Response to Course Material (11/24)

One prevalent exercise we have done in the past few weeks is “mood and atmosphere”. Like any other class activity, these is always some by conflict in our class. The biggest reason is because we always feel the piece needs to be perfect. Writing, word by word, is one of the hardest things to do, especially when a certain mood needs to be established. There is always at least one person that says, “I’m not happy with this” because the process of one small piece of writing can go on and on. With so many people working together, the class kind of works as both the editors and the writers all at once. These exercises give me a whole new understanding of the difficulty authors go to to create a mood in their pieces.

Another experience we all shared in was the writing, discussing, and rewriting of “The Century Quilt” essay prompt. The last time we wrote an essay, we had all individually worked with the material beforehand, so, our understanding of the material was greater and easier to write about. But, the AP exam will ask us to analyze the poem and then write about it all at once. When writing for this essay, I did not have enough time to fully understand the poem, but because of this, I misunderstood aspects of the poem. I have always been a fast test taker, but when writing an essay I am unsure of, it quickly becomes difficult to word things and write down incomplete ideas.

I think the biggest thing I need to work on with the future essay prompts is coming up with an overall understanding of the poem first, and then picking out the pieces, like syntax, imagery, tone, etc. I always jump in too quickly and want to comment on things before I understand the poem. With the time restraint, I cannot seem to stop myself, like I normally do.

We have also finished Death of a Salesman. Coming up with a statement in class was slightly easier because we knew the process, but we still had difficulty fitting everything into one statement. I’m sure Hamlet will be just as hard or harder with so many characters’ roles to consider.

We have also been reading Hamlet, which has been enjoyable. My favorite of Shakespeare's plays are his dramas, and Hamlet is added evidence to the trend. Hamlet reminds me of the angsty hipster character in an indie film. Of course, Hamlet as a play is not really like an indie film, but Hamlet definitely exhibits the emotional consistency of the characters. Still, I think he has reason to be upset with his situation, but he is very much focused on his issues.

I am excited to look further into Ophelia's role. I still have not decided where exactly I think she is on the spectrum between understanding everything and being completely confused. I am leaning towards her being a character that has more understanding that people assume, but I am still not sure.

Open Prompt (11/17)

2008. In a literary work, a minor character, often known as a foil, possesses traits that emphasize, by contrast or comparison, the distinctive characteristics and qualities of the main character. For example, the ideas or behavior of a minor character might be used to highlight the weaknesses or strengths of the main character. Choose a novel or play in which a minor character serves as a foil for the main character. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the relation between the minor character and the major character illuminates the meaning of the work.

Essay 3A:

The essay works to answer the question of the work, but much of the explanation of how the two characters are foils is just summary. The writer gives a good explanation of how Huang affected Lindo, but the explanation of how they are foils is lacking some.The concluding paragraph does more to explain the characters as foils than the rest of the essay does. The writer switches between tenses when talking about the novel. Most of the essay discussed the novel in past tense, which takes away from the overall message. The quick changes to another tense also distract from the piece. This is shown in the essay with, "All the actions in the relationship between Huang and Lindo illuminated the meaning of The Joy Luck Club. The book is all about..." The changes between the tense of the verbs in the adjacent sentences show the student's lack of understanding of essay syntax and confuse the reader. The explanation of theme for the piece is explained well compared to the other aspects. It has a mixture of summary and analysis, so the evidence and the argument are more clear. Overall, the essay answers the question, but the analysis is less “perceptive” than it should be.

Essay 3B:

The essay does not clearly label two characters that are foils. One paragraph focuses on the father’s effect on Celie and the other focuses on Shug’s effect on Celie. The first paragraph does not set up the piece with a clear thesis that addresses the prompt, but instead labels Shug as “friends”. Instead of immediately going into the explanation of the thesis statement, the writer focuses on the father’s influence. Though this may be important to address, the writer spends just as much space setting up this explanation as he/she does explaining Shug’s influence. There is not a clear discussion of theme. The writer analyzes how Celie is affected, but does not explain what it means for the entire novel. Because the writer fails to adequately address theme, he/she fails to address the prompt completely. There are a few grammatical mistakes, as shown in this excerpt: "Shug has a domineering personality who does not listen to any men". This mistake is large enough to distract and confuse the reader from the message of the sentence.

