Beryl Bainbridge Powerpoint

AP OPEN PROMPT

2008, Form B. In some works of literature, childhood and adolescence are portrayed as times graced by innocence and a sense of wonder; in other works, they are depicted as times of tribulation and terror. Focusing on a single novel or play, explain how its representation of childhood or adolescence shapes the meaning of the work as a whole.

Gelila Tefera

A.P British Literature

Mrs. Wilson

February 26, 2012

            In many pieces of literature, young characters are first portrayed as innocent and naïve. Some authors choose to take the path where they let their character grow from a journey situation to a more sophisticated and fulfilling adult life or they take the  path where the character’s choices leads to their loss of innocence and are ultimately unable to attain their aspirations. In the case of An Awfully Big Adventure, Beryl Bainbridge developed a character, Stella,  who wants to  be hurled into a grown up world to not only receive appreciation in her abilities but also acknowledgement and acceptance from the  person she loves.  Stella’s infatuation with adult ideals leads her to take on actions that will untimely lose her innocence.

            In Bainbridge’s  An Awfully Big Adventure, Stella is an aspiring actress at a local Liverpool theatre who falls in love with an older member of the theatre. Although Stella's beloved Meredith seems oblivious to her romantically, several of the adult males in the company find her more than attractive. Two of them make inappropriate advances, but Stella doesn’t give in into their advances at first. It occurs to her that it would be a good idea to practice so that she'll be a good lover when Meredith is ready for her. Because of this, she responds when young Geoffrey makes some advances.

Stella’s naïve and innocent nature is shown through her speech of colloquial diction. “He kept throwing up words whose meaning Stella more or less understood but would never have had the nerve to thread into a conversation. She was shaky on pronunciation (Bainbridge 30).” Stella’s colloquial diction , like using the word “muckier”, helps to portray her youth and innocence because there is not much complexity to it and is just regular conversational speech. This is very important to the development of the novel because it correlates with Stella’s fascination of being more of an adult and gaining experience. Bainbridge shows the sophisticated voice of Geoffrey by having him recite formal poetry lines from T.S. Elliot. The reader is able to grasp the idea that Geoffrey more experience and is older than Stella. Bainbridge uses this contrast between Stella and Geoffrey  help show Stella’s intrigue with this older character as she want to be hurled into adulthood  which is one of the major themes of this novel. Further, Stella’s use of Geoffrey as a way to attract Meredith shows that she is straying away from her naïve self by manipulating those around her.

            Although Stella has come to a point of maturity of sorts, her incomplete knowledge, naïve nature, and the discouraging behavior of the people around her leads to a discontent life through her quest for maturity.

AP Multiple Choice Questions and Answers For An Awfully Big Adventure

1.      How does Stella try to get Meredith jealous

       a.       Riding on O'Hara's motorcycle

       b.      Getting a new job at another theatre

       c.       Having a relationship with Geoffrey

      d.      Take his role in the play

       e.      Both A and C

2.      How is satire used in this novel

      a.      To make a parody or pror experences

      b.      To mock historical contexts

      c.       show absurdity

     d.       Both A and B

      e.       None of the above

3.      What type of diction was used for Stella?

I.                Coloquial

II.              elevated

III.             Both

          a.       I 

         b.      II and III

         c.       I and III

        d.      I, II, and III

         e.       None are true

4.      Whyis Stella intrigued by Geoffrey?

        a.       He is rich

        b.      He is older and more sophisticated

        c.       She wants to get experience with him to get ready for Merideth

       d.      He isn't intrigued with Stella

       e.      Both B and C

5.      How does Bainbridge pay attention to syntax?

       a.       Uses only short sentences for a choppy flow

       b.      Varies paragraph lengths

       c.       Uses concrete diction as a descriptive tool after the subject

      d.       All of the above

      e.       She doesn't incorporate any syntax techniques

1.  The answer is E because Stella thinks that getting closer to other males at the theatre will show her maturity and make  Meredith jealous.

2. The answer is C because she is not using previous work to mock but just an ideology to ridicule.

3. The answer is A because Stella uses words like "muckier" instead of more sophisticated ones during conversation with people around her.

4. The answer is E because Stella believes that if she can get some experience sexually with someone who is already mature to feel more grown up in the eyes of Meredith.

5. The answer is C because this helped illuminate the subject of the paragraph and how that character develops.

AP Multiple Choice Questions and Answers for “A Dream” by Edgar Allen Poe

AP Multiple Choice Questions for “A Dream” by Edgar Allen Poe

1.      In line 9 , what type of literary device was used

      a.       pathetic fallacy

      b.      repetition

       c.      alliteration

     d.      caesura

      e.       None of the above are correct

2.      How does the Poe leave the interpretation to the reader?

     a.       Having more than one topic

     b.      Having multiple tones

     c.       A and B

     d.      ending with a rhetorical question

      e.       There is no other way it can be interpreted

3.      The alliteration of the poem serves to

I.                 Help the flow of the poem as it is read

II.               Draws attention to the preceding or following line

III.             To create a positive tone

    a.       I and II

   b.      II and III

    c.       I and III

    d.      I, II, and III

     e.       None are true

4.      What type of rhyme scheme is this poem written in?

     a.       Monorhyme

     b.      Couplet

      c.       Limerick

     d.      Sonnet

     e.       None of the above

5.      What is the tone of the poem?

     a.       Uplifting

     b.      Accomplished

     c.       Hopeless

     d.      Confusion

      e.       Melancholy

1. The answer is B because the the phrase "That Holy Dream " is repeated in the same line. The other choices do not deal with any repetition.

