Fifth Business

Fifth Business

Author: Robertson Davies is one of Canada’s best known authors. He was a schoolmaster for a residential college associated with the University of Toronto, a background which can be seen in Dunstan’s career as a schoolmaster. His father was a senator, and he converted to Anglicanism from Presbyterianism.

Setting: It is set in the early 1900s through the mid 1900s, through the course of the two World Wars and the Spanish Influenza outbreak. The first setting is Deptford, a small village in Canada, and the plot follows Dunstan’s journey from Canada to the battlefields of Europe, back to Canada, and on his journeys to research saints.

Plot:  The novel starts out with the account of Boy’s throwing of the snowball that leads to Mary Dempster’s simpleness, and Paul’s premature birth. Then it is revealed that the book is a letter from Dunstan to the headmaster.  Dunstan details his journey from Dempster to Europe to fight in World War 1, his affair with Diana and his relationship with Boy and leola, and his search for saints. He meets Paul, now known as Eisengrim, and Leisl. This results in his epiphany that his life’s role is as Fifth Business.

Characters:

Dunstable Ramsay– He is the narrator of the work, and his journey is detailed above. His reliability is questionable at times, and he omits details that he claims to have forgotten and highlights others.

Mary Dempster– Dunstan believes that she is a saint after seeing her bring Willy back to life, and seeing her in a vision in the battlefield. She has sex with a tramp, which changes his life and causes him to seek salvation in religion. She eventually goes crazy, and then dies.

Amasa Dempster–He is a preacher and the wife of Mary, he refers to her indirectly as a burden he has to carry, but seems to sincerely love her, or perhaps just devotes himself to her? He eventually dies from Spanish Influenza.

Paul Dempster– He is Mary’s son, and was born prematurely. It seems that he is supposed to be portrayed as a Christ figure, but his Christ-like characteristics and actions are slightly off, suggesting that Boy is the cause for his deformities as a Christ Figure. He runs away, joins the circus and undergoes a name change.

Boy Staunton– He seems to be portrayed by Dunstan as the hero in his life story, and undergoes a name change, just like Dunstan and Paul. He aspires to fit the role of a prince.

Leola Cruikshank – Leola is the wife of Boy, and was part of the love triangle between Boy and Dunstan. She attempts to commit suicide, and later dies.

Point of View : The speaker, Dunstan is recounting his life to the headmaster, trying to prove a point. Thus, he is a biased narrator who is unreliable since he can omit and highlight facts as he chooses.

Symbolism: Mary and Paul act as symbols for the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ, respectively, but share some differences that highlight the strange twists on conventional religion.

Narrative: The novel is structured in the form of a long letter from Dunstan to the headmaster. Thus, the details and diction in the novel are biased in favor of Dunstan.

Imagery: The imagery in this novel is especially thick in events that Dunstan chooses to highlight for their significance. One of the events is his near death experience on the battlefields of World War 1, where he gives a vivid and dramatic account of his journey to the church and his vision of Mary Dempster.

Theme: Everyone casts people in their lives, including themselves, in roles that they need them to play.

The narrator, Dunstan, is obsessed with the roles that he has played in the lives of others. He describes himself as “Fifth Business” and gives detailed accounts of the various forms in which he plays that role, calling himself a polymath, a Charlie Chaplin-esque figure, and a war hero, among other things. He explicitly states his own views about the theme when he discusses the mentality of a public figure, in which he uses a stage player metaphor.

Hamlet Analysis

Author: William Shakespeare
Setting: The setting is Elsinore in the kingdom of Denmark in the late Middle Ages. The kingdom seems to emphasize martial rule.
Characters:
Hamlet - He is the Danish prince, and his father has recently died. His uncle marries his mother and claims the throne. He learns that his father my have been killed by his uncle and contemplates action. He is portrayed as either mad or acting mad. He mourns for his father and feels betrayed by his mother.
Claudius - He is Hamlet's uncle and kills the old Hamlet and marries Gertrude.
Gertrude - She is Hamlet's mother and marries Claudius. She is torn between her love for Claudius and her love for Hamlet.
Ophelia - She is Hamlet's lover, but she is not royalty; she is the daughter of Polonius.She refuses to see Hamlet after Polonius instructs her to. She commits suicide after she goes mad.
The Ghost - The ghost is of Hamlet's dead father who tells Hamlet Claudius killed him. He tells Hamlet to avenge him.
Polonius
Laertes
Fortinbras
Horatio

Ceremony Analysis

Ceremony
Author: Leslie Silko is a writer of Native American descent.

