Peer Marking Checklist

As you progress through the essay of your partner, check the following elements:

Introduction:

1. Does their essay start with a clear, concise thesis statement?
2. Does this thesis statement directly answer the question?
3. Is there an identifiable introduction?
4. Does the introduction identify which themes the essay will address?
5. Does the introduction make mention of the fact that Maureen McCarthy uses a variety of techniques to help the readers understand these themes?
6. Does the introduction mention the novel and the author by name?

Repeat the following questions for each main body paragraph:

7. Does the main body paragraph have a clear, concise topic sentence that identifies which theme will be addressed?
8. Does the topic sentence also have a clear link back to the thesis statement?
9. Is there at least one follow on sentence that provides more information about the theme and the way it is presented in the novel?
10. Does the paragraph include relevant evidence from the novel to support the argument?
11. Is the evidence integrated into the discussion?
12. Is there a page number reference for the evidence?
13. Is the evidence synthesised - i.e. is there discussion after the evidence that explores why it is relevant to the argument. Remember, it should not just be an rephrasing of the evidence.
14. Does the paragraph involve discussion of what technique(s) McCarthy uses to portray this theme to the audience?
15. Does the paragraph only deal with one key concept?
16. Is there a closing statement that wraps up the paragraph?

Conclusion:

17. Does the conclusion draw on the evidence that has been provided and discussed to make a closing argument?
18. Does it draw the reader's attention back to the initial question?
19. Does it draw the reader's attention back to the main arguments?
20. Does it make direct reference to the novel and the author by name?
21. Does it avoid bringing in any new information or evidence?
22. Does it close by leaving the reader with something to consider?

General Proof-Reading:

23. Are there instances where punctuation needs to be addressed?
24. Are there instances where spelling needs to be addressed?
25. Are there instances where the information is hard to follow because of poor sentence construction?
26. Are there instances where the information is hard to follow because of poor expression?
27. Are there instances where the writer has made poor word choices?
28. Does the writer avoid using first person and second person?
29. Are there instances where the writer has made grammar mistakes?
30. Does the writer use present tense when discussing the text?
31. Is the writer's essay legible? I.e. do they need to work on their handwriting?

Practice Test

Complete the following essay question under test conditions - No talking, no notes, no music. "Choose two to three of the key themes in the novel, Chain of Hearts and discuss how effectively Maureen McCarthy presents these to the reader." In preparing your answer consider the following things: Make sure you underline the key words in the question If the question asks you "How" the author presents the themes, you are being expected to explain what techniques she is using. If the question asks you "how Effectively" she is presenting the themes you must give your audience an understanding of whether the techniques used by the author work? Make sure you manage your time effectively so that you can plan, write and proof read in the allocated time (two lessons) Aim for approximately 600 words Make sure your introduction has a clear thesis statement Make sure your body paragraphs have clear topic sentences Make sure that when you use evidence you synthesize Use present tense Don't use first person Reference page numbers in brackets

Themes in the novel

When we talk about key themes in a novel, we should be considering the main ideas/concepts that a writer is choosing to put forward to the audience throughout the story. In Chain of Hearts by Maureen McCarthy, we have decided that the key themes are as follows: Family Relationships Love Guilt Dealing with loss Dealing with traumatic events War Art (particularly women and art) Self-discovery Jealousy To help you come to an understanding of each of these themes, complete the following statement for each theme: "The theme of ... is significant in Maureen McCarthy's novel, Chain of Hearts because..." After completing this statement, try and find at least one quotation from the novel that helps prove your point. Clearly articulating each theme and looking for evidence is a good way to study for your upcoming test.

Practising paragraph writing

Use the following questions to practise writing clear, concise paragraphs. The aim to develop a strong argument that has depth in its analysis.

1. Uncle Jimmy is integral to Sophie’s emotional recovery. What does he do that helps her rebuild her confidence and find happiness?

2. Describe the character of Raymond and the dynamic between him and Fran.

3. Both Fran and Sophie carry around with them a deep sense of guilt. What is the guilt about for each of them? Are they justified in this feeling? What would you suggest for each of them to help them heal?

4. At the end of the story Sophie is forgiven by Mai’s family. Why do you think they forgave her? Do you think this was the right thing to do?

