Summaries and Analyses of Literature: Fifth Business

Fifth Business
by Robertson Davies
Dunstan's childhood takes place in Canada, but he travels to Europe for the war, teaching, and searching for saints later in his life. The book goes from his childhood in the early 1900s to his later life. The letter was written in 1970.


Dunstable Ramsay is writing the whole book in the form of a letter defending his identity to the headmaster. 
Mrs. Ramsay's main relationship with Dunstan is one of power. She wants a "dear own laddie," and breaks down and beats him when he's getting too far away.
Mary Dempster is Dunstan's "fool saint." He sees his life as tied around her.
Amasa Dempster is Mrs. Dempster's husband. Dunstan sees him as weak. He often falls to his knees in loud, occasionally insulting, prayer.
Paul Dempster, or Magnus Eisengrim, takes on the role of the magician. He runs away from home and joins a traveling circus. 
Boy Stanton, named Percy in childhood, is Dunstan's "lifelong friend and enemy." He's high on the social, as well as economic, ladder.
Leola is Boy's wife. She can't progress as far as Boy, and partly because of that, has self esteem issues.
Liesl is incredibly perceptive. She gives Dunstan awareness of his own role, functioning as a devil.

• Boy throws a snow ball at Dunstan, and as he has just stepped in front of Mr. and Mrs. Dempster, it hits Mrs. Dempster, sending her into early labor
• Dunstan (D from now on) grows up helping at the Dempsters' house at his mother's request
• he has a crush on Leola, and goes out with her when her boy friend, Boy, is in officer's training
• Mrs. Dempster sleeps with a tramp, and is labeled a whore (later, Dunstan sees this as her 1st miracle)
• D runs and fetches Mrs. Dempster when his brother, William, seems dead. She brings William back to life. (looking back, D sees this as her 2nd miracle)
• leaves for the army when he and his mom become even farther apart
• he finishes a mission to clear out a machine gun nest, but is ashamed- there was no glory in it
• he lost his leg in the incident, and saw a Madonna statue that looks like Mrs. Dempster as he passes out (the third miracle)
• D comes to in the care of a nurse, Diana
• he goes out with her, but doesn't want to marry her- she's too motherly, and he wants to go search for statues. Still, she renames him "Dunstan" as opposed to "Dunstable"
• he visits his hometown for a hero's welcome, then is off to university
• the tramp (Surgeoner) talks at the school, and D visits him, recognizing him. Surgeoner describes how sleeping with Mrs. Dempster reformed him, her first miracle
• D is a saint enthusist, and meets Paul's magician groups- twice
• he visits Mrs. D, eventually taking responsibility over her care once her relative dies. He puts her in a mental health asylum.
• Leola and Boy's marriage falls apart. Leola can't be enough for him. She attempts suicide, fails, then falls sick and dies (with a questionable open window on a chilly day involved)
• D meets Eisengrim (Paul) and Liesl the second time he meets Paul's group
• Mrs. Dempster dies
• Both Paul and Boy go looking for D, and the two end up meeting. D explains the snowball in their past, and Paul kills Boy.

POV- Dunstan's, a look back at his life, often using his current knowledge
Tone- distant and factual as it's told later in his life, when the feelings have been rounded. It's introspective.
Imagery- little because of the tone


symbols:
the brazen head- Liesl's role as a character with wisdom (a director, God, or devil)
the reapperance of the stone- Dunstan as 5th business, inevitably wraps things up
many biblical allusions- Paul as Jesus (he's born in early winter of Mary, but also, card player and magician- anti christ, perhaps? could make the argument)


"But if I may say so, Dunny, I think you've let the thing build up into something it never was."
As the whole novel shows how much of his life Dunstan has based on the snowball incident, it's startling to hear this voiced. It's a sharp contrast. The last time that the two spoke of the event, Boy denied it, and by now he was able to forget. Dunstan's and Boy's reactions say a lot about their characters. Boy is ever moving forward, while Dunstan broods.
"Who are you? Where do you fit into poetry and myth? Do you know who I think you are, Ramsay? I think you are fifth business."
Liesl identifies his role as Fifth Business. He's that small yet necessary plot piece who brings everything together.


It's a warning against passivity, which hurts self identity and expression.

• Dunstan is always filling others' roles for him
• ^ his quiet, agreeable self for Boy
• ^ a hero for Diana
• even his denial of Diana to search for saints leads to it- it's his obsession with roles and his ideal self

Summaries and Analyses of Literature: Hamlet

Hamlet
by Shakespeare
It's set in Elsinore, a castle in Denmark, during turbulent political times.


