The Wasp Factory

1. The Wasp Factory Iain Banks

3. Expectations • You should be actively engaged with the text. I will teach and guide the class as we read the novel but you need to be actively reading and making notes. • Make notes on any aspects of the text that you think might be significant as you read it. • Think for yourself!

4. Organising your notes • Characterisation: how characters are portrayed and develop. Think especially about conflict between and within characters • Setting: how place and time are textualised and how setting contributes to the atmosphere • Plot: main developments in the story (also pay attention to subplots) • Language: word choice; imagery; structural techniques (punctuation, paragraphing, sentence structure); symbolism etc • Themes: all of the above contribute to thematic concerns of the novel

5. Genre • ‘The Wasp Factory’ is a darkly humorous gothic horror • When reading you should also make notes on Banks’s use of gothic ideas/motifs and black humour • Motif: a recurring image, object or idea or symbol that defines and develops a central theme. • Theme: the central idea or concern at the heart of a text • Brainstorm all you know about the gothic genre

6. Gothic genre • Darkness and light (juxtaposed) • The supernatural • Gloomy settings • Repressed desires • Guilt • Death and decay • Madness • Grotesque • Horror

7. Protagonist (central character) • The protagonists of Gothic literature are isolated or alone. • Physical (trapped in a house far from civilization) • Emotional (cut off from the people around them) • Self-imposed or a result of circumstances beyond her control. • Plot involves hidden secrets which threaten the protagonist

8. So, let’s jump in... • So, let’s jump in...

9. The Sacrifice Poles • What is a sacrifice and why might this be significant in the title? • What do you notice about the Narrative Point of View (NPOV)? • What do we learn about characters, plot and setting? • Do you notice any aspects of the gothic genre? Make notes on how effective they are • How effective is the opening chapter? • Make notes based upon these questions and anything else that strikes you as significant or important

11. Notes • Sacrifice: act of slaughtering an animal or person or surrendering a possession as an offering to a deity • This can be to appease God, a god or a ‘higher power’, often carried out to gain protection • This sets the tone for the novel and introduces a key motif: who or what is being sacrificed and to whom/for what reason? • It is a 1st person narrative from the point of view of the protagonist, Frank Cauldhame, who appears to be a psychopath. Is he a reliable narrator: can the reader trust his judgement and view of events? • The first paragraph is stark and introduces two key aspects: Frank has a brother who has escaped from somewhere (plot) and “the Factory told me” (elements of gothic literature: supernatural/religion or madness)

12. Character • Frank is 17 and is very clever despite never going to school. He is isolated and has only one friend, Jamie the dwarf. He has a kind of shamanistic understanding of the world around him and is very superstitious: “It was a good omen”(p 8)and “I’d been pissing on the Poles during the day, infecting them with my scent and power.” (p16).He hints that he is disabled or impaired in some way: “my body was a forlorn hope for any improvement, so only my mind was left” (p14). • His father is unconventional, unreliable, eccentric, bizarre and secretive: “If I was lucky, my father might tell me something and, if I was luckier still, it might even be the truth.”;“Keep Out—Private Property” (p8); “lecture on cancer of the colon or tapeworms”. (p11) Lots of humour! • Eric is insane and has committed horrific acts: “I don’t go giving people presents of burning dogs”. (p13) Frank calls him a “poor twisted bugger” (p16) which mat be ironic as Frank seems quite twisted

13. Setting • “Diggs...pushed the gate open and walked over the bridge, on to the island and down the path towards the house.” (p8) • Frank’s house is on a remote, desolate island in Scotland which reflects the isolated nature of Frank– “the tumbled remains of the slip where the handle of the rusty winch still creaks in an easterly wind.” Word choice sets the tone of the novel: —element of foreshadowing

15. Plot • Frank lives with his father in a remote house on an island. • Frank’s father is not to be trusted and has a strange relationship with his son • Eric, his brother, is insane but has escaped from hospital and Frank thinks he is heading home. • Frank was never officially registered and was home educated • Eric phones Frank and is clearly insane/deranged. • Frank mentions dog burning and Eric gets really angry • We learn that Frank is not happy with his own body • We learn that Frank “killed three people”

16. Language: many with negative connotations to create unease and develop the atmosphere: “kaw-calling and screaming”(p 7)Paradox: “seeing in my mind what those sightless eyes looked out to”; Oxymoron: “ dead sentries”(p20). • Loads of short sentences for dramatic emphasis • Gothic motifs: loads! Repression of aspects of true self; madness; horror; death and decay • Themes: gender, images of masculinity, madness, death, family relationships, trust and truth... “I’m too fat. It isn’t that bad, and it isn’t my fault... I want to look dark and menacing; the way I ought to look, the way I should look.” “Looking at me, you’d never guess I’d killed three people. It isn’t fair” (20)

