SECTION C: Pegi Bano, Sean Devlin, Tommy Brown, Piro Capo, Anthony Dowling, Matt Kearner
Term One Review
The scarlet letter:
• Characters:
o Hester Prynne: both guilty and innocent. Committed a sin yet is still a good person, main protagonisto Pearl: innocent child of Hester & Dimmesdale, gets made fun of sometimes and scolded for being a “devil child”
o Arthur Dimmesdale: the minister, Hester’s lover and sinner but is an important and role example of good for the towns people
o Roger Chillingworth: the "blackman" disgused as a physican but was Hester's real husband looking for revengeo Mistress Hibbins: Governor’s sister suspected on being a witch
o Gov. Bellingham: governor, prosecuted Hester
• Setting: Boston
• Plot: In a small Puritan community Hester is forced to wear a big “A” on her chest to publicly show her sin of adultery. Her husband was away but she gave birth to her daughter, Pearl. This caused a lot of suspicion in the community so as her punishment she is not only forced to wear the A but also has to live in the outskirts of town. When being scolded on the scaffold Hester still refuses to admit who the baby’s father is. Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s real husband comes into town not revealing his identity comes posing as a doctor. Hester keeps his secret because he threatens her. He really came to down to find out that Hester’s secret lover is and is forced to spend a lot of time with Dimmesdale. It is not revealed until later that Dimmesdale is Hester’s partner and that they are actually in love.
• Symbols
o the scaffold: a stage right in the middle of town, is a symbol for humiliation, fear, discipline, and punishment
o the thorn bush: growing outside the prison door shows how the outside world is free and nature is pure it symbolizes both beauty & justice
o Scarlet letter: sin, punishmento Use of color: bright colors are used in a peaceful, forgiving, justice scenes and gloomy colors represent evil, punishment, and crime
o Divine maternity: allusion to Mary & Jesus – Hester is the anti-Christ challenges divine maternity
• Major themes: Sin, consequences, society, vengeance
• BACKGROUND/TODAY: in puritan time, religion, and law were the same. The law was the religion; Hester committed a sin and was punished for her crime. She was scolded by the whole town and forced to live in isolation. Today we do not enforce religion and law together as much, for example it is common for a single mother to raise a child but in Puritan society it would have been a crime.
Romanticism:
• It can be considered the “counter Enlightenment.”
• It is an international artistic and philosophical movement that redefined the fundamental ways in which people in Western cultures thought about themselves and about their world.
• Nature was the main focus of romanticism since numerous people began to use it to portray their personal opinions and beliefs through it.
• Art was also a main focus of romanticism. The drawings that were created during this period were noticeably more modern than those drawn in the previous years.
• Some see it as the beginning of modernist thought, the beginning of a resistance against the Enlightenment.
Transcendentalism:
• Its followers were strong believers in their new ideas of religion, literature, culture and philosophy that emerged in New England in the mid-19th century.
• It originally began as a protest against the general state of culture and society.
• Transcendentalists were united by belief that we all possess a divine spark, and that humans trail clouds of glory. This purity and innocence is lost over time.
• Ralph Waldo Emerson is considered to be the father of transcendentalism.
• He insists that nature is “but the web of God.”
• He is also considered to be God to the transcendentalists.
Thoreau was a transcendentalist.
In Civil Disobediance: Thoreau starts arguing that government rarely proves itself useful and that it derives its power from the majority. Democracy is the power by the people. The majority has the most power but the minority knows what is wrong and what is right. He contends what people should is to do what they believe is right and not to follow the law that is poorly made by the majority. The majority do not have the common sense or plain folk mentality because they do not know the real world. When a country’s government is unjust, people should refuse and stay away from the law.
This is true in Hester’s case because she defied the sacred law of puritan life. She was disgraced and ridiculed. In this case, the majority won the battle because no one supported Hester. She was forced to move and found that living in the woods was better than being ridiculed in the town.
Walden : Thoreau's account of the two years he spent living in the woods. Thoreau begins with a long chapter on Economy, stating his case for moving to the woods, not paying taxes. Thoreau is upset how the society is. He escapes to live at Walden Pond. He tells how he attempts to find a deeper meaning in life. In the process he discovers self reliance and qualities beyond simplicity.
In, Walden a repeating theme in Walden is simplicity. Thoreau’s simplicity was the solution in enlightening people so the whole society can accomplish surreal things. So that we can get rid of society problems and live peacefully. This is related to Scarlet letter because Hester’s town was caught up in the idea of simplicity. They focused more on the harmful deed and never thought about humans not being perfect. These accusations and wrongful acts are what drove Thoreau to Walden Pond.
The Sovereignty and Goodness of God: Being a Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, : Indians attack Mary’s town and gets her as prisoner. She tells the readers that they showed little respect. An example of this was when they did not care when her and her baby fell of a horse.
As time goes on, her attitude towards the captors gets worse at time progresses. One man threatens to hurt her child. She realizes that in order to get respect she must take charge and be more forceful.
During the time, they were very desperate for food because of the lack of treatment by the capturers. They even resorted to boiling a horses leg for a source of food. In order to get food, she starts to knit for trading. She was able to see divine providence at work when the Indian people gave her dead son a proper burial. Indians were also giving food from the goodness of their heart.
This is related to Hester Prynne because Hester held captive because of the attitude of the town. They ridiculed her and that forced her to live far away. She became emotionally distressed and found it hard, but she found a living by knitting and she also found respect. Also the major themes are similar where they must handle their situations in which they are put in and cherish whatever you got.
Nature is written by Ralph Emerson. He was a huge driving force in the ideas of transcendentalism. Emerson began to explore the philosophical standpoint of Idealism, in which the natural world is one and the same as the mental world. His next big hit would be Walden.
In the Nature essay, he questions what nature is. Nature is what it is, yet man still examines and questions it. He says science has one goal of finding the law of nature. He states we have theories of race and relations, yet no approach to an idea of creation. He says that we are so far away from getting this truth because of religious confrontations. He then says that everything, man, music and art is underneath the rank of nature. Nature is pure while everything else is not. He also urges to cherish nature whenever you can or alone. And by doing this brings out sweet harmony. Also says “The production of a work of art throws a light upon the mystery of humanity. A work of art is an abstract or epitome of the world. It is the result or expression of nature, in miniature.”
This is related to Scarlet Letter because it directly goes against the ideas of Puritanism. Nature promotes being one and understanding nature and ignoring the law of god. In scarlet letter, god is law and nothing else matters.
Anne Bradstreet, who is the first American poet, was born and raised as a Puritan. In her poem “Upon The Burning Of Our House, July 10th, 1666”, Bradstreet tells the valuable lessons she learned from the fire that destroyed her home.
Bradstreet learns from the fire decides to thank God in the midst of her house burning:
Summary: She explains that everything that was on fire she did not actually own, for they belonged to God’s. Therefore, she could not mourn the lost because He had the right to take them away.
Also Bradstreet learns from the fire is earthly pleasures are fleeting she realizes material possessions are easy to gain as well as loose.
