Spring Lit Analysis #2-"The Sound and the Fury"

Spring Literature Analysis #2

"The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner

Book Edition: 01/10/1990 Vintage International

"And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing."

-"Macbeth" ACT V scene 5
Suggested Song

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read according to the elements of plot you've learned in past courses (exposition, inciting incident, etc.).  Explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).

-The narrative style of "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner is unlike anything I've ever seen and is strangely difficult. The book is narrated by four different narrators along four different timelines (more like points in time/well more specifically days in the life of the Compson Family). Each narration is written in a stream of consciousness style, which Faulkner was a chief pioneer of. First among these days is April 7th 1928 is the day from which Benjy (or Maury) Compson narrates. Reading Benjy's part is incredibly difficult for two major reason, one is that Benjy is mentally handicapped and because of this he doesn't tell things in the order they actually occurred. So instead of a chronological narrative we get instead a myriad of and dates that the other narrators experience, but Benjy jumps around them and experiences those memories as if he was going through them for the first time. But what makes Benjy unique are his senses. Because he doesn't speak he serves as a great tool for indirect characterization and serves as a way to discern the other characters' true nature. June 2nd 1910 begins Quentin Compson's narration. Quentin's narration is so drastically different from Benjy's for several reasons. Among the first reasons is that it actually follows more of a narrative style. Events happen chronologically over the course of the day beginning in his Harvard dorm room. Narration also occurs from the protagonist and while Faulkner is still writing in this stream of consciousness style there is an evident shift in his approach to it. Instead of the more primal instincts as seen with Benjy's narration, Quentin's narration focuses more on feelings and a conscious flow of thoughts that range from suicidal and haunted to inquisitive and remorseful, leading up to his impending suicide. Jason's narrative begins April 6th 1928 right after Caddy's illegitimate daughter Quentin (named after her uncle) runs away from the Compson family. And finally April 8th 1928, the only section not narrated from a first person point of view, but rather Faulkner's own third-person type perspective on the family through Dilsey their servant who firsthand witnesses the family's decline through three-generations.

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid clichés.
Self absorption and its corrupting abilities. Mrs. Caroline Compson, is the perfect example of the detrimental effects of Self Absorption.

3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
Pity. I'm struggling to put words to this, but pity was what I felt most while reading this novel. The lack of love for her children that Mrs. Compson displays (except Jason), Quentin's obsessiveness with time and the struggles he has to uphold the legacy of the family name. Caddy's promiscuity as a result of her mother's negligence. Benjy's abuses at his family's hands, though not abuse as in physical abuse, but abuse as the lack of respect and how the family hid him in shame. And finally Jason, whose narcissistic, cynical, and egotistical ways continued to lead to the family's downfall. Faulkner was a master of southern culture and literature and perhaps "The Sound and the Fury" was a warning and proof of the authors' seemingly growing disgust with the failing culture of the South (which was occurring throughout the 1920's when old Southern values; family etc, were collapsing)

4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers. (Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.)
Stream of Consciousness- Stream of conciousess doesn't seem to need much explanation here, seeing as the whole book is filled with it "poor Quentin; she leaned back on her arms her hands locked about her knees; you've never done that have you; what done what; that what I have what I did" -pg 151

Syntax-"I saw them Then I saw Caddy, with flowers in her hair, and a long veil like shining wind. Caddy Caddy" what syntax does in the novel is critical, especially in Benjy's narrative.

Tragedy-A tragedy is a somber novel or piece of literature in which a character or set of characters experience a downward spiral to tragic conclusions.

Point of View-"She wore a stiff black straw hat perched upon her turban, and a maroon velvet cape with a border of mangy and anonymous fur above a dress of purple silk..." pg 256 The first time in the novel that it isn't in a first person point of view. In it Faulkner uses his own interpretation of the events by focusing on Dilsey, and beginning a third person omniscient narrative by stepping away from the first person stream of consciousness that dominated the entirety of the novel.

