Synthesis of Course Materials

After thinking about everything I have done for the first 50 minutes of my day at school and the wee hours of the night trying to finish my work, I realize that it can be broken down into four broad yet basic categories: class discussions, annotating, improving essays, and understanding the main idea. 

(This is a DIDLS free entry. Yes it is important but every other response to course materials has listed DIDLS. What was said in past posts is still relevant, but it is not as necessary to write about because these elements have become second nature to me by now.)

Class Discussions
  If there is one thing the class discussions has taught me is to be quick on my feet, which is harder than it sounds at such an unreasonable time in the morning. The topics often change rapidly that I have a hard time interjecting my two sense into the discussion. As we continue to discuss as a class, I feel that I have not only gotten better at finding the right time to speak, but also putting in thought provoking ideas which can branch out to new discussions. I have come to love class discussions because I enjoy hearing other people points of view and being able to discuss with them why they see things the way they do. The best part of these discussions in my opinion is when everyone adds a little to a main idea, and the class as a whole comes up with a generalization about the piece of work. This has taught me to look at others ideas, take them  into consideration, and decide how they fit in with my current thought.

Annotating
  When I say to people that I have to annotate a book for homework, most people cringe. However, I secretly enjoy annotating. I  like being able to write on the pages and take note of things that are important. I feel that this also helps with my understanding of the piece because I am a very visual person. Whats great about annotating is that it really forces you to read every thing the author is giving you. When reading the first time, so many things can be missed or overlooked as arbitrary details, but when doing a second read/annotating, when you have a basic understanding of the plot, connections, comparisons, and conclusions can  easily be made.

Improving Essays

  Essays, can be very intimidating when looking at the prompt, but this year I've learned to really understand the prompt before I start writing my essay. I remember getting half way through a prompt at the beginning of the year and realizing that I was answering a completely different question. I learned the hard way to really look at the prompt and figure out what I need to pull from the text and what inferences I need to make. While revising my essays the past few days, I was a bit proud of my introductions and theses. I felt that this year my theses have improved immensely in comparison to prior english classes.

Understanding the Main Idea
  In every prompt and discussion, we end up talking about the piece of work as a whole. I've been used to looking at fragments or thinking about how this one aspect can relate to another, but never really looked into connecting everything into one giant idea. All of these have forced me to look at how these different elements of each poem, play or novel we read are so delicately intertwined with each other in the piece of work resulting in one stream of ideas.

the end.

Revision to Open Prompt #5

1988. Choose a distinguished novel or play in which some of the most significant events are mental or psychological; for example, awakenings, discoveries, changes in consciousness. In a well-organized essay, describe how the author manages to give these internal events the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax usually associated with external action. Do not merely summarize the plot.

       Waking up after a very vivid dream can be very disturbing, that is, until we realize that it was only a dream and everything is okay. But what if you couldn't distinguish the difference between reality and these vivid occurrences? In the play a "Death of a Salesmen" by Arthur Miller, the main character Willy often goes into very vivid flashbacks allowing the audience to understand Willy's struggle and constant strive for perfection and an overall feeling of success. 

       Willy Lowman seems like an average man, until you observe his actions for more than a couple of minutes. One minute Willy is over-the-moon extatic, and the next minute he is screaming and yelling. But these are not the strangest of his actions. The strangest is when Willy begins to talk to himself about the past or repeats his words from very intense moments in his life and imagine that these moments are happening over again. Although these actions are not always kept inside of Willy's head, the hallucinations and flashbacks are purely a creation of Willy's mind. 

       Miller uses these "internal events" to shape the entire plot of the play. When Willy sees, thinks, or hears about something that reminds him of a past event, he automatically segues into a memory. In the beginning of the play, when Willy is talking about driving, he starts to think about the past. He thinks of the red car, Biff and Happy's youth, and successful business days. Then, later on in the play, when Willy is talking to Biff and Happy at the restaurant with their dates about Biff's current failure, Willy is reminded of Biff discovering Willy's affair. This shapes the play by tying the current issues of the play with the issues of the past allowing the reader to understand the tribulations of both Willy's life and his family's life. 

      These "internal events" put a great deal of strain on Willy, and allow us to understand the breakdown of this man. We see both the up and downs in his life and realize that even in his happiest moments, he still is not successful. These events cause the reader to visualize the events in his life and how they have influenced the present day Willy Lowman. Because Miller puts in these events, and because they are often the most dramatic parts of the play, we are able to look further into the mind of Willy Lowman and see how this man has died before reaching success. 