Hamlet is the son of King Hamlet. He was studying in England, and has to come back to the castle both for the funeral and the wedding. He's in his thirties.
Ophelia was seeing Hamlet, but stopped once Polonius ordered her to. She's generally played as a weak, obedient character.
Laertes is Ophelia's brother. The two were close. 
Horatio went to Hamlet's college. He's intellectual, and somewhat divided from the values of the castle.
Gertrude is the queen. It's strongly hinted that she was sleeping with Claudius before King Hamlet died.
Polonius is Ophelia's father. He's good at getting power.
Fortinbras the King helps to show how warlike the kingdoms. He, and his son, are enemies of Denmark.
Fortinbras is one of Hamlet's many foils. He, also, is prince, but he is much more action oriented.


The play starts out with guards and Horatio spotting the ghost of the late Hamlet. The next night, Hamlet's with them, and the ghost reveals that he was killed by Claudius for his throne and Gertrude, who has since married Claudius. Hamlet acts distressed at the court, and the king and queen try to figure out what's bothering him, as well as if he's truly mad or just acting it. They send Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The players arrive, and Hamlet asks them to perform a play that mimics his father's murder to see Claudius' reaction. He's testing the ghost was really his father, or a darker being. Ophelia's father has ordered her to reject communication with Hamlet, thinking that it'll look like he set them up to gain power. This is painful for both Ophelia and Hamlet, and it's implied that the two were practically engaged. After Claudius' dramatic response to the play, the queen, at the order of the king and with Polonius hiding behind a curtain, calls Hamlet to her closet. Hamlet stabs Polonius, killing him, then lectures his mother on her incest and betrayal of the old king. Claudius sends Hamlet with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to die in England. On the way there, Hamlet sees Fortinbras' army, and is ashamed of his inaction. Ophelia goes mad with all the death and betrayal around her, and Laertes wants revenge (though mostly for his father). Once Hamlet returns after an unlikely pirate attack, the king arranges a duel, planning with Laertes to both poison Hamlet's wine and Laertes' sword. Gertrude drinks the poison and dies. Hamlet and Laertes, after switching swords, are dying. Hamlet kills Claudius. All main characters but Horatio are dead.


Though play's don't have typical point of view, it's not a stretch to say the play follows Hamlet's side of the story. He gives the most soliloquies, and is the central character.
The tone of the play is dark. The little humor there is connects to theme.
The imagery, the play's setting, is usually for atmosphere. The coldness, darkness, and uncertainty of the first scene is an example.


closet- the intimacy that Hamlet has with his mother and Ophelia
rue- "you must wear your rue with a difference" though all of Ophelia's flowers had symbolic meaning, the rue was the most significant. it implies that Ophelia is pregnant.
Yorick's skull- Hamlet's confrontation with the anonymity, and inevitability, of death
biblical allusions- the cock crew three times, and Hamlet is around Jesus' age


"My tables- meet it is I set it down/ That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain;/ At least I'm sure it may be so in Denmark."
Deception is a big part of the politics of Hamlet. Hamlet is spied on twice, both times at the order of Claudius, and is right to feel outraged. Many characters have an identity removed from the one they show: Claudius, obviously, is capable of murder; Ophelia wouldn't act so harshly toward Hamlet; and Rosencrantz and Guildenstren wouldn't even be talking to him.
"My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth."
After seeing Fortinbras in action, Hamlet's guilty about being so slow to act. He's re-motivated to get his proper revenge.


Indecision merely prolongs the inevitable; once events are set in motion, consequences must be played out.

• Hamlet alludes to the bible's "special providence in the fall of a sparrow" before facing Laertes. He's finally come to believe that everything happens for a purpose.
• "something's rotten in the state of Denmark" even in the beginning. That shapes how the whole play will play out.
• ^incest and betrayal in the state, so it can't survive
• the theme of uncertainty in identity has also been there since the beginning, so it's one of the things that must be addressed in the play- it's set in motion by the first words, "who's there?"
• ^both Fortinbrases and both Hamlets have the same name- they don't have their own separate identity, but are tied to their larger role in things
• Hamlet's double checking, the play, and not killing Claudius in the church are a flaw- it all would have ended faster, probably with fewer casualties
• he's contrasted with Fortinbras who acts quite a bit and is successful at the end

Summaries and Analyses of Literature: Ceremony

Ceremony
by Leslie Silko
It's set in a Laguna reservation after WWII, though it travels back in time quite often with memories of life before the war. 