Interior Monologue- "And so as soon as I knew I couldn't see it I began to wonder what time it was. Father said that constant speculation regarding the position of mechanical hands on an arbitrary dial which is a symptom of mind-function. Excrement Father said like sweating. And I was saying All right. Wonder. Go on and wonder." -pg 77

Allusion/Foreshadow- The title itself is the absolute best example I could think of for allusions. One of William Shakespeare's darkest tragedy was "Macbeth", which I read last semester and it inspired me to read "The Sound and the Fury" by Faulkner. The title quote I usually do from the book, I replaced with that quote from "Macbeth", "And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury Signifying nothing." This play on words and allusion is also a great use of foreshadowing by Faulkner. In "Macbeth" the title character's world eventually spins into demise and literally all hell breaks loose. And as a title it give us a great idea of what to expect early on. Which in fact is the demise of a family, "a tale told by an idiot" Benjy, "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." the utter demise of the family and how death trivial life can be.

CHARACTERIZATION

1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization.  Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?

2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character?  How?  Example(s)?
Syntax and diction do change but only with point of view and narrative. Benjy provides the most accurate impression of the family's individual character and motivations, because Benjy himself has no ulterior motives. In fact it is Benjy who first notices/senses Caddy's growing promiscuity, he sees Quentin's emotional state, experiences Jason's cynicism, and the failure of Caroline Compson to love her children, rather allowing Dilsey, their servant, to raise them.

3. Is the protagonist Are the Characters static or dynamic?  Flat or round?  Explain.
-These characters are very round and very dynamic and readers easily see that because we experience their first person thoughts and feelings about certain reactions as they do.

4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character?  Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction. 
-I definitely felt as if I had met an actual person rather than just an image that someone created. And it is all due to Faulkner's narrative style. He put his readers into the minds of his characters and created a new way of telling stories through narrative. 

Super 5

1. Professor Wai Chee Dimock- the one that started it all. I somewhat enjoy watching lectures for whatever reason and "The Sound and the Fury" by Faulkner is the most confusing thing I have ever read, and while looking for some help I found an Open Course Yale Class on the works of Faulkner, Hemming Way, and Francis Scott Fitzgerald.


2.-5. I honestly don't know yet. There are hundreds upon hundreds of English and Literature Professors out on the web and once I figure out what I'm going to read next I'm going to find them.

My Team

Well, still trying to move forward with my launch project and see where I can go from here. Right now I still feel as if I am in the development phase and I really would love to get out of there and hit the ground running. As far as team members go I don't know who among my peers I will turn to yet, but if anyone has any experience in Faulkner (whether in Preston's class or not, I am more than willing to receive some help and hopefully even collaborate).

Launch

Launch

What am I passionate about?  What do I want to do?
-I am very passionate about reading (well in fact, I just love literature in general). So my plan is to incorporate my love of reading into something a bit more exciting and pertinent to my life and what I want to study in college. Which, as of right now, incorporates me building a blog to keep myself accountable for my reading.
How can I use the tools from last semester (and the Internet in general)?
-Last semester was getting our feet wet simply building blogs, connections, and skill sets. This semester I want to polish things up a little bit. And thankfully I have already found one credible resource and I'm starting my project there and I want to see where things go. Hopefully I can build some connections and find even more resources.
Main Plan and why:
When I was looking for help on "The Sound and the Fury" by Faulkner, I found an open online Yale course about Hemmingway, Francis Scott Fitzgerald, and Faulkner by Professor Wai Chee Dimock. And one of the covered texts was "The Sound and the Fury" by Faulkner. So when I finish the book I plan on going through the lectures. And I think it would be cool to find other courses like this (hopefully after I complete this one) and go through them and blog about my experience. While at the same time keeping the blog from the overall blandness of Scholastic Literature.
What will I need to do in order to "feel the awesomeness with no regrets" by June?
-To really "feel the awesomeness with no regrets" I simply want to get things done this semester and stave off senioritis.
What will impress/convince others (both in my life and in my field)?
-I'm not actually trying to go out and convince and or impress others for this project. I'm simply reading, if someone tries reading over my shoulder things are going to get awkward. Rather, if I feel good about my work and my effort by the time I grace the stage on June 6th then I'll have succeeded.
How will I move beyond 'What If' and take this from idea --> reality?
-Right now I'm taking my idea of being a serial reader and college course free rider and turning it into a blog and internet experience.
Who will be the peers, public, and experts in my personal learning network?
-Anyone who stumbles across will be rounded up and brought into the group, hopefully in reality it will sound less creepy.

