LELE - Janet Frame "An Angel at my Table"

Hello all, please read Janet Frame's extract from her autobiography "an Angel at my Table".
I will send you individually the feedback on your group work.

Discuss the following questions on the forum:
part 1:
- She refers to two time periods in the first part. What's the difference between these two periods?
- PIck out a metaphor and explain it. So why is it difficult to write a "pure" autobiography? What's a pure autobiography?
part 2:
- There are two paragraphs, some of you said that the first paragraph was composed of questions which shows that she questions everything, she seems to be anxious. Ok but what do you think of these questions??? Theme? Can they be answered?
- You also said that she used FREE INDIRECT SPEECH which is correct. There is not introductory verb such as "I asked myself" "I thought" "i said".
Why did the writer made that choice? What did she use free indirect speech?
- What does the second paragraph show?
- who is Amber Butterfly? How does Janet recreate herself?

part 3
Who are these poets???
WHy is imagination in italics?
Why is it important to have a disability and what's her disability?

Make a mind map: How does Janet Frame create and recreate herself?
Take a picture of your mind map and post it on the forum.

Have a good day!

Part 1 :

-First of all she referes to the years before, where the memories where progressives – day by day – year by year. Then she speak about the adolescent time, at this time all the memories get tangled.

-“[...]into the depths of the dance, for the movement is dance with its own pattern, neither good or bad, but individual in its own right”. She used the methaphor of dance to speak about memories because the are in her mind, she don’t now what she had to pick out to write the autobiography. Moreover if the memory is old, she could modificate it because she didn’t remember as well.

Part 2 :

-She is questioning herself about her memories. It’s rhetorical questions (she don’t need answers)

- The writer make that choice to us have the sensation to be on her head. It’s like we were she and she is thinking. So we have her true thoughts.

- The second paragraph shows that the writer don’t feel good at work. She is uncertain about her vocation.

- Amber Butterfly is the name that Janet used to published her poems on newspapers. Janet recreate herself to be free of published poems without people knew that it was she. She can used Amber Butterfly to create a new character (and a new life maybe).

Part 3 :

- All this poets had troubles in their lifes. They all write dark things. Edgar Allan Poe had addiction to opium. Cowper had depression etc...

- Imagination is in italic because it’s something importante for a writer a poete etc... Not everyone has imagination.

-It’s importante to have a distability because the writer can speak about it. He have experience. Also people who have troubles most of the time try to “escape” or forgot this during a moment by writing. Janet had distability because her sister and her cats died. Also her brother had epilepsy.

Hello Claudia, let me tell you point by point what I think about your analysis.
( I won't correct the grammar ok?)

Part 1 :

-First of all she referes to the years before, where the memories where progressives – day by day – year by year. Then she speak about the adolescent time, at this time all the memories get tangled. => YES I AGREE, it's a good point

-“[...]into the depths of the dance, for the movement is dance with its own pattern, neither good or bad, but individual in its own right”. She used the methaphor of dance to speak about memories because the are in her mind, she don’t now what she had to pick out to write the autobiography. Moreover if the memory is old, she could modificate it because she didn’t remember as well. => I WOULD GO FURTHER! "a dance with its own pattern" => THE NARRATOR HAS NO SAY / SHE DOESN'T DECIDE.

Part 2 :

-She is questioning herself about her memories. It’s rhetorical questions (she don’t need answers) ==>they are not rhetorical questions EVEN THOUGH SHE CAN'T ANSWER the questions. they are EXISTENTIAL.

- The writer make that choice to us have the sensation to be on her head. It’s like we were she and she is thinking. So we have her true thoughts. => YES I AGREE! WE HAVE ACCESS TO HER THOUGHTS

- The second paragraph shows that the writer don’t feel good at work. She is uncertain about her vocation. = > I disagree WE ARE IN JANET'S HEAD AS A TEENAGER. EVERYBODY WANTS HER TO BE A TEACHER, BUT WHAT ABOUT HER? HOW DOES SHE SPEND HER TIME WITH HER SISTER?

