Practice

Here's a site with some more practice MC.

Guest Blogger: Megan S.

Blog Post
During class this week we have been working on determining the different themes of Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein. Shelley uses multiple themes to construct the novel. The main themes that we came up with in class were a focus on knowledge and people are afraid what is different and out of place.
Starting with knowledge, I think that dealing with knowledge is a key factor in understanding Frankenstein. The two characters that are symbols of knowledge are Victor and Walton. Both Victor and Walton use an abundance of knowledge. The motivation of their knowledge is driven by greed. They wanted to be the first one to create something or the first to discover something new. They drove their selves to reach their goals, by pushing their knowledge to the limit. However once Victor has enough knowledge to create the monster, he regrets it in the end. He has so much knowledge that he does what nature cannot. Bad things happen to Victor because he went past the knowledge limit. Although Victor and Walton share the need for knowledge, they are very different cases. Walton uses his knowledge to discover, however he doesn’t tamper with nature. Victor uses his knowledge to create, and he changes and alters nature. Other characters in the novel experience changes in knowledge. For example, the monster in the story gains knowledge as he progresses in his new life. So, in the monsters case, knowledge helped him in life but it also hindered him. In the case of knowledge helping the monster, he learned how to keep himself warm and how to survive in the wild. In the case of knowledge hindering the monster, he learned how to have many emotions and feels certain things that without knowledge he would have never experienced. For example, if the monster didn’t have knowledge he wouldn’t be feel like he was alone in the world.
Finally, people are afraid of what is different and out of place is an important theme in Frankenstein. Once Victor Frankenstein created the monster he was afraid of his creation. Another example would be when the monster enters the town and everyone screamed and fainted. They didn’t have a chance to talk or get to know the monster. The townspeople reacted without knowing anything about the monster. The monster is different and was out of place, therefore he was not accepted.
Theme is a very important part in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. Two of the many key themes in the novel were about knowledge and people fear what is different and out of place. Our class time discussing theme was well worth it.

Process Paper detailed

2nd Semester Process Paper
We have just finished reading and analyzing three pieces of literature, Turn of the Screw, Ethan Frome and As I Lay Dying. For this process essay, please choose a literary technique or element and discuss said element using each of the three novels.
Guidelines:
o Text support with citations is required, along with a Works Cited page
o Length should be between 4-5 pages typed, double spaced
o All three pieces need to be discussed in relation to your chosen technique/element
o Essay should focus on analysis, not plot summary
o Paper is due on Monday, April 19th and needs to be submitted to SafeAssign by midnight on the 19th

Guest Blogger: Caitlyn B.

I think from writing As I Lay Dying from the perspectives of multiple narrators, William Faulkner was able to show different opinions and ways of handling the situation at hand. The family in this novel is going through most families’ worst nightmare, a death. The different characters each have very unique personalities and they are exposed through the multiple-narrator format.
Cash seems to be very introverted and focused on his carpentry. He seems to be uneducated, which limits him as a narrator. As the novel continues though, Cash becomes more vocal in the story, and by the end takes over as the main narrator when Darl’s sanity is lost.
Darl seems to take his mother’s death relatively well at the beginning. He seems to be a well-educated narrator, which gives him the ability to tell the story in a clear way. Addie’s death appears to turn Darl into a sort of philosopher, and he begins thinking very deeply about things. “And since sleep is is-not and rain and wind are was, it is not. Yet the wagon is, because when the wagon is was, Addie Bundren will not be. And Jewel is, so Addie Bundren must be. And then I must be, or I could not empty myself for sleep in a strange room. And so if I am not emptied yet, I am is.” (page 80). As the end of the novel approaches, Darl looses his sanity. It is not clearly stated whether this is simply an act to protect the Bundren family or if he is actually going insane.
Vardaman is such a young boy his character gives a unique perspective. This perspective is one of confusion. Vardaman is confused as well as confusing, which makes his chapters difficult for the reader to decipher. He does not understand what is going on, so in order to make sense of it for himself, he begins his own rationalization process. “And so if Cash nails the box up, she is not a rabbit. And so if she is not a rabbit I couldn’t breathe in the crib and Cash is going to nail it up. And so if she lets him it is not her. I know. I was there. I saw when it did not be her. I saw. They think it is and Cash is going to nail it up” (page 66). This quote from Vardaman is very similar to the quote from Darl above. Both of these characters go through processes of deep thinking, that are unclear and hard to follow for the reader. Vardaman also seems to be very focused on identity. “My mother is a fish” (page 84). When Darl goes insane, Vardaman has a passage in stream of consciousness in which he repeats over and over again my brother Darl.
Dewey Dell and Anse have one very similar characteristic; they are both very self-absorbed. Throughout the novel, all Anse cares about is getting his new teeth, and he even takes Dewey Dell’s money to do so. Dewey Dell is so worried about her pregnancy and keeping it a secret that she tells when Darl burns the barn down.
These very different family members each add a unique element to this story. While I found the multiple narrators confusing at times, I also thought it allowed Faulkner to show thoughts and reactions he could not have shown with a different point of view.

Guest Blogger: Michael B.

The past few weeks we have been doing a lot of work with perspectives so I guess I’ll explore that some more. As we have read the past few books, Turn of the Screw, Ethan Frome, and As I Lay Dying, we’ve experienced a wide variety of these perspectives. In Turn of the Screw it was really more of just an introduction into the idea of not just an outside all-knowing narrator, and by changing that, the story itself was changed. In As I Lay Dying, this was taken even further as we were placed inside of almost every character in the book to see their perspectives on the events occurring with the death of Addie and the family’s trip to Jefferson. Now this past weekend we read A Rose for Emily, and saw another perspective, first person, but plural with we rather than the typical singular and using I. This seems to be a very interesting idea; no longer does an author necessarily have to show agreement from each individual in a community using a multiple perspective approach as in As I Lay Dying. Yet using we still gives a greater sense of importance, and a more believable opinion than if an outside narrator said, “The town thought she was crazy”. This use of we, in A Rose for Emily, allows the town’s collective thoughts to be heard, “We did not say she was crazy then. We believed she had to do that.” (Faulkner 5). This is seen again in the first paragraph of the short story as well, “…our whole town went to her funeral…” (Faulkner 1). Without this first person plural perspective, the town would lose the “our” emphasis, no longer would the reader feel as connected to the town, whereas by using we and our, Faulkner helps connect the reader. In A Rose for Emily, this helps to further the contrast between the generations as well. Faulkner is able to use the different perspective to create a space around Emily, while still maintaining a more intimate feel of the first person narrative. In the final paragraph of the short story, the difference between first person with I and first person with we is shown again when Faulkner writes, “Then we noticed that in the second pillow was the indentation of a head. One of us lifted something from it…” (Faulkner 10). Faulkner continues his sense of a community, and actions done are done by the community with his use of we noticed. When one of the members of the group lifts something off the pillow, rather than a typical “I” if written in first person singular, Faulkner uses one of us, still linking the community to the action. I thought this was very interesting, all the different perspectives, but especially using we as a point of view. What do you think, interesting? Weird? Confusing? Also, what other types of perspectives can or might an author write from?

