Summary and Analysis - The American Dream

The American Dream

Summary:

- Author: Edward Albee
- Setting: Living room of Mommy and Daddy
- Plot: Mommy and Daddy begin in the living room talking about dissatisfaction. Mommy, who bought a hat, wasn't satisfied with the color. Both are also talking about how "they" are late. They repeat the phrase "we just can't get satisfaction''. This is symbolic of the New American Dream and the discontent with old ways. Meanwhile, Grandma represents the Old American Dream and is the only character that seems to know what is going on and acts as a mediator between the characters and the audience. Grandma is being taken by the "van man", or young man (aka New American Dream) after Mrs.Barker comes to visit from the Bye-Bye Adoption Service. All of this leads to the ending, in which the audience is left to think about what happened and is left with some important themes (which will be discussed later...)

Significant Characters:
- Mommy: Materialistic, needy, bossy, un-woman-like-she-man-devil who manipulates Daddy whenever she can. She is dissatisfied with pretty much everything and quickly replaces Grandma with Young Man
- Daddy: a wimpy, non-authoritative, man-woman who generally gives in to mommy's wishes
- Grandma: "Old American Dream" who doesn't take Mommy's crap, or anybodies for that matter.
- Mrs.Barker: plural, from bye-bye adoption, only person with a name
- Young Man: "New American Dream" that replaces Grandma

Narrative Voice and Author's Style:
-View: There is no point of view, no narrative figure. However, Grandma seems to be the person that knows most everything going on in the play, but does not reveal it to us until the end (or rather... leaves it up to us to figure out... )
- Tone: Comic
     *Albee uses comedy techniques to lessen the blow of the harsh message
     * Ex. Role Reversals, Discussion of something not usually public, ect.
- Imagery: All created to lead the reader toward different themes or topics
     * Beige v wheat - colors that lead to materialism
     * Grandma continuously talks about "old people" and describes them using imagery (wrinkled, sneezing,     ect.) to relate to the "wrinkling" of the Old American Dream
- Symbolism: A lot of the characters are used to symbolize something
     * Grandma = Old American Dream
     * Mommy = Materialism
     * Young Man = New American Dream

Quotes:

-"WHAT a masculine Daddy! Isn't he a masculine Daddy?"
This Quote has a lot packed into one simple idea. Mommy is talking to Daddy when he decides to open the door. She is being very cruel and dangling his manhood in front of him, daunting him like a child. This shows her dominance over him and includes a part of humor that Albee uses: role reversal.

- "When you get old, you can't talk to people because people snap at you. That's why you become deaf, so you won't be able to hear people talking to you that way. That's why old people die, eventually. People talk to them that way."
Here, Grandma is expressing her frustration with the way people treat the Old American Dream. She says that while the dream is still alive and waiting to be heard, nobody is willing to listen. Not listening is what will cause the inevitable death of the Old American Dream. It serves as a warning, but ironically, nobody is listening. 

THEME: 

- The American Dream is shifting to something more dangerous and materialistic if we don't start paying attention
     * This can be supported in a variety of ways. For one, Grandma leaves the fate of the dream in the hands of the audience and tells them that it is up to them. Mommy, who was shown being materialistic in her not being satisfied with a wheat hat, is then shown to be dissatisfied with everything. If she (or people) aren't satisfied, they will move on to something else; in this case, the new american dream. Young Man symbolizes the New American Dream and is shown to value materials, good looks, and seems to have no sense of individual, hardworking happiness. Since that is what people will move toward due to dissatisfaction, the world will end up materialist and only aiming for money, leaving happiness behind. Mommy and Daddy are materialistic to the point that they killed their own child because he was imperfect, which serves as a warning to the audience. Through this hyperbole, we get a glimpse as to what our world might become if we fully shift to this materialist, self-satisfying new world. 

Close Reading - Oct. 21

Glossy Garbage

http://www.afa.net/Detail.aspx?id=2147483725 

Glossy Garbage, an article on American Family association, follows the same trend as other articles found on this website. In general, the website expresses the need for "traditional" family values and has only one point of view. This creates a very biased and controversial effect. Glossy Garbage is no exception. Through its use of diction, imagery and detail, this article drives the conservative and limited "traditional" family values home. 

The use of diction in Glossy Garbage is mostly pejorative connotation. When talking about the layout of the checkout isle, the author talks about kids being a"target," which is true. The word "target," however, has a very negative light. It points out that candy and kids are synonymous  but then pushes on to say that kids are targeted to sex when they see magazines in the isle. To back this up, the author also uses words like "bombarded' "cattle" "inappropriate" "lascivious"

The author also uses imagery to paint the picture of kids being cattle. "Kids corralled like cattle and force fed doses of porn" is the opening simile that sets the scene for the rest of the article. This imagery is used to exaggerate the idea that magazines shouldn't be placed in the grocery check-out line. From that point on, kids are shown to be in a "chute" (or isle) that slowly ruins the ideas of the american values. This image gives the reader of a one-way street that cannot be avoided. This is meant to convince the reader that this is what is ruining the home.

