"The Total Agony of Family Time" by Ethan Hauser Analysis

      Ethan Hauser creates a sardonic tone about the family coming to visit for the holidays with his use of diction, detail and imagery. His low opinion of going to visit his parents comes across very strongly in "The Total Agony of Family Time," as the tittle suggests.
      The word choice in this article describes activities that are supposed to be enjoyable with family as torture. While travelling home, Hauser judges what everyone else at the train station plans to do while making them seem unpleasant. The traditions in everyone's homes almost seem forced according to Hauser, such as "the numbing appeal of Law and Order marathons." To imply false cheer even more, he describes boring activities in ways to seem interesting, so as to imply even activities like "explor[ing] the many pharmaceutical choices modern medicine provides," otherwise known as staring at the medicine cabinet, are more fun because he won't have to talk to anyone. This darker humor made me laugh because I can relate well to his negative attitude towards talking with family. When asked questions about how he is doing, Hauser also responds with short, unhelpful answers like I do.
      When Hauser is too fed up with his family to stay in the house with them, he goes out to the bar. His uses excellent imagery to capture the mood of the bar. It isn't a very homey place at all, and even though it is a place to escape from family for a moment, Hauser's imagry describing the place isn't positive. The bar has "too many TV's and too many bright lights." The harsh lighting of the place is jarring for the reader. He doesn't even have a clue what teams are playing on the TV, which makes the reader see even more how he doesn't belong at the bar.
      Hauser may seem like a Scrooge for most of the article, but his details at the end shed light on why he is this way about family time at the holidays. In his childhood, he never got to have a Christmas Tree because his family is Jewish. His brother didn't have a problem with not having a tree, so he didn't have anyone to share this sadness with. Leaving out this detail until the end of the article was done on purpose, because most readers (myself included) assume that he celebrates Christmas and that is why he is visiting his family. The humor felt in the rest of the article dies down with this somewhat cynical and sad ending just because of one small detail.

Prompt #2003

2003. 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.

      In the book The Great Gatsby, the main character Jay Gatsby, can be considered a tragic hero because he is killed at the end of the novel for a crime he took the blame for. Nick, the narrator, shows the most grief over this death. He mourns not only the loss of someone he cared for, but also the loss of the American Dream. Gatsby chased an idealistic dream and was killed very early in life because of it. This tragedy makes the theme of the novel , that the American Dream is dead because Americans only care about wealth and status, clear with Gatsby's graphic death.
      Gatsby serves to show how people obsessed over an impossible dream will never be able to enjoy their fantasies in real life. His dream was to be with the love of his life, Daisy, even after she was married for years. He throws big parties in his new home in hopes of drawing her in and meeting again, but when he finally does get to meet her, her love isn't what he dreamed it to be. Daisy doesn't love Gatsby as much as he loves her, and she is still unsure if she wants to leave Tom, her husband,  for Gatsby. The only reason she even has these conflicted feelings is because she is deciding between who is better off financially. But, the most tragic part of their romance is that even if Daisy really did love Gatsby, his imagined romance could never live up to any real one. In Nick's words, "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . ." The dream could never be real because Gatsby's dream was too unrealistic.
      The circumstances of Gatsby's death make his situation even more tragic. Myrtle, Tom's lover, was run over with Gatsby's car when Daisy was driving it. She was killed, which drives her husband Wilson to madness, because he grieves her yet he also knew she was cheating on him. Tom tells Wilson that it was Gatsby who ran over Myrtle, and Wilson in his grief thinks that Gatsby must have also been Myrtle's lover. Gatsby is murdered in his pool shortly after by Wilson, who then proceeds to kill himself. After this horrendous series of events, it seems as though Daisy and Tom, who were basically responsible for Gatsby's death would come to the funeral. But, they skip town in order to save their own skins. The only people who come are Nick, some servants, a man with owl eye glasses, and Gatsby's father. Nick's sorrow is amplified to the audiance when Gatsby's father shows Nick a journal of Gatsby's steps for self improvement. He had to work hard in order to gain a fortune, but the only reason he kept trying was in order to have Daisy, who didn't even bother to show up at Gatsby's funeral. The anger Nick is feeling rubs off on the audience the most when Nick sees Tom years after the funeral, and Tom tells him that Gatsby deserved to die. Tom is described as a cold, hard man so the readers never feel any sympathy for him, unlike Gatsby, who Nick believes is kind and clever, as well as a little mysterious at first. Nick's perception of these events makes it more tragic for the reader.
      The Great Gatsby is a tragic love story that has a greater meaning than it seems at first. Gatsby never is able to be with the one he loves because she is corrupted by the materialism of America, and he is too immersed in his dream to enjoy reality. Nick, the narrator and Gatsby's friend, adds his high opinion of Gatsby into the mix to amplify the things we feel for Gatsby. Gatsby's story warns readers not to rely on dreams anymore to obtain happiness in life. The new American lifestyle only aims to gain wealth and status, not the things that really matter.

Death of a Salesman

Theme: Believing in dreams without investing anything doesn't lead to achieving them.
Willy's never achieves his dream because he puts all of his faith into one dream, and depends on his popularity to help him, which doesn't work. Biff was popular and still failed at becoming a salesman. People with skills and money in the play did become sucessful.