Essay 3C:

This essay fails to offer enough information and does not address the complexities of the novel. The explanation of theme consists of the writer saying the novel is about “loyalty and friendship”. This statement does not address what the author is saying about friendship and loyalty, only that the two things are part of the novel. The “analysis” for the theme statement is only the writer saying Hassan and Baba are loyal characters. The writer uses Baba and Hassan as foils, but Amir and Hassan would be better representations of the novel and there is more evidence for how their relationship affects the theme. Even the summary of the book is too sparse. It is not well represented with a clear plot that furthers the writer’s point. Instead, random plot points are brought up in relation to Hassan and Baba to try to shape the argument. The writer uses contractions, like “wasn’t”, that take away from the piece as as well. Overall, the essay fails to address theme or how the characters affected each other.

Death of a Salesman Summary and Analysis

Death of a Salesman: A Summary

Author:  Arthur Miller

Setting: In Willy Loman's home (most of play)- house has no roof and is disjointed in areas

             In Boston

             In New York City- sales office, Charley’s law office, restaurant

Characters:

Willy Loman- salesmen, father to Biff and Happy, husband to Linda. About 62 years old and ready to retire. He experiences jumps into the past several times during the play and is contemplating killing himself, so his family can have the insurance money. He and Biff have a strained relationship because of an instance in Boston. He always conveys to his children that selling is the best job a man could do, but he shows some regret in his decision to stat in New York instead of going to Alaska to search for gold with his brother.

Linda Loman- Wife of Willy; a meek character; knows about Willy trying to kill himself, but will not stop it; believes Willy to be a good man. Towards the end, she becomes very upset with her sons, even telling Biff he should leave.

Biff Loman- Willy’s and Linda’s oldest son. Never graduated from high school; high school football star; bad relationship with Willy; early 30s; wants to work outdoors and farm, but Willy wants him to be a salesman; eventually decides to move back West

Happy Loman- Younger brother; works as an assitant at a company; womanizer, claims he sleeps with women that are married and about to be married; people pleaser; wants to live like his father has

Uncle Ben- Willy’s brother; struck gold in Africa (South) while trying to go to Alaska (Northwest); large man, sophisticated; portrayed as successful, though he is dead

Charley- Willy’s neighbor; lawyer; portrayed as successful; father of Bernard; loaning Willy money to Willy every week

Bernard- Charley’s son; about Biff’s age; in high school was considered nerdy by Willy; arguing a case at the supreme court; portrayed as successful by Willy

Howard- Willy’s boss; fires Willy; has a wife, daughter, and son; father used to own company; portrayed as successful by Willy

The Woman- a secretary Willy met while selling; Willy cheats on Linda with her and is caught by Biff

Summary:

Willy Loman is in his sixties and still working as a salesman, but he cannot even bring money in through selling. With Biff staying in his house, Willy is on edge and begins to jump back to past memories, where the entire family seems happier. Biff is a football star, Willy is making a bit more money, and overall Biff seems to admire Willy.

Willy also seems to show Ben his brother in a positive light. Ben makes a lot of money, according to Willy, and he has so much money because he struck gold in Africa, though he was heading to Alaska. Ben did physically hurt Biff in the memory, but Willy still admires him.

Back to the present, Biff tells Willy that he is going to meet a salesmen he used to work with and tell him about an idea he has for sports equipment. He tells Willy this after he hears about Willy’s attempts to kill himself, and is making an effort despite his desire to work with his hands in the West. Willy shows aggression towards Linda, which upsets Biff, but they all go to bed with their plans intact.

The next day, Willy goes to his boss, Howard, to tell him he wants to work in New York CIty instead of traveling. Howard messes around with his recorder, showing Willy, before he finally tells Willy he has to fire him. Willy tries to bargain salary with him, but Howard refuses.

Willy visits his neighbor, Charley’s office to borrow money. He sees Biff’s childhood friend and finds out that Biff decided to not go to summer school, despite the fact he failed a class and was unable to graduate, after he visited Willy in Boston. He also finds out that Bernard is arguing a case at the Supreme Court and takes money from Charley, but refuses a job.