Characters
 Tayo - He is the protagonist of the work, a Laguna pueblo who has returned from the Vietnam War. He lived in the shadow of his brother Rocky, the model of Native American assimilation into white culture, until he died in the war. He believes that he has cursed his land with drought when he prayed for an end to rain in Vietnam. He embarks on a journey to complete a ceremony to bring balance to his land.
Auntie - She is Tayo's aunt, who took Tayo in. She favors Rocky and is cold to Tayo. She is Christian and opposes many traditional beliefs.
Rocky - He is the model of Native American assimilation into the contemporary white culture, playign football and earning a scholarship to a college.
Ts'eh - She symbolizes a mountain, more generally the land of Tayo's culture. In human form, she sleeps with Tayo and she
Ku'oosh - He is a traditional medicine man who can't help Tayo because his old ceremonies are ineffective for current problems.
Betonie - He is a medicine man who adapts to change and creates new ceremonies. He helps Tayo with his journey.
Emo - He is also a Vietnam war veteran, and he symbolizes the witches.
Imagery: The prose has a poem-like quality to it. The use of vivid descriptive words and smooth flow create pictures of landscapes and settings in the reader's head.
Narrative: The structure is nonlinear, and switches to different narrators. This emphasizes the concept of time as a web, in which all stories are connected.
Allusions: Silko alludes to Laguan cultural texts, with shaped poems that allude to the content.
Symbolism: The nausea Tayo feels is his loss of identity in between his traditional culture and the white culture. The alcohol symbolizes the clashing of the white culture with the traditional culture. The geographical features  and creatures of the land symbolize the spirits of the culture.
Theme: Only through the unification of all conflicting themes can result in peace.

The plot of the book emphasizes unity in all aspects of Tayo's life. There is a motif of all things being one. For instance, the multiple linear storylines are presented as one weblike story. Tayo, with his mixed heritage

Death of a Salesman analysis

Death of a Salesman

Author: Arthur Miller is an American playwright and essayist. He testified before the HUAC and was blacklisted by Hollywood for his communist beliefs.

Setting: It is set in the 1900s in the US, in a middle class/working class home, and the society embodies the values of consumerist America.

Plot: Willy Is an aging salesman

Characters:

Willy Loman – He is the character referenced in the title, and is first introduced to the readers as an aging salesman who is losing his mind. As a travelling salesman, he does not earn much money and returns to a rundown home.  The reader slowly learns throughout the play the circumstances  that caused Willy’s downfall. He is represented as a victim of the American Dream.

Linda Loman – She is Willy’s wife and caretaker, and is somewhat of a mother figure to both Willy and the boys. She sees through Willy’s lies but cares about him too much to bring him to reality.

Biff Loman – He is Willy’s son, and believes wholeheartedly in the vision that Willy creates regarding the American Dream  until he sees Willy with The Woman.

Happy Loman – He wholeheartedly believes in the vision Willy creates.

Bernard – He is portrayed as less successful  than Biff and Happy in high school, but is more succesful later in life.

Charley – He is Willy’s neighbor, and tries to keep Willy’s spirits up despite Willy’s illusions.

Point of View : Miller is critical of the materialistic, glamorous version of the American Dream, and details Willy’s downfall. He gives Willy’s lines that cause the reader to sympathize with him and blame the society he lives in for his death.

Symbolism: Willy symbolizes the population of Americans that have bought into the hollow American Dream and have been met with failure. The house represents the state of Willy’s mind, being barren and decaying by the end of the play. The darker side of Ben and the jungle represents the pitfalls of the infatuating American dream. Geography is important, with Ben trying to go north but ending up south, and the idea of the West idealized. Sports and popularity symbolize the worse sides of the American Dream.

