Open Prompt 4

1995. Writers often highlight the values of a culture or a society by using characters who are alienated from that culture or society because of gender, race, class, or creed. Choose a novel or a play in which such a character plays a significant role and show how that character's alienation reveals the surrounding society's assumptions or moral values.


The Giver, by Lois Lowry, highlights contrasting values. The society in which Jonas lives in is designed perfectly, and the residents are protected from most physical and emotional pain. Jonas's knowledge that results from him being the new Receiver of Memory contrasts sharply with that of his society's. This not only causes alienation, but it also makes a statement about the value of knowledge and feelings.

Upon being selected for the most important of jobs, Jonas begins to learn about the memories that his society has repressed. He quickly finds that there are occasions of pain, such as a broken leg on a hill, and moments of joy, such as soaking up sunlight on a beach. The fact that the society in which he lives has transferred the job of remembering to one person is an alarming statement. Firstly, the diction itself uses the word 'job.' This is a generic term, one that holds little capacity for human connection and acts as a relegating agent. It also implies the division of duties much as the residents are separated from connection with others. Secondly, the reader is forced to look at the possibilities of how exactly this fictional society got to the point of 'Sameness,' with hardly any variation or unpredictability in its residents. The implication of gradualism means that the society once was fairly normal and slowly made decisions that stripped away such dangers as overpopulation, familial conflict, food shortage, and conflicts because of color. The reader also wonders about such a controlling society, which also functions as a comparison for real, modern values.

Jonas's difference from that of his peers quickly alienates him; he sees truths of the world which others are not aware of, which creates a contrast of values. The reader identifies with the protagonist, and in the process realizes the limitations imposed by the society. It does not know that it is crucial to humanity to experience differences in the individual, feel the depth of love, and pain to show that an individual loved and cared at all. Jonas knows all these concepts because of his difference, and it is there that the reader is meant to see the basic difference in values.

Response to Course Material 3 Oct 23

Looking at a text, I often feel as if insights into its meanings are obvious-- but only in hindsight. Although I'm getting better at reading literature for depth, I still feel as though I miss what's right in front of me. One of my goals for this year is to read a lot and stretch my abilities each time; that's started with The American Dream. Not only did I pick up on some subtleties, I also enjoyed the intellectual commentary on what I see as the consumerism tragedy still befalling Americans.
Though I've already studied Death of a Salesman in a previous class, my goal for this next segment will be on picking out even more layers of meanings.

Open Prompt 3

1975. Although literary critics have tended to praise the unique in literary characterizations, many authors have employed the stereotyped character successfully. Select one work of acknowledged literary merit and in a well-written essay, show how the conventional or stereotyped character or characters function to achieve the author's purpose.

Mark Twain uses a variety of 'out of the box' characters to express his opinions on the dysfunctional, hypocritical state of society. This is most apparent in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, when the reader sees the atypical Huck struggling out of the confines of being 'civilized.' Twain also uses stereotypical characters for Huck to react to, thereby furthering the contrast on societal values.

Miss Watson and the Widow Douglas are both the stereotypical well-to-do women of the Antebellum era; they have money, are at the top of the town's happenings, and manage slaves. Twain uses them at the beginning to show how Huck is separate from 'civilization'. He shows this by having Huck appreciate their efforts, but in the end join Tom Sawyer's crime gang.

The Grangerfords and the Sheperdsons begin as stereotypical religious families, but Twain quickly twists it to make them into opposing sides who would happily kill the other while immersed in 'God's will.' While this is used for satirical purposes, Twain also sets up a scenario for the young Huck to respond to. As he is ignorant and naiive about much of life, he doesn't critically analyze the situation for the reader as a more mature and societally 'programmed' person might. The reader, however, gets the benefit of seeing someone yet untainted by hypocrisy react to events. This carries on throughout the book with the Duke and Dauphin.