She continues to reminisce on the things that might have taken place in the house but will no longer since it now consists mainly of ashes
. She also notices that her wealth does not come from the things she gains on earth but her true wealth lies in heaven.
Bradstreet’s strong Puritan background is evident in this poem. Her acknowledgement of God through out this poem shows her respect and devotion to her Puritan beliefs. It is related to the Scarlet Letter because of the strong principles being expressed here. The strong belief is that god is the higher power. Hester Prynne defies the rules of the higher power and must be marked for the rest of her life, she loses her reputation but gains a beautiful baby. A disaster turned into beautiful event just like how Bradstreet had her revelation.
Sinners At The Hands of an Angry God- Written by Jonathan Edwards- Sermon that gives a detailed account of Hell- Edwards hopes to instill fear into the people listening to straighten up their lives before it is too late- Gives ten descriptions of Hell and Satan- Edwards condemns all sinners Thomas Jefferson- Born April 13, 1743 in Virginia- Attended the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia- Married Martha Wayles Skelton when he was 29, had 6 children- Wrote the Declaration of Independence in 1776- Served as Governor of Virginia from 1779-1781
Plymouth Plantation
William Bradford shows how the puritans overcame their obstacle using faith and religion. For example, if sailors became ill, they wouldn't treat them and instead believed that god would save them. Puritans overcame their obstacles and believed that god helped them through everything. From this we can understand how the american dream was derived from their experiences. It connects to the scarlet letter because both are set in a Puritan society where their are strict laws and god is the basis of their religion
The autobiography of Ben Franklin:• Born into a poor family and was one of many children, he became rich from hand work and being educated. • United the colonies and wanted peace with England. • Was a peacemaker and popular all over Europe• Mature for his age and quite caringFranklin’s good deeds• helps Dutchman from fallings off the boat• giving the woman and child a loaf of bread
Connections:
Puritan belief, the idea of self individualism and transcendentalism, resistance to government is related term two and The Eyes Were Watching God. Janie is an independent woman just like what Civil Disobedience calls for. Also, Hester is a single mom who raises her child, Pearl, on her own.
In Term 3, Cry The Beloved Country had major corruption and civil unrest. The white people had the power and did not give any to black population. Just like in the Civil disobedience, the majority of the people thought what was best and did not take into account the minority. There is also a battle between civilization and nature which is related to Nature. The nature is actually the black culture and it has trouble adapting to a white culture. So the people resort to crime and drugs.
In Term 4, Macbeth had greed and regret. Hester had much regret after her adultery act. And Janie had much regret with her life. Macbeth, although filled with regret, fights till his last breath. The problem with him is that he could not get enough power. So he kept on killing. He used ambition. They used ambition to better their life. But, their entire lives end is drastically and sadly.
In Term 5, Crucible is filled with wrongful accusations based on personal gain and greed. These are related to the basic principles of puritan belief. They were very strict and even found dancing a crime. It is also related to Civil Disobedience where the trial was the higher power even though it was making huge mistakes.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Term 2 Study Guide
SECTION C: Samuel Francois, Harrison Ha, Jared Hicks, & Alex Le
Term 2: Thanksgiving + Christmas time
BOOKS:
Their Eyes Were Watching God (TEWWG) by Zora Neal Hurston
-Character Analysis:
Janie Crawford- Protagonist
Nanny- Grandmother of Janie, tried to ‘control’ her
Logan Killings- 1st husband, too controlling
Jodie Starks- 2nd husband, power hungry
Tea Cake- Falls in love with Janie, vice versa, dies by the hands of Janie
Mrs. Turner- racist, half white lady
GRAMMER/BOOKS: (<-----spelling????????)
SAT Prep Packet (received words)
Subjective/Objective (facts)
Who, whom, whoever, whomever
Parallel Structure
Memorable quote from somewhere: “Superman does good, you do well.” (Made our awareness clearer to grammatical mistakes made by others)
LESSONS
Romanticism
Transcendentalism (Henry David Thoreau)
Harlem Renaissance (Langston Hughes)- Merry Go Round; I, Too, Sing America; The Negro Speaks Rivers
The Fall of the House of Usher- (Big house that falls.)
MISC.
What Is Slang? Tupac, “Finna” = fixing to
What Is Feminism? Women looking to overturn gender inequality *cough*Ms. G*cough*
White Great Hope? OBAMA. Enough said.
CROSS CONNECTIONS
Term 1- Scarlet Letter (Hester Prynne) female protagonist/chases dreams of being a woman
Term 3- Apartheid in South Africa/ Cry the Beloved Country/deals with race
Term 4- Macbeth chases his ambitious dream
SECTION G: Term 2 Study Guide
Novel:
Their Eyes Were Watching God
By Zora Neale Hurston
Zora Neale Hurston
: Born in Eatonville, Florida as an orphan. Harlem Renaissance helps pursue her career. Went to Horward University, in Washington, D.C.
Poets:
Henry David Thoreau: Practiced Passive Resistance. Lived in Concord, Mass. near Walden Pond. Lived the simple life. Writes poems like "Walden" to show the simplicity in life. Put in jail for not paying taxes for six years and did not have respect for the government because they did not know what to do with him but put him in jail.
Walt Whitman
: Wrote "Song of Myself" and "When I Heard the Learned Astronomer"
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
: Wrote "The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls"
Edgar Allen Poe
: Wrote "El Dorado" which is about a man trying to find this Utopia that will lead him to his death.
and "Annabel Lee" which is about a young innocent girl that dies and the narrator still loves her after her death.
The Fall of the House of the Usher: Main characters: Roderick who is a twin and represents a mental half, he worries, he is weak & sensitive. Madeline: other twin. Frail body, coma-like trances, placed in dungeon. Madeline isn't really dead but in a cataleptically state.
James Weldon Johnson
: Poet, teacher, lawyer. exponent of civil rights. Wrote "Go Down Death" which is about how Caroline is taken out of pain & is with Jesus now who puts her down to rest.
Langston Hughes
: Black writer. Went to Columbia University. Wrote "Merry Go Round" which is about a child who is innocent and society puts him down because of segregation, he wasn't given the opportunities. "I, too, Sing America" which is about a man being black & shunned from the kitchen where he must wait, but soon everyone will see what they have missed by pushing him to the side. Also, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers"
Claude McKay
: Born in Jamaica. Wrote "If We Must Die" which is revolutionary and says that he and his people have been treated badly & will not stand for it any longer. Also wrote "Harlem Shadows" and "The Lynching"
Crystal Williams
: Wrote "In Search of Aunt Jemima" which is about stereotypes & why we should not follow them.
Countee Cullen
: "Incident",” Saturday's Child", "Yet Do I Marvel"
Gil Scott-Heron
: Wrote "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"
TEWWG
Major Characters:
Janie
- she is a beautiful young black woman with “white features” (very straight hair). She is also independent and also is on a mission to find true love.
Jody
- he is one of her three husbands. He is very controlling and wants to gain power in society. He wants to also flaunt his success by showing off Janie but he also wants to keep her to himself and makes her wrap up her hair to make her less appealing to other men.
