Abhinav Tripathi; MYP 5 Socrates

Instructions
Task I: Analysing
This task contains questions 1a to 1f. Question parts 1a – 1e focus on the key concept
of Communication. You will be asked to demonstrate your understanding of Text 1 and
Text 2 by answering a number of analysis questions, including:
 Identify information from Text 1
 Outline and Analyze about Text 1
 Comment on text 1
 Select and Justify about Text 2
 Interpret from Text 2

Question part 1f focuses on the key concept of Connections

You will be asked to compare and contrast Text 1 and Text 2. The Criteria being
assessed are A (Analyzing), B (Organizing) and D (using language).

Task I: Analyzing

Text 1: It is an extract from “The Dragon Can’t Dance”, written by Earl Lovelace in
1979. It describes what the carnival is like in Trinidad from the view of Aldrick Prospect
who wears the dragon costume.

The Dragon Can’t Dance

Up on the Hill Carnival Monday morning breaks upon the backs of these thin shacks
with no cocks crow , and before the mist clears, little boys costumed in old dresses, their
heads tied holding brooms made from the ribs of coconut palm leaves, blowing whistles
and besting kerosene tins for drums, move across the face of the awakening hill
sweeping yards in a ritual, heralding the masqueraders coming that back centuries for
its beginnings back across the middle passage, back to Mali and to guinea and dahomey
and Congo, back to Africa when maskers were sacred and revered the keepers of the
poisons and heads of secret societies, and such children went before them, clearing the
ground announcing their coming to huts before which they dance and make their
terrible cries, affirming for the village the tribe, warriorhood and femininity ,linking the
villagers to their ancestors, their Gods, remembered even now, so long after the
Crossing, if not in the brain, certainly in the blood so that every carnival Monday
morning, Aldrick Prospect with the memory burning in his blood, a memory that had
endured the three hundred odd years to Calvary hill felt as he put on his dragon
costume, a sense of entering a sacred mask that invested him with an ancestral
authority to upload before the people of the Hill, this tribe marooned so far from the
homeland that never was their home, the warriorhood that had not died in them, their
humanness that was determined not by their possession of things. He had a desire, a
mission, to let them see their beauty, to upload the unending rebellion they waged,
huddled here on his stone and dirt hill hanging over the city like the open claws on a
dragon’s hand, threatening destruction if they were not recognized as human beings.

But this Carnival, putting on his costume now at dawn, Aldrick had a feeling of being
the last symbol of rebellion and threat to confront port of Spain. Fisheye was under
orders not to misbehave, Philo had given up on his own calypsos of rebellion to sing now
about the Axe Man .Once upon a time the entire Carnival was expression of rebellion.
Once there were stick fighters who assembled each year to keep alive in battles between
themselves the practice of warriorhood born in them; and there were devils, black men
who blackened themselves further with black grease to make of their very blackness a
menace, a threat. They moved along the streets with horns on their heads and tridents
in hand. They threatened to press their blackened selves against the well-dressed
spectators unless they were given money. And there were the jabs men in jester
costumes their caps and shoes filled with tinkling bells cracking long whips in the
streets with which they lashed each other with full force proclaiming in the display that
they could receive the hardest blow without flinching at its coming without feeling what
at its landing must have been burning pain. Suddenly they were all gone, outlawed from
the city or died gone and he felt alone. The dragon alone was left to carry the message.
He felt that now, alone, with even Philo and Fisheye gone, it was too great to carry. It
would be lost now among the clowns, among the fancy robbers and the fantasy
presentations that were steadily entering Carnival; drowned amidst the satin and skills
and the beads and feathers and rhinestones. But bothering him even more than this was
the thought that maybe didn’t believe in the dragon any more.

Q 1 a) Identify two sensory phrases used for creating visual impact (2 marks)

1. “Black men who blackened themselves further with black grease to make of their
very blackness a menace”;

2. “And there were the jabs men in jester costumes their caps and shoes filled with
tinkling bells cracking long whips in the streets”.