I JURY

Yay for 100th blog post!
As for essays the biggest struggles (myself included) was effectively using literary devices. And I think the problem is that as soon as we see the essays we get so excited and then go straight for the prompt and attack it without an effective prewrite.
But overall as a class there is big improvement all around. In the beginning of last semester, our essays would occasionally go off topic or were just irreverent to the prompt but I didn't see any of that in the essays I read. All the essays had something to say about the book and made valid, well supported points.

Brave New Essay

Brave New Essay Topic

Prompt: Courtesy of Allyson Brown

-And a special thank you to College Board AP Lit Exam 2012

 

“Choose a novel or play in which cultural, physical, or geographical surroundings shape psychological or moral traits in a character. Then write a well-organized essay in which you analyze how surroundings affect this character and illuminate the meaning of the work as a whole.  Do not merely summarize the plot.”

 

            We are direct products of our environment. A small, yet still significant part of who we are and what we do as people is determined by our surroundings. Writers and authors often use this same approach in writing. Over and over again throughout literature we see characters molded and shaped by their surroundings. These surroundings are often literal such as geographical and physical, but they can also be cultural and psychological. “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley, is an excellent example of such a work.

            The light the walls, and highly technological based society of “Brave New World” by Huxley is an excellent scene, setting, and environment in which to mold and develop a character. Even before the readers are introduced to the protagonists who drive the novel forward, Huxley introduces the readers into the world under the New World Order. Under the New World Order people are so highly influenced and molded by their society even before they are born. Sleep conditioning, somma, shock therapy, and even a plethora of conditioning that occurs before the fetus/child leaves the uterus. In fact birth has become a situation that is no longer used within the world of Brave New World. Rather the world functions under the pretenses of clones in the lower castes and leveled conditioning within the upper castes.

            Cultural and psychological surroundings; less obvious than physical surroundings but yet are much more prevalent in the shaping of a person, mainly because you never see it coming. Within the society of the New World State people are put into castes and taught how to think before they are even old enough to form words. But as they grow older even more forms of cultural conditioning and cultural surroundings began to shape and form the citizens. (this was the 50 min mark for this essay, I am going to try and revisit this essay when we finish the book.)

Brave New Essay Topic

I found one! The 2005 AP English Literature and Composition Exam asked for an essay that "Brave New World" (Huxley) easily answers. But sadly the College Board won't let me replicate the question on here, and so I don't get sued I'm going to simply reword and remold the question as to gear it more for "Brave New World" (Huxley).


Many times in societies there are individuals who don't quite fit the norm. They go against social norms and cues, both inwardly and outwardly, and whether these "outcasts" mean to or not they create a unique foil in which to view the world around them. Write an essay which describes a character that fits these parameters. What makes them outcasts or different in their own society. How does this conflict add to the overarching theme and design behind the book.

I AM HERE

I'm in a paper mood tonight.

BOB I

I feel this contradicts Huxley. But I have it on paper.