Tea Cake
- he is younger than Janie, yet they fall in love. He is the opposite of Jody; he isn’t controlling and tries to let Janie be an equal to him.
Mrs. Turner
- she is a racist old black woman who hates her own race. She loves Janie’s “white features” and wishes she had them.
Nunkie
- a young girl that works with Janie and Tea Cake. Janie fears that her husband is having an affair with her because she is overly flirty with Tea Cake. She acts immature towards Tea Cake
Janie leaves her town with her husband Jody to go to Eatonville. They move to a new town and Jody assumes that he will take the position of mayor. He is power hungry and also is overly controlling in his relationship with Janie. He makes her wrap up her hair so that she is not appealing to other men. Their marriage once had love but over time it was lost and they started to separate. Later in the novel he passes away because he became sick.
She mourns his death in her own way, which not everyone agrees with. Later she meets Tea Cake, whom she falls in love with. He treats her much more nicely than her past husband did. He treats her as an equal and even plays checkers with her. They get married and have a loving relationship, even though he did steal from her once. After they were married for a while he gets bitten by a rabid dog and he gets rabies. He becomes very ill and has spasms, and it scared Janie so much that she shot and killed him. The novel ends with her returning to town and explaining her life story to a woman in the town.
Motifs
… is a recurring theme
Janie’s dreams and goals, “the horizon”. Gender bias, Janie trying to achieve her dreams but can’t.
Janie wanting to be higher than a man, feminism.
Race is a frame of mind. – showing the superiority of the human
Symbols
The mule
: black women. Symbolizes what is the lower end of the totem pole, symbolizes Janie and other black women.
Janie’s Hair
: makes her ultimately stronger. It’s perfect, makes her seem white because it is as nice as a white persons hair
The Horizon
: one’s dreams that are out of reach. Can not get to them because the horizon is unattainable.
The pear tree
: Janie’s idea of love.
Literary Devices
Metaphor: the ships are like the people trying to reach for the goals at the horizon, men go for their goals, but women sit ashore and don’t do anything for it. Also, some men let the wind blow them there, being lazy and not doing any work, and others strive through the wind to get to the horizon.
Internal/external conflicts
Janie vs. herself: going for her dreams or sitting back and watching.
Janie vs. Joe: questioning her independence and the dominance of Joe in their relationship
Janie vs. Teacake: Teacake=Janie reaching her dream, but that dream dies when Teacake does.
Janie vs. society: Janie has looks, money, and hair and dreams others envy her; proving she can obtain her goals even though she is black and a woman.
Themes
Dominance vs. Independence
: Janie’s independence is all she really wants everything revolves around that
Reaching your goals
: reaching and working to meet your horizon.
Racism
: everything directly relates to racial differences between the black and white men. The horizon white men achieve but black men can’t – Harlem Renaissance.
TEWWG
God Quotes:
“de nigger women is de mule uh de world so fah as ah can see.”
This quote was said by Nanny to Janie. It is significant in expressing the authors intent and themes because it shows the time period and the way things where. The mules are the ones who do all the hard work so she relates this to black women and how hard they work. This shows the theme of discrimination against women which a continuous theme in this novel.
“ships at a distance…that is the life of men.”
This is a quote at the beginning of the novel stated by the narrator. It sets a tone and theme for the entire book. It talks about ambition and drive for the future. It compares the way that men dream and what they hope for over girls. Immediately there is this stereotyping but also this theme of hope to fight for what you want regardless of your sex.
“Ah aint grieving so why do ah hafta mourn.”
Janie says this to the people in the neighborhood. It’s very significant because it shows the truth that nobody would like to state. Why should she try and be something she’s not, she’s not going to pretend to be sad if she really isn’t. The author is sending a message through her, be who you are and do not listen to what others have to say.
“hes liable tuh do it too, Hicks. Ah hope so anyhow. Us colored folks is too envious of one nother. Dats how come us don’t get no further than us do. Us talks bout white man keeping us down! Shucks! He don’t have to. Us keeps our own sleves down.”
Starks said this to Hicks. This quote is saying that colored people get too jealous and that’s what holds them back. There is so much jealousy and anger in the world and everyone just wants to point fingers and put the blame on someone else. There is this theme of power throughout the novel and this expresses it. The author is saying if you want something go and get it do not blame your weakness on anyone else but yourself.
“They sat in company with others in shanties, their eyes straining against crude walls and their souls asking is he meant to measure their puny might against his. They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching god.”
The narrator stated this during the chapter where the flood was going on. Everyone sat back and watched because there was nothing that they could possible do to fix it, they had no control. The author chose this statement and title because it summarizes the whole book. In life there are going to be these uncontrollable situations and things that are going to be hard to deal with but one needs to make the best and cope with it. Life is something so amazing and there are going to be times there’s nothing you can do but sit back and put it in gods hands.
The issues faced in Their Eyes Were Watching God are a continuing theme through present day society. Racism and female oppression are still battles for many who are exploited today. We, as a society, can change our future treatment of other human beings by evolving from past mistakes. We need to look past a person’s sex and race to accept them as a fellow individual. Women need to find their independence and be able to provide for themselves. Racial segregation has dimmed since the 1800s but it still exists. People of all heritages have equal rights and deserve respect. Social acceptance is a continuing theme throughout our society because everyone strives to be part of the community around them.
Term 2: Thanksgiving + Christmas time
BOOKS:
Their Eyes Were Watching God (TEWWG) by Zora Neal Hurston
-Character Analysis:
Janie Crawford- Protagonist
Nanny- Grandmother of Janie, tried to ‘control’ her
Logan Killings- 1st husband, too controlling
Jodie Starks- 2nd husband, power hungry
Tea Cake- Falls in love with Janie, vice versa, dies by the hands of Janie
Mrs. Turner- racist, half white lady
GRAMMER/BOOKS: (<-----spelling????????)
SAT Prep Packet (received words)
Subjective/Objective (facts)
Who, whom, whoever, whomever
Parallel Structure
Memorable quote from somewhere: “Superman does good, you do well.” (Made our awareness clearer to grammatical mistakes made by others)
LESSONS
Romanticism
Transcendentalism (Henry David Thoreau)
Harlem Renaissance (Langston Hughes)- Merry Go Round; I, Too, Sing America; The Negro Speaks Rivers
The Fall of the House of Usher- (Big house that falls.)
MISC.
What Is Slang? Tupac, “Finna” = fixing to
What Is Feminism? Women looking to overturn gender inequality *cough*Ms. G*cough*
White Great Hope? OBAMA. Enough said.
CROSS CONNECTIONS
Term 1- Scarlet Letter (Hester Prynne) female protagonist/chases dreams of being a woman
Term 3- Apartheid in South Africa/ Cry the Beloved Country/deals with race
Term 4- Macbeth chases his ambitious dream
SECTION G: Term 2 Study Guide
Novel:
Their Eyes Were Watching God
By Zora Neale Hurston
Zora Neale Hurston
: Born in Eatonville, Florida as an orphan. Harlem Renaissance helps pursue her career. Went to Horward University, in Washington, D.C.
