Question 1a 60 Marks

Examine the scene from The Great Gatsby film where Nick attends Tom and Myrtle’s party. This scene is available on the YouTube link below. Then answer the essay question that follows.

• https://youtu.be/elmkZaz4Ihs

Write an essay (1200 – 1500 words) critically discussing the ways in which all three premises of auteur theory are applied in the above scene.

In your answer, make sure you provide a structured argument that addresses the following:

• How the given scene visually emphasises the key themes of the film – and to what effect;
• How Luhrmann uses sound design techniques in the scene to complement the narration, characterisation, and themes of the film.

To support your argument, refer extensively to specific relevant examples from the given scene in The Great Gatsby film, as well as relevant evidence from any three additional credible sources.

Question 1b 60 Marks

Examine the scene from The Great Gatsby film where Daisy visits Gatsby’s mansion for the first time. This scene is available on the YouTube link below. Then answer the essay question that follows.

• https://youtu.be/5o9bvY6PVIc

Write an essay (1200 – 1500 words) critically discussing the ways in which all three premises of auteur theory are applied in the above scene.

In your answer, make sure you provide a structured argument that addresses the following:

• How the given scene visually emphasises the key themes of the film – and to what effect;
• How Luhrmann uses sound design techniques in this scene to complement his interpretation of Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship.

To support your argument, refer extensively to specific relevant examples from the given scene in
The Great Gatsby film, as well as relevant evidence from any three additional credible sources.

Question 2a 30 Marks

Engage in a close reading of the extract below, taken from near the beginning of Part Two of Wide Sargasso Sea, and answer the question that follows:
“The morning before the wedding Richard Mason burst into my room … as I was finishing my first cup of coffee … ‘She won’t marry you.’
‘But why?’
‘She doesn’t say.’
‘She must have some reason.’
‘She won’t give a reason. I’ve been arguing with the little fool for an hour.’
We stared at each other.
‘Everything arranged, the presents, the invitations. What shall I tell your father?’ He seemed
on the verge of tears.
I said, ‘If she won’t, she won’t. She can’t be dragged to the alter. Let me get dressed. I must
hear what she has to say.’
He went out meekly and while I dressed I thought that this would indeed make a fool of me. I did not relish going back to England in the role of a rejected suitor jilted by this Creole girl. I must certainly know why.
She was sitting in a rocking-chair with her head bent. He hair was in two long plaits over her shoulders. From a little distance I spoke gently, ‘What’s the matter, Antoinette? What have I done?’
She said nothing.
‘You don’t wish to marry me?’
‘No.’ She spoke in a very low voice. ‘But why?’
‘I’m afraid of what may happen.’
‘But don’t you remember last night that I told you that when you are my wife there would not be any more reason to be afraid?’
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Then Richard came in and you laughed. I didn’t like the way you laughed.’ ‘But I was laughing at myself, Antoinette.’
She looked at me and I took her in my arms and kissed her.

‘You don’t know anything about me,’ she said.
‘I’ll trust you if you trust me. Is that a bargain? You will make me very unhappy if you send
me away without telling me what I have done to displease you. I will go with a sad heart.’
‘Your sad heart,’ she said, and touched my face. I kissed her fervently, promising her peace, happiness, safety, but when I said, ‘Can I tell poor Richard that it was a mistake? He is sad too’, she did not answer me. Only nodded.”

Write two to three paragraphs (350 – 500 words) discussing how this extract from Wide Sargasso Sea speaks back to the events and characters of Jane Eyre.

In your response, make sure you provide a structured argument that compares the relationship between Rochester and Antoinette in this extract with what we know of their relationship from Jane Eyre – and the effect of this on your attitudes towards both characters.

To support your argument, refer to relevant evidence from the provided extract of Wide Sargasso Sea, as well as from at least one additional credible source.

