First some other business… Cosi Excursion after school, 29 th Wheeler centre in city. Who wants to go? Streetcar one – who wants to go? Annotated novels – Are they allowed in the SAC?

How to prepare for your Farewell to Arms SAC

Underline title of film In the semi-autobiographical novel, A Farewell to Arms, author, Ernest Hemmingway, explores the way war strips people of their humanity.

Don’t forget essay structure! Your introduction must state your contention/ position on the essay question and outline main ideas. ONLY 1 Main idea per paragraph. TEEL No new information in conclusion. Topic sentence must relate to an idea in response to the essay question NOT an event in the novel.

In your introduction you should… Mention the title and author of the novel. Strongly state you contention/ position on the essay topic. (You may choose to re-word the question in a way that shows how you will be answering it.) Briefly outline your 3 main ideas.

Use connective to make you writing more fluent. Instead of BUT – However, on the other hand, In contrast Instead of AND or ALSO – In addition, furthermore To introduce a result of something Consequently, as a result, therefore

CRITERIA POINT 1 Demonstrate an understanding of the ideas, characters and themes constructed and presented in the selected text. TIPS: Mention the minor characters, not just the main ones. Who might they be? Take time to understand what the question is asking you to do and which theme it might be linked to. Show an awareness of Hemingway’s characterisation. How do the characters change throughout the novel? Go into the SAC with a clear idea of what the themes of this novel are and how these are developed through the characters. What do you think the major themes of the novel are?

CRITERIA POINT 2 Analyse the ways in which the author constructs meaning in the selected text.

USE LANGUAGE THAT..Presents techniques explicitly, acknowledges the director, acknowledges the audience Eg. When someone dies or is about to die it is always raining. Becomes - Hemingway uses rain as a symbol to represent the constant downpour of the war’s destruction. If it is raining in the novel, the audience can be sure that death will follow.

Criteria Point 3 Analyse ways in which the text is open to different interpretations. You get some marks here for the strength of your own contention/ interpretation. But try to go further by acknowledging that there could be other ways of seeing things Eg. Catherine’s behaviour towards Henry could be seen as a passive submission to him. However, quite the opposite is true. As a result of the loss of her fiancé, Catherine is actively pursuing what she wants. In this way, she is an empowered woman, especially for her time.

We will stop here for now TASK: Go through the draft of your essay and consider where you might be able to make changes or additions in order to meet the criteria points we have discussed so far.

Criteria point 4 Analyse the social, historical and/or cultural values that are embodied in the selected text. Eg. Helen Ferguson’s shock and outrage reflects the values of the time. The way that god is treated like ‘a dirty joke’ in the mess hall indicates the way many turned away from religion during the course of the war. Hemmingway presents many characters who have turned against the war. This reflects the way many soldiers lost their sense of duty at this time.

Criteria Point 5 Use appropriate metalanguage and draw on textual evidence to support analysis Quotes Words used to describe how language is used. Eg. First person narrator, unadorned prose, sparse use of adjectives, reoccurring symbol, dialogue

Criteria Point 6 Plan and revise written work for expressiveness, fluency and coherence or plan and deliver an effective oral text. Clear topic sentences Quotes embedded Wide vocabulary (not too much repetition) Formal language/ no slang Only one main idea per paragraph Use of connectives, such as “However”, “Furthermore” etc

THEME/ MAIN IDEA MAP 1.Love conquers all 1.From bad times, come good things 2.War strips people of their humanity. 1.Courage is important and valuable 1.There is no hope in this novel 2.There are lots of ways to escape horrors of war but some work better than others. 3.This novel challenges out ideas about what it means to be a hero.

“The novel shows that adversity brings out the most admirable human qualities.” Discuss 1. Check key terms of question. (Make sure you always have a dictionary with you.) 2. Break question into parts. (In this case – good human qualities the war brings out and bad human qualities the war brings out) 3. Decide on your contention – Analyse whether overall, the statement in the question is true and explain why. Eg. The adversity faced by characters in the war deepens their connections to each other and makes friendship and love more important. However, ultimately Hemingway shows that the horrors of war are so extreme that no admirable human qualities can survive. If Henry had stayed, he may have continued to exercise the same “beautiful detachment’ that enables men to kill, one of the worst of all human traits. 4. Decide on 3 main points.

“It is through Frederic Henry’s experience of war that the author explores war’s effect on humanity.” Discuss

Annotate your novel! Mark in ‘key quotes’ and events. You may want to put one word in the margin to indicate the ‘theme or idea’ it connects to. You may choose to write a short summary of each chapter at the start of each chapter. Be sure to check that no extended pieces of writing are in your novel. If you get caught with this in your text then you really will get zero.