You are here: Home » Sixth Form » Exemplar A Level Work
Exemplar A Level Work
‘A’ level English literature is demanding as it requires powerful, analytical thinking and mature and sophisticated writing skills as demonstrated in the following two extracts;
Amy Tempest (Year 13)
‘Victorian romantic heroines fail to win our hearts’. Discuss how appealing the heroines are in ‘Wuthering Heights’ and ‘A Doll’s House’.
Victorian femininity was defined by particular characteristics: maternal instinct, dutifulness and virtuousness but Ibsen has constructed a protagonist that lacks the feminine touch. Ibsen presents Nora’s lack of maternal instinct through paralleling her with the Nurse. According to critic William L. Urban there are many parallels within ‘A Doll’s House’: Krogstad and Helmer present the theme of reality versus fantasy and Nora and Kristina Linde present the concept of a free woman juxtaposed to that of a Victorian woman. In Act II, Nora asks the Nurse whether her children would miss her if she were to go, ‘Do you think they would forget their mother if she went away altogether?’ This reminds the audience of the choice that the Nurse had to make when she decided to become Nora’s nanny. The Nurse put her ‘own child out among strangers’ to prevent her from living a life full of poverty. However, Ibsen reassures us of the Nurse’s maternal instinct by revealing how the Nurse has kept in contact with her daughter, ‘She wrote to me when she was confirmed, and when she was married’. Nora knows that her children will be looked after in the care of the Nurse. She has recognised that she is a good playmate, ‘Come, let us have a game! What shall we play?’ but at this particular moment she is not a good mother as she has not yet grown up. Ibsen’s presentation of Nora’s lack of maternal instinct contrasts with the traits of the typical Victorian woman and therefore her character would be less appealing to a Victorian audience as they cannot relate to her.
Jordan Beasley (Year 13)
How have theories of metaphor informed your reading of Ernest Hemingway’s ‘Indian Camp’ and Doris Lessing’s ‘Through the Tunnel’?
This forced exposure is in radical contrast to Lessing’s, who at the time of writing was an emerging feminist, portrayal of a more innocent, protective mother-son relationship. While Nick’s father wants to take an active role in Nick’s maturation, Jerry’s mother knows that she must let her son mature on his own. While his mother is surprised, for example, when Jerry strays a moment from her side “Oh, there you are, Jerry!” she allows him to go to the “wild bay” without her. Lessing is conveying the idea that Jerry’s mother will always be there to comfort her son if he needs it, but will also allow him to find himself by himself, “She was determined to be neither possessive nor lacking in devotion.” This attitude is also shown through Lessing’s incorporation of the repeated metaphor in Jerry’s mother’s arm “swinging loose.” The fact that it is “loose” presents the way that Jerry no longer holds onto his mother’s hand as he did as a child; presenting their growing detachment, but the way that it is described as “swinging”, as someone who is self-assured would swing their arms, contrastingly shows the way the mother is also comfortable with Jerry’s assertion of his independence.