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
Original: Open Prompt #3
You didnt mention techniques in your thesis used to create that juxtapose but you did mention them in the body paragraphs. I suggest that you work on your thesis last in your essay so it can be clear and concise. Your examples, however, had good detailed descriptions of events that Albee used to compare the two characters as a metaphor for the past and current American Dream. I like how you compared grandma's monologue to the young man's. I like how you explain your claims, your point instantly becomes clear to the audience.
ReplyDeleteWhat a refreshing intro sentence! I liked the ideas you brought up, but I would work on taking out some of the plot summary and expanding on the content of the last paragraph/sentence. There needs to be more analysis and critical thinking.
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