Remember the TEC paragraph structure:

Topic Sentence

Expand your main point

Evidence to support your claim

Evaluate your evidence (this is what we call synthesis)

Closing/clinching statement

As you develop your answers, you should be considering what Maureen McCarthy is doing as a writer to help the audience (position them) to understand the themes that she is exploring in the book. You can think about the following things:

* How she uses the characters and how she develops them throughout the book

* How she uses the multiple perspectives to enhance the themes and our understanding of the characters

* How she uses symbols and imagery to help signpost key themes

* How she uses language choices

Character Profiles

Here are the character profiles that each group has put together over the past two lessons:

Minh

personality: Minh is caring, delicate, sees the best in Sophie, Loyal to his family, trustworthy, faithful. Pg 159: “You have the prettiest eyes he said softly, are they grey or blue?”

relationships: Sophie was his girlfriend, he was related to Mai and Truc. Mihn talks to Sophie’s mum and Laura. Pg 156 “...When Mihn suddenly put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me to him a little.”, “Up to that moment we’d been acting like friends.”

Themes/issues: Minh has issues with his brother, as it went to jail.Helps to explore multiculturalism, helps Sophie to become a better person. Family influences his decisions, such as his brother Truc. Pg 155 “ I’ve got an older brother...He’s in jail. No one ever talks about him. His name isn't aloud to be mentioned in the house.”

Whats important to the character and why?:Truc, Sophie and Mia are all very important to him. His parents, and his family business are also very important. Pg 155 “ I’ve got to try help him this time. My parents..don't want to know him.”

How does the character change/develop throughout the book?: Minh doesn't change much throughout the book, but at the end he learns to forgive Sophie for the car crash. Pg 399 “ You didn't answer my letter, I’ve been waiting for you to come. What took you so long?”

How do you think Maureen McCarthy wants the audience to respond to this character?: I think that the author wanted Minh to be portrayed as a very caring, shy, curious, loving guy that is very true to himself and others.

Pg 147 “Then he gave a sudden grin. ‘Who are you?’” , Pg 147 “‘Sophie,’ i replied shyly, immediately liking his friendliness.”

 Geraldine

How would you describe this characters personality?

  Her and Sophie are very different personalities and do really get along at all

  'look Fran, Gerry needs a break' (page 9) Geraldine gets her husband to call and tell Fran (she won't talk to her herself) also Fran then mentions all the things that Fran hasn't done for her. Not being there when Robert was dying or her dad was dying.

  Everything revolves around her and Geraldine is constantly thinking for herself.

  She hasn't tried to pursue and make the relationship with her daughter better, instead she shipped her off to Fran's house without even speaking to Fran herself.

  She does, and has never, made an effort with Fran. When Fran's husband was dying or when her dad was dying. She doesn't apologise for any of this as she is too selfish and therefore Fran has no time for Geraldine.

  Sophie sees her mum as someone who is rich because she has married rich and she has taken huge advantage of that. She feels her mum uses the money to show off and get things done her way.

  'my mother character traits - she was obsessive, mean minded, controlling and vain... Just to name a few' (Sophie p.2)

How would you describe the relationships that this character has with others in the novel?

  Geraldine doesn't seem to have a very close bond with many people in the book, in fact most people seem to dislike her, especially her daughter Sophie.

  Fran doesn't seem to like Geraldine after various encounters. These are when; after Geraldine's engagement was broken off because the guy had fallen in love with Fran, when their dad was dying (just after Fran's husband had died) Geraldine didn't help and didn't apologise and also when there was a dinner party and Geraldine was rude to Fran's boyfriend.

  Jerry and Geraldine don't appear to be very close. Jerry and Fran seem to be closer than Geraldine and Jerry. Geraldine doesn't really talk to Jerry after he went to Vietnam.

  Sophie and Geraldine don't get along throughout pretty much the whole book. Sophie never forgave her mum for many things, especially her disapproval of Minh. ' mum didn't approve of Minh - she blamed him and Mai for my falling out with Alana and jess' earlier on in the book it mentions how Geraldine liked Alana and Jess more than Sophie did and how she thought the girls liked her mum and took advantage of their wealth.