Author: Arthur Miller

Setting: Although the play was written in the late 1940s, the lack of jobs available for Willy and his sons makes it seem as if the play is set in the Great Depression still. Since it isn't very clear when exactly the play is set, Death of a Salesman can still be related to in the present day. The play is located in New York City, mostly in the Loman home, which is surrounded by newer apartment buildings. This urban, eastern setting is significant to the play, because both the city and the east were partially responsible for Willy's failure. The West, where Biff wants to get a job, is an analogy for new opportunities, while the East represents the old and corrupt. In the play, nature is often associated with the successful times in the past, while in the present Willy can't succeed with anything when the apartment buildings have replaced the trees.

Plot: The play takes place over only 24 hours, but much of the play is influenced by things that happened in Willy's past. The play opens with Willy coming home after a long day on the road, and Linda worrying about how much he works. Willy has been having problems driving, is upset about Biff, his son who is home right now without a job, and keeps ranting about how the city traps them in. Meanwhile, Biff and Happy, his brother, are talking about Willy. Biff is upset that Willy is angry with him for not settling down, and talks about how he loves working out West, but then in the spring he feels like he isn't doing anything with his life. This is because Willy's expectations still weigh down on Biff. Hap, on the other hand, is in the path Willy wants, yet he feels lonely. He sometimes just wants to leave. Biff has a wild dream to go out West with Hap, but Hap feels to insecure to do that and just wants to show his bosses he can make it big. Hap also explains how he takes his boss' girls, since he wants to take something from them if he can't take their job.

Willy is in the kitchen after the boys go to bed, and he is starting to have an episode from the past. He remembers a time when the boys were in high school cleaning up the red chevy. Biff was a football star, and Willy got a punching bag for him to practice with. Even after Biff tells Willy he stole a football, Willy clearly favors Biff over Hap. Willy then proceeds to brag about his success with sales and all of the places he traveled, even though it is all a lie. Bernard enters, and tries to get Biff to study for his math test, because he won't graduate if he doesn't pass the test. They all ignore him, and think that being well liked will make up for not studying. Biff has a bunch of friends waiting for him downstairs, all excited about the upcoming game, and he commands them to do his chores. He is extremely popular. Willy then talks to Linda about the bills, which can barely be paid for. They both are confidant that things will pick up again, because Willy is just so great at sales. Willy does have worries and sees how he is getting old. 

Willy slips into a vision within his vision (inception!) of a time where he was with his girl, and she is laughing and thanking Willy for the stockings he paid her with. Once he pulls himself out of that vision, Willy gets angry at Linda for stitching up the stockings. Then  Bernard shows up to beg Biff to study math. Willy just wants Bernard to give him all the answers but Bernard replies that he can't do so during a state exam. Linda says that some mothers fear that Biff is “too rough” with their daughters. Willy is angered by the truth he fails to accept and is pulled out of the vision.

Willy then plays cards with Charley, who came when her heard yelling, and turns down his offer for a job, insulted. He then calls him immasculine when Charley doesn't know how to fix ceilings. Then, as Willy is talking to Charley about Ben, his older brother who struck rich in Africa, he also sees and hears Ben in the doorway. Charley is alarmed by Willy talking to nothing, and leaves as Willy slips into the vision completly. We learn that Willy's father left for Alaska early in Willy's life, and Ben followed to find him, but never did. He then fights with Biff for fun, but fights dirty with his umbrella pointed in Biff's face. Willy longs for Ben to stay longer, but that was the only time Ben had, and he never visited again.

Willy wakes up the house, and Linda discusses with the boys how she knows he borrows money and that the boys are ungratful for all of the work Willy does for them. Biff feels guilty, and offers to help, but she can't stand them fighting cosntantly. She also tells them about his "accidents" aren't accidental at all, and how there is a rubber pipe downstairs by the heater. Willy barges in, hearing them talking, and misunderstand's Biff's joking tone and thinks that Biff thinks he is crazy. Willy is angry, and insists that he is still the best salesman around.

In an attempt to cheer Willy up, Happy says that Biff is going to talk to Bill Oliver for a loan. As expected, Willy's mood soars when he thinks about Biff being a salesman. Happy says they will have a family business selling sports equipment and use their natural talent to lead publicity displays of sports. Willy is pumped and spits out unhelpful advice that he thinks is the key to doing well in business. He is contradictory in his advice too, by telling him to be serious and also tell funny stories. None of this helps Biff know what to say about what skills he actually has. Linda also wants to talk about the upcoming meeting, but Willy shuts her down multiple times. Biff is upset about his father's treatment of her. Once in bed,, Linda asks Willy to ask for a New York job, and he agrees. Biff removes the rubber tube from the basement.

Willy wakes up the next morning with high hopes for his boys at their meeting with Oliver, and wants to buy seeds to plant a garden. Linda says there isn't enough sun for them to grow, but Willy only says that they need a country house. There is only one payment left on the house, and the boys wanted to go out to dinner with Willy after the eventful day. He is excited as he leaves, but gets angry again at Linda for mending stockings. He arrives at Howard's office, where he is playing with a recorder that has his daughter whistling and his son reciting the aphabet, and his wife talking about how silly the recorder was. Willy then asks for a New York job with only a little pay, but Howard says that there are no openings. Willy lowers his pay request more, but Howard only calls him "kid" and fires him, even after Willy literally begs for a job with stories. He tells how he basically named Howard, and tells the story of Dave Singleman, the 84 year old who was "well-liked" for his sales from his own house. Singleman had a huge funeral, the death of a salesman. However, Howard, and most sensible people don't really care about personal connections like that if they aren't performing up to par. Willy ensures his lost job after he messes around with the recorder and can't turn it off. His commotion shows just how embarrassing he is for the company. Willy is in shock from this.

