I've never done this badly, and I was shocked by my marks as I usually achieve with a merit or excellence. This is the first English essay that I've handed in this year, and the result was NA (Not Achieved) - apparently I didn't answer the question properly. Can you please help me understand what I'm doing wrong, and give me advice (thoroughly), explaining things clearly and simply. =) Thanks a lot! Here it is: Essay: Describe one character or individual that you admired or disliked in the text. Explain how the writer made you admire or dislike this character or individual. In the novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, a character who gained my admiration was Christopher. I admired him because throughout the course of the story, he showed courage and determination whilst fighting his way through his disadvantaged life. Not only did Christopher pluck up the courage to face his wildest nightmares – talking to strangers -, he found order and stability by solving emotional problems on his own. Standing up for himself and preventing others from manipulating his life was another great change in Christopher’s character, which I valued him for. I think Mark Haddon has showed us that people with Asperger’s Syndrome are often taken for granted, and that they are able to show strength as an individual. The first reason I admired Christopher as a character is because despite his fears, he managed to ask his neighbours whom he considered to be “strangers†about the death of Wellington. Talking to strangers was one of Christopher’s greatest difficulties, for he did not understand the emotions and expressions of other human beings. He said “talking to other people in our street was brave. But if you are going to do detective work you have to be brave, so I had no choice.†This displays Christopher’s development in braveness, and I admired him for stepping out of his comfort zone to ask strangers if they knew who murdered Wellington. Christopher, who always struggled with emotions, found order and stability in his life by experiencing the challenge to solve emotional problems on his own, another very admirable step forwards. When Christopher was at the train station, after discovering that his mother was alive, he was very emotionally unstable and overwhelmed by the knowledge he had just been given. However, instead of groaning and attempting to forget about the problem in the hope that it would overcome him, Christopher cleared his mind by solving mathematical equations and drawing maps in his brain. He said “I couldn’t think because there were too many other things in my head, so I did a maths problem to make my head clearer†which highlights the courage he had to figure out his own emotional problems, instead of just logical ones. For Christopher to show such strength, in a complex situation, was very admirable. Mark Haddon also made me proud of Christopher, when he managed to make decisions about his life by himself, something that people diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome struggle with. During the scene when Christopher discovers the letters from his mother and that his father killed Wellington, he expressed that he was frightened and said “I had to get out of the houseâ€. Despite his father’s wishes for him to stay and sort everything out, Christopher “formulated a plan†to go to London and live with his mother, which proved to be challenging, as he had never travelled long distances on his own. However, he carried out this plan and gained my admiration for taking the courage to make vital decisions of his own and work his way around the disagreement of others. In conclusion, Mark Haddon led me to admire Christopher for many reasons. Firstly, Christopher plucked up the courage to have conversations with strangers, which was turning over a new leaf for him. Secondly, Christopher showed strength in the emotional field, by dealing with his mental breakdown over his mother by using means of order and stability. Thirdly, he made vital decisions of his own whilst under pressurized circumstances, showing Christopher’s grip of control over his life. All of these changes in Christopher’s character forced me to consider him as a boy of great strength and courage, despite his disability – which is something that we should all admire. Hi, thanks for all the answers so far! My teacher wrote a few comments on the page: "Link to wider themes of the text" (at the end of the second paragraph). "How does M Haddon make you admire Christopher" (on the side of the third paragraph). "Go further" (after "disagreement of others. " at the end of the 4th paragraph"). "Unfortunately, I cannot give you an achieved as you have not answered the question in full" at the end. She circled the words "one character", "you admired" , "how" and "writer" in the Essay question up the top. She also circled the word "admiration" in the opening sentence to my intro. Thanks again :)
Homework Help - 4 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
"Explain how the writer made you admire or dislike this character or individual" You do not give examples of how the writer presents the charcter, just how the character behaves in the novel. For example, "The first reason I admired Christopher as a character is because despite his fears, he managed to ask his neighbours whom(who* neighbors wouldn't be him) he considered to be “strangers†about the death of Wellington." Haven't read this novel so this will be created, "Haddon creates the feeling of admiration for Christopher when Christopher gathers the courage to ask about Wellington's death. For example, Haddon expresses Christophers' bravery when he says, "Christopher boldy walks over to the strangers despite his fears. " Much like many people with a disablilty they may be shy...." U get the idea. EDIT: That sounded bad edited.
2 :
I think you have explained why you admired Christopher, but not HOW the writer controlled you in this way, ie "made you" admire him. Also you haven't really described Christopher, for instance you didn't mention that he had autism, or that he was unusual in other ways too. Why were the chapters numbered in that peculiar way?
3 :
Hi I can't believe this but I was also studying this book last term. However as much as I would like to help you it is hard without knowing what your teacher had to say is there anyway you could post that. Because what you have written seems very good and indepth. So if you could please include that I could help you further
4 :
Hi there, oh that must be a nightmare for you. Well I skimmed your essay and did find that it did not really address the question and it did not have an essay structure. You need to look at the text in much more detail, explore the themes, language, linguistic devices etc. I haven't read this book so I can't really give you much pointers to go off. In general when looking at a story you should comment on; the characters persona - what kind of a person they are. themes - general ones would be religion, science, morality, life, death, trust, gender representation etc look at the langauge the characters use - comment on this, as it shows you fully understand the character. As for structure - always have an introduction, middle, and conclusion. the introduction and conclusion should be interesting and to the point. Intro - highlight what you will be doing in the essay and what you will look at. middle - comment on the caharcter you like conclusion - highlight what you have done, what you found and what YOU think amkes this character work or good. these are just general points...you can email me for more help if you feel you need to.
