Book Review Outside Reading: February 21

Book Review Outside Reading

“Joyce Carol Oates’s Widow’s Lament” by Ann Hulbert

A Review of A Widow’s Story by Joyce Carol Oates

The New York Times February 17, 2011

            In “Joyce Carol Oates’s Widow’s Lament,” Ann Hulbert commends Joyce Carol Oates’s memoir entitled A Widow’s Story.  This memoir largely encompasses Oates’s thoughts after her husband of forty-seven years passes away unexpectedly, and also what she learns about herself and their relationship after his death.  Because Hulbert’s review is so praiseworthy, the reader is left admiring Oates and wanting to read the memoir for themselves.

            Hulbert is able to add a sense of clarity to her review by describing in detail the stages of grief that Oates went through while writing her memoir.  Hulbert donates a good portion of her review to characterizing Oates and portraying her as a grieving widow.  Hulbert includes a quote from Oates herself, and in so doing is able to depict the extent of her sorrow.  “But now- I am not a writer now.  I am not anything now.  Legally I am a ‘widow’- that is the box I must check.  But beyond that- I am not sure that I exist” (1).  Hulbert’s inclusion of this quote and others similar to it help the reader to get a glimpse of what Oates experienced, and are vital to the reader’s understanding of the review.  Hulbert also uses diction to accomplish the clarity of the piece.  She chooses words such as “echoes,” “hauntingly,” “chattering,” and “sweaty-clammy” to instill a sense of sympathy in the reader, and thus helps the reader to understand how deeply the loss of Oates’s husband affected her.  As her memoir is entirely about that experience, it is vital that Hulbert introduces Oates’s emotions to the reader.  The long sentences that Hulbert employs as well reflect Oates’s longing for her husband and further the extent to which the reader connects with the piece.  This is Hulbert’s biggest strength.  Without understanding Oates’s loss, the reader would be left unconnected with the review and unconcerned with the memoir.

            After explaining the grief that Oates experienced, Hulbert next begins to discuss the memoir itself.  Writing the memoir was largely a revelatory experience for Oates, and Hulbert praises her for her efforts and compares her to writers such as Joan Didion and Emily Dickinson.  This helps the reader to connect with the piece even further.  By introducing other novelists and poets that the reader may be familiar with, Hulbert is linking Oates’s work directly to what the reader can sympathize with.  This is another of Hulbert’s strengths.

            As Hulbert’s piece focuses almost entirely on the life and experiences of Oates, she employs mostly New Historicism in her review.  However, I also would consider this to be Hulbert’s weakness.  She focuses so much on Oates and only assigns one paragraph of the whole piece to the subject of Oates’s memoir: her husband.  Despite this setback however, Hulbert is able to construct her review in a clear way that allows the reader to connect and sympathize with Oates, and the reader is thus left admiring Oates as a person and thirsting to read her memoir.

Class Notes: February 7-February 17

Class Notes: February 7-February 17

We’ve been studying Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.

Heart of Darkness

·         Post-colonial novella

·         Set in the Belgian Congo

·         Conrad includes a lot of allusions to the Garden of Eden and Dante’s Inferno, and thus introduces a lot of symbolism revolving around heaven and hell (the Congo is both)

·         Uses a lot of contrasts; discusses the relationships between light and dark, heaven and hell, good and evil

·         The African woman, who Kurtz most likely has some type of a sexual relationship with, stands to represent the African people/society

Chinua Achebe’s review

·         Discusses that despite Conrad’s foreward thinking, he still is a racist

Mark Dintenfass’s review

·         Joseph Conrad spent time in Africa as Marlow does in Heart of Darkness, and “like Marlow, the experience left him morally shaken and physically ill” (1)

·         “the messiness and confusion and darkness of experience is in itself an interesting thing” (3)

·         “[Novelists] are rather in the business of re-creating and communicating the rich complexities of experience itself” (4)

·         This can make novels extremely confusing, especially in the case of Heart of Darkness

·         “Explicitness, my dear fellow, is fatal to the glamour of all artistic work” (6)

·         “We can try to understand Heart of Darkness in various ways depending upon what sorts of questions we ask of it” (7)

Apocalypse Now

·         Movie representation of Heart of Darkness

·         Although the movie follows roughly the same plot line, it is set in Vietnam instead of the Congo

Class Notes: January 24-February 4

Class Notes: January 24-February 4

We’ve been reading Heart of Darkness and studying other pertinent information.

