ENGL 2260 Midterm Exam

Zora Neale Hurston's "Sweat"

SHORT SUMMARY Delia Jones married to an abusive man who take pride in mistreating her. She works while he cheats. He scares her with a bull whip thinking it was a snake and threatens to beat her but the usually shy delia stands up for herself. So he leaves to cheat. Men all hate him and they even discuss killing him. He gets bit by the snake he brought to scare her and she lets him die. THEME: Women empowerment

Poetry of Claude McKay "America"

SUMMARY: 14 line shakespearean sonnet about America - though we only know that from the title. America both sustains and harms the speaker, and it also introduces the personification of America as a woman, which is the poem's most crucial conceit. Comparing the nourishment America gives him to "bread of bitterness" and her assault on his person to being bitten with "a tiger's tooth," the speaker in the same breath also admits to "loving" this paradoxical place where he spends his "youth." This feminization also invokes the idea of the "mother country," and of an America—as represented by the Statue of Liberty—that asks the world to give her "your tired, your poor, your huddled masses." Yet here the mother country only feeds her "youth" the "bread of bitterness". McKay signals the deep ambivalence, tensions, and paradoxes of his poem. It is America who is in fact "Other" because of the inhuman and brutal way it treats its black citizens. While America clearly victimizes the speaker, the latter is able not only to fight back against this oppression but also to draw inspiration from it. PROMPT: Read Claude McKay's "America" on page 471. How does he use the paradox of praise and rebuke? What seems to be the point or points that he wants to make? ANSWERS: - He uses the paradox of praise and rebuke by implying that America has made progress in years past with attempting equality for black Americans, but society remains to silence their thoughts, ignore their actions and calls for change, and remains to keep them segregated. - "Claude Mckay uses his duality of praising America but also showing extreme frustration to convey the idea of difficulty African Americans have in America but still loving it for the "strength and vigor" it gives him. Claude Mckay was a famous Harlem Renaissance writer during the 1920s, where African Americans in Harlem were experiencing an exxplosion of culture and art. Mckay can see the beauty in this place where African Americans let their creativity run free. He also understands that America has given quite a burden to his people as far as freedom in the rest of the country and he uses this paradox of freedom in Harlem and restriction in America to praise and rebuke America." -"In the beginning, he uses words and phrases such as "bitterness" and "sinks into my throat," these symbolize his disgust for the prejudice and racism that plagued America at this time. He also explicates how America "steals his breath". -"First, he describes feelings of despair and disgust which is how he felt when he first came to America because of racism and prejudice. However, he also praises America by calling her a mother that challenges him and always relying on America even when she puts him down. He continues on explaining how America drains him and is exhausting, rebuking America. Yet, then he praises America by how it tests the youth of him." - "What I imagine he is trying to get across is that he appreciates that America does not coddle him. That he lives in such a place where obstacles and difficulties test him every day; he has the chance to grow in mind, body, and character just by living his daily life." - "...implies that America both supplies hate and supplies what is necessary to fight back against the hate." - "Throughout the poem, McKay is trying to present his feelings towards the racial injustice that lies within the country, he feels at times that the problem is too big for him to take on himself, but in America, he is granted the opportunity to overcome this injustice."

Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat"

SUMMARY: Four men stranded on a dinghy. Each man works tirelessly to keep the boat afloat. The correspondent and the oiler share the work of rowing. The cook bails water. Captain gives direction who is injured and sad. They get optimistic when they see a light house but this fades when they realize help won't come from the lighthouse. They eventually get the boat close to shore where it capsizes in the waves and the oiler leads the way through the icy waters. The correspondent and the cook swim low, eventually finding a life preserver. the captain hangs onto the boat. Everyone saved other than the oiler. Crane makes clear that nature is ultimately indifferent to the plight of man, possessing no consciousness that we can understand. The reality of nature's lack of concern for them becomes increasingly clear. Crane strengthens the idea that nature is indifferent to man by showing that it is as randomly helpful as it is hurtful. For every malevolent whim that the men suffer, they experience an unexpected good turn in the form of a favorable wind or calm night. PROMPT: In light of the naturalistic, deterministic tone of "The Open Boat," what may we make of Billie the Oiler's death? Is it a sacrifice? Does it signify anything? ANSWERS: - "By showing Billie's death, a death that occurred right toward the end, just out of reach of salvation, we see that things will not always work out as we like them to. The good guy does not always win; those who deserve to come out on top may not always do so; the hardest working people do not always reap the rewards. Billie certainly worked hard to get everyone to safety, but fate determined that it did not care about what Billie deserved." - Crane makes clear that nature is ultimately indifferent to the plight of man, possessing no consciousness that we can understand. The reality of nature's lack of concern for them becomes increasingly clear. Crane strengthens the idea that nature is indifferent to man by showing that it is as randomly helpful as it is hurtful. For every malevolent whim that the men suffer, they experience an unexpected good turn in the form of a favorable wind or calm night.

