Gatsby –poetry DIT essay feedback March 2017

Well done! Exam technique much improved for most Close analysis of poems much improved for all Coverage and quote selection more secure and confident for most Class marks for this question are now more in line with the other questions.

Feedback 1. If struggling to cover 7 paragraphs in the time, try: Merging 1 & 2 and making this more streamline. Merging 2&3 and making it more streamline. Removing 3 and embedding authorial intention in each main section for each text 2. Some confusion about ‘control’ across the ages – some assertions you could have used: Patriarchal society across time has largely put men in control Unless that is, the women have high social status which may give them control over those beneath them (courtly love meets this circumstance) Control over women is less typical post-1960 – modern reader may find the powerlessness of women hard to identify with Literature about love typically is written from male perspective

More feedback 3. You can’t neglect the second poem and use it as a bolt-on – this dilutes your argument. 4. Why does Keats use a medieval ballad and suggest women as controlling? Keats’ use of medieval ballad demonises women as femme fatales – he once said he didn’t write for women and regarded them as ‘children who I would rather give a sugar plum than my time’. This may help explain his use of the medieval ballad as it conveys the impression a ‘historic truth’ about women’s destructive natures. Some feminist critics have even read the poem as the pseudo-rape of the knight. Alternatively, other critics have thought that the knight is overtly an unreliable narrator. The Romantic poets were interested in medievalism for its exotic, far away, supernatural content. Its focus on male chivalry (culture of male politeness/courtesy) resonated maybe with Keats’ anxieties about women exploiting men.

Next DIT essay ( Easter holiday task)– Love across the ages Paper 1 Section C Compare how the authors of two texts you have studied celebrate desire Compare how the authors of two texts you have studied present death in relation to love Compare how the authors of two texts you have studied present marriage as a form of entrapment ( I will offer an extra session on this to support) Compare how the authors of two texts you have studied present relationships satirically Compare how the authors of two texts you have studied present time in relation to love Compare how the authors of two texts you have studied present loneliness