Assignment 7 - The Garden Party

After reading Katherine Mansfield's short story, The Garden Party, I set out to answer Foster's test questions. Here is what I came up with after thinking about the questions:

What does the story signify?

The story signifies the struggle between the classes in which both think the other as different and weird. Also expressed is the isolation in which the different classes try to put themselves.

Most of the sample opinions provided by foster picked up on this point as did I.

How does the story signify this?

Geography - The Sheridan's house is separated from the common houses by a giant hill. The upper class sit on top while the lower classes reside below. What better way to symbolize a divide among people than an actual divide in the geography of the setting.

This also was expressed by the opinions provided by Foster


Freedom through Flight - At the beginning of the story Laura "flew away" to meet with the work-men sent to assemble the marque. This moment is the first in which Laura acknowledges her sympathy for the lower class men. As Diane noticed I also picked up on the birds in the nest. Each of the family is at one point referenced in an avian manner and the house on the hill could symbolize a nest. Therefore Laura's actual freedom flight would come at the end as opposed to the beginning when she seems to achieve mental freedom.

Although I noticed several of the same techniques as Diane I did not approach her level of deep thinking.


Foster's paragraphs following the short story create a much greater appreciation for Katherine Mansfield short story. The idea that the author was able to create so much symbolism in a short story is mind-boggling.

Assignment 6 - Marked for Greatness

By now anyone who has read Foster's How to Read Literature Like a Professor can grasp the recurring theme, that most elements of a story have a purpose if not a deeper meaning. This holds true when considering physical imperfections, more specifically Harry Potter and his famous scar. Forever living on as the "Boy Who Lived" Harry survived his encounter with Lord Voldemort with only a scar to bear.

Delving into the deeper meaning of Harry's scar requires a shift of thought. Most commonly known as a representation of the past, the lightning scar should, instead, be thought of as a window into Harry's future. The mark not only represents Harry's previous encounter with Voldemort but more importantly symbolizes the connection between Harry and the dark wizard. This faithful connections must be destroyed before the events of the final chapters. J.K. Rowling creates one imperfection in one of the character's appearances to represent this entire process: Harry's famous scar. The scar becomes the past form of Harry's future. The scar becomes a time-machine. The scar becomes a portal into the future for Harry and even his arch-nemesis.

Assignment 6 - Archetype

Archetype - The basic pattern from which all stories follow.

Once again visiting the idea of one true story, Foster introduces the concept of the archetype. Perry Moore's Hero, a coming of age story, holds true to Foster's idea that all stories have a set pattern or archetype. Although this archetype is used and abused by many authors, Moore creates a story that only proves Foster's concept true. Thom Creed, the main character, is teenager struggling to find himself. Unlike most coming of age books, however, Thom is dealing with very different issues. Not only is his father a disgraced super hero, but he is beginning to develop his own superpowers. To top off the problems, Thom is gay in an increasingly anti-homosexual community.

Creating a not so typical coming of age story seems to be increasingly difficult. By doing just that, Perry Moore helps to prove Foster's ideas about literature and the one true story. Hero is changed in a recognizable enough way to create a decent story that also follows the pattern of all the countless bad coming of age novels.

Assignment 5 - Except Sex

Nearly everyone has seen the Austin Powers trilogy. After reading Foster's opinion of the less descriptive sex scenes, an infamous seen from Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me came to mind. During the scene, Austin and Ivana Humpalot play a simple game of chess. However, seconds into the game the two begin to play in a less than traditional manner. Rubbing, moaning, licking, and guttural noises commence. The game of chess contributes to the characterization of Powers and the time period. The sixties, where Austin originates, were a tumultuous period of clashes between the new front of free love and the bastion of old conservatism. By using a simple game to describe the sexual acts that are about to occur, the film creates a feeling that sex was everywhere during the 1960's and could appear anywhere. As for Powers, the scene creates a feeling of the sexual prowess of the International Man of Mystery. The men and women, as Ivana too participated in the sexual game, of the free love era are described without words. Using the game, as opposed to a sex scene, creates the double effect of describing not only an entire time period but a the people who resided in the era.

Assignment 4 - It's All Political

Foster's idea that all writing is political (whether consciously or unconsciously created) provoked my thoughts. Upon further reflection I realized his opinion was quite true. When thinking back to one of my favorite books, Tamar by Mal Peet, I made several quick political connections. Throughout the novel, the implications of war are explored continuously. For example, a major character is forced to take drugs to avoid sleep to perform his job. The effects of this forced drug use indirectly (or directly depending on personal opinion) rip a family apart forty years later. The first time I read the novel I thought of the facts merely as an unfortunate event. However, after Foster's enlightening chapter, I realized what Peet's intentions could have been. What if Peet had wanted to bring to light the lasting effects of normal wartime activities such as drug use? While it may not all be political, the majority of it can certainly be thought of that way.

