Year 11

English Advanced
Module B: Critical
Study of Literature

Lesson 4:
Developing Your
Interpretation

147
Year 11 English Advanced Lesson 4: Interpretation

1. Module B in Review
The module we are working through this term is Module B: Critical Study of Literature.
Module B is a unit based around a detailed reading and appreciation of a single literary text.
In this unit, you are learning skills that will prepare you for the rigour of Advanced and
Extension One English in Year Twelve.

Below you can read the syllabus statement for Module B. Your teacher may choose to review
or explain any confusing terms.

NESA, 2017. English Advanced Stage 6 Syllabus - Extract

Module B: Critical Study of Literature

In this module, students develop analytical and critical knowledge, understanding and
appreciation of a literary text. Through increasingly informed personal responses to the text
in its entirety, students develop understanding of the distinctive qualities of the text and
notions of textual integrity.

Students study one text appropriate to their needs and interests. Central to this study is the
exploration of how the author’s ideas are expressed in the text through an analysis of its
construction, content and language. Students develop their own interpretation of the text,
basing their judgements on evidence drawn from their research and reading, enabling the
development of a deeper and richer understanding of the text. In doing so, they consider
notions of contexts with regard to the text’s composition and reception; investigate the
perspectives of others; and explore the ideas in the text, further strengthening their personal
perspective on the text.

Students have opportunities to appreciate and express views about the aesthetic and
imaginative aspects of a text by composing creative and critical texts of their own. Through
reading, viewing or listening they analyse, evaluate and comment on the text’s specific
language features and form. They express increasingly complex ideas, clearly and cohesively
using appropriate register, structure and modality. They draft, appraise and refine their own
texts, applying the conventions of syntax, spelling and grammar appropriately.

Opportunities to engage deeply with the text as a responder and composer further develops
personal and intellectual connections with this text, enabling students to express their
informed personal view of its meaning and value.

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Year 11 English Advanced Lesson 4: Interpretation

Pair Work
The table below contains some important Module B concepts. Working with a classmate,
use your previous English studies to complete the table below.

Module B Your explanation Example from your English

Concept studies

“how an author
expresses their
ideas”

“strong personal
perspective on
the text”

“the distinctive
qualities of the
text”

“deeper and
richer
understanding of
the text”

Based on your work above, describe Module B: Critical Study of Literature in your own
words.

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Year 11 English Advanced Lesson 4: Interpretation

2. Class Debate
The central theme of this lesson is your personal interpretation of the novel. To begin
articulating your ideas, we will run a class debate exercise in which you compare each other’s
interpretations of the ending of Fever Dream.

We will you use the following extract as a starting point for discussing the ending. This is
from the final section where Amanda describes (to David) her husband’s interaction with
David and his father.

Schweblin, S. 2017. Fever Dream – Extract

Your father brings the straw to his mouth. It’s the only object that shines in the kitchen.
My husband is going to say something else. But then there is a noise, it’s coming from the
hallway. Something is happening that my husband, from where he's sitting, can’t see.
Something familiar for the other man, who isn’t alarmed. It’s you, David. There’s something
different that I couldn’t begin to describe, but it’s you. You peer into the kitchen and stand
there looking at them. My husband looks at you, his fists relax, he tries to calculate your
age. He focuses on your strange gaze, which at certain moments strikes him as dim-witted;
he notices your spots.

“There you have it,” says your father, pouring another mate and again not offering any to
my husband. “As you can see, I would also like to have someone to ask.”

You wait quietly, attentive to my husband.

“And now he's started tying everything.”

Your father points toward the living room, where many more things are hanging from
rope, or are tied together with it. Now my husband’s whole attention is focused on that,
though he couldn’t say why. It doesn't seem like a disproportionate number of things. It
seems more like, in your own way, you were trying to do something with the deplorable
state of the house and everything in it. My husband looks at you again, trying to understand,
but you run out through the front door, and the two men are left in the silence to listen to
your steps moving away from the house.

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Year 11 English Advanced Lesson 4: Interpretation

Debate Preparation
Break up into groups of approximately four people. Discuss the following questions as a
group and note down your ideas.

n What do you think is happening in the provided extract? Why is David typing rope
around the house?

