Written Assignment

GOAL: To produce an analytical, literary essay on a topic generated by the student and developed from one of the pieces of supervised writing

LENGTH: Literary Essay: 1200-1500 words Relevant Reflective Statement: 300-400 words

Submission: The final essay is submitted along with the relevant reflective statement. The essay & reflective statement are externally assessed.

Assessment: The final assignment is awarded a mark out of 25 3 points for the reflective statement 22 points for the essay. The Written Assignment is worth 25% of the overall score in English

Staged process: Stage 1: Interactive Oral Stage 2: Reflective Statement Stage 3: Supervised Writing Stage 4: Production of the Essay

Production of the essay: The role of the teacher Provide guidance on development topic. Discuss connections between SW & essay Ensure that topic is suitable to length & focus of the task. Read first draft of the essay & provide feedback to student. The role of the student After receiving feedback on first draft, student must complete the WA without further assistance. Note: The assignment must be the independent work of the student. Statements on the coversheet declaring that the assignment is the independent work of the student must be signed by the student and by the supervising teacher. If the teacher and student sign a coversheet, but there is a comment to the effect that the work may not be authentic, the student will not be eligible for a mark in that component and no grade will be awarded. For further details refer to the IB publication Academic honesty and the relevant articles in the General regulations: Diploma Programme.

Development of Topic: Develop suitably challenging topics that allow you to show insight into the work. Choose a topic that has not been covered in great detail either in class discussion or in individual assignments. Essay topics must be generated by the relevant supervised writing. The link between the final choice of topic and the supervised writing does not have to be direct, but there must be a recognizable germ of an idea that can be tracked.

As Pechorin and Grushnitsky’s relationship is initially founded in the novel, Lermontov uses detailed descriptions of their ensembles – with emphasis on Grushnitsky’s greatcoat – to mock how hard they work to distinguish themselves, as a result condemning those who admire them. When the reader first encounters both Pechorin and Grushnitsky he receives a physical account of each character – this includes the way they dress, immediately establishing the importance of one’s image in their society. When he first meets Pechorin, the unnamed narrator illustrates our titular hero’s outfit – one including “a velvet coat” and a “dazzling white linen” shirt – exposing him to be “a man of decorous habits” (48). As Pechorin is the hero of the story, his clearly luxurious clothing and opulent manner are set as the standards for a “heroic” man. With this, Lermontov depicts the way that something as material as clothing has the ability to conceal the deep- rooted immoral qualities of man and to morph them to a point where the man appears to be a hero. In addition, we see how Pechorin judges others by their clothing. For one, when he arrives in Pyatigorsk, he judges what he sees to be “several pathetic groups” with just a “glance” (71) at their clothing, and his attitude is no different toward Grushnitsky. Here Lermontov expresses the superficiality of society, and how people don’t see past one another’s other’s outer appearances; this being why they fail to see through Pechorin’s own façade. Pechorin explains that Grushnitsky has only been a military man for a year and yet, “out of some peculiar brand of dandyism goes around in a thick private’s greatcoat” (72) – this mocking depiction immediately illustrates Pechorin’s tone towards Grushnitsky: one of ridicule and degradation. He believes that Grushnitsky “flaunts” (73) the greatcoat to receive undeserved attention; to seem like an unappreciated hero of sorts, and in turn he mocks him, thinking it to be ridiculous. Whereas Pechorin is already at the top of the social ranks, he finds it humorous that Grushnitsky is attempting to climb them – Lermontov uses this juxtaposed relationship in order to reveal the overall absurdity of the attempt to be the picture of a modern man. This primary contrast between Pechorin and Grushnitsky’s clothing is used in order to create an irony that reveals that both men are driven by the wrong motives, and that those who revere them are simply fools.