1995. Writers often highlight the values of a culture or a society by using characters who are alienated from that culture or society because of gender, race, class, or creed. Choose a novel or a play in which such a character plays a significant role and show how that character's alienation reveals the surrounding society's assumptions or moral values.
In the popular TV show Glee, the main characters constantly step out of their comfort zone to highlight the other boring high-schoolers that attend their high school. People who are different often contrast how others are the same and are percieved. In "The American Dream" by Edward Albee, the Grandmother is an older and wiser character used to juxtapose the younger characters to show Albee's opinion of the old and new american dream.
Many times in the play, we see that Grandma was raised in a different environment and age period in comparison to the younger characters like her daughter and her daughters husband, their son, and one of their friends. The Grandma in this play is contrasted to the younger characters such as Mommy and Daddy by having conversations full of substance and truth instead of talking about the color of a bag. Grandma's monologues are constitent in the way that she is always pointing out the truth and being honest. By doing this, Albee represents the old American dream as truthful and full of substance.
One major comparison of characters in this play is the comparison between Grandma - the old american dream, and the young man - the new american dream. Grandma is old and worn down and is always complaining about how old she feels. The young man appears handsome and both full of energy and life. This comparison between the two dreams represents how Grandma was once like the young man both promising and full of hope.
Albee's comparison of these two types of characters, the young generation and the old generation highlight the differences of the two types of dreams and the way they are used.
You've got great ideas here. However, I'd like to see a few more specifics. Maybe you could talk about some of the DIDLS techniques and how they create the contrast between the new American Dream and the old one. For example, the Young Man is vibrant. How does Albee show that? I do like the connection you made between Glee and the play. You've always got really strong introductions, and here is no exception.
ReplyDeleteNice job with this third Open Prompt, I’m glad to see that you are using what we’ve discussed in class in these practice essays! I have to say, at first glance I was concerned that you were about to write an essay on Glee… One thing I noticed was that you had an excellent opportunity to discuss the morals and values of Grandma and the Young man like the prompt had suggested, maybe you could’ve expounded upon that a little more…
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