Aspects of Narrative

Brainstorm your ideas about what narrative is and how it is

created?

AO1 – Section A, 2nd question Section B

• Articulate creative, informed and

relevant responses to literary texts,

using appropriate terminology and

concepts, and coherent, accurate

written expression

AO2 – Section A, 1st question Section B

• Demonstrate detailed critical

understanding in analysing the ways

in which structure, form and

language shape meanings in literary

texts

AO3 – Section A, 2nd question Section B

• Explore connections and

comparisons between different

literary texts, informed by

interpretations of other readers

AO4 – Section A, 2nd question

• Demonstrate understanding of the

significance and influence of the

contexts in which literary texts are

written and received

The Road

• The story is set in a post-apocalyptic world, date and place unnamed, though the reader can assume it's somewhere in what was the United States because the man tells the boy that they're walking the "state roads.”

• Neither the man nor the boy is given a name; this anonymity adds to the novel's tone that this could be happening anywhere, to anyone.

• Stylistically, the writing is very fragmented and sparse from the beginning, which reflects the barren and bleak landscape through which the man and boy are traveling. McCarthy also chooses to use no quotation marks in dialogue and for some contractions, he leaves out the apostrophes. Because this is a post-apocalyptic story, the exemption of these punctuation elements might serve as a way for McCarthy to indicate that in this new world, remnants of the old world — like electricity, running water, and humanity — no longer exist, or they exist in very limited amounts.

Beginnings

• Read the following comments on openings and pick out the point which seems to you most interesting or helpful when thinking about The Road.

• Present it, explaining the point and adding a comment of your own, related to The Road:

Ian McEwan draws attention to the fact that beginnings are constructed. The beginning of The Road …

Homework – due Tuesday (hand in to Mr Lawrence, or email me:

jrawlings@woolwichpoly.greenwich.sch.uk or jorawlings78@gmail.com

• Write about the ways that McCarthy tells the story in section 1 of The Road.

• 30 minutes – Language, Structure, Form (the overall effect, it’s the opening chapter of a novel).

• Use the ‘building blocks’ as ideas.

Band 6 answers:• evaluation of how

the author’s narrative methods work;

• several points fully developed and evaluated; structure/voice evaluated; excellent illustration;

• integrated evaluation of the story and authorial method.

AO2: Demonstrate detailed critical understanding in analysing the ways in which structure, form and language shape meanings in literary texts.

10 sections

1. Beginning 0 – 242. 25 – 583. 59 – 82 4. 83 – 1075. 108 – 1356. 136 – 1587. 159 – 1848. 185 – 2109. 211 – 23110.232 – end

Take a section each and make notes about the narrative on your sheet.

Scenes and places:

Time and sequence:

Characters and characterisation:

Voices:

Point/s of view:

Destination:

Themes:

•Death•Paternal love•Good versus Evil•Trust•Faith and Doubt•Survival and Resilience•Narration: Naming and the Authority of Memory

Line of continuum

• Place the sections in the order of most important to least for developing the narrative.

• Think about why you have placed them in the order you have.

Themes

• Which the most important/dominant theme and why? Place them in this order.

•Death•Paternal love•Good versus Evil•Trust•Faith and Doubt•Survival and Resilience•Narration: Naming and the Authority of Memory

What do the themes do to the narrative?