- Amber Butterfly is the name that Janet used to published her poems on newspapers. Janet recreate herself to be free of published poems without people knew that it was she. She can used Amber Butterfly to create a new character (and a new life maybe). => EXCELLENT POINT

Part 3 :

- All this poets had troubles in their lifes. They all write dark things. Edgar Allan Poe had addiction to opium. Cowper had depression etc... => YES. MAKE A RESEARCH ON THE ROMANTICS?

- Imagination is in italic because it’s something importante for a writer a poete etc... Not everyone has imagination. => YES EXCELLENT? ALSO MAKE A RESEARCH ON THE ROMANTIC POETS => THEY ACTUALLY PRAISE THE POWER OF IMAGINATION.

-It’s importante to have a distability A DISABILITY because the writer can speak about it. He have experience. Also people who have troubles most of the time try to “escape” or forgot this during a moment by writing. Janet had distability because her sister and her cats died. Also her brother had epilepsy. => OKAY good point! BUTwhat do you think about the way she talks about her sister's death. My sister had died and my cat had died

Overall: a good job! good points, I think you have understood the text. One thing though I'm not sure you've understood is "whose thoughts do we have access to?" There are two Janets: one who is writing her autobiography and the teenager. Who is anxious? Who asks herself existential questions? WHo wants to become a writer and not a teacher?

Collet
Albertine
TL1

1) In the second paragraph, Janet Frame questions evrythings, she seems lost, afraid and anxious. In fact they are existential questions. There are like flashback, but with a distopic vision, « what if my parents died suddenly ? », these type of child question don't really have answers, because you knows the answer when the accident arrives. As a matter of fact, they seem like very depresiv question, we can imagine that Janet was in a research about herself, the world where she lived, and her place.

2) In the first part, Janet Frame refers to two time period which are firstly, her memories, and secondly, her « spiritual » dance. She said that before beeing adolescent she had « a true personal history knowns by dates and specific years ». Howewer, when she grows up at the adolescent age, her memories became a « whirlpool ».
After had this reflexion, the second part of this paragraph is when she dances, « neither good or bad », a dance that she qualifies than « dust and sunbeams ». The diference between these two parts are interiority and exteriority way of thinking.

3) The citation «  the adolescent time now became a whirlpool, and so the memories do not arrange themselves to be observed and written about, they whirl, propelled by a force beneath, whith different memories rising to the surface at different times and thus denying the existence of a « pure » autobiography » is a metaphora explaining that her memories are disfonctional and, since the adolescence, everything is propelled to the surface at different times, she is lost and not sure about the reality, or false memories. That's also why this is very hard for her to write a pure autobiography .

4) We saw that she used free indirect speech, this is not usual in an autbiography so, why did she use it ? Maybe because she's using a fake name, so it can be like she sees her history in an extern point of view, like she tells us the story of a woman, her reflexions and ideas.
5) The second paragraph show that the author is afraid to grow up, she accused the school to bewildered and imprisoned her. She asks a lot of questions maybe because school make her growing up, and she really don't want to.
6) Amber Butterfly is cited one time in the third paragraph, l24 « thank you for the poems, Amber Butterfly », this is the name that took Janet Frame in her autobiography. This is a recreation of Janet because she said that she can't tell us, the reality , she had a biaised point of view. So we can think that she wants to tell us her story like she was a butterfly caught in amber ?

7) Janet cited seven poets, when she thinked that she was nearer to being a real poet, she says that it was a question of disability and she takes for instance ;Coleridge, Francis Thompson, Edgar Allan Poe which had an addiction to opium, Alexander Pope, with his lameness,William Cowper was in depression, John Clare had some insanity, and the Brontës had tuberculosis.

The word imagination is in italic, because it is very important, in fact this acknowledgment defines all the idea of the text, Janet have the imagination to change her name, to become a poet... This is the most important word of this extract.

9)
She compares the problems of these poets to her, with the death of her sister, her cats (which seems humoristic after her sister), and her epileptic brother, but she still feels ordinary. This is like talent were caused by a sad and complicate life, which is weird.