Twain uses innocence to illustrate the hypocrisy evident in typical society, often employing satirized stereotypes to further this end. By having Huck react to them in a yet- un-programmed way, he shows the reader how ridiculous typical societal values look from the standpoint of those who have not yet grown used to behaving inside of them.

Close Reading Assignment 2

Me Talk Pretty One Day
http://www.macobo.com/essays/epdf/Me%20Talk%20Pretty%20One%20Day%20by%20Sedaris.pdf


Diction
Sedaris uses a light, informal tone, reminiscent of someone complaining about his rough day to a sympathetic friend. Specific words include 'nerve-wracking,' 'rattle-off,' 'kill some time,' and 'jotted down notes.' This contributes to the mood of the casual, common narrator being abused by his violently-tempered teacher.

Syntax
Sedaris illustrates the students' shabby command of the French language by mixing up the grammatical structure of their sentences. He does this mostly for humorous effect, and to further give light to the bullying nature of the teacher. For instance, "Sometimes me cry alone at night" does both in way of supporting the essay.



Details
The comments from the teacher flush out her abusive personality, as does the narration about her comments. "The teacher killed some time accusing the Yugoslavian girl of masterminding a program of genocide" illustrates how quick to fight she is. Her sarcasm is also evident in quips like "How very interesting. I thought that everyone loved the mosquito, but here, in front of all the world, you claim to detest him. How is it that we've been blessed with someone as unique and original as you?"
Another relevant detail that supports the inhuman characteristics of the teacher is the fact that the narrator never mentions her name; it's as though she doesn't have that most basic feature that identifies her with others.

Response to Course Material 2

Though not providing much in the way of excitement, syntax is nonetheless rather fascinating to study. I don't mean this as though I'm lacking something more interesting to say about the topic, or attempting to hide my chagrin at having to learn about it at all by covering it up with false interest. But I never fully realized how the positioning of words within a paragraph, sentence, or phrase contributed to drawing the reader's attention and influencing how he or she read and absorbed ideas from the text. As I've absorbed every book I could get my hands on ever since I can remember, the ability to make ideas flow when I write seems innate. It's only been over the past couple weeks that I've solidified instinct into something that I can concretely explain with a solid level of confidence, and perhaps it's this evolution that I find most engaging.

In regard to Albee's American Dream, I already have numerous ideas orbiting through my analytical mentality, ideas that are probably fairly accurate as to the meaning and elements that contribute to such. These, like my abilities as a writer, have been accumulated over readings, papers, and understanding literary patterns- but rarely flushed out. I'm anticipating long hours of staring at Albee's words while I learn just how to fully pull out subtleties from the work-- and be able to explain previous instincts as solid theses.

Open Prompt

1970 Also. Choose a work of recognized literary merit in which a specific inanimate object (e.g., a seashell, a handkerchief, a painting) is important, and write an essay in which you show how two or three of the purposes the object serves are related to one another.


Golding's novel The Lord of the Flies contains disturbing illusions about the innate nature of humans, among them the idea that culture is just a gloss over savagery. Throughout the novel, the stranded boys use a conch shell to communicate. The conch shell is a symbol representing a tool of civilization, and its fall from respect is in of itself a symbol of the boys' return to savagery.

Upon first being stranded, the boys call each other together by blowing the conch. Here, the conch functions as a means of communication, as the boys cannot assemble if they do not know where the others are. When the boys do gather together, that cooperation is made possible by the conch shell. Further cooperation takes place when the boys recognize the right to speak by whoever holds the conch. Although a continuation of cooperation, this is also a tool of political power, used to hold together a loose system of rule and order.

The conch's purposes become less and less effective as the boys lose their civilized behaviors, eroding the previous cooperation, communication, and political power among them. Golding implies through those physical functions that the conch's actual purpose is that of keeping a structured order, akin to government. When the boys become savage, the conch is no longer effective, furthered symbolized when it is smashed by the boulder. Golding conveys themes of The Lord of the Flies through such symbolisms and functions-- both physical and implied--, and those of the conch shell work together to contribute to the boy's fall from grace.