WTCS-PRAC1

#ae#wtcs#practice#responding#english

Discuss the way in which an understanding of context has influenced your response to an issue or idea conveyed in at least one text.

Introduction §

The narrative written by a writer or a filmmaker is derived from one’s own experiences. ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ is an American mystery and detective fiction film directed by Olivia Newman from a screenplay by Lucy Alibar based on the book written by Delia Owens of the same name. The film explores themes of isolation and violence. The story follows Kya, a girl who spends most of her life alone in the marsh due to rejection by society, who winds up being the primary suspect of a murder case. Kya’s “righteous” motive draws similarities to Owens’ personal experiences, in which the death of multiple animal poachers is allegedly the fault of Owens. Through the understanding of the film and its context I as the contemporary audience develop an empathetic but critical response to the actions of the murderer.

Body Paragraph 1 §

• characterisation: the characterisation of Kya, a nature loving independent and isolated girl who will do anything to achieve her goals, including murder, parallels Delia Owens, a nature loving conservationist who would protect against poachers at any cost.
• both characters are strong female heroines.
• this developed my response of appreciation of their resolve to protect their peace and isolation at any cost, but im critical towards the fact they value the upkeep of nature to a human life, and their view that you can only have one, but not the other.

Body Paragraph 2 §

• environment: the large marsh which sees more animals than humans is parallel to the environment of zambia which mark and delia owens lived.
• like how delia adored africa, kya adored the marsh, both appreciating the solitude and isolation it provides, as well how the nature in it functions.
• this constructs my response to understand that the environment can change the direction of a moral compass. people raised in normal society, who interacts with other humans values lives over anything else, but the marsh and african environment, in which perpetual life cycles of living and dying could be found anywhere and everywhere allows me to understand why kya and delia owens appreciate the company of animals, and do not put a higher value on human lives as others do.

Body Paragraph 3 §

• values of murder: kya and delia owens, under the impact of environment and characterisation, both view murder as a “way of life”.
• kya doesn’t hesitate in murdering chase andrews, and manages to elaborately set up a plan and execute it to perfection, whilst delia owens allows and actively trains game scouts to take down and capture poachers with her husband and son mark and christopher owens.

conclusion §

• R
  • I as the audience develop an empathetic but critical response to the actions of Kya.

• I §

• P
  • Owens effectively portrays Kya as a character to feel empathetic towards. It is significant for authors to allow the reader to believe in the protagonist, so the protagonist resonates with the reader. Owens effectively does this

** treat Kya as a character in a story. Not as an actual person. **** focus on the how of Kya’s portrayal - is it through metalanguage, dialogue, narration **what** does the narrator use to assist him in portraying Kya?