1.

‘When composers create characters or personas who are authentic and engaging,
then we are more likely to understand and learn from their experiences.”

Have you found this to be the case in your prescribed text, and your related text?

Respond in 800-100 words. This must take the form of a structured analytical essay with an
introduction, body paragraphs which show integration of the two texts, and a conclusion. An
example of an introduction is attached as a resource.

Our personal development can be furthered as we learn from the experiences of characters
that are authentic and engaging. This notion is explored through both collective and
individual experiences of characters, with the shared experiences of fear and helplessness,
and the personal experiences of desperation and determination. These human experiences are
explored in Favel Parret's 2011 novel Past the Shallows as well as The Strokes 2020 music
video At the Door, directed by Mike Burakoff and produced by Cult Records.

The human experiences of fear and helplessness caused through a collective setting, explored
through authentic and relatable characters, is essential to our own development because of the
lessons we can learn from the experiences. In Parret's Past the Shallows, the use of anaphora,
narrated through the perspective of Miles on the dinghy "This first day. First day of school
holidays. First day he must man the boat while the men went down," (pp. 7) emphasises the
significance of not only his first day on the boat, but also the anxiety caused by the fear
starting work with the "men", most of which are abusive early in his life. Additionally, Miles
is helpless to refuse going out on the boat because of his abusive father, as well as the
financial difficulties his family is going through at home. The use of shadowing in Burakoff's
At the Door (1:55), depicting the boy's parents fighting while the boy sits with a dejected
body posture in the corner represents the fear and helplessness the boy is feeling, caused by
the collective experience of the argument. When this shadowing is combined with the
negatively connotated metaphor in the lyrics "Slamming through your wall", the message
shows how his parents fighting is destroying his relationship with them. This is how negative
collective experiences can result in the human experiences of fear and helplessness.

The experiences of fear and helplessness do not only help authentic characters, but also
ourselves in terms of shaping our lives and giving them a sense of direction in the form of
individual human experiences, namely desperation and determination. In Past the Shallows,
this is shown when Harry is thrown overboard and Miles "climbed onto the rails, was ready
to jump" (pp. 213). The abrupt decision making and couragous act of trying to jump after his
brother highlights the desperation Miles is feeling, while also emphasising his determination
to look out for his little brother, no matter the consequences. This represents how the fear and
helplessness experienced when in a collective has transformed into desperation and
determination to protect his little brother from the evils of their father. This transformation of
the collective experiences of helplessness and fear to the individual experience of desperation
and determination is also shown in At the Door through the metaphor of the boy embracing
Death (2:51). This symbolisation shows how the boy does not want to be near his parents
fighting any longer and how the family dysfunction has ultimately resulted in the boy having
severe depression with suicidal thoughts, therefore making the boy desperate and determined
to find a way out of his situation by any means neccessary. The simile from the lyrics "use
me like an oar" is conducive to the idea that the boy feels he has been used by his parents and
escalates his need to remove them from his lives. This is how fear and helplessness can give
individual characters a sense of direction through the experiences of desperation and
determination.

In conclusion, the notion that we can learn and engage with lessons learnt through authentic
and relatable characters is explored in both Favel Parrett's novel Past the Shallows and Mike
Burakoff's music video At the Door through the idea that collective human experiences can
have an impact on characters as individuals.