The Dressmaker

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A fabric used for bridal gowns. Gertrude is married in this section and her dress, which Tilly makes, is the first instance where the town witnesses her work. Shantung originates from China, matching this notion of exoticism and foreignness which seeing the dress spreads among the townspeople. 3. Felt

These qualities mean that like her characters, Beryl Bainbridge’s books are distinguished by their refusal to fit. Her comedy is often direct, and some jokes for British readers of a certain age will bring to mind (fellow northerners) Alan Bennett or Victoria Wood: in An Awfully Big Adventure, a man with a disappointing career outcome is ‘an old boy of the Liverpool Collegiate in spite of landing up in toilet rolls’. But it also represents a vision of life as an absurd, if often brutish, caper. The strength of women to cross/overcome the line of uncivilised behaviour is significant within the sexual abuse and misconduct driven by soldiers. Can remain true to oneself despite the horrific behaviours a woman faces. I discussed the effect of both Harry and Michael on Sarah’s development - concluding that while both of them had a significant role to play in her becoming the woman she is today, Michael’s influence was significantly stronger. Polley implies this by giving him a greater voice in the documentary through his role as the narrator.

4. Time to Test Your Listening Skills

When we read, we automatically apply our own experiences, biases, and understanding of the world to the text. As such, each person is likely to interpret a text in different ways. This is a major part of studying English, as the critic (you) is more important than the author’s original intention. The fact that a single text can give rise to multiple interpretations is the reason we study English; to debate these interpretations. When you are given an essay topic you are being asked for your opinion on one of these debates, not the author’s opinion on their own work. If you were reading The Fault in Our Stars and claimed it romanticised cancer, you would be participating in the literary debate, despite going against John Green’s original intentions. So, what ARE the curtains?! What do they mean? Well, they're a metaphor, representing more than Polley continually blurs the line between fact and fiction within Stories We Tell - an ode to the postmodernist school of thought she is following. Depicting recreated Super-8 footage capturing herself directing the actress Rebecca Jenkins who ‘plays’ the ‘role’ of the younger Diane, Polley seeks to somewhat deceive her audience as to what is real and what is derivative - prompting the audience to “consider what was real and what wasn’t… in their own minds.” As a result, she seeks to promote the validity of the postmodernist critical theory, prompting philosophical discussions between individuals about the variability of memory and whether any absolute truths can ever be truly known. Bernd had ‘no friends’ as a child - showing his isolated past - which could be described as the reason he leaves his father and goes off to join the Hilter Youth ‘just like the other boys.’ (find this analysis in the chapter ‘The Death of Walter Bernd’)

But at least Mr Almanac is paying for his sins, suffering from advanced Parkinson’s disease, which has bent him into a question mark, so much so that he can’t see where he’s going or control the direction or speed with which he stumbles until he hits something that stops him. His assistant aims him out the shop door, gives him a shove, and he chugs across the road, head down, to his wife, who holds out a cushion for his head to run into and stop him. Feel free to apply this line of thinking to other aspects of the text - such a deeper engagement with the philosophical ideas of the text are far more likely to score highly, as opposed to shallow pieces that merely discuss the storytellers in isolation - and not what they represent. Before writing our topic sentences, we need to look at our key words first. The keywords in this prompt are outcasts and treated. Views and values are also based on ideas and attitudes of when it was written and where it was set – this brings both social and cultural context into consideration as well. Issues commonly exploredinclude gender roles, racial inequality, class hierarchy, and more.For example, Margaret Atwood’s Cat’s Eye, is set during the 20th century and explores feminism through women’s roles during World War II whileEmily Bronte’s Wuthering Heightsdepicts the divide between social classes and challenges the strict Victorian values of how society condemns cross-class relationships, in particular between Catherine and Heathcliffe.

The Dressmaker, Rosalie Ham

Now it's your turn! Give these essay topics a go. For more sample essay topics, head over to our The Dressmaker Study Guide to practice writing essays using the analysis you've learnt in this blog! Essay Topic Breakdown A partir de um certo acontecimento o livro perdeu um pouco do encanto inicial, mas queria saber o que seria a vingança que estava referida na frase da capa: "A vingança está outra vez na moda." Okay, so the text is a reflection of the time from which it stems, and is separate from the author that wrote it? Not quite. Counter to “The Death of the Author”, the author is also a part of context, and this means certain parts of the author should be considered in interpreting a text.