17. Yet more notes • Frank and his father inhabit a bizarre and isolated world that has its own strange set of rules. His dad is obsessed by measurements (imperial) and Frank has constructed his own cosmology based around death (The Factory and Sacrifice Poles). They are a very odd couple yet the chapter, and the whole novel, is full of humour. There is a strange juxtaposition between Frank’s weird life and world view and the mundane conversations they have. • However, there is a chilling sense of horror at the end of the chapter when Frank calmly admits to murder and enjoying torturing wasps: “so I got to watch”. (p21)

18. Chapter 2: The Snake Park • Read p22-23 and make notes on what we learn about characters, setting and plot. Think about how language contributes to the tone of the novel. • Characters: family relationships were/are difficult and strained: “morose”, “bored”, “smiling” (think about word choice and how contrasts illustrate differing personalities). Sense of Frank being disturbed is reinforced (see below). He has an affinity with Eric who “has killed somebody too.” • Setting: typical Scottish weather: “I could see mist over the forests below the mountains”, “fog” contributes to the gloomy tone. Description suggests that the landscape is partially hidden, reflecting the dark secrets and hidden truths that lie at the heart of the novel • Plot: idea of Frank being superstitious is reinforced--attaching an unhealthy importance to objects and dead creatures, carrying out bizarre rituals: “bag of heads and bodies”; “nicked my left thumb carefully”. Eric’s mother died in childbirth and Frank thinks this contributed to “What Happened To Eric” (note capitalisation) and he is described as a “Poor unlucky soul”. Furthermore, Frank feels “Eric was going to set fire to some dogs” (motif of animal torture and madness) • Tone: overall tone is one of mystery, lies and the closeness of death. This is created by the author’s exposition of family context: first wife dies in childbirth, the old photo shows a fractured family dynamic etc. • Foreshadowing: “The Factory said something about fire.”

19. Task • Read the rest of the chapter and develop your own notes as we have done in class. • Make notes under the subheadings: characterisation, setting, plot, language, gothic motifs and themes • You should do this individually then work in a group to develop a presentation for the rest of the class. • Any groups will be chosen so make sure you are prepared!

20. Chapter 2 • Plot: • Bizarre incident with the rabbit attacking Frank confirms that this is a very strange world: “This wasn’t Africa! It was a rabbit, not a lion! What the hell was happening here?” (32)series of short dramatic sentences emphasise the strangely dark gothic tone of the novel. • More backstory about the family and their strange relationship with death. Lots of dark humour: “My God, the buggers’ve learned to fly…”(29) • We learn that his first murder was of Blythe, his older cousin. It is a very inventive murder where he puts an adder in the cavity of his false leg which then bites him. The reason he did this was because Blythe had incinerated his and Eric’s rabbits: “Incinerating all our beauties”(38) • He gets away with this murder and admits to also murdering his younger brother, Paul and another cousin, Esmeralda. He shows no remorse and claims “It was just a stage I was going through” (42)

21. Setting: we learn more about the island: it is remote and isolated. Frank has given strange names to different parts of the island: Rabbit Grounds (renamed Black Destroyer Hill after his favourite catapult is broken during his battle with the rabbit), Snake Park, Skull Grounds etc (note capitalisation again) • Characterisation: Frank’s psychotic tendencies are reinforced and developed: “The catapult was avenged, the buck—or what it meant, it’s spirit maybe—soiled and degraded, taught a hard lesson, and I felt good” (36). This is a key quotation that shows Frank’s strange fetish with objects of violence and power. Also shows his he has a belief in the mystical and metaphysical nature of creatures too. Italics emphasise his happy feelings. But we also learn that he has a very strong and loving relationship with his brother: “Eric in particular was very upset” “I wanted to kill Blyth there and then” “my brother” (38)

22. Motifs: • Fire : “might just have something to do with the fire that the Factory had predicted” “fiery death” (37)is repeated • Animals (sometimes with unpleasant connotations)dying in horrendous ways • Themes: • revenge “judgement from God…all because of the rabbits” Eric says “God wasn’t like that. I said the one I believed in was.” Key quote(41) • Relationships and dysfunctional families (lots of evidence) • Truth and lies and how they impact on the individual • Critique of superstition and irrational belief systems (see above quotations) • Other themes to follow...