Hello Albertine! good job overall. Let tell you point by point what's well done what needs to be corrected:
Collet
Albertine
TL1

1) In the second paragraph, Janet Frame questions evrythings, she seems lost, afraid and anxious. In fact they are existential questions. There are like flashback, but with a distopic vision, « what if my parents died suddenly ? », these type of child question don't really have answers, because you knows the answer when the accident arrives. As a matter of fact, they seem like very depresiv question, we can imagine that Janet was in a research about herself, the world where she lived, and her place. ==> good

2) In the first part, Janet Frame refers to two time period which are firstly, her memories, and secondly, her « spiritual » dance. She said that before beeing adolescent she had « a true personal history knowns by dates and specific years ». Howewer, when she grows up at the adolescent age, her memories became a « whirlpool ». => her memories become a whirlpool. But memories are ALSO LIKE A DANCE. It's like memories dance in her head, like particules of dust in the sun (imagine you're in a room wih the shutters down and there's a sunbeam going through, it's not unusual to see dust "dancing" in the sunbeam. It's impossible to catch! it flees!). IT's IMPOSSIBLE FOR HER TO CATCH THESE MEMORIES JUST LIKE IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO CATCH THE DUST THAT'S DANCING IN THE LIGHT! the dance = the dance of her memories
After had this reflexion, the second part of this paragraph is when she dances, « neither good or bad », a dance that she qualifies than as « dust and sunbeams ». The diference between these two parts are interiority and exteriority way of thinking. there's actually no difference, just two images (whirlpool / dancing dust) to explain how memories can't be grasped.

3) The citation line « the adolescent time now became a whirlpool, and so the memories do not arrange themselves to be observed and written about, they whirl, propelled by a force beneath, whith different memories rising to the surface at different times and thus denying the existence of a « pure » autobiography » is a metaphora explaining that her memories are disfonctional and, since the adolescence, everything is propelled to the surface at different times, she is lost and not sure about the reality, or false memories. That's also why this is very hard for her to write a pure autobiography . = yes

4) We saw that she used free indirect speech, this is not usual in an autbiography so, why did she use it ? Maybe because she's using a fake name, so it can be like she sees her history in an external point of view, like she tells us the story of a woman, her reflexions and ideas. => it's the contrary. She gives DIRECT access to her thoughts (her thoughts when she was young) (pas de verbe introductif du style "j'ai pensé" "puis je me suis dis")
5) The second paragraph show that the author is afraid to grow up, she accused the school to bewildered and imprisoned her. She asks a lot of questions maybe because school make her growing up, and she really don't want to. ==> I don't think so! she just doesn't want to be a teacher that's all.
6) Amber Butterfly is cited one time in the third paragraph, l24 « thank you for the poems, Amber Butterfly », this is the name that took Janet Frame in her autobiography. no, it's just a pseudonym she uses to write poems as an adolescent This is a recreation of Janet because YES! she said that she can't tell us, the reality , she had a biaised point of view. kind of, we can interpret it like that, but that doesn't have to do with the name So we can think that she wants to tell us her story like she was a butterfly caught in amber ?

7) Janet cited REFERS TO seven poets, when she thinked THOUGHT that she was nearer to being a real poet, she says that it was a question of disability and she takes for instance ;Coleridge, Francis Thompson, Edgar Allan Poe which had an addiction to opium, Alexander Pope, with his lameness,William Cowper was in depression, John Clare had some insanity, and the Brontës had tuberculosis.

Cool The word imagination is in italic, because it is very important, in fact this acknowledgment defines all the idea of the text, Janet have the imagination to change her name, to become a poet... This is the most important word of this extract. => ok!

9)
She compares the problems of these poets to her, with the death of her sister, her cats (which seems humoristic after her sister), and her epileptic brother, but she still feels ordinary. This is like talent were caused by a sad and complicate life, which is weird. => it's not weird! it's just that having a disability gives a credibility (or at least she thinks so). So she looks for a disability but can't seem to find one (my cat died?! and my sister too => very awkward!)