Poetry of Robert Frost "Desert Places"

SUMMARY: When the speaker was passing an open field, he saw terrible snowfall at the time of nightfall. And the earth was completely covered with smooth snow; but the last part of a few weeds and stubble was visible. The woods around are also snow covered, as they should be. All the animals are crouched in their lairs due to severe cold. He was very much disheartened to be able to count the number of these animals. He had been suddenly overwhelmed by a sense of loneliness. And this is such a sort of loneliness which will go on making me lonelier rather than less. The speaker was in the grip of a blank fear and spiritual exhaustion which is neither explicable nor has an outlet. The deserted places in the external world or in the sky between the stars, where no human creature lives, cannot scare or frighten him any more than the desert places within his own soul which lives so close to him. PROMPT: Read Robert Frost's "Desert Places" on page 234 of volume II (1914-1945) and discuss its most possible interpretations. Show that you've paid attention to Frost's diction (word choice) and the poem's mood. ANSWERS: - He says the snow has no expression, nothing to express, but the snow is a symbol of his own feelings and emotions. His feelings are difficult to express and he feels as though there is not reason to try and express them. - Robert Frost's "Desert Places" recalls a cold and snowy winters night. The mood shifts smoothly, just as the snow was falling. The poem begins with an absentmindedly content mood. He notices the thick snow with few imperfections, the weeds, poking out of the top. He sees the animals in their lairs, too many to count and a feeling of loneliness surrounds him. - The key-words in the poem are: "The loneliness includes me unawares." Snowfall creates a chill in external atmosphere and the sense of loss, creates a chill internally. And this is the subject-matter, which moves from 'observation to philosophization', as in this poem. The snow is a kind of symbol in this poem indicating the man's loneliness. - "Below the surface level the poem is not about nature and its sacred deserted places but rather the isolation and extreme loneliness that Robert finds in himself. The line " I have it in me so much nearer home" shows how personal and real his connections are to the isolation that he visualizes in the poem and in nature. The mood of the poem is solemn and melancholy as each stanza flows with more descriptive lines filled with new descriptions of nature, and words that have double meanings behind them." - "Frost often uses words that begin with an 's' to illustrate the physical bone chilling nature that he feels. Words like smothered and lonely as well as all the tone words that contribute to the cold mood reinforce the fact that the speaker in the poem feels lonely and empty." - "Frost continuously refers to "desert places," which, from what I can gather, alludes to dark thoughts, hidden fears, and scary places in each of our minds that we hide away and ignore because we are too afraid to face them on our own."

Sonnet

14 line verse form with set rhyme scheme

Metaphor

A comparison without using like or as

Mark Twain's "The War Prayer"

Theme: One does not know the true reality of war unless experienced first hand or it is easy for one to wish for an outcome when they are not on the receiving end of the hardship

Teleology

purposeful development to some designed end

Imagism

style of poetry using free verse, common speech, and concrete images

Patriarchy

system of rule or governance administered by men

Hybridity

the characteristic of a culture produced by the interaction of at least 2 separate cultures

Diaspora

the dispersion of people (usually by force) from their homeland

Intersectionality

the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.