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n What is your interpretation of the final scene of Fever Dream?

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n Do you disagree with anyone in your group? What examples would you suggest to
contradict your peers’ interpretations?

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n Whose interpretation is the most convincing in the group? Why so?

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It’s important to try to find ‘holes’ in each other’s interpretations because this will stretch
your critical muscles and help you to strengthen your own interpretation.

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Year 11 English Advanced Lesson 4: Interpretation

Debate!
Now let’s move into a whole-class discussion.

n Share the most convincing interpretation from each group.

n What examples would you suggest to contradict your peers’ interpretations?

n Who has the most convincing interpretation in the class? Note down your findings
from the debate in the space below.

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Year 11 English Advanced Lesson 4: Interpretation

3. Analysing Fever Dream

Let’s consider one possible way of interpreting Fever Dream. You will then compare your
own interpretations against this provided interpretation.

Media Viewing: Fever Dream Analysis 1

For your reference, here are the quotations explored in the video:

Schweblin, S. 2017. Fever Dream – Selected Extracts

[Carla speaking]: “David had knelt down in the stream, his shoes were soaked. He’d put
his hands in the water and was sucking on his fingers. Then I saw the dead bird. It was very
close to David, just a step away…”

[David speaking]: It’s not about worms. It feels like worms, at first, in your body. But
Amanda, we’ve been through all this, too. We’ve already talked about the poison, the
contamination.

[Amanda speaking] She looks at the grass. She touches it with her hands, like she can’t
believe her small disgrace.

What’s happening with the rescue distance?

Everything is fine.

No.

She’s frowning.

“Are you okay, Nina?” I ask her.

She smells her hands.

“It’s really gross,” she says.

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Year 11 English Advanced Lesson 4: Interpretation

It’s happening.

What is, David? My God, what is happening?

The worms.

No, please.

It’s a very bad thing.

Yes, the rope pulls tight, but I’m distracted.

What’s on Nina?

I don’t know, David, I don’t know! I’m talking to Carla like an idiot. I ask her how long
it will take us to walk to the stables.

No, no.

I can’t do anything, David. Is this how I lose her? The rope is so taut now I feel it in my
stomach. What’s happening?

This is the most important thing. This is everything we need to know.

Why?

What is the feeling now, exactly now?

I’m soaked too. I’m wet, yes, I feel it now.

Is it about something else, then? Is it because I did something wrong? Was I a bad
mother? Is it something I caused? The rescue distance.

The pain comes and goes.

When Nina and I were on the lawn, among the barrels. It was the rescue distance: it didn't
work, I didn't see the danger. And now there is something else in my body, something that
activates again or maybe it deactivates, something sharp and bright.

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Year 11 English Advanced Lesson 4: Interpretation

Benson, C. 2017. Full Stop Interview with Samanta Schweblin – Extract

Ricardo Piglia — a great Argentinian writer that we have just lost this year — said that a story
has always two stories inside. The superficial is the one you read, the one that shows what is
apparently happening, the simple plot. The second one is the underground story, and you
discover part of it when you finish your reading. The big secret is to tell the underground
story narrating the superficial one. This idea gave me a lot of freedom in my writing when I
realized that for me the most precious thing is that amazing sensation of discovering the
underground – even if it is just a suspicion or a particular feeling. I want to put this feeling in
the reader’s chest. So I become very flexible with the plot, with the characters, with the
genre. Being so attached to the final feeling gave me more freedom during the process.

Discussion Points
n How are David and Nina’s processes of contamination similar?

n What is the difference between what Schweblin calls the superficial story and the
second ‘underground story’?

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Year 11 English Advanced Lesson 4: Interpretation

Focus Question
According to Dr Tim, what is the supernatural cause of the contamination?

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Personal Reflection
Do you have any objections to Dr. Tim’s interpretation of the book so far, or do you
completely agree? Use the space below to develop your ideas and begin developing any
points of contention.

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Year 11 English Advanced Lesson 4: Interpretation

Let’s watch the next part of the video analysis.