  Geraldine has often appeared quite distant from many of the main characters, of whom all have very strong opinions of Geraldine. She seems close to Lauren yet she seems to sort of reject Sophie. It all blew up when Sophie said that she didn't want to do a medical profession. ' "I don't think I'll be at med school next year" said Sophie .... "so what will you do next year?" she (mum) said nastily, she was out of control.' (p. 86-89)

3. What are the main themes/issues that this character portrays?

- In the novel 'Chain of Hearts' Geraldine portrays the themes of the importance of family and trust. When Sophie started going off the rails right after the 'BE', Geraldine just gave up on trying to help Sophie, so she and Robert decided that they would send her to Sophie's aunts house in the countryside. Geraldine seems like the kind of person who doesn't have much patience, someone who gives up with things get tough. Fortunately for Sophie she has her Aunt to turn to. Here are few quotes spoken by Robert and Geraldine about Sophie, "Well she has just become impossible" "You could say she has turned into the teenager from hell!" "Look Fran, Gerry just needs a break and were hoping, of course the break might do Sophie some good too" page 9.

4. What do you think is important to this character and why?

In the book 'Chain of Hearts' the character Geraldine has a few things that are important to her, one of which is herself. When times got tough for Sophie, Geraldine couldn't be bothered to deal with the stress so Sophie was immediately sent to her Aunt Frans. In the first three quarters of the book Geraldine seems very vein, only worrying about how she looks whereas into the last quarter the book shows how she changes too look out for her family more. A quote by Fran from page 114. "Oh you uptight, self satisfied, condescending horrible ... Bitch! You commend me for my patience, do you? And my do-gooding instincts! Oh thank you so much, Geraldine! I'm so grateful. No, you wouldn't have the patience, would you, because ... Because, well, your hair might get messed up, you might miss lunch with one of your dick-head friends. Shit, anything might happen"

5.How does this character change/develop as the novel progresses?

Towards the end of he book Geraldine finally starts to realize the damage she has caused. At the start of the book she was a selfish, ignorant person. As a mother, sister and wife she wasn’t really stepping up to the plate. She completely gave up on her daughter and pretty much threw her into her sister’s life. After Sophie went missing and the house burnt down Geraldine must have became aware of how she had acted. At one stage when the whole family is at church, Sophie actually says some positive things about her mother.

“..and I am suddenly filled with admiration for her. My mother is so dignified and friendly” “I can see she is genuinely proud of her family” pge385

This quote displays Sophie new-found love for her mother who is definitely a different person at the church then she was at the beginning of the book when Sophie made comments such as,

“The dragon, that bitch commonly known as my mother, didn’t come.” pge64

 Even though an apology is not going to fix everything Geraldine had done, she obviously changed enough for Sophie to agree to go home.

6.How do you think Maureen McCarthy wants the audience to respond to this character?

Maureen McCarthy uses techniques to make us think poorly of Geraldine all throughout the book. From the first few pages, we begin to realize Geraldine is most probably the main antagonist in the novel. A quote that displays this is on Page 2.

"...my mother's character traits- she was obsessive,mean minded, controlling and vain... just to name a few.

In this quote the Author is clearly trying to let us know that Geraldine is an awful, horrible person. She does this a lot throughout the book.

Fran

How would you describe this characters personality? (Find evidence to support your claims)

When Fran was in university studying art, she was a little timid and didn’t fit in well with society. She didn’t often talk out of place and only responded when she was called upon, she also seems to not often forget things and can not interpret her guidance in the right way but shy’s against it. This is supported by a section of the novel in which fans art teacher humiliated her in which she goes on to say “the fact that he’d pulled out three or four other peoples work and given them the same treatment meant nothing. He’d done hers first, and even now, at the end of the year, she hadn’t gotten over it. Fro that time Fan had avoided his every look in case he decided to single her out again for another attack.”

And even in Geraldine’s case, she does not stick up for herself. Letting Geraldine boss her about. This is supported when she takes in Geraldine’s child, even though she didn’t want to, and didn’t have to.