Poets:
Henry David Thoreau: Practiced Passive Resistance. Lived in Concord, Mass. near Walden Pond. Lived the simple life. Writes poems like "Walden" to show the simplicity in life. Put in jail for not paying taxes for six years and did not have respect for the government because they did not know what to do with him but put him in jail.
Walt Whitman
: Wrote "Song of Myself" and "When I Heard the Learned Astronomer"
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
: Wrote "The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls"
Edgar Allen Poe
: Wrote "El Dorado" which is about a man trying to find this Utopia that will lead him to his death.
and "Annabel Lee" which is about a young innocent girl that dies and the narrator still loves her after her death.
The Fall of the House of the Usher: Main characters: Roderick who is a twin and represents a mental half, he worries, he is weak & sensitive. Madeline: other twin. Frail body, coma-like trances, placed in dungeon. Madeline isn't really dead but in a cataleptically state.
James Weldon Johnson
: Poet, teacher, lawyer. exponent of civil rights. Wrote "Go Down Death" which is about how Caroline is taken out of pain & is with Jesus now who puts her down to rest.
Langston Hughes
: Black writer. Went to Columbia University. Wrote "Merry Go Round" which is about a child who is innocent and society puts him down because of segregation, he wasn't given the opportunities. "I, too, Sing America" which is about a man being black & shunned from the kitchen where he must wait, but soon everyone will see what they have missed by pushing him to the side. Also, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers"
Claude McKay
: Born in Jamaica. Wrote "If We Must Die" which is revolutionary and says that he and his people have been treated badly & will not stand for it any longer. Also wrote "Harlem Shadows" and "The Lynching"
Crystal Williams
: Wrote "In Search of Aunt Jemima" which is about stereotypes & why we should not follow them.
Countee Cullen
: "Incident",” Saturday's Child", "Yet Do I Marvel"
Gil Scott-Heron
: Wrote "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"
TEWWG
Major Characters:
Janie
- she is a beautiful young black woman with “white features” (very straight hair). She is also independent and also is on a mission to find true love.
Jody
- he is one of her three husbands. He is very controlling and wants to gain power in society. He wants to also flaunt his success by showing off Janie but he also wants to keep her to himself and makes her wrap up her hair to make her less appealing to other men.
Tea Cake
- he is younger than Janie, yet they fall in love. He is the opposite of Jody; he isn’t controlling and tries to let Janie be an equal to him.
Mrs. Turner
- she is a racist old black woman who hates her own race. She loves Janie’s “white features” and wishes she had them.
Nunkie
- a young girl that works with Janie and Tea Cake. Janie fears that her husband is having an affair with her because she is overly flirty with Tea Cake. She acts immature towards Tea Cake
Janie leaves her town with her husband Jody to go to Eatonville. They move to a new town and Jody assumes that he will take the position of mayor. He is power hungry and also is overly controlling in his relationship with Janie. He makes her wrap up her hair so that she is not appealing to other men. Their marriage once had love but over time it was lost and they started to separate. Later in the novel he passes away because he became sick.
She mourns his death in her own way, which not everyone agrees with. Later she meets Tea Cake, whom she falls in love with. He treats her much more nicely than her past husband did. He treats her as an equal and even plays checkers with her. They get married and have a loving relationship, even though he did steal from her once. After they were married for a while he gets bitten by a rabid dog and he gets rabies. He becomes very ill and has spasms, and it scared Janie so much that she shot and killed him. The novel ends with her returning to town and explaining her life story to a woman in the town.
Motifs
… is a recurring theme
Janie’s dreams and goals, “the horizon”. Gender bias, Janie trying to achieve her dreams but can’t.
Janie wanting to be higher than a man, feminism.
Race is a frame of mind. – showing the superiority of the human
Symbols
The mule
: black women. Symbolizes what is the lower end of the totem pole, symbolizes Janie and other black women.
Janie’s Hair
: makes her ultimately stronger. It’s perfect, makes her seem white because it is as nice as a white persons hair
The Horizon
: one’s dreams that are out of reach. Can not get to them because the horizon is unattainable.
The pear tree
: Janie’s idea of love.
Literary Devices
Metaphor: the ships are like the people trying to reach for the goals at the horizon, men go for their goals, but women sit ashore and don’t do anything for it. Also, some men let the wind blow them there, being lazy and not doing any work, and others strive through the wind to get to the horizon.
Internal/external conflicts
Janie vs. herself: going for her dreams or sitting back and watching.
Janie vs. Joe: questioning her independence and the dominance of Joe in their relationship
Janie vs. Teacake: Teacake=Janie reaching her dream, but that dream dies when Teacake does.
Janie vs. society: Janie has looks, money, and hair and dreams others envy her; proving she can obtain her goals even though she is black and a woman.
Themes
Dominance vs. Independence
: Janie’s independence is all she really wants everything revolves around that
Reaching your goals
: reaching and working to meet your horizon.
Racism
: everything directly relates to racial differences between the black and white men. The horizon white men achieve but black men can’t – Harlem Renaissance.
TEWWG
God Quotes:
“de nigger women is de mule uh de world so fah as ah can see.”
This quote was said by Nanny to Janie. It is significant in expressing the authors intent and themes because it shows the time period and the way things where. The mules are the ones who do all the hard work so she relates this to black women and how hard they work. This shows the theme of discrimination against women which a continuous theme in this novel.
“ships at a distance…that is the life of men.”
This is a quote at the beginning of the novel stated by the narrator. It sets a tone and theme for the entire book. It talks about ambition and drive for the future. It compares the way that men dream and what they hope for over girls. Immediately there is this stereotyping but also this theme of hope to fight for what you want regardless of your sex.
“Ah aint grieving so why do ah hafta mourn.”
Janie says this to the people in the neighborhood. It’s very significant because it shows the truth that nobody would like to state. Why should she try and be something she’s not, she’s not going to pretend to be sad if she really isn’t. The author is sending a message through her, be who you are and do not listen to what others have to say.
“hes liable tuh do it too, Hicks. Ah hope so anyhow. Us colored folks is too envious of one nother. Dats how come us don’t get no further than us do. Us talks bout white man keeping us down! Shucks! He don’t have to. Us keeps our own sleves down.”
Starks said this to Hicks. This quote is saying that colored people get too jealous and that’s what holds them back. There is so much jealousy and anger in the world and everyone just wants to point fingers and put the blame on someone else. There is this theme of power throughout the novel and this expresses it. The author is saying if you want something go and get it do not blame your weakness on anyone else but yourself.
“They sat in company with others in shanties, their eyes straining against crude walls and their souls asking is he meant to measure their puny might against his. They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching god.”
The narrator stated this during the chapter where the flood was going on. Everyone sat back and watched because there was nothing that they could possible do to fix it, they had no control. The author chose this statement and title because it summarizes the whole book. In life there are going to be these uncontrollable situations and things that are going to be hard to deal with but one needs to make the best and cope with it. Life is something so amazing and there are going to be times there’s nothing you can do but sit back and put it in gods hands.
