Work for Friday

Chain of Hearts

 The male point of view

 Maureen McCarthy has told this story through the voices of her women characters and exclusively from female points of view. It would of course be a very different novel if she had chosen to tell it otherwise.

 
What would happen to the story if male viewpoints were included? Try writing one of the following:
 

Ø Daniel’s thoughts after Geraldine meets him in the street and tells him of Fran’s annual encounters with Paul. Why does he decide not to confront Fran?

 

Ø Robert’s thoughts as he drives Sophie to Fran’s place. What are his feelings towards Sophie? Does he have any understanding of the trauma she has experienced because of Mai’s death? Does he understand the hostility between his wife and his daughter? What does he think of Geraldine’s decision to send Sophie to Fran?

 

Ø Minh’s letter to Sophie – the one she never reads because she thinks the envelope only contains a letter from her mother and she throws it away. What did he say?

Ø Daniel’s father’s feelings about Ruby – the girl who died because her message to him was never received. Did he blame himself? Although he eventually married someone else – Daniel’s mother – did he always remember her?

 

Remember to take the time  to proof-read and edit your work. Post to your blog at the end of the lesson.

Examples of paragraphs

On page 287, we hear from Geraldine directly. How does the use of Geraldine’s voice contribute to the reader’s understanding of Geraldine, other characters and/or their relationships? Choose one aspect of what is revealed in this chapter and write a well-structured paragraph.

 

Example #1.

The use of Geraldine's voice contributes to the reader's understanding of Geraldine, as the chapter shows how she cares about her daughter, Sophie, more than the other characters think. Hearing about  Geraldine from the other characters' perspectives, gives readers the impression that she doesn't care about Sophie and only wants her to get  better so that people don't think that she is a bad mother. However, through hearing from Geraldine herself, readers see that she is very concerned about her daughter: "My daughter, my daughter Sophie is missing..." (p.291). When Geraldine says this, readers see that she is worried about Sophie, and really does care about her, when she goes missing at her sister's place. By hearing from Geraldine's own persepective,readers see evidence that Geraldine is not as heartless as she is represented  by other characters, such as Sophie, Fran and Amy.

 

Example #2.

The use of Geraldine's voice contributes to the reader's understanding of Geraldine as she is more fragile than the reader thought she would turn out to be. It is revealed that Geraldine has been seeing a doctor to comfort herself, as she  is anxious and nervous.

     "Get some outside intersests, her new doctor had suggested. Some friends. Re-establish 

       old friendships if you don't feel comfortable with the set you and your husband have

       acquired together" (p288).

This suggests that Geraldine isn't "perfect" after all and is unhappy with the relationships she has with her friends and family. Geraldine also seems to have more problems than Fran. By hearing from Geraldine herself, the reader is made aware that Geraldine is a lot more fragile and delicate than Fran, and does not represent the perfect housewife after all.

 

Planning example

Introductory paragraph   Introductory statement               Thesis statement         Main points

Notes     This is optional. Useful for giving the name of the text and the author. Underline the title.     This is your answer to the question in one sentence.     Don’t put all of your main points in one sentence.

Maureen McCarthy's novel, Chain of Hearts, follows the life of Sophie Douglas as she reaches back into her family's past in a way that eventually heals both herself and others.         Chain of Hearts is an extremely appropriate title because of the themes which the novel explores as Sophie's journey to recovery unfolds.        Family relationships and the links which bind the Douglas family, in spite of their differences, are at the heart of the novel. Love creates a chain which remains unbroken, even if at times, the links between the family members are stretched. The novel also explores the way guilt can create a chain of events and reactions, needing the power of family love to heal and demonstrating how appropriate the title of the novel is.

Body Paragraph 1   Topic sentence Point           Evidence             Explanation                             Concluding sentence

Make sure your topic sentence refers to your argument as well as the topic of the paragraph   Introduce your evidence  - don’t go straight from your topic sentence to a quotation.   Remember to identify the literary technique   Avoid saying – “this quotation means” … You should not be interpreting the quotation – you should be explaining its significance.

The title Chain of Hearts relates closely to the way in which the relationships of Sophie’s family are bonds which are impossible to break.         Fran and Geraldine’s relationship –     difficult, haven’t spoken to each other for year quotation/literary technique is not broken – Geraldine asks Fran’s help with Sophie is much better by the end quotation/literary technique shows that a chain is an appropriate symbol for family   Sophie and Geraldine’s relationship difficult, don’t get along together Sophie still loves her mother quotation/literary technique Geraldine loves her daughter in spite of what others think           quotation/literary technique their relationship is not shattered, it remains unbroken and is healed greatly by the end quotation/literary technique           The way in which relationships of the Douglas family survive in spite of the many tests and trials they undergo, makes it clear to the reader that a chain of hearts is a relevant symbol on which to base the title of the novel.