Assignment 3 - Two Types of Violence

According to Thomas Foster, two different types of violence exist. The first is character violence in which the character directly causes violence to occur. The other occurs when the author purposefully creates violence to further the development of a theme. Examples of both types exist in Anthony Burgess's analysis of evil, A Clockwork Orange. Character-caused violence can be seen almost immediately as Alex, the main character and narrator, and his "droogs" (friends) prowl the streets creating mayhem where ever they step.Among other things, the "malchicks" (teenagers) rape, steal, beat, and drink their way through each evening. This violence is strictly character-caused as their own personalities create the need to be violent. The later type occurs later in the book and is much more mental than physical. After a short stint in prison, Alex is transferred to a mental hospital where the government hopes to successfully test a new prisoner reform program. Alex endures two weeks of mental bombardment as the doctors hope to condition his brain to hate sex and violence. The torturous    reform program over, Alex walks free as a changed man. However, Alex appears to be incapable of functioning in society after his old actions continue to haunt him. All of this results in Alex's attempted suicide. As the reform program was created by Burgess, the violent mental beating Alex endured was a direct result of the author.

The two distinct types of violence used by Burgess have very different effects.The character-caused violence leads to a deeper understanding of the characters and the society in which they reside. A clear mental picture of a violent corrupt world is created in the mind of the reader. Burgess's violence, however, begins to develop the theme of A Clockwork Orange. Questions about the origin of the evil begin to flow through the reader's mind. Without the inclusion of the two types of violence, Burgess's overall picture would by murky and his overall intent veiled.

Assignment 2 - Intertextuality

Intertextuality

Intertextuality can be defined as the constant interaction between texts. This interaction leads to multiple layers of meaning for all characters, plots, and settings.

Oedipus the King, the great tragedy by Sophocles, can be simply described as two men desperately attempting to alter the future predicted by the Oracle of Delphi. This basic plot outline can be found in Ryan North's Machine of Death. In North's novel, a machine prints out a slip of paper with a single word summarizing the death of the machine-user. This modern oracle leads to the modern reincarnation of Oedipus and his father, King Laius. Several people, horrified by the machine's predictions, desperately try to prevent the prophesied deaths from occurring. Although I have not read this book, and only know about it through Sean, the connection between these books is fairly obvious. When reading Machine of Death, I believe the intertextual connection will allow me to think of the short stories in a deeper perspective, instead of as an entertaining read.

When thinking of a connection with Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and a modern art, most tend to think of West Side Story, the fifties and sixties adaption of Romeo and Juliet. Yet, there is another novel with ties to Shakespeare's play. S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders contains strong references to the later scenes of Romeo and Juliet. Just as Romeo feels obligated to fight Tybalt after the murder of his friend, Johnny attacks the Soc attempting to drown his friend Ponyboy. Both defensive acts result in the death of the original attacker and the exile of the friend acting as the hero. Although Ponyboy and Johnny do not have flaming romances in the society from which they leave, they do have a strong brotherhood with the fellow greasers. Upon the death of Romeo and Johnny their respective "lovers" commit suicide as they feel they can not live without the other. The brotherly love as well as the tragic ending in both works provides a strong intertextual connection. This connection helped when reading Romeo and Juliet as I was able to think of the plot in terms of a more modern setting which helped to counteract the difficult language of the play.

Fairy-Tale Parallel

Lemuel Gulliver, the luckiest or perhaps unluckiest literary figure, shares his adventures in the four part Gulliver's Travels. The first voyage in Gulliver's odyssey, his adventure in the tiny world of Lilliput, has interesting parallels with Jack and the Beanstalk, the classic fairy-tale. These parallels do not stop at the obvious big versus little saga. The giant in the fairy-tale uses his bulk to easily defeat any "Englishmen" venturing into his realm. Perhaps on purpose (due to the satirical nature of the novel) Swift created the opposite interaction in his classic. Gulliver appeared too incompetent to use his might crush the tiny egotistical beings of Lilliput. He repeatedly allows the Lilliputians to control him with their "dizzying intellect" despite their size. However, despite the completely different interactions between the characters, the giants always seem to lose. The giant is ruthlessly murdered by Jack, while Gulliver is almost poisoned to death by the tiny Lilliputians. Whether or not Swift intended these parallels to exist is nearly impossible to determine. Yet, the parallels between the novel and the fairy-tale create an interesting reiteration of the classic moral: brains always trumps brawn.

Assignment I - Every Trip is a Quest

City of Thieves by David Benoiff

a. (A quester) Lev Benoiv, a citizen of Red Russia, and Koyla Vlasov, a court-marshaled soldier in the Red Army.

b. (A place to go) The unlikely duo do not have a specific location to go, but more of a specific object in an unknown location.

c. (A reason to go) Lev and Koyla, are hoping to save their own lives by finding a dozen eggs for a greedy Russian Colonel.

d. (challenges and trials) Lev and Koyla encounter bitter cold temperatures, savage people, gnawing hunger, and most of the German army.

e. (A real reason to go) Unbeknownst to the pair, the Russian Colonel is no need of eggs. He merely wishes the pests gone. Therefore the real reason Lev and Koyla become questers is in the hope that they will perish in the Russian winter.