Archetypal and Mythological Criticism

·        A myth is a complete story while an archetype can be a plot, a character, a setting, or a symbolic object

·        James Frazer: anthropologist that begins to notice similarities in myths across cultures (ex: death-rebirth myth)

·        Carl Jung: archetypes spring from the “collective unconscious”

·        Joseph Campbell: the “monomyth”

·        Northrop Frye: developed these ideas into a type of literary criticism

Mythoi: archetypal narrative patterns

Mode: variations in ancient narrative patterns as a result of cultural tastes of the work’s historical period

Displacement: variations in ancient narrative patterns as a result of the individual personality of the author

Frye’s Romance

·        Early literature; the first type of story to develop

·        Hero begins at the top of society, goes on a quest, reaches the bottom of society (the “belly of the whale,” and then resurfaces at the top of society

·        Example: The Odyssey

Frye’s Tragedy

·        The second form of literature to develop (Middle Ages and Renaissance)

·        The hero makes a fatal error or has a fatal flaw that causes him to fall

·        Desirable to undesirable circumstances

·        Hero often functions as a cultural embodiment

·        “This is what happens when you don’t stay in line with society”

Frye’s Comedy

·        The third form of literature to develop (Victorian Era, Romantic Era, Great Depression)

·        Undesirable to desirable circumstances (opposite of tragedy)

·        Tends to end with marriage and unexpected wealth

·        Societal reinforcement that even common folk can end up happy and successful

·        Discourages social friction

Frye’s Irony

·        The last form of literature to develop

·        Anti-Romance essentially

·        Hero begins at the bottom of society, begins to move up the social ladder, is happy for a while, and then descends back to the “belly of the whale”l

·        Enforces the idea that life and society are meaningless

·        Examples: Death of a Salesman, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

Everyman

·        A short play of about 900 lines

·        “we can take with us from this word nothing that we have received, only what we have given” (Everyman handout)

·        The Everyman character is the important part (the main character who represents all of humankind)

Medievalism and Allegory

·        Europe’s Middle Ages (c. 500-1500 A.D.)

·        Christian-dominated era

·        Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales]

Allegory

·        An extended metaphor

·        Not ambiguous like symbolism is

·        Reinforces the social system, because of the Middle Ages’ homogeneity of belief

·        Becomes extremely prominent during the Middle Ages (seen as a hallmark of Medieval literature)

·        Usually concerned with important things, but sometimes satirical too

·        During the Middle Ages, characters usually represented things like envy, truth, gluttony, etc.

·        Example: The Wizard of Oz (and populism)

The Divine Comedy

·        Dante Alighieri wrote it sometime between 1308 and 1321

·        Three-part epic (Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso)

·        Dante travels through hell, purgatory, and heaven

·        Virgil and Beatrice (Dante’s lifelong love, NOT his wife) lead him throughout the epic

·        Introduces the ideas of the circle and the great chain of being

The Novel

·        Novella: “little new thing”

·        Or a roman: derived from the term romance

·        Novel: a fictional prose narrative of considerable length (30,000-100,000 words) and complexity that deals imaginatively with human experience

·        First European novel is usually considered to be Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (the first part of which was published in 1605)

·        Must have literary merit (a piece of mass market fiction is NOT a novel)

·        Not applied to prose narratives written before the 18^th century

·        Always fiction, but not always prose

·        Always contain narrative

·        Types include: Prose Romance, Novel of Incident, Novel of Character, Novel of Manners, Epistolary Novel, Picaresque Novel, Historical Novel, Regional Novel, Bildungsroman, Roman a clef, Roman-fleuve, Sociological, Stream of Consciousness, Gothic, Gothic Romance, and Satirical

By the second half of the 19^th Century, the novel had displaced other forms of literature.  Why?

·        The growing middle class and their increased literacy rate and disposable income

·        Cheaper production and distribution of materials

·        Publication of novels in serial form

·        The introduction of a system of circulating libraries

Important Literary Terms

·        Anaphora: emphasizing words by repeating them at the beginnings of neighboring clauses

·        Antistrophe: the repetition of the same word or words at the end of successive phrases

·        Anadiplosis: the repetition of a word or phrase from the end of one clause or phrase at the beginning of the next clause or phrase

·        Polysyndeton: the repetition of conjunctions in a series of coordinate words, phrases, or clauses

·        Alliteration, Assonance, and Consonance

·        Antithesis: establishing a clear, contrasting relationship between two ideas by joining them together of juxtaposing them, often in parallel structure

·        Chiasmus: figure of speech in which two or more clauses are related to each other through a reversal of structures in order to make a larger point; that is, the clauses display inverted parallelism

