April 2012
14 posts
Reflection
The paper I constructed evaluated Jonathan Franzen’s characters in “Agreeable” to portray examples of the white privelege defined by McIntosh. The paper flowed well, and I found various outside sources to support my claim (I think). At first I was nervous about writing the paper because I didn’t know if the connections I made to the text were strong enough, but after...
Lock Precis
Helen Lock in “Building up From Fragments” (1998) asserts a large part of cultural identity for African Americans is the tradition of an oral culture to communicate and relay information. Lock supports the assertion by referencing multiple African American writers, and focuses upon the ways in which they utilized the importance of an oral tradition in the formation of African American...
Morrison Annotation
“Every now and then she would stop dancing long enough to tell me something important and one of those things she said was that they never washed their hair and they smelled funny. Roberta sure did. Smell funny, I mean.”
How does this part of the introduction shape how the rest of the narrative is constructed through the eyes of an adult looking back on how she made a friend of a...
Berlatsky Rhetorical Precis
Eric Berlatsky in “Memory as Forgetting:The Problem of the Postmodern in Kundera’s ‘The Book of Laughter and Forgetting’ and Spiegelman’s ‘Maus’” (2003) asserts the postmodern concept of memory as distinct from history and time is applicable within Kundera’s and Speiglman’s short fiction stories, however, in participating in the construct...
Kundera Annotation
“They wanted to erase hundreds of thousands of lives from human memory and leave nothing but a single unblemished age of unblemished idyll. But Mirek is going to stretch out full length over their idyll, like a blemish. And stay there, like Clementis’s cap on Gottwald’s head.”
What similarities are there between Mirek and Zneda and characters of other stories we’ve...
Silko Annotation
“Leon shook his head. ‘He can’t do it again. We are just as good as them.’ The guys who came back always talked like that.” (Page 581)
How does the narrator inform readers of hegemonic processes within America based on racial distinctions?
The narrator in the quote above portrays his doubt toward individuals who are not white, who are part of his Native American...
Richard Ford Annotation
‘“Fly all over your man, Les,’ my father said. ‘When you see your chance, fly on him and hit him till he falls.’ That, I thought, woud always be my attitude in things.” (Page 221)
How is the construction of the narrator’s identity through one ideology relevant to our understanding of fiction?
The narrator in the story remembered, in the past, something...
Adichie
Adichie in the video claimed generalizations of people based on one limited scope is damaging and not complete representations of who people are. To support her claim, Adichie provides personal anecdotes to show she is a versatile being that cannot be entertained by one definition of herself. The purpose of the video was to show people that generalizations and putting people into categories cannot...
Eisenberg Annotation
“Animals other than humans appear to be having a more profound experience of the present. But who’s to say? Clearly their feelings are intense, and maybe grief and anxiety darken all their days. Maybe that’s why they’ve acquired their stripes and polka dots and fluffiness—to cheer themselves up.” (Page 211)
How does the description of animals in this context...
Second Paper Proposal
For the second paper, I plan on applying “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” to Franzen’s “Agreeable” in order to explore how the text portrays unearned advantages white citizens in America might experience, regardless of their knowledge of their unearned advantage, as well as how the characters do not take actions like McIntosh’s essay on how to lessen the...
Adichie Annotation
”She will look at only one of the corpses, naked, stiff, facedown, and it will strike her that she cannot tell if the partially burned man is Igbo or Hausa, Christian or Muslim, from looking at that charred flesh.”
How does the device of ignorance of the dead serve as a plot device to round Chika’s character?
The quote above portrays the burnt human flesh and destruction to...
Heise Rhetorical Precis
Ursula K. Heise in “Chronoschisms” (1997) asserts the notion that time and the end to a plot in narrative is not necessary in the conventions that other theorists had claimed. Heise supports her assertion by noting theorists such as Brooks claimed the end within plot, and the need for time development within a narrative, are necessary because they mirror the mortality of the human...
Garro Annotation
“Nacha knew what the senora was saying was true…”
How does the interaction between Nacha and Laura create a dynamic with is realistic yet still magical?
