Caulfield and Morrison

After reading Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, it was somewhat difficult for me to analyze the novel based on Toni Morrison's ideals of race in literature that she discussed in Playing in the Dark. This was partially because Playing in the Dark caused me so much difficulty/confusion (which was thankfully clarified in our class discussions), but also partly due to the lack of race in Salinger's novel.

The book is about Holden Caulfield, a teenager growing up in the 50's. He is surrounded in a world he doesn't understand -- full of uncertainty and "phoniness." He isolates himself from the people around him in fear of being emotionally confused and as a result has a hard time making connections with anyone. The beauty of Catcher in the Rye is that it remains just as relevant today as it was back when the plot was set. Holden seems to symbolize everything a stereotypical teenager is -- angsty, doubtful, and rebellious. Often times when reading, I would find myself comparing my personality to Holden's, and I think this may also be the case for other teens.

The concept from Playing in the Dark that really fit with the novel was the idea of completely ignoring race in a novel. All characters I can recall from the novel are white. This seems hardly fitting, considering the time period the book was written/set in was during the 1950's, an era of peaking racial conflicts. I would have thought that Salinger might have included something of the aspects of the Civil Rights period in the novel, such as increasing racial tension, but I didn't find anything of the sort. According to Morrison, this implies that he was being ignorant in his writing and this exclusion of African-Americans actually makes his novel more about race than most people would think. The truth of this, however, is that perhaps I was being the ignorant one; for the first half or so of the book, I didn't notice this lack of diversity. Had I read Playing in the Dark before I had finished Catcher in the Rye I may have picked up on subtle racial references that were included. This just goes to show how little I consider race in a novel and what little exposure I recieve to multicultural literature.

While Playing in the Dark (to me) is an extremely dense book, Morrison brings up many good points about race and writing. From this point forward, I will surely take note of ethnicities (or lack thereof) in books I read.

Metanarratives

The first metanarrative that comes to mind when I think of America would be the idea that we are a "Melting Pot." The main perception of America (in my mind) seems to be this country full of diversity and many different cultures. We started out as a place for people who were seeking opportunity to come to and have a "new beginning." In fact, the farthest back most people remember in their heritage is to when their ancestors immigrated to America from an an array of different countries. I find it so odd how close-minded Americans are to other cultures, even today. We pride ourselves on being this "melting pot" but in reality we are still somewhat intolerant of other races. It's sad to think that the value of having mixed ethnicities within our borders is declining and people are becoming more and more fixated on their own customs. If we are going to continue honoring ourselves as this colorful country, then we should most certainly be more forward-thinking.

an end, or a beginning?

As second quarter wraps up next week, so does AP Comp 2010/2011. It's funny to think that over the course of the past seven months, the sixteen of us have been part of this unpredictable literary journey, united by The Kunkle.

Being one of the youngest (and least talkative) students in the class, it may seem strange for me to be saying this. . .but for the past two quarters, I have throughly enjoyed third block and being with my fellow Compquistadors. Within our class, there are so many different personalities, levels, styles, and opinions. . .I never know what to expect. At the same time, I feel like our class is typically on the same page. We seem to agree with eachother on most things and even if we don't, respect is always demonstrated. Amongst the bagels, babies, and metal, I think it's fair to say everyone has gained something from each of their classmates.


I know I won't miss timed writings. . .or this multi-genre project. . .or Wollstonecrap. But I'm certain that I will miss this class and the people in it. There have been numerous moments during the past eighteen weeks ("Baby McMuffin," the Gibbs Equation, the use of an ID card as a knife, to name a few) that are worth recounting and I'm curious to hear what yours are. In a comment, share your favorite AP Comp moment so that others can read and remember the funny times we've had as a class.

Stephen Burn: Beyond the Critic as Cultural Arbiter

This piece was fairly challenging for me to understand, so I'm not entirely sure that I fully understood the points Burn was making. I think the main idea he was trying to get across was how criticism has changed so drastically in the past fifty years. As technology has expanded and resources have become more accessible to people via the internet, people have become “critics” of virtually everything. The public has been invited to express its approval (or disapproval) about almost anything, causing the value of a critic lose its value.

