Response to Course Material # 2

This class has once again challenged me and helped me grow as a reader and a writer. Using the movie version of Death of  a Salesman as our first "read through," in some ways made my analysis of the work easier (it was more clear whether Willy was in current time or having flash backs), and in some ways made it harder (I was seeing the words actually written down for the first time as I was annotating). I did like this method because it made the annotating a little more exciting in that I felt like I made more discoveries of patterns and themes in the close read because I had only ever seen the work before on a screen. The movie helped clear up a lot of plot confusion, yet it allowed me to feel like I was digging deeper as I read the text. I liked having class discussions before and after the close reading, because I felt like I had a lot more to share after the close reading and was excited to discuss with my peers. I also liked how we read Death of a Salesman right after The American Dream, because there were a lot of parallels. For example, Linda and Grandma are similar in that both put on acts to make them seem less competent than they are. I also saw in both works a motif of not being able to "get satisfaction". In The American Dream, Mommy has the episode with the hats and Mommy and Daddy are so unsatisfied with their "Bumble" that they mutilate and eventually kill it. In Death of a Salesman, Willy makes several comments about the refrigerator breaking again as soon as its fixed. I find it interesting that although both works have this motif, Arthur uses it to actually make the point that you can't get satisfaction, while Albee uses it to mock the middle and upper classes and criticize their materialism. Being able to compare and contrast both of these works helped me get a better understanding of each of them.

Overall, I like the independence we were given as a class to come up with ideas about Death of a Salesman on our own. We weren't given any articles until after our close read several discussions after the close read. Also, I liked how these article seemed to be more discussion-provoking in that we were given two very different viewpoints on whether or not Death of a Salesman is a tragedy, and we were given some varying definitions of what a tragedy is. Getting both sides of the argument helped everyone in the class pick a side for themselves, which provoked more discussion and debate. I do hope that we discuss this topic more though, because I left the classroom pretty confused. I had always thought a tragedy was defined by the emotions it provokes in the audience, but our discussion made me start to think that a work being tragic doesn't necessarily make it a tragedy, and that there are certain requirements it has to meet in order to be a tragedy in a literary sense. I am having a hard time figuring out what a tragedy actually is, because it seems to be pretty subjective and it's changing quite often. This makes it hard for me to decide whether or not Death of a Salesman is a tragedy. So, although I like how much freedom our class was given in discussing this topic, I hope we are given the chance to discuss further and hopefully clear some things up.

Another big concept we have been working on in class is being able to use the motifs of a work to come up with a theme statement describing the author's intent in writing the work. This is something I struggle with, because it's hard to come up with a statement that is support by all aspects of the work. The day our class came up with our theme statement helped me a lot, because I was able to go through the process with the help of my classmates and Ms. Holmes. This made it easier to come up with a theme statement for "Promises Like Pie Crust", because I had more experience and knew more strategies. This also helped me outside of the classroom. We had a day in choir where we sat down and discussed the meaning of two of our pieces, which were both originally poems. One was Shakespeare's "O Mistress Mine," and the other was May Swenson's "I will be Earth." I was able to use the strategies I learned in lit class to come up with an overall idea of the meaning of the pieces. I looked at the DIDLS ("I Will be Earth" is loaded with imagery, and uses some interesting diction, which can be seen in lines like "Burn radiant love,/Born scorpion need"(Swenson)) to come up with motifs and bigger ideas, which led me to the overall meanings. This allowed me to relate the poems to other works. For example, "O Mistress Mine" is quite similar to Robert Herrick's "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time," which I read in Brit Lit last year. I like how I can apply what I'm learning in lit class to other situations, and I feel like this class is enriching my experience as a reader.    

Open Prompt Response #2

In response to the 2003 essays, which are responding to this prompt:

According to critic Northrop Frye, “Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their
human landscape that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them, great
trees more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass. Conductors may of course be
instruments as well as victims of the divisive lightning.” Select a novel or play in which a tragic
figure functions as an instrument of the suffering of others. Then write an essay in which you
explain how the suffering brought upon others by that figure contributes to the tragic vision of
the work as a whole.

