Past the Shallows
On what island is the novel set?
Bruny Island (Off the coast of Tasmania)
In what English era was this play written?
Jacobean (during the reign of King James)
Name two other important ideas/issues aside from imprisonment in Hag-Seed.
Power and Ambition, Reconciliation and Compassion, Imprisonment vs. Freedom, Theatre & Performance, Colonisation, Representation of women
What four types of writing are mentioned in the rubric? (Remember: only three are ever mentioned specifically in the exam)
Imaginative, Informative, Persuasive, Discursive
Of the poems we studied, which two mentioned crabs? (Bonus: Explain their significance)
Rhapsody on a Windy Night & The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.
Significance: Crabs moves sideways rather than forwards = indirect and aimless. Crabs are also solitary creatures. Prufrock wishes he could be in the depths of the ocean, away from the pressures of society and a fear of judgement.
Explain this line from the rubric, focusing on the words in bold: "Students explore how texts may give insight into the anomalies, paradoxes and inconsistencies in human behaviour and motivations..."
Anomalies - unexpected or unusual behaviour
Paradoxes - contradictory actions or ideas
Inconsistencies - behaviours that don’t always match each other or seem illogical
This sentence asks students to consider the complexity of human motives, showing that characters often act in surprising, conflicting, or unpredictable ways.
What are the names of the butler and jester who conspire with Caliban?
Stephano and Trinculo
Explain the significance of the novel's title.
The title of Hag-Seed is an explicit means of connecting itself to The Tempest. The term "Hag-Seed" is one of the names used by Prospero when he is railing at Caliban, and Caliban is cursing him right back. A "hag" is a witch, and because Caliban is the child, or seed, of a witch (Sycorax), this epithet seems fitting.
The title reflects themes of revenge, marginalisation, and transformation, highlighting how those society rejects (like the prisoners and Caliban) can reclaim power and agency.
Why is this section of the exam so unpredictable?
You don't know what form of writing you will have to write in: imaginative, persuasive, discursive. You might get the choice, or you might be forced to use a particular form.
The question may or may not have two parts. If it does have two parts, the second section might ask you to explain your writing style, or how a text you have studied influenced your writing.
You may be asked to write about a character/idea from Module C, OR any of your other modules. Or the question/prompt could be completely random.
You need to read the question carefully to check how many marks each part of the question is worth, because they frequently adjust the weightings.
How is alienation evident in T.S. Eliot's poetry? Give examples from at least two different poems.
In Eliot's poetry, members of society feel both alienated from society and themselves. They have been stripped of meaningful identity and fall prey to social paralysis.
In Preludes, synecdoche is used to reduce people to mechanical parts, e.g. "One thinks of all the hands / That are raising dingy shades..."
In Prufrock, “...prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet” exposes his crippling social anxiety and disconnection.
Explain the impact of the non-linear narrative structure.
The novel is written in episodes (or, is written episodically), creating a fractured storyline that follows the eventual unravelling of a hidden secret. Harry and Miles often recollect the remaining memories of their mother, allowing the reader to develop their understanding of the way in which momentous human experiences and interactions have shaped the two boys.
Flashbacks interrupt the present in unexpected ways. Parrett does this in order to mirror the brothers' confusion regarding their mother's death and the ultimate unpredictability and uncertainty that defines the human experience.
In what way could the character of Prospero be deemed a metaphor?
Many critics see Prospero's magical powers as a metaphor for a playwright's literary techniques. Just as Prospero uses magic to create illusions, control situations, and resolve conflicts, the playwright does the same using words. Throughout the play, Prospero often lurks in the shadows behind a scene, like a director monitoring the action as it unfolds.
Name three techniques in this quote: “How he has fallen. How deflated. How reduced.”
Techniques: anaphora, truncated sentences, congery (Congery is a rhetorical technique in which the same idea is repeated using different words. This unnecessary repetition demonstrates Felix’s obsession over his humiliation and ‘exile’.)
Explain the features of discursive writing.
Must include a couple of the following:
Purpose: Explore an idea, event, quote, memory, or topic without necessarily persuading the reader.
Tone & Register: Can be serious, humorous, formal, or informal.
Perspective: First or third person; often personal and relatable.
Opening: May begin with a quote, anecdote, or event to engage the reader.
Content: Explores multiple perspectives, societal issues, or personal experiences; can include facts, figurative language, and imagery.
Structure: Flexible; arises naturally from the material being explored.
Conclusion: Reflective or thought-provoking, may leave ideas open for further consideration.
Engagement: Shows rather than tells; connects to the world and human experience.
