As a New South Wales student undertaking the Advanced English course in the Higher School Certificate, you will explore three learning modules as part of your studies.
Module A: Comparative Study of Texts and Contexts has two electives. Elective 1 deals with exploring connections, and elective 2 deals with texts in time.
Elective 1: Texts in Time
If your teacher chooses elective 1: Texts in Time, you may be required to read The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925) and selected poetry by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861). This module requires you to compare and contrast these texts, in order to explore them in relation to their contexts.
Comparison of The Great Gatsby and Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Often students have difficulty understanding how they are to compare The Great Gatsby, written in 1925, with poetry written in the 1800s. It is important to remember you are not only to make links between the texts, but you must contrast their contexts. To do this, you will need a firm understanding of what context means.
Understanding Context
Context, in relation to literature, refers to a few different things. Firstly, you will need to understand the social and cultural contexts of your texts. This refers to the author's world at the time of writing. Secondly, you will need an understanding of personal context, which refers to the author's biography, if their personal life has had an impact on their writing. Thirdly, you will need to understand their contextual styles. This refers to the form and style of texts in that time, in this case prose and sonnet.
Differences in Times and Contexts
Although The Great Gatsby and Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry were written in completely different times, they deal with similar issues and themes. You are expected to contrast the different times and compare the similar treatment of these issues and themes. For example, love and relationships both feature prominently in both the writing of Barrett Browning and Fitzgerald, despite the fact they were written during very different times.
Changing Values and Perspectives
Both Fitzgerald and Barrett Browning lived in times of great social change. Fitzgerald wrote during the Jazz Age in America. This was a time where the moral values of pre-war America were being rejected for more modern values and perspectives. Barrett Browning lived in Victorian England, during a time when religious faith was beginning to be questioned. It is important to undertake extensive reading on both of these eras, to come to understand them.
Once you have a clear understanding of the social and cultural issues that were important during both of these times, you will need to make links to the texts. How Fitzgerald makes a statement on these issues in The Great Gatsby? How does Barrett Browning use her speaker to reflect social change in her time? Having a good understanding of how the social and cultural contexts of these times are reflected in the individual texts, in crucial to your study in this module.
Language Forms and Features
Both of these texts are quite different in form. The Great Gatsby is a novel, written in prose form. Elizabeth Barrett Browning is a poet, who wrote sonnets.
You need to think about these different forms of writing, in relation to their times. Are these different forms of writing appropriate to their contexts? Are they written in a form that was popular during their times? Do they suit what the author is saying in their texts? Is this form the best way to convey their message? Even though these forms are different, do they have any similarities in language and features?
Meaning and Significance
Both of these texts are considered great works of their times. They are do a good job of showing the reader what the world was like during the time they were written. As a student, you need to come to a conclusion about how these texts have helped shaped your understanding of these times. How have they helped you understand both specific contexts? In what ways, using language, form and features have these texts educated you in the world of the 1920s America and Victorian England?
Comparative Study of Texts and Contexts
The main thing to remember when studying this module is that you are comparing and contrasting the texts and their contexts. Context is very important in this module. If you keep this in mind while studying these texts you cannot go wrong.
Further Reading
Jones, Maree and Burden, William. F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Aurora Leigh and Other Poems: Elizabeth Barrett Browning : Study Notes for Advanced English : Module A 2009-2012 HSC. Seven Hills: Five Senses Education, 2009.
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