Themes in Chian of Hearts

 

Guilt

How are we positioned to understand guilt is very strong and powerful?

Plot:

Geraldine, Fran and Sophie are all weighed down by guilt. Part of the reason Fran accepted Sophie (whom she didn't want) was through guilt. Sophie felt responsible for Mai's death as she was driving the car that crashed.

Geraldine feels guilty for accidentally leaving her heater on (caused fire) and she feels partly guilty for Sophie's revolt Jimmy may feel guilt as he did not realise that Blue was going to kill himself.

 

Characterisation:

Every character is portrayed as feeling some sense of guilt Each character is weighed down/burdened in some way by this Each characters guilt links to another's and it all ties together throughout the story

Multiple Voices:

We can learn from others the reason of certain characters guilt (eg. We learn from Geraldine that Fran was cheating on Daniel) We can learn from another's point of view the extent of guilt a character is feeling

 

Change

The readers understanding of change develops throughout the novel through the events and characterization that happens with Sophie. Change can come in many different ways. It can be mental, physical, or an unexpected event, which is shown throughout the novel where Geraldine describes physical change in Sophie in a letter to Fran:“You will have noticed the huge weight gain?” (p.113). In the same letter, Geraldine also mentions to Fran that “if she remains unchanged…(i.e. if she becomes impossible fro you too), then we’ve decided to have her hospitalized…” (p. 114).  Here readers can see the state that Sophie was in before she went to Fran’s house, compared to the change in her after her stay with Fran. This is event in the novel where Fran describes Sophie as, “The girl is coming alive before my eyes”. Change is a major theme throughout the book and helps to create a better understanding of the characters development over time. 

 

 

FORGIVENESS

Forgiveness is a very important characteristic in life as it is the ability to be able to move on from negative experiences with another person or group of people. This is shown in the novel Chain Of Hearts through the plot by going through many problems and hatred between family members. Being able to mend their situations and become a family again, the characters in Chain Of Hearts relationships mend to be something that is not the same as once before, but can grow into something better.

Characterization is a major technique used by the author in this novel to portray the theme of forgiveness. Through the characters of Geraldine and Fran the reader sees a broken relationship full of hate, guilt and lying turn into something that is not the same as what it was but better in many means. Throughout the novel the reader discovers the different events that occur between Fran and Geraldine’s relationship that impact it greatly. Then towards then end the reader sees these events overcame, resolved and both of the characters forgiving each other to a certain extent.

 

Trust

 

Geraldine trusts Fran to look after her daughter but she does not trust Fran when it come to other family matters or relationships. Geraldine knows Fran will look after Sophie but she still does not trust her relationship with her after Fran started seeing Paul. The use of multiple voices shows different perspectives to stories that can also display the issues of trust between characters. The dialogue never says “I don’t trust you” but through the use of flashbacks the characters share stories from when their trust has been broken. Characters also use very strong emotive language when talking about these experiences. An example of this is when Paul calls of the wedding with Geraldine. Geraldine loses all the trust she had for her ex-fiancée, who was someone she was meant to be able to trust with her life.  Another example of trust is Sophie’s relationship with her teacher Mr Schmidt. She trusts him to talk about her problems and trusts his advice. On page 9 Sophie refuses to get help from anyone but it say’s “There was one fellow she agreed to see…” This demonstrates a relationship with trust.

  Geraldine trusts Fran enough to give her daughter to her to take care of her for a certain period of time.         ‘Thankyou for agreeing to have her, Fran’ (Pg114)

    Sophie trusts Fran enough to agree to go live at her house.

    Fran trusts Amy enough to tell Amy her secrets and talk about everything.

‘But Amy, of course, understood’ (pg 96)

·           Jimmy and Fran trust each other.

·          Sophie trusts Minh.

·         Mai and Minh trust Sophie. 

·         Trust can be lost (Fran, Paul & Geraldine).

·        Sophie trusts her mother, then she loses her trust in her mother and begins to feel forms of hatred towards her.

·       Trust can be broken, it can be developed and can easily damage a relationship.

Acceptance

·      Acceptance occurs a lot throughout the novel because each character is slowly     accepting each other even though all of them are different to one another. Fran soon learns to accept Sophie by who she is.

·      Fran and Geraldine slowly learn to accept each other.

·      Fran soon learns and accepts Sophie even though she has had her problems.

·      “I’ve been waiting for you to come. What took you so long?” (pg. 389) This shows that Mihn has accepted Sophie in the end.

 

 

 

 

 

Essay Writing Process

Essay Writing

To give yourself the best opportunity to answer an essay question effectively, it is important to work with a clear structure. If you follow this step-by-step process, it should help you to stay on track with your argument.

Step 1: Read the question:

Step 2: Highlight/underline/circle the main points

Step 3: 'This question is asking me to...'