I completely agree with Burn. There is a diminishing line between the general public and actual, legitimate critics. Don’t get me wrong – technology is great. It allows us to retrieve a lot of works that we wouldn’t have had available to us years ago. At the same time, I don’t like that there is this thin distinction between one person’s hardly-credible point of view and the plausible standpoint of a true critic. Having and sharing opinions is fine and dandy, but there is a difference between that and deeming oneself a genuine reviewer. Critics are people who the public should be able to go to when seeking new perspective. If we are provided with countless hollow opinions, with no evidence to support them, it will be no easy task fishing out the valid ones.

oh hey, old sport. . .

As I've read each chapter of The Great Gatsby, I've come to find that not much happens from page to page. The plot itself is relatively thin, leaving one to wonder how Mr. Fitzgerald has created such a respected novel out of very little story line. The answer lies within his exceptionally descriptive writing style.

I find it odd how much detail Fitzgerald uses in depicting seemingly insignificant elements of his story. He spends paragraphs at a time illustrating simple, unimportant details, such as a piece of clothing or a certain physical characteristic. For example, Catherine, a relatively minor character, is described in great detail: "The sister, Catherine was a slender, worldly girl of about thirty, with a solid, sticky bob of red heair, and a complexion powedered milky white. Her eyebrows had been plucked and then drawn on again at a more rakish angle but the efforts of nature toward the restoration of the old alignment game a blurred air to her face. When she moved about there was an incessant clicking as innumerable pottery bracelets jingled up and down her arms." (p. 30) While Fitzgerald could have easily gone without this entire paragraph describing a minor character, he chooses to thoroughly introduce each new individual in full description.

At the same time, this amount of carefulness in his writing helps the reader better comprehend what the exact mood of the story is at any one point. I'm amazed at how he can describe a certain reaction or emotion in such a way that I can perfectly understand what he's feeling. To illustrate the heat in the book, he writes, ". . .I have a sharp physical memory that, in the course of it, my underwear kept climbing like a damp snake around my legs and intermittent beads of sweat raced cool across my back." In his writing, Fitzgerald holds nothing back -- he yearns to let his audience into his mind so as to let them know everything he portrays. This writing style is effective because unlike other books I've read, I am always able to get a grasp on the mood of each scene. Without this depictive style, Gatsby would be undoubtedly bland and entirely monotonous.

Blog Activity #1

Prior to reading The Things They Carried, I had minimal understanding of the Vietnam War. Honestly, I still cannot say that I am sufficiently informed of the subject. Sure, I've read some textbook information from US History, and few 'Nam documentaries have crossed my path, but this trifling pre-exposure to the war was nothing compared to the experience I had from reading The Things They Carried.

The difference between O'Brien's writing and the information I had previously read in textbooks was that his book was written on a completely different personal level. Using a keen balance of emotion and storytelling, he wrote a book that gave me a completely new perspective on the Vietnam War. While it was a fictional novel, The Things They Carried helped me get a better idea of the day-to-day lives of American soldiers. There were many aspects of the war -- things beyond the fighting -- that often remain untold. The way he carefully exaggerated at certain points allowed his stories to come through the pages and into my head; I felt as though I was in the story, feeling his emotions. This said, the novel further asserted my opinion that the war had very little purpose. I'm still puzzled as to why we were involved in the war in the first place.

At this point in my life, The Things They Carried is the only legitimate insight I have into Vietnam. While it may not be all truth, it has provided me with more accuracy than any textbook could.

Op-Ed Column

The article I read discussed misoprostol, a pill used to prevent stomach ulcers, and its potential to be used for abortions. The pill would apparently be a safer, cheaper alternative to any surgical procedure, and because it's highly-available already (since it's used for stomach ulcers). It's not until the end that the author states his opinion that the pill is beneficial. I thought that it was interesting how he didn't really talk about his opinions on abortion, but still explained that the pill was a revolution in this aspect of the medical world.


The article can be found here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/opinion/01kristof.html?_r=1&ref=columnists