Comparing Texts - Sample answer - version three
Question
Compare how the writers of Text 1 and Text 2 present their perspective and ideas about life as a writer.
Support your answer with detailed reference to the texts. (14 marks)
Both texts are from a first-person perspective, but while Steinbeck鈥檚 text is in the form of a diary, King鈥檚 text combines memoir and advice, so also has a direct address to the 鈥榶ou鈥 of the reader.
The structure of Steinbeck鈥檚 text is more fragmented, the writer moves around his memories and thoughts, almost like the writing is following a stream of consciousness. This is reflected by the use of single-clause sentences and dashes to link ideas. In contrast King uses time connectives to structure his text: 鈥淔or years...In 1981鈥 year or two after鈥︹ This underlines the purpose of the text, to show the changes in his approach to writing.
The desk is a common element in both texts, but in King鈥檚 it is much more important. He talks about the 鈥榤assive oak slab鈥 he 鈥榙reamed of鈥 for years; the use of the hyperbolic adjective 鈥榤assive鈥 reflects the physical dominance of the desk and its dominance in King鈥檚 idea of a writer鈥檚 life. This physical dominance is emphasised by the later metaphor of the 鈥楾.Rex desk鈥 鈥 the image of the predatory dinosaur has connotations both of ridiculousness, but also of danger. In contrast, the extract from Steinbeck鈥檚 diary has a simple 鈥榙rafting table鈥, and the chair seems to be more important 鈥 the 鈥榝antastic chair鈥. The use of the verb 鈥榙rafting鈥 puts a focus on the physical act of writing.
Steinbeck notes the paradox of having everything you need to write (with the alliteration of the 鈥榩erfect pointed pencil鈥) but 鈥榥o writing鈥. A similar contrast arises in Text 2, when King mentions having the perfect desk, yet being on 鈥榓 voyage to nowhere鈥. This journey metaphor emphasises the lack of focused writing at this point in his career.
The comfort which Steinbeck enjoys is down to the care of his wife, who takes care of the 鈥榦utside details鈥. King does not want to be detached from life, instead on insisting that his desk must be 鈥榠n the corner鈥, not 鈥榠n the middle of the room鈥: he prefers to have his family around him.
He sums this up in the final metaphor of the extract from his memoir: that art is the 鈥榮upport-system鈥 for life, not the other way around. Steinbeck, however, seems to require his 鈥榖eloved鈥 to be a support-system for his writing. The contrast may also be reflected in the tone of the two texts: Text 1 is quite elevated in its tone and vocabulary (鈥榓 most treacherous animal full of his treasured contradictions鈥) but King writes in a deliberately down to earth way of the 鈥榡ob鈥 of writing.
Feedback - even better
This answer:
- moves smoothly from one text to another throughout
- considers the attitudes of the writers, the language and the structure
- shows both the similarities and the differences of the text, and links them together
- uses plenty of quotations, which are embedded into sentences
- includes points about the text that are developed and linked to other points