How would you describe the relationships that this character has with others in the novel? (Again find evidence)

Fran and her sister Geraldine have a bad relationship, Fran let’s her sister boss her around, this is supported when Fran is on the phone with her sister and she has just asked Fran to take her in daughter whilst silently sending a message to her sister that she has to accept no matter what  “… a silence in which Geraldine was telling her to remember that she had no right to lay down any conditions. A silence that reminded Fran just who stood on the moral high ground here.  Fran thinks “. . . why? Why do I buy into all that stuff? How come she still has that power over me?.  Fran takes Sophie even through she does not want to. Fran is very close to her brother Jimmy, as they used to share a room. Fran is the relaxed one out of everyone in the book. And you would not find her as the life of the party.

What are the main themes/issues that this character portrays? (Evidence!)

Family responsibility is a theme that this character portrays, As in the book she took care of her father until the day he died. And Fran was always there for her brothers and sisters, so they had someone to lean on. And the feud between Geraldine and Fran, hurt Fran very much because she was always so very family orientated.

What do you think is important to this character+ why? (Evidence)

I think she finds her family important but she has a bit of family trouble, which stops here showing this. “…I was really nasty” “ she was only seventeen and I virtually told her to get out” this sentence suggests that Fran can sometimes get angry but feels terrible after, which if she didn’t care she wouldn’t state this. Her family has always surrounded her life. She took care of her dad until the day he died and was always there for her brothers and sisters to lean on. I think the feud between Fran and Geraldine tore Fran apart a little because she was so used to being very family oriented.

How does this character change/develop as the novel progresses? (Evidence)

How do you think Maureen McCarthy wants the audience to respond to this character? (Evidence)

They want you to like her, sympathize with her and feel sorry for her. I think they want you to feel that she is the victim of her sister’s maliciousness, and think that it is not justly deserved and she is too timid to defend herself this is supported in the sentence Fran voiced in her head when she’d gotten off the phone to Geraldine. “I don’t want anyone, least of all the teenage daughter of my enemy sister! I’ll have to ring her back. Tell her in no uncertain terms. She hates me anyway. So why not?. But she doesn’t. Because she still feels guilty about what she did to Geraldine all those years ago. There is a calming nature about this character.

Last week we started revising the essay genre in preparation for your upcoming test.

For homework you are to attempt the following essay question, making sure that you are using the appropriate essay structure.

Geraldine and Fran had events from their past that ruined their relationship as sisters. Explain what unfolded between these two women that led to their hatred of each other (include direct quotations). In your essay response, you should also consider whether only one character was in the wrong or both were to blame. You should also think about whether Geraldine should forgive Fran or whether it is right that she has held a grudge for all these years.

Your completed essay response must be uploaded onto your English blog by Monday. Try and aim for at least 600 words.

Chain of Hearts - Narrative Structure

The non-linear narrative structure, specifically the use of multiple narratives, is one of the most striking aspects of Maureen McCarthy’s novel, Chain of Hearts. By providing the reader with more than just Sophie’s perspective, McCarthy’s audience is positioned to question the stories that each character describes. This is because the use of multiple perspectives allows for an understanding on the part of the reader that there is often more than one side to a story.

1. Which characters speak to us directly in the first-person? Why?

2. The backcover blurb suggests that Sophie is the main character of the book. Do you agree? How important is Fran?Is it significant that hers is the only voice we hear directly for almost the first quarter of the book?

 

3. Are the voices of Sophie and Fran different? Can you identify language features in Sophie’s narrative that you do not find in Fran’s?

4. We are almost three-quarters of the way through the book before we come to a chapter that is from Geraldine’s point of view, even though it is third-person narrative (pages 287-315). Does this chapter change our understanding of Geraldine? If so, how?

5. The climax of the novel – Sophie’s return, Geraldine’s confrontation of Fran and the fire that destroys the house – is narrated in the third-person. What reasons might Maureen McCarthy have had for avoiding first-person at this point?

6. The final pages of the novel are first-person narrative. Unlike everything that has gone before, they are also written in the present tense. What is the effect of the use of present tense in this last scene, when Sophie goes to visit the Duong family?

The answers to your questions need to be completed and posted onto your blog by no later than Friday morning. Please aim to utilise evidence in your answers and write effective sentences/paragraphs for your responses. It should not be completed in dot point form.