2.The answer is D because leaving a rhetorical question will give the reader enough to ponder  over and come up with their own reasons.

3.The answer is A because alliteration helps increase the pace of the person that is reading which adds to the overall flow of the poem. The change in pace creates an attraction within that same line.

4. The answer is D  because  it has an ABAB pattern. This is called a sonnet. The other choices are not about ABAB.                                             

5. The answer is E because words like "dark" and "broken-hearted" are usually associated with melancholy (sadness).

Poem #1: "Time Long Past"

Time Long Past

By Percy Bysshe Shelley

Like the ghost of a dear friend dead

Is Time long past.

A tone which is now forever fled,

A hope which is now forever past,

A love so sweet it could not last,

Was Time long past.

There were sweet dreams in the night

Of Time long past:

And, was it sadness or delight,

Each day a shadow onward cast

Which made us wish it yet might last—

That Time long past.

There is regret, almost remorse,

For Time long past.

'Tis like a child's belovèd corse

A father watches, till at last

Beauty is like remembrance, cast

From Time long past.

Poem #2 :"A Dream"

A Dream by Edgar Allan Poe

In visions of the dark night
I have dreamed of joy departed-
But a waking dream of life and light
Hath left me broken-hearted.

Ah! what is not a dream by day
To him whose eyes are cast
On things around him with a ray
Turned back upon the past?

That holy dream- that holy dream,
While all the world were chiding,
Hath cheered me as a lovely beam
A lonely spirit guiding.

What though that light, thro' storm and night,
So trembled from afar-
What could there be more purely bright
In Truth's day-star?

" A Dream " Analysis

In Edgar Allen Poe’s poem, “A Dream”, Poe uses the sentence structure, figurative language, and repetition to show the underlying emotions that connect with the inner conflict experienced from oneself or those around them.

Poe uses a gothic style of writing which creates a depressing tone.  Using words like “dark” and “broken-hearted” adds to the tone and the overall understanding of the meaning. This poem has a rhyme scheme of ABAB and enjambment of all for stanzas which help give the poem a faster pace. The mood of the poem is depressing because it is showing the pain of real life, how he must tolerate it, and shows the only way he could escape the dreadful fear of reality was through his dreams. Poe’s main style of figurative language is alliteration such as “ dream by day” and “world were (line 5)” because it emphasizes and draws the reader to “the holy dream”. The repetition of this line further shows theme will be shown throughout the poem and it amplifies the importance of the dream to the narrator. Poe chooses to incorporate rhetorical questions to allow the reader to interpret the poem in different ways. This poem was written to show how the narrator is immersed in this exclusive fantasy dream world. These dreams he had were his way of fleeing to his own utopia because his dreams were a way for him to not confront his own world and reality. Edgar Allen Poe expresses this concept of realism by a using a strong theme, a melancholic tone, and by the elaborate use of figurative language throughout this piece.

Like Morgan from Beryl Bainbridge’s Every Man for Himself , the narrator is plagued by recurring dreams that are now a consuming part of his life. With Morgan's dreams/day dreams centered on different experiences, Edgar's is different as it just focuses on one past experience. He is trying to hold on to some memory that is fleeting because it is still better than the reality he lives in. "I have dreamed of joy departed/But a waking dream of life and light/Hath left me broken-hearted.” This poem shows his fixation to something in the past. This is similar to Morgan as his dreams mostly deal with his past experiences. "That holy dream- that holy dream / While all the world were chiding / Hath cheered me as a lovely beam (lines 9-11)." The dream that is being referred to is something that brings him joy and that is why he is trying to hold onto it.

In Beryl Bainbridge’s Every Man for Himself, Morgan, the narrator, shares some of the disturbing dreams that he experiences that not only gives insight about his fears but also gives insight to his past. "Too early the next morning I woke with the fragment of a dream still in my head. It wasn't the one that had disturbed my childhood nights and brought Sissy running (Bainbridge 9)." In one of his dreams, he "saw a man on hands and knees, scrabbling at the soil, a piece of newspaper flapping on the sole of his boot"(Bainbridge 8). They also revealed his feelings about his mother and the type of relationship that he was seeking. "It was my mother who came into my dreams and that only as someone I cried out for when the old woman made those terrible noises and the yellow bile jerked on to my cheek (Bainbridge 9).”  Bainbridge uses the dreams of Morgan to show the reader how he reflects on his past experiences and he even says that dreams deal with the memories of the past, not tell the future. Similarly, Poe proves that the past memories can find their way back if they are wanted.