APLit2010

Argument: the society that does not encourage individualism invites a tyranny of bland mediocrity Claim: Rand exposes the sharpness of the familiar line drawn between self and other Evidence: "that man exists for his own sake, that the pursuit of his own happiness is his highest moral purpose, that he must not sacrifice himself to others, nor others to himself."

argument: the comparison of Orwell's books and the affect his life had on them claim: Orwell put an unerring finger on the totalitarian element in anarchism itself, the nightmare of a society ruled by a public opinion so powerful that it can take the place of law.... evidence: The evidence lies not within the article itself but within the comparison of both 1984 and Animal Farm

According to Cheryl Reed, A Thousand Splendid Suns is a multi-generational story that spans a 45 year time span, told from dual perspectives of powerless Afghani women. While The Kite Runner was a story of redemption, A Thousand Splendid Suns is a story of survival in a war ridden country where women are beyond powerless and must hide behind their burqas. Hosseini uses many of his own experiences to build his stories of fictional characters. From his recent visits back to Afghanistan, A Thousand Splendid Suns was made. Reed states her argument clearly although it isn't presented until the end of her critique. Her critic is logically and coherently written starting with the emotions reading this book makes one feel. Overall she is fairly focused in the entire essay making sure to give examples of interviews with Hosseini. There does not appear to be any biases in Reeds critic except for the main one that A Thousand Splendid Suns is written about two women who must endure many hardships in Afghanistan and Cheryl Reed is a woman. The one thing about this critique that also got in the way of her argument was the long summary she put before she actually critiqued the novel. "Readers will certainly wince at the brutality of this book--the bruises beneath the burqa, the grotesque murders--but ultimately their faith in humanity will be rewarded." This statement is true about this novel, it is hard to endure and imagine that this happens to women everyday in Afghanistan but the fact that some humans are still good inside is also seen. The best quote though, in my opinion of this essay is when Reed notes the main difference between The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns: "There is a subtle difference, of course, between imagining the depravity of war and actually smelling the orphans left in its wake. That is the difference between these two haunting novels."

Argument: Coupland uses noteworthy pop-culture to name and create his novel Girlfriend in a Coma. The Smiths' a popular band of the '80s was the reason behind the books title while Karen Ann Quinlan was the true reason the teenage girl in the book who slipped into a coma was also ironically named Karen. Starting with the basics Coupland constructed Girlfriend in a Coma to mean more than what was put on the surface. The turning point of Coupland's career as a serious author blossomed after he successfully published Girlfriend in a Coma, a dark and daring book that involves post-apocalyptic events. Difficult overbearing situations was what fascinated Coupland and was one of the main influential reasons Coupland wrote the novel Girlfriend in a Coma; the thrill of watching teenagers and later on adults survive in a world where their only worry was to find their true purpose on Earth. Evidence: "On the surface, the book seems vintage Coupland, taking a cue from pop-culture icons like Karen Ann Quinlan, the New Jersey teenager who spent 10 years in a coma before dying in 1985, and The Smiths, the quintessential band of '80s disaffection from whose song the book takes its title." ". And yet, Girlfriend in a Coma is Coupland's most audacious novel to date, and it marks something of a watershed in his career." "Sitting in a posh Toronto hotel lounge sipping coffee, Coupland struggles to find words to describe the genesis of Girlfriend in a Coma. "It's so weird to talk about this out loud," he says. But eventually, between frequent changes of subject, he remembers that it began with a quote from novelist Thomas Pynchon. "He said the way young people deal with the overwhelming-ness of existence--I'm paraphrasing--is through time travel or sleep," Coupland says. "So what I wanted to do was present sleep and time travel, and the coma as the embodiment of both." "Then there was his fascination with Karen Ann Quinlan. "I just remember in the '70s, every

