Open Prompt

1982. In great literature, no scene of violence exists for its own sake. Choose a work of literary merit that confronts the reader or audience with a scene or scenes of violence. In a well-organized essay, explain how the scene or scenes contribute to the meaning of the complete work. Avoid plot summary.

The best literary violence carries meaning beyond itself.  This is true in Edward Albee's The American Dream when Mommy slowly dismembers her adopted baby son.  The disfigurement of language and materialistic obsession in this scene of violence contribute to Albee's message: that America has become obsessed with objects and does not understand ideas.

In this scene, language is deformed along with the baby. Grandma gives the account of the mutilation of this "bumble", itself a disfigured version of the word "bundle", to Mrs. Barker. Every time a wound that Mommy inflicted on the child is described, it is in the form of a figure of speech. These figures of speech are taken literally, disfiguring the language and the baby at the same time.  This literalization of language contributes to the idea that Americans have lost their ability to understand things figuratively, and can only make sense of material things.

The same materialism present throughout the play also appears in the scene.  Objects in The American Dream are disposable, giving a short period of happiness before being replaced by another object.  This sets the cycle in motion again.  The baby is treated similarly.  It gives Mommy satisfaction for a short time, then she begins to destroy it as if it were an object instead of a person.  Albee uses the materialism in this scene to show modern America as a "throw-away" society that only cares about objects.

Close Reading

New Ted Nugent Cologne Tested On ‘Every Goddamn Animal We Could Find’

ALPENA, MI—Ted Nugent held a press conference Monday to unveil his new signature fragrance "Heartland," which the veteran rocker touted as the most extensively tested cologne in history. "We tested that sumbitch on ferrets, weasels, deer, elk, squirrels, bison, trout, crickets, gibbons, iguanas, donkeys, capybaras, koalas, hyenas, penguins, woodpeckers—every goddamn animal we could find," Nugent said. "And, just to be extra-certain it was safe for consumer use, we injected it into a kitten's bloodstream, sprayed it on otters with open wounds that we inflicted, and forced cows to drink it through their nose. We also squirted it in a duck's eyes. Then we ran out of cologne and just started punching the duck." The cologne, now available in stores, features an ivory bottle stopper and comes in a genuine tiger-skin pouch. 

This short mock news report from the Onion is effective in creating comedy by creating a ridiculous event and exaggerating the conservative views of Ted Nugent.  The author uses stereotypical conservative extremist language "that sumbitch" to portray Nugent as base.  Ridiculous details reinforce this, including the number of animals tested and accounts of brutal treatment of animals "we injected it into a kitten's bloodstream" in Nugent's quotes, which he finds nothing wrong with.  The comedy of this report comes from the disconnect between Nugent's cologne testing and what the public usually wants.

No animals were hurt in the

Response to course material

Open prompt- I have gotten better at remembering to actually write the essay instead of rereading the passages for the entire hour.  I was able to get a grasp of the poems on the last essay.  That said, I still misinterpreted the reading, but not as badly as on the Eros prompt.

Death of a Salesman- Miller does awesome things with time in the play.  In many places, past events are happening at the same time as present events, and it happens smoothly.  I'm not sure I like it as much as The American Dream, but it is (obviously) well written, and I appreciate that.

Open Prompt

2007. In many works of literature, past events can affect, positively or negatively, the present activities, attitudes, or values of a character. Choose a novel or play in which a character must contend with some aspect of the past, either personal or societal. Then write an essay in which you show how the character's relationship to the past contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.

                  A character’s past can affect his present state.  In the case of Willy in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, the past actually mixes with the present.  Willy’s falsely idealistic view of the past contrasted with the dark reality of the present shows a breakdown in the American dream.

                  Willy lives in both a reconstructed past and in the reality of the present.  His hallucinations of Ben in particular overlay what is happening in the real world.  These hallucinations do not represent the actual past, and rather are Willy’s idealized reconstruction.  This is contrasted with a grim present.  In Willy’s past, for example Ben and Biff both have supernatural qualities.  In the present, Ben has died and Biff is a failure.  The house has suffered a similar deterioration.  By presenting the past as a reconstructed ideal, Miller shows that the American dream is a fabrication.

                  In Death of a Salesman, the origin of Willy’s conflict with Biff is never directly addressed in conversation.  This gap in the past pokes a literal hole in Willy’s past, and only when he is at his lowest point does his affair come to light, and even then it is in private.  Willy’s shameful fall in the past can explain the problems in the present, just as the fall of man in Genesis explains man’s current situation.  The past in Death of a Salesman is always a glossed memory, illustrating the American dream’s falsehood.

