APLit2010

Argument: Marple argues that there is a similarity between the novels Franny and Zooey and The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger. She states that since Salinger already incorporated the theme of innocence in The Catcher in the Rye, then it is inevitable for him to input it in his other novels. Also, Salinger is able to portray innocence and growing up in characters such as Holden and Zooey through their actions and decisions. Evidence: "Franny's quest for purity ties Franny and Zooey to a subterranean theme that underlies most of the work Salinger has published during the last twenty-one years" "There is evident, throughout Salinger's writing, a consistent preoccupation with innocence, a preference for the chaste, complemented by the inability of his adult characters to reconcile physical and spiritual love. It is obvious on a re-examination of Salinger's work that his characters are extremely limited in their choice of sexual expression" "There is certain logic in Salinger's choice of an adolescent protagonist. The chastity of adolescence needs little explanation--idealism will suffice" "What is suggested or hinted at in Salinger's earlier work is full grown in his novel the idealization of the celibate, the chaste, and the innocent" "…it is difficult to see how the avoidance of so obvious a part of human life cannot impede the free flow of Salinger's creative life" Thoughts: Even though the criticism states that "Marple offers a generally positive assessment of Franny and Zooey" she is able to support her ideas through examples and direct quotes. I think she makes some valid points on the theme of innocence found in the two stories and I'll be able to use this criticism as support for my paper. The structure of Marple's argument was organized and coherent with the examples. Overall the criticism is useful and reliable.

Argument Heller used juxtaposition and the idea of "déjà vu" to create the insight on the world that Yossarian had been it at the time (World War 2). By the use of "black" comedy and the influence of works such as Crime and Punishment and Dante's Inferno, Heller was able to craft such a fine "epic" that there are authors today who use the similar style of non-organized (or non-chronological) order - such as William Faulkner. Evidence * "Most significant is Heller's incremental repetition of the Snowden episode; he presents fragments of the scene and builds to a climax where Yossarian learns the extent of his gunner's injuries." * "Heller relies heavily upon patterns of recurrence-whether of scene, image, or verbal exchange-so that the reader experiences a sense of deja vu." * "Heller uses the technique of black humor, juxtaposing comic and tragic effects, mixing the slapstick with the grotesque." Thoughts This article stresses the importance of the non-chronological order that Heller had to defend upon Catch-22's initial release - in which critics were just stupid and though he did it out of panic and misrepresentation rather than using it as a true surface style with meaning.

Author is not stated directly - blocks the page when clicking on source information (@ school).

Argument: * Russ Allbery breaks down Catch-22 as a great novel, but not without its flaws. What makes this review and criticism so imporant in research of Heller's novel are the (opinion-based) negative sides of the novel as a whole. Such negative connotations include the "monotonous" circle made by Heller in arguments (such as paradox made by not ordering combat missions chronologically when related to the novel's conclusion) and the fact that many would categorize the story with a main theme of humor - which Allbery denies is the core of Heller's work. Allbery goes on to summarize how the term "Catch-22" was integrated into the English language (via slang) and that Heller's work is truly a 'best-of' even if flaws persist. Evidence: * "Catch-22 didn't entirely succeed for me as a comedy. The huge ensemble cast was mostly too unbelievable and exaggerated for me to find funny" (Allbery) * "Due in part to the way that Heller stresses paradoxes and insoluable conflict, the writing can be quite repetitive and a bit circular." (Allbery) * "Heller provides as a clue the linearly increasing number of missions the airmen had to fly before theoretically being allowed to rotate home, but ordering can still be frustrating." (Allbery) * "The war acts in this book like a force of nature. Nearly everyone just accepts that it's happening and tries to ignore it, or revels in fighting it, without really thinking about it. It's only Yossarian, normally trying to maintain a long-suffering sarcasm, who occasionally can't help but tell the blunt truth." (Allbery) Thoughts: * While this is somewhat an opinionated "summary" of Catch-22, it is the only review I have that stresses some of the negative sides to the novel; from my view, the strengths of the novel further stand out amidst these criticisms. It is a strong point to make that Heller used too many "circle arguments" for it shows his position in writing the novel and how certain themes may have lead

Argument: Heller's novel combines the "dual" categories of satire - comic and tragic - in an excellent manner. His use of the juxtaposed satirical elements allows the true horrors of war to appear clear to the reader. The characters are strong and while the plot is not in chronological order, the purpose behind the clutter is clear: there is corruption in military command and war is no delight. Evidence: * "Heller also makes great use of caricature and hyperbole to underline the enormous madness of war." (Topham) * "The beauty of Catch-22 is the way that it is able to switch between the tragic and the comic." (Topham) * "According to the doctor, "Catch-22" is a military rule, which means that a madman can't fly. However, the survival instinct is a sane reaction to the madness of war. Therefore the only people who can ask to be grounded are those who don't want to be." (Topham) Thoughts A short article to base the positive - albeit general - themes of Catch-22. It has a great description at the end that clarifies what Catch-22 means - I even learned it had to due with a military code or rule. Further clarified the horrors of war and the juxtaposed comedic and tragic elements that consume Yossarian.