Willy goes to meet Biff and Happy at the restaurant, where Biff is telling Happy that he did not ever sell for the man he saw and that he did not see him. Instead he stole his pen, something he says he does to sabotage himself at many jobs.

Willy shows up, and Happy tells Biff to tell Willy what he wants to hear. Biff tells Willy that he has a meeting with the man the next day. Happy and Biff leave, abandoning Willy at the restaurant. Willy is in the memory where Biff discovers him cheating on Linda. Biff starts crying and leaves Willy in Boston.

When home, Willy is planting seeds, but Biff quickly gets in a fight with him. Biff decides to leave, but still cries to Willy. Willy crashes his car and dies, so the family can collect on the insurance. At the funeral, Biff goes one way and Linda, Happy, Bernard, and Charley go another.

Death of a Salesman: An Analysis

Theme: Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman conveys that society’s definition of success may not match one’s own dream and ignoring one’s true dream may lead to destruction.

Throughout the play, Willy struggles with his true desire. He seems to believe selling is the best thing he should be doing, but also displays regret in his decision to sell instead of going to Alaska with Ben. By the end of the play, it is clear that Willy's true desire to similar to Biff's. He is happiest planting seeds in the backyard. Linda even says he put his best work in the porch he built on their house. Still, Willy's focus is on selling. He refuses to abandon the work he has done in sales, despite his lack of ability to sell. Sometimes he displays that he is good at selling, but more often he is complaining that people do not take well to him. His low commission is more evidence that he is not good at what he is doing. 

Other characters, like Charley, Bernard, and Ben, achieve more success just because they do not try to go against their own desires. All cultivate the things they are good at, though they are all in different fields, and in the end they are paid back for their work with money and happiness from Willy's point of view.

POV:

The play centers around Willy and the memories are being remembered by him. Because of this, many aspects are hard to trust. With so many actions and words from Willy being contradictions, parts of the memories, like how much Willy made or Biff’s admiration of him, could be exaggerated. Some people even debate the existence of Ben.

Tone:

The play is largely a tragedy, which makes the whole tone of the play negative and sad. The characters bring out pity and Willy is often pitied by other characters, like Charley, Bernard and Howard. Generally, the entire play displays a negative outlook on society and how work is viewed.

Imagery:

Most of the imagery comes from Miller’s detailed stage directions. The stage directions make Willy seem small and weak, but also unbalanced. The smallest things make Willy incredibly angry or happy and the emotions change quickly. Biff on the other hand seems to be above what is happening towards the end. He is described as above the earth and often has light around him. This contradicting descriptions show how Willy is unaware of the world and himself, while Biff is self aware.

Symbolism:

The seeds and porch symbolize Willy’s true desire to work with the land, rather than be a salesman. Willy only became a salesman because he thought it would make him successful. The seed are planted in infertile ground and will not grow because the dream of working with the land, maybe in the West, like Biff wants, is lost on Willy by the end of the play.

The recorder symbolizes Willy’s lack of understanding with his past. Willy is unable to admit that he is the reason Biff did not go to summer school and have a successful life. Biff defied Willy because he cheated and because Biff lost respect for him. The recorder’s perfect memory forces Willy to recognize his flaws.

Quotes:

“And when I saw that, I realized that selling was the greatest career a man could want” (Miller 81)

Here, Willy shows that he only became a salesman because he saw someone else was successful at it. He thinks that being a salesman is the key to success, when in reality, Willy is entirely unsuccessful as a salesmen. He really does not want to be a salesmen, but convinces himself to want it and tries to convince Biff and Happy they want it too. In the end, Willy’s greatest achievement is his porch that he built. This is true, though he tells Biff that he cannot be successful if he works on a farm, because he measures success through the man he met, through society.

“Nothing’s planted. I don’t have a thing in the ground” (122).