Tayo is the main character. He feels alienated from Laguna culture- even more so now that he's a war veteran. He feels that everything is connected, but goes through a ceremony in order to see it more clearly.
Auntie is Tayo's mother figure. When Tayo, Rocky and her are alone, she tries to emphasize that the two are different. She has a martyr complex.
Rocky is Tayo's brother figure, the son of Auntie. He's brought up so that he can succeed in white culture (he scorns Laguna culture, turning to modern science, and he plays football). This fails, however, as he's killed in the Philippines.
Harley and Leroy are Tayo's veteran friends. They go out drinking with him, driving around in an old pick up truck.
Josiah is Tayo's father figure. He's dedicated and brave, willing to take a risk and buy the cattle the Night Swan suggests
Betonie is the second medicine man that Tayo visits. he is also only half Laguna.
Emo is the antagonist of the story. He was bad before the war, smashing crops for the pleasure of it, but the war gave him an edge. He's in love with the violence that whites have: guns, bombs, huge wars, and the like.
The Night Swan grounds Tayo when they sleep together. She's connected to nature. She used to sleep regularly with Josiah, and when she was younger, danced at bars.
Ts'eh helps Tayo to complete the ceremony. She catches the cattle and makes him feel at peace.


I'm giving the plot in bullet point so that it's extremely clear and easier to study- this is the story I get mixed up.

• Tayo comes back after being in a medical hospital
• he's haunted by the war (PTSD) and deaths (Rocky's, Josiah's) that he blames himself for
• he goes drinking with Harley and Leroy while they reminisce about sexual exploits and the war
• Auntie pushes Tayo to see a medicine man, Ku'oosh, and then Betonie
• Betonie sets him off on his mission, a ceremony of healing, reconnecting to the land, and a mission to save his culture from the witches' white people
• this mission involves finding Josiah's cattle
• Tayo is caught on a rich man's ranch, but the chance of catching a mountain lion pulls the guards  away from him
• the cattle also lead him to T'seh, who he sleeps with and later spends more time with
• their time together is interrupted by Emo bringing village and government people to take Tayo back 
• Tayo, on the run, picks up a ride with Harley and Leroy, but realizes that they're going to betray him
• he escapes to an abandoned mine, where he watches Emo, Pinky, and Leroy torture and kill Harley. They later die in a car crash.

The POV follows Tayo, but in a very nonlinear fashion- it's woven, like the stories and communal experience of Laguna culture. The tone is lush with description. So much of the novel is sensory. The imagery is rich, and helps to show the divide between good things and bad.

the weather (both the drought and the long awaited rain)- the land is involved in Tayo's struggle, as well. When the rain finally comes, it's a healing rain, just as the drought meant something was wrong

yellow and white- these colors are motifs. The yellow, coming from the sun and the creation god, is good. The white, associated with the uncertain "white smoke" of the hospital and the witches, is bad.

Emo- takes on the role of a magician. He's similar to the false healing man in the folk story within the novel. He bewitches Tayo's friends into an empty existence with large talk and beer.

"It seems like I already heard these stories before... only thing is, the names sound different."
Grandma's comment at the end pushes the novel's meaning. She recognizes the repetition and connection within Laguna culture.
"But now the feelings were twisted, tangled roots, and all the names for the source of this growth were buried under English words, out of reach. And there would be no peace and the people would have no rest until the entanglement had been unwound to the source."
Tayo's quest is to understand how his experiences fit together. He has to untangle white culture's influences from Laguna's.
"In that hospital they don't bury the dead, they keep them in rooms and talk to them."
White culture is unnatural. The dead not being allowed to rest also applies to Auntie's insistence of still calling Rocky by name , even though it's Laguna tradition not to once someone has died.


Times are changing, but a larger story is repeating; if you see the pattern of this ceremony, you can never truly be displaced.

• motif of  circles
• the folk tales in the story relating to the events of the story's present
• Ts'eh and the Night Swan remind him of the land- they help him feel connected again
• once the ceremony is complete, Tayo's fragmented story feels united- the jumbled times straighten

Summaries and Analyses of Literature: Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen
It's set in a small town in England during the late 1700s. The Bennets are upper middle class. 


Mr. Bennet has a lax parenting style, choosing to let his children go, for the most part, their own way. He definitely cares for them, though. In his relationship with Mrs. Bennet he is somewhat removed, making fun of her when she talks about something superficial. Still, it's not with a malicious tone.
Mrs. Bennet is shallow and obvious. She makes their richer friends feel awkward, especially with her matchmaking attempts. 
Lizzy is the main character. She has a strong, independent personality.
Jane is often Lizzy's confidant. She's kind hearted, yet doesn't recognize how forgiving her own opinions are.
Lydia is the most superficial of the sisters. She is very concerned with appearance, balls, and that whole side of society. She often goes to flirt with the officers who are stationed in town.
Kitty follows Lydia's example, flirting with officers and obsessing over balls. She's less far gone, though, and once Lydia is off living with Wickham, she recovers somewhat.
Mary is the youngest sister and the most plain. She tries to make up for this by being studious, pious, and musical, but ends up being unpleasant and, occasionally, ridiculous. She's not very good at the piano, but plays with the seriousness reserved for those who are.
Mr. Bingley is the man who marries Jane. He's rich, though not as rich as Darcy, and very friendly.
Mr. Darcy is antisocial when around those he doesn't know. He carries himself as a gentleman, but has a lot of pride.
Miss Darcy is Darcy's little sister. She was going to elope with Wickham before Darcy stopped them. She's quiet and sweet.
Mr. Wickham is untrustworthy. He and Darcy grew up together, and he was good friends with the late Mr. Darcy. When Darcy's father died, his will gave the parsonage to Wickham, who turned it down in favor of a loan, which he spent promptly in the city. He asks for the church job again, but Darcy refuses him. He tries to run off with Miss Darcy, but Darcy discovers the plan. He tells Lizzy, however, that Mr. Darcy refused him the job at first out of spite. He marries Lydia.
Lady Catherine is Mr. Collins' neighbor, and very rich. She's also Darcy's aunt. She likes to control things, and advises the people around her about personal matters, such as how they are raising their children.
Mr. Collins is a mix of pompous and humble that's ridiculous and false. He's enamored with Lady Catherine's majesty.
Charlotte Lucas marries Mr. Collins. She's practical.


