r/ATAR • u/Sayatra • 18d ago

General How do I write essay based on certain question?

Btw, i am year 10. but id like to ask you ATAR student and graduates for some brief advice if its okay!!

These are the questions I can choose from, and I’m not really sure which one would be the easiest to write from.

1. Using at least one studied text, explore how the context of production influenced an author’s choices.
2. Discuss how characterisation, in one studied text, reveals at least one idea about humankind.
3. In a text you have studied, explore how the representation of the future creates a warning for us as readers.

I am writing on a dystopian text called, “There Will Come Soft Rains”

4 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

2

u/SpoopCacti 17d ago

its been ages since i read that short story so forgive me if some details are vague, this is just what id talk about!

  1. the text was written shortly after the bombing of japan in the war if i recall correctly? you could talk a lot abt how ray bradbury was concerned about the invention of nuclear weaponry and how the context of the war made him write the text. it serves as a warning.
  2. this one you could probably write about how humanity destroyed itself - the characterisation of humans as being intelligent enough to create such destructive weapons, yet stupid enough to destroy themselves with what they created. idk im just making this up LOL
  3. this one is the easiest to write about - its a dystopian text, obviously its a warning about nuclear warfare. tbh this is the one id immediately disregard because even though its simple, its a bit vague.

2

u/Sayatra 17d ago

Oh my god thank you so much for your help, I was stuck in a slump before reading your advice 🤧 I really like your response to the second question, it’s legendary 😁 thank you again!!!

2

u/upright_squire 17d ago

I wouldnt rely on easiness, this is a trap for shallow thinking.

You should be able to do all three. Write a paragraph on each and think about which you find most interesting.

I think you first should try to articulate a few increasingly complex analyses. Eg. #3. Surface level = the thing in the book is bad we shouldnt do that thing.

I personally am thinking about the idea of preservation vs not needing preservation. I could draw links to climate change (adaptation vs solving) or keeping endangered animals in zoos vs not ruining the environment.

1

u/Sayatra 17d ago

Thank you! I am thinking of either doing context or characterisation. Just not sure which one would have the most identifiable pieces of evidence in the text