23. Chapter 3: In the Bunker • Read the chapter and make notes as we have done for the previous chapters. • Also, think about the opening sentences and why it is so striking. • How do they develop the character of Frank? • Do they introduce any new themes or ideas that we have not mentioned yet?

24. “MY GREATEST ENEMIES are Women and the Sea. These things I hate. Women because they are weak and stupid and live in the shadow of men” • Use of capitalisation for emphasis, inversion make these sentences stand out. • The outrageous and unsubstantiated generalisations serve to underline Frank’s unpleasant personality. • They introduce the theme of misogyny (the irrational hatred of females) and gender that are important to the novel, although this was hinted at earlier in the novel (“as though I was a bloody woman” p17)

25. Characterisation • Frank’s strange fetishisation of mundane, everyday objects continues to build a picture of a deeply irrational and superstitious person: “precious substances such as toenail or belly button fluff” (44). • He is a slave to his own rituals and there is a a possible suggestion of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Narcissism: “the shave follows a definite and predetermined pattern; I take the same number of strokes” “rising tingle of excitement as I contemplated the meticulously shorn surfaces of my face” • The 1st person narrative voice is very matter-of-fact and down to earth which jars with the sometimes brutal subject matter that Frank talks about • He has visions of “what might have been” and the description of the “fetid light blazed from Old Saul’s sockets” helps to build the claustrophobic atmosphere and mood of the Bunker (48) • Motif of fire (burning animals) and animal torture further devloped: “ as a wasp prison”, “newly lit candle, blood red”(47) connotations of red (pain, danger and anger). Use of list : “The severed heads of gulls, rabbits, crows, mice, owls, moles and small lizards looked down at me” (48) • All contribute to the tone of the novel and Frank’s characterisation

26. Setting • The wider setting is gloomy and dreich: “hidden by cloud and the sea was rough” (45) while the Bunker is claustrophobic and darkly gothic in Banks’s description: “on plinths of wood or stone...my collection of skulls watched me.” (48)

27. Setting • “I went down to the Bunker”(47): blunt short sentence, connotations of descent into Hell. Reinforced by “candle, blood red” and “A fetid light blazed from Old Saul’s sockets” • “The town was grey and empty in the dull afternoon light…making everything else seem even dimmer” (50) • Reinforces the impression that information is hidden or obscure

28. Plot • He goes to The Bunker and tries to induce visions through his bizarre rituals • Goes to town • We learn he has only one real friend: Jamie. • We learn he does not “officially exist” and they pretend his father is his uncle • He is largely ostracised by the villagers because of what Eric did: “Frank’ll get you” • His father stores lots of highly explosive cordite in the cellar which is very dangerous • His father has a weird theory about farts and claims to know what Frank drank at the pub by the type of farts he does • Frank has lots of weapons to defend the island (his world) from attack • Eric phones and the conversation is confused and full of irony. Eric states: “Are you crazy?” While at the end Frank says “...Like a ship, indeed. What a loony”. Insanity clearly permeates the entire family . • Eric also appears to be killing and eating dogs. There is lots of dark humour here in the way the conversation is very matter-of-fact when they discuss such disturbing subjects. • Theme of dysfunctional relationships: “I never know exactly how much he really feels for me” (51) • “These are dogs, you brainless little shitbag” (60)

29. Group presentations • You have now read chapters 4, 5 and 6 • You will be given a specific chapter to create a substantive presentation on • You should include all aspects of the writer’s craft (characterisation, setting, plot, motifs, themes and language use) • Give specific quotations where you identify techniques and explain, as fully as possible, the impact

30. Some questions to consider… • How do you feel about Frank now? • Are you sympathetic towards him; feel revulsion; a more complicated response? Justify your response with specific textual evidence • You might want to think about contrast between the murders of Blythe and Paul and Esmeralda. • Think about the use of symbolism • What aspects of his character are reinforced by this chapter? • How would you describe the relationship between Frank and Eric? • How does the author build tension across these chapters?