The novel begins with Mr. and Mrs. Bennet discussing the new man about to move in, the rich Mr. Bingley, who Mrs. Bennet considers a possible match for one of her daughters. At the dance where the Bennets, Darcy, and Bingley meet, first opinions are formed: Jane quite likes Mr. Bingley, while Lizzy despises Darcy. Jane goes to visit Bingley's sisters, and with her mother's influence, is caught by rain and catches a cold. Lizzy goes comes after her, and both spend more time with the Bingleys and Darcy. Mr. Wickham comes to town, and he and Lizzy bond over his story of Darcy's abuse. The Bingleys and Darcy leave town suddenly once it seemed like Mr. Bingley and Jane were going to get married. Mr. Collins, intent on marrying one of the Bennet sisters to make amends for inheriting the house after Mr. Bennet, is refused by Lizzy. He asks, and is accepted by, Charlotte instead. When Lizzy visits the Collins, she runs into Darcy again, and they get along better. He proposes to her, and she refuses, aghast, because of his treatment of Wickham and his interference between Bingley and Jane. He hands her a letter the next morning explaining his reasoning behind the first charge and his innocence on the second. Much later, Lizzy goes traveling with her aunt and uncle from Cheapside. They end up going to Darcy's house, and accidentally run into him there. He's incredibly polite and thoughtful, astonishing Lizzy. Lizzy and her aunt and uncle have to leave, however, after receiving news that Lydia and Wickham ran off together, and have yet to be married. Darcy saves the day by being a diplomat (as well as with money), and Lizzy finds out that he helped. Jane and Bingley, with Darcy's blessing, marry. Lady Catherine visits Lizzy, asking for assurance that she won't marry, and is not engaged with, Mr. Darcy. Lizzy, however, refuses to promise, and Darcy, hearing of this, proposes again. She accepts.


The novel's in third person.
The voice is factual, but often playful.
There is little imagery as the tone is focused on events rather than feelings, but the book does take the time to describe Darcy's mansion. It is a significant scene, and is part of Lizzy's turn around.


"fine eyes"- Darcy's attraction to Lizzy (not really a symbol, but synecdoche)
Lizzy's "character sketching"- a more direct way of seeing how she forms opinions, as well as Darcy and Lizzy's disconnect; he sees it as flirting, while she's serious in her insults
the piano playing in the novel- how the different characters are measured in fine society (Mary's, Lizzy's, and Ms. Darcy's)


"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."
Though an exaggeration, this opening line shows the society Lizzy and her sisters are growing up in. There's a lot of pressure to be the one who catches a rich man.
"Her father, contented with laughing at them, would never exert himself to restrain the wild giddiness of his youngest daughters."
Largely because of Mr. Bennet's laid back parenting style, the Bennet sisters' actions are left to their own character. This makes their rewards and consequences at the end of the novel a more direct reflection of their values.
"You could not have made me the offer of your hand in any possible way that would have tempted me to accept it."
Her conviction when refusing Darcy clearly contrasts the end of the novel. It makes the realization of her own pride a stronger moment.


The novel stresses the necessity of truly knowing yourself during your pursuit of happiness.

• Lizzy has the most successful marriage (in terms of money and love, but the money is more clear cut), but only after she recognizing her first impression was from her pride
• The marriages are a kind of contest in that those who best show the values Austen idealizes end up the most well off
• Jane is after Lizzy, happy and aware of her identity, though not to Lizzy's extent- still doesn't see how kind she is
• Charlotte, though she settled for someone she didn't love, knew what she was looking for and ended up comfortable
• Lydia is still better off than Kitty and Mary at the end, despite acting ridiculously irresponsibly
• Kitty is higher up than Mary, as her character improves. Mary is still conceited at the end.

Summaries and Analyses of Literature: Death of a Salesman

Death of a Salesman
by Arthur Miller
It takes place in a middle class house- in the past surrounded by nature, in the present crowded in by industrial buildings' outlines.