Narrative: Miller uses a nonlinear narrative and juxtaposes the past and present. This allows for greater characterization of the characters.

Imagery: The imagery of the house before and after Willy’s affair with the Woman show his demise

Theme: The materialistic, glamour-obsessed American Dream is an unattainable fallacy. Instead, one should aspire to one's own desires.

Miller obviously condemns the version of the American Dream that is sold by Willy, portraying him as the victim through the subtle comparisons of Willy to an innocent boy, even through naming him Willy. He contrasts the unsuccessful Loman family to Charley and Bernard, who work hard and are charitable and considerate. Though Charley is a high paid banker and Bernard a lawyer who is a rising star, Miller does not exclusively  advocate for those paths. At the end of the play, Biff embarks on a journey to make something of himself out "West". Miller conveys the message that the American Dream is specific to each individual, and should not be a standard imposed by society on the individual.

The American Dream Analysis

The American Dream:
Author: Edward Albee is a part of the Theater of the Absurd movement, consisting of authors believing human existence has no meaning or purpose. He uses his play to ridicule the contemporary notion of the American Dream.
Characters:
Mommy - She is a dominating figure who is the head of the household. She has a sadistic streak and is the one to mutilate the bumble. She marries Daddy for his money.
Daddy - He is Mommy's subordinate,a dramatic reversal of the typical American family. He has "tubes" where he used to be "tracts", emphasizing the both physical and social aspect of the gender switching theme.
Grandma - Grandma appears senile in the beginning of the play. However it becomes clear that she is the most "normal" character of the play, and ironically comments on the plot.
The Young Man - He symbolizes the American Dream, and his early mutilation that left him as a shell is representative of Albee's argument about the state of the American Dream.
Mrs. Barker  - Mrs. Barker represents the authority of society, and brings an outside perspective to the crazy household.

Point of view: Albee holds a cynical point of view to the status of the American Dream. He uses absurdist themes to point out how absurd the contemporary idea of the American Dream is.
Tone :  Albee uses an absurdist, comic tone to reveal the ludicrous nature of the American Dream.
Imagery
Symbolism: The wheat colored hat, the mutilation of the American Dream, all the characters represent a part of American society.
Quotes: "I no longer have the capacity to feel anything. I have no emotions. I have been drained, torn asunder disemboweled." This is spoken by the young man, regarding his hollow existence. The audience knows of his physical mutilation that occurred as a baby, at the hands of Mommy. This shows the emotional significance of the harm caused by Mommy on the character that represents the American Dream.
Theme:
Discussion

Book Notes

Poetry

• Rhyme - near rhyme ,end rhyme, eye rhyme
• Meter -rhyme
• Elegy - dying
• Lyric - 1st person feeling
• Ode - address single object
• Villanelle
• Poetic Syntax - enjamment, caesura
• Poetic sound - alliteration, assonance
• cadence - rise and falll of voice

Literature for Analysis/Open Prompt

The American Dream: Absurdist play about American Dream. American Dream is criticized as overly materialistic and lacks substance. Grandma is the only reasonable character, Mommy and Daddy are the "normal" couple, but actually crazy.

Death of a Salesman: American tragedy about the American Dream. Aging salesman battles with position in world, success of his kids and his life in question. Disillusionment with the golden years of the American Dream, everyone searching for an answer. Never comes up with solution, leads to demise. Miller's indictment of the American Dream.

Ceremony: Contemporary Native American novel. Incorporates NA culture and current issues. Juxtaposes NA and White, War and Peace. Tayo, main character, is lost and can't find way. Nature and color motifs.

Pride and Prejudice: Old British Classic. Novel of Manners(?) about 1700s society and all the drama that comes with getting girls married. Originally pop fiction but regarded as high literature. Contrasting characters, emphasis on appearances and judgement. Probably won't use.

Hamlet: Greatest work in the English language. Revenge, broken love, madness.

Closed Prompt

Use DIDLS!
Diction - Word Choice
Imagery - Vivid Picture, sensory image
Details - self explanatory
Language - Metaphors/similes fancy literary tricks.
Syntax - Way sentences are structured

Function of all literature is to make meaning, therefore must mention.

