Preparing For English Literature Test - IELTS Listening Answers & Explanations

Professor: Good morning, Lorna and Ian! I'm glad that you both chose to make it. You're the only two who take the names down for this literature test. So let's get started, shall we? I would like to go through some aspects of the novel, The Secret Garden, with you before the test next week. Do take some notes and feel free to interrupt me if you have questions.

Ian: Hey Lorna, have you got a spare pen?

Lorna: Yeah, here you are.

Professor: All right, so, the story follows two key characters. You should refer to them as protagonists who go by the names of Mary Lennox and Colin Craven. The story is set shortly after the turn of the twentieth century, and the narrative tracks the development of the protagonists as they learn to overcome their own personal troubles together.

Lorna: That's quite a common storyline, isn't it?

Professor: Yes, you're right, Lorna. So could you share something you've already known about the character of Mary?

Lorna: Well, in the beginning, she is an angry and rude child who is orphaned after a cholera outbreak and forces to leave India for the United Kingdom to her uncle's house in Yorkshire.

Professor: Exactly, and there she comes across Colin who spends his days in an isolated room, believing himself to be permanently crippled with no hope of being ever possible of walking. The two strike up a friendship and gradually learn by encouraging each other that both of them can have a healthy, happy and fulfilled life.

Ian: Is there any need for us to remember these details for the exam?

Professor: Just the fundamental structure. Examiners don't want to read a plot summary. They know what the book is about. Focus on narrative techniques instead, such as point of view.

Lorna: What does that mean?

Professor: It's all about how we see the story. For example, it's written based on what is called an 'omniscient narrator', which means all-knowing. So, readers can feel the same as how all the characters do about things, including what they like and don't like, and what their motivations are in the story.

Ian: Won't it be that difficult to perform a technical analysis? After all, it's a kid's book.

Professor: Well, it was initially pitched at adults, you know, but over the years it has shifted to a more youth-orientated work. In this case, your understanding is correct in some way. The simple lexical items and absence of foreshadowing make the story relatively easy to follow and supposedly suited for children. But that doesn't mean there isn't much to analyse. Look at the symbolism, for instance.

Lorna: Symbols are things, right? Material things like objects that stand for abstract ideas.

Professor: Absolutely right. The author also uses many of them. There's the robin redbreast, for example, which symbolises the wise and gentle nature that Mary will soon adopt. Note that the robin is regarded as 'not at all like the birds in India'. Roses are treated as well as a personal symbol for Mistress Craven. You'll see they're always mentioned alongside her name. And Mistress Craven's portrait can also be interpreted as a symbol of her spirit.

Ian: Are symbols just another name for motifs?

Professor: No, motifs are a bit different. They don't have a direct connection with something the way a symbol does. Motifs are simply recurring elements of the story that support the mood.

Lorna: Are there any in this novel?

Professor: Yes, two very key ones. The Garden of Eden is a motif, which comes up a few times in association with the garden of the story. And then you've got the role that secrets play in the story. At the very beginning, everything is steeped in secrecy, and slowly the characters share their secrets and in the process move from darkness to lightness, metaphorically, but also in the case of Colin, quite literally. His room used to have the curtains drawn, but in the end, he appears in the brightness of the garden.

Ian: Anything else needed to know about?

Professor: Yes. Nearly all novels explore universal concepts that everyone has witnessed, things like love, family, loneliness, friendship. These are called themes. The Secret Garden has a few themes that all concentrate on the idea of connections. The novel explores, for example, the way that health can determine and be determined by our outlook on life. As Colin's health conditions get improved, so do his perceptions of his strength and possibility. The author also examines the relationship between our surroundings and our physical and spiritual prosperity. The dark, cramped rooms of the manor house stifle the development of our protagonists; the garden and natural environments allow them to blossom, just as the flowers do. Finally, this book looks at the connections between individuals, namely Mary and Colin. This necessity of human companionship is the novel's most important theme because none of their development as individuals would have appeared without their knowing each other. Well, that about sums it up, I think.

Lorna: That's a great help, thanks.

Ian: Yes, thanks very much.