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Context in literature essays

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Lektionsnotizen

What context is

  • Context includes the circumstances of composition, setting, circulation and reception, as well as social, cultural, religious and literary ideas. Distinguish what is established from an inference about purpose or audience response.
  • Relevant context can illuminate meaning where the task assesses it. It is not merely a historical fact bank, and unseen responses must not invent contextual information.

Different contexts ask different questions

Different contexts ask different questionsContextUseful distinctionSettingWhen and where events arerepresentedCompositionWhen the writer creates andrevisesPublication orperformanceHow the text first reachesaudiencesReceptionHow different readers respond

Using context well

  • Connect an accurate fact or wider idea to a particular choice. Beliefs about sacred kingship may intensify the significance of Duncan’s murder for some spectators; the claim needs qualification.
  • No PEEL or other paragraph pattern is compulsory. Place the contextual connection where it helps develop the interpretation.
  • Distinguish the 1912 setting of An Inspector Calls from writing in 1944 and first performance in 1945. The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 reformed an existing system; earlier workhouses were already operating.
  • Consider differences within audiences as well as across time. Use could or may for a supported possible reaction rather than declaring what everyone felt.

A fact needs a textual connection

A fact needs a textual connectionEstablished backgroundPossible analytical use1834 reforms existingpoor reliefScrooge invokes institutionsdismissively1912 setting; lateraudiencesBirling’s predictions invitehindsightSacred kingship as abeliefRegicide may carry religiousstakesGenre conventionsA familiar expectation can bechallenged

Types of context

  • Social: class, gender, poverty (Victorian poor laws; patriarchy).
  • Historical: war, revolution, scientific ideas (Darwin; Russian Revolution; WWII).
  • Cultural/religious: beliefs (witchcraft, original sin, Christmas).
  • Biographical context can help when it explains a relevant choice, but it does not prove one message or equate a speaker with the writer. Genre and literary traditions may also provide useful context.

Check the claim before using it

Check the claim before using itWeak claimMore precise approachEveryone believed thesameIdentify a group, debate orqualified possibilityThe date proves themeaningDistinguish setting, writing andreceptionThe writer had onemessageSupport a reading throughparticular choicesContext goes in everyparagraphFollow relevance and the task’sassessment focus

Common errors

  • Avoid sweeping claims about everyone in an era, invented biography, confused dates, and unrelated lists. A separate sentence about context is not inherently wrong; the issue is whether it develops the answer.

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Übungsfragen

Gratis-Vorschau — 8 von 32 Fragen. Registriere dich, um alle zu sehen.
  1. 1.What is context?

    Easy
    • Athe background to a text
    • Bthe punctuation
    • Cthe title
    • Dthe font
  2. 2.Which is social context?

    Easy
    • Aa simile
    • Ba stanza
    • Ca title
    • Dclass and gender expectations
  3. 3.Which is historical context?

    Easy
    • Aa rhyme
    • Ba font
    • Cthe Second World War
    • Da metaphor
  4. 4.Which is literary context?

    Easy
    • Aa map
    • Bthe Gothic genre
    • Ca rhyme scheme considered only as a pattern
    • Da recipe
  5. 5.Which context is relevant for Animal Farm?

    Easy
    • Athe Russian Revolution
    • Bthe Tudor court
    • Cthe Gunpowder Plot
    • Dthe Industrial Revolution only
  6. 6.Which context is relevant for An Inspector Calls?

    Easy
    • Athe Gunpowder Plot
    • Bthe Tudor court
    • Cthe Crimean War
    • Dthe 1912 setting and debates about social reform in the 1940s
  7. 7.Which context is relevant for Macbeth?

    Easy
    • AVictorian poverty
    • Bmodern democracy
    • Cbelief in the divine right of kings
    • Dthe Cold War
  8. 8.Which context is relevant for A Christmas Carol?

    Easy
    • Athe Gunpowder Plot
    • Bthe Victorian poor laws and workhouses
    • Cthe Tudor court
    • Dnuclear war

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