Argument:This article was based on other critics arguments on Sense and Sensibility and whether or not the novel's purpose was feministic and the differnce or importance of having sense and sensibility. Evidence:-"Austen understood the position of women who were deprived of the means to earn an income but needed to maintain their social standing." -"The triumph of sense over sensibility in the novel establishes the value of conventional feminine virtues, a position also espoused by other writers in the aftermath of the Revolution." -"Austen advocated a woman's possessing "sense," not "sensibility," while others have argued that Austen advocated possessing neither one nor the other, but a balance between the two." "signaling Austen's attempt to reshape ideas about gender through her novel." Thoughts:Though the critics argue on the feminist or anti-feminist attitude of Jane Austen and her novels, it is clear that the purpose of her novels is feministic in nature. Whether based on her life, or simply fictional, the novels are promoting a view on the women's place in society, as it is, and as it should be.

Jenny Turner, the author of the article entitled, "Top Of The World," discusses the variety of novels that Douglas Coupland has written and analyzes their purposes. Miss Wyoming, being one of Coupland's novels, is focused on the majority of the article and is summarized as well as criticized. Jenny Turner's main purpose of the article is to argue that Miss Wyoming is a novel that is "structured around fantasies of escape" due to the fact that the two main characters in Miss Wyoming are constantly searching for an escape route to life. Although, the organization of the article itself does not make the argument as effective as it could be. Statements related to Miss Wyoming are scattered around the article and therefore the reader has to search for the sections that Miss Wyoming is talked about. This makes the article confusing to navigate as well as unorganized. Fortunately, Jenny Turner places valid statements within the article in which forces the reader to make conclusions about Douglas's novel and utilizes the text as evidence. Throughout the piece, Turner takes quotes from Miss Wyoming in order to support the claims being noted and the quotes that are chosen do effectively support the arguments. Although it is not directly stated, one can infer that an argument in which Jenny Turner is defending is that due to the events that take place in Miss Wyoming, in order to discover the true meaning of life, one must witness a tragedy. Jenny Turner attempts to prove that Coupland writes novels that consist of a series of tragedies in which the characters go through in order to find meaning in their lives. The two novels that Turner utilizes to support this argument are Girlfriend In A Coma and Miss Wyoming. By connecting the two novels in her article, one is able to see the common situations and themes in the majority of Coupland's novels.

Argument: In his criticism, Froelich states that the novel Going After Cacciato gives the true realities of war through the experiences of the main characters in the story. He believes that O'Brien described the events in way that actual veterans of the war would. He also appreciates the technique where O'Brien combines the confusion in the story where the characters go back and forth between actuality and imagination. He would go onto agree that the book was well deserving of the National Book Award it received. Evidence: "…it innovatively combines experiential realism of war with surrealism, primarily implemented in the fantasy journey of escape by the novel's protagonist, thoughtful and sympathetic soldier Paul Berlin." Thoughts: I would go onto agree with all of the claims that Froelich made in his criticism. I believe that the way O'Brien explained the events, as if a veteran was telling the story, brought much life to the novel and characters. He showed true confusion, emotions, and thoughts that shows how truly harsh war is and was in Vietnam.

The author calls H.G. Wells' novel a science fiction but focus' on the social aspects of the novel. The novel shows the social issues of the time and Wells' views on them. The novel focuses on the social issues of Wells' time, but is not a science fiction. The science behind his books is well thought, but it provided a setting for his novel and was a different way to portray his social views.

TIME Magazine's "Books: The Strength of One" draws similarities between Kesey's McMurphy from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Hank Stamper from Sometimes a Great Notion. Both characters possess strength not often seen in one person and characteristics that could categorize them as antiheros. They are rough and tough and seek to stand up against what the feel is wrong and will use force to do so. This article presents the theme of Sometimes a Great Notion to be "the weakness of the strong and the persistent tensility of the weak". The townspeople within the novel can't stand to see Stamper win in the final "battle", but they are confused when he begins to lose. Kesey understands that intolerable as a good man may be to men, his defeat is even more so. This is the major paradox presented within the novel and explains the prominence of strength captured in both books. This article presents strong ideas that are tied in with the plot very well, however the author did not include quotes, which would have provided more support for the conclusions. The connections to the author included in the article suggest that the author has thorough knowledge into Kesey's background and his motives for writing each novel. It was almost as if the author was in Kesey's mind while writing this piece. The author drew parallels between Kesey's works and Greek mythology that posed interesting thoughts for the reader. Overall, Ken Kesey's ideas are transferred well in this article and are analyzed with a fresh outlook.