Guest Blogger: Sarah S.

In this last unit, we have been talking a lot about the ideology behind the type of narration that the three books we have been reading have used. In Turn of the Screw, we discussed how Henry James used the governess to create ambiguity and also help us to believe the governess more readily, despite all of her ethereal claims. It was because of his choice to do so that she didn’t seem so crazy. In Ethan Frome, we talked about how Ethan himself couldn’t have narrated his own story. He wasn’t curious enough or articulate enough to explain everything to us in a complete fashion. That’s why we needed the narrator Edith Wharton chose to find out Ethan’s story for us and relate it back to us. Both of those books included only one character narrating.
Now, we have all recently finished As I Lay Dying. This book, unlike the other two, has 15 different narrators, all of whom talk differently, understand the events differently, and give us as the readers a glimpse into all of their minds. I looked up online how many narrators there are, and while doing so, I found a quote from Cash in the book that really explains, indirectly, the thinking behind having many narrators well: “Sometimes I ain’t sho who’s got ere a right to say when a man is crazy and when he aint. Sometimes I think it aint none of us pure crazy and aint none of us pure sane until the balance of us talks him that-a-way. […] That’s how he can’t see eye to eye with other folks. And I reckon they aint nothing else to do with him but what the most folks says is right” (“As I Lay Dying Narrator…”). To me, this really describes how, especially in this book, we needed all of those perspectives. When members of the Bundren family describe what is going on, it is easy to see they are a little different than other families. Even when the Tulls talk, it shows how they are different than most other people. For the “puzzle” activity we just did in class, my group focused on the five narrators that had either never seen the Bundrens before, or in Peabody’s case, have rarely seen them. It is from these five perspectives in six different chapters that we really get a glimpse into how queer the Bundren family is. For example, Mosely (who ran the drug store) describes the sensation the family made in his town: “It must have been like a piece of rotten cheese coming into an ant-hill, in that ramshackle wagon that Albert said folks were scared would fall all to pieces before they could get it out of town, with that home-made box and another fellow with a broken leg lying on a quilt on top of it, … and the marshal trying to make them get out of town” (Faulkner 203-204). Clearly, Mosely and the other townsfolk find their situation an abomination. As both Rachel, Samson’s wife, and Lula, Armstid’s wife, say, “It’s an outrage!” (Faulkner 117 and 187). Without these other viewpoints, we, the readers, would never see to what extent how odd the Bundrens are. We see how socially awkward they are, how peculiar their journey is, and how others see them as lazy (especially Anse) and queer. No one understands why they are making this long, and apparently smelly, trip to Jefferson. With Faulkner’s choice to include all of these narrators, we get great glimpses that help to get the full story from many people’s point of view. We get a fuller picture, and really see how the Bundrens themselves, and their trip, are so strange.

Works Cited:
“As I Lay Dying Narrator: Fifty-nine sections comprised of fifteen different first person narrators.” Shmoop University, Inc. 2010. 10 April 2010. .

*Note: The quote I took from this website is found in our books on page 238, but the version from the website is a different. I chose to use that version, rather than our version, because I think it explained how point of view makes a big difference better than our book.

Guest Blogger: Sam M.

Blog Post for March 30, 2010
William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying uses many perspectives to show a journey of the Bundren family to the city. Two of these perspectives belong to Cora and Vernon Tull, neighbors of the Bundren family. Cora comes in first, with her debut in the second chapter of the novel. Cora is the Christian zealot of the novel. About every other thought she has regards God or sin, and she regularly criticizes and scolds others for their perceived impiety. For example, at one point, Cora is having a flashback in which she talks to Addie Bundren about religion. Addie acknowledges her sin and is ready to accept a just punishment, and Cora replies “Who are you, to say what is and what is not sin? It is the Lord’s part to judge...” (Faulkner 167). It seems that Cora is more interested in being able to hold higher moral ground than actually acknowledging that Addie is a decent person. Addie does know her sin, and she accepts the punishment, which would normally be viewed as noble, but Cora turns it into a matter of Addie questioning God’s authority and insight into the human mind. Cora’s desire to hold this moral authority also stems from her simple dislike of the Bundren family as a whole. The only one she actually likes is Darl, whom she says is the only one besides his mother with “natural affection” (Faulkner 21). Cora finds Addie somewhere in the middle, as Cora sees that natural affection in her, but frequently criticizes her for loving Jewel more than Darl. The rest of the family is simply abominable in Cora’s mind. She characterizes them as greedy and heartless.
While Cora sits on the sidelines judging, Vernon continually helps the Bundren family. There is evidently a history of charity to the Bundrens, as shown when Vernon thinks, “Like most folks around here, I done holp him so much already I can’t quit now.” (Faulkner 33). In addition to showing that many people in the area help the Bundrens, this thought reveals that Vernon doesn’t really feel the urge to help out of goodwill, but more the feeling that if he doesn’t help more, all of his previous efforts would be a waste. That said, Vernon is shown to be a pretty good guy simply due to his continued help, despite the lack of gratitude by the Bundren family.
The Tulls are two very different people. Cora sits on the sidelines, judging and hating and trying to keep a moral authority, while Vernon actually helps the Bundrens, despite their lack of gratitude.

Guest Blogger: Jeanne D.