The issues faced in Their Eyes Were Watching God are a continuing theme through present day society. Racism and female oppression are still battles for many who are exploited today. We, as a society, can change our future treatment of other human beings by evolving from past mistakes. We need to look past a person’s sex and race to accept them as a fellow individual. Women need to find their independence and be able to provide for themselves. Racial segregation has dimmed since the 1800s but it still exists. People of all heritages have equal rights and deserve respect. Social acceptance is a continuing theme throughout our society because everyone strives to be part of the community around them.
Term 3 Study Guide
SECTION C: Tesfa, Sabrina Guerrir and An Doung
WHAT: Amandla was the revolution in a four part harmony where the oppressed black S. Africans used song, tune and dance rather than fighting to protest the apartheid laws which restricted them from being completely free.Aside from using song, they had an army march/ dance that they would do called the toyi-toyi. They would do the toyi-toyi for miles down the road kicking their feet up to their chests which would somewhat frighten the S. African soldiers trying to keep them in order.
WHEN: in the 1960s, the first group of people who protested against these laws were brutally killed. One incident drove soldiers to kill students in 1976 who also protested apartheid law. Ironically, these two groups/massacres were both ended in song, just as they were began.
WHERE: these revolutionary protests took place in S. African streets, meeting centers, schools and homes.
SONGS: the songs that were sang during the protests were sometimes joyful, other times they showed misery and sorrow. There's a song they sang about the concentration camps that they were put in. Although the soldiers didn't understand the language the song was in, they did, however, nod their heads to the beat. What they didn't know was that some of the songs were direct threats to them. Those were the songs they enjoyed the most.
SECTION ?:
POETRY:
-TO A SMALL BOY WHO DIED AT A DIEPKLOOF REFORMATORY BY ALAN PATON
-REFUGEE MOTHER AND CHILD BY CHINUA ACHEBE
SPOKEN WORD:
-SILVER-LINED HEART BY TAYLOR MALI
-THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED
SONGS:
-WORK SONGS
-NOT READY TO MAKE NICE BY THE DIXIE CHICKS
-CHANGES BY TUPAC SHAKUR
-BLACK AND BLUE BY ANDY RAZAF, THOMAS "FATS" WALLER AND HARRY BROOKS
SHORT STORIES:
-HUCKLEBERRY FINN BY MARK TWAIN
FILMS/DOCUMENTARIES:
-AMANDLA! BY LEE HIRSCH
SOME IMPORTANT NOTES AND HANDOUTS TO STUDY FOR BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
-JAZZ AND RAP HANDOUT
-"WORK SONGS:
-MAP OF SOUTH AFRICA
-AMANDLA! BACKGROUND INFO
-ANY OLD HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS, ESPECIALLY RESPONSES AND PASSAGE ANALYSES
-MALNUTRTION HANDOUT
-ANY NOTES TAKEN IN CLASS ON SOUTH AFRICA
-POVERTY STATISTICS
-THEMES WORKSHEET
BRIEF SUMMARY OF CRY THE BELOVED COUNTRY:
THIS BOOK IS ABOUT STEPHEN KUMALO, A PRIEST IN A SMALL SECTION OF A PROVINCE IN SOUTH AFRICA, DURING APARTHEID. HE WANTS TO BRING HIS FAMILY BACK TOGETHER, SO HE GOES TO LOOK FOR HIS SON, ABSALOM. ALONG THE WAY, HE MEETS MSIMANGU, A FELLOW PRIEST IN ANOTHER CITY. MSIMANGU HELPS KUMALO ON HIS JOURNEY. KUMALO IS LEAD TO JOHANNESBURG, WHERE HIS SON IS PUT ON TRIAL. HE IS BEING TRIED BY MR. JARVIS. WHOSE SON WAS SHOT DEAD IN HIS OWN HOME. ABSALOM AND TWO OTHERS WERE THE THREE ACCUSED AND ABSALOM WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO ADMITTED TO CARRYING THE GUN. HE WAS ACCUSED OF SHOOTING JARVIS' SON. ABSALOM ADMITTED IT, BUT SAID HE SHOT OUT OF FEAR. THE COURT FOUND HIM GUILTY AND HUNG HIM. AFTER, KUMALO RETURNED HOME AND TOLD HIS WIFE EVERYTHING ABOUT HIS JOURNEY.
Characters and characteristics
Stephen Kumalo~quiet sweet African priest man who goes to johannesburg to unsuccessfully try to save his family.
James Jarvis~white farmer whose views about blacks change after his son is killed. He learns alot from his son’s writings, about how blacks are treated in South Africa,
Msimangu~the guy that shows kumalo around town. he puts kumalo first and understands the problems in south africa.
Absalom Kumalu~ Kumalo's son, gets arrested for murder and is found guilty and sentenced to death.
Gertrude Kumalo~ Stephen’s sister who is the reason Kumalo goes to johannesburg. she is "sick". Kumalo gets her to return tovillage but eventually she runs away.
Mrs Lithebe~ generous woman who takes in Kumalu when he is in Johannesburg.
Arthur Jarvis~ a man who spoke out for civil rights in South Africa and is murdered by Absolom When he breaks into Jarvis' house.
Motifs:
Nature- Both in the beginning and near the middle of the book, the author writes the same passage about the land in Ndosheni. It describes how there is a road along the village of Ixopo, where the land is green and unhurt. However, if you go farther down, you can see the land destroyed by fire. It looks bare and ruined. This depicts South Africa and how it looks pretty from the outside, but if you go further in, you will see all the destruction.
Redemption- Gertrude wants to change her life for the better and asks forgiveness and help from her brother or Absalom trying to do some good before he dies. These people are asking for salvation and liberation.
Symbols:
Kumalo’s journey to restore his family is a symbol for hope.
The train and the mines are symbols for the dream and the hope of finding prosperity in the city.
The word “umfundisi”, meaning “father” or “priest”, is a symbol for Kumalo because it shows that he is a holy man and a good man who will do the right thing.
The books that Mr. Jarvis finds in his sons home symbolize how Arthur Jarvis tries to influence his father’s ideas and the whites about the natives with his ideas. He is depicted as Abraham Lincoln who tried to bring the whites and blacks closer.
Themes:
Restoring of the family- Kumalo’s family is separated and so he goes to Johannesburg to get his sister, Gertrude, and his son, Absalom, and maybe his brother, John, and to bring them all together in Ndosheni.
Protest against Apartheid- Alan Paton uses this book to fight against the Apartheid laws. He writes about “native crimes” and how the white men fear the natives. Paton even writes about the Shanty Towns and the poverty that goes on in South Africa in order to raise awareness and to protest against the restrictions of the Apartheid laws.
Fear- Fear is a big part of this novel. Kumalo fears what he will find in Johannesburg. He also fears that his son has killed a white man and will die. The whites fear that the natives will revolt for more money.
Racial discrimination/ injustice- Whites live in good lands and have profitable businesses, while blacks live in Shanty Towns and work for very little money in the dangerous mines so that they can dig gold for the whites. Blacks have to leave their villages to go to the city to find work.