Media Viewing: Fever Dream Analysis 2

Below are the extracts explored in the video:

Schweblin, S. 2017. Fever Dream – Selected Extracts

[David speaking] I'm going to push you now. I push the ducks, I push Mr. Geser's dog,
and the horses.

[Amanda speaking] Upright against the seat, you look him in the eyes, as though begging
him. I see through my husband, I see those other eyes in yours [David’s]. The seat belt on,
legs crossed on the seat. A hand reaching slightly toward Nina’s stuffed mole, covertly, the
dirty fingers resting on the stuffed legs as if trying to restrain them.

[Amanda speaking] My conversation with Carla pulled the rope that ties me to my
daughter even tighter, and the rescue distance is shorter again.

[Amanda speaking] Nina is sitting behind me, looking out in the silence as we drive away
from your house toward Sotomayor’s. She doesn’t seem worried. She’s wearing her seat
belt, her legs crossed Indian style on the seat, as always, and she’s hugging her mole.

[Amanda speaking] I see Nina’s hands, for a moment. She’s not here but I see them with
utter clarity. Her little hands are dirty with mud.

Or they’re my dirty hands when I came into the kitchen, and without letting go of the
wall, I looked for Carla from the threshold.

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Year 11 English Advanced Lesson 4: Interpretation

[David speaking] At the end, I won't be here anymore.

But David…

Don't waste any more time talking to me.

[Amanda speaking] Can you intervene, David? Can you leave Nina close?

Close to whom?

Close, close to home.

I could.

Whatever it takes, please.

I could, but it won’t do any good.

[Amanda speaking] He doesn’t see the important thing: the rope finally slack, like a lit
fuse, somewhere; the motionless scourge about to erupt.

Yes. There are seconds left, but you could still understand the important thing. I'm going
to push you ahead so you can listen to my father.

Why your father?

He seems rough and simple to you, but that's because he is a man who has lost his horses.

Something falls away.

The rope.

There is no more tension. But I feel the rope, it still exists.

Yes, but there's not much time left. There will be only a few seconds of clarity. When my
father speaks don't get distracted.

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Year 11 English Advanced Lesson 4: Interpretation

Pair Discussion
Using the space below, work with a classmate to summarise Dr. Tim’s argument. Consider
considering:

n The nature of the important thing

n The moral of the story

n Why Amanda can see through her husband’s eyes

Begin your sentences with phrases like ‘Dr. Tim claims …’ or ‘Dr. Tim’s view is that …’.

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Year 11 English Advanced Lesson 4: Interpretation

¨ Comparing Interpretations
You have been provided with an interpretation of Fever Dream, now let’s compare it against
your own interpretation.

Focus Questions
Explain the strengths and weaknesses of Dr. Tim’s argument as you understand it.

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How does your interpretation differ to the one Dr. Tim offered us this lesson?

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Year 11 English Advanced Lesson 4: Interpretation

Class Discussion
Use the space below to take notes on the following questions and share your responses with
the class.

n What elements of the novel has Dr. Tim focused on? For example: imagery, plot,
symbolism, themes …

n To what extent do you agree with Dr. Tim’s interpretation?

n How valuable is Dr. Tim’s interpretation in your opinion?

n What elements of Fever Dream would you point to in order to challenge this
interpretation?

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Year 11 English Advanced Lesson 4: Interpretation

4. The Role of Interpretation

This lesson has focused on developing your interpretation of Fever Dream. Let’s tie this
activity back to the goals of Module B: Critical Study of Literature.

Personal Reflection
How has today’s class helped you fulfil one of the following ideas from the Module B: Critical
Study of Literature syllabus?

n “[Students] investigate the perspectives of others and explore the ideas in the text,
further strengthening their personal perspective on the text”

n “Students develop their own interpretation of the text, basing their judgements on
evidence drawn from their research and reading, enabling the development of a
deeper and richer understanding of the text.”

n “Through increasingly informed personal responses to the text in its entirety,

students develop understanding of the distinctive qualities of the text and notions of
textual integrity.

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Do you have any questions about Module B? Now is a great time to ask your teacher!

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