Verisimilitude

the likeliness of a text to reality

Satire

literature that attacks vices through irony or ridicule

Richard Wright's "The Man Who Was Almost a Man" Analysis

"The Man Who Was Almost a Man" is a coming-of-age story in which the adolescent Dave Saunders must overcome numerous hurdles to become a mature adult. Restless, impatient, and taunted by the older men he works with, Dave believes that acquiring a gun will end his adolescence and transform him into a real man. Not surprisingly, however, Dave discovers that owning a gun only brings more problems and a much greater burden of responsibility. Ironically, possessing a pistol actually would have ushered Dave into adulthood if only he'd been able to handle the extra responsibility like an adult. Because he has to work for two years to repay Mr. Hawkins for Jenny's death, the gun brings Dave greater commitment and obligation—the true hallmarks of manhood. But Dave discovers at the end of the story that he's really seeking escape, not more commitment. When owning a gun becomes a heavier burden than he'd realized, he chooses to leave, demonstrating even further that he's really not yet ready to become an adult. Still convinced that the gun is a more of a boon than a burden, he takes it with him, possibly inviting more trouble in the future.

David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross (day 2) As a university student and as an eventual graduate entering the work force, you may see yourself in a stressful, highly competitive environment that may be similar in some respects to that one we read about in Glengarry Glen Ross. How would you propose pursuing your happiness under stressful, competitive circumstances in such a way that you would find ethically acceptable?

Assuming that ones course of study is what they wish to pursue in life, I would propose that the best way to pursue happiness under stressful and competitive circumstances would firstly be to apply for jobs in a location that one believes they would thrive in. The places we end up and the types of people that we surround ourselves by are highly influential on our own life, even if the influence is not explicitly pronounced. One must move to an environment in which they believe that they would enjoy the people, nearby activities and their coworkers. Outside of the work place, it is important to partake in activities that one can look forward to and enjoy. For example, if a person loves the mountains and enjoys the outdoors they may want to look for jobs out in Colorado where they can pursue the activities that they enjoy in their free time. I believe that another important aspect can be as simple as self care. That is eating and drinking healthily, exercising, and practicing mindfulness in stressful situations. Our present is not necessarily our future, so it is important not to get caught up in the struggles of the beginnings of our adult lives because life is ever-changing and we are continually growing as individuals through our experiences, the good and the bad.

Sandra Cisneros' "Woman Hollering Creek" analysis

Cleófilas learns how to be a woman by watching telenovelas on television. She learns to expect that passion will fill her life. This passion will be the great love of her life, which will give it direction and meaning, so that "one does whatever one can, must do, at whatever the cost." This, she believes, is how life should be, "because to suffer for love is good. The pain all sweet somehow. In the end." To be complete as a woman, she need only wait for her lover to appear and carry her away into "happy ever after." Her husband, Juan, carries her away from Mexico to Seguin, Texas, where she finds no community or family to support her, living in a comparatively isolated home and without independent means of transportation By the time she is pregnant with their second child, he has taken to beating her regularly, partly as a way of dealing with his frustration and powerlessness. As their relationship deteriorates, Cleófilas comes to realize that this marriage does not contain the passion she learned about in the telenovelas. She thinks about her situation while sitting next to Woman Hollering Creek, her baby in her lap; she sometimes wonders whether the woman after whom the creek is named cries out in pain or in rage. She finally realizes that she can do nothing herself to make the marriage right, and she wonders whether the arroyo was named after La Llorona, the weeping woman who drowned her own children, in the stories of her childhood. Finally, she returns to her father, disillusioned but still the passive woman depending upon men to care for her. To make her escape, she gets help from a woman who provides a glimpse of another way to live. Felice gives her a ride in her truck on the first part of her escape. That Felice lives alone, takes care of herself, and owns a truck—in short, that she lives much as a man does in Cleófilas's experience—astonishes Cleófilas. She continues to think about Felice long after her return to Mexico, and she tells others about this woman who, when they crossed the creek upon leaving Seguin, hollered like Tarzan: "It was a gurgling out of her own throat, a long ribbon of laughter, like water."

Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club "Two Kinds" In Tan's story, the parents seem to compete through their children's accomplishments. To what extent might this be another display of conspicuous consumption, and as such, another product of capitalistic culture?