Open Prompt

1975 Also. Unlike the novelist, the writer of a play does not use his own voice and only rarely uses a narrator's voice to guide the audience's responses to character and action. Select a play you have read and write an essay in which you explain the techniques the playwright uses to guide his audience's responses to the central characters and the action. You might consider the effect on the audience of things like setting, the use of comparable and contrasting characters, and the characters' responses to each other. Support your argument with specific references to the play. Do not give a plot summary.

            In a play, the author is unable to narrate, instead conveying meaning in other ways.  This is true of Edward Albee’s The American Dream, in which the characters dictate action.  Through indirect characterization, literalization, and character interaction, Albee communicates meaning without using his own voice.

            The characters are developed through action onstage.  Mommy is shown as savage and childish through her treatment of Daddy and Grandma and excessive use of the indefinite article in her story of a shopping trip.  She tries to control the other characters through coercive language, and forces Daddy to have a vasectomy.  Daddy is the opposite of what a man is supposed to be.  It can be inferred from his hesitance to open the door for Mrs. Barker and his impotence that he is indecisive and unable to do “manly” things.  Grandma is the least absurd character in the play, as evidenced by her rejection of Mommy’s authority and acknowledgement of the audience at the end of the play.

            The literalization of abstract ideas allows Albee to create a visceral tone without a narrator.  Figurative language becomes manifested in the body throughout the play.  Daddy’s “Qualms” are transferred to his scars.  Grandma comments that the bodies of old people are “twisted into the shape of a complaint”.  The mutilation of the “bumble”, itself a deformed word, is described in figurative language that is turned literal.  In the universe of The American Dream, ideas take a physical form.  This creates a materialist atmosphere that shows the audience the superficiality of the American Dream, that objects have become more important than ideas.

            Relations between characters, especially Grandma’s interactions, allow Albee to express meaning.  Grandma, the only character who fights back against Mommy’s control, has a special power in the play’s dynamic.  She has the power to make characters leave at will, as shown by her extraction of Mrs. Barker from the stage.  When sexual rhythm is created between Mommy and Daddy, Grandma interjects and destroys it.  This power is even taken beyond character interaction; she can distort reality by hiding rooms and the apartment’s water.  Grandma is able to control the play in the same manner as a director, ending it at a time she feels it is appropriate.  This power dynamic shows that although the old American dream may seem to lack strength at the surface, it is actually in control under everyone’s noses.

Close Reading

Hi, it’s Vince with Shamwow! You’ll be saying wow every time you use this towel! It’s like a chamois! It’s like a towel! It’s like a sponge. A regular towel doesn’t work wet – this works wet or dry. This is for the house, the car, the boat, the RV! Shamwow holds twenty times its weight in liquid. Look at this! It just does the work! Why do you want to work twice as hard? It doesn’t drip, doesn’t make a mess. You wring it out, wash it in the washing machine. It is made in Germany, you know the Germans always make good stuff. You can cut it in half, use one as a bath mat, drain your dishes with the other one, use one as a towel. Olympic divers, they use it as a towel. Look at that! Completely dry! Put a wet sweater, roll it up, it dries your sweaters. Here’s some cola, wine, coffee and pet stains. Not only is the damage gonna be on top – there’s your mildew. That is going to smell! See that? The most absorbing We’re gonna do this in real time! Look at this! Put it on the spill, turn it over! Without even putting pressure, fifty percent of the cola right there. You follow me, camera guy? The other fifty percent, the color starts to come up. No other towel’s gonna do that! It acts like a vacuum! And look at this – virtually dry on the bottom! See what I’m telling ya? Shamwow! You’ll be saying wow every time!

http://vinceoffer.net/shamwow-vince-and-other-shamwow-fun/shamwow-commercial-transcript/ (Vince's fan site)

 
     This transcript of the Shamwow commercial uses a conversational tone and a fast narrative pace to make the reader/watcher buy the product.
     The informal tone of the commercial allows it to reach a wide audience.  Vince uses everyday words and catchy phrases "You’ll be saying wow every time you use this towel!" to appeal to anyone who may be watching the commercial.  He refers to the viewers as "you", as if he is in a conversation.  The various uses of the towel are plainly described and the product is demonstrated in a way anyone could understand.
     The ad's pace is kept fast in order to keep people's attention.  This is done in part through the use of sentence fragments "The other fifty percent, the color starts to come up".  They help avoid wasting time with extra words.  Listing is also used to keep the attention of the audience.  Sentences like "This is for the house, the car, the boat, the RV!" give information quickly and efficiently.
     Judging from the popularity of the commercial, I would say that these techniques are very effective.  It does a great job of grabbing your attention, and not allowing you to lose interest.  This allows it to fulfill its purpose of making you want to buy a Shamwow.  

