Professional Documents
Culture Documents
es. Decide whether you are being asked about style, ideas or both.
Step Two: Make notes (preferably as you are working your way through the paper) on the ideas and style of both passages. These can overlap with answers you have given for other questions, but should not completely rely on them.
Step Three: Weave your notes into a mini-essay. Include close references to the text (including quotations) to illustrate each point you make Include evaluative comments Evaluative comments explain how effective something is was effective; was more stimulating; adds amusement to the passage; contained strong imagery. Ensure that you comment on both passages in detail.
I found the second passage more compelling. What I found engaging about this passages ideas was that, while the writer exhibited a strong belief in the value of public libraries and their social and cultural value- a library is central to our understanding of what it is to be human-, he recognises and embraces the need for change libraries will have to evolve. In contrast to this welcoming of change, the ideas of the first passage were overly conservative, with the writer despite his apparent enthusiasm for Google I cant wait for Google to get online with the Bodleian Librarys one million books, keen to criticises any change or evolution in public libraries, as seen in his dismissive word choice of gimmicks when discussing new features in libraries. Indeed, he can lapse into a sneering, dismissive tone when discussing what is new, such as when he describes the MTV Generation as chattering at a thousand decibels. At these points, he comes across as a grumpy old man who is scared of change and of youth. Both passages use personal memories of libraries as a springboard for reflections My love affair with libraries started early; I have a halcyon library memory. This is an appropriate style for both, as both writers are respectful of the past. However, I feel that the writer of passage one is overly nostalgic, while the writer of passage two welcomes new technology, as effectively illustrated by his closing references to the film the Dead Set. The rather light hearted nature of this reference, everyone reads happily ever after successfully conveyed his argument that change is not something to worry about. This contrasted with the overly serious tone of the first passages conclusion the daunting scale of human knowledge, which reinforced the idea of someone stuck in the past.