Cultural Context
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Cultural context looks at the society the characters live in and at how their culture can affect their behaviour and their opportunities.
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Think about where and when each text is set.
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Think about the values and attitudes that matter to these characters and about how they formed these beliefs – did their culture influence them?
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The most powerful forces in a society include religion, gender roles, attitudes towards sex and marriage, social status/class, job opportunities/emigration, (wealth/poverty), politics, authority figures, stereotypes/ethnic identity.
Sample questions – 70 marks
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“In any cultural context, deeply embedded values and attitudes can be difficult to change”
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“A reader can feel uncomfortable with the values and attitudes presented in texts”
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“The main characters in texts are often in conflict with the world or culture they inhabit”
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“The cultural context can have a significant influence on the behaviour of the central character/characters in a text”
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“Understanding the cultural context of a text adds to our enjoyment of a good narrative”
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Write an essay in which you compare the texts you have studied in your comparative course in the light of your understanding of the term the cultural context.
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“A narrative text creates its own unique world in which the reader can share”
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In simple English you need to be able to talk about
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how their culture affects their behaviour (or do they rebel) AND
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what you liked/learned from exploring these different cultures.
Sample questions – 30 + 40 marks
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“The issue of social class is important in shaping our understanding of the cultural context of a text”
(a) Discuss the importance of social class in shaping your understanding of the cultural context of one text you have studied
(b) Compare the importance of social class in shaping your understanding of the cultural context of two other texts you have studied.
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“The roles and status allocated to males or females can be central to understanding the cultural context of a text”
(a) Show how this statement might apply to one text on your comparative course. In your answer you may refer to the roles and status allocated to either males or females or both. (30)
(b) Compare how the roles and status allocated to males or females, or both, aided your understanding of the cultural context in two other texts on your comparative course. (40)
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“Understanding the cultural context of a text allows you to see how values and attitudes are shaped”
(a) Discuss in relation to one text you have studied (30 marks)
(b)Compare the way the values and attitudes are shaped in two other texts you have studied. (40 marks)
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Imagine that you are a journalist sent to investigate the cultural context of the worlds of the three texts from your comparative course.
(a) Write an article on the cultural context you found most interesting. (30)
(b) In a second article compare the cultural contexts of the other two
worlds with each other. (40)
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“The cultural context of a narrative usually determines how the story will unfold”
(a) Compare the way in which the cultural context influenced the storyline in two of the texts you have studied (40 marks)
(b) Show how the cultural context influenced the storyline in a third text you have studied (30 marks)
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(a) With reference to one of the texts you have studied in your comparative course, write a note on the ways in which the cultural context is established by the author.
(b) Compare the ways in which the cultural context is established by the authors of two other texts on your comparative course.
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25 responses to “Cultural Context Questions”