Leaving Cert "A Dolls House"

bobjimmy

Im severly struggling with my single text for english and if any one could post some sample answers or notes to help me out. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE,!!

Bazinga_N

This might help notes wise!

http://www.shmoop.com/dolls-house/ <---- My favourite site for English!

or

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/dollhouse/

or this

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/A-Doll-s-House-Play-Summary.id-80.html

Chuchoter

Just wondering, was this a text your teacher did as a comparative that you're now doing as a single? Because if so, go back and learn Hamlet because its going to be much more difficult to get a proper answer out of such a short play.

lauzie2011

Just wondering ,what are your other two texts for the comparative (if this is for your comparative)? I agree with the above poster,cliff notes is an excellent site..there are also books called 'York Notes' which deal with one specific text i.e A Dolls House which could be helpful too

leaveiton

I'm doing A Doll's House as my single text too. I don't have any notes that I could easily give you, but there are a few important things to focus on, just off the top of my head:

The characters obviously are important. There are very few of them (Nora, Torvald, Mrs Linde, Krogstad and Dr Rank, plus the children and the nurse), so it's not difficult to study them in depth. Questions we've done in class on the characters are things like Nora as a heroine, is Krogstad really a villain, is Torvald as bad as he's made out to be, comparing Nora to Mrs Linde, How the characters live up to/go against social and cultural stereotypes, things like that.

Then there are the themes. Role of men/women is a big one, also money, power, social/cultural expectations are important. I think there are more I'm forgetting about, can't think of them at the moment!

Know important quotes, e.g. "A home that is founded on debts and borrowing can never be a place of freedom and beauty" "It was great fun, though, sitting there working and earning money. It was almost like being a man" "Whether or not you have a merry Christmas depends on you" "Our home has never been anything but a playroom. I've been your doll-wife, just as I used to be papa's doll-child." Obviously there are a lot more, but they are some ones I just thought of.

Also, look at past exam questions on the text. It's not on often as a single text, but there are a couple of questions to go on. From 2011:

(i) “Nora is a character who earns our respect but not our affection.”
Discuss this view, supporting your answer with suitable reference to
A Doll’s House.

OR

(ii) “Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House, can be viewed as an exploration of power within
relationships.”
Discuss this statement with suitable reference to the text.

And from 2004:

(i) “Nora retains our sympathy at the end of the play but Torvald does not.”
To what extent would you agree with this view? Support your answer by reference
to the play.

OR

(ii) “The relationship between Nora and Torvald is powerfully conveyed in the title of
the play, ‘A Doll’s House’.”
Write a response to this statement, supporting your views by reference to the text.

Hope this is of some help. There's really not much they can ask you on it as it's so short, so it's a nice one to have as the single text

bobjimmy

No its just my single text. Thanks a million for the help.