Topic 10 (session A) - Prose analysis > Bilgewater: Context and Cohesion > Task A

Bilgewater: Context and Cohesion

Task A - How does the novel begin?

Remember that the passage we are looking at comes from the very beginning of the novel. Here are the first few sentences:

(1) The interview seemed over. (2) The Principal of the college sat looking at the candidate. (3) The Principal's back was to the light and her stout, short outline was solid against the window, softened only by the fuzz of her ageing but rather pretty hair. (4) Outside the bleak and brutal Cambridge afternoon - December and raining.

How 'orderly' is the beginning of the novel begin in terms of given and new information (Tip - We looked at given and new information in Topic 8, Linguistic windicators of point of view, task B). How do we know that we are seeing the scene from the point of view of the candidate and not the Principal?

After you have worked out your answers, compare what you think with what we say.

Our answer

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