He sinks back into a memory of Ben's visit, when Ben asked Willy to go to Alaska with him, but Linda says he has a fine job here. Willy wants to be praised by Ben, and recites the Dave Singleman tale. Bernard arrives to go with the Lomans to the football game, and is allowed to carry Biff's shoulder pads after Happy insists on carrying the helmet. Charley teases Willy about things going wrong at the game, since he is so wound up about the game. Willy is enraged.

Present day, Bernard is sitting at his father's office, and mentions he has to go soon to argue a case in DC, while Willy exaggerates the degree of work Biff has been doing in sales. Upset over his dreams starting to collapse, he asks Bernard why Biff's last successful day was the football game. Bernard says Biff went to see him in Boston after he failed math for advice, and after that, Biff seemed to give up on life. He asks what happened in Boston, and Willy gets offended, thinking Bernard is blaming him for Biff's downfall. Charley comes out, saying goodbye to Bernard and tells Willy he is arguing a case for the supreme court. Willy is shocked he didn't mention it at all, since he is the opposite. Charley gives Willy 50 dollars, and he asks for 100 this time to cover the insurance. Insulted, Charley says he has offered Willy a good job, but he refuses it again, even after he admits to Charley he was fired. Charley tells him that only things that can be sold will help him. Willy takes the money and storms out.

At the restauraunt, Happy is first, flirting with a girl and chatting with the waiter, until Biff comes in. Happy tells the girl Biff is a famous football player, and is in a lighthearted mood. Biff is upset, since he waited hours to see Oliver, who didn't even remember him when they finally met. He also stole the fountain pen on his desk. Biff is feeling dissalusioned, wondering who ever said he was a salesman for Oliver, he was only a shipping-clerk in real life. Willy's lies had inflated Biff too much.

Happy thinks they should just tell Willy that Oliver is thinking over the deal, since Willy will probably forget about the whole thing. Willy comes in and tells the boys he was fired. Biff still tries to tell the truth despite this news, but Willy is confused and yells at Biff for failing math, which isn't his fault. Biff tries again to talk about what happened, but Willy refuses to listen to the truth closing on him. In a dream like state, Willy is remembering what happened in Boston. Biff tries to console him and talk about the meeting more, but Willy only screams about Biff's spite. He goes to the restroom, and Biff screams at Happy for not caring or helping at all. Happy has been chatting with the girls and trying to lie about the situation the whole time. Happy, embarrased, flees the scene with the girls, and Biff leaves too in guilt and anger. 

Willy is now completly immersed in the vision of when Biff showed up in Boston when he was with the woman. She says how now she will pass him off to the buyers right away. Someone knocks, and Willy asks her to hide out of fear. Biff is at the door and says how he failed math, Willy tries to get him to leave and agrees to talk to the teacher about it. Biff makes a joke about the teacher, and the woman laughs and comes out of the bathroom. Willy makes excuses and pushes her into the hall, while Biff starts to cry. He doesn't think the teacher will listen to a liar like his father. He screams about Willy giving the stockings to the mistress, and leaves the room. The waiter, Stanley, helps Willy out of the vision, and says the sons left. Willy tries to tip him, but he gives the money back. Willy asks for the way to a seed store, insisting he needs to have something in the ground.

Biff and Happy come home with flowers to an enraged Linda. Happy claims Willy ahd a great time, but Linda insults them for abandoning their sick father. Happy denies everything, but Biff accepts his judgement. He hears Willy planting seeds outside and talking to Ben. Willy is talking about a $20,000 plan, and Ben warns him the insurance company might not respect the deal, but Willy paid the premium aready, and he knows Biff will understand when he sees the funeral. Ben thinks it is cowardice.

Willy comes inside, where Biff tells him that he is leaving for good and for Willy just to forget about him. Willy says he his throwing away his potential because of spite. Biff shows Willy the hose, and tells how he steals all of the time. He is angry at Willy for putting him on a pedestal all of his life only to come crashing down now when he realizes the truth. He reveals how Happy isn't as great as he says, and that Willy needs to realize they are just common people not destined for greatness. Frustrated and tired, Biff cries and heads up to bed. Willy suddenly is happy, thinking that Biffs tears were shed because he likes his father after all, which must mean he still is wanting to be in sales. Willy's distorted view causes him to remain hopeful about his $20,000 insurance and go out and kill himself in a car wreck, following a vision of Ben. 

At Willy's funeral, only the Loman family, Charley and Bernard show up. Linda is shocked by the whole thing. Why did he do this so close to their payments, and where were all of his business friends? Biff thinks about how Willy was more successful working on the house than being a salesman. He had the wrong dreams and didn't know who he was. Charley disagrees, saying that salesmen have to have dreams and be very optimistic. Happy is angered by Biff, swearing to continue his father's salesman dream. Linda is left alone with Willy, and tells him she paid for the house at last, right when he wasn't there to enjoy the fruits of his labor. 

Characters:
    Willy: He is the main character of the play, who is the father of Biff and Happy, and the husband of Linda. He is a salesman with big dreams for both himself and for his son Biff. Willy believes that he and his son will become great salesmen just for being well liked, instead of actually working on skills to become something. He ends up putting all of his hopes and dreams into expectations for Biff, even after Biff explains to him that he isn't good in business, and will never be a great salesman. Willy however, continues to believe in crazy dreams, which eventually leads to his downfall.
      Biff: Willy's son, who was a football star when he was in high school, and praise by his father. He loved him very much and believed everything Willy told him. After he saw him with the woman, Biff felt betrayed and started to loose faith in him. He stole things in order to feel like he was better off in life when he actually wasn't, he only had something they didn't have for a second. Biff finally realizes that his father lied to him about what the world was really like, and being popular doesn't help out at all in real life, only skills do.
      Happy: He is another son of Willy, who was never liked nearly as well by Willy. He always tried to impress him. Happy is a compulsive liar who lies to impress, just like Willy does. He also takes his boss's women in order to steal something of theirs to feel sucessful.
      Linda: Willy's wife, but she often acts like his mother. She cares for him and goes along with his dillusions either to make him feel better or to fool herself too into believing that things were going better than they really were.
      Charley: Willy's foil. He isn't as charming, but he has a job based on merit, and tries to help Willy out, despite Willy always insulting him.
      Bernard: Biff's foil. He was not popular in school, but he always tried hard with his schoolwork, and became a great lawyer based on skill.