Response to Course Material

Over the past weeks, I feel as if I have made progress in my analysis.  When we wrote the second Eros essay, I was able to make a valid point instead of misinterpreting the poems as I did the first time.  I was also able to distance my essay structure from the AP history style, which does not work in literature.  Our discussions of The American Dream have also helped me analyze better.  Listening to other people's interpretations has helped me draw more more broad and accurate conclusions from the text since I tend to get fixated on specific things, ignoring general patterns.

Open Prompt

         

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.

While bland, the generic can sometimes be used effectively.  In Edward Albee’s The American Dream, the stereotyped characters Mommy Daddy, and Grandma are all stock characters, designed to be generic on purpose.  Albee uses these stereotypical characters to create ambiguity; this makes the play’s message relatable to as many people as possible.

         Albee uses indirect characterization to make the characters flat and stereotypical.  The characters call each other “Mommy” “Daddy” and “Grandma”.  These are titles, not specific names.  They correspond to family roles, which each character portrays generically.  Daddy is the stereotypical submissive husband who just wants peace.  Mommy is a gold digger who tries to control everything.  Grandma is the wise old person no one listens to.  While absurd, their formal manner is basically what someone would expect from the typical household in the late 1950s.  They seem to have money, but may only be putting on airs.  This makes the characters even more stereotypical because they do not even belong to a specific social class.

         The author uses his stereotypical characters to broaden the scope of The American Dream’s meaning.  Albee’s message is that the American dream is hollow and superficial, but by definition the American dream is open to everyone.  Because of this, stereotypical characters must be used to convey that the dream has failed for everyone, not only for the characters.  If not, Albee’s purpose would become limited and less powerful, expressing a truth about a subset of society instead of the whole.

Response to Course Material 2

            Our work on syntax has been very applicable.  Like the other parts of DIDLS, it can be used anywhere.  Syntax is my favorite so far because sentence structure can be used to emphasize a certain idea.  I have started noticing this in Latin class, where the word order of the poetry we are reading is not restricted in any way, and this freedom is used to highlight important ideas and do all kinds of things with imagery.

            The American Dream is by far the best play I have ever read.  The distortion of everyday things and the absurdity of the whole thing do an amazing job of exposing the fake family ideal of the 1950s.

            The lessons on essay structure have been really informative.  I thought I was super awesome at topic sentences until I was told that we weren’t supposed to mention techniques in them.  I realized I had been doing them completely wrong.  I hope to redeem myself on the second Eros essay.

Close Reading

#ows Second General Assembly Of Manhattan Meets At 3PM In Washington Square Park - Anti-Flag To Play Set In Solidarity at Liberty Square

#ows is growing. We will be in a thousand cities in this country by the end of the month - hundreds of cities in other countries. We will see General Assemblies on six continents.

Liberty Square has grown exponentially over the last three weeks. It is time to form a second General Assembly in Manhattan. We expect more to follow.

On October eighth at three in the afternoon a General Assembly will convene in Washington Square Park. At the same time Anti-Flag will play an acoustic set in Liberty Square in solidarity with our movement's expansion.

We are growing. Block by block – city by city. We will see change in this country, in this world. It will happen sooner than you can imagine.

            This general update, posted on occupywallstreet.org, achieves its goals of informing the public of the movement’s activities and attempting to get people to sympathize with their cause.

            Occupy Wall Street creates a defiant, revolutionary tone.  Short, direct sentences help the writer accomplish this.  Sentences like “We are growing.” and “We will see change in this country, in this world.” create the sense that Occupy Wall Street is some kind of unstoppable revolution.  The use of “We” is inclusive, adding to the effectiveness of the syntax by implying that the movement includes the reader.  These techniques are very effective in creating tone.

            This post offers information in a way that is consistent with its tone.  All information is condensed into two sentences that are powerful and easy to read.  In them the author uses simple language.  The tone of the writing is not lost here.  “in solidarity with our movement’s expansion” is added to the second sentence, keeping this section consistent with the rest of the post.

1973. An effective literary work does not merely stop or cease; it concludes. In the view of some critics, a work that does not provide the pleasure of significant closure has terminated with an artistic fault. A satisfactory ending is not, however, always conclusive in every sense; significant closure may require the reader to abide with or adjust to ambiguity and uncertainty. In an essay, discuss the ending of a novel or play of acknowledged literary merit. Explain precisely how and why the ending appropriately or inappropriately concludes the work. Do not merely summarize the plot.