In class the other day, we got together with a group and discussed some of our findings in Ethan Frome. My group decided to analyze the relationships between the characters. Ethan and Mattie have a very interesting relationship- she doesn’t even know or seem to notice that Ethan has a thing for her until he finally starts kissing her cloth, and eventually kissing her. We begin to see how Ethan is falling for Mattie when he goes to pick her up from the dance. He waits in the shadows for Mattie and watches to see if she flirts with Denis Eady. He is a very jealous man, even jealous of the cat! On page 72, when the cat rubs against Mattie’s legs, she nearly trips saying “Why puss! I nearly tripped over you!” It goes on to say that Ethan ‘felt a sudden twinge of jealousy’. Mattie doesn’t realize that Ethan has fallen for her, because when he asks if she’s planning on moving out soon (getting married), she takes it as Zeena wanting her to leave and she starts crying and freaking out. Ethan is too love-sick to notice.
Ethan and Zeena are married, but don’t really seem to like each other. Ethan only marries her because she could talk and laugh, unlike his mother. Once she got sick, she stopped talking though. Zeena seems suspicious that something is going on with Ethan- she stays up when he comes home from picking Mattie up from the dance. She notices that he is shaving as well. She seems as if she has an idea of what is going on, but she never really expresses it. Although we always consider Ethan to be stricken with Mattie, he keeps seeing images of Zeena. When Mattie sits in Zeena’s chair, Ethan sees Zeena’s face on Mattie’s body. When Ethan and Zeena are about to kill themselves, Ethan almost dodges the tree because he see’s Zeena’s face.
Mattie and Zeena don’t seem to get along at all. Mattie doesn’t do much housework, which seems to make Zeena sicker. Mattie tries to please Zeena so that she doesn’t get kicked out of the house, since she has nowhere to go. At the end of the book, Zeena is ready for Mattie to leave. This of course, never happens.

Guest Blogger: Jen A.

Today in class, Mr. Edmund’s introduced us to our next novel, As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. I am excited to read this book because it brings us a new element, the stream on consciousness. From the example we were shown in class, we realized what it was like to read the something that is a stream of consciousness. The example helped us to see the true meaning of being inside the characters minds. Everything they feel, think about, analyze.. we get to know it all. Right away in the book we see the first example of the stream of consciousness. In chapter one or “Darl”, it starts with “The path…” From this run on sentence we get to see what Darl is thinking. From what I hear about this book, we do not just enter the stream on consciousness from one person, but about 15 people!
From the discussion we had in class, I think this is going to be a very interesting book. I am excited to read about Faulkner’s use of literary modernism and how it connects with As I Lay Dying. (In case you weren’t in class today literary modernism is: the value of individuality, uneasiness about institutions (like the government, religion) and social forces that may limit or harm an individual, and the denial of any absolute truths.
As I researched more about William Faulkner, I found an interesting quote from him. "Let the writer take up surgery or bricklaying if he is interested in technique. There is no mechanical way to get the writing done, no shortcut. The young writer would be a fool to follow a theory. Teach yourself by your own mistakes; people learn only by error. The good artist believes that nobody is good enough to give him advice. He has supreme vanity. No matter how much he admires the old writer, he wants to beat him." Faulkner loved to try new things, he was one of the first American writers to experiment with many things like the stream on consciousness and he was also recognized for creating a county where all of his books took place. The more I read about Faulkner the more interesting I became in his writing and I cant wait to see what As I Lay Dying brings.

Guest Blogger: Braedon W.

Acclaimed author and Pulitzer Prize winner Edith Wharton obviously knows what it takes to write a good novel. Several times this week I have heard my fellow classmates talking about how good the book was or how they were looking forward to reading more. I also found this to be true for myself when I was reading this weekend. After reading through chapter 8 on Sunday, I stopped to think about why this book is able to capture everyone’s attention so easily. It is not the main character, as the story is told through the perspective of a very boring, unanimated Ethan Frome who scarcely communicates in more than a two word grunt. I found that Edith Wharton uses the settings around the characters and unusual details to keep capturing our attention throughout the novel.

When the narrator introduces a character in Ethan Frome, she describes the lighting and its effect on unique details in their appearance to shape the reader’s attitude toward them. She portrays Zeena as a sick, constantly complaining character that Ethan is stuck with and obliged to take care of. When Zeena is first described standing in the doorway, she is put up against a dark background being “tall and angular” while the light “drew out of the darkness her puckered throat and the projecting wrist of the hand that clutched the quilt, and deepened fantastically the hollows and prominences of her high-boned face under its ring of crimping-pins.” These descriptions of Zeena along with several others throughout the story make the reader feel negatively towards Zeena.

The descriptions of Mattie often put her in the softer light of a lamp or fireplace, introduce us to the color red in a landscape otherwise described in grayscale, and use comparable passages to shape our attitude about her. When Zeena is gone and Ethan finds the door locked Mattie answers “She stood just as Zeena had stood, a lifted lamp in her hand, against the black background of the kitchen. She held the light at the same level, and it drew out with the same distinctness her slim young throat and the brown wrist no bigger than a child’s. Then, striking upwards, it threw a lustrous fleck on her lips, edged her eyes with velvet shade, and laid a milky whiteness above the black curve of her brows.” This description through Ethan’s view point uses very positive diction to portray Mattie as embodying youth and innocence.

This stark contrast and definition in the way the characters are described helps create a good vs. evil scenario in our minds throughout the novel. It also makes what would be a very boring book about nineteenth-century New England into a novel that keeps you interested in reading more.

Guest Blogger: Aymen M.

Continuing on with our current topic of Gothic Romance and Verisimilitude, we have moved onto a new novel—”Ethan Frome.” Despite being only three chapters into the novel, one aspect I found quite interesting was how Wharton uses the season of winter to reveal the personality of Starkfield. Wharton describes Starkfield's climate having radiant blue skies and eye-catching snow, creating a pleasant winter wonderland of a town. However, this is not entirely so, because Wharton contrasts the seemingly pleasant climate of Starkfield with “the deadness of the community” of Starkfield. Instead of making the community and it’s residents lively, the atmosphere appears to emphasize “the sluggish pulse of Starkfield.” Introduced in the prologue of the novel, it seems as if the force of nature is at war with Starkfield during the winter, forcing the community of Starkfield to surrender without any hope to oppose it. This is definitely true because of Wharton's use of some military-like metaphors that caught my eye; “the storms of February had pitched their white tents about the devoted village and the wild cavalry of March winds had charged down to their support.” Also, the imagery in “Ethan Frome” creates an impression that it is built around the coldness of winter. Characters in the novel constantly complain about the cold which appears to add to the community's “deadness.” For instance, Ethan Frome himself is described for having “been in Starkfield too many winters,” so it makes sense that winter is at fault—or at least partly—for Ethan's bland and seemingly inert attitude so far in the novel. Ethan's personal life appears to be greatly affected by winter as well. Even though he is married to Zeena, his wife, Ethan's marriage with her looks as if he just married her so he does not have to bear the recurring burden of winter year after year. So, in a sense, Ethan and Zeena's marriage is essentially buried under a pile of snow that cannot be brought up, because he is not at all attracted to her. My analysis is based on the prologue and the first three chapters of the novel, so I do not know entirely why winter is so significant, but based on what is happening so far, I would think that winter is symbolic and is a major part of the theme of “Ethan Frome.”