Hope- This is a hidden theme in the novel because in between all the fighting and discrimination, there is a small hope of blacks and whites coming together. A good example of this is Mr. James Jarvis who helps not only the town of Ndosheni, but also Kumalo, even though Absalom killed his son. There is goodness in some whites and Msimangu says that some whites want to come together. Another good white is the lawyer, Mr. Carmichael, who helps Absalom “pro deo”, or for God and therefore free.
Literary Devices:
Imagery- there is a clear description of the land in Ndosheni and the city of Johannesburg.
Parallel structure- Paton uses parallel structures to emphasize certain words.
Characterization- Paton clearly characterizes and depicts the characters of his novel with specific details and even shows their beliefs, ideas, and thoughts.
Dialect- In this novel there are words such as “umfundisi” and other Zulu words that connect the reader further to the story.
Apostrophe- This is shown in the title itself, “Cry, the Beloved Country”, in which someone addresses an inanimate thing, such as the country, in exchange for help or sympathy.
Conflict- Absalom has left home to find Gertrude and never comes back. Kumalo must go find them, but only gets into more conflict when Absalom is in trial for murdering a good, white man.
Analysis (so what?)
Cry, the Beloved Country is an important book because it gives us a new perspective about life in South Africa. It shows us that beneath all the beauty of the South African land, there is much poverty, destruction, fear, and inequality. This novel protests against the Apartheid laws which restrict and segregate the black in South Africa. This theme of inequality and injustice could also be used in our lives. We should treat everyone equally. This book teaches us to fight against inequality and to stop degrading others. Most importantly, this book teaches us to help those in need who can not help themselves.
Kumalo
External: Kumalo’s son, Absalom, left and has never been heard from since. So Kumalo decides to go find him. He travels to Johannesburg where he thinks his son may have gone. Throughout the novel, Kumalo continues to come up short on his quest for Absalom. He is always just a little too late. As the journey drags on, it takes its toll on Kumalo physically.
Internal: As the quest for Absalom continues, Kumalo begins to fear the worst. He believes that something terrible has happened to his son since he has yet to find him. Kumalo begins to lose hope thinking he will never find his son. When he finally does locate Absalom, Kumalo learns that his son is in serious trouble and must suffer the consequences. This causes Kumalo to become depressed; he has just been reunited with Absalom and now they must be separated again. Kumalo tries to appear strong to others and covers up how he really feels.
Absalom
External: Absalom makes a bad decision by firing a gun when frightened and killing Arthur Jarvis. This leads to a lot of controversy and trouble for him and his family. Absalom has to deal with being charged guilty of murder of a white man. This is enough to ruin one’s reputation and their life. Absalom has to constantly suffer from the chaos that Jarvis’ murder has brought upon him.
Internal: Absalom tries to explain his side of the story and his true intentions for firing the gun that killed Arthur Jarvis, but no one believes him. This becomes so frustrating to Absalom because no one will listen to what he has to say. What makes matters worse is that the other two men that were with him were found innocent. He feels helpless; like no one can save him from his fate which he fears. Kumalo encourages his son to pray and later on, Absalom accepts his fate with dignity.
Analysis
• When Absalom is found guilty of murdering Arthur Jarvis, he feels a number of different emotions. Overall, he is afraid. Absalom is fearful of what the future will bring and what will happen. He also mentioned that he is afraid to die. Kumalo can not do much for his son at this point, except comfort him. He encourages Absalom to pray and to not be fearful of what awaits him. Absalom makes a transformation as his death approaches; he changes his ways of thinking. He now accepts the situation he is and realizes that he can not change his fate. Absalom obtains faith and seems to have a whole new outlook on life. When the day of his death arrives, Kumalo knows that the change in his son allows him to die with dignity.
• Race seems to play a major role in the novel. People are clearly separated and live different lifestyles. The murder of Arthur Jarvis actually causes the black and white races to clash. Absalom was a black man who murdered a white man. Just knowing those simple facts already causes controversy because of the different races in the two people. Arthur Jarvis was actually working to unite Africa and makes the lands peaceful again. His death may actually be an example of how people should join together, not be against each other. Ultimately, the dignity Absalom shows demonstrates hope for he did not go out with bitter feelings. It could also be a premonition of how one day racism will no longer be an issue and people will be united just as Arthur Jarvis would have wanted.
WHAT: Amandla was the revolution in a four part harmony where the oppressed black S. Africans used song, tune and dance rather than fighting to protest the apartheid laws which restricted them from being completely free.Aside from using song, they had an army march/ dance that they would do called the toyi-toyi. They would do the toyi-toyi for miles down the road kicking their feet up to their chests which would somewhat frighten the S. African soldiers trying to keep them in order.
WHEN: in the 1960s, the first group of people who protested against these laws were brutally killed. One incident drove soldiers to kill students in 1976 who also protested apartheid law. Ironically, these two groups/massacres were both ended in song, just as they were began.
WHERE: these revolutionary protests took place in S. African streets, meeting centers, schools and homes.
SONGS: the songs that were sang during the protests were sometimes joyful, other times they showed misery and sorrow. There's a song they sang about the concentration camps that they were put in. Although the soldiers didn't understand the language the song was in, they did, however, nod their heads to the beat. What they didn't know was that some of the songs were direct threats to them. Those were the songs they enjoyed the most.
SECTION ?:
POETRY:
-TO A SMALL BOY WHO DIED AT A DIEPKLOOF REFORMATORY BY ALAN PATON
-REFUGEE MOTHER AND CHILD BY CHINUA ACHEBE
SPOKEN WORD:
-SILVER-LINED HEART BY TAYLOR MALI
-THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED
SONGS:
-WORK SONGS
-NOT READY TO MAKE NICE BY THE DIXIE CHICKS
-CHANGES BY TUPAC SHAKUR
-BLACK AND BLUE BY ANDY RAZAF, THOMAS "FATS" WALLER AND HARRY BROOKS
SHORT STORIES:
-HUCKLEBERRY FINN BY MARK TWAIN
FILMS/DOCUMENTARIES:
-AMANDLA! BY LEE HIRSCH
SOME IMPORTANT NOTES AND HANDOUTS TO STUDY FOR BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
-JAZZ AND RAP HANDOUT
-"WORK SONGS:
-MAP OF SOUTH AFRICA
-AMANDLA! BACKGROUND INFO
-ANY OLD HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS, ESPECIALLY RESPONSES AND PASSAGE ANALYSES
-MALNUTRTION HANDOUT
-ANY NOTES TAKEN IN CLASS ON SOUTH AFRICA
-POVERTY STATISTICS
-THEMES WORKSHEET
BRIEF SUMMARY OF CRY THE BELOVED COUNTRY:
THIS BOOK IS ABOUT STEPHEN KUMALO, A PRIEST IN A SMALL SECTION OF A PROVINCE IN SOUTH AFRICA, DURING APARTHEID. HE WANTS TO BRING HIS FAMILY BACK TOGETHER, SO HE GOES TO LOOK FOR HIS SON, ABSALOM. ALONG THE WAY, HE MEETS MSIMANGU, A FELLOW PRIEST IN ANOTHER CITY. MSIMANGU HELPS KUMALO ON HIS JOURNEY. KUMALO IS LEAD TO JOHANNESBURG, WHERE HIS SON IS PUT ON TRIAL. HE IS BEING TRIED BY MR. JARVIS. WHOSE SON WAS SHOT DEAD IN HIS OWN HOME. ABSALOM AND TWO OTHERS WERE THE THREE ACCUSED AND ABSALOM WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO ADMITTED TO CARRYING THE GUN. HE WAS ACCUSED OF SHOOTING JARVIS' SON. ABSALOM ADMITTED IT, BUT SAID HE SHOT OUT OF FEAR. THE COURT FOUND HIM GUILTY AND HUNG HIM. AFTER, KUMALO RETURNED HOME AND TOLD HIS WIFE EVERYTHING ABOUT HIS JOURNEY.