Competing through their children's accomplishments displays conspicuous consumption because, they are exerting their "economic power" through having their child be the best. The child who was a chess star and the mother of that child complained that they had too many trophies, the mother uses the child's success with chess to exert power in any conversation with her friends. She gets to be the one that brags on her child, calls them a genius, and gets to experience success through her child. The idea that this story represents a capitalistic story also goes hand in hand with the display of conspicuous consumption. This story represents capitalistic culture, because the parent to child relationship can be compared to the private ownership of profit relationship that makes capitalism what it is. Parents essentially own the success of their child and the form of profit that they earn because of their child's success is popularity, recognition, and new opportunities that would not have been available had their child not been a genius. I think that it is also important to point out the important of race in this story as well, because she is a minority it is even more crucial for her to go above and beyond in success in order to fit into a society that applauds white American success more.

Amiri Baraka's Dutchman In Dutchman, Lula alternatively flirts with and insults Clay with increasing frequency and intensity. At one point he says to her, "Don't you tell me anything! If I'm a middle‐class fake white man...let me be. And let me be in the way I want." Is Clay struggling with and sensitive to attempts at assimilation? Explain your answer.

Dutchman is a short play based on the interactions of a woman named Lula and a man named Clay. Their interactions are strange and raunchy as Lula is imagining a fake relationship with him. Eventually things take a turn when Clay tries to get her to stop dancing as it was causing a commotion, and Lula begins to say ugly remarks about him, his family, and his race. This offends Clay because he is just trying to get by in life through hard work, success, and not by focusing on his racial injustices. This is shown in the line by clay where he says, "That's a laugh. My people. They don't need me to claim them. They got legs and arms of their own." By saying that his people have legs and arms of their own, he is saying that fighting against racial injustice can be left to them as he would rather focus on trying to make a life for himself. He is sensitive to her attacks on him that are accusing him of pretending to be someone he is not because it is not something that he wanted to do. He doesn't like the idea of getting rid of a part of his identity so he can be more palatable to society but, he has to if he wants to have some of the opportunities that white people are given. Deep down he knows that there are some things that he can't replace/hides so that is why he takes offense to her attacks on his race.

Gwendolyn Brooks - "The Bean Eaters." Play the detective and describe the backstory of the couple in Brooks' "The Bean Eaters."

I think that this couple in Brooks' "The Bean Eaters", is an older couple that has been married for a long time. Their kids (if they have any) have all moved on to have lives for themselves and do not need them. They either live in some type of low in come housing like a rented one bed room apartment or a rented trailer. They are the kind of couple that over the years has distanced themselves from friends and family as they seem to wish to want to live the last of their days simply. The poem describes a little bit of their living space to be one that is messy like a hoarder when it mentions there being cloths, tobacco crumbs, and receipts as though they don't like to throw away anything that they have accumulated in their life. The dolls, vases, and fringe represent the couple living in the past and choosing to not move on with their lives, might be the reason why they would choose to sit at home and eat beans. Nothing in the poem is mentioned in a way that would be fun and exciting but rather symbolize the lack of care that the couple has developed for their life. The poem describes plain chipware, plain creaking wood, and tin flatware showing this idea of a simple life that seems to no longer have joy or pleasure in it. Their remembering is symbolic of living in a different state of mind compared to the one that they are currently living.

Jhumpa Lahiri's "Sexy" Analysis In what ways does Miranda focus on how Dev perceives her? What are the consequences of this way of thinking about herself?

Imagine the gossipiest person you know telling you a story. That's what happens in the beginning to Miranda—our "heroine". she's thinking about Dev, who's Bengali (just like the son of the cousin whose husband's a cheater. Wow, that was a mouthful.). Who's Dev? A handsome, mustached guy she met just a week ago at a department store makeup counter. They're both married. Dev calls and texts Miranda more or less at the same times everyday. Some people might consider that obsessive, semi-stalkerish behavior but Miranda doesn't seem to mind. *In fact, Miranda thinks he understands her.* You know, because he "knows what it's like to be lonely". He compliments her on her independence (she's only 22 but she moved out to Boston from Michigan on her own). At one point they go to the Mapparium, where not only does Dev teach Miranda even more about geography and the world, he speaks the very significant line to Miranda, "You're sexy," after Miranda whispers "Hi." Laxmi's going on about her cousin's husband. Miranda's just kind of listening and thinking about her own stuff, like the fact that Dev's wife will be returning the next day. she remembers being invited to one of the Dixit children's birthday party and not eating the birthday cake because a statuette of the goddess Kali freaks her out as does the general strangeness of the whole experience. She's an adult and is in an affair with an Indian man, she's all into learning about Indian culture, trying Indian food, even writing part of her name—"Mira"—in Sanskrit. Rohin calls her sexy in the dress "calling someone sexy is loving someone you do not know" All of this makes Miranda cry too. She thinks about that day at the Mapparium when she could hear Dev speak to her perfectly clearly from 30 feet away and how close he seemed. She feels a loss, too. The next time Dev calls on a Sunday, Miranda lies and tells him that he shouldn't come over because she has a cold. The Sunday after that, it snows, so he can't come over. Then, the Sunday after that, she decides to go out with Laxmi to the movies and Dev doesn't object. Then, the Sunday after that, Miranda decides to take a walk, buys a cup of coffee, and gaze at a church. So in other words, Miranda gets rid of her "Mr. Big" and finds out she's okay being single.