Technique - Touchable
Effect - Technique's impression on reader.
Meaning - Author's intent.

Need a specific thesis, and use techniques as evidence for argument.

Critical Lenses

Literature can be looked at in many different ways.
Lenses:

• Formalist - "Words on the page" - only art if primary purpose is to be art.
• Psychoanalytic - The psychology of the artist, or of the work itself, or of the audience. Based on Freud, with the concepts of id - instant gratification, ego - restrains id and mediates id/superego, superego - conscience, society's rules, morality.
• Marxism - masses vs. elite, class struggle.
• New Historicism - Historical context of author's life
• Post-Colonialism - How Imperialism influences marginalization of powerless

Types of Post-Colonialism:

• hegemony
• alienation
• subaltern
• exoticism
• demonization
• mimicry
• appropriation
• representation
  
• hybridity

• Literary Darwinism - Biological drives.
• Reader Response Theory - All meaning created by reader/audience.

• Mythological/Archetypal Critics
• Structuralism - Cultural STructures
• Post Structuralists.
  

Revised Open Prompt #3

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.

Every hero needs a sidekick. Batman has Robin, Sherlock Holmes has Watson, and Frodo has Sam. Sidekicks do more than just add another interesting character to a storyline; the interplay between the main character and his sidekick adds an interesting dynamic that allows the author to send important ideas to the reader. Though George doesn’t resemble the typical superhero, nor does Lenny the typical sidekick, the relationship between them is crucial to the message behind Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. Lenny brings out the human aspect of George through his childlike nature, amid all of the cruelty and inhumanity of the California countryside. This transforms George into a character with greater emotional depth, with whom the audience relates to and sympathizes with when his dreams are crushed by his harsh Great Depression environment.

In the opening lines of the work, Steinbeck juxtaposes George and Lenny in order to highlight the odd contrasting traits of the pair of protagonists. In addition to the physical differences between them, George being rather wiry and Lenny a towering giant, George is portrayed as a stereotypical rough and tumble migrant worker, which makes the sheer presence of mentally slow, childlike Lenny all the more surprising. Steinbeck uses animal imagery to characterize Lenny, describing him using his big “paws” in a dog-like while lapping up of water from the creek. George, like a worn out master, chides Lenny in a manner suggesting the normalcy of the act. The opening act of this novella-play causes readers to question why a pragmatic, no nonsense character such as George would tolerate Lenny. However, Steinbeck makes it abundantly clear that their relationship goes further than the reason George gives for it, that he purely uses Lenny for his great attractiveness to employers. George cares for Lenny deeply, like a master for a loyal, loving dog, or even like parent for a child. As their relationship is further explored through the events at their new farm jobs, Steinbeck shows the reader to what extent George will care for Lenny, revealing George’s true kind character. The ultimate demise of George and Lenny's dreams evokes sympathy in the audience and shifts the blame onto forces outside of their control in their harsh environment.

The unlikely pair share a common dream and its tragic ending is Steinbeck’s main vehicles for his theme of characters failing to achieve their dreams. The ending scene, culminating in George shooting Lenny in the back of the head symbolizes the final nail in the coffin for their dashed hopes. Though the act was violent, it was done out of love and self sacrifice. Throughout the work, the dream that George and Lenny shared of owning their own farm symbolized freedom for them and acted as a motivator. By shooting Lenny, George in effect metaphorically obliterates his own hopes for freedom in the harsh world of Great Depression California. This fits into Steinbeck’s main theme that results in the crushing of every single major character’s aspirations.

The relationship between George and Lenny is anything but typical, but Lenny manages to bring out George’s character more effectively than any other character in the novel. By allowing George's character to be fleshed out emotionally, Lenny's role as a foil allows audiences to sympathize with the protagonists' plight and leads them to blame the harsh Great Depression environment.

Revised Open Prompt #3

1989. In questioning the value of literary realism, Flannery O'Connor has written, "I am interested in making a good case for distortion because I am coming to believe that it is the only way to make people see." Write an essay in which you "make a good case for distortion," as distinct from literary realism. Analyze how important elements of the work you choose are "distorted" and explain how these distortions contribute to the effectiveness of the work. Avoid plot summary.