Voice and Style:
       The overall tone of this play is rather bleak, since it seems like Willy is believing in hope when there really is no hope at all. However, the ending is somewhat optimistic for the remaining family members, since they finally own the house and Biff has enough money from his father to achieve something. Even though his play used fairly plain language, there are lots of of hidden meanings for things in this play. In order to understand the depth, the reader must observe the tiny details given about the characters interactions and analyze the meaning for Willy's visions.

Quotes:

1. And when I saw that, I realized that selling was the greatest career a man could want. ’Cause what could be more satisfying than to be able to go, at the age of eighty-four, into twenty or thirty different cities, and pick up a phone, and be remembered and loved and helped by so many different people?

This quote sums up Willy's dream very nicely. He always wanted to be well-liked by everyone for a long time through sales. Willy put in all of his efforts to achieve this dream for both him and Biff, and never doubted it, even in the worst times up to his death and even when Biff rejected his dream.

2. I saw the things that I love in this world. The work and the food and the time to sit and smoke. And I looked at the pen and I thought, what the hell am I grabbing this for? Why am I trying to become what I don’t want to be . . . when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am.

Biff has a realization here when he sees that he is grabbing for a dream that isn't the right dream for him. He doesn't want to be the man that his father wants him to be, he wants to be someone who works in the outdoors instead of chasing a pipe dream.

Response to Course Material

Most of this past month was taken up with Death of a Salesman. When we watched the movie in American Lit, we didn't analyze it very much at all, so I didn't see where in the movie my teacher was drawing her conclusions from. I just went along with what she said in order to pass a quiz about it. But this year, I understand it so well, and while I was annotating, I understood why things I hadn't annotated yet would happen to the characters. It also became clearer to me how a text can be interpreted in several ways after we read the articles about Death of a Salesman. Willy, a very complicated character, can be perceived as a misguided hero or a horrible person twisted by his insanity from the same exact text. Everyone in our class had a different opinion about him, and all of them are valid.
We have also been starting reading Hamlet. So far, I have been pretty confused by it. I am not very good at reading Shakespeare, and even after reading a part of it several times, I still am not totally sure what it means. The basic plot is clear to me, but I'm not sure how on earth I'm going to be able to annotate it like the other plays we have read this year. If I barely understand it, it seems impossible to get the same depth I got from Death of a Salesman. Hopefully, it will get better after a while.

"The Liberal Gloat" by Ross Douthat Analysis

In the article "The Liberal Gloat," Ross Douthat criticizes liberals for feeling smug and superior, when they won the election based on economic and social fears rather than enlightened values. The literary technique that Douthat takes the most advantage of is syntax, and he also uses a little detail. 
Douthat uses syntax to pull the reader into the article before he gets to the main point. He makes the gloating Democrats seem mocking and almost childish by "quoting" what they might say: "'Those poor, benighted Republicans!' runs the subtext of their post-election commentary. 'They can’t read polls! They can’t reach Hispanics! They don’t understand women! They don’t have a team of Silicon Valley sorcerers running their turnout operations!'" His use of an anaphora makes the reader think that Democrats are ignorant and rude to Republicans. He further shows how Democrats feel superior with pop culture references, showing "that Republicans are now Radio Shack to their Apple store, “The Waltons” to their “Modern Family,” a mediocre Norman Rockwell to their digital-age mosaic." This parallelism compares the Republicans to old culture, while the Democrats are the future of America in the Democrat's eyes. This comparison makes the Republicans feel even more agitated. They want to prove that they aren't old fashioned. 
Finally, Douthat gives his opinion supported by a small amount of detail, but his explanation doesn't provide as much excitement as the beginning of the article. He uses facts such as  a "single life with children — (which) is now commonplace for women under 30," and spins them to show how this insecurity would lead single women to vote democratic. They aren't candidates of social justice, they only fear living without welfare. For all the other kinds of people who vote democratic, he uses this same technique, which gets boring fast. The article has some different perspectives, but they are not presented in an interesting way.
"The Liberal Gloat" makes the Democrats seem conceited, but it doesn't do a good job of backing up this claim. 




What unites all of these stories is the growing failure of America’s local associations — civic, familial, religious — to foster stability, encourage solidarity and make mobility possible. paralleism

But it’s just as easy to see a coalition created by social disintegration and unified by economic fear.

Prompt # 1970

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.

In Death of a Salesman, Willy lives an a Post-World War II New York City, where he is a salesman who has to drive all over New England in order to sell anything. The economy is starting to pick up again, and the city is growing, so people are expected to start becoming successful businessmen again, but traces of the depression still linger. Willy believes that if a person is well liked, they won't  ever fail at the American Dream. However, the growth of capitalism in the city is not as kind as Willy believes and prevents him from succeeding. Willy has too much pride to accept this new reality and continues to live in the past as an escape. 