Grotesque

In literature, ludicrous or incongruous distortion to comical or satirical effect that shows contradiction and inconsistencies of life

Didactic

Intended to instruct

Art Spiegeleman's Maus Analysis

Perhaps the most obvious feature of Maus is its use of animals to represent different races and nationalities.The Germans are cats, predators who prey on the Jewish mice; the Americans are dogs who save the Jewish mice from the German cats. The French are frogs, and the Gypsies are moths. The Poles are pigs, which does not seem as random when we consider that the Nazis sometimes referred to the Poles as pigs. But again, Maus plays off the racial stereotypes, and even stereotypical thinking in general, by indicating where the allegory falls apart. The mice are not universally good, nor are the pigs universally good or bad. Mice can pass for other animals by wearing pig masks or cat masks. The allegory falls apart at times when the animal-humans deal with actual animals, as when Art's Jewish therapist has pet cats (!), or when Art and Françoise have to use bug spray to get rid of bugs when they are vacationing in the Catskills, a reference to Zyklon-B, the pesticide used to gas concentration camp prisoners.

Dramatic Monologue

Poetry revealing the persona's character in a monologue addressed to the reader or listener

Free Verse

Poetry with out a regular pattern of rhyme or meter

Objective Correlative

Set of objects or events that evoke specific sensual and emotional responses

August Wilson's Fences In her poem, "kitchenette building," Gwendolyn Brooks asks if the "giddy sound" of "dream" could "send up through onion fumes?" In his poem, "Harlem," Langston Hughes asks, "what happens to a dream deferred?" Considering the 5 principle Maxsons, Troy, Rose, Gabe, Lyons, and Cory, discuss the complications that arise from the pursuit of their dreams.

Some complications that can arise from the pursuit of ones dreams is that it is going to require a lot of hard work, people will take advantage of you because they know how much you want your dream, and you might have to sacrifice your own dream in order to let someone pursue theirs. To pursue someones dream especially if it is something like becoming a famous singer or having a successful business, it ic going to require hard work to get their if you start off very far away from it. The "send up through onion fumes" example from Gwendolyn Brooks explains this well as it symbolize that you have to struggle before you can have your rewards. Other people may also manipulate you or make you give up your own dreams so they can pursue theirs. This rings true for the poem Harlem, as sometimes life doesn't work out how you think it might and you could have to "defer" your dream. In Fences, Rose gives up her dream in order to make Troy happy and be there for him. Troy worked very hard for his dream of being a professional/successful baseball player but he has to let that go. He is jealous that his son Cory has a chance to pursue his sport professionally and this was something that Troy was robbed of due to his race.

Ralph Ellison's "Battle Royal"

THEME/summary) race and power (Readers are taken to a time period when race relations are nowhere near as tolerant as they are today. The narrator is thrown into the fight for really no other reason than the fact that he is a young black person. He, and the other boys, are in this situation for the viewing pleasure and enjoyment of the white men. The white men have the power, they are controlling the situation, and they want the narrator to know that there is no such thing as equality among white men and black men.)