Willy is the character the play focuses on. He's a salesman, and overwhelmed by this new business world.
Linda is Willy's wife. She cares deeply for Willy and pressures he and Biff to make up. She's terrified that Willy will kill himself, and vastly protective of him.
Biff is Willy's favorite son, "well liked" in high school and now working on small construction jobs and the like.
Happy is Willy's other son, shadowed by Biff, though trying to follow the path that Willy laid out for Biff- he's working in business, trying to be "number one," and says he'll get married soon.
Bernard is one of the Lomans' neighbors. He's Happy and Biff's age. He was focused on his studies in school, and is now an extremely successful lawyer.
Charley is another of their neighbors. He's Willy's neighbor, and owns a business. He's sympathetic, and gives Willy money regularly, along with a job offer. He understands the impersonal quality of the world that Willy is struggling so much with.


Biff and Happy are back at their parents' house. Biff is trying to get his father to understand his epiphany of wanting to work outdoors, not in an office following another's orders. Happy's trying to get his parents' attention and approval with assurances that he'll be next for promotion, and is going to get married. Willy is struggling at work; the company isn't caring for him in his old age as he had imagined. He, throughout the play, has flashbacks to the past, when his kids were in high school. He emphasized  popularity, scorning Biff's and his own foil, Bernard and Charley. He constantly looks to his brother Ben's fairytale-like success as motivation and an unrealistic standard. Biff was going to go to college with football, but his image of Willy, and his drive to succeed, broke when he saw Willy with The Woman. Willy's current state ties back to Biff's losing of respect for him. Without Biff, Willy's own sense of self is lost. He feels unworthy- and therefore defensive- and depressed. He refuses to change his values, however, turning down Charley's job offers in favor of waiting for his own boss, Henry, to recognize his service. Instead, he's fired. A combination of that blow and a sudden understanding that Biff doesn't hate him drives him to suicide. He crashes the car, clinging to the hope that his family will get insurance money from him, and that his escape can be seen as heroic. 


The story generally follows Willy Loman. The flashbacks are a way into how he's thinking.
The set creates a dreamlike quality around the past, with an more open set, more open, bright background, and completed with flute when Willy thinks back. It's contrasted with the harsh, dark, limited present.


Linda's stockings- She's constantly trying to mend them while Willy gave them to The Woman. They became, for Willy, a reminder of his dishonesty with her, and his own failure.
Ben- he's the personification of Willy's ideal. He's a rags to riches story.
the outdoors, and more specifically, the house's garden-  the past is visibly more natural. Willy, when frustrated by how much things have changed, points to this shift. He misses the oak tree, the fresh air. In an attempt to regain some of his old life, Willy tries to plant a garden


"Why, boys, when I was seventeen I walked into the jungle, and when I was twenty-one I walked out. And by God I was rich."
Ben's success story, clearly an exaggeration. Still, Willy is captivated. It becomes how he expects, keeps hoping things will go- a sudden *poof,* and success. 
"I'm the New England Man. I'm vital in New England."
This quote holds Willy's desperate denial. His self worth is completely tied up in his job, as he hopes he will regain respect through it. He often talks of a salesman's funeral where people from all over came to say goodbye. 
"After all the highways, the trains, and the appointments, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive."
This is his realization before his suicide, when he's talking out the consequences with his imaginary Ben. He hopes that the insurance money will get Biff started in business.


The American Dream is not a reality.

• Willy follows the myth of the American Dream on his spiral downward
• he doesn't take into account the change in world values, instead believing the old era's implied promises (his retirement)
• he pushes his own dreams back (of moving to the country) for this false one, and is extremely unhappy
• The "a" in the title makes the play universal, and Willy even more anonymous
• following this dream into the business world stomped on his identity

Summaries and Analyses of Literature: The American Dream

The American Dream
by Edward Albee
It takes place in a middle class apartment's living room. There are two chairs, facing diagonally and only slightly toward each other. A sofa separates them. There are doors leading to other rooms visible. It's set in the mid 1900s. 


Mommy is a dominant, yet childish figure. She's often harsh to the others, talking down to Daddy and insulting Grandma. 
Daddy is emasculated by Mommy, often looking to her for approval. He's more kind to Grandma, apologizing several times. 
Grandma is Mommy's mother. She generalizes what "old people" do in many of her monologues, speaking for the whole generation. 
Young Man is the twin of M and D's old baby, and suffered the mutilation they caused to their past baby. He's handsome, but empty of emotion and focused on money.
Mrs. Barker holds an air of official authority. She's the head of both M's Women's Club and the adoption agency, but also holds aspects of both the government (her "Ladies' Auxiliary Air Raid Committee) and a prostitute (she's a "professional woman," and excites D).