Nacha and Laura throughout the story interact with one another through dialogue as well as body language because Nacha chooses to respond to what Laura says by, at times, crossing her arms or agreeing with what Laura speaks of....
Paz Annotation
“Her sweet embraces became knotty cords that strangled me. And her body, greenish and elastic, was an implacable whip that lashed, lashed, lashed.”
How does magical surrealism within this story create tension for the narrator?
In this story and passage, the surrealistic female who beats the narrator is more vicious and unavoidable than any human because she is a wave, unpredictable...
March 2012
9 posts
Author Summary
For the presentation of “Fall Ends Tomorrow”, I prepared the question for the author: What was the significance of the rats in the first portion of the story? I prepared this question because the symbolism of the rats interested me greatly, partially due to how the rats were hunted and represented in the story, and also how modern society attaches the connotation of perhaps...
Faris Rhetorical Precis
Wendy B. Faris in “Scheherazade’s Children: Magical Realism and Postmodern Fiction” (1995) asserts that in fiction can combine aspects of realism and the unusual in order to create magical components that arise from the reality portrayed. Faris supports what she asserts by exploring the importance of Scheherazade’s children, and how the children as postmodern narrators...
Bombal Annotation
“No. She is imprisoned in the web of her past, trapped by the dressing room-which has been invaded by a terrifying white light. It was as if they had ripped off the roof; a crude light entering from every direction, seeping through her very pores, burning her with its coldness.”
How does the symbol of light portray the shift in plot in the story?
The light, once let in, penetrated...
Thon Annotation
“After we danced, we lay so close on your bed I dreamed we were twins, joined forever this way, two arms, three legs, two heads.” (page 613)
What is the significance of the intoxicated and drug-influenced narrator thinking them and their friend are one entity?
The narrator, though under the influence of drugs and alcohol, portrays themself as well as Emile as unified characters,...
Rhetorical Precis Brenkman
John Brenkman in “On Voice” (2000) asserts voice within text is often overlooked, though voice is imperative to the identity and anonyminity of the narrative, as well as the narrator and character development. Brenkman supports the assertion by stating quotes from Bakhtin which reaffirm the importance of voice within text in order to develop plot and characters. The purpose of the...
Franzen Annotation
“She felt more beaten up after a tough basketball game than she did now. Plus, as a jock you got used to having other people’s hands on you—kneading a cramped muscle, playing tight defense, scrambling for a loose ball, taping an ankle, correcting a stance, stretching a hamstring. And yet: the feeling of injustice itself turned out to be strangely physical.” (page 16)
What is the purpose of Franzen...
Franzen Article
In the Franzen article about Edith Wharton, Franzen asserts sympathy is one of the strongest tools which writers use to make fiction successful, and how Wharton, as an author, unsuccessfully executes the sympathy vote. Franzen claims Wharton was unsuccessful in getting readers to feel sympathetic because, as an author, Wharton was supposedly unattractive, sexually inept, and did not entertain a...
Sontag Annotation
“And when some of the friends, the ones who came every day, waylaid the doctor in the corridor….before she could start him on the new drug…” (page 587)
How is the portrayal of the doctor an example of how Sontag plays with readers’ expectations and assumtions?
The doctor, at first, is introduced only by their professional title of ‘doctor’. Then, lines...
Lanser Rhetorical Precis
Susan S. Lanser in “Queering Narratology” (1996) asserts naratology could be complicated and queered by perceptions of sex, gender, and sexuality which readers might attempt to use as contextualizing agencies to understand a narrative. Lanser supports the assertion by explaining the ambiguity of “Written on the Body” in regards to sex, gender, and sexuality, and how through...
February 2012
20 posts
Minot Annotation
“He made certain comments about my forehead, about my cheeks…..We started off sitting at one end of the couch and then our feet were squished against the armrest and then he went over to turn off the TV and….” (page 405)
How does Minot arrange the narrative in order to provide readers with an example of postmodern fiction?
Minot in the passage above rearranges the story...