31. Chapter 4: The Bomb Circle • Characterisation: Frank admits to having a conscience (to an extent)“part of me which has felt guilty about killing Blyth, Paul and Esmeralda". He compares himself to “a state” and talks of his need for revenge, he is brutally honest about why he acts as he does and Banks uses the character to make a critical comment about governmental hypocrisy: “At least I admit that it’s all to boost my ego, restore my pride and give me pleasure, not to save the country or uphold justice or honour the dead.” (63) • Connected to the setting: Frank is elemental and is very much a part of this Scottish island. “baring my neck to the wind like a lover, to the rain like an offering.” Use of imagery creates a sense of his being in a symbiotic relationship with his surroundings, raw primordial power and a suggestion of sacrifice (another gothic motif in the novel). Mist is also a recurring motif in the novel: could suggest that the truth is obscured or hidden

32. Chapter 4 • Back story (exposition) is developed: “all the fault of Agnes, my father’s second wife and my mother”(66). Frank claims that she is the reason for his delinquency. He is blunt in his opinions on her: “I hate her name, the idea of her” and “I killed her other son, and I hoped that she was dead, too”. Clearly this seriously dysfunctional relationship has contributed to Frank’s damaged psyche. • Frank’s misogynistic attitude is further developed when he talks about being in proximity to females with Jamie “I don’t mind dancing with girls when it’s for Jamie...(but)the thoughts of her tits pressed up against my face nearly made me throw up.” (76) Clearly, this misogyny also comes from fear of the female • We learn what happened to Frank’s brother, Paul and he claims he “was certainly humane that time” (67). He also states in a short and dramatic sentence: “I always got on well with Paul” which is ironic as he goes on to murder him. He feels compelled to kill him because “I’d never be free of the dog until he was gone” (67). At this point we do not know what he is talking about, but this links to the theme of superstition • Whereas we felt some sympathy when he murdered Blyth, there is none whatsoever for the killing of the innocent Paul. Banks want us to feel disgust at Frank’s actions and the actual explosion is described as a “climbing column of sand and steam” (alliteration) and “halo-pool” (word choice, symbolism)reinforces the idea of Paul’s angelic innocence. Frank does show some uneasiness at his own actions: “wanting and not wanting to see bloody meat or tattered clothing”

33. Chapter 4 • The Bomb Circle: more evidence of how Frank has named and claimed the setting of the island as his own domain by naming areas after the horrific acts of his past. • Characterisation rituals and themes: “I smeared the metal, rubber and plastic of the new device with earwax, snot, blood, urine, belly-button fluff” (63) evidence that Frank attaches importance to bodily fluids. This is a parody of religious rituals (think about the body and blood of Christ in Catholicism). Banks ridicules superstition and religion throughout the novel. Also, shows Frank’s narcissistic personality traits. • “I felt like a bead on a thread being pulled through the air on a line”: simile represents his loss of agency (he is not an active participant in his own story) which is ironic as the whole novel centres around Frank controlling and manipulating others • “baring my neck to the wind like a lover”: simile linked to theme of sacrifice (character and setting) • Setting: “drizzle was coming and going…mist and cloud” mist is a recurring motif: sets the scene and could symbolise the deceit and obscuring of facts that is at the centre of the novel.

34. Plot: More hints about Frank having a disability that will not allow him to urinate like an ordinary man. He needs to squat down and this embarrasses him so he runs away, drunk, from Jamie. • We also learn that he has a strong friendship with Jamie and it appears to be the only ‘normal’ relationship in the novel (although it is also quite bizarre. “No! He’s my friend! Frank” (83) • Setting: “The house stared out to sea, out to night, and I walked into it” (86) personification contributes to feeling of uneasiness with negative connotations of night (and the sea for Frank). Closing line of the chapter created tension and sense of expectation.

35. Group task • Teaching the rest of the class. • You will be allocated one of the chapters that you read for homework and which you made notes on • Share your notes with other members of the group and add anything you missed to your existing notes • Design a detailed and informative presentation to teach the class what you have learned. • You should include: character development, thematic concerns, gothic motifs, language use, development of setting, NPOV etc. • Remember to include key quotations with analysis and evaluation

36. Chapter 5: A Bunch of Flowers • “I killed little Esmeralda because I felt I owed it to myself and to the world in general. I had, after all, accounted for two male children and thus done womankind something of a statistical favour.” (87) Shocking opening to the chapter reinforces Frank’s misogyny. He commits murder to balance gender distribution in the world. Yet, he also states “I bore her no personal ill-will” and “I did like Esmeralda”. Shows that he is delusional and could be argued that he suppresses the better aspects of his personality for a misguided ideology. There is an emotional disconnect. • Use of irony and unreliable narrator: “I was an obviously happy and well-adjusted child” • Motif: “painted the head of a dog on the canvas” • Symbolism: “She had a fistful of tiny flowers” represents and emphasises Esmeralda’ innocence • After the murder he states: “It took me a week to recover, and it was one of the best weeks of my life.” (94) develops the idea of Frank as a callous and manipulative character • Key information, foreshadowing of possible source of Frank’s psychosis and what has driven him to be so cruel and seek a misguided revenge: “Old Saul was the culprit, Old Saul had gone down in our history and my personal mythology as the Castraitor” (103) • This is a key scene as it is the justification for all Frank’s violent actions: his manliness, his purpose in life, was taken from him symbolically when the dog destroyed his genitals.

