Purple Hibiscus: Literary Essay

Remember, a literary essay should have a very clear structure, e.g:

• Introduction
• PEE 1
• (Link)
• PEE 2
• (Link)
• PEE 3
• Conclusion

Introduction
The purpose of this essay is to...
This essay will attempt to...

Point

Give an answer, explaining the part of the aspect of the character or the theme you are describing and your idea (make sure it is relevant to the question, be concise and careful with expression)

• Sentence starters: In my opinion/ I think that …/ Firstly/ At the beginning of the novel/ However, the character changes when… / Not only … /Despite the fact that …/ Despite the lack of … / While …
• Expressions: due to/ especially as/ which (eventually) leads to/ which means that/ not only …. but it is also/ a central issue or character is/ Certainly, this is a main theme in the novel/Certainly, this character is central to the plot because …

Evidence (Quotation)

Try to integrate the quotation – remember it can also be only one word! Use a comma before the quotation and remember to use quotation marks!

e.g.     This is shown in the quote, “…”

            This is suggested with the quote, “…”

            This is implied with the quote, “…”

            When Ishiguro writes, “…”

           

Key words: After / Before / When … (event)... QUOTATION

Explain

This is the difficult part – analysing the quotation and making it relevant to the original question.

Begin with a basic analysis:

ü In this quotation…

ü  From this quotation…

ü The description of … gives an impression/idea about …

ü This quotation suggests/shows/reveals the/how/why …

ü We can infer from this quotation just how ….

ü This line reveals the …

ü Considering the context, this could link to ...

ü However, perhaps this indicates ...

ü Additionally this could be interpreted as ...

ü This writer uses the word which is important because …

ü This implies .../ This suggests .../ This shows .../This reveals

ü However, on the other hand it might suggest that …

ü Alternatively, this could be interpreted as a sign of …

Try to DIG DOWN...

THIS SUGGESTS

THIS MAKES US THINK

THERFORE THE READER UNDERSTANDS

THIS LINKS TO THE SPEAKERS MESSAGE THAT

Conclusion

To sum up...

In conclusion...

To conclude...

Taking everything into consideration...

Copy and paste the following tables into a Word document and complete them both:

Kambili: Key quotation	What this suggests

Eugene: Key quotation	What this suggests

Purple Hibiscus: Chapter 5 Comprehension Questions

1.  After finishing second in her class in the previous term, what position did Kambili come in this term?
2. What is the name of the Kambili and her family’s hometown?
3. What is Papa’s title in the family’s hometown, and what does it mean?
4. ‘Papa liked it when the villagers made an effort to _____ ________ around him. He said it showed they had ______ _______.’
5. Find a word that Papa apparently uses to describe the people currently running Nigeria.
6. How long were Kambili and Jaja allowed to stay at their paternal grandfather’s (or Papa-Nnukwu’s) house? Why is this?
7. Why was Papa so fond of Jaja and Kambili’s maternal grandfather (i.e. Beatrice’s father) before he died five years earlier?
8. How would you describe Papa Nnukwu’s character? Produce a PEE response.
9. Why was Papa angry with Jaja and Kambili on their return from Papa-Nnukwu’s house?
10. What language did Papa speak when he was angry with his children? Why do you think this might be?

Monologues Preparation

Whether you're delivering your monologues next week (Tuesday 7th February) or the following week (Tuesday 14th February), you should make sure you are preparing responses to each of the six topics now.

Remember, each of your two monologues should be about two minutes in length and should be structured in a similar fashion to a written essay, i.e:

• Introduction: 10-15 seconds stating the importance / relevance of the topic.

• Main: You should split the main body of your monologue into 2-4 sections, depending on the number of bullet-pointed ideas you will be referring to (so, between 30 and 40 seconds per idea).

• Conclusion: 15-20 seconds coming to a conclusion about the topic under discussion.

Success Criteria:

• You will be expected to refer to 1-2 external sources (e.g. internet articles) for each idea that you talk about. You can use Pocket to store relevant and interesting articles, before going back to them and extracting 1-2 of the most important pieces of information in them.
• Your voice should be clear and fluent (indicating your degree of preparation).
• You should aim to include a range of the structures below, including grammatical structures such as conditionals, reported speech structures and passive voice structures.