Argument: The feministic bildungsroman that establishes itself throughout the novel seems to be contradictory towards the Christian commitments of the young Jane Eyre. It argues that the character St. John symbolized the patriarchal religious system, which was in the end rejected by Jane. Furthermore, this rejection defies the expectations of marriage at the time and symbolizes a more feminist emphasis. Evidence: This point is suggested primarily throughout the closing passage of the novel. The rhetoric of this may seem to be slightly confusing, because it basically challenges the feministic viewpoint that was built in the novel. The final paragraph casts a light over St. John and all of his endeavors throughout the novel, Lamonaca states, "Classic feminist readings have tended to view St. John as one-dimensional patriarchal villain; accordingly, Jane rejects not only her pious cousin, but also the Christian worldview he represents." Further explication in the novel is shown in the rejection of St. John, for "Jane effectively resists Rochester's and St. John's attempts to possess her spirit as well as her body." This further promotes the protagonist's struggle against male control, and a lockdown patriarchal marriage. The contradiction in the closing statements however "leaves open the possibility that Jane, despite her efforts, has failed to reconcile the conflicting demands of domesticity and faith." Thoughts: I think that Charlotte Bronte basically wanted to make a clear cut statement against the patriarchal and male run events in her society. However, as the writing came to a close she didn't want to make it seem as if the novel was meant to be an anti-Christian sentiment. So she was able to subdue the super strong feministic thoughts and instead decided to create a conclusion that makes the patriarchal society still seem to have some notoriety when in reality she may have believed different. The fact that Jane chose to marry out of society�

Argument: Jane Austen relied on familiar experiences rather than render characters and situations out of unrealistic circumstances. Claim: Austen's sickly condition towards the end of her life influenced her creation of the imperfect, yet tangible heroines. The frail Fanny and the plain Elizabeth both share uncanny abilities to make profound observations of the society. Evidence: "She was struck down, however, with a deilitating and crippling illness ." ". . . she did not attempt a scope which might have been above her powers . . . She also had observed that the real dramas of life were played out in the everyday world of ordinary people." http://search.ebscohost.com.lib.chandleraz.gov/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lfh&AN=MOL0260000110&site=lrc-live.

Arguement: The story is completely filled with satire Claim: The story deals with matters that wouldn't normally occur in a persons life. Instead of going with the decision most people would chose, the story always goes in the opposite direction. For example: It satirizes funerals by telling readers they are going to stuff the corpse and use it to have one-sided conversations. Evidence: The story is apparently not to be taken literally.

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Argument: H.G. Wells writes about science fiction, more specifically, a higher power or a powerful controller in his books War of the Worlds and The Time Machine. Claim: Wells socialist views show his concern for the future of the world. Evidence:"Since the Morlocks on one level stand for the late nineteenth century proletariat, the Traveller's attitude towards them symbolizes a contemporary bourgeois fear of the working class."

This article discusses Ibsen's different plays and the subjects that they focused on. The author of the article says that Henrik Ibsen was banished because of his style of writing, bringing to light many social issues that all of the people of that time preferred to keep in the dark. The article stats that an Enemy of the people examines the idealism that takes place in society, to me this means that the play focuses on the way that the people of the time thought and what their priorities and goals were. The author of the article discusses the purpose of Hedda Gabler. The author says that Hedda Gabler also tackles a different problem in society. The issue in this play was feminism and how women were held to certain standards and expected to behave in certain ways. The author goes on to state that Henrik Ibsen had the greatest influence of any playwright in the twentieth century. After reading this article I am really interested on writing my paper on how Ibsen writes his plays in order to bring social issues into public light so that maybe the problems that he writes about can be corrected.

C. L. Chua analyzes A Thousand Splendid Suns in an attempt to find out if it was as much of a success as The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini's first novel. The different literary devices that Hosseini used are mentioned to perhaps give validity to the various arguments Chua makes. A shortfall of the critique is that perhaps not enough emphasis was actually placed on an argument; a majority of the essay was a very well written summary of the novel with only a light touch at the very beginning and end of the essay on the actual argument. "He [Hosseini] felt impelled to tell an Afghan story different from The Kite Runner's. That book had been about men-fathers and sons, male friendship, male treachery. Hosseini now felt drawn to tell a contemporaneous story about Afghanistan's women." Chua uses a clear and logical argument to assert his opinion that Hosseini really delved into the life of an Afghanistan woman in the current times. The critique remains coherent but I wish it was more focused and consistent in the argument. It would have been overall better if Chua has also given more of their insight of this novel. I'm not sure if the author of this article is male or female but depending on their gender, it could create a bias. Another bias that may exist is that the author of this critique really enjoy Hosseini's first novel The Kite Runner so they may be more inclined to say that his second novel was just as good since they are already a fan. "Hosseini's two women are strategic contrasts physically, socially, and psychologically. Socially, Mariam is from the rural lower class; Laila, the urban middle class. Psychologically, Mariam is accustomed to humiliation; Laila, to consideration. Physically, Mariam's features are "unshapely," "flat," "unmemorable," "coarse," while Laila is a green-eyed blond beauty." The stark differences that Chua notes about Hosseini's protagonists help to understand a main theme of the novel which could