The play opens with M and D talking to each other. They're waiting for a guest. M talks about a shopping trip the day before with a hat conflict. She bought a beige hat, but Mrs. Barker calls it wheat. M goes back to the store with a tantrum, content once they give her the same hat again. Throughout the story, she tests D to see if he's listening. He is, repeating her last few lines when prompted. G enters with boxes, and the three talk in a stream of consciousness fashion, going between M's childhood (a time that seems like the recent past but, going by the Young Man's age later in the scene, is several years back) and the present. The conflicts between the characters- G's displacement, M's dominance over D- become apparent. Mrs. Barker, the guest they were waiting for, arrives. Once M and D are out of the room, G tells Mrs. Barker about M and D's past adoption in "hints"- telling of a story "like" the one Mrs. Barker was involved in. Mrs. Barker doesn't understand the explanation. Soon after, Young Man arrives. YM describes feeling his old twin's mutilations and his loss of feeling. He plays the van man for G, then takes on the role of M and D's new son, who they are delighted with. G, after stepping out of the frame of the stage, addresses the audience. She wraps up the play while "everybody's  got what he wants."


Albee's style is absurdist, but heavy with meaning; it seems superficial and nonsensical, but a lot happens within the figurative realm. 
The point of view eventually becomes Grandma's, to a small extent. While she isn't on stage in the first conversation, she becomes the closest to the audience. She's stays somewhat removed from M and D's nonsense, alienated by them with their talk of the van man and her own age. She becomes the closest thing the play has to a narrator later on, manipulating the ending to a satisfactory one and breaking the fourth wall.
The characters' conversations are light, yet often use dramatic language in generalities. G talks for all old people, and D claims that the lack of satisfaction is "the way things are these days." Their words end up sounding quite shallow sometimes, and layered others.
The room's separated chairs- and M and D's choice to sit on them, instead of the sofa- show the lack of intimacy that has risen between them. The room's average appearance grounds the play for the audience.


Grandma's boxes- everything of value, largely old sentimental things, are leaving with G
Grandma- she's the old american values
Young Man- new and shallow values of consumerism


"And Masculine? Was I really Masculine?"
D looks to M for confirmation; the traditional gender roles have been reversed. Albee's arguing that that's unnatural.
"They wanted satisfaction; they wanted their money back."
The new values support an obsession with consumerism. With its ties to M's hat situation, this quote suggests that that is also an obsession with power and attention.
"The American Dream! The American Dream! Damn it!"
This is G's recognition that this new American Dream, the YM, will replace her. It's directly responding to Mommy asking who's at the door.


The new society and its values are deformed- they're pretty, but emotionally handicapped, pushing away true satisfaction.

• the average setting applies it to the audience, broadening the claim to the real world's new society
• the far apart chairs and lack of intimacy mean something's wrong with this new time
• characters of this time are childlike, not fully developed (they change the baby so that it can't be fully developed, too)
• ^ treat a child as an object, want complete control
• ^ M's tantrum and D's subservience are shown as problems, too- feminism, to Albee, is unnatural
• Grandma identifies YM as the new "American Dream," and he replaces her. 
• ^the trade of power goes from a relatively strong character to a mutilated one

Revision of Second 1970 Prompt

      "Choose a work of recognized literary merit in which a specific inanimate object (e.g., a seashell, a handkerchief, a painting) is important, and write an essay in which you show how two or three of the purposes the object serves are related to one another."

      Possessions often reflect a person's character. Laura's glass menagerie, from the drama of the same title, helps define her; her fragility and the figures' delicate forms are easily comparable. The glass menagerie's purpose, however, runs deeper. It serves as a symbol of her escape into the ideal. This furthers the plays claim that Laura cannot survive outside of her small world.
      Laura's unusual anxiety hinders her ability to function in the world. She was embarrassed of her typing on the first day of classes, and instead of returning the next day to improve her skill or talking to her mother about it, she avoids conflict and spends the days wandering about the park and zoo. Her behavior exhibits her detached nature. Jim, later, comments on her personality: "It's unusual to see a shy girl nowadays." She's delicate, like the glass. Laura's favorite figure in the menagerie is a unicorn. The unicorn is a metaphor for who she wishes to be- someone loved both despite and for her uniqueness. She frantically tries to keep distance between herself and these desires, terrified that she'll find they are impossible. When she realizes Jim is her old crush, she refuses to sit at the table, not wanting him to see her and either not recognize her or be disappointed by her, avoiding the situation, as with typing class. When she and Jim talk about high school, Jim is surprised by how self conscious about her leg brace she was. He kisses her, wanting her to have more self confidence. In a way, her ideal has been realized- Jim has shown her affection due to her standing out.
      The dream is soon cracked. The unicorn falls off the table when she's caught up in dancing with Jim. Jim, in bumping the table, breaks the unicorn's horn off- the unicorn becomes, as Laura puts it, "just like the other horses." The fantasy ends, and they return to a reality where Jim has a fiance. A unicorn, her dream, cannot exist in reality.
      The glass menagerie's function changed throughout the play. It begins by focusing her longing, accenting it by how often she played with and dusted the figures. Later, it illustrates the lack of sustainability her ideal holds. The glass menagerie, as a reflection of Laura's character, helps to clarify how Laura is seeing things.

