Download Réquiem por un campesino español: Essay Writing

Réquiem por un campesino español: Essay Writing Technique
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Where appropriate, try to learn some of the ‘set phrases’ that I’ve underlined in the handwritten notes we went through in class; this will help you to use appropriate lexis and
syntax in your essay.
In addition, you should be prepared to make use of more general vocabulary and
structures suitable for a literary essay and adopt an accepted style. The following points,
in particular, are worth bearing in mind:
1. Tense usage
You should write your essay in the present tense; there may be the odd exception where
other tenses are grammatically appropriate, but in general, this is the accepted format:
remember, you’re not recounting the story, but giving a critical analysis of the text in
relation to the question asked. As such, it might be worth revising common present tense
endings; several examples are given later.
2. Quoting from the text
Quotations should be used sparingly – if used skilfully, they will enhance the quality of
your answer; if, however, they are over-used, you are very likely to score little on the
‘Organisation and Development of Ideas’ category. There are two methods of quoting
from the text:
i.
In-line quotations: here, you quote directly from the text and incorporate the
quotation within your sentence. This type of quotation is best avoided, unless you
are simply referring to significant nouns or adjectives. Above all, longer sentences
containing verbs should not be quoted in-line, or your sentence is likely to be
unwieldy and grammatically inaccurate. An example of in-line quoting is given
below.
ii.
Summary quotations: here, you make your point and then back it up as a summary
by quoting from the text. This is useful if you want to quote a complete sentence.
These types of quotations MUST add to what you’ve written and clarify the point
you are making, they should not be more than a line or so and should be accurate –
if you’re not sure of the exact phrase, leave it out since no quotation is better than
an incorrect one! Again, an example is given below:
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Some useful quotations worth learning by heart are given on the website.
3. Vocabulary
You should aim to vary lexical items which refer to specific events or characters in the
text. Continual reference to the characters by their proper names will undoubtedly mean
that your prose style becomes prosaic and repetitive. In Réquiem, for example, make sure
you vary references you make to the characters throughout your essay, using synonyms
where appropriate:
For example:
Mosén Millán: el cura, el sacerdote, el clérigo
Paco: el chico, el muchacho, el joven
La Jerónima: la partera, la saludadora
Don Valeriano et al: las familias pudientes, los poderosos, la clase pudiente/dirigente…
La iglesia católica, los terratenientes: las fuerzas antagonistas, lo establecido
Below are examples of correct tense usage (in bold), the two different ways of quoting
from the text and how to vary references to the main characters’ names:
Cuando salen los dos de las cuevas, la actitud “poco cristiana”1 del cura, y las
preguntas que le hace el chico, indican al lector un conflicto creciente, algo que
luego se establece de manera más o menos definitiva:
“Poco a poco se fue alejando el muchacho de Mosén Millán”2
The above passage refers to both Paco and Mosén Millán twice but note that two
different names are used.
4. Effective use of verbs
When referring to events – los acontecimientos – as examples of techniques – las
técnicas literarias – employed by the author, you should avoid too frequent use of
cuando + noun + verb; the noun form shows a more authoritative style and you should
find the sentence structure easier to handle:
For example:
“Cuando muere Paco…”  “La muerte de Paco…”
“Cuando Paco decide…”  “La decisión de Paco…”
“Cuando los señoritos destruyen…”  “La destrucción por parte de los señoritos...”
Example of in-line quoting – this phrase doesn’t alter the grammatical structure of your sentence but it
shows you know specific lexical items from the text and can use them appropriately.
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Example of summary quoting – this phrase sums up the point you are making; it is not over-long and it
is accurate. The use of the past tense in this sentence means that this method is the only way of quoting.
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You should use appropriate verbs to indicate what the author, the story, or the
event is suggesting at a given moment in your answer. Consider the following
examples – clearly, the noun (autor, acontecimientos, relato, etc…) can be
changed to suit the point you’re making; again the present tense should be used
throughout:
El autor demuestra
El autor nos presenta
El autor describe
El autor destaca, subraya
El autor establece
Los acontecimientos revelan
El relato ilustra de manera eficaz
The author shows
The author presents to us
The author describes
The author highlights, underlines
The author establishes
The events reveal
The story effectively illustrates
Use of verbs with standard literary terminology:
Estos imágenes permiten al lector prever
These images allow the reader to
foresee
By means of the symbolism used
by the author, we realise that…
These events symbolise…
This represents metaphorically
The conflict between the boy and
the priest leads to
As the story unfolds, …
Mediante los símbolos empleados por el
autor, nos da cuenta de que…
Estos acontecimientos simbolizan…
Esto representa de manera metafórica
El conflicto ente el muchacho y el cura
lleva a
A medida que se va desplegando la
historia, …
Los sucesos anuncian / presagian
Así contribuye a los temas principales del
relato
The events foreshadow
It thus contributes to the story’s
main themes
5. Miscellaneous literary phrases
The following should be used, where appropriate, in your essay:
El conflicto
El protagonista
El antagonista
La alusión a la Guerra Civil
El asunto
Jugar (u-ue) el papel de
El carácter
El personaje
La caracterización
El punto culminante, el momento clave
El desenlace final
El monólogo interior
El monólogo narrado
The conflict
The protagonist
The antagonist
Reference to the Civil War
The subject matter
To play the role of
The personality
The character
The development of characters
The key moment
The final outcome
The inner thoughts
The thoughts of the character (for
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example MM) narrated in the 3rd
person
Distancing of the author from the
characters, events…
The focus
The style
The image
The presentation of events, action
Device, technique
Symbolism
The underlying theme
The narrative technique
The flashback
The event marking an abrupt
change in the fortune of a character
El enajenamiento
El enfoque
El estilo
La imagen
La narración
El recurso
El simbolismo
El tema subyacente
La estrategia narrativa
La escena retrospectiva
La peripecia
JCW
May 2004
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