Here, Willy is literally talking about planting seeds in his back yard, a yard that is unable to grow anything. But, figuratively, Miller is trying to show that Willy is going to die with sons he disapproves of and really no legacy of success. Willy made all his decisions because he wanted to be successful and have hundreds of people at his funeral, but he does not achieve this goal. This is because he does not spend his life working with his true desire, but instead focuses on ways other people, like the man he met, his father, Ben, etc. were successful. In the end, Willy only has two sons to leave behind and neither have done what Willy wanted them to do, neither could be labeled successful in his eyes.

"Muskin's and Thinkin's" (Close Reading 11/10)

http://www.believermag.com/issues/201310/?read=column_pendarvis

“In Muskin’s and Thinkin’s”, Jack Pendarvis reveals his happiness with his choice to leave writing and move toward farming. Pendarvis uses syntax, diction, and imagery to create a jokingly taunting tone and message of happiness with a new lifestyle.

Pendarvis personalizes the piece by utilizing the syntax to make the whole piece more conversational. Throughout the piece, the author uses a mixture of first and second person. He even mixes their use within sentences with “I can just picture you”. These uses create an informal sense surrounding the piece, but they also add to a taunting tone. Pendarvis uses first person to show how happy he is with his decision to quit writing. Then he uses second person to turn it back on his audience and make them feel lesser than him for not making the same decision. At one point he states to his reader, “I’m literally watching as you atrophy. Meanwhile I just get stronger in mind, body, and spirit”. This statement implies that the reader thinks the audience of writers are wasting away because they write, while he is only improving through his decision to quit writing. It creates a sense of superiority and it would not have that sense without both first and second person. Pendarvis also uses questions to show that the taunting tone is somewhat joking. At one point he asks, “When I actually start farming, will I be able to lift a car with my mind?”. He quickly responds, “seems likely”. The question and answer show that he is excited to start his farming work, but it also shows that he is joking about how much better he is for starting this work, because of how ridiculous the claim is. Pendarvis uses second and first person as well as questions to create a tone of joking superiority and a sense that he is happy with his decision. In creating this tone, the whole piece holds its overall meaning of a sincere farewell, as opposed to a flippant goodbye.

A mixture of elevated and informal diction is used by Pendarvis to create an expectation of superiority and then break the expectation to show a joking underlay. In the same paragraph, Pendarvis uses the words “atrophy” and “jerk”. “Atrophy” cannot be labeled informal diction by any means, just as “jerk” could not be named elevated diction. The juxtaposition shows the contradiction in his overall tone. Though he may create a condescending tone towards the audience, the use of informal diction brings him back down to a lower level to show he is not serious. The author uses the word “repulsed” to describe how he feels about the other writers reading this piece. Though the word adds to a superiority in his tone, the extremity of the word makes it seem more humorous and joking, than serious. He later uses “blast” to describe his time with the other writers, ultimately showing he enjoys them and that he is not serious in his taunting portrayal of his thoughts. Pendarvis utilizes a mixture of diction to show that his tone in ultimately joking.

Pendarvis uses imagery to solidify his feelings about farming and reinforce a joking tone. Within the piece, the imagery is almost solely dedicated to descriptions of farming. Towards the end of the piece, the author declares, “the first thing I’m going to do is find a big pile of dirt and just run my hands through it”. This positive image shows how happy Pendarvis is to move on to farming. Like this example, the rest of the piece holds positive imagery as well, especially when describing farming. At one point, Pendarvis compares his hair to Hercules’ and then says, “I’m tossing my shining curls back and forth right now”. Because he connects his curly hair with farming, this image increases the positive connection to a change of job from writing to farming. The writer also uses images that contradict in elegance to show part of him is joking when describing how much better he is than his audience. He says he will be “experiencing the true satisfaction that can never come from the pointless internal murmuring of the puny bookworm in his cocoon of so called knowledge” and then quickly adds “also, I am pantless in this scenario”. The quick change from a detailed image to a straightforward statement displays his joking tone, especially because the second part is humorous. Imagery in this piece adds to a happy reaction to change as well as a joking addition to the tone.

Through a jokingly taunting tone, the piece manages to display the true of a genuine goodbye to colleagues of Pendarvis. In order to convey this tone, the author uses positive imagery, contradicting diction and syntax. All the devices add to a clearer tone and message in Pendarvis' work.