Revision of 1997 Prompt

1997.    Novels and plays often include scenes of weddings, funerals, parties, and other social occasions.  Such scenes may reveal the values of the characters and the society in which they live.  Select a novel or play that includes such a scene and, in a focused essay, discuss the contribution the scene makes to the meaning of the work as a whole. 

      Weddings are usually symbols of a joyous new beginning. The Jungle begins with a wedding scene, and what is traditionally filled with hope the family off on their trail of hardships. Sinclair uses the archetype to introduce the contrast between the “American dream” and the reality he sees immigrants face.

      The wedding scene is the opening of the novel, and emphasizes the Rudkus' original innocence. The family invites everyone who walks past to join them, despite the cost of the bar and feast they'll have to pay for; they trust people, like back in Lithuania, to give donations. They are more welcoming than they can afford; after eating and drinking, many of the guests sneak out of the building, leaving the poor family with a staggering bill. The behavior is shocking to the Rudkus family. It's a betrayal. The family, still, carries on with innocence and optimism, Jurgis taking responsibility with an "I will work harder.” it's clear that they still believe in the America that had been advertised to them, a place for hope. The wedding sets up a place for the characters to fall from. 

      The family's traditional values, as well as their hope, fall. In this environment, their generosity harms them. It's traditional to invite people nearby inside, but it's not as practical in Chicago as it was in Lithuania; the sidewalks are much more crowded. Their kindness, unrequited, is out of place. They're faced with people out for themselves, a foreshadowing to their own eventual loss of values: Majija and Teta Elzbieta's prostitution, and Jurgis' abandonment of the family.

      The family, battered by harsh surroundings, is later broken. The structure of the novel is an ironic twist, beginning with a wedding and ending apart, again emphasizing the family's fallen hopes.

Revision of 1972 prompt

1972. In retrospect, the reader often discovers that the first chapter of a novel or the opening scene of a drama introduces some of the major themes of the work. Write an essay about the opening scene of a drama or the first chapter of a novel in which you explain how it functions in this way.

      To focus an audience on themes and clue them subtly into later conflicts, both authors and playwrights often fill opening scenes with hints. After rereading The American Dream, for example, one can see that the beginning echoes the themes of the rest of the play, both foreshadowing and connecting the play back to itself. The opening shows what Albee was most interested in getting across: the superficiality of this middle class society.

      Childishness is quickly introduced. The first two characters the audience meets call each other Mommy and Daddy, something usually reserved for when among children. Mommy talks to Daddy like he is a small child, often stopping to ask for proof that he had been listening. The two treat each other condescendingly, she consistently with her style of speech, and he with his agreement that she "did get satisfaction" after stating that it was impossible, a sarcastic assurance. Mommy's immature behavior in the store also makes them seem less like responsible adults; she was upset over something as trivial as a hat being beige versus wheat.

      The beige or wheat hat is an example of the miscommunication so central to absurdist plays. The difference between the colors is clearly one of opinion, yet becomes a conflict; they're fighting, then, not about color, but power. The characters, throughout the beginning of the play, don't respond to or present ideas clearly. While Daddy can repeat what Mommy last said, he's not focused on the meaning; he rarely adds his own responses to the conversation, and is disinterested, again a kind of rebellion, a power claim

      Satisfaction is often referred to in the play, a motif. Mommy proclaims that shopping gives her satisfaction, while Daddy says "you just can't get satisfaction." The opening of The American Dream prepares the rest of the play through introducing themes and conflicts.

Revision of 1986 prompt

1986. Some works of literature use the element of time in a distinct way. The chronological sequence of events may be altered, or time may be suspended or accelerated. Choose a novel, an epic, or a play of recognized literary merit and show how the author's manipulation of time contributes to the effectiveness of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

      Memories are a kind of time travel. Miller's Death of a Salesman uses this to form a layered narrative of Willy's life. The play, in following Willy to the past and present, lets the audience sympathize with him. Because it's not realistic chronologically, Death of a Salesman leans the audience toward a more emotional reading.

      Willy's conversations with Ben don't happen in the "present time" of the play, yet they contribute great meaning, as does their repetition. He's haunted by the success that Ben achieved, and sees him as a role model. He frequently quotes how Ben "walked into the jungle" and walked out a rich man. It becomes a kind of fable for him, a legend: the world isn't working out for him, but it's not hopeless; Ben made it through! He returns to that memory when he's confused or overwhelmed, asking for advice. This pattern reveals his insecurities to the audience, and shows one of his motivations. Later, when he's talking over the possibility of suicide with an imaginary Ben, Ben already symbolizes someone who Willy trusts, someone clever. If he can convince Ben, it's a good idea. This image helps portray the gravity of the scene. Ben, in being used as a memory helps to make Willy's way of thinking understandable.