Guest Blogger: Drew M.

My post is done to complement turn of the screw. Before starting this book yesterday without going through the beforehand knowledge it was really confusing. Going through the power points explaining what we were looking for and what this was about was really very helpful. One thing that you have to understand about turn of the screw is that it is a ghost story. I am wondering who of the class actually believes in ghosts. I personally have not yet figured out where I stand on this issue. There are times when I feel like there is no way that ghost exist and yet there are always those supernatural occurrences that I seem to feel. I think the way that the governess describes them is similar to the way I have felt them. I always seem to feel as if someone is watching me. I then promptly turn around but I see only a little flash then nothing like whatever it was has just disappeared. This has not happened to me in a while however so I'm beginning to think that it was just my imagination. One other instance of this still semi haunts me today. It happened in Minnesota in sakatah national forest. We were on a biking trip for boy scouts. We were camped near a lake. WE were sitting around the campfire when I noticed a light coming from the lake. It was a cloudless night yet it was a new moon so there was no moon in the sky. The odd thing about this light was that if you looked directly at it you couldn't see it. You could only see it if you looked to the side of it. We put out all the lights and looked at it. At this point I was not freaked out because I thought it was just a light that must be reflecting off of the water. So to assure myself and the other scouts of this we walked down to the lake. We looked on and around the shore line for anything that could have produced this light but we found nothing. Another weird thing about this light was that it was not white but it was more a pearly white with a hint of green mixed in. As I recount the story now I'm beginning to get a lump in my throat. I do not know if anyone had drowned in the lake or had died near there but what I saw that night was no ordinary light. I have never been back to that lake but if I ever do go back on a cloudless and moonless summer night I will be sure to look for it again. The reader's belief in ghosts like mine takes a very important part in this story. This can force you to take the stand that the governess is mental because of some of the lines that she says that make absolutely no sense, or you can take the side that what she says is completely true because of hr very accurate descriptions. I believe that she is telling what she believes to be the truth. I know this is kind of an opinion less way to put it but when a person believes that something imaginary happened it actually can affect someone more than if it was real. Sorry to point at a south park episode but the imagination land episode actually points this out very well that even imaginary things have real power over life. I would just like to know where other people stand on a few questions. First do you believe in supernatural experiences? Second based on your answer to the first is the governess off her rocker or telling the truth? And finally how do you feel about the things in your imagination?

Guest Blogger: Tony S.

As we learned not to long ago, Gothic Romance and Verisimilitude are opposite sides of the spectrum. One, being dark and unrealistic, gothic romance falls under the movies such as the saw series, while the other, being bored-to-death realistic, is the exact other. One comparison is two video games (video games in AP lit? No way!). Dante’s Inferno and Heavy Rain are perfect examples of Gothic Romance and Verisimilitude.
Dante’s Inferno is a prime example of Gothic Romance, whether going by the book or the video game. In the video game, the player controls Dante through the 9 rings of Hell, using a big freaking scythe of awesome, and battling millions upon millions of damned souls to rescue Beatrice from hell and keep the Devil from escaping his prison… (Trailer) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuKIWhx9RhM
Sounds gothic to me...
But that is not the only reason why it is a prime example. In class we talked about how much time may pass in each. Gothic Romance tends to skip the smaller details of what the knight ate the morning of the battle and jumps right to the epic battle between him and the dragon. The same sort of feeling is in the game too. Besides the fact that it’s not exactly normal to visit hell once in a while, but there is something a bit off if you can fight through Hell and out the other side in a couple hours. Each level, you slash and crash your way to the boss fight, then you get to the next one with no real detail in-between.
However…
Heavy Rain is the perfect example for Verisimilitude. Heavy Rain is a game where you walk and talk your way into finding out the answers to the disappearance of a young boy, who is most likely in the hands of a killer. In class we talked about how it wasn’t so much realism as it was whether it stunned or disturbed you that made it Gothic Romance or not, but when comparing the missing boy to millions of souls damned for all time in endless torment, Heavy Rain doesn’t look all that Gothic. But the reason I chose Heavy Rain over almost any other game wasn’t because it was happy-go-lucky and fun, but the ever so crafted detail. When you walk through the game, you don’t merely walk from point A to a clue and to the exit, point B. You take your time. You could go turn on a radio, or pet a bird, or even walk outside and lean against a railing for an amazing view. It even has you draw step-by-step. (clip scene of drawing) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1dEXV0kIwo. It can take you an hour in 1 room, adding all the little details that could have easily been left out without notice.
In conclusion, Dante’s Inferno and Heavy Rain are great examples of Gothic Romance and Verisimilitude because Dante’s Inferno shows the peak of dark and disturbing ideas, while Heavy Rain’s detail and realistic setting give it something more relatable.

Guest Blogger: Brandon A.

Our out of class assignment Turn of the Screw, is a book that never ceases to confuse me ever so deeply. In fact, I had to read over it three times just to get what was happening in the book just to know what was happening. I wondered why though. Was it because of the I’s that were used every sentence that you couldn’t tell who the person was because they would never state it ninety percent of the time or was it because of the type of style that Henry James uses? What helped me out was the presentation of the point of views. The point of views gave a greater clarity to who was the I in the story. The point of view was a limited first person because, the author composed the character so we can see what their thinking at that time period but, we cannot know what the other characters are thinking during the time of the discussion. This helped me by trying to go in depth by just inferences of the characters actions and how they act towards the situation.

An example of this would be in chapter three in The Turn of the Screw. This is where the main character of the story and Mrs. Grose are having a conversation. The governess states at first that the punishment was grotesque for Miles and Mrs. Grose agreed. The governess then changes her view on Miles and says that she’ll do nothing towards the situation of Miles’ suspension which, to the reader may seem hypocritical for the governess to do. What even shocks us more is that Mrs. Grose goes along and accepts the governess’s decision and consoles her with a hug but during the hug the governess thinks of Mrs. Grose as a “friendly creature”. Just annotating this we can see that Mrs. Grose is attached to the governess and tries to follow her but the governess thinks of Mrs. Grose below a humane level sort of like a dog. The question is from annotating this is when will Mrs. Grose revolt against the ways of the governess and how will the governess change once the revolt is implemented? Any guesses or any other ways Henry James uses connotation in his story of turn of the screw can go here!