The growth of capitalism and it's affect on Willy's career is shown best through the characters Charley and his son Bernard, who are foils for Willy and his son Biff. On the outside, Willy and Biff appear to be much better looking and and full of "the old confidence." On the other hand, Charley is fat and not the most pleasant person to talk too. Bernard is the class geek who is small and scrawny. Since Willy and Biff appear to be more naturally gifted, Willy teaches Biff that people will naturally like him and give him opportunities. This is more of the old way, when friends stayed your friends because the economy couldn't be depended on. Charley teaches Bernard the opposite. Because they don't have good appearances to make an impression, Charley and Bernard must work hard in order obtain skills to become successful. Since people can't be trusted, they must rely on their own skills to use the economy to their advantage. Not surprisingly, Willy and Biff fail to achieve The American Dream because they have no skills, and couldn't depend upon their popularity.

Biff and Willy both got the same fate because of false dreams, but Willy's pride and insanity cause him to never truly accept his status in life. Since Willy invested all of his time and energy into one goal, that Biff would become a great salesman, Willy couldn't mentally handle his whole life crashing down at once, so he doesn't take blame for any of this mistakes and shifts in between different realities. These delusions become stronger when Willy is in a stressful situation, such as when his is fired for being too old and bothersome by Howard. Willy keeps thinking that he is back in the past, when Biff is about to win an important football game and Charley keeps warning Willy not to put so much stake in one thing. These memories do seem out of place at times, but the structure of the play makes the memories fit in with the present action. Willy's dreams and fears show through well with this format. The climax of the present action, when Willy is at the restaurant with his boys after they both fail, lines up with when Willy sees in his mind the time when Biff walked in on Willy and his lover and looses faith. These memories help show us a glimpse into the tortured mind of Willy that even he can't see clearly.

Willy's cannot achieve The American Dream because he is too proud to accept the changing ways of American society after World War II. He eventually kills himself instead of dealing with the issues in his life caused by both capitalism and his own stubbornness.

Response to Course Material

The most important parts of the class this month were annotating and discussing The American Dream. Going over every single line and making notes was tedious and took up a lot of time, but it showed me in depth how exactly the author illustrates certain themes and motifs to the reader. Discussing these things with the class also showed us me how there isn't just one interpretation of a text. The basic idea is the same, but people had slight differences in opinion over things such if Mommy made Daddy into a woman or more of a child, and why Mommy didn't open the boxed lunch Grandma made for her as a girl. Some of these opinions changed my mind, while some didn't, but it was interesting to see how everyone had a valid opinion.

I also enjoyed relating the poems and short stories about immigrants to The American Dream. Although I didn't play a major role in my group's production (I was Daddy and just agreed with Mrs. Barker the whole time), I liked thinking of how characters across texts would react to each other. The other groups in my class did a very good job at thinking of accurate and entertaining ways to show the class how the two characters would interact. I hope to do things like this more in the future.

The American Dream summary

Edward Albee: An American playwright famous for absurd plays.

Theme: America has forgotten its old values and replaced them with material things that don't have any real meaning, which has caused Americans to become emotionally unattached and unable to find satisfaction in life.

Setting: Small American apartment in the late 1950s. The setting is significant to the play because television is new and creating mass media, which also fosters American consumerism. Albee criticizes these in the play. The apartment is also very plain, which makes the reader focus more on the characters than the room.

Basic Plot: Not too much happens in this play as far as progress and action, but the main events that happen are that Mommy and Daddy get a new child and that Grandma moves out. These things don't happen until the end of the play, since before then everyone is wondering why Mrs. Barker has come and they talk about things that don't progress the plot at all.

Major Character list:
Mommy- The member of the family with the most control over home life. She makes all of the decisions for the family, while her husband, Daddy, merely agrees with everything she says. Mommy goes so far as to become a man and daddy becomes a girl in his passiveness, indecisiveness, and with his operation. Mommy and Daddy can't have a baby because of this gender swap. However, even though mommy made Daddy into a woman and almost like a child, and became masculine, she still has some sexual longings. When Mrs. Barker takes off her dress and Daddy says "I'm going to blush and giggle." Mommy isn't as hospitable as before to her. She also makes a sexual suggestion to the Young Man at the end of the play. These strange lusts she has show how her bubbled up sexual desires are spilling over in strange ways. Society told her not to talk about sexual things, so she must confine them to the home.
Grandma- She represents the idea of the old American values that are starting to fade. We notice that Grandma, unlike any of the other characters, appears to have feelings and important opinions. Whenever she has something valuable to say, Mommy always quiets her. The only time she is allowed to finish a thought is when she talks about how old people are never listened to and always complain. When everyone else is confused about why Mr.s Barker has come, and when mommy and daddy get lost in the house looking for her things, Grandma is the only one who knows anything. Grandma's role becomes clear when she meets with the young man. She is old and withered on the outside, while he is young and attractive. Her ideas are outdated like her body, so she must leave to make room for the Young Man. She exits the play not by dying, but by crossing the 4th wall and talking directly to the audience at the very end. This is significant, since the rest of the characters cannot leave the play, and only the Young Man can see her. Since she represents more than just a person, she can transcend the play, and the Young Man sees her since he also is an ideal as well as a character. The old American Dream also becomes our responsibility instead of                      dying for good. There is still a chance these old values will return.
The Young Man- Even though he isn't present for most of the play, the Young Man represents the main focus. He, as stated very clearly by Grandma, is The American Dream. At a time where TV, mass media, and consumerism dominated America, Albee believed that the American Dream had turned into something that is only valuable on the surface. The Young Man reflects this in his attractive appearance. However, he tells Grandma that ever since his twin was taken from him, he has lost the ability to feel anything. The twin was killed by Mommy and Daddy when they tried to get satisfaction with it, but since they didn't have any emotions left, they didn't see that what they were doing was a terrible thing. So, he will agree to live with Mommy and Daddy under strange conditions just because of the money they will give him. The new values only care for money too.
Mrs. Barker: She also represents more than just one person, since the characters always refer to her as "them" instead of she. Mrs. Barker stands in for the government, who is the overseer of the materialistic society America has embraced. She makes sure that everything is running smoothly and covers up anything that is dirty. She runs the bye-bye (buy-buy) adoption service like a store full of goods. The children are merely items to everyone in the play except for Grandma. She also has little time for personal matters since she is the head of many committees  Mommy must treat her with respect, even though we can tell that she doesn't like her personally. Mommy disagrees with her about the hat, but says that she is fond of Mrs. Barker even though she has a dreadful life. Then, she insults her husband after the daddy incident pretending it was an accident. This is the only way mommy can get back at her without jeopardizing her place in society. Likewise, the people who are against the government do not speak out since it controls society.