Step 4: Brainstorming - write down anything that comes to mind about the topic.

Step 5: Pick out important parts in brainstorming and expand/organise to form what will become your main points.

Step 6: Write your thesis statement. Your thesis statement must involve and answer the question. Basically, it states what you will be basing your whole essay around.

Step 7: Write your topic sentences - work out what your main body paragraphs are going to talk about and then write your topic sentences.

Remember, a topic sentence must

a) tell us what the paragraph will be about

b) link back to thesis statement.

Step 8: Decide what quotations and evidence you will use for each body paragraph - make sure your evidence is relevant to your main point and ultimately supports your thesis statement.

Step 9: Plan what you want to say about your evidence and how it supports your points - this is your synthesius and it where you can include discussion of the positioning techniques.

Step 10: Write your concluding statements or linking sentences - optional. Some people like to do this in planning as it is one more way to ensure that they stay on track in their argument. Others prefer to wait until the paragraph is complete so that they can come to a logical conclusion in that part of the argument. Experiment to see what works best for you.

Step 11: Start writing your essay!

Introduction - thesis statement

- outline of main points

- include title of the novel and author's name

- can include very brief background about the novel to set the scene

- consider and mention positioning techniques, e.g:

Main Body Paragraphs - repeat for all paragraphs

Topic sentence
Expand/Elaborate

Evidence

Evaluation

Concluding sentence

Conclusion - revisit thesis statement

- revisit all main points

- mention author and title

- DO NOT BRING IN ANY NEW INFORMATION

- leave reader with something to think about

Step 14: Proof-read and edit - do not stop until you get told to put your pen down.

When proof-reading and editing, consider the following things:

Punctuation

- Have you used commas effectively?

- Have you put full stops at the end of sentences?

- Have you used quotation marks to indicate quotations?

- Have you used possessive apostrophes where needed?

- Have you used capital letters at the beginning of sentences and for Proper Nouns (i.e. a person's name, etc.)

- If you have used a semi-colon, colon or hyphen, have you used it correctly?

Spelling

- Have you spelt the author's name correctly?

- Have you spelt the characters' names correctly?

- Have you looked for incorrect spelling of homophones (words that sound the same but are spelt differently, e.g. 'to', 'too' and two'?

- Have you ensured that you are using Australian (British) spelling rather than U.S. spelling, e.g. 'analyse' instead of 'analyze'?

Sentence structure:

- Do they make sense?

- Do you have a variety of sentence structures, i.e. simple, compound and complex?

- Do you avoid sentence fragments?

- Do you begin sentences in a variety of ways or do they all start the same way?

Expression

- Have you phrased things in the best way?

- Do you avoid colloquial expressions?

- Do you avoid slang and contractions?

- Does the way you have worded your argument make sense?

- Do you avoid using first person (I, me, my, we, our)?

- Do you avoid using second person (you, your)?

Word choice

- Have you repeated words too many times?

- Have you used words in the right context - i.e. does it make sense the way you have used it?

- Do you know what the words you have used actually mean?

- Have you tried to use words that demonstrate that you understand the positioning techniques, e.g. 'imagery', 'characterisation', 'positions', etc.

Grammar

- Have you checked that you are writing in present tense?

- Have you ensured that you are not making mistakes with subject verb agreement, i.e. if the noun is plural so is the verb OR if the noun is singular so is the verb? E.g. 'There are two chairs." (Correct) "There is two chairs." (Incorrect)

- Do you use definite and indefinite articles appropriately? ("The" - definite article. "A" and "An" - indefinite articles.)

Content

- Do you answer the question?

- Is your discussion relevant?

- Are the claims you are making about the book/characters/events correct?

- Are your quotations relevant to your argument?

- Do you reference your quotations?

- Do you take the time to synthesise your evidence?

- Do you mention positioning techniques in your synthesis?

Structure

- Do you have a clear thesis statement that answers the question?

- Does this intro outline your main points?

- Does the intro mention the author and book?

- Do you avoid using quotations in your intro?

- Do your topic sentences link back to your thesis statement?

- Do you have evidence in each paragraph?

- Do you have closing statements or linking statements at the end of each paragraph?

- Does your conclusion avoid bringing in new information?

Paragraph example

On page 287, we hear from Geraldine directly. How does the use of Geraldine’s voice contribute to the reader’s understanding of Geraldine, other characters and/or their relationships? Choose one aspect of what is revealed in this chapter and write a well-structured paragraph.