Characters and characteristics
Stephen Kumalo~quiet sweet African priest man who goes to johannesburg to unsuccessfully try to save his family.
James Jarvis~white farmer whose views about blacks change after his son is killed. He learns alot from his son’s writings, about how blacks are treated in South Africa,
Msimangu~the guy that shows kumalo around town. he puts kumalo first and understands the problems in south africa.
Absalom Kumalu~ Kumalo's son, gets arrested for murder and is found guilty and sentenced to death.
Gertrude Kumalo~ Stephen’s sister who is the reason Kumalo goes to johannesburg. she is "sick". Kumalo gets her to return tovillage but eventually she runs away.
Mrs Lithebe~ generous woman who takes in Kumalu when he is in Johannesburg.
Arthur Jarvis~ a man who spoke out for civil rights in South Africa and is murdered by Absolom When he breaks into Jarvis' house.
Motifs:
Nature- Both in the beginning and near the middle of the book, the author writes the same passage about the land in Ndosheni. It describes how there is a road along the village of Ixopo, where the land is green and unhurt. However, if you go farther down, you can see the land destroyed by fire. It looks bare and ruined. This depicts South Africa and how it looks pretty from the outside, but if you go further in, you will see all the destruction.
Redemption- Gertrude wants to change her life for the better and asks forgiveness and help from her brother or Absalom trying to do some good before he dies. These people are asking for salvation and liberation.
Symbols:
Kumalo’s journey to restore his family is a symbol for hope.
The train and the mines are symbols for the dream and the hope of finding prosperity in the city.
The word “umfundisi”, meaning “father” or “priest”, is a symbol for Kumalo because it shows that he is a holy man and a good man who will do the right thing.
The books that Mr. Jarvis finds in his sons home symbolize how Arthur Jarvis tries to influence his father’s ideas and the whites about the natives with his ideas. He is depicted as Abraham Lincoln who tried to bring the whites and blacks closer.
Themes:
Restoring of the family- Kumalo’s family is separated and so he goes to Johannesburg to get his sister, Gertrude, and his son, Absalom, and maybe his brother, John, and to bring them all together in Ndosheni.
Protest against Apartheid- Alan Paton uses this book to fight against the Apartheid laws. He writes about “native crimes” and how the white men fear the natives. Paton even writes about the Shanty Towns and the poverty that goes on in South Africa in order to raise awareness and to protest against the restrictions of the Apartheid laws.
Fear- Fear is a big part of this novel. Kumalo fears what he will find in Johannesburg. He also fears that his son has killed a white man and will die. The whites fear that the natives will revolt for more money.
Racial discrimination/ injustice- Whites live in good lands and have profitable businesses, while blacks live in Shanty Towns and work for very little money in the dangerous mines so that they can dig gold for the whites. Blacks have to leave their villages to go to the city to find work.
Hope- This is a hidden theme in the novel because in between all the fighting and discrimination, there is a small hope of blacks and whites coming together. A good example of this is Mr. James Jarvis who helps not only the town of Ndosheni, but also Kumalo, even though Absalom killed his son. There is goodness in some whites and Msimangu says that some whites want to come together. Another good white is the lawyer, Mr. Carmichael, who helps Absalom “pro deo”, or for God and therefore free.
Literary Devices:
Imagery- there is a clear description of the land in Ndosheni and the city of Johannesburg.
Parallel structure- Paton uses parallel structures to emphasize certain words.
Characterization- Paton clearly characterizes and depicts the characters of his novel with specific details and even shows their beliefs, ideas, and thoughts.
Dialect- In this novel there are words such as “umfundisi” and other Zulu words that connect the reader further to the story.
Apostrophe- This is shown in the title itself, “Cry, the Beloved Country”, in which someone addresses an inanimate thing, such as the country, in exchange for help or sympathy.
Conflict- Absalom has left home to find Gertrude and never comes back. Kumalo must go find them, but only gets into more conflict when Absalom is in trial for murdering a good, white man.
Analysis (so what?)
Cry, the Beloved Country is an important book because it gives us a new perspective about life in South Africa. It shows us that beneath all the beauty of the South African land, there is much poverty, destruction, fear, and inequality. This novel protests against the Apartheid laws which restrict and segregate the black in South Africa. This theme of inequality and injustice could also be used in our lives. We should treat everyone equally. This book teaches us to fight against inequality and to stop degrading others. Most importantly, this book teaches us to help those in need who can not help themselves.
Kumalo
External: Kumalo’s son, Absalom, left and has never been heard from since. So Kumalo decides to go find him. He travels to Johannesburg where he thinks his son may have gone. Throughout the novel, Kumalo continues to come up short on his quest for Absalom. He is always just a little too late. As the journey drags on, it takes its toll on Kumalo physically.
Internal: As the quest for Absalom continues, Kumalo begins to fear the worst. He believes that something terrible has happened to his son since he has yet to find him. Kumalo begins to lose hope thinking he will never find his son. When he finally does locate Absalom, Kumalo learns that his son is in serious trouble and must suffer the consequences. This causes Kumalo to become depressed; he has just been reunited with Absalom and now they must be separated again. Kumalo tries to appear strong to others and covers up how he really feels.
Absalom
External: Absalom makes a bad decision by firing a gun when frightened and killing Arthur Jarvis. This leads to a lot of controversy and trouble for him and his family. Absalom has to deal with being charged guilty of murder of a white man. This is enough to ruin one’s reputation and their life. Absalom has to constantly suffer from the chaos that Jarvis’ murder has brought upon him.
Internal: Absalom tries to explain his side of the story and his true intentions for firing the gun that killed Arthur Jarvis, but no one believes him. This becomes so frustrating to Absalom because no one will listen to what he has to say. What makes matters worse is that the other two men that were with him were found innocent. He feels helpless; like no one can save him from his fate which he fears. Kumalo encourages his son to pray and later on, Absalom accepts his fate with dignity.
