Note that student work varies significantly from one assignment to the next, even within the
same mark range. The intent behind providing samples such as this one is to guide
students in recognizing key criteria of assignments and in assessing their own work.
SAMPLE QUOTATION ANALYSIS – GOOD
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Strengths:
• You give good insight regarding the Director's perception of individuals as
experiments and commercial objects (thinking).
• Smoothly integration of quotation segments is evident (application).
• The analysis is well-written in terms of sentence structure and diction
(communication).
Tips for Improvement:
• The "as many as we like" segment is analyzed in the character paragraph and then
again in the theme paragraph. Either make the explanations more distinct from each
other or use the segment for only one point (thinking).
• The theme point needs to be qualified in light of the overall irony of the novel. Is the
Director convincing the reader of the truth of his perspective? A simple reworking of
phrasing, to address how society views individuals, would be an editing option
(thinking).
• The final subpoint of this analysis, which ties negative connotations to the individual,
should be brought in earlier to introduce the theme point (thinking).
• Overall insight is good, but further refinement would be useful. The capitalization
point made during the theme explanation should be omitted, as it is not connected to
the Director's perspective (thinking).
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‘It is better that one should suffer than that many should be
corrupted. Consider the matter dispassionately, Mr. Foster, and you will
see that no offense is so heinous as unorthodoxy of behaviour. Murder
kills only the individual – and, after all, what is an individual?’ With a
sweeping gesture he indicated the rows of microscopes, the test-tubes, the
incubators. ‘We can make a new one with the greatest ease – as many as
we like. Unorthodoxy threatens more than the life of a mere individual; it
strikes at Society itself. Yes, at Society itself,’ he repeated. (133)
The speaker is the Director. He is speaking to Mr. Foster as the two of them await
Bernard Marx's arrival in the Fertilizing Room. The Director is explaining to Mr. Foster
why Bernard is such a threat to society.
The Director reveals his heartlessness through his speech to Mr. Foster. By
saying, "Murder kills only the individual – and, after all, what is an individual?" he
expresses his opinion that an individual is of no significance to him. To "murder" and to
"kill" are two very dark and horrible crimes, but the Director speaks of them in a very
desensitized manner, as if taking a person's life is no offense at all. The Director's
heartlessness is further understood when he continues to describe an "individual", saying,
"[w]e can make a new one with the greatest ease – as many as we like." His diction here
shows the lack of value that he feels towards individuals by implying that they are mere
creations of his. Along with this, when he "indicated the rows of microscopes, the testtubes, the incubators", the Director also proves his neglect for the well being of
individuals by suggesting that human beings are scientific objects. Furthermore, the
Director's heartlessness is shown in the irony of how he makes harming an individual
seem like a positive thing. He accomplishes this by comparing it to the greater issue of
endangering society. In doing so he is defending his opinions and putting a positive spin
on his cruelty. Therefore, the Director is heartless.
The Director also reveals the theme that the good of society is of greater value
than the good of individuals. This is first seen at the beginning of his speech when the
Director says that "it is better that one should suffer than that many should be corrupted".
In this excerpt from the quotation he implies that Bernard undergoing suffering is a
positive experience because it protects society – the more important component of the
situation. The Director again shows this difference in significance that lies between
individuality and society when he rhetorically asks, "what is an individual?", as if
challenging Mr. Foster to contradict him. Individuals are further lowered in value when
the Director points out that they are mass-produced and available in infinite quantities by
saying, "we can make a new one with the greatest ease – as many as we like". This
compares individual human beings to mass-produced objects. Because they are available
in bulk the significance of one seems minimal, especially when a replica can so easily be
recreated. Furthermore, when the greater population is referred to as "Society", it is
consistently capitalized, emphasizing it and showing its value. The repetition used by the
Director in the last two sentences is also effective in showing its importance. He says that
unorthodoxy "strikes at Society itself. Yes, at Society itself", repeating the horrid
circumstance as if he himself is being "struck" at. Finally, with the phrases "only the
individual" and "a mere individual" the importance of one person is yet decreased, while
powerful diction such as "corrupt", "dispassionate", and "heinous" connote severe
negativity. Thus, the theme that the good of society is of greater value than the good of an
individual is revealed.
Work Cited
Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. London: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1994.