Reading novels for A Level: Tess of the d’Urbervilles

Over the summer, students have a great chance to get to grips with the texts they will be examined on the following year. Make the most of it and read for pleasure! Spend indulgent hours with the longer novels (which are harder to fit in later) and be honest about your initial response.

Tess and first impressions

It's difficult not to have strong initial reactions if you are reading Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles as your Victorian novel (appearing on the AQA and OCR papers). It is a tremendous and passionate story, so let yourself be drawn in.

Many of Hardy's descriptions are very cinematographic, but one of the pleasures of reading is using your imagination to create his descriptions in your mind, and then sense the emotions that come with those pictures. They're your emotions, and they form part of your first impressions.

Imagine it for yourself

Although there are several good adaptations of the novel, it is the words on the page that make the difference. However tempting, don't substitute a DVD for your first encounter with the story. A film controls too many of your responses, and maybe edits out some of the parts you will enjoy most when you read it.

Besides, you need some hours to get acquainted with Tess herself. After all, she is one of English Literature's most iconic heroines. If you find things which puzzle you, there is a discussion of Hardy’s heroine at Crossref-it.info, - but don’t look at this until you have read her story for yourself!

Hardy’s poetry

Tess’s figure of a sensuous woman and the theme of missed opportunities recurred in much of Hardy’s poetry, which also appears on the A Level syllabus. For a way into the mind of the poems’ creator, a new mini guide links you to Hardy and his world. Find it at Crossref-it.info > Context links: Selected poetry of Thomas Hardy.

Poetic form – layout (part 2)

Last week we looked at how the way a poet sets out the text on the page is a way of conveying meaning. We thought about the questions:

• Why does the poet use shorter or longer lines?
• What is the impact of dividing up the work into stanzas of particular lengths?
• Why might some lines be indented before they commence? etc.

Hardy’s wintry poem Snow in the suburbs was posted as an example.

What did you come up with? Check your ideas against the ones given here, which you are free to take issue with!

• As the snow accumulates, so the lines of the first stanza grow wider
• The long lines and enjambement of l.5-6 demonstrate the meandering, circuitous journey taken by some of the snow-flakes
• l.7-8 are more solidly part of the main shape of the stanza, indicating the solidity of the snowy fence
• The white space between l.8-9 conveys the blankness of a still, white landscape, until it is broken by the sudden movement of the sparrow
• L.11-12 are longer than l. 9-10, indicating the greater size of the snowball relative to the sparrow
• The shortness of l.13-14
• increases the pace and highlights the drama of the event
• creates a visually small bundle of words, bound between the lines above and below, just as the lump of snow almost buries the tiny sparrow
• L.16 sticks out, just as the consequent fall of snow cascades more widely through the tree
• The white space between l.16-17 again conveys the cessation of movement and return to still whiteness
• L.17-8 create a steep climb up for the cat
• The cat’s colour (black?) and movement is isolated in the snow, as is l.19 in the white space
• The indentation of l.20 and the sudden ending of the stanza, capture the safe ‘gathering in’ of the hungry cat.

As you can see, there is quite a lot to see when you start looking!

Tess of the d'Urbervilles

New on Crossref-it.info: Our Tess of the d'Urbervilles text guide! Containing all the usual sections (A Timeline, Thomas Hardy biography, Context, Synopses, Narrative, Characterisation, Themes, Imagery and symbolism, Structure, Critical analysis and Exam and Essay help), this free resource will help you get to grips with the text.

Getting good A-Level results is proving harder by the year as competition heats up. So make sure you have the edge by making use of this excellent, academically verified text guide.

As always, we would love to hear any thoughts or comments on the book, the author, the text guide or Crossref-it.info generally. If there is anything you find particularly useful about this text guide, do let us know!

>> Tess of the d'Urbervilles at Crossref-it.info