Guest Blogger: Taylor T.

Throughout our second semester of AP Lit we have covered many new things but having just finished a lesson on analyzing poetry, I figured I would write, or rather vent, about it on the blog!
When starting this journey through poetry, I have to admit I was quite nervous and interested at the same time. I was nervous because based on my past experiences with analyzing poetry they haven’t gone over very well. Yet, I was interested at the same time because maybe learning these new techniques would help me have a greater appreciation for poetry and its meaning. Well, the journey has come to a halt and my feelings about poetry remain the same with some frustration added to the list.
The techniques, TPCASTT and SOAPSTone, that we learned are quite helpful most of the time, but I get frustrated while trying to find meaning behind everything and having to ask, “why did the poet use this word instead of that word?” or “why is the poem divided this way?,” etc. Having said that, it makes me wonder…do we over-analyze poetry? Do we over think every stanza, line, and word? While we are busy trying to decipher the message the poet was trying to get across, are we forgetting about the enjoyment of just reading a poem and taking from it what we can?
What do you think??

Guest Blogger: Tania G.

Unfortunately, I have been out sick for a
long while. Making up work from all
of my classes has been so hard, but
nothing confuses me more than poetry.
Which happens to be part of what I
missed out on. So here is my attempt
on analyzing poetry.

So I guess in class we have been learning how
to analyze poetry. Poetry can be really
confusing and hard to understand without a
systematic method to look at every element
of the poem one step at a time. Most of us
would just ask someone for the meaning of a
poem, or just leave it and hope someone will
fill us in. Thanks to our packet we can use
TPCASTT or SOAPST on a poem to get a
closer look and better understanding of
of the poem.

T- title
P- paraphrase
C- connotation
A- attitude
S- shift
T- title
T- theme

And now to test myself on how well
I have managed to learn the way of
this strategy on a poem from our
book "Sound and Sense".

I LIKE A LOOK OF AGONY

I like a look of Agony,
Because I know it’s true--
Men do not sham Convulsion,
Nor simulate, a Throe--
The Eyes gaze once--and that is Death--
Impossible to feign
The Beads upon the Forehead
By homely Anguish stung.
Emily Dickinson

T- I like a look of Agony
P- She is describing how she likes the look of suffering
on people’s faces because it's honest. People don't fake
suffering.
C-Personal pronoun (I) it's her personal opinion.
“Impossible to feign” she is saying that agony
is true.
A-Calm, and very grim.
S-No shift
T-I like a look of Agony
Addresses herself and states
That she likes truth and honesty.
T- Human honesty in the hours
of pain and suffering.

Poetry

Please comment on guest bloggers. Three are due in two weeks.

For the poetry assignment, please respond to a poem in the back of Sound and Sense using either the Didls or 5-step technique. Due Monday.

Guest Blogger: Elizabeth P.

Truth be told, we’ve all had one of those moments while taking a test where you get to a question on a topic you had hoped wouldn’t be on it. Personally, I think it helps if you are able to tell what type of question it is; does it want the theme or the synonym for a word from a piece you read? Lucky for those of you like me, Mr. Decker has provided us with the usual categories that a poetry question may fall under on an AP test.

There are seven main categories: dramatic situation, structure, theme, grammar/meaning of words, images and figurative language, diction, and tone/literary devices/metrics. Possible questions from these categories are (in the same order):
“Who is speaking?”
“How are stanzas 1 and 2 related to stanza 3?”
“Which of the following best sums up the meaning of stanza 2?”
“Which of the following best defines the word ‘glass’ as it is used in line 9?” “To which of the following does the poet compare his love?”
“Which of the following words is used to suggest the poet’s dislike of winter?” “The meter of the last line in each stanza is...”

When looking at the question and the possible answers for it you should be able to identify the category type. For example, you’re given a question that looks like this:
In line 3, the phrase “pensive citadels” can best be paraphrased as
A. towers in which students are imprisoned
B. castles under siege
C. dreary fortresses
D. refuges for contemplation
E. strongholds that inspire thought

First let’s figure out what sort of question this is. It’s not asking about the content (speaker, audience, setting) of the poem which rules out dramatic situation, we can easily rule out structure, it’s not asking about a main idea so it’s not theme, is doesn’t really include figurative language or direct imagery, and it’s not asking you to identify the tone, used literary devices, or metrics of the piece. This leaves us with grammar/meaning of words and diction. The question states though that it was how the line can “best be paraphrased.” It’s not looking for the direct meaning of the words and there’s really nothing grammatically involved. This leaves us with diction, which makes sense also with the answers provided. Each answer includes another word for a citadel (A, B, C have different connotations) as well as pensive (A, B, C have different connotation). Now it’s just up to you to decide whether it’s D or E.

To understand more about the AP multiple choice questions I Googled and found a PDF article with all of the same information Decker has given us and more. They had a section on the difficulty of the questions which looked familiar. It started with the easiest category and worked its way up: Factual, Main Idea, and Hidden Idea. It’s different wording, but it’s basically noting that the AP tests are based on Bloom’s Taxonomy with questions ranging in difficulty (Knowledge all the way up to Evaluation).

I also really liked the reasons they gave for why answers are wrong. By now we’re all usually pretty good at ruling out an unreasonable choice, but extra pointers don’t hurt.
1) Irrelevant to the question
2) Contradictory to the passage
3) Unreasonable (the “Huh?” choice)
4) Too general or too specific
5) Never addressed in the passage
6) Look for the specific words that make the answer wrong

Whether you choose to use the help Mr. Decker has provided us doesn’t matter, but you’ve got to admit that it helps to understand where the questions are coming from.

Source: AP ENGLISH LITERATURE – Multiple Choice Testing

Guest Blogger: Connor M.