Voice and Style:
The American Dream is considered to be in the Theature of the Absurd category, because the characters often have problems communicating, and when they do, it often doesn't have any significance. Many times the characters repeat things over and over and still don't catch the meanings of things. The exchanges between Mommy and Daddy especially are lacking in meaning. Mrs. Barker also has problems understanding things. In fact, in a large portion of the play, the characters are all unsure why they are gathered together. The only character that keeps the play from being completely absurd is Grandma. Her words always make sense and almost always have sarcastic undertones. By saying that she agrees with the other members of the family, she implies the exact opposite. This sarcastic tone shows the readers just how twisted American society has become. He also shows this dark side of society with the way Mommy, Daddy, and Mrs. Barker talk about things very plainly, even things that most people feel very emotionally attached too. The small emotions they have are only about goods, and do not seem to give them deep satisfaction.

Memorable Quotes:
Grandma: "A bumble; a bumble of joy."
Mrs. Barker: "Oh, like a bundle."
Grandma: "Well yes, very much like it. Bundle, bumble, who cares?"
This quote shows grandma's sarcastic tone as well as showing how the baby has become commodified.

Young Man: "It's that I have no talents at all, except what you see... my person; my body, my face. In every other way I am incomplete, and I must therefore... compensate."
The Young Man sums up what the new American Dream is by describing himself here.


"What a masculine Daddy! Isn't he a masculine Daddy?"
Mommy can take away Daddy's manliness, and uses it to control him.

"Cuddle Your Kid!" by Nicholas Kristof Voice anlysis

In this article, Kristof believes that the source of America's problems lies in the way that mothers in poverty raise their children. His strong opinion is supported well with researched studies and is related to the election to connect with a broader base.
Kristof uses scientific studies to back up his beliefs. One such study was with mother rats and how much they licked their young at McGill University where "Meaney’s team dissected adult rats and found that licking led to differences in brain anatomy, so that rats that had been licked more were better able to control stress responses." By relating this study to humans, Kristof shows how helping adolescents feel loved will help our economy. To boost his argument even more, Kristof also uses a social experiment among humans. At the University of Minnesota, a study judged weather a group of about 200 children recieved supportive parenting and then tracked their academic progress in later life. According to Kristof, "It found that whether a child received supportive parenting in the first few years of life was at least as good a predictor as I.Q. of whether he or she would graduate from high school." This experiment supports his opinion that by breaking the poor parenting cycle of people in poverty, the economy will improve.
Since many people associate improving the economy with the upcoming presidential election, Kristof mentions both candidates names to relate with more Americans. He shows how both of their plans will fail if they ignore his opinions. First, he mentions how conservatives think that poverty relates to not just "welfare or tax policy but also must consider culture and character." which he says is valid, but these studies show that the main cause of poverty is an imbalance of "brain chemistry." This balance can be fixed later in life too unlike, how the candidates feel. he directly calls them out: "President Obama and Mitt Romney, listen up: Kewauna’s story underscores that strengthening our nation means investing not only in warships but also in America’s children." Kewuna improved her test scores dramatically in high school with help from a group called OneGoal that helps children with school in a supportive way. Kristof may not agree with the presidents while some readers do, but relating his beliefs to his helps the readers relate too.