Henry James' "The Real Thing"

THEME: Art is not about the real, but the ideal. SUMMARY: Major and Mrs. Monarch want to be paid models for an artist. They are not good models. They don't know how to look anything other than themselves. Really only portrait as aristocrats. The artist sees his great model as both in her role, and, beyond the role, as his equal; both these conditions are necessary in order for him to paint a person the viewer cares about. The artist has to be able to empathize, not only with the imaginary character he's trying to depict, but with the real flesh-and-blood person inside the costumes and stage paint. Their social class has removed them from anything he can understand. The fact that they have been so reduced in financial circumstances that they are literally begging from him makes no difference. The Monarchs speak and walk and carry themselves like the born aristocrats they are, and they are useless as models because the artist cannot make them look like anything else. The Monarchs are "the real thing", but the stories he's illustrating are not. We know only that the artist's friend Hawley feels that their influence did his friend a "permanent harm" by getting him into "false ways." An ironic ending for a story about the essence of truth. PROMPT: "The Real Thing" is set in London and none of the characters appear to be American. How is this an American story? ANSWERS: - "The issues that were presented in London are still prevalent in America during this time. America struggled allowing each class mesh because there where people that believed you were born into the society you were destined to be in. In America there may not have been a monarchy, but there was still a hierarchy of people." - "Henry James's story is an American one due to its strong elements of irony and social rising and falling. Although the monarchs should have been the most-fit candidates for this painter, the poorer, Italian couple proved to be far better models. In this ironic switch, Henry illuminates this truth: status means far less than hard-work and dependability." - "This perfectly describes social classes in America that can be seen today in the common peoples' infatuation with those who are wealthy. James perfectly describes how the social class bridges a divide amongst people, making it difficult to relate to one another." - "Although the setting and characters in the short story are not American, Henry James portrays the American Dream, allowing it to be an American story. The idea of chasing after something that will recreate a life path and may not be attainable is represented. Additionally, they fall victims to a society that cannot seem to separate citizens from their class. This has consistently happened throughout American history and still proves true today. "

Eudora Welty's "Petrified Man"

THEME: How unaware the women are

William Faulkner's "Barn Burning"

THEME: Loyalty to Family versus Loyalty to the Law: In "Barn Burning," Sartoris must decide whether loyalty to family or loyalty to the law is the moral imperative. For the Snopes family, particularly for Sartoris's father, family loyalty is valued above all else. The family seems to exist outside of society and even outside the law, and their moral code is based on family loyalty rather than traditional notions of right or wrong. Snopes tells Sartoris that he should remain loyal to his "blood," or family, or he will find himself alone. This threat suggests how isolated the family really is and how fully they rely on one another for protection, even when their faith in this protection is unfounded.

Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman"

THEME: The American Dream (Willy believes wholeheartedly in what he considers the promise of the American Dream—that a "well liked" and "personally attractive" man in business will indubitably and deservedly acquire the material comforts offered by modern American life.) (Willy develops a fear of abandonment, which makes him want his family to conform to the American Dream.)

F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Babylon Revisited"

THEME: The Inescapability of the Past: Even though Charlie's wilder days have long since passed, he'll never be able to truly escape them. Although he actively tries to avoid reminders of the Paris he used to know, they nevertheless follow him everywhere. When he goes to lunch with , for example, he can find only one restaurant that doesn't remind him of drunken meals that lasted for hours. When he walks through Montmartre, old haunts surround him. Even the things that have changed remind him of his past, simply because the newness of them strikes him as odd. The scared tourists heading into cafés are pale imitations of the partiers he and his friends once were, and the once-bustling places that these tourists frequent are now nearly empty. Charlie would like to put his failed marriage behind him, but he cannot. Marion constantly reminds him of his mistakes,

Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper"

THEME: The Subordination of Women in Marriage The Importance of Self-Expression SUMMARY: She complains that her husband John, who is also her doctor, belittles both her illness and her thoughts and concerns in general. She contrasts his practical, rationalistic manner with her own imaginative, sensitive ways. Her treatment requires that she do almost nothing active, and she is especially forbidden from working and writing. She feels that activity, freedom, and interesting work would help her condition and reveals that she has begun her secret journal in order to "relieve her mind." In an attempt to do so, the narrator begins describing the house. Her description is mostly positive, but disturbing elements such as the "rings and things" in the bedroom walls, and the bars on the windows, keep showing up. She is particularly disturbed by the yellow wallpaper in the bedroom, with its strange, formless pattern, and describes it as "revolting." The wallpaper begins to resemble a woman "stooping down and creeping" behind the main pattern, which looks like the bars of a cage. Whenever the narrator tries to discuss leaving the house, John makes light of her concerns, effectively silencing her. Each time he does so, her disgusted fascination with the paper grows.

