Prompts

(Open prompt #4)

1971. The significance of a title such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is so easy to discover. However, in other works (for example, Measure for Measure) the full significance of the title becomes apparent to the reader only gradually. Choose two works and show how the significance of their respective titles is developed through the authors' use of devices such as contrast, repetition, allusion, and point of view.

            The title of a work holds special importance: it’ll often draw readers in, summarize the meaning of the piece, or help readers think more deeply and analytically about the work. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck are two novels in which the authors chose abstract titles that develop meaning throughout the book. Both Achebe and Steinbeck use contrast, repetition, allusion, and point of view in their novels in order to develop the meaning of their respective titles.

            Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart follows the main character, Okonkwo, and the destruction of both his African society and his character throughout the story. Achebe uses contrast by juxtaposing Okonkwo’s traditional African society with the newer societies of the more modern white colonizers. These new societies led by the white man have much different beliefs and ways of life than those of the older societies, such as rituals, belief in God, and treatment of women. The new societies gain many followers from the traditional society Okonkwo is struggling to hold onto. By contrasting these two societies and showing the eventual destruction of the traditional society, Achebe develops the meaning of his title: that things will inevitably fall apart. The traditional society could not hold after the introduction of the newer more modern ways of the white man. Achebe also uses repetition of the concept of things falling apart. Okonkwo, once the most powerful and important man of the tribe, watches his life fall apart throughout the novel. Things begin to fall apart when Okonkwo is exiled because of his accidental killing of another tribe member. From that point on, Okonkwo’s life continues to crumble. He loses his son to the new society of the white man, his favorite daughter is perpetually sick and on the verge of death, and when he returns his society is nothing like the one he left. By repeating the idea that things fall apart through the failure of Okonkwo, Achebe reinforces the meaning of the title, Things Fall Apart.

            The title of the novel, Things Fall Apart, is an allusion to Yeats’ poem “The Second Coming.” A line in Yeats’ poem says, “things fall apart, the center cannot hold,” which is the meaning Achebe is trying to portray in his novel. No matter how strong Okonkwo’s society once was, the center (represented by the once-powerful Okonkwo) could not and did not hold. In Yeats’ poem, he suggests a “second coming” after things fall apart. Similarly, in Achebe’s novel, the “second coming” is represented by the new wave of white colonists and their new ways of life. The title is further developed through this allusion because it now carries the meaning that things do not only fall apart, but they also must be replaced by something new. This story is told in the third person point of view, through a kind of omniscient narrator. The narration focuses mainly on Okonkwo, but occasionally changes to reveal important details. The use of this point of view allows readers to watch the destruction of the society play out and why these things are happening. If the story was told through Okonkwo’s eyes, the readers may be blind to what is actually going on and would only be able to see what Okonkwo believes is happening, which is often not close to reality. By using this point of view, Achebe gives readers a broader sense of what’s happening and helps readers understand the title Things Fall Apart.

            John Steinbeck uses contrast, repetition, allusion, and point of view in his novel The Grapes of Wrath in order to develop understanding of his abstract title. Steinbeck uses the technique of contrast by contrasting the dreams of the family moving west with reality. Like many families during the Great Depression, the Joad family believes that all of their problems will be solved by moving west, where there should have been opportunity for a better life. Throughout the novel, we learn that their dream does not match with reality. The Joad family struggles to even get out west, and when they finally reach it it’s nothing like their dream. This contrast develops the title The Grapes of Wrath. If the grapes represent the west, then the wrath is what is felt deep in the hearts of this family of dreamers, who watch their family slowly fall apart throughout the novel. The idea of the “grapes” is repeated throughout the book to reinforce the meaning of the title. Steinbeck is not really referring to angry fruit, but instead the anger felt by the families who move west only to find disappointment. The repetition of the idea of the grapes represents the dream of the west. Many families sought agricultural work in places such as the grape vineyards of California, and the goal of the family is always to get west and to find work. With the constant vision of grapes (or work, success, money) comes constant disappointment and wrath in the family when they continue to fail.