            The endings of literary works usually reveal something about their meaning.  This is true about the ending of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, in which the author departs from his narrative of the lives of Jurgis, a poor Lithuanian immigrant to Chicago’s meatpacking district to argue for socialism.  Sinclair’s shift in perspective and overuse of political rhetoric create a preachy tone that degrades the novel into a one-dimensional argument for socialism that is inappropriate in the context of the work as a whole.

            At the end of the novel, the author breaks from his narrative and begins to make the case for socialism.  Jurgis is abandoned, and Sinclair takes on a more general viewpoint, listing things that Jurgis has never encountered in the story.  The work is revealed as only an account of his conversion to socialism.  This compromises Jurgis’ complexity, simplifying the protagonist into a launching pad for a completely new argument.  During these final chapters, the entire focus of the writing is on socialism.  The same points of fiery rhetoric are repeated over and over, and they quickly get boring.  This further detaches the ending of The Jungle from the rest of the story.

            The tone of the last few chapters suffers from the use of these techniques.  While the rest of the novel is told in a dark manner, describing the abuse of workers and Jurgis’ trials and tribulations in Chicago, the ending abruptly switches to an ultra-hopeful and radical tone that is at best inconsistent and reads as an advertisement.  This further simplifies the story by devaluing the weighty narrative and distracting the reader from the other implications of its meaning-rich beginning and middle sections.

            The meaning of the muckraking commentary on industrial America in The Jungle is wasted by its ending, a shameless and extreme argument for socialism. 

I did not have a good time with this prompt, especially because I remember almost nothing about The Jungle.  It felt like I was only scratching the surface, repeating the same idea and backing it up weakly.  I also ran out of time, though I doubt I could have written anything of value.  

Response to Course Material

What we have covered in class so far has demystified the interpretive process for me.  Concepts like the DIDLS mnemonic and close reading have given structure to my analysis, and have helped me notice the subtleties of the works I read in a more efficient way.

The essay formula seems natural.  My main problem, however, seems to be lack of time caused by slow analysis.  In our in-class essay, it took me too long to come to a conclusion about the poems on Eros, and my essay suffered as a result.  I attribute this to my inexperience interpreting literature under time constraints.

Open Prompt

1970. Choose a character from a novel or play of recognized literary merit and write an essay in which you (a) briefly describe the standards of the fictional society in which the character exists and (b) show how the character is affected by and responds to those standards. In your essay do not merely summarize the plot.                 

                  The greatest hope of the prisoner is freedom.  Winston, the protagonist of George Orwell’s 1984, is a prisoner in the dystopian society of Oceania.  There, the state controls the thoughts of its populace through propaganda, absurd rhetoric, and paranoia.  Winston seeks to break his captivity by defying the power of the government.  Like the single prisoner who acts on his desire for freedom, Winston’s escape attempt is met with brutal resistance and behavioral correction.  Winston responds to the principles of his society by challenging the authorities briefly by attempting to rediscover the past, but his will is broken and he again willingly conforms to the standards of Oceania.

                  In the society of Oceania, fanaticism rules.  Oceania’s leaders have altered history to give their Party legitimacy, and put the youth through programs which encourage fanatical support of the government.  The people are kept chaste to an extreme.  Their suppressed sexual energy is channeled toward raucous rallies and events that encourage support of the government.  Spying on others in search of nonconformist behavior is encouraged.  Every room contains a camera, which monitors the behavior of its occupants.  The words “Big brother is watching” are everywhere, reminding people that they are being scrutinized.  The people accept the concept of Doublethink, or contradiction.  This is illustrated by the official slogan of the party: “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength”.  Newspeak is a simplified language designed by the Party to narrow the scope of thought, making it more difficult to express nonconformist thoughts.  In Oceania, single-minded extremism and contradiction rule.

                  Winston defies the standards of his society by recovering the past, but his rebellion fails when caught by the Party and his will is broken.  Winston uses an old book to write an anti-Party discourse in which he repeatedly writes “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” without noticing.  When he is living with Julia in an old room above an antique shop, Winston is able remember his childhood.  He becomes obsessed with old things, most noticeably the old room he hides out in and a paperweight, which give him a kind of escape from his society.  When the thought police catch Winston, the paperweight is broken, representing the beginning of the failure of his rebellion.  After his capture, he quickly gives in to torture and is reeducated.  Winston’s inability to stay strong while being tortured shows the inevitable triumph of the establishment over the defiance of an individual.