ANALYSIS according to the plan
THE BLIND ASSASSIN Text 1
By Margaret Atwood
Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history. While she is best known for her work as a novelist, she is also a poet, having published 15 books of poetry to date. Many of her poems have been inspired by myths and fairy tales, which have been interests of hers from an early age.
The Blind Assassin is her award-winning, bestselling novel. Set in Canada, it is narrated from the present day, referring back to events that span the twentieth century. Time Magazine named it the best novel of 2000 and included it in its list of the 100 greatest English-language novels since 1923.
The novel centres on the protagonist, Iris Chase, and her sister Laura, who committed suicide shortly after the Second World War ended. Iris, now an old woman, recalls the events and relationships of her childhood, youth and middle age, as well as her unhappy marriage to Richard Griffen, a rival of her industrialist father. Interwoven into the novel is a story within a story, a secret affair attributed to Laura and published by Iris about Alex Thomas, a politically radical author of pulp science fiction who has an ambiguous relationship with the sisters.
The book is set in the fictional Ontario town of Port Ticonderoga and in the Toronto of the 1930s and 1940s. It is a work of historical fiction with the major events of Canadian history forming an important backdrop to the novel.
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| 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 | She has a single photograph of him. She tucked it into a brown envelope on which she’d written clippings, and hid the envelope between the pages of Perennials for the Rock Garden, where no one else would ever look. She’s preserved this photo carefully, because it’s almost all she has left of him. It’s black and white, taken by one of those boxy, cumbersome flash cameras from before the war, with their accordion-pleat nozzles and their well-made leather cases that looked like muzzles, with straps and intricate buckles. The photo is of the two of them together, her and this man, on a picnic. Picnic is written on the back, in pencil—not his name or hers, just picnic. She knows the names, she doesn’t need to write them down. They’re sitting under a tree; it might have been an apple tree; she didn’t notice the tree much at the time. She’s wearing a white blouse with the sleeves rolled to the elbow and a wide skirt tucked around her knees. There must have been a breeze, because of the way the shirt is blowing up against her; or perhaps it wasn’t blowing, perhaps it was clinging; perhaps it was hot. It was hot. Holding her hand over the picture, she can still feel the heat coming up from it, like the heat from a sun-warmed stone at midnight. The man is wearing a light-coloured hat, angled down on his head and partially shading his face. His face appears to be more darkly tanned than hers. She’s turned half towards him, and smiling, in a way she can’t remember smiling at anyone since. She seems very young in the picture, too young, though she hadn’t considered herself too young at the time. He’s smiling too—the whiteness of his teeth shows up like a scratched match flaring—but he’s holding up his hand, as if to fend her off in play, or else to protect himself from the camera, from the person who must be there, taking the picture; or else to protect himself from those in the future who might be looking at him, who might be looking in at him through this square, lighted window of glazed paper. As if to protect himself from her. As if to protect her. In his outstretched, protecting hand there’s the stub end of a cigarette. She retrieves the brown envelope when she’s alone, and slides the photo out from among the newspaper clippings. She lays it flat on the table and stares down into it, as if she’s peering into a well or pool—searching beyond her own reflection for something else, something she must have dropped or lost, out of reach but still visible, shimmering like a jewel on sand. She examines every detail. His fingers bleached by the flash or the sun’s glare; the folds of their clothing; the leaves of the tree, and the small round shapes hanging there—were they apples, after all? The coarse grass in the foreground. The grass was yellow then because the weather had been dry. Over to one side—you wouldn’t see it at first—there’s a hand, cut by the margin, scissored off at the wrist, resting on the grass as if discarded. Left to its own devices. The trace of blown cloud in the brilliant sky, like ice cream smudged on chrome. His smoke-stained fingers. The distant glint of water. All drowned now. Drowned, but shining. |
Questions and tasks
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1. What is the prevailing mood of the passage? Prove your point of view by quoting the text. –Nostalgic, melancholic
2. Make a list of metaphors from the excerpt and name their tenor, vehicle and ground. –«She lays the photo flat on the table and stares down into it, as if she’s peering into a well or pool—searching beyond her own reflection for something else». Metaphor: a photo is a pool/well. «The photo» - tenor, «the pool/well» - vehicle, «the depth of memories and a well» - ground.
