02 i engelsk skriftlig - bør jeg klage?

 Jeg fik 02 i eksamens karakter for min eng. skriftlig stil på A-niveau. Jeg ved godt den måske ikke er særligt god men må indrømme at jeg alligevel blev overrasket da jeg plejer at få 10 i mine afleveringer. Derfor tænkte jeg at jeg lige ville høre nogle kommentarer fra folk herinde inden jeg sendte en eventuel klage afsted.

A

Sometimes in life we stop to think which direction our life is taking. Are you happy with your life in its current state? Most of the time we push the thoughts aside, reassuring ourselves that everything is fine. That our job is reasonably exciting though it was not what we dreamed of. That our marriage is still good even though the original love has fainted with the years. We assure ourselves that we still have lots of things to see and do even though wrinkles and greyish sprouts of hair bear witness of the impending end we most all meet. But sometimes we cannot find a meaning with it all. We plunder in our dark thoughts for days, and still cannot find peace. These are the times where we may reconsider the way we are living our life. Maybe a change is needed to become happy once again.

In the short story “Elephant” the protagonist William has reached such a state of mind.
“William’s usual tactic of listing the things that were on his mind as a way of getting rid of them was having no effect, for it was not a list of particular items on his brain.” (p. 2, ll. 13-15) The reason why William is having a writer’s block is because something deeply rooted in him is uneasy.
It is not something in particular that creates the haze which has obstructed his writing abilities, but something deep in his mind asking himself if this really is the life he wants to live.
“It simultaneously forgot all about Sandie, and her old biographer finally got to put himself out to grass and to idle away the rest of his pointless life” (p. 5, ll. 116-118) When he finally begins to write he realizes that his life is pointless and that he is not living an interesting life. He is tired of writing of the different pop singers. He writes of their beginnings, of have they gain stardom and of their individual backgrounds, but to him it is all the same. He never finishes their stories. He never writes their endings. “To put an end to something – to write an end, instead of these interminable beginnings that never went anywhere.” At last he puts an end to all of his biographies. He invents a fitting conclusion to all of his works, even though the endings have nothing to do with the person’s real life. Therefore he ends his own writing carrier by doing so. “That his career in pulp biographies was definitely over did not matter a bit.” (p. 5, ll. 143-144) He is not sorry that his career has now come to an end, since he never liked what he was doing. As mentioned earlier in the text he would have preferred “film stars (...) but those had been claimed by someone quicker of the mark” (p. 2, l. 22) The only pop star who ever caught his interest was Christine. “Christine was his favourite, the sassy gospel singer who’d made it big” (p.3, l.48) She is different from the others. The other female pop stars would unknowingly reach for the stars in hope of fame and happiness, but is different. She knows better. “The eye that glinted out at him was knowing” (p.3, l.51) Unlike the others, she knows that her whole life “light and pastel” as it may have been, is merely a shell conceiving her real self. Because of this William is puzzled and those not know how he is to finish this seemingly perfect girl’s story, but at last he finds a suitable companion for her. “When Christine was eight she found a blue elephant in a rubbish tip. It became her constant companion.” (p.5, ll.136-137) He gives her the blue elephant, which he himself had received as a present from his mother. The elephant is important and is the title of the story as well. The elephant symbolises William and by giving it to Christine he can follow her and protect as her guardian angel even though his career is over.

In the poem “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now” is depressed in the same way William is.
“I was looking for a job, and then I found a job And heavens knows I’m miserable know.” (p.8, ll.3-4) The man in the poem is not happy even though he has a job, just like William who has a job that does not interest him the slightest. “In my life Why do I smile at people who’d I’d much rather kick in the eye?” (p.8, ll.10-12) This can be compared to how William feels about the celebrities whom he portrays in his works. He writes about people even though he detests most of them and only rarely thinks they are at all talented. The story of William does, however, differ from the poem in how they end. Whereas the Poem ends with the line “But heaven knows I’m miserable now” (p.8, l. 14) the protagonist in “Elephant” ends changing his life, which makes him happier.

The painting by Sushilda Burgres illustrating a blue elephant can be related to the short story “Elephant” and especially the character Christine. The painting is colourful and light, in the same way Christine’s life is described. The elephant smiles and plays in the water with a carefree smile on its face. The painting is painted in childish fashion and looks as though it was made by a 9-year-old.

When we find ourselves entangled in deep thoughts and we find our life miserable and meaningless then we must find out whether or not we want to change our life or not. This life is (probably) the only one we have, and even though we cannot all be pop stars or achieve or highest goals we can always strive after achieving them. If you feel a need for a change, then feel again and make it happen, or else you will taste a sourly breakfast the day your time is up.

B
Short stories are mainly short and revolve around one singular main event that in some way alters the life of the protagonist. In the first phase of the story there is an order which the event has an impact on. In the end of the story the order is then either changed, maintained or replaced by a new completely different new one. In “elephant” the order is changed because William realizes that he has to change his life. But in other stories (especially post modern stories) the protagonist those not chose to act and change their life. This can be seen in the story “Helena”. In the story a young woman who lives in the big city one day decides that she does not want to go to work. Instead she stays at home, thinking how meaningless life is and over time she becomes more miserable and more miserable. In the end she cuts her own wrists in the bathtub, but is rescued before she commits suicide. In the end we hear how she does her daily chores once again as if nothing was happened, and thus continues to live on her meaningless life without getting her redemption. Existentialists claim that we all at a certain point in our lives have to make a decision that can be life altering, and if we chose not to act we cannot receive true redemption. We will have to choose what is right for ourselves in order to gain a meaningful existence.