ENGL001 – LITERACY PREPARATION FOR TEACHERS

(HSC BAND 4)

UNIT COORDINATOR: LISA WARD

ASSIGNMENT THREE

COMPLETED BY JULIE PAPPS

STUDENT NUMBER: 220076557

Assignment 3a)

Write a review of ONE (1) of the following literary texts:

• Case, Jo. ‘Hell Is Other Parents’. In: The Best Australian Stories 2009, ed.

Delia Falconer. Melbourne, Black Inc., 2009, pp. 132-144 (access through

eReserve).

• D.H. Lawrence, ‘Last Lesson of the Afternoon’ (poem). In: Hough, Lyndall.

Language, Context and Meaning: Book 1. Port Melbourne, Vic., Heinemann,

2003, p. 143 (access through eReserve).

• D.H. Lawrence, extract from The Rainbow (novel). In: Hough, Lyndall.

Language, Context and Meaning: Book 1. Port Melbourne, Vic., Heinemann,

2003, pp. 139-141 (access through eReserve).

In the review, identify the main literary techniques used in the text, and comment on the

use of these techniques to shape meaning.

The text that will be considered in this review is ‘Hell is Other Parents’. In The Best

Australian Stories 2009, written by Jo Case. This text is a lightweight story about the daily

happenings of two mothers and their sons. The message that is being portrayed throughout

the story is the contrasting styles of parenting. The narrator appears to think of herself as the

imperfect parent that always makes the wrong decision, whereas she portrays the other

mother, Vanessa, as the perfect parent. There are several literary techniques used throughout

the story. The main techniques used are dialogue, imagery, emotive language, powerful

verbs, contrast, dramatic irony and pauses.

Firstly, the author uses dialogue and italics as a literary technique by using spoken words

between The Narrator and Vanessa. The use of dialogue makes the characters seem more

lifelike and assists the audience to easily relate to the characters. The author has also used

italics throughout the text for two different reasons. First of all, to let the audience know what

the character is thinking but not saying to the other character. This allows the audience to

connect and see both sides of the character, without other characters in the story knowing

everything. Secondly, italics are used to make certain words in the story standout to the

reader.

The author uses imagery by using descriptive writing and powerful verbs to describe different

objects throughout the story, for example ‘Her dog is a waist-high German Shephard with a

glossy coat and a fractious nature’ and ‘Vanessa and I collide at the front gate’. This assists in

giving the audience a clearer and more vivid picture of what the author is describing and adds

meaning to the text. The use of emotive language also livens up the story with the use of

words such as ‘I fantasise about killing Vanessa’.

The contrast between the narrator and Vanessa is described throughout the story, where the

narrator consistently portrays herself as the inferior mother, whereas Vanessa is constantly

portrayed as the perfect mother. The author also uses dramatic irony throughout the story to

add to the contrast of the story by displaying what the narrator is thinking to the audience but

not to Vanessa. Therefore the audience knows exactly what the narrator is thinking but

Vanessa has no idea, for example, ‘Like all those playboy magazine’s I keep in my bottom

drawer.”

The author uses dashes throughout the story to explain to the audience the thoughts going

through the narrators mind without letting the other characters know. For example, ‘She

pulled me into the ‘good’ sitting room – the one they don’t actually use – to tell me about her

afternoon.’ The author also uses ellipsis throughout the story as pauses so the reader reflects

on what was previously said before the ellipsis. For example, I did have to put up with him

saying penis and vagina all weekend, but… but that was OK, I guess.’ Finally, the author

uses breaks between paragraphs to signify a shift in the story from one thought to the next.

Finally, the meaning of this text is shaped through the literary techniques discussed, together

with the written medium of production, literary text type, informal subjective language and

the irritated, anxious tone that is used by the narrator to entertain the audience.

Question 3b.

Explain how, by changing the medium of production for the literary text reviewed in

3(a), you could reshape the meaning of the text and influence responses to the text.

The text that will be discussed in this document is ‘Hell is Other Parents’. In The Best

Australian Stories 2009, written by Jo Case. The medium of production used for this text is

print, as it is produced as a written short story delivering a literal message. When the medium

of production is changed into a short play, the audience is able to use sound and visual skills

to help assist in interpreting the deeper meaning of the text. Not only can the audience see

and hear the text, they can more easily understand what the author is implying.

How a story is produced has a vast influence on what the text means. In regards to the story

above, the use of a short play as the medium of production enables the author to

communicate ideas, experiences and stories within the text through acting. By using vocal

tone, sound, expression, movement, gesture, costumes and sets, the audience is able to use

both vision and sound to interpret the meaning of the story. Whereas, if the medium of

production for the same text is written, then depending on the audience’s prior knowledge

and understanding of the topic, the text may be interpreted in many different ways depending

on how each individual person comprehends the text.

Now that the audience can see and hear the characters display of the text in the form of role

play, the tone and the body language used by the characters accentuates the content. For

example, in the first scene when the narrator and Vanessa ‘collide at the school gate, in a

tangle of dog leads and frantic barking’ these actions can be easily acted out on a stage

through the use of guarded body language, awkward looks on the characters faces, and

barking dogs to provide the audience a visual example of the relationship between the

narrator and Vanessa.

In order to reshape the meaning of the text, at times throughout the play the author could add

an element of nervousness and uncertainty to the voices of the narrator and Vanessa. This

would suggest to the audience that the characters are worried about doing what is appropriate

in regards to their differing parenting styles. This display of nervousness and uncertainty

would show that the characters feel pressured by today’s society to closely monitor their

child’s behavior and for their child to behave perfectly, which in turn causes concern and

uncertainty for all parents.

In conclusion, the meaning and response to the text would be reshaped as the audience is able

to use their sound and visual skills to assist in interpreting the deeper meaning of the text.

Whereas, if the author uses written text as the medium of production the audience can only

use their prior knowledge and understanding of the topic to interpret the meaning of the text.