37. Chapter 6: a key scene • This chapter is a key scene and details the significant event which triggered Frank’s sociopathic psychosis • To an extent, it is also a turning point because up until this point Frank had been a happy and well adjusted child • We find out that the dog, Old Saul, mauled Frank when he was a toddler and Frank feels he destroyed his masculinity by removing his genitals • So, the entire novel can be understood as Frank trying to compensate for this perceived lack of manliness by being ‘hyper-male’ • In addition to this, we learn that his mother abandoned him and that he has no maternal role model which has contributed to his misogynistic attitudes

38. Chapter 6 • Important exposition where we learn the story of Old Saul and Frank’s mother, Agnes. • We understand why he is so messed up? Links to themes of family, trust, revenge and betrayal • Key line: “She left one dead, one born and two crippled for life, one way or the other.” (107) a bitter, darkly humorous tone. Saul, Paul and his dad. • “Paul, of course, was Saul. That enemy was-must have been- cunning enough to transfer to the boy” (108). Biblical allusion, parenthesis emphasises Frank’s certainty that the spirit of the dog is now embodied by his little brother. Banks is critiquing religion and superstition. • Characterisation: “I am not a full man, and nothing can ever alter that”. Links to theme of masculinity and gender identity. Does a man need a penis to be male? Frank carries out his horrific acts (also drinking and war games) in a desperate attempt to be a “full man”. • Banks is critical of hyper masculinity.

39. Learning Intention: to deepen analysis and evaluation • “She left one dead, one born and two crippled for life, one way or the other. Not a bad score for a fortnight in the summer of groovy and psychedelic love, peace and general niceness” • “My young blood mixed on his slavering chops with gamey saliva and thick eye-mucus as he girned and looked shakingly and pleadingly up at my father, who picked him up and strangled him” • “Paul being born. What sort of twisted thoughts went through my father’s brain at the time to make him choose such a name for the child I cannot start to imagine” • Write down the quotations, identify techniques used by author and fully explain the effect

40. Chapter 7 • “It occurred to me then, as it has before, that that is what men are really for. Both sexes can do one thing really well; women can give birth and men can kill. We - I consider myself an honoury man-are the harder sex.” (p118) • Discuss this statement. Do you agree? • Analyse and evaluate it as a piece of text in relation to the novel and some of the key themes • Pick out specific techniques and explain their impact as fully as possible

41. Evaluation • The statement is simplistic and reductionist. It portrays identity as two distinct opposites which are defined by (biological) gender. Arguably, women are “harder” because they go through the trauma of childbirth and also, most of the time, are primary care givers. It really gets to the heart of the theme of gender and how we define ourselves: it is a very primitive view of gender roles whereby men hunt and kill while women stay at home and look after babies. It suggests that aggression and distorted views of masculinity can contribute to toxic masculinity and dysfunctional relationships between people. • Analysis • Ironictone (if you have read to the end of the novel and are aware of Frank’s true identity) as it is such a sweeping and blunt stereotypical statement about gender. This develops characterisation of Frank and his misogynist nature. Use of parenthesis reinforces Frank’s perception that he is less of a man through loss of sexual organs. Contrast between men and women and juxtaposition between their main roles in life (birth and death according to Frank).

42. Group task • Teaching the rest of the class. • You will be allocated one of the chapters that you read for homework and which you made notes on • Share your notes with other members of the group and add anything you missed to your existing notes • Design a detailed and informative presentation to teach the class what you have learned. • You should include: character development, thematic concerns, gothic motifs, language use, development of setting, NPOV etc. • Remember to include key quotations with analysis and evaluation