3. Comment on the effect of similes in the text. - 1)with their accordion-pleat nozzles and their well-made leather cases that looked like muzzles, with straps and intricate buckles. 2)Holding her hand over the picture, she can still feel the heat coming up from it, like the heat from a sun-warmed stone at midnight. 3)the whiteness of his teeth shows up like a scratched match flaring 4)as if she’s peering into a well or pool—searching beyond her own reflection 5)something she must have dropped or lost, out of reach but still visible, shimmering like a jewel on sand 6)The trace of blown cloud in the brilliant sky, like ice cream smudged on chrome.
4. Discuss the use of nominative sentences in lines 35-50. What impression do they create? – 1. «As if to protect himself from her. As if to protect her», 2. «His fingers bleached by the flash or the sun’s glare; the folds of their clothing; the leaves of the tree».
Find two cases of climax / gradation in the portion and comment on them. –Climaxes: №1. «but he’s holding up his hand, as if to fend her off in play, or else to protect himself from the camera, from the person who must be there, taking the picture; or else to protect himself from those in the future who might be looking at him, who might be looking in at him through this square, lighted window of glazed paper. As if to protect himself from her. As if to protect her».
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№2«Over to one side—you wouldn’t see it at first—there’s a hand, cut by the margin, scissored off at the wrist, resting on the grass as if discarded. Left to its own devices».
5. What effect is achieved by the varied length of the paragraphs in the passage? –Those that are short contain little description and resemble Laura’s snippets of memories which are precise and exact.
6. Pick out from the text all cases of represented speech and discuss them. – 1. There must have been a breeze, because of the way the shirt is blowing up against her; or perhaps it wasn’t blowing, perhaps it was clinging; perhaps it was hot. It was hot. 2. She seems very young in the picture, too young, though she hadn’t considered herself too young at the time. 3. The leaves of the tree, and the small round shapes hanging there—were they apples, after all? 4. They’re sitting under a tree; it might have been an apple tree; she didn’t notice the tree much at the time.
7. Dwell on the inversion and parenthesis in line 45.-«She lays it flat on the table and stares down into it, as if she’s peering into a well or pool—searching beyond her own reflection for something else, something she must have dropped or lost». The part which stands after the dash is the case of parenthesis. The author digs deeper and compares a well with Laura’s memory where she was searching for her own reflection.
8. Which approach to interpretation suits this portion best? Prove your point of view.
9. Provide a complete analysis of the given extract. Make use of the snippets of interpretation you made in exercises 1-8.
ANALYSIS according to the plan
1. Introducing the author: the author is Margaret Atwood. She is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. Atwood's work has been of interest to feminist literary critics, despite Atwood's unwillingness at times to apply the feminist label to her works.
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2. Placing the text: it is not a full work. It is an extract from the book «The Blind Assassin». The genre is narrative prose, novel. The subtype is a story within a story.
3. Summary of the text: This portion of the text provides the reader with the following facts – Laura keeps the photograph of Alex and herself together. She secretly looks at it imagining them being together. There used to be three of them in the photo (Laura, Alex and Iris) but Laura cut off the part with Iris as if there was not her at all.
4. Analyzing the composition:
- comment on the title: -
- the number of plot lines: in this portion – one, in the book as a whole – plenty.
- the type of plot structure: the whole story has a close plot structure. All constituent parts of the plot are present.
5. The mode of narration: third-person limited narration
6. Narrative methods:
a) The narrative proper – scenic
b) Description – static
c) Digressions – no digressions in this portion
d) Characters’ discourse – interior monologues: «The leaves of the tree, and the small round shapes hanging there—were they apples, after all?», «They’re sitting under a tree; it might have been an apple tree; she didn’t notice the tree much at the time».
7. Setting: -
10.8. Describing the tone and the atmosphere of the text: The prevailing mood of the passage is nostalgic and melancholic. It is proved by the following:1) She’s preserved this photo carefully, because it’s almost all she has left of him. 2)In most cases the tense is Past which refers the reader the previously happened events. The shift to the Present Tense emphasizes how strong and deep her emotions and memories are, ex. «She’s wearing a white blouse with the sleeves rolled to the elbow».
9. Characters and analyzing stylistic devices contributing to characterization:
10. The main idea of the text:
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