Prompt #1975

In the play The American Dream, Edward Albee uses foil characters and devices in the dialogue such as repetition and insulting language to show the relationship between Mommy and Daddy as well as compare and contrast Grandma to the Young man. Albee establishes these relationships in order to tell readers that the old American Dream has been replaced with a new Dream that embodies only physical appearances and consumerism.
Mommy and Daddy have switched traditional gender roles to the point where Mommy is completely in charge while Daddy is reduced to almost a childlike state. At the beginning of the play, Mommy tells Daddy all about her shopping trip where she, the shopkeeper, and Mrs. Barker all are unsure of the color of the hat she buys. While she is enraptured by her consumerist attitude, Mommy also keeps asking Daddy things like "What did I say? What did I just say?" while Daddy responds "You didn't like any of them, not one bit." repeating everything she says. In this manner, we see how Daddy isn't the dominant member while Mommy rules the house. Later, Daddy tries to stand up to Mommy when he doesn't want to answer the door, but she convinces him to by saying "...you were masculine and decisive." when he decided to have the person come to the door. When he still doesn't get the door, Mommy insults him by telling him "...you;re indecisive; you're a woman." This statement also shows how masculine Mommy has become, since she thinks that womanhood is a bad thing. Daddy thinks that she can take away his masculinity, even though it was gone long ago from being subordinate to Mommy. In fact, Daddy had a surgery where "the doctors took out something that was there and put in something that wasn't there." suggesting that Daddy is physically a woman with a vagina instead of a penis. Mommy's manly role and abuse of Daddy show how Mommy is greedy and uses anyone to get what she wants, which include wealth, an aspect of the new American Dream, as well as the "bumble of joy," the baby that the couple dismembered in order to try and get satisfaction. This is less hard to believe once we learn what a cruel person Mommy is.
Albee uses Grandma and the Young Man as foils to show the differences between the old American Dream and the New American Dream. For one thing, Albee made the character's appearances reflect which ideals they represent. Grandma describes herself as "...gnarled and sagged and twisted into the shape of a complaint." while the Young Man has a"Good profile, straight nose, honest eyes, wonderful smile..." to appeal to the common American. Grandma's ideals are outdated like her body, while the Young Man looks fresh like his ideals. However, on the inside, the Young Man can't feel anything. He himself simply states "I can feel nothing. I can feel nothing." since his heart was ripped out when his twin died. His outside looks like all the things a person could dream for, but these goals aren't full of emotion and don't give you the satisfaction that all of the characters strive for. Grandma, on the other hand, is the only character in the play who has any true emotion. Every time she speaks, she uses verbal irony to show just how twisted the other characters are. For example, when Grandma describes the incident with the "bumble" to Mrs. Barker, she uses a matter of fact tone to describe this horrible event. She says they "smiled and cried and bit their fingers, and said some more intimate things, which were totally irrelevant..." Of course normal people would be genuinely exited about the event, but Mommy and Daddy don't have real feelings and just went through the motions. In the end, since no one can feel like Grandma does, she leaves the scene all together while the Young Man, the new dream, takes her place. She then joins the same level as the audience and speaks directly to them, as if to warn us not to end up this way. This shows how these ideas aren't just in the play, and that the dream Grandma believes in isn't dead.
The relationships between the characters in The American Dream show how the New American Dream has consumed the minds of Americans, while the old Dream is almost forgotten. All of the strange connections and reactions of the characters serve as a warning not to becomes consumed by consumerism and to remember what true dreams are.

Response to course material

My favorite part of the class this past month was reading The American Dream. I enjoy reading plays in class because listening and looking at the words help me to understand the reading better. Although this play was very confusing at first, I had some vague ideas while we read it. I noticed how the characters often had trouble communicating to each other when some phrases were repeated for their own understanding. Another thing that seemed odd was that grandma was the only character who made sense. Her lines were straightforward unlike the others. Now I see that every time she speaks, her words refer to how the old American Dream is dying. I guess the difference in clarity shows how the old Dream makes more sense than the new Dream. The thing that stuck with me right after reading the play were Grandma's last words. She said to stop now while everyone is happy, which I interpreted as meaning that the young man's life will end just like the other adoption did, since he is superficial. I wasn't sure if I liked the play that much after the first read, but now I am starting to really enjoy it as I understand the deeper meaning of the play.

Washington Versus America Voice analysis http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/opinion/sunday/douthat-washington-versus-america.html?ref=opinion

In the article Washington Versus America, Douthat clearly is upset about the concentration of wealth in DC, and uses a war metaphor, negative adjectives, and statistics to appeal to the common American.
Knowing that most Americans know about The Hunger Games, Douthat alludes to it in his essay, and relates our own capital to the capital in the story. The Capital is the only wealthy district in the movie, while the districts are poor. This comparison makes readers want to rally against our own capital in the same way Katniss does. His word choice also labels the government as the enemy. The government is
 "gilded", "inside the Beltway bubble," and full of " armies of lobbyists and lawyers..." These simple labels stick into any reader's mind and make them feel the government is corrupt and privileged. To prove his claims, Douthat includes details about just how rich DC is. He states that" 7 of the 10 richest American counties in 2011 were in the Washington, D.C., region." and that the city has grown dramatically since 2002, while the rest of the country has declined. Details like this offer some proof for his claims instead of just accepting what Douthat says. His diction, detail, and slight use of figurative language appeals to the common American and convinces them that the governement has too much wealth.

Open Prompt #1986

1986. Some works of literature use the element of time in a distinct way. The chronological sequence of events may be altered, or time may be suspended or accelerated. Choose a novel, an epic, or a play of recognized literary merit and show how the author's manipulation of time contributes to the effectiveness of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

The novel A Prayer for Owen Meany uses a nonlinear narrative to reveal the characteristics of Owen Meany in order to reveal his characteristics gradually instead of at the beginning of the book. The book is set in the present from the perspective of John, Owen's best friend, but most of the book flashes back to when John and Owen were boys, and within those flashbacks are flashbacks to when John's mom was alive, since she died at the beginning of the book. These flashbacks show both how Owen influences John, and how John's mom influenced both of the boys.

In the present day, John is a teacher in Canada at an all girls' christian school. It isn't clear at first how he got to be there, but a huge factor is Owen Meany's influence on Johns' ideals and character. John wasn't very good in school as a boy, but Owen was the best student in his class. Once high school came around, Owen was invited to gravestone academy, a private school for better students. John, on the other hand, would only be invited if he spent his freshman year in public school and then entered the next year as a freshman again. Owen decided to do the same. John felt like Owen threw his chances away, but Owen wanted to help John get better grades and stick with his only friend. John did get better in school, and went on to college. Owen decided to join the army, which was very controversial, since it was right in the middle of the Vietnam War. Owen didn't want to ruin John's chance to finish school, so he cut off one of John's fingers at his dad's stone cutter to avoid the draft. If not for Owen's sacrifices and friendship, John wouldn't be where he is today.