Burgass Rhetorical Precis
Catherine Burgass in “A brief Story of Postmodern Plot” asserts plot can be influenced by the concept of time, however, postmodern literature subverts the concept that time is a linear structure. Burgass supports the assertion by exemplifying texts which challenge the linear time structure, such as Heidegger’s “Being and Time”. The purpose of the article is to...
Paper Topic
The topic I would like to discuss in the upcoming paper is flat characters and round characters, and how due to circumstances of the fiction or where the story ends, certain characters either remain flat or have the ability to become round.
Mukherjee Rhetorical Precis
Bharati Mukherjee in “The Management of Grief” portrays how different people grieve over those lost, as well as how government instutions attempt to control how people grieve. Mukherjee constructs the portrayal of different ways of grieving by providing information about characters who, due to cultural custom, created new lives immediately, and how some people could not move past the...
Keating Rhetorical Precis
AnnLouise Keating in “Interrogating ‘Whiteness’, (De)constructing ‘Race’” (2012), asserts the concept of ‘whiteness’ must be acknowledged and critically analyzed, and that ‘race’ in general is a societal construct determined to create binaries and thus perpetuate racism. Keating supports the assertion by elaborating how...
"Brownie" Annotation
“Troop 909 was doomed from the first day of camp; they were white girls, their complexions a blend of ice cream: strawberry, vanilla. They turtled out from their bus in pairs, their rolled-up sleeping bags chromatized with Disney characters…” (page 503)
How does the portrayal of the Troop 909 girls provide an example of the young children’s unearned advantage in life?
The...
McIntosh Rhetorical Precis
Peggy McIntosh in “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” (1988) claims racism caused by white supremacy in the United States is prevalent due to the lack of acknowledgement of racist tendencies throughout society by white citizens. McIntosh supports her claim by composing a detailed list of the advantages she daily encounters as a white citizen in America, and at the end of the list,...
Zizek Precis
Slavoj Zizek in, “Philosophy, the Unknown Knowns, and the Public Use of Reason” (2006) asserts the basis of philosophy depends on a thinking based on assumptions, an in order to challenge those assumptions, people must question the conventional thought in order to reach higher levels of understanding. Zizek supports his assertion by clarifying the ‘unknown known’, and that citizens can be more...
Cisneros and Diaz
In regards to the hegemonic processes shown through “Never Marry a Mexican” and “Nilda”, Cisneros exploits (but does not reify) the hegemonic process and Diaz perpetuates the hegemony of gender distinctions, but challenges the hegemonic processes of class and race. In “Never Marry a Mexican”, Cisneros displays the life of a Latina woman who finds herself discarded by a white man, in her eyes,...
Annotation
“Though he was tall and thick with muscle, he carried himself lightly, his arms held away from his body, as though he were hollow. Today his rumpled hair stood up from his head. Under each eye was a white translucent spot of pain.” (Page 135)
How does the portrayal of Frank exemplify the fictional character that exists in context?
The passage shows Frank as a character which exists...
Rhetorical Precis
William H. Gass in “The Concept of Character in Fiction” (1924) asserts characters are imperitive to fiction because they can exist in language and context, free of physical restraints. Gass supports the assertion by examining how characters in fiction do not render reality, but attempt to embody the universal, even though they are created through context, situation, and language. The...
Annotation
“She’d gone to the funeral, along with a couple of his other girls, and what a skirt she’d worn, like maybe she could still convince him of something, and she’d kissed my mother but the vieja hadn’t known who she was.” (Page 150)
How does Nilda attending the funeral and the description of Nilda portray a character who embodies the past within herself, but...
Rhetorical Precis
Bev. Hogue in “Naming the Bones” (2006) claims a verification of the past or deceased items can bring clarity to writing and self discovery. Hogue supports the claim by giving examples of various fictional characters who face adversity and either discover their self truths by looking at the past heritages, such as Milkman Dead and Senhor Jose, or they remain inauthentic by striving too...
Annotation
“And he took me under his wing and in his bed, this man, this teacher, your father. I was honored that he’d done me the favor. I was that young.” (page 114)
How does the quote above display a patriarchal society in which the narrator attempts to subvert throughout the story?
