International Baccalaureate: World Literature

Conclusion analysis

Good conclusions usually refer back to the question or title and address it directly - for example by using key words from the title.
How well do you think these conclusions address the title or question? Answering these questions should help you find out.

1. Do they use key words from the title or question?
2. Do they answer the question directly?
3. Can you work out the question or title just by reading the conclusion?

• Disgrace. Compare and contrast David and Lucys reaction to the attack in chapters 12 to 14

  "To conclude I would say that David and Lucy's reaction to the attacks could not contrast more. Where David appeared to be scared and Lucy put on the brave front, David was the one who was strong for them both, going to the market etc, whereas Lucy was finding life after the attack very difficult, 'her thumb in her mouth like a child.' However, Lucy does not want the attack to be known to the public, she wants to move on, forget the past, but David wanted revenge on the attackers. Lucy's attitude towards the attack suggests that she felt guilty for the mistreatment of blacks and felt this was her punishment, whereas David's beliefs that change shouldn't happen were stressed by the attack."

• To what extent does Ibsens Hedda Gabler update the conventions of Greek tragedy that can be found in Euripides Medea?

  "To conclude, throughout this essay I have attempted to show and explain how Ibsen, in his play Hedda Gabler, has updated and twisted the conventions of Greek tragedy that can be found within Euripides' classic tragedy Medea. I have examined how the death of Hedda, in particular the location and reaction to it, utilises and manipulates convention to create drama and enable the audience to draw their own conclusion from the action. The nature of the Thespian Loevborg, and how Hedda lives through him, shows how Medea's character has been twisted and changed, that Hedda is no longer seeking revenge and equality, in the perhaps two dimensional Euripidean world that Medea inhabits, but also control and success. I believe that there are many ways in which Ibsen has updated the conventions of Greek tragedy, and that it is the use of farce throughout that presents this text as a truly modernised Greek tragedy. 1 Ibsen, Henrick, Hedda Gabler, Methuen Drama Student Editions, 2002 Methuen Publishing Ltd. P. 76. 2 Hedda Gabler, p. 99 3 Euripides, Medea, Cambridge University Press 1999, l.840 4 Hedda Gabler, p. 45 5 Medea l.298 6 Hedda Gabler, p. 37 7 Hedda Gabler, p. 104 8 Medea, l. 88 9 Hedda Gabler, p. 64 10 Medea, l. 398 11 Hedda Gabler p. 95 12 Hedda Gabler p. 99 C. Wild"

• Who do you think is responsible for Gregor's fate? To what extent do you think he is responsible?

  "Mr. Samsa lacks the qualities of a caring father, which is the central reason for Gregor's death. With enormous responsibilities at a young age, his life even before the metamorphosis is the life of a beetle. Much of this has a lot of to do with Kafka's strained relationship with his own father, who he describes as "huge, selfish, (and an) overbearing businessman," in his Letter to his father. Although this is not the reason why Kafka died, it sure is the reason why Gregor dies."