John's mom dies at the very beginning of the novel to point out that even after she is gone, her presence is still with everyone she knew. We don't know anything about her before she dies except that she is very attractive , always wears sweaters, and doesn't tell John who his father is. John is positive that when she turned towards the stands at the baseball game, and Owen's ball hit her and killed her, that she was looking at his father. Owen shows his guilt later by chopping off the hands of their favorite toy armadillo, symbolizing how John's mom left an empty space in their lives. Later on, we discover that she makes her own clothes based on expensive ones at the store on a mannequin in black in white. Owen takes the mannequin to his house a while after she dies, since he still misses her. Also, as John and Owen continue their search for John's father, we discover how John's mom dated John's step dad for many years before marrying, since she wasn't married to John's dad. The boys find out that she sang at a club in a red dress, even though she never wore any color. Her mysterious past continues to draw the boys in long after her death. 

 If the narrative were linear, the characters would be less interesting and there wouldn't be much suspense about John's mom.  The reader has to think hard about what time each section is in, and realize why the author writes in that order.The nonlinear narrative in A Prayer for Owen Meany makes the novel more suspenseful and interesting.

Response To Course Material

Our first week of school along with the summer assignments have me thinking about literature and writing in new ways already.

How to Read Literature Like a Professor, the forum assignment, an the literary terms test showed me new depth into stories I already read and in movies I've seen. I can't see the archetypes or literary devices yet, but I've started to ask questions about them while reading or watching something. The terms test showed me the most that I have a lot of work to do. I didn't do very well on it, since I didn't understand a lot of the definitions, let alone how to apply them. Once we start reading our books, I will practice searching for different devices on the first read. The forum assignment was a lot more interesting than last year in American Lit. People don't just agree with what I said, they also share their opinion with lots of text to back up the answer. I look forward to more discussions, especially if I understand the text well and support my opinion effectively. 

The slideshows about essay writing were helpful, but not as helpful right now as the other assignments. In the future, I think they will help more when we start writing AP essays. But, The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing is helpful for my college application essays. Writing plainly makes a lot more sense than trying to act smart. It is very important to write plainly and concisely with the word limits. Although I will also have people edit my essays, Nuts and Bolts helped me write pretty good first drafts and helped me edit my own essays.

Summer Blog #3

    In the essay “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” David Sedaris writes about his school in France and the difficulties of learning the language. He writes very well, but does not follow all of the guidelines for college writing. Sedaris uses plain style like The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing suggests, but he doesn’t focus on a main thesis for the paper.

    The language in “Me Talk Pretty One Day” is easy to understand, like Nuts and Bolts suggests. In the essay, Sedaris goes off to school to learn French, but faces many difficulties. He notices improvement by the end of the essay, and hopes that one day, he will master French. Even though in the essay Sedaris tries to prove to his teacher that he is smart, he doesn’t try to seem smart with his language for the essay. Therefore, the ideas in the essay aren’t clouded. He states plainly that “I’ve moved to Paris with hopes of learning the language,” and he also describes his teacher by comparing her to a wild animal so that the readers understand his challenges. The clear language allows the reader to understand the essay and experience all the things that happened in the story.

    Since “Me Talk Pretty One Day” isn’t a college essay, it doesn’t follow all of the rules in Nuts and Bolts, like talking in first person and not sticking to a thesis. The point of the essay is to tell a story about Sedaris’s experience in France at school, not to prove a claim. So, it only makes sense to write the essay in first person. He also wants to entertain the audience more than a college essay would. Sedaris describes the school and the city in more detail, and explains how many different nationalities that are much younger than him are gathered to learn. This adds more depth to the story, since the readers now know that Sedaris has to perform at a very high level to keep up with the other students even before the teacher is introduced. This style may not be fitting for a college essay, but Sedaris uses it well to tell a personal story.

    The Nuts and Bolts of college writing provides very useful writing tips that can also be used in other types of writing. However, it is okay to bend the rules when the essay isn’t meant to persuade the audience or prove a point.

Summer Blog #2

After going through the poetry practice section in Peterson's AP English, I now have 5 poetry goals for the future:
1. Read the poem several times until I understand what is going on specifically and the overall message.
2. Learn more vocabulary
3. Practice identifying different literary devices.
4. Learn what defines different layouts of poems.
5. Try and make notes while reading the poem to save time when going back to passages.

Often, I worry about the time constraints and rush through the poem before I understand it fully. However, this makes me even slower than before. I looked through all of the questions for the poems and realized that I hadn't absorbed much of the poem at all. Fully understanding it first will help save time, as well as taking notes so I don't forget what I just learned from the poem. I also didn't understand what words meant in both the poem and the multiple choice answers, which is why I want to learn more vocab, literary terms, and poetry terms. This will help eliminate answers much more accurately than before.

Summer Blog #1

I wasn't sure exactly what to expect before taking the Diagnostic Test, but after taking it, I wasn't too surprised about the types of questions and the layout of the test, but it was much harder than I was expecting. It reminded me of the reading portion of the ACT, but it was harder. I often had to read parts of the work several times before understanding it. In order to do well on the final exam, I need to increase my speed of understanding the passages. There were also many different types of literature that I had to read instead of just book excerpts. Now, I understand that we are reading certain books to practice analyzing new texts, not to know about those books specifically for the test. I didn't do as well as I hoped the first time, and I hope to improve this year.