4.1.

4 – PEEL Paragraphs

In the three paragraphs below, use four, different-coloured highlighter pens to
indicate which sentences, phrases or words are used to achieve the following
functions:

Point - Make a claim, statement, point or comment.

Evidence - Include an illustration, quotation, example or test result.

Explanation - Analyse, explain, evaluate, or argue.

Link - Link back to the main idea, thesis, hypothesis or research question.

The paragraphs are taken from an extended essay on literature with the research
question: “How did Henrik Ibsen write for the stage as a means of commenting
critically the role of men and women in his time and place in history?”

Example Paragraph
In A Doll’s House Ibsen uses music as a device to establish the atmosphere and
convey his message to the audience. The audience sees and hears Nora dance to
the Tarantella, which adds to the tension of the play. The audience of the time
would have known the dance and the myth of tarantism. The song is named after
the tarantula spider, whose bite would make victims dance wildly. In actuality
many women in the 19th century suffered from hysteria because they were under
so much social pressure. They were encouraged to dance this dance until
exhaustion, as a kind of ‘cure’ for hysteria. The dance, however, is meant to be
danced in pairs. Since Torvald shuts himself in his office, Nora must dance it
alone. She begs him to watch her dance wildly, so that he is distracted and cannot
read the blackmail letter from Krogstad, which would ruin her life and expose
her secret. In fact she is dancing to save her life, and, in the context of
19thcentury Norway, the audience would have realized this. Ibsen included this
music as a social criticism of his times, where women were driven to hysteria by
the men in power.

Paragraph 1
The stage directions in A Doll’s House help create an atmosphere in which Ibsen
can convey his social criticism. Ibsen writes that the stage should include “bound
books in shelves, polished furniture and firewood by the fireplace.” These stage
directions indicate that the Helmers are upper middle-class. Everything is
properly in its place, which sets expectations on the characters to conform to
society’s demands. The objects are symbols of a male-dominated world.
Firewood is typically chopped and gathered by men. Books, in 19th century
Norway, were most likely written by men. The heavy furniture of black leather
and wood was constructed by men, appealing mostly to men’s taste. As the play
progresses, the audience feels the pressure which comes along with this setting.
It begins to feel oppressive for the female protagonist, Nora, and for the audience
as they empathise with her. As viewers sense that she is trapped in this male-

constructed environment, they understand Ibsen’s criticism of this male-
dominated world.

Paragraph 2
Henrik Ibsen has included several symbols in A Doll’s House which serve as a
means of conveying his criticism of the times in which he lives. Perhaps the most
effective symbol in A Doll’s House is the Christmas tree, which depicts the
transformation of Nora, the main character. In the beginning of the play, the tree
is decorated, symbolizing Nora’s festive and happy mood. She is happy to be
celebrating Christmas without worrying about money. The decorated Christmas
tree helps establish a joyous mood with the audience, as it is a symbol that the
original target audience, Norwegians in the 19th century, can relate to. In Act two,
however, the tree is stripped of its decorations, symbolizing Nora’s distressed
and disturbed mood after her conversation with her husband, Helmer. At this
stage in the play, she feels like poisoning her own children, a mood which is
captured by the tree that is stripped of its decorations. The play’s original
audience would have understood the dying tree as a symbol of loss and decay. In
conjunction with Nora’s distraught situation, it suggests that her marriage is not
all that it is made up to be. Ibsen’s uses this symbol to show how marriage can be
a decoration or façade that deteriorates with time if not nurtured or cared for.