            Steinbeck also uses biblical allusions and point of view to develop meaning in the title of his novel The Grapes of Wrath. The Joad family can be compared to and be seen as an allusion to the Book of Job in the Old Testament of the Bible. In the Bible, God is constantly testing Job through a series of unfortunate events despite his good actions. The Joad family is similar in that they are always good-hearted and have the best intentions, but life continues to test them and cause them to fail. It is only natural for the family to feel wrath at the unfairness of life, which is suggested in the title. Steinbeck also alludes to the biblical Promised Land in his novel. In the book, California is the “promised land,” and is represented by the grapes. In the beginning of the novel, Grandpa Joad states that he can’t wait to have all the grapes he can eat once they reach their “promised land.” This further develops the title with the idea of the grapes being the family’s dream of ideal California. The point of view in Steinbeck’s novel changes dynamically throughout the novel. Some chapters are told from a broad point of view and demonstrate society as a whole. These chapters would sometimes assume the point of view of an anonymous individual who was typical of the times.  The chapters about the Joad family are told from a third person point of view; readers are able to watch the family from the outside. This point of view allows readers to watch as the unfair life of the family unfolds. It helps readers understand the failure of the family and the wrath they must feel because of their constant disappointment.

            In Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, the authors choose titles that develop throughout their novels. By utilizing techniques like contrast, repetition, allusion, and point of view, the authors make sense of their abstract titles.

(Open prompt #3)

1970. Choose a character from a novel or play of recognized literary merit and write an essay in which you (a) briefly describe the standards of the fictional society in which the character exists and (b) show how the character is affected by and responds to those standards. In your essay do not merely summarize the plot.

 

Often the place in which one lives and the time period in which one resides has a profound impact on the person. In Edward Albee’s “The American Dream,” he highlights 1950’s and 1960’s American society and the effect it has on a family. Edward Albee’s “The American Dream,” successfully demonstrates what society in America was like in the 1950’s and 1960’s and creates a very strange set of characters in order to demonstrate the societal effects.

            In his play, Albee exhibits the American societal values of the 1950’s and 1960’s. This was a very materialistic time in which many people were trying to achieve the “American Dream.” For many, this meant the perfect house, the perfect family, and generally the perfect life. In the play, appropriately named “The American Dream,” Albee demonstrates many of these values of society through the characters of Mommy and Daddy. Throughout the play, Mommy insists that they do not live in an apartment, but in a house.  Mommy wants to hold their family to higher standards than those by which they actually live. Mommy further exemplifies the values of society through her search for satisfaction through consumerism. When Mommy throws a fit over the unimportant color of her hat, she finds satisfaction in being able to be catered to by the sales person and getting what she demands. This highlights the consumerist and materialistic values of the society of the 1950’s and 1960’s. Through the characters of the Young Man, Albee demonstrates the shallow values of the society. In the play, the Young Man describes that he is empty on the inside, and all he possesses is his outer beauty. When the Young Man is referred to as the “American Dream” by Grandma, Albee shows that the American dream is really just corrupt and falsely glorified image.

           

            The characters of Mommy and Daddy are affected greatly through their pursuit of the American dream and attempt to lead the perfect life that society glorifies. For Mommy and Daddy, part of achieving the American dream means achieving the perfect family. By having Mommy and Danny mutilate their adopted child in attempts to make him perfect, Albee shows how much the values of society have truly affected the characters. This radical case Albee presents helps develop his meaning of the play; how shallow and corrupt the American dream is and how far people are willing to go in order to achieve it. Mommy and Daddy find it easy to replace their lost son with his twin, the Young Man. The ease in which they replace him further shows the effects of society on Mommy and Daddy. The characters are so consumed with their pursuit of perfection and are so preoccupied with consumerist values that they treat their child like just another purchase that can be easily replaced and renewed. Albee’s allegory develops his meaning that the American dream is just a perfect image that people of American society in the 1950’s and 1960’s will do anything to achieve.

            In Edward Albee’s “The American Dream,” he demonstrates the values of society through the actions of Mommy and Daddy’s characters. The effect on the characters is shown through their shallow beliefs and carelessness for things that many hold to be very important, such as a child. By doing this, Albee creates his meaning about the American dream and how shallow, materialistic, and corrupt it is.

(Open prompt #2)

1995. Writers often highlight the values of a culture or a society by using characters who are alienated from that culture or society because of gender, race, class, or creed. Choose a novel or a play in which such a character plays a significant role and show how that character's alienation reveals the surrounding society's assumptions or moral values.

Often women are thought of as occupying a position subordinate to men in society. In Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles, the protagonist, Tess, struggles to overcome the subordinate position placed upon her by the traditions of society and often feels isolated because of her failure to meet men’s expectations. Hardy’s novel, Tess of the d’Urbervilles, isolates Tess in order to highlight society’s expectations of women in 19^th century England.