Definintion of Literature: the writings dealing with a particular subject
This morning, I woke up thinking I was going to type up a blog on Turn of the Screw, but instead I discovered that it was on the various techniques of poetry. Life is full of little suprises like these, eh? It’s like returning from a long vacation. Anawho, it can be said that analyzing poetry can be hard without a systematic method of looking at each element, piece by piece. Thank goodness, then, for the great masterminds behind the scenes that come up with such formulas for finding an author’s true intent towards their fictional creations. And not to mention the wonderful acronyms that help up TPCASTT and SOAPSTone entire works. That’s genuine entertainment right there, or at least makes it easier to remember the titles for an otherwise slightly complex list of poetry analyzing methods (Shall I list them, or does everyone remember them? Heck, they’re in our packets, right? I’ll save myself a headache. They’re written at the bottom anyway). Let’s go through a poem to see if we can observe closer, then, shall we? Actually, that sounds incredibly boring. Let’s take a look at some song lyrics by Ke$ha, and see if we can’t apply the same techniques to mainstream entertainment. Because, honestly, who writes poetry anymore? If we want to share our thoughts, we usually just use Facebook, or maybe steal someone else’s thoughts from the internet. Isn’t technology great? I hold no grudge against poetry, mind you, but the same techniques can be applied to any form of entertainment. So first, hows about we take a look at how we would go about doing so. Below is the song which will be analyzed:
Your Love is My Drug
By Kesha
Maybe I need some rehab
Or maybe just need some sleep
I got a sick obsession
I'm seeing it in my dreams
I'm looking down every alley
I'm making us desperate 'cause
I'm staying up all night hoping
Hitting my head against the wall

What you got boy is hard to find
I think about it all the time
I'm all strung out, my heart is fried
I just can't get you off my mind

Because your love- your love- your love is my drug

Won't listen to any advice
Momma's telling me I should think twice
But love to my own devices
I'm addicted, it's a crisis

My friends think I've gone crazy
My judgments getting kinda hazy
My steeze is gonna be affected
If I keep it up like a lovesick crackhead

What you got boy is hard to find
I think about it all the time
I'm all strung out, my heart is fried
I just can't get you off my mind

Because your love- your love- your love is my drug

I don't care what people say
The rush is worth the price I pay
I get so high when you're with me
But crash and crave you when you leave

Hey, so I gotta question
Do you wanna have a slumber party in my basement?
Do you wanna make your heart beat like an 808 drum?
Is my love with your drug?
Your drug, uh your drug
Uh your drug is my love, your drug

Because your love- your love- your love- is my drug
---------
As an example, here is the first way we could analyze this poem: TPCASTT.
T(itle): A person loving is the same as a narcotic for a person specified.
P(araphrase): A Girl describes how she feels when she’s with a dude.
C(onnotation): Though it originally appears as though the girl is very sick, and becoming crazy, we can learn from the tone that the author is saying that she is just using these effects as metaphors for how she feels (e.g. the words “crave” and “high” used when talking about the guy).
A(ttitude): Very Sad, Longing (This is arguable, however)
S(hift): Once the song returns to the chorus, a summary is given of the entire article. However, the tone doesn’t change, and the premise is the same throughout.
T(itle): By comparing the effects of the girl being happy by the dude’s presence to an illegal substance (which is also, obviously a way to make a person high, albeit not in a good way), the author tries to tell the audience how she feels, which is, we can assume, very happy.
T(heme): Receiving comfort from an actual person is much more rewarding than that of an physical substance.
And if we want to SOAPSTone it:
S(ubject): Everyone is looking for love. But it can be difficult to deal with at times.
O (ccasion): The Girl is with a guy, and is thinking of how to describe how she feels towards him.
A(udience): Those who think they have been in love; the common bystander, as the author tries to capture his/her attention.
P (urpose): Though created to make money, the poem was written to sound as though the main character was trying to relate to the audience how hard it is to deal with love (how dangerous it is, and how good it can make one feel.)
S(peaker):Though the writer of the lyrics may be someone else, the speaker was made to be the pop star Kesha, who is automatically entitled by society to be incredibly knowledgeable about the social aspects of life.
T(one): The tone of this article seems to be the opposite of its message contained in the story, which is somewhat unusual. When using words like sick obsession to describe her love, as well as the comparison to a physical drug, e.g. “the rush is worth the price I pay”, it gives the entire piece an angry, longing attitude. However, it is obvious that the article is supposed to be describing how happy she feels (but also briefly how she sad she feels when the guy is gone). It can be speculated that this was just the choice of the author, to strengthen her point.
So, that wasn’t very hard, was it? By compiling pieces of this info together, a more complete statement can be put together to describe the author’s intent. This is useful for essays, or maybe even for planning one’s own literary work. Basically, it’s just a way of breaking down the ideas of the author into a concise graphic on paper. However, the poems analyzed in class will be much higher level, especially as we get AP test questions throughout the semester, as we’ve seen in class. But if you can analyze a song, heck, it’s probably not that bad to analyze a poem.

Guest Blogger: Chris B.

In class, we have been continuing to study satire by looking at an example of high burlesque, The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope. High burlesque is taking a trivial event and expressing it in an extremely serious manner.

The short story The Rape of the Lock is about a girl named Belinda who tries to stab a man who cut off her favorite lock of hair. Pope uses a horatian satire filled with high burlesque to show society’s inability to determine important things from those things that are pointless or next to it. There are four instances of high burlesque I found to be the most apparent: the title, the climax, the side-by-side comparisons, and (possibly) the rhyme scheme. To start off, the title gave me the thought that this would be a dark story; but as I started to read, I found the situation that he describes laughable. The Rape of the Lock sounds as if it would be a tragic event, not a mere loss of a bit of hair, and it is in that way in which Pope satirizes those who are overly dramatic about silly things. The second way Pope uses high burlesque was actually my favorite part of the story, the climax, when the “screams of horror [that] rend the affrighted skies” came from Berlinda right after the lock of hair has been cut off (Pope 182). Immediately afterwards, she attempts to kill the man who committed this supposedly terrible sin, using a “deadly bodkin” and yelling, “Meet thy fate!”(Pope 256 and 255, respectively). Another clever technique was the use of side-by-side comparison, such as “stain her honor, or her new brocade.”(Pope 93). Honor is much more important than a new brocade, but they are compared as if equal in importance. The last thing that I noticed in Pope’s story is the constant use of heroic couplets. Because a heroic couplet usually describes the message bearing or important part of a sonnet, I assume that he is again mocking society for thinking everything thing is important. Either that, or he simply favored that rhyme scheme.

Regardless of whether the rhyme pattern is or is not a satirical technique, Pope is an expert in the use high burlesque to get his point across, which has been see through his use of the title, climax, and side-by-side comparisons in The Rape of the Lock.

Guest Blogger: Nishant N.

So far, during the third quarter of our AP Lit course, we have covered satire. More specifically, we have been identifying different types and reading many examples, including articles from "The Onion," Candide, and most recently Rape of the Locke. In this blog post I thoought I would share some thoughts on Rape f the Lock. First, however, I think it would be appropriate to look at the format of the poem.