Original: Open Prompt #5

Revision to Open Prompt #3

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 perceived. 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 hat. Grandma's monologues are consistent in the way that she is always pointing out the truth and being honest. In comparison, the young man seems to only talk about ideal and about things that seem to be good. By contrasting these two, 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. Another major comparison between the Grandma and the young man, is their morals and values. While Grandma throughout the play hints towards her ideals of structure, value, worth, and hard work, the young man waltzes into the play all talk (and show) but no action. These two characters are further contrasted causing the ideals of both the new and old American dream to be compared.

     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 and viewed in both current and past societies.


Original: Open Prompt #3

Revision to Open Prompt #2

1977. In some novels and plays certain parallel or recurring events prove to be significant. In an essay, describe the major similarities and differences in a sequence of parallel or recurring events in a novel or play and discuss the significance of such events. Do not merely summarize the plot.

     Each time we revisit a familiar place, new memories are created; no two visits are exactly the same. In our minds, we view these revisits as normal experiences, but in literature, these occurrences are almost always symbolic. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester's visits to the scaffold represent both the progression of the novel and the unraveling of the novel's biggest secret. 
     There are three instances in which Hester stands on the scaffold. Each time she stands there Hawthorn is emphasizing a major event. In the beginning of the novel, Hester stands before the town with her baby Pearl in her arms. She is stoic as she stands alone and refuses to say the name of the father of her child. This visit to the scaffold emphasizes how brave Hester is and how cowardly Dimmesdale is. This scene is important to the plot because it gives the audience a sense of curiosity of who the father is and allows them to see the type of community Hester lives in. 
      In the middle of the novel, Hester, Pearl and Dimmesdale meet on the scaffold in the middle of the night by chance. In this scene, Dimmesdale is acknowledging the fact that he is Pearl's father and also a sinner. In comparison to the first scene on the scaffold, this scene has both Hester and Pearl again with the addition of Dimmesdale, except the towns people are missing. This scene represents the start of Dimmesdale's acceptance, but because this meeting is in the  dark of night with no witnesses besides Hester and Pearl we can see that he has not fully forgiven himself. Hawthorne's use of imagery in this scene allows us to understand who Dimmesdale feels comfortable to share this information with. By being in a public place with the  absence of people and the cover of night, the readers have a strong image of Dimmesdale's emotions towards his secret.
     In the final visit to the scaffold, both Hester and Pearl are present once again, as well as the towns people and Dimmesdale. Here, Dimmesdale reveals his secret to the entire town and then shortly dies afterwords. While the three are standing on the scaffold, they are all free of their secrets as they are displayed in front of the entire town. This scene is free of secrecy as compared to the first encounter on the scaffold where Dimmesdale remained hidden from the public. By having Dimmesdale stand on the scaffold in front of the town, Hawthorne is emphasizing the fact that Dimmesdale has come clean and accepted his sin.  
     These three visits to the scaffold are emphasizing the beginning, middle and the end of the novel by comparing who is on the scaffold and who they are in front of. These scenes cause the novel to tie itself together and creates a better sense of what is going on in the novel.

Original: Open Prompt # 2

Revision to Open Prompt #1

Prompt: 1991. Many plays and novels use contrasting places (for example, two countries, two cities or towns, two houses, or the land and the sea) to represent opposed forces or ideas that are central to the meaning of the work. Choose a novel or play that contrasts two such places. Write an essay explaining how the places differ, what each place represents, and how their contrast contributes to the meaning of the work.

       Our location can influence our actions, emotions, and thoughts; you wouldn't act like you do in your house like you would at school, would you? In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck is influenced by the actions of others on land, but is able to think on his own on the raft in the river. In this novel, the contrast of the Mississippi River and the land surrounding it represent the difference between both the innocence and corrupt values as well as how Huck is portraying himself. 

On the river, Huck is alone on a raft with Jim, a runaway slave, which would be considered absurd to anyone who saw the two of them. If anyone were to know the truth of their relationship, the two would be judged severely and punished. However, none of this matters to Huck because on the river, he is his own person. Huck has no one to tell him how to act or how to think. Twain writes these river scenes to allow Huck to interpret Jim’s words and treat him as an equal.

However, when Jim and Huck stop on land, Huck is suddenly influenced by everything and everyone around him. Not only does he treat Jim differently, but he lies, cheats, and ventures around as if he were a parrot repeating someone else’s words. Huck’s actions are directly related to his location. Each time Huck steps his foot on land, he is back to thinking like a typical southerner of the time period would.

Twain's juxtaposition of the land and the river contrast the ideas found in each location. On the Mississippi River, Huck and Jim are out of sight from everyone else leaving there minds free and untainted. But on land, these two deal with blending into the expectations of society. Twain uses this method of comparing the two places to put emphasis on Huck’s actions when he is being watched, and when he is not. By emphasizing Huck's actions both on land and off, Twain is showing Huck growing up and developing his own personal view of people and life itself. 

Original: Open Prompt #1