The narrator in the passage above describes a man who mentored her, and when he chose to engage in a...
Rhetorical Precis
Rachel Blau Duplessis in “Breaking the Sentence; Breaking the Sequence” (1985) claims the doubleness of women is caused by hegemonic forces of society, which creates gendering. Duplessis supports her claim by stating many women do not outgrow the Oedipous complex (though some do), and that women, by participating in patriarchal constraints in society, help actually create the power...
Extended thoughts.....
Annotation
“They carried the soldier’s greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing. Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to. It was what had brought them to the war in the first place, nothing positive, no dreams of glory or honor, just to avoid the blush of dishonor.” (Page 480)
How does the perspective of the narrator through societal contexts help create the...
Rhetorical Precis
Barbara Foley in “The Documentary Novel and the Problem” (1986) asserts mimesis is a contract between writer and reader under specific social contexts in which the possibly realities from perceptions can be made. Foley supports this assertion by providing three argument points such as the spectrum argument, the “family resemblance” argument, and the “text in relation...
Brooks vs. Forster and Woolf
In regards to “Reading for the Plot” by Peter Brooks, Brooks quotes a theory by Vladimir Propp which states, “Functions are stable, constant elements whoever carries them out” (pare 211). However, in previous discussions in regards to flat and round characters from the Forster reading, round characters create different functions in fiction than flat characters, which mostly help supplement the...
Annotations
“Caviar” by T.C. Boyle
“I was bombarded with selfish and acquisitive thoughts, seething with scorn for Marie—she was the one, she was defective, not me—bursting to exercise my God-given right to a child and heir. It’s true, it really is—you never want something so much as when somebody tells you you can’t have it.” (Page 84)
How does Boyle...
January 2012
7 posts
Annotation
He hesitates, glances down. “I-I’ll try and do better.” He seems about to cry again. For some reason this makes her feel abruptly very irritable and nervous. She turns from him, walks into the living room and begins putting the sofa back in order. When he comes to the doorway and says her name, she doesn’t answer, and he walks through the kitchen door.
What in the significance of the change in...
Rhetorical Precis
E.M. Forster in “Flat and Round Characters” (1927) asserts the necessity for flat characters within a novel as well as praises flat characters with the potential to be round. Foster supports the assertion by detailing how Mrs. Micawber can be simply defined in one sentence and no more, but characters like Lady Bertram’s have the opportunity to become round through the development of her thoughts...
Annotation
Annotation
Page 21: “I said that they shouldn’t be frightened (although I am often frightened) and that there was value everywhere. Helen came and embraced me. I kissed her a few times on the brow. We held each other. The children were excited. Then there was a knock on the door, I opened the door, and the new gerbil walked in. The children cheered wildly.”
How does Barthelme...
"The Art of Fiction"
Rhetorical Precis
Henry James in “The Art of Fiction” (1884) asserts the novel is comprised of sincerity, story, and experience. James states the novel is an impression of life, and that impression must be delivered effectively and honestly by the author in order for the story to develop, and for the novel to have a story is its most important aspect. This honesty of the impression...
Aristotle and Bakhtin
Aristotle in “Poetics” clearly outlines, defines, and interprets aspects of the epic, tragedy, and comic, as does Bakhtin in “Epic and Novel”. Aristotle claims that writing something poetic is always an imitation of something in reality, much the same as interpretive dance, and that, “Rhythm alone, without harmony, is the means in the dancer’s imitations; for even he, by the rhythms of his...
Symbolism
Symbolism, though difficult to decipher, is a necessary part of interpreting and understanding literature. Though some people might go overboard with interpreting symbols, finding meaning in every word and image, some symbols go undiscovered for years and therefore change the meaning of the text once the symbol is discovered. It’s interesting that many authors don’t intentionally put some symbols...
Chick Lit...
The controversy over the amount of coverage Fanzen recieved for Freedom is warrented. From the information provided by the NY Times article, the novel sounds like it doesn’t even adequately portray the characters that critics are raving about, such as Patty. Patty, according to the Times, is always buzzing around the back door with a plate of cookies or a card or some lilies of the valleys....
