How does Eggers present the relationship between him and Toph in chapters 1-5 of AHWOSG?

Eggers presents the relationship between Dave and Toph using humour actions and very strong imagery to highlight his younger self, like Dave's insecurities surrounding his parenting of Toph.

At the end of chapter 1 Eggers uses imagery "I take his hand...and fly up" this metaphor is significant because most readers would interpret this as Dave's sudden parental role over Toph and it is seen as the beginning of Dave's long parental relationship with Toph. The verb "take" implies that Dave is in control now and again links to him now having to be the new father figure to Toph. 

Eggers use of a discourse marker to contrast this initial positive impression with the difficulties Dave goes on to experience in chapter 2 "we'll look for a new bat". The noun "bat" is from the lexical field of baseball which could be seen by an older reader as a family (father to son) sport. Eggers in contrast presents the older brother figure by using the dynamic, transitive verb "push him in a bush" this shows the teasing abuse of a bigger brother's power. Eggers put both these actions in the same paragraph to really indicate the difference in the two types of relationships between Dave and Toph, and the immaturity of Dave. 

Eggers uses words from a lexical field of murder when describing Dave's feeling about leaving Toph alone "handcuffs, floorboards, clown suits..., knives, bathtubs, refrigerators". The use of asyndetic listing makes the reader feel like Dave's paranoia over this situation causes him to think of an endless list of what the babysitter can do to Toph. This could affect an older audience in a way because they would pity Dave over his insecurities over Toph's safety, because after all he is his carer/brother. Or contrastingly this could be interpreted as gallows humour which Eggers uses a lot throughout the memoir.

Dave is also presented by Eggers as sometimes needing to escape the parental role and actually go out with his friends "Toph, oh I haven't seen him for weeks" The informal tone created by the exclamatory "oh" creates irony and shows to younger readers that Dave can fool his friends and make them look gullible by believing the stories he tells about him and Toph, which may enhance enjoyment of the memoir. But to older readers this may make them gain negative feelings towards Dave and make them think why does he lie and why is he so false.      

Plan of essay of how women are presented in AHWOSG

- "had the temerity to move away"- after all him and Toph have been through how dare she leave them.- Dave actually said he liked this babysitter- this links into Dave being suspicious of everyone who comes into his life and how he always finds a problem with them.
- "fine until one night"- links again into Dave finding weaknesses in all people especially the women he lets into his and Toph's life.
"share her bed"- he thinks that loads of women are just waiting to have sex with him.- also the lexical choice "share her bed" is made less explicit as to what he is actually doing.
"I expected single attractive mothers"-this shows Daves high opinions of himself on the way he can presumably just get with any women, the verb "expected" highlights again that Dave thinks his ability to pull women is much better than it really is, also he thinks he is every womans' desire.  

transcript questions

How can you tell that the teacher is the dominant participant?
I can tell the teacher is the dominant participant in the play script because he uses a lot of interrogatives "so what is the main point of the poem" this shows that the teacher is the dominant participant because he is the one asking the questions and is controlling the topic of the conversation by setting the agenda. Also the teacher quite often interrupts the students "[no no That's Huckleberry Finn" this could be seen as presenting him as the dominant participant because he regularly interupts the students when they are trying to answer his questions.

How does the class respond to the teacher's techniques?
Near the end of the transcript the student Petros overlaps the teacher "[That's terrific!" this shows the students are sort of gaining dominance in the conversation and are starting to answer the questions about the poem. Also the students start to have more airtime "I think it is ... he's talking about what he [wants" the airtime is how long each person has so the longer a character speaks for the more power they have in the conversation.

What seem to be the key quotes?
"is that a threat"
"I haven't asked you Alex. Petro?"
"eschew explicitness"
"lascivious er promiscuous"
   

Discuss how Posner and Irwin's relationship is presented in this exchange

At the start of act 2 Irwin is seen five years later in a wheelchair doing what seems to be a documentary. On page 60 there is a man watching Irwin being filmed, the audience are yet to know who the man is. Then whilst off film Irwin speaks to the man and uses asyndetic listing "eye-catching, showy, false" this has an effect that Irwin can make an ongoing list describing "meretricious". This gives the impression to the reader that Irwin may be speaking to a former student due to the fact he is speaking to the man as if  he was or used to teach him. The man who is later I the scene revealed to be Posner tells Irwin "you were a good teacher" the adjective "good" shows the audience that Posner respected Irwin and his teaching styles. This may suggest to the audience that Irwin may still be in touch with some of his former students and that his relationship with them is strong because Posner has purposely came to see him. 