In her criticism Johnson argues that Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote the House of Seven Gables because of his own ancestry and guilt he felt for his ancestor's involvement in the Salem Witch Trials. She claims the book is Hawthorne's personal form of vengeance against his ancestor and his actions. The author's organization is clear and focused and very effective. In order to support her perspective, Johnson provides quotes from the text and facts about Nathaniel Hawthorne's background and beliefs. Her argument is strong and makes a great case. She concludes that although Hawthorne claims "vengeance against Salem is the farthest thing from his mind," this is in fact the case and romantic language is used to distract the reader from this truth. She uses his hate for his ancestor, evident by his legal name change to break the association, the similarities between his judge ancestor and a character in his novel and his detest for Salem in other works to prove evidence. She also concludes that there are parallels between Hawthorne's House of Seven Gables and his own family guilt.

Literary Analysis 4 Henry James, author of Daisy Miller, has had his share of novels comparing the European style verse the American society. In this critique, Gale Cennage's purpose was to show the fluctuation of the characters in the differing societies. Cennage believed the "depiction of the generic American girl" was captured lightly compared to Winterbourne's façade (Cennage). The order of the article was very well organized. The subjects were bolded and the critique was fast and to the point. The article got to the point; rather than dragging on to see Cennage's background views and opinions. The argument had the main point from the beginning of its section and focused her writing on the societies. Although it did get to the point rather quickly, there is not sufficient information on the subject. The evidence was typical and predictable. The broadness of the evidence was reassuring that the point was never accomplished. Cennage claims that James had adopted the "narrow attitudes [from] many Americans abroad" (Cennage). Upon declaring that statement, no major attitudes were discussed but left to the reader to figure it out. The conclusions reached by the author are discussed towards the end of the article. She notes that instead of the differing society that makes the short story so interesting, it is the "concern with morality and social behavior" of the other society that creates the plot (Cennage). The biasness that comes into play could be hindering the article's authenticity. She could have come from a class with higher values, could be from Europe or America, and could have different outlooks than the next. The author explicitly talks about the characters in the short story. It is important to have some background information because of the contrasting societies. But implicitly, Cennage reminds the reader that the American and European societies are and will always be different. "Daisy Miller, Henry James - Introduction." Short St

The Early Work of Arthur Miller Critic In this larger analysis by Leonard Moss on the complete works of Arthur Miller, the subsection regarding "All My Sons" explored the use of diction and other literary techniques to develop the complex family relationships of this novel. The family unit in "All My Sons" enjoys strong bonds and affections according to Moss; nonetheless, they are plagued with uncertainty and distrust among other members of the family despite this closeness. Moss progresses through the plot sequentially in order to support this claim about the family. Along the way, the article notes the language used by Miller to supplement the work. Colloquial language is used frequently, for instance, along with many allusions which are employed to reveal secrets of the family and signify shifts in emotions found within the story. Specifically noted is the "verbal contrast bringing out a psychological contrast" such as "harshness starting to displace simple folkiness, fearfulness displacing the comfortable self-assurance." Once accounting for the social truths and themes put forth by Miller, and the many supporting details, the author of this article concludes that much of the plot is centered on characters whose existence thrives in their pride as an honorable family member. This claim is supported by the actions of Joe Keller; after learning of his sons' discontent with his job as a father, he gives up everything and commits suicide because his life has no worth. These sentiments are definitely reflected within "Death of a Salesman" as well, which leads Moss to further conclude that Miller has strong opinions regarding family norms of this time.