Basic Trends in Western Literature (Classical to Postmodernist)

·        Shift of power

·        Powerful/strong dissolves into less powerful/disorderly

·        Focus moves from God to man and from knowing to not knowing

Book Review Outside Reading: January 10

Book Review Outside Reading

“Between Peace and Pain” by Maaza Mengiste

A Review of The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna

The New York Times January 7, 2011

In “Between Peace and Pain,” Maaza Mengiste commends Aminatta Forna for her recent novel, The Memory of Love.  In this review, Mengiste praises Forna, but also discusses the one shortcoming she found in this new publication.  However, because Mengiste is so complimentary of The Memory of Love, the reader is left admiring Forna as a writer and looking for a copy of the piece to read themselves.

In reviewing The Memory of Love, Mengiste employs mostly Post-Colonial criticism.  She begins by explaining the time periods that the novel encompasses, which include Sierra Leone’s colonial struggle with the United Kingdom, their eventual independence, the intermittent years in which the new country struggles to establish themselves as such, and the Civil War that erupts as a result.  However, Mengiste also discusses the effects of the previous colonizer on the new country.  “Hers is a luminous tale of passion and betrayal, encompassing the political unrest that racked Sierra Leone in the late 1960s and the ruinous civil war of the 1990s, as well as the days of tenuous quiet when those who managed to stay alive struggled to cope with the physical and mental scars of those years” (1).  The role of post-colonial criticism in this review reminds me of what can be used to analyze Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.

Mengiste adopts a very clear voice in this review, and in so doing constructs a well organized piece.  She leads her reader through a well thought-out chain of claims that, along with the warrants she chooses to support them, support her in her praise of Forna.  Mengiste also employs an academic voice that she crafts by displacing syntax and forming compound sentences that add complexity to “Between Peace and Pain.”  The title alone suggests density and the alliteration of the title once again adds to the intricate nature of the review.  The organization and academic voice that Mengiste creates are her two main strengths; through them she is able to effectively communicate how successful of an author she believes Forna to be.

Despite her overwhelming praise of Forna, however, Mengiste also points out what she sees as Forna’s only flaw.  Mengiste describes The Memory of Love as a complex novel full of “interconnecting story lines” (2) that are a result of Forna’s “risks with plot and character” (2).  This point of Mengiste’s is concluded with a discussion of one particular plot point.  “When [a main character] falls in love with a young woman, Mamakay, the writing is powerful, but credulity is strained by a dubious plot twist concerning the woman’s identity and parentage” (2).  Therefore, Mengiste does not just praise Forna.  However, because her one flaw with the author encompasses less than a paragraph of a nine-paragraph-work, a little of the validity of Mengiste’s argument is compromised.  It seemed, to me, that Mengiste was almost too complimentary of Forna; this, however, is Mengiste’s only weakness.

Class Notes: December 13-January 7

Class Notes: December 13-January 7

We’ve been studying Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.

Miller uses nonrealistic techniques in the play.  What are they?

·         Willy’s flashbacks and memories: Willy essentially is living in the past and present simultaneously, which adds a lot of confusion to the text.

·         Willy’s conversations with Ben: This seems to me as Miller’s way of expressing Willy’s inner struggle; he regrets not going to Alaska with his brother Ben.

Linda treats Willy as her favorite son.

·         Linda mothers Willy throughout the entire play; she even helps him with the little things

·         Whenever Willy wants a snack, Linda offers milk/cheese (symbolic of breast feeding)

·         She threatens to kick Biff and Happy out if they cannot respect Willy and explains that her literal sons cannot come home to just visit Linda, they have to come to visit Willy too

·         Linda is the only parental figure in the play.  Willy acts like one of his sons and is always inflating their heads, while Linda is responsible for paying the bills and managing the household (something that women never did at this time in history)

The Happy/Willy and Willy/Ben relationships are similar.

·         Willy looks up to Ben just as Happy looks up to Willy

·         Willy and Happy never come to the realization that Biff does; they both have inflated heads

·         Happy views Willy as successful, just as Willy views Ben as successful

·         Happy never progresses beyond high school, just as Willy doesn’t (they “never grow up”)

Reflective Essay Outside Reading: January 10

Reflective Essay Outside Reading

“Coat Drive” by Colin Nissan

McSweeney’s January 4, 2011

In McSweeney’s “Coat Drive,” Collin Nissan educates his reader in the lifestyle of the impoverished.  He begins by discussing the coat drive, an event that has become somewhat commonplace, and then expands his essay to include all other kinds of drives.  By adopting a humorous tone, Nissan is able to pull on the reader’s heartstrings and introduce the desperate lives that the less fortunate really do live. 