Exaggerated and caricature like characters grab a reader's attention by shocking him with their absurdity. They can cause the reader to think about and reconsider their perspectives on the issue that the author is explores with hyperbole. By making the characters, plot and overall tone of The American Dream blatantly exaggerated and absurd, Albee's play criticizes the contemporary state of American society, which is portrayed as materialistic, senseless, and lacking substance.

The characters in the American Dream are absurd in their expressed personalities, interactions, and even their mere names. The names of two of the major characters are Mommy and Daddy, despite the fact that there is no child in the play. In addition, all of the characters in the play address them as Mommy and Daddy in complete seriousness; even Grandma refers to her daughter as "Mommy". Albee's unique choice of character names is meant to show the audience the absolutely ludicrous nature of the play. Albee's indirect characterization of Mommy and Daddy expands on this. Through their interactions, the reader finds Mommy to be a domineering wife who demands absolute attention and throws child-like tantrums. Daddy is the polar opposite, a meek man who is unable to assert himself and satisfy Mommy. Since Albee presents Mommy and Daddy as a typical '60s couple through the stage set up of his story, the distorted characters display his criticism of American society, and consequently, the American Dream.

The plot of The American Dream is full of absurd exaggerations, and Albee makes fun certain ideas central to his message in order to highlight them to the reader. When Mommy recounts her story about buying a hat in the department store, the reader feels little connection to Mommy's strong feelings over whether the exact color of the hat beige or wheat. When Mommy throws a tantrum in the store over the color of the hat, the audience can not take Mommy's actions seriously. This incident gets across Albee's criticism of the materialism and lack of substance of the American Dream by blowing an example up to the extreme.

The overriding atmosphere that Albee creates is distorted with absurdity, with characters taking serious matters lightly and trivial matters seriously. When Mommy and Daddy recount the mutilation and eventual death of their adopted baby, the audience is horrified. However, Mommy and Daddy show no sign of remorse throughout their retelling. To them the "bumble" was merely another material good to be used and thrown away. On the flip side of that coin is Mommy's aforementioned outrage at the store employees over the color of her hat. This reversal of common sense in the characters that represent the values of Albee's American society show his critical message towards the society they live in, a senseless and substance-less one.

By making the characters that represent American society as absurd as possible to the audience, Albee conveys his message against the values of his contemporary American society. Albee relies on the fact that audiences will see the ludicrous actions of Mommy and Daddy and reflect on the serious issues that he sees in their society.

Revised Prompt #5

Unlike the novelist, the writer of a play does not use his own voice and only rarely uses a narrator's voice to guide the audience's responses to character and action. Select a play you have read and write an essay in which you explain the techniques the playwright uses to guide his audience's responses to the central characters and the action. You might consider the effect on the audience of things like setting, the use of comparable and contrasting characters, and the characters' responses to each other. Support your argument with specific references to the play. Do not give a plot summary.

In general, plays, as opposed to prose or poetry, allows for much more flexibility in their interpretations by audiences. Depending on how on how an individual imagine the actions and appearances of the characters based on purely the dialogue on the page, he will receive a unique experience that may not match up with others' experiences. However, Arthur Miller is a playwright who has an extremely explicit vision of his plays, and narrows the window through which the audience can interpret his characters, plot, and overall meaning. Miller uses specific descriptions of the play's set, the divergent success in life of Willy's family and Charley's family, and the conflicts between the major characters to convey his message indicting his contemporary American society and its principles.

The settings that Miller presents to the audience shape their mood,and their interpretation of the characters' actions on the stage. Compared to many other prominent playwrights, Miller is extremely detailed in his stage directions. By analyzing his directions, the reader can see the effects that Miller wishes to create, and what meaning that it conveys. In the first scene, the abstract nature of the set, with rooms that have no visible boundaries and towering dark figures of apartment buildings, gives a dreamlike quality to the play. This leads the audience to suspend realism in there reception of the characters' actions and dialogue, as well as hint that the main character, Willy is out of touch with reality. Thus, the audience is not surprised when Willy fades in and out of flashbacks to earlier days. In addition, the musical component of the setting, with the flute that fades in and out makes reference to Willy's father's profession, as well as an allusion to the Pied Piper. Miller's uses the Pied Piper to represent the American way, leading individuals like Willy awry. The setting, both visual and musical, allows Miller to advance his message criticizing the American way.