Student LLLL:

I am pretty impressed with this essay. I think it does a nice job of incorporating ways that the author uses DIDLS to create effects and meanings. For example, the student describes the imagery of Gatsby reaching across the lake, and how it makes him seem pathetic, which contributes to the idea that he is tortured and is a tragic hero. I also think that this essay does a nice job including quotes and paraphrases from the book, which can be difficult considering the essay is all based off of the student's memory of the work. If I were to give this student one piece of advice, it would be to put the paragraph about how Gatsby's tragedies bring the other characters down directly after the first paragraph, because that is addressing the heart of the thesis.The thesis says to talk about how the tragic hero's suffering affects others,and how that relates to the tragic vision as a whole. This author sort of starts by describing one aspect of the tragic vision, which is how tortured Gatsby is,and then describes how Gatsby acts as an instrument of suffering, and then talks about another aspect of the tragic vision as a whole,which is the fall of the roaring twenties. This makes it a little confusing, but overall I don't think it detracts majorly from the essay. The fact that I can get this nit-picky means the essay is very well written and deserves the score of a 9 that it received.

Student C:
I think that this essay was rated a little too high (it received a 7). The entire second paragraph is basically a far-too-in-depth summary of the plot. Although it does incorporate aspects of the thesis such as duty and vanity, it seems to get distracted from the main point of the prompt which is the tragedy of the hero and how he/she contributes to the suffering of others. I also found some of the more technical issues to be very distracting. For example, the student switches from present tense to past tense while summarizing the plot. The tense should be kept constant and should always be present when discussing literature.I also found the Hamlet reference to be quite random and to have no contribution to the main point of the essay. Overall, although the student seems to show a clear understanding of the prompt, he/she gets too caught up in plot summary and has glaring technical errors that distract the reader from the point the essay is trying to argue. I probably would have rated it a 6.

Student FF:
I feel like I basically just read the entire novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest after reading this essay. It is much more a summary of the plot than an analysis of the tragic hero and his affect on other characters. The student mentions the tragedy of the characters and the book at the end of the essay almost as an after thought. Also, like the scoring commentary says, I think that McMurphy has a positive impact on most of the other characters, especially Chief Bromden. He empowers the other characters to stand up for themselves and act out against the harsh conditions of the mental hospital. The book ends with Chief Bromden breaking out of the mental hospital and becoming free, which I think is very optimistic. Before McMurphy comes, Bromden never even talks, and everyone assumes he is deaf. I think that McMurphy's presence has instigated major changes that will improve the lives of the other patients. Overall, I do not think there is enough evidence to support the author's claim, and there is way too much evidence refuting it. That along with the poor organization and distraction from the thesis I think make this essay deserve the 5 it received.

Summary and Analysis of The American Dream (pretend that's italicized)

The Basics:

Author: Edward Albee, written around 1959-1960.

Setting: The play takes place in the living room of a very simple apartment with minimal furniture. It is sometime in the early 1960s.

Characters:

Mommy- middle aged, upper class woman who is materialistic and always needs to be in control.

Daddy- Mommy’s emasculated husband who lets her walk all over him to appease her, also middle aged and upper class

Grandma- The only mentally all-there character, represents the old American Dream, lives with Mommy and Daddy and puts on an act for them to appear insane.

Mrs. Barker- a “professional woman” who runs lots of charities and is just as twisted and materialistic as Mommy and Daddy.

Young man- pretty on the outside, hollow on the inside, represents the new American Dream, twin of the baby Mommy and Daddy adopted.

