Seminar on Running in the Family
MN = marking notes
(2014a) Discuss the techniques with which [Ondaatje] establish[s] a clear picture of unfamiliar settings and/or experiences
in [his] work?
MN: An adequate to good answer will identify and compare techniques used in representing unfamiliar settings and/or
experiences. It will discuss techniques such as anecdote, use of factual detail, reported speech, imagery etc. A very good to
excellent answer may refine discussion of techniques and offer a more sophisticated understanding as to whether these
settings or experiences are unfamiliar to the author, the reader or both. The discussion of techniques should include
evaluation of their effects.
2a
 Allusions—can look up,
essence of setting (some, yes;
but Shakespeare, no)
 Poetry—“To Colombo”
specifically
 Imagery—esp. in new
locations
 Epigraphs—contrast imagery
 Idioms/personification/similes
(point of reference to
common experience)
 Photographs
3a
 Epigraphs—acts as
prologue, provides
background
 Similes—physical setting,
characterization
 Imagery/description—
comparison (simile)
 Native vs. Western
perspective
 Ceylon AS character
 “Monsoon Notebook[s]”
 Dialogue—“picture of an
experience”
2b
 Imagery to establish
setting
 Descriptive language
creates atmosphere
 Tone (esp about
characters)—nonjudgmental; glorifying
 Diction
 Structure—chaos in
drowning episode (with
Dickie)
3b
 “Sweet like a Crow”
 Photos of setting (“Asian
Rumours”)
 Images of Monsoon
Notebooks—descriptive
language
 Allusion to King Lear
(contributes to
“experiences”)
 Cultural references—puts
you in country/setting
 Family anecdotes
 Communal poem
(2013b) [How has Ondaatje] made use of anecdotes and/or analogies to achieve [his] purposes[?]
MN: An adequate to good answer will identify some appropriate examples of anecdotes and/or analogies, analysing and
comparing the ways in which they have been used. A very good to excellent answer may also make a more effective choice
of anecdotes and/or analogies, analysing in greater detail and evaluating how they have been used.
2a
 n/a
3a
 What IS his purpose?
 for metatext—story of
death of Lalla
 comparison of Mervyn to
books—characterization
 dream: pyramid
 purposes of
characterization: mainly
for Lalla and Mervyn;
Mervyn VS. Lalla
 influences understanding
of setting
2b
 for characterization (which
is gradual through stories)
 “There is so
much…meaning and
significance.” (200)
 Provide background
 Make the text a complete
text (as opposed to a diary
entry)
 “rumour”
 Establishes relationships
3b
 Method for
structuring/lead-ins and
transitions
 Develops character
 As foreshadowing
 Connects man and nature
(Monsoon Notebook (ii))
(2013a) While fiction is sometimes thought of as the work of an individual imagination, non-fiction often relies on the
experiences of others and can thus be seen as the result of a group or communal effort. How far and to what effect have
you found evidence of this “communal effort”?
MN: An adequate to good answer will identify some examples of group or communal effort, either in the works or in their
construction (examples may include narrative perspectives, implied audiences, research, and character interaction). The
answer will include adequate comparison of the effects of communal effort within the chosen works. A very good to
excellent answer may offer more persuasive examples of group or communal effort in a convincingly developed analysis. The
answer will explore the subtleties of the question and offer an effective evaluation of the contribution of communal effort
within the chosen works.
2a
 Acknowledgments/ raw
material
 Family quotations,
dialogue, anecdotes—
keep things fresh, diff.
perspectives on
ppl/subjects
 Mentioning names of
people
 Epigraphs and graffiti
(intertextuality)—sharing
experiences
3a
 Conversations/dialogues
 “rumours”
 Perspectives
 Exaggeration=imagination
 Fact influences fiction;
fiction depends on
nonfiction
 Imaginative aspects
created based on
characters’ personalities
2b
 “Dialogues”
 Developed by family
members’ “individual
imagination”
 structure
3b
 “Dialogues”/”Lunch
Conversations”
 “Women like You”—
“communal poem”
 Acknowledgements—
writing about the writing
 Enhances picture of family
(through multiple
perspectives)
 Fictionalized moments—
Lalla’s death
 Ellipses in portions where
story is unclear or
unfinished for Ondaatje
 Disjointed structure
reflects Ondaatje’s own
journey to answers
(IBO sample) Discuss the way [Ondaatje has] structured [his] work to make [his] material clear and interesting to [his]
audience.
MN: An adequate to good answer will identify some structural features of at least two works (by two writers) and compare
the effectiveness with which these features help convey the content in a clear and interesting fashion. A good to excellent
answer may offer some telling comparisons between the structuring of the works and the effects these structures have on
clarity and interest.
2a
 Short chapters
 Punctuation (more related
to syntax)
 Lack of consistent
chronology
 Introducing characters as
needed
 Dialogue
 Journal entries, poetry
(break from prose)
 Separations from
remainder of text
3a
(5 min left)
 Pieced together by end;
connections between
chapters
 Structure—more clear, if
not more interesting
 Like a diary
 Clear and interesting not
the same thing
 Metatext (makes it
interesting)
2b
 “in hindsight”
 Forced connections
 Structure contributes to
interest, not clarity
3b
 “Asia” and “The Bone”
 Photographs
 Intertextuality enhances
clarity
 structure