 

Topic sentence         Evidence        Explanation       Concluding sentence

Through the use of Geraldine's voice, the reader gains a better understanding of Geraldine's attitude to Sophie, and is led to realise that Geraldine does care for her daughter and is devastated at her disappearance.   When the narrative voice tells the reader that "the anxiety headache was getting worse" (pg 291), it becomes clear that Geraldine is genuinely concerned about her daughter. This is also revealed through the use of Geraldine's voice, in italics, when she thinks, "My own daughter, only seventeen years old and I haven't spoken to her in a month..."(pg …).      Geraldine is clearly feeling both worried and guilty, and yet these are feelings that neither Fran nor Sophie would have attributed to Geraldine.      It is only through the use the use of Geraldine's perspective, giving the reader her own point of view that her anxiety for her daughter is revealed.

Remember:

 

Your topic sentence needs to be quite specific: in this case, explaining precisely what the better understanding is that readers gain. If you can't do this in one sentence, do the more specific explanation in a second sentence.

 

You need to introduce your quotations. Giving evidence does not mean that you go straight from topic sentence to quotation. Introducing your quotation means that you are actually using it as evidence for the reader.

 

You need to make the links between your evidence and the point in your argument for the reader. This should happen in both your explanation and your concluding sentence.

 

Formatting:

 

Don't start a new line within a paragraph.Your paragraph should look like this:

 

Through the use of Geraldine's voice, the reader gains a better understanding of Geraldine's attitude to Sophie, and is led to realise that Geraldine does care for her daughter and is devastated at her disappearance. When the narrative voice tells the reader that "the anxiety headache was getting worse" (pg 291), it becomes clear that Geraldine is genuinely concerned about her daughter. This is also revealed through the use of Geraldine's voice, in italics, when she thinks, "My own daughter, only seventeen years old and I haven't spoken to her in a month..."(pg …). Geraldine is clearly feeling both worried and guilty, and yet these are feelings that neither Fran nor Sophie would have attributed to Geraldine. It is only through the use the use of Geraldine's perspective, giving the reader her own point of view that her anxiety for her daughter is revealed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Themes in 'Chain of Hearts'

Themes in Chain of Hearts

What themes are explored in the novel, Chain of Heart?

o   Love- family, romantic, partnerships

o   Guilt

o   Forgiveness

o   Family Relationships

o   Acceptance – of each other

o   Trust

o   Self-awareness

o   Change

What does the novel say to the reader about each of these themes?

·                     Love- family, romantic, partnerships

Love is not always easy; you don’t always get what you want

·                     Guilt

Work your way through it to overcome; you need other people’s support; guilt is strong and powerful- has powerful effects

·                     Forgiveness

Not easy but if you are going to move forward you need to forgive yourself and other people

·                     Family Relationships

Can be complicated; family support is important;

·                     Acceptance – of each other

Unless there is forgiveness we can’t accept each other

·                     Trust

Very important in relationships; if trust is destroyed it damages a relationship; different kinds of trust; can trust people in one area but not trust them in another;

·                     Self-awareness - Knowing what you are capable of

Self-awareness helps confidence; grows over time; especially important but challenging area for teenagers

·                     Change

Change can be challenging and unexpected but is often good

Geraldine's voice

Hearing Geraldine’s voice – Page 287

What do we learn about various characters and their relationships in this chapter?

Geraldine	·         She admits that she loved Blue, Jimmy’s friend from Vietnam. (p.306) This was while she was engaged to Rob. ·         She feels regretful and guilty for not intervening more with Blue. ·         She had post natal depression after Sophie was born. (p.291) ·         She is more emotional and empathetic then we first thought her to be, from Sophie or Fran. (p.306) ·         She didn’t feel good about relationship with her dad. She thought that her dad was easier on Fran and that she was his favourite. “Instead of getting a smack around the legs for being naughty…”(p.289) ·         Geraldine has been seeing a doctor and does not seem to be in a good state of mind. She is anxious and upset. (p.288) ·         She wants a happy and stable family and tries to accomplish this with help of Rob. Sophie’s behavior is something that she finds very difficult to cope with because she seems to need a very stable life.
Jimmy	·         He is really good at not showing his emotions and his war experiences were very extreme and difficult. ·         He was very dependent on Blue to forget the war memories and was hugely affected when Blue died. ·         Fran had different views about the war from Jimmy and according to Geraldine was not supportive of Jimmy when he really needed her. ·         We learn about a particular war experience “Binh Ba” where he saved Blue. (p.311)
Geraldine’s view of Fran and their relationship	·         Geraldine and Fran’s relationship is easily strained. They know how to push each other’s buttons. ·         Geraldine suggests that Fran didn’t have the commitment to pursue a real career as an artist.
Geraldine and  Sophie’s  relationship	·         Geraldine was totally perplexed about what was going on with Sophie and was unsure how to deal with her and their relationship. ·         “The whole two years after her arrival, were still a kind of miserable days…” (p291)                    ·         “My own daughter, only seventeen years old and I haven’t spoken to her in a month… my daughter, my own daughter Sophie is missing…” (p.291) ·         This gives us the impression that Geraldine is generally worried and is feeling guilty about Sophie.