Posner and Irwin's conversation began to heat up on page 61 when Dakin's name is brought into the conversation "He liked you... didn't he" this a tag question used by Posner, he already knows that Dakin liked Irwin but he needs to hear it himself. This shows the audience that maybe Posner is jealous of Irwin because he feels that Irwin stole Dakin of him. Irwin realises that Posner is miked and is trying to set him up "how did you come to this?" Irwin is in disbelief at Posner trying to get him in trouble when they used to have so much in common for example their similar feelings for Dakin.

Irwin uses taboo language "now fuck off" this is Irwin telling Posner that yes he may have been his teacher and had to treat him well but now 5 years on there is no rule on how Irwin should speak and treat Posner. A vocative is used when Irwin signs the book "I'll put to Posner" this represents a big power change in Irwin and Posner's relationship and that although Posner used to have the power on what to call Irwin, however now Irwin has the power to call Posner what he likes. There is now a feeling that Irwin has lost all respect for Posner and has decided because he hasn't grew up that he will call him his child hood name instead of "David". 

a bit about myself

Firstly I enjoy sports, and play football and boxing to a high standard. The book I read and I did like reading it over the holiday was a book called the football factory. The book is an amazing story about a Chelsea football firm who meet up with other teams fans and have huge brawls all over England. 

I chose to do English language and literature because whilst doing my GCSEs I really enjoyed doing English and I done pretty good in the exams as well. Since the start of the course I have really began to look at English in a different way, also I feel that my English has improved in general from doing A level English.     

News Story-http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-34456943

Headline- The man who survived a Taliban roadblock.

Key features:

Online article, photographs that catch the reader eye instantly of children fleeing the city and photos of the Taliban seizing Kunduz.

First had account from a survivor.

How does the article inform and entertain its reader?

The article informs and entertains its reader by straight away telling the reader a man has survived after coming face to face with Taliban troops, this is shown in the headline “man who survived”. This gives the reader entertainment because the article is telling the world what is happening daily and that although this man survived many others have died during the seizure of Kunduz. The article informs the reader that Taliban troops were in control for “seven days”.

The article informs the reader by using Lexical choice “Taliban insurgents” the word “insurgents” informs the reader that the Taliban troops were violent and ready to fight to seize Kunduz and remain in control of the city for as long as possible. The verb “traumatised” is used in the article to really inform the reader that the violence the Taliban are showing is horrible and the affect it is having on Afghan civilians is horrific.

The article uses a concrete noun “they smelled bad” this suggests to the reader that all the dead bodies that are stacked up on the side of the road or giving off a disgusting, sickly stench. The article also engages the reader again by using Lexis in the sub-heading “Killing ground” this once again is effective in informing the reader that during and after the city was captured by the Taliban, the city was filled with death and murder like a battle ground. Also when the article uses the word “beheaded” to highlight to the reader the brutality of the events occurring in Kunduz.

The article gets the attention of the reader by listing the terrible events “mass murder, gang rapes and house-to-house searches by Taliban death squads” this really catches the eye of the reader because it is a straight forward list of what the Afghan civilians are going through. The article uses pre modification in the noun “mass murder” and verb “gang” this informs the reader that this isn’t just a single murder or rape case this is happening right now and has been happening for the last seven days.    

comparative essay of Hector and Irwin

Alan Bennett creates the characters Hector and Irwin, to have two teachers with completely different opposing teaching styles. They both believe that they know what is best for the boys and the others teaching style will not help the boys get into Oxford. The first time we hear about Hector's lessons we hear that they are not structured "Not curriculum directed at all", this shows that Hector is well known and recognised for his unplanned lessons even by the headmaster who is strict on results. Straight away Bennett highlights the fact Irwin is the opposite to this in the stage directions "distributing exercise books", this shows his complete different teaching style because in Hector's lessons the boys have never even wrote a word, and Hector is meant to be a big English teacher.

Bennett always shows in Hector's lessons the boys being praised even when they are wrong he will just correct them, but he still seems happy for their effort "conditional or the subjunctive", this could link to Hector being lazy and not really trying with the boys because deep down he doesn't think they will get into Oxford "forget Oxford and Cambridge". This is the opposite to Irwin "Dull. Dull. Abysmally dull", Irwin sort of restores order in his first lesson with the boys by bringing them back down to earth and telling them that although their work is right, there is around a thousand others applying with the exact same answers; so he is trying to tell them to be unique and force the examiner to remember you personally. 

In some ways you can see similarities between Hector and Irwin, for example Irwin writes his name like it would say "I ruin", this links with Hector because during the play Hector ruins his own career and ends ups in a bad way. Bennett presents Hector as a character who is always hiding his true self, he does this by speaking French in his lessons "un chat un chat", this is a huge part of Hector's character because he is hiding is problems which he has involving the boys, and these problems are unacceptable in any type of society or setting. Irwin was a former student at "Oxford" this once again opposes Bennett's character Hector because he went to "Sheffield". The fact Hector isn't a former Oxford or Cambridge student could make him jealous of the boys "nobody mentions Oxford".