Rape of the Lock is a satire that utilizes mock-epic style poetry. Mock-epics are high burlesque, taking trivial subjects in a serious manner. Rape of the Lock displays several of the common characteristics of epics. The poem takes a long time to describe all of her hair-care products, or her warfare. It also gives a history of the hairpin, which has been passed down from generation to genertion in Belinda's family. The rest of the characteristics the story has are a dream warning, supernatural forces, guardianship of protagonist, hero, setting, action, and style.

Although this poem is centered around Belinda's hair, the poem actually takes shots at the aristocratic society. This is evident just from the description of Belinda's life. She gets up at around noon everyday, spends a long time on her appearance, then proceeds to the court to play cards; this is the life a useless person who contributes nothing to society. It is interesting that he also attacks the queen, a figure of the highest authority. It makes me wonder what sort of changes Pope was trying to bring about. Was he trying to get the nobles to become more active? Perhaps he was trying to eliminate the entire aristocratic society? It is a bit of a stretch, but could Pope be an early advocate of Socailism? All of these questions came up in my mind while I was reading; I seemed unable to come up with an answer I was satisfied with. Perhaps a bright peer could enlighten me.

Symposium Wrap-up

Final burning thoughts you didn't get a chance to speak to during the symposium? Here's your opportunity; make it good!

Guest Blogger: Brian R.

For the past week or so we have been reading Candide, by Voltaire, which is a book that is short in length, but brings forth a long list of philosophical arguments. It is a novel that makes us consider, among other things, whether or not life is even worth living. It also is a perfect example of Menippean satire, and attempts to indirectly target optimism and epicurean philosophy using techniques like caricature, with Candide, and irony, such as when the only time Candide can actually marry Cunegonde is when she is an ugly witch, and through these techniques he aims to change the readers’ view on sources of evil and philosophy. So there you have it, I made a genius statement, now let’s move past that “obstacle” move to deeper better things.

First I would like to analyze how Candide is a perfect example of Menippean satire. The novel is most certainly chaotic, and seems to criticize everything, all elements of Menippean satire. To begin with, the narrative pace is ridiculously fast. In the first five chapters, Candide is forced to leave his hometown, is attacked and tortured by Bulgars, escapes the Bulgars having been whipped 2000 times, and sets sail to Portugal, where a historic earthquake kills thousands and his mentor, Dr. Pangloss, is hanged. The pace moves so quickly that it seems like Candide’s entire life is full of chaos and disorder, which indeed it is. Also, the novel criticizes a whole lot of things in society, as opposed to other forms of satire, where only one thing is targeted. Voltaire attacks philosophy, religion, government, optimism, and love, just to name a few. Essentially, the novel is a perfect example of Menippean satire because of its crazy, helter-skelter style of demeaning the main elements of everyday life.

Reading Candide also made me wonder what view on philosophy Voltaire himself held. In the novel, he criticizes Epicurean, Manichean, and Monotheistic philosophy. Personally I think that Voltaire has an eclectic and mixed viewpoint on the world. He clearly despises the ideas brought forth in the Epicurean way of thought, since most of Candide is spent attacking those beliefs. He also criticizes complete pessimism, in the character of Martin, who is very unhappy with his life even though he seems to have more of a grasp on the concept of the source of evil. I think that Voltaire is fairly Monotheistic, but he certainly is willing to attack organized religion. He seems to believe that when we worry about philosophy, unfortunate things happen to us. Of course, he does right a book on philosophy, so that wouldn’t seem to be very logical. I think though that he wanted us to see how silly it is to worry about the sources of evil, to accept that evil is in our lives, and move on. At the end, when Candide is happiest forgetting about philosophy and working in the garden I think reinforces this theory.

Overall, the novel Candide is a biting criticism of the world Voltaire lived in. It is chaotic, ironic, and very deeply philosophical.

Fans of Kristen Chenowith might recognize her from this production photo on Leonard Bernstein's opera of Candide (she's Cunegonde, that's the simpleton Candide with her). Can you tell who's going to come bursting on stage in the next few seconds?

Guest Blogger: Asel K.

Asel Kul.

There are three different types of beliefs when it comes to the question "where does evil come from?"; epicurus, manichean, and monotheist. epicurus is the belief that god is benevolent and omnipitent and all is for the best. Humans cannot critisise god or god's plan nor can they fully understand his greater work. Alexander Pope wrote "An Essay On Man" with this belief, writting about how humans have their place in the world and that every missfortune happens for a reason, for the greater good. The second belief is manechean, also known as dualism, which is focused on the idea that good and evil are fighting an eternal battle with no ending. The idea of the yin-yang harmony, that there's a little bit of good in evil and a little bit of evil in good. The third reasoning is monothist a belief that there is a powerfull God but humans have free will and are able to make their own decisions. We haven't come across manichean yet, but we have read epicurus and monotheist works.

Right now we are reading Candide by Voltaire, a story about a young man's adventures through a missfortune filled life. Voltaire satarises Pope's Essay on Man by compressing every possible horrible phenominom into Candide's life and by including the character Pangloss who is an epicurus pholosopher. Pangloss believes that all missfortunes happen for a better world "all is for the best. For if there's a volcano at lisbon, it couldn't be anywhere else. For it's impossible for things not to be where they are. For all is well" (pg 30). At the beginning of the story, Candide innocently believes Pangloss and the idea that everything is for the greater good, but throughout the book the monothist belief is introdused through other characters and their own personal stories. After Cunegonde told Candide of her missfortunes since the attack of the Bulgars, she said that she no longer believed in Pangloss' theory that everything is for the better world. This put even more doubt into the philosopher's theory because when voyaging to the new world, Candide says "We're going to another world, it must be the one in which all is well" (pg 41). Candide no longer accepts the world given to him in Europe and believes that he can find a better one in the Americas, therefore using free will and transitioning from epicurus to monotheist.

Guest Blogger: Kristine Brown

This week in AP Lit we started the semester by learning about satire. There is so much more to satire than simply being funny. Satire by definition is a literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit. Unlike literature, which aims to instruct and please, satire aims to improve humanity and/or society. There are five parts to satire: target, type, approach, technique, and aim.

The targets of satire can be a place, person, type of person, or society and/or institutions. There are two main types of satire: horation and juvenalian. Horation is gentle, funny, and makes the audience realize how silly the problem being presented is. On the other hand, juvenalian is angry and arouses moral indignation through bitter attacks.