Lit Terms #6

Lit Terms #6

Simile:a figure of speech comparing two essentially unlike things through the use of a specific word of comparison.
Soliloquy:an extended speech, usually in a drama, delivered by a character alone on stage.
Spiritual: a folk song, usually on a religious theme.
Speaker: a narrator, the one speaking. 
Stereotype: cliché; a simplified, standardized conception with a special meaning and appeal for members of a group; a formula story.
Stream of Consciousness: the style of writing that attempts to imitate the natural flow of a character's thoughts, feelings, reflections, memories, and mental images, as the character experiences them
Structure: the planned framework of a literary selection; its apparent organization.
Style: the manner of putting thoughts into words; a characteristic way of writing or speaking.
Subordination: the couching of less important ideas in less important structures of language.
Surrealism: a style in literature and painting that stresses the subconscious or the irrational aspects of man's existence characterized by the juxtaposition of the bizarre and the banal.
Suspension of Disbelief: suspend disbelief in order to enjoy something.
Symbol: something which stands for something else, yet has a meaning of its own.
Synesthesia: the use of one sense to convey the experience of another sense.
Synecdoche:   another form of name changing, in which a part stands for the whole.
Syntax: the arrangement and grammatical relations of words in a sentence.
Theme: main idea of the story; its message(s).
Thesis: a proposition for consideration, especially one to be discussed and proved or disproved; the main idea
Tone:  the devices used to create the mood and atmosphere of a literary work; the author's perceived point of view. 
Tongue in Cheek: a type of humor in which the speaker feigns seriousness; also called "dry" or "dead pan"
Tragedy: in literature: any composition with a somber theme carried to a disastrous conclusion; a fatal event; protagonist usually is heroic but tragically (fatally) flawed
Understatement: opposite of hyperbole; saying less than you mean for emphasis
Vernacular: everyday speech
Voice: The textual features, such as diction and sentence structures, that convey a writer's or speaker's pesona.
Zeitgeist: the feeling of a particular era in history

WELCOME TO THE INTERDISCIPLINARITY

What: I'm basically going to become an expert in William Faulkner's books.


How: Read the books: "Sound and the Fury", "As I Lay Dying", "Light in August", "Absalom, Absalom!" -William Faulkner. Or at least as many as I can while still trying to tackle other books on the list. Then blog about them. Not seriously, just blog my reactions and thoughts.


Why: I still have no idea why I'm doing this, maybe it just sound interesting!


Interdisciplinary:
-Reading
-English
-Computer Skills
-Composition
-Exposition
-Creative Writing
-Journalism

HAFTA/WANNA

Hopefully I don't change in too many aspects after high school. In fact I don't know if I can. When we leave Righetti for the last time on June 6, 2014 we may no longer be high school students, but we are still the same people that started out the morning. And next year we are just changing our venue. Our character, or who we truly are as people will stick with us and slowly evolve as we grow as it has been doing since birth. So no, people, nor I will magically change as we grab our diplomas.


But maybe our outlook will change. I do know that for me, my outlook will change significantly. No longer am I required to trudge through required classes and subjects that I may or may not have significant interest in. Instead I have my own choice of whether or not to actually be in school since no one is requiring it of me. I'll go to school because I want to and for the first time in my life not because I have to. And finally my interests will come first. Between majors and elective classes (mixed in with the dreaded general education classes) I can find my passion and join a group of intellectual peers.


Balancing activities is something I started learning my freshman year, and I'm still honing my skills in it. Next year I want to explore, dream, discover, (thank you Mark Twain) and learn. I don't know how I'll manage it quite yet, but it's a work in progress.


And right now its ok to make a few small mistakes, because that is the only way to learn.

The Nose

1. What does Ivan Yakovlevich do for a living? 
Ivan is a Barber, he cuts hair in St. Petersburg, Russia, to make a living.  

2. What does Ivan find in a loaf of bread? 
So for his breakfast on March 25, in his hot roll, Ivan finds a nose, quite interestingly the nose of his colleague or better worded customer Assessor Kovalev.   


3. How does his wife respond to Ivan's discovery? 
Incredulous. To be honest, I don't think that Ivan's wife likes him very much just by the hot roll, onion, and coffee example but to be honest the evidence she hates him just keeps piling on. She calls him a great big brute and claims she will call the police to report him.


4. What does Ivan set out to accomplish? 
To get rid of the nose.
5. When Ivan tosses the "package" in the river, for a brief moment he is happy; then he is arrested. What does this scene suggest about the role of happiness in Ivan's life/community/society? 
It seems to suggest that happiness is a brief and trifling object. Here for a moment then gone the next.
6. Where does the title object belong, and how does it finally get there?
On the face of Major Kovalev, and the police return it.