The main technique that Nissan uses to communicate is humor.  As mentioned, he begins his essay by discussing the coat drive, but eventually expands to include other drives.  However, these drives are somewhat over-the top; he discusses cat drives, cat food drives, taxi fare drives, and iPad drives.  Nissan even mentions the Divorce Drive he was forced into holding after the legal community discovered his history of Affair Drives (2).  The wide array of drives that he chooses to include, however, help Nissan to effectively communicate to the reader.  This is his biggest strength; Nissan is able to convince the reader of the extent of some people’s poverty.  Although the humorous tone that Nissan adopts helps him to get his point across, however, it significantly lightens the mood of the essay.  This takes away from the severity of the piece, and his biggest strength therefore doubles as his biggest weakness.  Nissan is able to fill the reader in on the fact that the impoverished sometimes have to rely on others for everything, and he is also able to introduce a sense of sympathy.  However, the humor that he employs did not leave me with a desire to do anything about it.

Nissan also employs curse words in communicating to the reader, which helps to develop how desperate the less fortunate really can be.  However, in addition to the humorous tone he adopts, the swearing would be inappropriate for an AP Essay.  The humor and curse words create an informality that is not up to par with the AP Exam.

As mentioned, Nissan is able to introduce a sense of sympathy to the piece.  He does this by appealing directly to the emotions of the reader.  In his opening paragraph, Nissan pleads with his reader.  “Is there anything in [your closet], anything at all, that would look better on Tom” (1)?  By repeating “anything at all,” Nissan is using syntax to add a certain sense of earnestness.  A few paragraphs later, he further appeals to the reader’s emotion.  “Remember, this isn’t just about reaching into your closets, it’s about reaching into your hearts” (1).  This helps Nissan to instill a sense of sympathy, and therefore leaves the reader pitying the impoverished.

Editorial Outside Reading: January 10

Editorial Outside Reading

“Oh Shut Up” by Hendrik Hertzberg

The New Yorker January 10, 2011

            In “Oh Shut Up,” Hendrik Hertzberg points out many flaws in American politics and especially in the recently adjourned Congress.  Hertzberg’s apparent thesis is in favor of modifying the Senatorial filibuster method, and he connects some altered Congressional rules to an improved government.  As he discusses the Senate in particular and its 2010 lame-duck session, Hertzberg makes appropriate rhetoric choices, but his disorganization and unclear thesis hinders his ability to communicate effectively.

            Hertzberg is able to craft a strong voice by introducing a bias to his editorial.  He employs diction such as “dishonorable” and “unconscionable” to describe acts passed by Republicans, and thus paints himself as a devoted liberal.  This bias keeps Hertzberg from sitting on the fence; his devotion to his beliefs allows him to create a firm and convincing voice.  This is definitely a strength of Hertzberg’s; his strong voice adds validity to his argument. 

Hertzberg is able to use short sentences to convey one of the many points he seems to be arguing, as well.  His first paragraph explains the triumphs of our last Congress and his second discusses their inadequacies.  He therefore begins his second paragraph with “Good.  But not good enough” (2): the syntax of which emphasizes the failure of the recently adjourned Congressional session. 

Hertzberg also employs a lot of figurative language, and in so doing, is able to relate to the reader.  He compares the original rarity of the filibuster method to the frequency of solar eclipses (3) and later describes the modern version of the filibuster to be “as common as sunsets- and as destructive as tsunamis” (3).  These similes paint a picture for the reader and enhance their understanding; they ultimately make Hertzberg’s argument relatable.  Despite this success though, his use of figurative language introduces an informality to the editorial that would be inappropriate for an AP Essay. 

However, despite his effectiveness in supporting his claims, I personally finished the article disagreeing with Hertzberg.  Because the piece is fairly short and he brings up a lot of points, it often is difficult to discern what exactly he is arguing.  He begins by discussing the 111^th Congress and what he views to be their successes and shortcomings, and then transitions to discuss his actual thesis: modifying the filibuster.  However, the points he makes concerning the ultimate ineffectiveness of the 111^th Congress outnumber his arguments surrounding the filibuster method.  Because he unfortunately fails to connect the two sections of his editorial, the reader is left confused.  To me, this weakness stuck out more than Hertzberg’s main strength.  Despite his strong voice, Hertzberg’s disorganized editorial seemed to be more of a poke at Republicans than a critique of the methodology of American politics.