      The flashbacks also flashbacks carry the audience along closer to Willy's pace, suspending their understanding of the situation and its causes. For example, Biff's discovery of the Woman is later in the play, after the conflict between him and Willy has been established. Knowing that it is not yet resolved makes watching the fall even more tragic. Without traveling with his memories, Willy would be alienated from the audience. If they didn't travel with him, so much of his increasing tension is brought from the weight of the conflict in his memories as well as the memories' interactions with the present. He's disturbed whenever he sees Linda with stockings, and the connection between those stockings and the Woman's is understood through the twisting of time. By manipulating the order of events, Miller helps the audience understand Willy and why he committed suicide. 

Poetic Structure and Vocabulary

Poetry- condensed language

Prose- not poetry

Doggerel- defined as "not poetry," is rhymed, often comic

analyzed poetry using SSTIFS (Situation, Speaker, Tone, Imagery, Figurative Language, Structure)

much of the vocab that we learned is especially relevant to poems

different types of parallelism (chiasmus, antithesis, etc)

declaratives- statement, a declaration
imperatives- a direct order
interrogatives- a question

number of conjunctions between- asyndeton, polysyndeton, etc

form often follows function

types of poetry

sonnet most common (14 lines)

Italian/Petrarchan- octave, then sestet (question, -volta- answer [change in rhyme scheme]) abba abba 

Shakespearean sonnet- 3 quatrains, couplet (with the turn/volta line 9 or 13)

Villanelle- 5 tercets (aba) quatrain (abaa) repetition in tercets (beginning of 1 repeated in tercets 2 and 4; end of 1 repeated 3 and 5) so subtly shifting lines

elegy- for the dead

lyric- personal thoughts, short

ode- addressing something

Drama and History

Comedy

ideas, manner, farce, low comedy

based on irony, lets audience feel superior (though supposed to acknowledge similarities)

individual made to conform

Tragedy

individual keeps integrity (usually his downfall)

Arthur Miller's Tragedy and the Common Man- common man, not just kings, the center of tragedy

flaw being stubbornness (as with other tragedy)

Northrop Frye's circle relating the two, along with romance and irony, is especially relevant

Critical lenses to be aware of:

Formalists- very aware that literature is just words on a page, tries to avoid context from the author's life, the author's intent, historical context, and the like

New Historicism- they look at cultural and historical context

Feminism- concerned with gender roles

Marxism- they keep marxist themes in mind: class, money, power

Post Colonialism- examine imperialism and the interaction of culture between societies

Myth/ Archetype- they think about motifs, cultural (archetypes) or otherwise- Northrop Frye again

for the AP test

several strategies introduced to tackle the AP test

what's needed for the essay:

• use terms, not an explanation of them
• include quotes if you can
• have a claim, evidence, and warrant for a scholarly commentary
• attack it from more than one angle
• remember TAP- thesis answers prompt (very important!)
• never ignore the prompt's intro
• analyze prompt with TEMs- divide goals into techniques, effects, and meanings
• if meaning not asked for, give anyway- you need analysis

intro's format:

• have multi-sentence thesis (2-3)
• ^ start with general opening 
• then narrow to play
• finally, close in on meaning, ending the first paragraph
• after, go on to body paragraphs
• in conclusion, wrap your essay back to thesis
• artistry < clarity in this case

plain style

• jargon is silly and exclusive
• be as clear as possible while keeping nuances, shades of meaning
• use strong nouns and verbs
• don't pad it down with adjectives and adverbs
• use direct sentences- you should still vary it up, just not long for the sake of hearing yourself talk

multiple choice

• get a general sense first- don't "be the magpie" and create an incomplete big picture
• some tricky types of questions: too broad, too narrow, true but not relevant, restatements of question, and opposite

DIDLS

We started off the year with a close reading technique: DIDLS

in general, write while you read- it's a conversation, and will grow your understanding and go deeper- you'll find patterns, have notes of first impressions

Diction
one word- not phrase
tone- colloquialism (from slang to epic language)
dialect
connotation and denotation
the ambiguity or tangibility (concrete v abstract)

Imagery
senses- how complete?
tied with poetry- language condensed to artistic effect

Details
specifics, no more than it sounds like

Language
poetic devices

Syntax
punctuation, meter, mechanical aspects and their effects
(sentence length, construction)
(effects pace, tone, emphasis)

we used these to analyze while discussing/annotating these books and plays (though, really, with all that we've talked about this year):
American Dream
Death of a Salesman
Ceremony
Pride and Prejudice
Hamlet