Lit Terms #5

Lit Terms #5

Parallelism: the principle in sentence structure that states elements of equal function should have equal form
Parody: an imitation of mimicking of a composition or of the style of a well-known artist. 
Pathos: the ability in literature to call forth feelings of pity, compassion, and/or sadness. 
Pedantry:  a display of learning for its own sake. 
Personification: a figure of speech attributing human qualities to inanimate objects or abstract ideas. 
Plot: a plan or scheme to accomplish a purpose.  
Poignant:  eliciting sorrow or sentiment. 
Point of View: the attitude unifying any oral or written argumentation; in description, the physical point from which the observer views what he is describing. 
Postmodemism: literature characterized by experimentation, irony, nontraditional forms, multiple  meanings, playfulness and a blurred boundary between real and imaginary 
Prose: the ordinary form of spoken and written language; language that does not have a regular rhyme pattern.
Protagonist: the central character in a work of fiction; opposes antagonist 
Pun:  play on words; the humorous use of a word emphasizing different meanings or applications. 
Purpose: the intended result wished by an author. 
Realism: writing about the ordinary aspects of life in a straightforward manner to reflect life as it actually is.
Refrain: a phrase or verse recurring at intervals in a poem or song; chorus.
Requiem: any chant, dirge, hymn, or musical service for the dead. 
Resolution: point in a literary work at which the chief dramatic complication is worked out; denouement.
Restatement: idea repeated for emphasis.
Rhetoric: use of language, both written and verbal in order to persuade.
Rhetorical Question: question suggesting its own answer or not requiring an answer; used in argument or persuasion.
Rising Action: plot build up, caused by conflict and complications, advancement towards climax.
Romanticism: movement in western culture beginning in the eighteenth and peaking in the nineteenth century as a revolt against Classicism; imagination was valued over reason and fact.
Satire: ridicules or condemns the weakness and wrong doings of individuals, groups, institutions, or humanity in general.
Scansion: the analysis of verse in terms of meter.
Setting:  the time and place in which events in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem occur.

THE TIME OF MY LIFE

Well, I was absent today so I really didn't get to utilize my 35 or so in class minutes about note taking strategy and so forth. But thankfully I have a big group so I will ask them about what I missed.

Spring Semester Lit Analysis #1-Macbeth

sorry about the timing, the flu is not my friend
Spring Semester

Lit Analysis #1

"Macbeth" William Shakespeare

Book Edition: Barnes & Noble Shakespeare

"And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,

The instruments of darkness tell us truths,

Win us with honest trifles, to betray's

In deepest consequence."

-Macbeth (ACT I, scene iii)

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read according to the elements of plot you've learned in past courses (exposition, inciting incident, etc.).  Explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).

"Macbeth" by William Shakespeare is a play contained within five comprehensive acts (further divided into scenes). Each act goes in sequential order to tell the story of Macbeth's, the title character and protagonist, downward spiral. As the last and darkest of Shakespeare's great tragedies, "Macbeth" (occasionally called the Scottish Play), is the only one to have a villain as its protagonist and goes deep into its examination of the human character, ambition, and guilt.

Act 1 first introduces the three witches (sometimes called the three weird sisters), and despite their brief introduction and deprived background (as in nothing about them is known) they become incredibly important to the play itself and serve as a mode of foreshadowing for the crowd creating a sense of dramatic irony. Also in Act 1, we are introduced to Duncan King of Scotland who is waiting for news of a battle led by Macbeth-Thane of Glamis  against the Thane of Cawdor and a rebel group. As the battle ends the three witches come to Macbeth calling him the Thane of Cawdor  and King of the Scots. Their interaction soon ends and King Duncan greets Macbeth giving him the title; Thane of Cawdor, which interestingly fulfills the weird sisters' prophecy.  Eventually Lady Macbeth hears the news and urges Macbeth to kill King Duncan to take the throne which would make her Queen. Duncan arrives that night at Macbeth's estate giving Lady Macbeth and Lord Macbeth the opportunity for murder.