Plot:

Considering this play has many elements of the theater of the absurd, there isn’t much of a plot. There is a lot of going around in circles and nonsense but basically, here’s what happens: Mommy and Daddy discuss how they can never get satisfaction. Grandma comes down carrying lots of boxes, and babbles on about the mistreatment of old people, throwing in a lot of nonsense that makes her appear to be insane. Mrs. Barker than enters and despite much anticipation for her arrival, no one remembers why she came. When Mommy and Daddy leave the room, Grandma tells Mrs. Barker about a baby Mommy and Daddy adopted and proceeded to mutilate when it didn’t satisfy them. The doorbell rings, and the young man enters. He tells Grandma about how he feels empty on the inside, and how he had a twin (the baby Mommy and Daddy adopted), and he can feel its pain. Grandma then tells the young man to load up her boxes, and tells Mrs. Barker to have Mommy and Daddy adopt the young man, which makes them very happy. Grandma leaves the house, but remains on the stage. Only the young man can see her as she says the closing lines of the play.

Narrative Voice

The American Dream is written by Edward Albee, who is quite fed up with the materialism of the consumer era and the “mutilation” of the American dream. He is homosexual, and he lived with a group of like minded males. His lack of interaction with women and possible rejection he felt from some of them causes him to portray them usually as harsh and controlling (like Mommy). The rejection he felt for being homosexual in the 1960’s may have facilitated the bitterness that can be seen in the play and the attack on newer generations. The tone of the play is dry yet humorous, as it is criticizing and making fun of the newer generations at the same time. Albee uses some very dark imagery to amplify the bitterness he feels towards society. He uses images of a baby being mutilated by having its hands, tongue, genitals, etc. removed one by one to describe what he thinks is happening to the American dream. There is a ton of symbolism in this play. To name a few: Grandma=old American Dream, Young man= New American dream, mutilation of baby= destruction of the values of the American Dream, Mrs. Barker= the business world, Mommy and Daddy= materialistic newer generations. All of this symbolism helps Albee attack society as a whole while only using a few characters, and contributes to his voice as an angry, bitter man who has been rejected from society.

Quotes:

The Young Man says, “I have no emotions, I have been drained; torn asunder…disemboweled”(Albee 36). I think that this quote does a great job of describing what Albee thinks has happened to the American dream. The language used is powerful and really shows readers how torn up the American Dream has become.

When Mommy and Daddy are returning, Grandma says “I’ve got to go into my act now”(37). I love this line because it goes right out and says what readers have gradually been realizing: that Grandma is actually quite wise and competent, and merely puts on an act for Mommy and Daddy. This line opens up so many more ideas on how the old American dream had sound morals and wisdom, and it brings out the ridiculousness of Mommy and Daddy.

The Young Man says, “I think I can explain it to you, partially because you’re very old, and very old people have perceptions they keep to themselves, because if they expose them to other people…well, you know what ridicule and neglect are.”(35). I like this quote because it shows a sort of connection that Grandma and the Young Man have. They both have been ridiculed and neglected, but in different ways. The bond that they share as seen in this line is kind of touching.

Theme Claim: Albee’s American Dream warns that the current generation of upper class Americans has gutted the heart and soul of what it means to be American and replaced our collective dream with a shallow, immature, materialistic longing for power and wealth, but there is still hope for change.

Explanation: Symbolism plays a major part in this claim. Mommy and Daddy are symbols of the “current generation of upper class Americans.” Their act of mutilating the bumble by removing its body parts symbolizes the “gutt[ing of] the heart and soul of what it means to be American. The fact that Mrs. Barker, who symbolizes the business world condones and even supports the mutilation of the bumble shows that the twisted nature of newer generations expands into further aspects of society like business.

The shallowness of the American dream’s replacement can be seen by the emptiness of the Young man. He can feel nothing inside, because he is connected to his twin (the bumble that was mutilated). We can also see the shallowness and materialism through the characters representing the current generation. For example, Mommy throws a huge fit because the hat she got was supposedly a slightly different shade from what the salesman told her it was. This makes the shallowness of the current generation seem humorous. Another example of shallowness and materialism can be seen when Mommy finds out that Grandma has left and is only sad for about ten seconds until she sees the new young man who is coming to live with her. She immediately forgets about Grandma and her strong morals for the young man who has a pretty face. The immaturity of the new American dream can be seen in a reversion to a childlike state by several of the characters. Mommy’s temper tantrum about the hats is again an example of this, as is Daddy’s “blushing and giggling” when Mrs. Barker takes off her dress.