Explain how the Modernist movement could have influenced T.S. Eliot's writing.
Modernism responded to WWI disillusionment, urbanisation, and industrialisation.
Rejected Romantic emotion and Victorian optimism after the horrors of war.
Focused on alienation, fragmentation, and loss of meaning in modern life.
Eliot used fragmented structure and stream of consciousness.
Emphasised subjectivity, ambiguity, and allusions to explore spiritual decay.
Reflected the “lost generation” experience of rootlessness and anxiety.
Discuss the significance of this moment and the symbolism involved:
But Dad didn’t notice. He didn’t even look. His eyes were fixed on Harry…and his hand moved away from Harry’s hair, moved down to the string around his neck. And he cupped it in his palm – the white pointer’s tooth.
“It’s his,” he said, and his face went pale. “His.”
He let the tooth go. He stared down at Harry.
[Dad then pushes him off the boat.] (pg. 210-211)
The shark tooth is tangible evidence of Mum’s affair with Uncle Nick and of the fact that Nick was in the car with Mum, Miles, and Harry during the accident.
For Dad, it represents Nick as Mum’s true love (and, likely, the real father of Harry and Joe) as well as the jealousy and condemnation he still harbours toward his late brother-in-law.
The shark tooth ultimately represents the fragmentation of the Curren family and the destructive potential of blame amid tragedy, as the painful emotions of seeing the object around Harry’s neck cause Dad to project his rage toward Nick onto Harry and throw the little boy overboard to his death.
Define metatheatre and then explain the performances-within-performances in The Tempest.
Metatheatre is when a play shows that it knows it’s a play. This can happen when characters talk about the story, act in a play within the play, or speak directly to the audience, making us aware of the difference between the play and real life.
How does Atwood highlight the benefits of theatre?
List five techniques we discussed in class that could be used to enrich persuasive writing.
Explain all the keywords from this sentence in the rubric: Through increasingly informed and personal responses to the text in its entirety, students understand the distinctive qualities of the text, notions of textual integrity and significance.
Informed - your understanding of the text has been influenced by literary critics' analyses of the poems = intellectual engagement
Personal - you have developed your own perspectives/opinions/interpretations based on all you've studied
Distinctive Qualities - You can explain what makes T.S. Eliot's poetry unique/iconic
Textual Integrity - the unity of the text; its coherent use of language form and features, structure and subject matter to communicate ideas and values
Significance - evaluate the poetry and how relevant/engaging/appreciated it was at the time and now (why is it worthy of attention / what is its importance?)
Brainstorm how you would answer this essay question if it appeared in your exam. Detail your main argument and three body paragraphs:
The danger for us all is to believe that everything is what it seems.
To what extent is this statement true of the human experience represented in your prescribed text?
Answers will vary.
What does Prospero mean when he says, "This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine"? How does this relate to the theme of colonialism?
Prospero admits responsibility for Caliban, the enslaved inhabitant of the island. He recognises that Caliban’s perceived “darkness” is not inherent evil but a result of Prospero’s control and exploitation. This moment critiques colonial attitudes, showing how colonisers label and dehumanise indigenous peoples to justify domination. It highlights the moral and ethical consequences of imperialism, forcing Prospero (and the audience) to confront the human cost of conquest. By claiming ownership, Prospero also symbolically acknowledges the complex, often violent relationship between coloniser and colonised, reflecting Shakespeare’s engagement with themes of power, entitlement, and cultural displacement.
Brainstorm how you would answer this essay question if it appeared in your exam. Detail your main argument and three body paragraphs:
Despite appropriating The Tempest for Hogarth Shakespeare, Hag-Seed is very much a product of Atwood’s perspectives, values and context.
Select two major dissonant changes that have occurred to the appropriation because of different perspectives, values and context.
Answers will vary.
Summarise Orwell's key advice in Politics and the English Language.
Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
Never use a long word where a short one will do.
If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
Never use the passive where you can use the active.
Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
Explain this stanza from The Hollow Men, including the allusion: "Sightless, unless / The eyes reappear / As the perpetual star / Multifoliate rose / Of death's twilight kingdom / The hope only / Of empty men."
This stanza shows how the hollow men are spiritually blind and empty. They can’t see or connect with God. Their only hope is if “the eyes” return, which represents Christ or higher truth. The “perpetual star” and “multifoliate rose” hint at heaven (from Dante... heaven as a rose with the saints as the petals). “Death’s twilight kingdom” shows they exist in a kind of in-between (like purgatory). They long for meaning but remain empty and powerless.