Act 2 moves much quicker than the first and in it we see our murder.

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.


The Power of Corruption: Ambition, power, and corruption are definitely among the biggest symbols within this play. This whole play simply struggles with that universal idea of corruption through power. And it starts quickly in Act one with the three weird sisters/witches. Their words and predictions for Lord Macbeth's future as first the Thane of Cawdor and then King of Scotland begin the corruption. When the first of these predictions rings true Lord Macbeth, spurred onwards by his Wife, dives deep into a spiral of deceit, and murder as he tries to not only take but hold on to the throne. As a reader it is interesting to see how quickly this spiral consumes not only Macbeth but his relationships. Even before the deed is done Macbeth, much like Hamlet, struggles with the deed and wonders about his soul in the afterlife. These struggles continue within the play, and drive it forwards.

3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).


The tone of Macbeth is definitely more ominous and dark than anything else, which is expected due to the intense and serious nature of the play itself.

 4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers. (Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.)


This section of the lit analysis has always bugged me. I don't mark my books or fold the edges of the pages or even break the binding (for me its like a crime). So this time I'm just going to write a nice paragraph and use the following words and explain quickly how they each explain plot and help the narrative of the play move along: point of view, protagonist,
metaphor, dramatic irony, foreshadowing, climax, epitaph, audience, motif.
-It seems so cliché to say this over and over again that Shakespeare wrote plays, and "Macbeth" is one these plays but I'm saying it again. As for point of view, "Macbeth" offers an interesting one. Playgoers and now readers (aka audience) have more of a unique perspective on the surroundings of the play. In fact, it almost gives the plays the playgoers an omniscient point of view except for the fact that they aren't getting insight to the characters uttermost thoughts and feelings unless one of the characters has a quick soliloquy, which Macbeth does on a number of occasions. Macbeth, the title character, is obviously the protagonist and his presence and actions within the play can definitely be seen as a metaphor for this idea of greed and ambition. In terms of dramatic irony, the witches find their purpose. Though they serve the purpose of foreshadowing events and things to come for both the characters and the audience their prophecies and predictions create for an interesting twist. For example both Lord and Lady Macbeth understand what the prophecy means for King Duncan, (hint...climax!) who in turn himself fulfills part of Macbeth's prophecy by simply naming him the new Thane of Cawdor. When it comes to motif, for me the most obvious was weather. Although not exactly an inanimate object, weather plays a huge role within the play. As a background the changing weather first appears as Macbeth is about to kill King Duncan and begins to signify how out of balance with nature murder is and when things are about to go wrong in the play, weather typically precedes it.

 CHARACTERIZATION
1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization.  Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)? &  2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character?  How?  Example(s)?


"Macbeth" is a play and for these questions focusing on characters it makes things a bit more difficult. On one hand the work was intended to be seen on stage and the best way to really see how Shakespeare intended to display each character is on stage, where actors have room to perform and add their own insight and experience to the character. On paper it is a bit more difficult. Shakespeare wasn't trying to make the reader deeply analyze character, because frankly he had to move the play along and keep it interesting for his paying audience to guarantee their return to the theater.

 3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic?  Flat or round?  Explain.


Macbeth himself as a character has to be incredibly dynamic and round. He commits murder and takes the life of another human being. And that definitely changes a person. And as the play continues he wind himself deeper and deeper in his growing lies, murders, and his own guilt.  And by the end of the play Macbeth is a completely changed character and is so far from who he was just five acts prior.

 4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character?  Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction. 



I definitely felt as if I had met a person, although it was like getting to know a person involved in a case on Dateline or 48 Hours Mystery rather than in line at the grocery store. A little weird or gruesome, but I can't complain too much.

Update

Finally "beat" the flu. Will be back in school, make up homework will follow shortly.


-Thanks
Amara Sharp