The use of detail in the article also adds to the ignorant idea that check-out lines are threatening the ideals of the american values. The author chooses to include information and quotes like "Look, Mr. Manager, we're not ignorant. We know you strategically place dozens of kinds of candy here for a purpose. Kids and candy go together like peanut butter and jelly. What doesn't "register" is the gratuitous display of trashy magazines with lascivious cover photos and salacious headlines," paints a picture that sends a warning signal to parents and tells them what to think about magazines. There is also detail that includes the way we can "save" our children from the oh-so-horrendous check out lane at the grocery store. "Fortunately, parents are beginning to speak out and complain to their local store manager, with exceptional results." That quote is added to indirectly show that it is good that parents are speaking out and that this real problem can be solved with something simple. 

Glossy Garbage uses diction, imagery and detail to show that the values of the traditional american family are in harm. Obviously this is a real problem; kids aren't paying attention to the stacks of delicious candy. Instead, the sex-driven children of our generation look at pictures on vogue and see porn. Those 10 steps to being a healthy human being? No... nude pictures of women that little boys are paying too much attention to. The obvious conclusion? Grocery stores are ruining the traditional values of the American Family. 

*Warning* Extreme use of sarcasm. People are  ridiculous. But, the point is the same, the article has an extreme bias and uses parts of the rhetoric to make its argument. 

Open Prompt - October 14

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.

     In the novel Their Eyes were Watching God, Zora Hurston uses the opening chapter to function as an introduction to the major themes of the work. One of the best opening paragraphs in history, Huston sets the stage for the novel, let alone taking in the chapter as a whole. 

     The opening sentence, "Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board," very carefully sets the stage for the rest of the book. In that sentence alone, Hurston creates the idea that every person has a wish that is far away. In the next couple of sentences, she points out that some of these wishes come true, while others will never be obtained and might even be used against them. This is a repeating theme found in the novel as the protagonist, Janie, realizes that not all of her dreams will come true. It is simply a fact of life, but good things can also come from them as well. 

     The first chapter also introduces a look into the colloquial dialect that is continued throughout the book. As Janie walks through town, rumors are being spread about her and a man named Tea Cake. These rumors are being spread by girls who envy all that Janie is, yet Janie has yet to find out who true voice. The use of language is directly parallel to Janie learning how to control her own voice, which leads to another theme. Janie's control of language shows the empowerment and identity that can be obtained through speech. 

     Lastly, the opening chapter introduces the first glimpse as to Janie's relationship problems. This later develops into a coming of age and a search for her own identity. After suffering from relationship to relationship, she finds  Tea Cake. In the end, Tea Cake dies and Janie suddenly realizes that she can't define herself from another human being, which leads to the idea that everyone is an individual that must find themselves.

     Their Eyes are Watching God  is a prime example of how the opening chapter can be used to set the stage for the themes of the book. Hurston carefully thought out how to begin her piece, which made her story  have that much more impact on the reader. 

Response to Course Material - Sept. 7

In the past couple of weeks, we have been working on how to analyze literature. From using DIDLS, to looking for tone and structure, we have many ways to pick apart a work. Most of the time, what I do in class is separate from how I work at home and in daily life. That is not, however, the case as of now. Today, I spent the morning watching Taken 2. Not a piece of written literature, you say? Sure.. maybe so. But the entire time I was totally geeked out, imagining how the movie would be written out. Weird, I know. But true. Diction is fairly obvious, the words that characters use. It really didn't have an effect on the movie (or if it had been written out...) since it was mainly just easy to follow, simple words. Imagery, obviously, was the scene of the movie. But... would writing it out make it any more powerful? Yes. I believe the answer is yes. We all have our favorite book-turned-movie. Sadly, the movies simply do not compare. One of the reasons, is the use of imagery. In a book, imagery appeals to the senses and has great detail that the reader must pay attention to. With a movie, people are simply shown; which doesn't necessarily appeal to the audience's senses. One part that I would have liked to read - instead of watch- would be when the dad is taken into a tiny, dark room. They showed the setting, but had it been described, it would have been that much more powerful and would have made it seem more intense. There would have been words like "the humid moisture clung to his forehead as he patiently fumbled to reach his phone..." There. Not just shown, but gave more feeling that each person can relate to their own experience. Skipping to syntax, my most embarrassing moment was leaning over to my friend, talking about a fight scene and how it would look written out. His response...? A blank stare. Odd, but I had to explain. See, as it was filmed, there were short and quick movements that made the watcher confused and unsure of who was winning which fight. On the page, I eagerly pushed on, the set up would be very similar. Short, quick sentences. To the point, very choppy. This would interrupt the flow and the structure would parallel with the fights themselves. Again... just a blank stare. Sadly, my geek moment could not be shared, but with that, I realized that how I read literature will be change drastically if I have already tried to analyze my own rendition of a movie.