One aspect of society that Hardy demonstrates in the novel is the expectation of women to get married and fulfill the traditionally female roles in the home. He does so with Tess’s parents, Joan and John Durbeyfield. These characters are constantly pushing Tess to get married, not for love but to live up to society’s standards. Initially, the Durbeyfields send Tess off to a distant town in hopes of finding her a potential suitor. Contrary to the worries of many parents, Joan and John do not worry about Tess’s safety or desires. They care not that Tess does not want to find a husband and leave her family, but only that she will soon be a traditional wife. Tess feels alienated when she fails to meet these expectations because her lover, Angel, leaves her. Tess’s mother is not upset over Tess’s heartbreak, but instead worries about how disappointed her father will be when he finds out. Through Tess’s failure to meet the standards of her parents and of society, Hardy portrays Tess as alienated. She is not alienated in that the society shuns her, but instead she is alienated in her own mind. She feels that she has failed those close to her and that she does not deserve to be happy.

Hardy further demonstrates 19^th century England’s societal moral values and assumptions through Tess’s loss of innocence and lack of virtue. Tess loses her virtue at a young age, when she is raped by Alec d’Urberville. This rape would haunt Tess for the rest of her life. Tess feels shame as she stays in to take care of the resulting child, and feels even more isolated when her child dies. The child is only there for a very short part of the novel, and serves merely to alienate Tess from the normal life she once lived. The moral values of the society are demonstrated through Tess’s relationship with Angel. Although Tess is happy with Angel, she feels that she must tell him about her lack of virtue. When she does, Angel abandons Tess. This shows the double standard of men and women in this society because Tess is punished for something that is of no fault of her own, while Angel does not think twice about asking another farm girl, Izz, to accompany him on his travels. Angel knows it is wrong but never compares his wrong actions to Tess’s innocent mistake. Tess feels completely alone, having failed both Angel and her family. She demonstrates her feeling of worthlessness by stating that she’s rather die than to live her unworthy life. By causing Tess to constantly be at the mercy of the desires of the male characters in the novel, Hardy shows women’s subordinate position and reliance on men in this society.

In Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Hardy demonstrates 19^th century England’s expectations and assumptions of women through Tess’s struggle to get married and to please her male counterparts. Hardy alienates Tess with her failure to achieve these expectations and her constant feeling of inadequateness.

(Open prompt #1)
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. You may choose a work from the list below or another novel or play of literary merit.

Whenever large groups of people are gathered in a lighthearted social setting, naturally some sort of dramatic occurrence or realization is bound to occur. In the case of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, this holds true when Nick Carraway attends a gaudy party full of vulgar, rich “friends.” It is during this party scene that we see the extreme contrast between Nick and the affluent people he has chosen to associate himself with, and that Nick realizes the morals, or lack thereof, these people possess. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald effectively uses the scene of a party to demonstrate the morals of the upper class and to reinforce the negative picture of these affluent people.

                When Nick attends this lavish party at Morningside Heights in New York City, he finds himself more disgusted with these affluent people than ever before. Nick already disapproved of Tom’s affair with Myrtle, and was truly unhappy to find himself in the company of more people quite like them. Nick describes that he had been “drunk just twice in my life,” the second being at the party: reflecting that drinking and alcohol is one of the many shallow values of this upper class Nick is associating himself with. As the party goes on, Nick finds himself feeling utter disdain for these people and their talk of the meaninglessness of marriage, learning that many couples at the party cannot stand their significant others. The values of these people clash violently with the more traditional values Nick holds and makes a statement about this class in general and the shallow values they possess. Nick finds himself annoyed at the excessively obnoxious drunken conversation and is looking for an opportunity to escape when Tom breaks Myrtle’s nose during an argument. It is at this moment when Nick is able to leave the party and find his way home.

            F. Scott Fitzgerald effectively uses this party scene to convey the superficial life of the upper class. From the very beginning, he is making a statement when Tom and Nick attend a party not at Tom’s wife’s house, but at the house of his lover. The details of the pointless conversation and excessive drinking further support the negative picture of the upper class that Fitzgerald is portraying in the novel. Collectively, the scene at Morningside Heights sums up the message of the novel. Fitzgerald incorporates adultery, alcohol, violence, and superfluity into one scene and contrasts it with the unhappy party goer: Nick Carraway. This scene contributes to the work as a whole by making the reader feel the same disgust that Nick feels, and enabling the reader to see the upper class the way Fitzgerald is intending- superficial and shallow people with little regards for anyone but themselves.

            A major theme in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is that the “new money” is shallow and inconsiderate, and Fitzgerald cements this theme with the party scene at Morningside Heights. The scene demonstrates the most important values of these affluent people and how they contrast dramatically with someone from outside the social circle. Fitzgerald uses this scene to sum up the hollowness of the upper class and to make the reader feel the same disdain he does towards the people.