Suburban Sonnet Gwen Harwood Analysis

EGL120: The ‘English’ Tradition: An Introduction to Literary Studies Task 1: Essay Scaffold Name: Samuel Hair Student ID: 1081985 Tutor’s Name: Nicole Prowse Word Count:

Introduction:

• Introduce the topic, the poem, and the hypothesis. (Ensure the topic sentence creates an impact, and interests the reader).

• Give a clear summary of the hypothesis; the male authority over the female figure (feminism)

• Briefly introduce the initial intentions of the poem – go into more depth in body.

• Describe which

This is achieved by first describing a woman’s decline from her peak as a musician to a house-wife, but this is not completely true that just family and suburban lifestyle are to blame. It is clear that her achievements are not valued by the masculine voice of authority: supported by the fragment ‘It can matter to no-one if she plays well or not’, which implies that their abilities as a musician are great, but as the sonnet continues they are unnecessary. Further, the choice of Rubenstein is interesting as a symbol of that dismissive voice of authority; Rubinstein, a famous composer is a figure-head for performing particular feats – and while performing before such a person is an honor…the author is implying through ‘…Rubinstein, who yawned’ that the female character is no different from the majority of those who aspire for greater heights. Beyond this dismissive voice of authority there are two devices that further the depiction of female demotivation, these are irony and imagery. The line at the end of the poem, ‘tasty dishes from stale bread’ (Pg. 72, line 14), is a particularly powerful example of irony, as the mother – who was capable of performing a complicated musical form – can now be considered tired, and old, from the stress associated with being both a parent/housewife, and places as much of her ‘zest and love’ (Pg. 72, line 7)

- Linking sentence to final argument.

- Counter-argument

• Third Topic (Men as symbols of authority)

- Topic Sentence (Bold opening statement)

- Sub argument 1(Follow up statements…..)

- Sub argument 2 (Follow up statements…..)

- Discuss what literary devices suggest credible evidence to what your interpretation of the narrator’s intentions are (Referencing must be used to support argument; the poem, as well as any supporting text that helps the argument).

- Incorporate relevant evidence/information regarding the poem itself, and any influential events in the author’s life that could shift the interpretation of the poem (Ensure that all claims are supported by referenced evidence).

- Summarise all information presented in the Body paragraph, and reach a single conclusion.

- Concluding sentence for entirety of Body paragraph/Linking sentence to Conclusion

Conclusion:

• Ensure that all claims are supported by evidence, and are easy to interpret.

• All claims must be logical, and reach that