Question 2b 30 Marks

Engage in a close reading of the extract below, taken from near the middle of Part Two of Wide Sargasso Sea, and answer the question that follows:
“After a long time I heard her say as if she were talking to herself, ‘I have said all I want to say. I have tried to make you understand. But nothing has changed.’ She laughed.
‘Don’t laugh like that, Bertha.’
‘My name is not Bertha; why do you call me Bertha?’
‘Because it is a name I’m particularly fond of. I think of you as Bertha.’ ‘It doesn’t matter,’ she said.
I said, ‘When you went off this morning, where did you go?’
‘I went to see Christophine,’ she said. ‘I will tell you anything you wish to know, but in a few words because words are no use, I know that now.’
‘Why did you go see her?’
‘I went to ask her to do something for me.’ ‘And did she do it?’
‘Yes.’ Another long pause.
‘You wanted to ask her advice, was that it?’
She did not answer.
‘What did she say?’
‘She said that I ought to go away – to leave you.’ ‘Oh did she?’, I said, surprised.
‘Yes, that was her advice.’
‘I want to do the best for both of us,’ I said. ‘So much of what you tell me is strange, different from what I was led to expect. Don’t you feel that perhaps Christophine is right? That if you went away from this place or I went away – exactly as you wish of course – for a time, it might be the
wisest thing we could do?’ Then I said sharply, ‘Bertha are you asleep, are you ill, why don’t you answer me?’ I got up, went over to her chair and took her cold hands in mine. We’ve been sitting here long enough, it is very late.’
‘You go,’ she said. ‘I wish to stay here in the dark … where I belong,’ she added.
‘Oh nonsense,’ I said. I put my arms around her to help her up, I kissed her, but she drew away.

Your mouth is colder than my hands,’ she said. I tried to laugh. In the bedroom I closed the shutters. ‘Sleep now, we will talk things over tomorrow.’
‘Yes,’ she said, ‘of course, but will you come in and say goodnight to me?’ Certainly I will, my dear Bertha.’
‘Not Bertha tonight,’ she said.
‘Of course, on this of all nights, you must be Bertha.’ ‘As you wish,’ she said.

Write two to three paragraphs (350 – 500 words) discussing how this extract from Wide Sargasso Sea speaks back to the events and characters of Jane Eyre.

In your response, make sure you provide a structured argument that compares the relationship between Rochester and Antoinette in this extract with what we know of their relationship from Jane Eyre – and the effect of this on your attitudes towards both characters.
To support your argument, refer to relevant evidence from the provided extract of Wide Sargasso Sea, as well as from at least one additional credible source.

Question 3a 30 Marks

“Fairy tales and (the) Gothic are closely entwined and a fairy tale’s basis in folklore provides a traditional framework upon which modern fears can be explored. Just as Bram Stoker had taken East European folk tales about vampirism and used them in Dracula to highlight the anxieties that assailed the Victorians, so did Carter take the fairy tales of the 18th and 19th centuries and use them as a framework to address modern issues. In particular, Carter utilised fairy tales as a basis from which to explore contemporary attitudes towards sex and gender in what was still largely a patriarchal society.”

Source: Buzwell, G. 2016. Angela Carter, Gothic literature and The Bloody Chamber. The British Library, 25 May 2016. [Online]. Available at: https://www.bl.uk/20th-century- literature/articles/angela-carter-gothic-literature-and-the-bloody-chamber. [Accessed 26
October 2022].

Using the above quotation as context, write two to three paragraphs (350 – 500 words) discussing how Carter explores “contemporary attitudes toward sex and gender” in The Company of Wolves story.

In your response, make sure you provide a structured argument that addresses how the key themes and messages in The Company of Wolves story are conveyed through imagery and any one other literary/narrative device – and to what effect.

To support your argument, refer to relevant evidence from The Company of Wolves story, as well as from at least one additional credible source.

Question 4a 30 marks

Using the above quotation from Audre Lorde as context, write two to three paragraphs (350 – 500 words) discussing how Antonio Jacinto’s poem Letter from a Contract Worker expresses resistance against multiple issues.

In your response, make sure you provide a structured argument that addresses what specifically Letter from a Contract Worker aims to resist, and how the poem’s structure, diction, tone, and imagery conveys this resistance.

To support your argument, refer to relevant evidence from the Letter from a Contract Worker
poem, as well as from at least one additional credible source.

Question 4b 30 marks

Using the above quotation from Audre Lorde as context, write two to three paragraphs (350 – 500 words) discussing how Adrienne Rich’s poem I am in Danger — Sir — expresses resistance against multiple issues.

In your response, make sure you provide a structured argument that addresses what specifically I am in Danger — Sir — aims to resist, and how the poem’s structure, diction, tone, and imagery conveys this resistance.

To support your argument, refer to relevant evidence from the I am in Danger — Sir — poem, as well as from at least one additional credible source.

Answers to Above Questions on English

An analysis of the Great Gatsby Film where Nick attends Tom and Myrtle’s party indicates that Nick accompanies Tom through the valley of Ashes in order to meet his mistress, Myrtle Wilson. The guests are invited over the party by Myrtle including her sister Catherine and the downstairs neighbours, The McKees. There are many such scenes that will be analysed by way of considering the three premises of auteur theory such as technical competence, distinguishable personality, and interior meaning.