The longing for wealth can be seen when Mommy talks about how she married Daddy and let him “bump [her] uglies”(12) so that she could be rich and live in a nice apartment.  She doesn’t actually care about Daddy at all. The longing for power is where gender roles come in. Throughout the play, there is a constant power struggle between Mommy, Mrs. Barker, and Grandma. Daddy has pretty much lost the power struggle and has resigned as Mommy’s emasculated slave. He is basically a woman. Mommy has taken on a male gender role and usually dominates. She always needs to be in control and have all of the power.

 Imagery and Narrative voice also contribute to this statement. The imagery of a child being hurt strengthens the injustice Albee feels about the gutting of the American Dream by associating it with violence. Albee’s voice as a rejected member of society explains the bitterness and the warning about the evils of the current generation of upper class Americans.

The single hint that Albee gives of there still being hope is in the fact that Grandma does not leave the stage at the end of the play. This shows that she still has the potential to return to the house if she is needed again, which seems likely considering the last lines of the play. This shows some hope that newer generations will come to their senses and realize that the old American dream has much more value.

Close Reading # 2

You can find this article at:                                                                                           http://www.slate.com/articles/life/education/2013/09/paying_attention_is_a_skill_schools_need_to_teach_it.html

In the article "Attention Must Be Paid," the Author Barry Schwartz attacks the media and advancing technology for shortening the attention spans of the new generation, as well as education systems for not "nurturing" our attention spans and requiring us to lengthen them. He also points out some steps in the right direction he thinks more educators should take. Three aspects of rhetoric Schwartz uses most powerfully to do so are figurative language, diction, and details.

Schwartz does a nice job of sprinkling his article with a fair amount of figurative language without smothering it. His main use of figurative language is his comparison of the attention span to a muscle. He talks about how teachers failing to require students to expand their attention spans is like a personal trainer telling someone to stop lifting weights if they complain about being weak (Schwartz). By comparing the attention span to a muscle and teachers to an ineffective trainer, Schwartz highlights the lack of productivity and accomplishment that comes from catering to the needs of students who lack motivation to stay focused for long periods of time. Another example of figurative language is seen when Schwartz says "It is easy to find villains in this war on attention. The news media, both print and broadcast, bear more than a little responsibility"(Schwartz). Comparing the situation to something as violent as war makes his argument seem more personal and makes his attack on the media's role on attention spans more powerful. The use of figurative language in this article takes it to the next level in pointing out the negative affect of the media and teaching techniques on the attention spans of the new generation.

Diction also plays a big part in shaping Schwartz's essay and proving his point. He uses specific diction strategically, only using it for things he wants to highlight. When he is describing the media and the education systems that are causing the problems, the diction for the most part is not specific. He uses words like "teachers and principals and parents," "media," etc. When referring to the problem, he only uses specific diction once, and that is when he is talking about TED talks. This is so that he at least has one specific example to support his argument, but he can still keep it general to encompass a wide category. He uses lots of specific diction when he is talking about a solution to the attention span problem. He mentions the success of "KIPP schools" and the "SLANT system" and the return of longer articles such as David Grossman's "The Yellow River," and even longer form TV shows such as "Breaking Bad" (although he argues whether this helps or hurts, it's a step in the right direction). The use of specific diction in these cases highlights the steps Schwartz thinks should be taken in the struggle of shortening attention spans.

A similar trend can be seen with details. The work seems to go further into detail when describing possible steps educators can take towards "nurturing" the attention spans of students. For example, rather than just mentioning KIPP schools, Schwartz goes further and explains their SLANT technique that makes their students successful and helps them have longer attention spans. Again, the more in depth detail seen when describing an organization that Schwartz thinks is addressing the issue the right way shows what he thinks should be done to keep up the attention spans of students in an age where technology allows information to be spread in "brief," "oversimplified" ways.