43. Chapter 8: The Wasp Factory • The significance of the title is revealed in this chapter as Banks has Frank describe the actual factory. • We see that he has created a very complex machine that he uses to conduct bizarre rituals that only make sense to himself. We see further evidence of his own cosmology and Banks further critiques religion and superstition. We see Frank believes in the power of the factory to make predictions and he has an overwhelming belief in fate: “If the factory so chooses” (121). • The motifs of death and sacrifice are further explored in this chapter as the wasps are ultimately killed in highly inventive and bloody ways devised by Frank (confirms his characterisation as someone who enjoys torture). Grisly and humorous deaths include: “Boiling Pool”, “Spider’s Parlour”, “Gents (where the instrument of ending is my own urine”. • The motif of fire recurs: “Fiery Lake” and “Death by fire has always been at Twelve.” He uses the murders he has committed to name different types of deaths. • Significantly the wasp choose twelve –death by fire- without hesitation: “straight for the big XII”“It went at a fast crawl down the corridor”. As he is asking the factory about Eric this can be seen as foreshadowing • Its death is described in a vivid manner with strong word choice: “curled and licked about the open mesh” (123) The fire is described as active, having agency, and is almost personified by the word choice • Sentence structure: long with multiple clauses reflecting the wasp’s efforts to escape its gruesome fate. “buzzing angrily above the silent flames, bumping against the glass, falling back”. A strong sense of it being able to escape perhaps symbolising the futile efforts of the characters in the story who are unable to evade their own gothic fates. • Its final moments are described with particular attention to detail: active verbs elongated sentence structure and sibilance are particularly noteworthy: “ struggling, then curling, then staying still, smoking slightly”

44. Sense of Frank being trapped within his own twisted imagined world is further developed in this pivotal key chapter: “my head in my hands” (actions suggest despair); “The Factory surrounded me” (all encompassing and all consuming: it is his cosmos). • More listing of objects that have ritualistic value for Frank: “Photographs of the living: Eric, my father, my mother” (124) “another matchbox with a couple of Eric’s first teeth”. There is a real sense of poignancy that he has surrounded himself with these mementos and relics of the people who are so important to him yet he is so distant from them and isolated within his own strange world. • Do we feel more sympathy, or empathise with, Frank more when he reveals these details of his fractured and dysfunctional existence? • Real; build up of tension here as we hurtle towards the climax: “the factory does not lie, and for once it had been comparatively specific. I was worried”. (125) short blunt sentence emphasises his real concern as previously he has been so self-assured.

45. Banks uses contrast to show how much Eric has fallen. He is described as a “clever, kind, excitable boy” who has turned into “a force of fire and disruption approaching the sands of the island like a mad angel” (125). • Frank uses the skull of Old Saul to try to get inside Eric’s mind: a kind of mystical joining of souls Some character development of the old Eric as Frank remembers him: “A young face, thin and intelligent and young..during our summers together on the island "Clearly he has a strong bond with his brother which is bound up with the physical setting of the island. But now he appears to get inside Eric as he is now with “the remains of some awful meal lying dead in my stomach, taste burned meat and bone and fur on my tongue” “A blast of fire crashed out of me” (126) • Eric is getting closer and there is another phone call from him at the end of the chapter. Frank tries to talk to him about the mystical joining of their minds but Eric rejects this ever happening. • The conversation does not go well. Frank sticks up for his friend, Jamie, who Eric is very rude about. It is also very humorous: “ Maybe he’s really an alien! ...a giant alien from a very small race of aliens?” (131)

46. What Happened to Eric • Read the chapter and work on your individual notes. • Think about how Banks manages to create a real sense of horror in this chapter • By developing Eric’s backstory, does he create a more sympathetic character? Give specific quotations to justify your response

47. Textual analysis • This is a key skill in all aspects of English. You use this in RUAE, Scottish Text question and in your critical essay response in the exam. • You should be as specific as possible in your answers, use the formulas you have been taught to structure your answers and make sure you pay attention to the value of marks available to shape your answers

48. Activity • Read the rest of the novel • Work on individual notes as you do this. • Continue to organise notes under the headings that we have been using.

49. Chapter 10: The Running Dog • Read the chapter and work on individual notes. • Think especially about the relationship between Eric and Frank (characterisation) • How does our understanding of Eric change as we learn more about what happened to him? • What do you think the 1st line of the chapter tells us about Frank and the way that he sees the world? • More gender issues and resentment of his family are strongly evident in this chapter. • Find evidence of this as you read and make notes of significant quotations

50. Chapter 11: The Prodigal • The title refers to the parable of the return of the prodigal son. This is a Biblical story where a errant son returns to h his father and is welcomed home. why do you think this might be significant? • How does Banks create a fast pace and how does tension reach its peak In this chapter? • In what way can this chapter be seen as a climax to the novel?