Metalanguage

Some ideas on how to address the following criteria: Well-developed discussion and sound analysis of the structures, features and conventions used by the author to construct meaning Considered selection and use of significant textual evidence and highly appropriate use of relevant metalanguage to support analysis

The above points ask you to look at how language is used (in this case by Hamid) to create mood, tone, characterisation, views and values etc. Most students are comfortable saying what has been said, now you need to extend this to HOW and WHY this is what analytical writing is all about! Things to consider Structure The novels structure is one of the most striking devices used by Hamid to create meaning. It takes the form of a dramatic monologue. In a dramatic monologue, a single speaker addresses another person. By structuring the novel as a one-sided conversation, Hamid accomplished 2 things: 1. He symbolically makes America hear the other side of the story. According to Changez, America has its own kind of fundamentalism, capitalist fundamentalism, which makes it blind to the human toll of its foreign policy. By addressing the story to an American, Changez attempts to cut through that single-mindedness and add a new dimension to the American and symbolically- Americas view of 9/11, the War on Terror, and what it means to be from a country that America oppresses. 2. Hamid puts the reader in the Americans position. He invites the reader to make his own judgements about what is happening in the story. Changez is NOT an omniscient narrator. That is, he tells only one side of the story. With the exception of the Americans implied interjections, he leaves us to fill in the truth of what is happening. For example, in the final; scene, we are left to decide whether Changez is trustworthy or whether he is leading the American (us) into danger. We are also left to decide whether the American is (we are) harmless, or whether he is (we are) carrying a gun. Or in fact whether they are simply two men from differing backgrounds who have had dinner together. This is Hamids overarching strategy to leave the story open-ended. Hamid begins and ends every chapter by having Changez address the present scene in Old Anarkali. Hamids structural choices remind us that we are hearing a story. In this way, it makes us aware of the subjectivity of what we are reading. Changez and the Americans shared nervousness add to our subjectivity. It creates an atmosphere of tension. Nowhere in the story are Changez and the Americans mutual suspicion clearer than in the last few pages. Hamid accelerates the story and intensifies the tension by literally making the characters move.

Symbolism Hamids treatment of predator and prey is used as a literary device throughout the novel. Hamid sets up the vague predator/prey relationship in the beginning of Chapter 3. Changez notes: the frequency and purposefulness with which you glance a steady ticktick-tick seeming to beat in your head as you move your gaze from one point to the nextbrings to mind the behaviours of an animal that has ventured too far from its lair and is not, in unfamiliar surroundings, uncertain whether it is predator or prey. As Changez states quite directly, it is unclear whether the American is acting like a predator (on a mission or with a purpose, stalking something or someone) or prey (defensive, on the lookout). In Chapter 5; the bats swooping over the market, Changez remarks: they are successful city dwellers, like you and I, swift enough to escape detection and canny enough to hunt among the crowd. The bats return just after Changezs description of 9/11 and his return flight to NY. Their placement in the story makes them mirror the tension that Changezs description of 9/11 has created between him and the American. Chapter 6, Changez says Ah, I see that you have detected a scent. Nothing escapes you; senses are as acute as those of a fox in the wild. Then he continues, It is remarkable indeed how we human beings are capable of delighting in the mating call of a flower while we are surrounded by the charred carcasses of our fellow animal. Changez puts the American in the position of predator by comparing him to a fox. Then almost immediately, he points out his and the Americans shared humility, equalizing them. However, he then refers to the charred carcasses of our fellow animals, which leads back into the concept of predation. As you can see, Hamid balances the predator and prey delicately, never giving us a definitive answer about which position either Changez or the American occupies. The predator/prey culminates in Chapter 9. Changez urges: the time has now come for us to dirty our hands....Surely you can no longer feel the need to hold back. There is great satisfaction to be had in touching ones prey...I see you need no further convincing; your fingers are tearing the flesh of that kebab with considerable determination. Right up until the last line Hamid leaves us to make judgements for ourselves. Is the American going to kill Changez, Are Changez and the waiter setting the American up? Or is it an innocent conversation between two men from different backgrounds? Names Look at the relevance of the names! Here are some brief notes: Changez is the Pakistani equivalent of Genghis connecting Changez to the great Mongolian conqueror Genghis Khan. In English it looks like changes.

Underwood Samson: Looks like United States Underwood Samson symbolizes one facet of the United Sates of America (Erica represents another). Erica: Erica represents Americas emotional side. Erica is like America outwardly and inwardly. She is wealthy, glamorous and popular all the qualities a celebrity has. However, like America, Erica is deeply flawed. Foils A foil is a character that an author compares and contrasts with another, often the protagonist. The American is a foil for Changez. Erica is a foil for Changez At Underwood Samson, Changez has two foils Jim and Wainwright. Literary allusions The Great Gatsby both are stories told in retrospect by a speaker. Both examine the emotional discomfort that can accompany material comfort, both grapples with the concept of a social class in decline. Both paint a portrait of a nation and of an age. The Legend of Sleepy Hallow The allusion of Sleepy Hollow contributes to the acceleration of the pace at the end of the story, because the protagonist of the Sleepy Hollow thinks that a ghostly, headless horseman is pursuing him. At the same time, Sleepy Hollow can be said to dull the tension of the last scene. The headless horseman in the story is not really a ghost; he is just the protagonists rival. They want to marry the same woman, so the rival pretends to be a ghost and runs the protagonist out of town. In this sense, Hamids allusion suggests that neither the American nor Changez is a dangerous person; they are merely rivals that have spooked one another. Ms Scerri Any other ideas?????