Year of Wonders Prompts - What did you pick?

[VivaTequila]

I am yet to find someone in the Text Response sticky or in my school who has done the second prompt.

Who doesn't like structure? It was so open to a great discussion!

Why did you pick the topic you chose for Year of Wonders - both of which, mind you, purported to complex discussions.

The prompts were:

i. "In the end, I did not make the choice so much as have it made for me."
Is this true of other characters in the village?

ii. How does Brooks develop a sense of time and of place in this novel?

I answered the second prompt. I basically said that Brooks structures the text specifically in medias res to allow the reader to better chart the growth of the characters with a final image in mind, whilst also using the metastructural elements of chapter titles to convey the seasons and give a sense of temporal rather than physical time. The other half of my essay was to do with the descriptors of the place as a remote village in Derbyshire, and to justify this 'sense of place' I basically said that the author frequently revisits the same places in the text (the Miner's Tavern, the Cucklett Delf, the Rectory, etc) to establish the idea that the village is small. Similarly, anything past 'Boundary Stone', such as the village of Bakewell, is narrated by Anna to be intangible. The far off and unheard of tales of London iterated by George Viccars also serve to contrast the dank and musky environments of the cities streets with the expansive pastures and harsh topology of the village.

Then to summarise it all I basically said that Brooks utilises these elements to accentuate Anna's growth and show that I can actually deal with non-structural elements of the text... basically said that her growth from a subservient widow into an adoptive mother, scholar, and doctor free from the shackles of domineering males and religious dogma is made all the more amazing by the fact that she was a woman in a remote 16th century village. In terms of time I just basically explained that Brooks' intentional structuring of the novel in media res allows the audience to chart Anna's growth with a final image in mind, all the more effectively mapping it.

I was obviously nowhere near as clear as I am here, writing it relaxedly for you guys to critique because it was the first essay I wrote and my heart was going at 140bpm by 10:15am when I was only halfway through. Hoping for a 14/20+ because it was fluent albeit but a lot of the language being convoluted, and I didn't "wrap it up" into a nice and neat package for the examiner - a lot of what I was trying to say was implicit and lacked conviction.

Anyhoo, the evidence was there and I'm hoping they lap it up.

[funkyducky]

I did number one, but some kids at my school did the second one, so rest assured that you're not the only one.

[clopea23]

I did the second prompt too because I was under the pump and didn't know what to write for the first one. After reading what you wrote for it makes mine look like crap! I wrote how times have changed from the role of women in those days compared to now. It was so bad but I disnt even study the way the novel was written or anything so feeling pretty Bad about it. Atleast its over !!!

[xXjAmEZXx]

i did i) as i lack ability to do respond well to questions like ii) but I reckon mine was still pretty cool. I talked about how certain characters are restricted in their ability to choice their destinies whilst others have full control over their choices and actions and the contrasting implications of those actions and what they mean to villagers and stuff.

[VivaTequila]

I did the second prompt too because I was under the pump and didn't know what to write for the first one. After reading what you wrote for it makes mine look like crap! I wrote how times have changed from the role of women in those days compared to now. It was so bad but I disnt even study the way the novel was written or anything so feeling pretty Bad about it. Atleast its over !!!

don't flip, mine was a lot worse than I made it out to be because I was writing under the pump as well. I basically gave all my evidence but didn't explain it at all, or thats just how I feel in hindsight. I knew what to write, but I don't know if I made enough sense of it

[DarkVisor]

Haha Vivatequila, I wrote that prompt too, but I do feel so shit after reading your ideas, they're amazing!
Pretty much wrote how brooks signposts events etc through structure of the novel, then wrote how she uses descriptive and pastoral imagery to relay the setting of the countryside Eyam to the reader, and finally discussed how Anna and Anys are characters out of place in that time...

Wish we could have a second chance at it

[nemolala]

stuck with the first. Although they were both topics I haven't previously attempted during trials- predominantly because I never came across such prompt or similar, I chose the first because I had enough knowledge to answer it. i hate doing an essay and not having much to say. At least the first I could get things down, whereas the second was just like uhh I don't know.

[AleksIlia]

I wrote on first, felt weird but oh well just hoping for a 36 in English. Is it wrong to also dedicate a paragraph to anna's choices despite asking about the other characters?

[lucy_jane]

I wrote on first, felt weird but oh well just hoping for a 36 in English. Is it wrong to also dedicate a paragraph to anna's choices despite asking about the other characters?

I wrote a paragraph on Anna too and now I am a bit concerned after someone else said something about it :S

[nemolala]

I wrote of Anna too, whats wrong with it?

[lucy_jane]

I wrote of Anna too, whats wrong with it?

Someone put forward the idea to me that we weren't allowed to write on Anna as the prompt asked for whether the quote was true for the other characters...
However, personally when doing the prompt I interpreted it as needing to agree or disagree and justify reasons as to why Anna had choice or not which demanded its own paragraph then writing on the other characters as to whether they had choice if that makes sense
But hey, shall just have to wait and see what mark I get back

[AleksIlia]

I wrote of Anna too, whats wrong with it?

Someone put forward the idea to me that we weren't allowed to write on Anna as the prompt asked for whether the quote was true for the other characters...
However, personally when doing the prompt I interpreted it as needing to agree or disagree and justify reasons as to why Anna had choice or not which demanded its own paragraph then writing on the other characters as to whether they had choice if that makes sense
But hey, shall just have to wait and see what mark I get back

Exactly what my mindset was as well, should be fine, best of luck

[i.Bat.]

I did prompt two as well. I focused on how she included elements of history and drew parallels between Anna's experiences and the experiences of actual people during the Plague. I wrote about Charles the Second/ Cromwell and religion, the role of science, the role of women, witchcraft and something else but i cannot remember what

[VivaTequila]

Going to get my Statement of Marks for this because I'm really curious to see how I went.