Miller juxtaposes the success of Charley's family and the failure of Willy's family to criticize the American way and his contemporary American society. From the beginning of the play, Miller makes clear that Willy's family is not extremely accomplished. Through direct and indrect characterization, the audience is informed that Willy is an aging salesman, Biff is out of work, and Happy lives a mediocre life as an office worker. However, the extent of the family's failures only become apparent when Miller details the interactions between Willy and Charley, as well as Willy and his son, Bernard. The deception that Miller has Willy's family play on itself, as well as on the audience, is broken when it is revealed that Willy has been forced to accept charity from Charlie on a weekly basis. In addition, it is revealed that Bernard has become very successful, despite his portrayal as Biff's subordinate in their younger years. This stark contrast inevitability leads to conflict, culminating in Willy's outburst against Charley. Miller uses Willy's reaction, through the details in his dialogue and his emotional tone, to explore his character's deepest feelings. Through this, the audience recognizes that Willy's idealized vision of his life is merely a shell that he keeps up to protect him from reality. By revealing the suffering of its product, Miller condemns the American Dream as a hollow shell of materialistic values and unjustifiable expectations.

Miller uses specific descriptions of the play's set, the divergent success in life of Willy's family and Charley's family, and the conflicts between the major characters to convey his message indicting the contemporary American society and its principles.

Open Prompt # 4 Revised

2007. In many works of literature, past events can affect, positively or negatively, the present activities, attitudes, or values of a character. Choose a novel or play in which a character must contend with some aspect of the past, either personal or societal. Then write an essay in which you show how the character's relationship to the past contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.

The longevity of human memory is bittersweet; nostalgic memories of the past can bring great pleasure, while terrible experiences can haunt one forever. In Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman must deal with the ramifications of his past extramarital affair. Willy's struggle with his past mistake is a vehicle through which Miller explores Willy's role in Biff's failure to succeed and the fallacy of Willy's ideas regarding success, revealing Miller's criticisms of the society responsible for creating Willy.

Miller makes it clear that the discovery of Willy's extramarital affair by Biff is the direct cause of Biff's failure in life, however, Willy initially responds with denial. Bernard notes that after Biff visits Willy in Boston, the drive that Biff had to complete high school vanishes, a comment that angers Willy greatly and that he denies. Biff's discovery of Willy's affair exposes his father as a "fake", and leads him to see through the fallacy of the ideals and dreams that his father has for him. This leads to the disillusionment that haunts him in the years following the incident. Since Biff's confrontation, he fights a constant battle between his own optimistic perceptions and reality. Willy blames Biff's laziness for his failures in life, but eventually, deep down, Willy recognizes that he is to blame. As the plot progresses, Willy realizes, despite his surface pomp and pride, the flaws in his ideals and dreams.

Since Willy is Miller's symbol for the American way and the products of American society, when Willy, the character that embodies American values, finally comes to realize that his own vision is a lie, Miller is displaying his criticism of those values. After Biff's discovery of his affair with The Woman, Willy's optimistic perception of society and its values is shattered, causing him, similarly to Biff, to suffer bouts of disillusionment with the world he lives in. He turns to memories of his brother, Ben, for the "right answer" to the question of how to succeed in the world, yet finds no concrete answer. Through Biff's confrontation about his affair with The Woman, Willy is brought to reality. However, he can not cope with the real world, preferring to hide in the broken shell of his American Dream. Willy, though internally realizing that his American Dream is a lie, perseveres in his quest to realize it, culminating in his death. The death of Willy in his pitiful pursuit of a broken dream is Miller's condemnation of the values and aspirations that Willy represented.

Willy is haunted by the questions and self-realization of the fake life that he leads, after Biff discovers his affair. He is unable to accept what he knows deep down to be true, which leads to his demise. Through this Miller exposes the fallacy of the American way by exposing its product, Willy, as a lie.