Q1 b) Outline whose point of view is being narrated and Analyze its impact on the
audience. (3 marks)

The text above is being narrated by Aldrick Prospect in the third person, as stated: “It
describes what the carnival is like in Trinidad from the view of Aldrick Prospect who
wears the dragon costume.” Aldrick Prospect can be judged as the protagonist from
the text, as he is talked about the most and in a heroic way. The text starts with at a
rather high note talking about the historical significance of the carnival, it moves on
then to talk about how everything has changed in the carnival; it is mainly talking
about rebellion, it makes the reader feel sympathy for Aldrick, as it talks about the
loneliness of Aldrick, as it talks about how good everything was in the past “Once
upon a time the entire Carnival was expression of rebellion” but then moves on to talk
about the reality of the situation in present time “Suddenly they were all gone,
outlawed from the city or died gone and he felt alone. The dragon alone was left to
carry the message.” It makes the reader feel sympathetic for Aldrick, and all the
responsibility resting upon his shoulder as the text suggests “He felt that now, alone,
with even Philo and Fisheye gone, it was too great to carry.” Then the text moves on to
talk about the huge change in the carnival again as stated: “It would be lost now
among the clowns, among the fancy robbers and the fantasy presentations that were
steadily entering Carnival.” The text ends with a sympathetic line, it ends in a low
note, it makes the reader feel bad for Alderick as it talks about his belief in the
historical rebellious carnival, questioning his belief in the concept itself after all the
loss he has suffered (suggested by “with even Philo and Fisheye gone”) as the text
states “But bothering him even more than this was the thought that maybe didn’t
believe in the dragon any more”.
 Q 1 c) Comment on the importance of the carnival (3 marks)

Only the first paragraph from the text talks about the history of the carnival. The
carnival has a rather deeper importance than one would think a carnival would have;
Aldrick has a greater responsibility compared to any others at the carnival, as he
states “Aldrick Prospect with the memory burning in his blood, a memory that had
endured the three hundred odd years to Calvary hill felt as he put on his dragon
costume”. The carnival plays importance to the village and the tribe as stated
“affirming for the village the tribe”, the carnival plays a role in the warriorhood and
femininity of the village and tribe, it links the villagers to their ancestors and gods as
stated “affirming for the village the tribe, warriorhood and femininity ,linking the
villagers to their ancestors, their Gods.” The carnival involves music and dance, both
of these are aspects of the villager’s culture, born out of both the past and out of their
present environment of Calvary Hill.
Text 2
It is a Youtube video “The story of venetian masks”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qxCRfF9KY4

Q 1 d) Select and Justify, two linguistic techniques used by the filmmaker for story
narration (4 marks)

1. Perspective/person: The filmmaker does not talk from his perspective or in a

third person perspective, he talks from the first person perspective of the masks,
as stated “I am the mask of venice, I come in all sorts of shapes”, however this
can also be interpreted as anthropomorphism, as it is a mask which is talking, a
mask is an inanimate object which cannot talk as talking (in English) is a
human trait.

2. Rhetorical Question: The film has a rhetorical question in the introductory

quarter, “Who am I”; before the questen it is stated that the narrator is 500
years old, therefore impossible for the narrator to be a living person which in
turn makes the question rhetoric.

Q 1 e) Interpret the values, customs and beliefs the mask symbolizes in the film
(3 marks)

Back in the time where the people had many social barriers and were burdened with
social norms, where people from specific races etc. have to behave the way society
expected them to. The masks allowed them to create a false persona, a different
person, a new face in which they behaved the way they pleased. The mask now serves
as a party accessory for carnivals or souvenirs for travelers. The maks also features in
traditional characters such as “Pheru and Harlequin” as stated in the film.

Q 1 f) Text 1 and 2

Timing recommendation:
 This part of the question is assessed according to criteria A(Analyzing), B (Organizing)
and D (Using Language)
 This question part is worth 35 marks (A -15 marks B -10 marks and D- 10 marks)

Compare and Contrast how the author and the film maker create an impact on the
audience through use of literary techniques to communicate the cultural significance of
the carnival and the mask.
Make detailed reference to both texts in your answer.