This article is a biography of Henry James' life. His social, economic, and geographic elements have all factored into his writing style. Writing many fictional tales, "roughly 112 tales attest his lifetime of dedication to this genre", he continued to strive for the realistic characters depicting the people he had met. "The completely objective point of view, in which the reader is presented solely with what anyone present would see and hear, and the first-person point of view, in which a character tells the story as he or she perceives it, were both traditional" styles that James employed in his writings. Unlike manyother writers he was also a critic of other literary works, art, and plays which only contributed to the sheer dynamics of his characters.

In Clifford J. Kurkowski crisism of One who flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, Kurkowski discusses that women who want to obtain power and stature in society have always struggled to keep their position, such as Nurse Ratched. Kirkowski talks about the fact that Kesey is not trying to degrade females by representing them negatively but also in a positive light. He analyzed the language used to describe Nurse Ratched and came to a conclusion that she is always trying to stay in control in power when put in chaotic positions. He said that it should be seen as a positive character trait that her "dominating attitude is a calculated move to maintain order". He says that she needs to be seen in a positive light. At the time that the book was written Kurkowski brings up the fact that America was a young nation looking for it's identify. Along with that was the uprising of the Women's Liberation movement, which was looking for equal opportunities and rewards for women. It's vital to understand a stories background, back then women were seen as less, so they were more likely to be written as less, and since they were advocating to be more equal it is understandable that women would think that they were being seen in a negative light, but there is always to sides to a story.

Argument: Rubin Rabinovitz writes that Anthony Burgess reuses a motif of libertarian vs. authoritarian in many of his novels. Often times this conflict of the characters is a projection of Burgess' views on morals and ethics as well as a display of Burgess' internal struggle. Rabinovitz refers to his novels A Clockwork Orange and the Tremor of Intent, pegging characters to libertarian and authoritarian personas. Through these comparisons he observes Burgess' own inconsistencies in his writing. Evidence: "The apparent inconsistencies in Burgess's dualistic moral views are sometimes seen as the result of his utilization of the Eastern yin-yang principles" (Rabinovitz). "What the religious novelist often seems to be saying is that evil is a kind of good, since it is an aspect of Ultimate Reality; though what he is really saying is that evil is more interesting to write about than good" (Burgess). "Very often, Burgess's use of Manichean dualism does work to reconcile differences in Eastern and Western thought; but problems arise when a choice must be made between relativism and absolutism...Absolutism seems to demand absolute fidelity, and in this sense Burgess's moral point of view appears ambiguous or inconsistent" (Rabinovitz). Thoughts: Rabinovitz focuses on conflicting ideologies that are not often recognized when reading A Clockwork Orange. He also offers a background on Anthony Burgess' location and how that contributes to his characters. Rabinovitz recognizes many of Burgess' characters as projections of Burgess himself and proposes how the clash of eastern and western philosophy influenced the author.

Claim:"where his Zen interests coalesced with his emerging themes, where he gave new life to the American short story." Argument: J.D.Salinger reveals what the new American life with the characters and families who chooses to make in his novels. Evidence: "Thornton Wilder published a magazine piece on the declining moral standards of America's youth, and John Cheever, as if to chronicle these uncertain times, published The Enormous Radio and Other Stories--featuring such emblematic titles as "The Season of Divorce," "O City of Broken Dreams," and "Christmas is a Sad Season for the Poor." Nine Stories tapped into this ambivalent milieu [(being in a area where there is a positive and negitive feeling towards one person)]: the stories dealt with genius, spiritual integrity, moral corruption, and the occasional ability of innocence to transform our lives."

Argument: The meaning of the word equal within Orwell's two texts allow different readings due to the exploitable ambiguities of its meaning Claim: If "equal" can mean something desirable and good, it can also in a primary sense mean no more than "identical" or "same." Evidence: "The concept of political equality no longer existed, and this secondary meaning had accordingly been purged out of the word equal.(6)" "Whereby "equal" starts to lose its libertarian meaning and comes to mean no more than "identical." The term "equal" may, at the beginning of Animal Farm, hold its revolutionary connotation intact, but by the end of the book it carries a drastically reduced and sinister meaning."