Susan Glaspell's "Trifles"

THEME: Women and Femininity (The play shows us a time in America where women are neglected, ignored, and generally belittled by men. All this comes to a head when two women hide evidence that could convict another housewife of murdering her husband. Why? Because just like the murderess, they're sick of being neglected, ignored, and belittled.) SUMMARY: When the ladies discover Mrs. Wright's pet canary with its neck wrung, they immediately put the mystery together. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters know that the harsh Mr. Wright snapped the canary's neck, and that, after years of neglect and emotional abuse, Mrs. Wright repaid her husband by giving him a taste of what her pet bird got.

Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find"

THEME: death, loss and mortality (The most dangerous revelation of modern life is discovering a sudden violence in the hands of unknown assailants and facing the death hence.)

Charles Chesnutt's "The Goophered Grapevine"

THEME: oppression against blacks SUMMARY: John and Annie looking for a farm. They meet Uncle Julius, a former slave who lives close to the grapevines. He tells them that buying the plantation and the vineyard would be a mistake, because the grapevines are 'goophered', or under a spell. The story begins with Dugal McAdoo, the owner of the plantation. He quickly realizes that the slaves in the area love the scuppernongs and are stealing them to eat them, so has someone put a spell on them. Henry (slave) eats the grapes and Aunt Peggy wares off the curse but Henry gets old half the year and young the other half so McAdoo takes advantage of this. PROMPT: Compare the situations of Julius McAdoo in "The Goophered Grapevine" and Mrs. Spring Fragrance. How do they pursue their immediate goals and why do they do so in such a way?

John Steinback's "The Chrysanthemums"

THEME: oppression of women (their thoughts, beliefs, wants and wishes are all seen as less than to a man)

Sui Sin Far's "Mrs. Spring Fragrance"

THEME: the culture clash between the Spring Frangrances' Chinese customs and those of their adopted country. SUMMARY: Details the Asian-American experience. (the struggle of Chinese Americans to find identity in an oppressive society, particularly from a woman's point of view). PROMPT: Compare the situations of Julius McAdoo in "The Goophered Grapevine" and Mrs. Spring Fragrance. How do they pursue their immediate goals and why do they do so in such a way? ANSWERS: - "...neither one knows when their freedoms might be taken away again so they want to accomplish as much as they can in hopes of making this new life permanent." - "To try and reach his goals, [McAdoo] feels as if he has to try to make up stories and convince the white couple to not buy the land. He does this because it was where he lived and found a way to survive. He felt as though they would not give him a chance to still be on the farm, so he resorted to manipulation instead of asking them for a job or anything like that. Mrs. Spring Fragrance also struggled with a difference in culture in that she had been "Americanized" and did not always agree with the Chinese culture and traditions she was supposed to follow." - "Both Julius McAdoo and Mrs. Spring Fragrance were forced to use deception to reach their goals due to the oppressive nature of both of their situations. Julius being a former slave and with Laura being forced to marry a man she has never met." - "Both Julius and Mrs. Spring Fragrance pursue their immediate goals by immersing themselves into the problem they are trying to solve. Julius' goal is to convince the couple to not buy the vineyard he has come into ownership of; whereas, Mrs. Spring Fragrances' goal is to find a way for Laura to marry the man she truly loves and not have to be a part of her arranged marriage. They pursue their goals in this way to continue to make the best of the situation that they are in."

David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross (day 1) Levene does commit a crime in the second act of the play, but how do we feel about him? To what extent are you or are you not sympathetic to him and why?

The American dream is so warped in the society represented in this play that people believe they must steal, sacrifice and risk their own security in order to succeed financially. Levene made the choice to risk his security and put aside his morals for the possible betterment of his and his families life. I believe it is unfortunate that the employees were even put in the position in the first place to compete with each other when the competition was not fair to begin with. The men in the story are competitive and they all want to come out on top, but not all are given the fair opportunity to do so. I sympathize for the way that Levene and colleagues of his ranking are treated in this play by those who are higher in ranking. The higher ranked employees are not humble or kind and they do not treat those of a lower rank with any respect. When it comes down to the end though, Levene made the decision to break the law and there for he must suffer the consequences. I do sympathize with him though because he works hard, but is not given the opportunity to climb the corporate ladder at his company.

