" might refer to) and, for each one, one or two strong links to the text supporting your argument. It will mean re-reading several sections of the book to find the right quotes. Yes, RE-READING!

Remember, I am happy to look at drafts, but not on Thursday. If anyone asks me for help on Thursday, I may take payment in fingers.

We’re back!

…and I’m sure you missed me dreadfully. Unfortunately, we hit a bit of a snag these past 2 weeks, as hyper active VC internet filters cut our access to the blog. But, after fighting the good fight, I’ve managed to get us up and running. You can thank me in chocolate (or, better yet, first class essays).

Also, hello there to the little cluster of non-Cape Townian readers we’ve sprouted! I've had three emails from non VC students...and that's just this week. Although I unfortunately won’t be able to critique your essays and work like I do with my own students, you’re very welcome to work along with us. You're also very welcome to leave comments on the posts.

So, what’s been happening at VC Cape Town?

Macbeki, for one. Fifteen of us went on Tuesday night and watched Macbeth…SA style. It was many things – overly long and hard to hear, yes, but highlights included the disgruntled ‘previously advantaged’ porter, Macbeki’s overly-zealous verbal referencing and Lady Manto’s drunken “come, you spirits” speech. Let’s do it again!

On an academic front, boy have we hit crunch time, people. Midterms, essay deadlines and the pressure of reading the novels in time has taken hold. REMINDER: you are writing your English midterm on Friday 20th March, the same day your two UNISA essays are due. It's a lot to juggle, but please don't drop any of those balls.

On that note, come and talk to me if you feel things are getting to you, ok? I promise to only get slightly mad to hear you still haven’t bought the book, etc. Rather let’s fix it while we’ve got time than stick our heads in the proverbial sand. It’s only going to get crazier.

Of course, there are some things I can't do for you: attend class for you, read your novels for you, make your notes. If you're not doing that....eish, sweetheart.

I'll post a couple of assignment hints this weekend for you. Check this space!

Outbreak of Art!

Infecting the City '09

Great to see some of you today (hello Portia!). Remember...performances continue until Friday. My recommendation is 'Exile', every weekday at 1:15 in the Adderley Street Fountain.

Mmm. It was beautiful.