The author of this critic, Terry Thompson, examined the family relationships and themes of Arthur Miller's "Death of A Salesman". Specifically the author examined two central symbolic elements to these aspects of the play, the first being the names of and the second being the physical characteristics of Willy, Biff, and Happy Loman. When closely examined, Thompson points out, the only character who is not addressed by a childish rendition of their name is Willy's brother, Benjamin Loman. Coincidently this is the only character of the novel that is viewed as successful; Willy, Biff, and Happy all continue to use immature pseudonyms which reflect their perceived shortcomings in life. In this same manner, the only characters who have facial hair and other features typical of grown men are Benjamin Loman and the father of Benjamin and Willy Loman. Again, this signifies their superiority, maturity, and success over the characters of Willy, Biff, and Happy. These minor details solidify the relationships between the male characters in the play, which lead to the conclusion by Thompson that Willy and his sons were truly inferior to other males. Moreover, this definition of inferiority was purely devised through standards put forth by Willy's idea of success stemming from the influences he had from men as he was growing up. This is clearly shown when Willy asks Benjamin to describe their father to his sons in order to show them a real role model and guide for success. Overall, Willy had a very harsh view about what success and self-worth comprised of.

Argument: John Stinson suggests that through allusion Anthony Burgess displays different facets of himself throughout his novels. Stinson focuses on three of Burgess' works centering on how his identification with other artists allows him to confront his own contradictions as an artist. Stinson also argues that Burgess' use of an alter-ego gives him an outlet of manageability in his own life. Evidence:"...alike in their evident feeling that the novel of a consistent tone, moving through a recognized and restricted cycle of emotional keys was outdated . . . their attempt has been to combine the violent and the absurd, the grotesque and the romantic, the farcical and the horrific within a single novel" (Amis).  "What hurts me . . . is the allegation . . . that there is a gratuitous indulgence in violence which turns an intended homiletic work into a pornographic one" (Burgess). "The artist's desire to reconcile the apparent opposites is, somewhat paradoxically, often what provides the motive force for his art, but it also makes his personal life very difficult" (Stinson). Thoughts: Stinson offers a unique view on Burgess' writing style and use of allusion. By focusing on Burgess' lesser known works (known being A Clockwork Orange) he gives a greater sense of the writer's analogy between his own life and his artist persona. Stinson achieves his assertions in a clear and logical manner, first denoting Burgess' relationship with the artist, then by providing examples from three of Burgess' works.

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.

Argument: The argument is that Jane Austen's purpose for writing Pride and Prejudice is to help to show social idealism and the question "the system" of the time period in regards to politics, marriage, feminism, and other social problems. Evidence:"Austen subtly and ironically points out faults in the system, raising questions about the values of English society and the power structure of the country." "the novel seems to work toward an ideological balance and an alteration in the fundamental aspects of these characters" "the most prominent trends in criticism of Pride and Prejudice have derived from the perspectives of literary feminism, including analysis of the novel's view of female oppression," Thoughts: The criticsim discusses the main themes of Austen's novels and points out her attempt to pursuade and her idealism on the consepts of marriage, and social standing. The critic also stresses the idea that Austen's books protesteed male dominance and the amount of power that men had in society compared to women. also talked about is Austen's control over language and the way that she makes her points with eloquence and captivating plots.

In the critique by richard Boyd on Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp there is little to be said due to his wealth of analsysis of this story. Not only does he put the story in some historical contexts happening at the time, he analyzes the demenors of a range of characters, most frequently, the character Frank Russel. The ingnorant biggot of a character contends time and time again that the factor of freedom is a small one indeed. He is proslavery and believes that slavery will only end in violence.

The Survival of the Fittest Throughout The Handmaid's Tale, a major ideal is a strong feminist stance. The author is trying to convince other critics that Offred, a character in the novel, portrays a strong woman fighting for survival against politics. While others believe that Offred is "no hero," "a wimp," this author is convinced that she continuously "proves her consistent efforts not only to survive, but also to maintain her individuality." With the evidence the author has given to support his ideas about this ideal to survive, the evidence he provides proves to be logical. When the author states, "an examination of her more subtle rebellion against the oppressive totalitarian regime," he is persuasively showing that Offred portrays the strong nature of the human spirit. The focus the author commits on the argument is obvious. The author repeatedly compares Offred to other strong characters in other Margaret Atwood novels and in The Handmaid's Tale itself. This proves the author's consistency with the evidence he provides to prove his purpose. These also help show the pros of his persuasive side of the argument about how strong a feminine hero can be through human spirit. The evidence this author provides significantly supports his perspective. He starts out by attacking other arguments that have been stated, using it as a tactic to show that his perspective is more "correct." There is plenty of evidence provided in this article to help support his argument. With statements like "the Republic of Gilead is a typical totalitarian society in that it promotes terror tactics while enforcing its rigid dogmas," the author is setting up for his next piece of evidence. He uses the typical case where he sets you up for the next argument, uses evidence from text, and then attacks the opposite side of the argument, but all with a twist. Most authors would have used quotes from the novel itself or a source to attack the opposite s