Alice Walker's "Everyday Use" As evident in Walker's "Everyday Use" and other texts we have read this semester, a key element of the American narrative would seem to be the right to pursue individual happiness. We are also a capitalist culture, and this leads many of us to search for happiness through material success. To what degree do you think these two strains of thought are compatible? Are they odds at all?

The idea of pursing individual happiness in American culture has started to confuse itself more and more with the idea of pursuing happiness through material success because of the increase of wealth transactions. These two strains of thought are thought to be compatible because when one has a lot of material success they are thought to have more happiness because their wealth allows them to have access to more things. When someone has a nice house, nice car, nice appearance, money to buy expensive things, and money to go on expensive vacations they are thought to "have it all" because, the American dream is thought to be working hard until you can reap the materialistic benefits. Possessing objects and materials has always been the back bone of American culture because American's believe in independence and their personal right to possess what they choose. This is how both these thoughts are deemed both compatible and at odds. They are seen as compatible due to society's misconception that you are only happy when you possess a lot of material items. They are at odds because individual happiness can not be defined as one thing, it also can't be found in material success because of how fading material success is as people are always pressured to buy the next best thing. individual success can not be defined as one thing because it is based on an individuals wants and aspirations, therefore making it something that no one else has.

Allegory

The use of characters or events to represent ideas or principles in art

Sherman Alexie's "This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona" When Victor and Thomas Builds-a-Fire meet Cathy the gymnast on their flight to Phoenix, they all get along and have a nice conversation. Victor later says, "but everybody talks to everybody on airplanes...too bad we can't always be that way." What is different or special about their circumstances on the flight that may enable them to relate so well?

Thomas seems like a social being who enjoys meeting new people while Victor is his opposite in that sense. Victor seems to generally be a pessimistic character who although can participate and seems to enjoy pleasant conversation, ironically must make a negative comment on the lovely conversation that the three of them had on the plane. Their journey is a tough one, though because Victor must face the death of his father and come to reality with the truth of who his father is. Thomas helps to "build a fire" in Victor allowing him to find peace and be restored through the struggles of his life, especially with his father. I think that Thomas was the main piece in allowing the three of them to relate so well because he instigated the conversation and kept it going, attempting to bring Victor into it whenever he could.

Wallace Stevens - Anecdote of the Jar Read the "Anecdote of the Jar." First tell us what you think the poem might mean, and then tell us how you respond personally to that suggested meaning.

We might interpret 'Anecdote of the Jar', more widely, as a poem about man's conquest over nature. Note how the placing of the jar on top of the hill means that the wilderness - the natural world - has to grow around the jar, and that, in the end, nature loses its wildness. The jar seems to infect everything around it, and removes the very wildness that makes the natural world what it is. The repetition of 'round' words - 'round', 'Surround', 'around', 'round', 'ground' - emphasise not only the round shape of the jar but also the difference between the manmade jar and the 'wilderness' of nature (and of America?) that surrounds it and 'sprawl[s] around' it.

Respectability Politics

attempts by marginalized groups to police their own members and show their social values as continuous and compatible with mainstream values rather than challenging the mainstream for its failure to accept difference.

Similie

figure of speech in which two unlike things are compared using "like" or "as"

George Saunders' "CivilWarLand in Bad Decline" Why do you suppose the narrator of "CivilWarLand in Bad Decline" goes along with the park's enhanced security, disposing of the evidence of security's work, and do you think he deserved his fate? Why or why not?

the protagonist works at a CivilWar-era themepark. Due to slumping profits from an increasing gang presence in the park, the boss, Mr. A, decides to hire a psychotic ex-soldier, Samuel. Samuel winds up being a little too good at his job and kills both gang members and non-gang-affiliated park attendees alike. The protagonist, at the risk of losing his job, allows himself to be cajoled into disposing of the bodies. This still doesn't solve the profit crisis, so Mr. A decides to burn the park for the insurance money. Samuel kills the protagonist, who concludes the narrative as a ghost.

Persona

the speaking voices of a poem

Infantilize

treat (someone) as a child or in a way that denies their maturity in age or experience.