A:
Text one, it is an extract from “The Dragon Can’t Dance”, written by Earl Lovelace in
1979. It describes what the carnival is like in Trinidad from the view of Aldrick Prospect
who wears the dragon costume. Text two (film) is It is a Youtube video “The story of
Venetian masks” from the perspective of the mask narrated by Toni Mazzaglia, he talks
about the historical and cultural significance of the Venetian masks.

Text one’s theme revolves around celebration, rebellion, and change. The text starts with
talking about the history of the celebration of the carnival as stated in the text
“heralding the masqueraders coming that back centuries for its beginnings back across
the middle passage, back to Mali and to guinea and Dahomey and Congo, back to
Africa”, moving on then the text talks about the carnival in the context of rebellion and
the historical significance of the same as stated in the text “endured the three hundred
odd years to Calvary hill felt as he put on his dragon costume, a sense of entering a
sacred mask that invested him with an ancestral authority to upload before the people of
the Hill”. Towards the end, the text talks about the change that has taken place as
stated in the text “Suddenly they were all gone, outlawed from the city or died gone and
he felt alone.”

Text two, however, had a rather informative approach, the theme revolves around
antiquity as the film states “I am the oldest resident of this town”. Text two is not a
fictional story unlike text 1, it talks about how Venetian masks are created and the
significance and uses of the same.
The tone of the first text is rather nostalgic and wistful creating a rather displeasing
mood around the text which is usually not the case with a narrative about a carnival
celebration. The film’s (text 2) tone is edifying and explanatory which is in complete
contrast to text 1.

Text two is set in Venice, which consists of many water bodies. It shows the vast array of
cultural real estate and shows the Magnificant rivers that Venice is known for. It then
goes on to show the colorfulness of the city and the maks, it shows the beauty of the
masks, the images/videos are in a slideshow and are ninety percent in the daytime. Text
one is based in The Calvary Hill, around or in the port of Spain as stated in the text
“Aldrick had a feeling of being the last symbol of rebellion and threat to confront port of
Spain” which suggests that Calvary Hill is in or around the port of Spain; Trinidad.
Moreover, the name of the hill, ‘Calvary’ is also symbolic as it is the name of the site of
Jesus’ crucifixion. It is also set in an early day as the text states “putting on his costume
now at dawn”.

In text one, the author uses multiple literary techniques, mainly writing in the third
person. The author used alliteration for example “Monday morning breaks upon the
backs of these thin shacks”, the author uses consonance, for example, “black men who
blackened themselves further with black grease to make of their very blackness a
menace” and repetition by talked about how the carnival used to be in Calvary hill in
more than one occasion. The author uses a high extent of his diction to communicate
the importance of the carnival, both historical and cultural.
In text two, however, much simpler literary techniques have been used, such as
personification, as the author states, “it can take several hours or even days for me to be
born”, as birth is an action that can be only performed by living beings and talking in
English is also only possible for a majority of humans, it is personification or
anthropomorphism. Not only did text two use literary techniques, as it was a film it used
camera angles as well, mainly high and birds view for the views of the city of Venice and
mostly eye level for the shot of the masks. There is also the choice of color that comes
into play which is rather bright and attracts the eye. The film uses a transition
technique known as dissolve at the end of the video. The film also features many jump
cuts from one city view to another and to make. In hindsight, the entire film was a
montage of the city of Venice and the Venetian masks. Moreover, the music used for the
background was calm and soothing and did not distract or overlay the voice of the
narrator.

In conclusion, the literary techniques and film techniques used were not similar between
the two texts, text one has a much wider and mature vocabulary whereas text two is
much simpler and to the point. Text one is in the third person whereas text 2 is in first.
Nonetheless, both texts did convey the cultural and historical significance of their
respective topic, however, text two was much more successful as it was a film which
gave it more than just words to communicate with and text one was not to the point as it
was an extract from a novel.