The types of satire are direct, the satirist speaks out directly against the target, or indirect, narratives which the characters make themselves look silly.
There are several techniques used in satire. High burlesque is when a trivial subject is treated in a very serious matter and low burlesque is when a serious subject is treated in a comic manner. Parody is a close imitation of a specific style and/or approach. Parody is not always satire. Caricature is the exaggeration of prominent features in a flat character and a lampoon is round character which ridicules itself. Other techniques include irony, litotes, hyperbole, song, poem, etc…

Finally, the aim of satire is to bring about change and improve the world. When analyzing a piece of satire, one must find the specific aim of the piece.
Now, apply the five parts of satire.

The Diet That Works

Range Rover Rachel is preparing to pray
She checks her mascara, her hair seems okay
She assembles her prayer-stool, it's upholstered with wool
Her brown shiny knees won't become at all dull

Places prayer stool on carpet, it was made in Iran
Many coloured but subtle, won't compete with her tan
You can buy them mail-order, or online from Habitat
She prays for her midriff - three ounces of puppyfat

''Kensington, Atkins, high protein or none?
I've tried every diet but the lard hasn't gone
I've bought special devices, focus workout on tummies
I've tried to stop eating by sucking at dummies.''

Didn't expect an answer, but a vision she's seeing
Thank God for body-hugging, guaranteed panty-line free, super-absorbent undies, Rachel fears she is peeing
''YOU WONDER,'' says God, ''WHICH SCHEME MAKES YOU THINNER?
THE HUNGRY AND HOMELESS - INVITE THEM TO DINNER.''
Copyright Peter Fairbrother

Next, identify the five parts.
Target: people obsessed with their appearance
Type: Juvenalian- author’s tone and God’s remark is bitter
Approach: Indirect- the target is never stated
Techniques: Irony- Rachel worries about three pounds while there are homeless, starving people. Caricature- Rachel’s obsession on her appearance is exaggerated
Aim: to show people they should stop worrying about their appearance and focus on serious problems such as world hunger .

Finally, use this information to create a GENIUS statement like:
This juvenalian piece of satire uses irony, poetry, and caricature to indirectly target people obsessed with their appearances to show people they should stop worrying about their appearance and focus on serious problems such as world hunger.
Using the five aspects of satire, you can analyze a piece of satire and understand its full meaning.

Guest Blogger: Senia Lee

For week 2 of 3rd quarter, satire is a literary art of ridicule we have been working on. We have talked about the different targets such as a place, person, type of person, society and/or its institutions. For example, the United States, Obama, picky eaters, and school. Also there are the types of Satire which include Horatian (Amused satirist that tries to bring a smile to the audience while helping them realize how silly they are), Juvenalian (Angry satirist who tires to arouse a moral indignation through bitter attacks), and Menippean (a chaotic, broad satire); which we have not worked on as much. We also talked about the approach whether the satire is direct or indirect. To help strengthen the satire, techniques such as Irony (verbal, situational, dramatic), Burlesque (either high or low), Parody, Caricature, and more, are displayed. In some cases, the aim of a satire is something I actually have a hard time figuring out from the other five components; probably because of confusing it with theme; in which it gives the idea about life that is revealed in a work of literature rather than how it is to bring about change to improve the world. We defined literature to instruct and please while a satire aims to improve humanity/human society.
We are starting to read Candide by Voltaire. Candide is being taught by a philosopher, Pangloss, who represents a early philosopher, Gottfried Leibniz. He preached about the importance of “optimism” that everything is for the best and that they are in the best of all possible worlds. It's is as though Voltaire has made an indirect attack in his satire against Leibniz's philosophy. We talked about how his simplicity leads him to some misfortune. “The next day, as they were leaving the table after dinner, Cunegonde and Candide found themselves behind a screen. She dropped her handkerchief, he picked it up; she innocently took his hand, and he innocently kissed hers with extraordinary animation, ardor and grace; their lips met, their eyes flashed, their knees trembled, their hands wandered. Baron Thunder-ten-tronckh happed to pass by the scree; seeing this cause and effect , he drove Candide from the castle with vigorous kicks in the backside” (Voltaire 19). From this, Candids act of simply love struck or act of foolishness in the Baron's matter, lead him to be kicked out of the castle. This part/paragraph of Candide's actions seems to be told in a more slower narrator pace rather than what happened after he got kicked out; it is perceived that his walk from the castle to his next location is shorter than is “simple actions” that lead to a misfortune. Other misfortunes such as beatings and syphilis are taking place while he still believes in his mind of belonging to the “best of all possible worlds”. So is he still saying that everything is for the best, even though he stumbles across trouble?

Satire Assignment

Find an example of satire. Post the link and a genius statement. 5 points.

Finals update

powerpoints for Lit terms review and scenic elements is on this site. A gentle reminder to also post five responses total to guest blogs.

AP lit essay

In 250 - 300 words (feel free to type!) describe how the oral elements support Achebe's purpose in Things Fall Apart.

Good luck!

Guest Blogger: Megan S.

Over this winter break the class has been reading Things Fall Apart. This engaging novel is written by Chinua Achebe. This novel is about a young man, named Okonkwo, who succedded in most of his life without the help of his father. Okonkwo shows great power and leadership in this novel, but he is so afraid of showing weaknesses that he acts rash which causes him problems internally. From the beginning of the novel the reader sees why Okonkwo does not want to show emotion. He believed that emotion was for the weak. His father liked to show emotion. So Okonkwo had to be the opposite of his father.. When Nwoye, Okonwo’s eldest son, started to show signs of weakness Okonkwo could not rationally handle it.

It is ironic that Nwoye shows characteristics of his grandfather. It seems as if it is almost a test for Okonkwo. Can he deal with his son if he reminds him of his father. I think that the author purposly shows that the characterics just skipped a generation. It makes me wonder about Unoka’s father’s personality. If he was a strong leader and a hero in war, much like Okonkwo, then the skip in generations would make sense. When the father is not succesful, reflecting Unoka, their son will be succesful because of the drive he has to be opposite from his father. However, in Okonkwo’s case this drive for success and a better life has its consequences. These consequences are obvious at the end of the novel was caused by the change in the village and an unfullfilled life. The consequence was sadly Okonkwo’s life. But all things aside, it is no doubt that Chinua Achebe wanted us to see the similar traits of Nwoye and Unoka. These two characters changed the character of Okonkwo. If they were not lazy and unsuccessful ,then Okonkwo would never have motivation and he would not have been driven into rage.These two supporting characters helped develop the novel.