Analysis
• When Absalom is found guilty of murdering Arthur Jarvis, he feels a number of different emotions. Overall, he is afraid. Absalom is fearful of what the future will bring and what will happen. He also mentioned that he is afraid to die. Kumalo can not do much for his son at this point, except comfort him. He encourages Absalom to pray and to not be fearful of what awaits him. Absalom makes a transformation as his death approaches; he changes his ways of thinking. He now accepts the situation he is and realizes that he can not change his fate. Absalom obtains faith and seems to have a whole new outlook on life. When the day of his death arrives, Kumalo knows that the change in his son allows him to die with dignity.
• Race seems to play a major role in the novel. People are clearly separated and live different lifestyles. The murder of Arthur Jarvis actually causes the black and white races to clash. Absalom was a black man who murdered a white man. Just knowing those simple facts already causes controversy because of the different races in the two people. Arthur Jarvis was actually working to unite Africa and makes the lands peaceful again. His death may actually be an example of how people should join together, not be against each other. Ultimately, the dignity Absalom shows demonstrates hope for he did not go out with bitter feelings. It could also be a premonition of how one day racism will no longer be an issue and people will be united just as Arthur Jarvis would have wanted.
Term 4 Study Guide
SECTION C: Name: Grenee Do, Brittany Cleary, Jennifer Climaco
Cindy Herrera, Alex Borges
Title and Author:
· Macbeth by William Shakespeare
· “Babbit’s After-Dinner Speech” by Sinclair Lewis
· “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams
Major Characters and Characteristics:
In Macbeth:
· Macbeth: Macbeth is the Thane of Cawdor and Glamis. Three witches have prophecies that bad things will happen involving Macbeth and he starts thinking about them more and more. Overall he is a good man. What he wants most is to become (and stay) king so he does whatever it takes. He wants to satisfy his hopes and dreams of reaching that throne. After Macbeth commits murder for the first time, he is more easily tempted to continuing with these crimes. He seems to be more of a tyrant than a ruler. He deals with his problems in the worse ways.
· Lady Macbeth: Lady Macbeth is Macbeth’s wife. She has ambitions to become powerful and would do anything to reach them, even becoming a man if possible. She seems like the dominant one in the relationship because she easily manipulates Macbeth. Her conscious is overpowering and leads to her death.
· Duncan: Duncan is a great man and is also the king of Scotland. He is the man who Macbeth needs to murder in order to become king. After his death, things start going awry because in order for things to fully be restored to their rightful places, his descendant should become king.
· Malcolm: Malcolm is Duncan’s son. It is believed that once he has his seat on the throne, things will be put back into place the right way.
· Banquo: Banquo is a brave and ambitious man. Although, he does not pursue his dreams in such extreme ways as Macbeth does, he still stays loyal to the king and its law. The witches made a prophecy that he is the one who is said to inherit the Scottish throne. Banquo has gone along a completely different path than Macbeth. After Banquo’s death, his ghost haunts Macbeth.
· Fleance: Fleance is Banquo’s son. Macbeth tries to kill him, but he survives. He flees by the end of the play and nobody knows where he has gone.
· The Three Witches: The Three Witches want to plot bad things against Macbeth using their spells. Their predictions cause Macbeth to think differently and act on those crazy thoughts.
· Macduff: Macduff is a Scottish nobleman who, from the beginning, does not like Macbeth. He becomes a leader of a plan to remove Macbeth from his throne.
In “Babbit’s After-Dinner Speech”
· George Folansbee Babbitt: a 46 year old that lives a typical lifestyle. He has a decent job, beautiful house, and a loyal family.
· Myra Babbitt: George Babbit’s loyal, easygoing wife
· Tanis Judique: Client of Babbitt with whom he has an affair
In “The Glass Menagerie”
· Amanda Wingfield: mother of Laura Wingfield. She has a very hectic life and is very paranoid about everything. She is viewed as a heroic lady due to her endurance
· Laura Wingfield: the daughter of Amanda Wingfield. She is the mentally and physically crippled one in the family and has lost all contact with reality
· Tom Wingfield: the son in the family and also the narrator of the play. He is a poet but he has no remorse for others so he escapes it by acting without pity
· Tim O’ Connor: The gentleman caller. He is a nice, ordinary, young man
Brief Summary/Details/Background:
Macbeth: Background
· William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564 and died ion his birthday in 1616.
· He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon
· His parents were Mary who was a heiress and John who was a merchant.
· Considered "The Bard" which means lyric poet
· Married to Anne Hathaway who was 26 and he was only 18. They had 8 children with a set of twins and after the twins were born they had no record of Shakespeare for 7 years (1558-1602).
· Published his first play at 25
· Macbeth was published in 1606
· The First Folio was an edition published in 1623 but was not published by him.
Macbeth: Summary
Three witches tell Macbeth that he will become the thane of Cawdor, and then King. He then becomes the thane, and he writes a letter to his wife, Lady Macbeth, telling her this. After reading the letter Lady Macbeth decides to come up with a plan to kill Duncan, the king. Macbeth, at first, is not so sure, but then agrees. They then invite Duncan to their house, and when he is sleeping Macbeth kills him with a dagger. Macbeth forgets to place the dagger with the guards so Lady Macbeth does it herself to frame the guards with Duncan's death. Macbeth then orders the murderer to kill Duncan sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, but they run away. Macbeth becomes king. Believing that Banquo is a threat, he hires a murderer to kill him. After Banquo is killed, Banquo’s ghost haunts Macbeth and the guilt of the king’s death is still on his mind. He becomes uneasy and feels guilty but is told by his wife to be a man. Lady Macbeth shows no remorse. Macbeth orders Macduff to be killed but Macduff had already left. Lady Macbeth commits suicide because she too, had the guilt written all over her face. She would subconsciously start to sleepwalk and talk in her sleep. Towards the end of the novel, Macduff and his army head towards Macbeth's castle; Macbeth decides to fight. Macduff kills Macbeth and Malcolm then becomes king.
“Babbit’s After-Dinner Speech”
· George Babbit lives an ordinary life that consisted of him with a great job, attractive house, and a loyal family. He lives a typical life of an upper middle-class person. He soon realizes that he is not content with his life and feels as if there is something missing. After a few changes to his original lifestyle does he realize that what he had already was better than what he wanted. It is like the saying that goes “you don’t realize what you have until you lose it”.
“The Glass Menagerie”
· Laura is the very shy daughter of Amanda who has a cast on her leg and is crippled. Tom is the son and head of the house, he is financially helping them out but he escapes and looks for a way out to relieve his mind thru liquor, movies, and literature. Amanda is the mother of the family and feels that Laura is missing out and thinks that marriage would be the best solution. So Tom invites Jim O’ Connor, a friend from work, to join them for dinner. Amanda leaves Laura and Jim together to talk and Laura begins to open up to him and begins to show him her most prized possession, a glass unicorn. Jim decides to kiss her but in the process knocks down the unicorn, which causes the horn to come off) and apologizes to her after kissing her. He tells her that he has a fiancée and didn’t mean to kiss her. A few days later, Tom is fired from his job and he runs away, leaving his mother and sister. He returns though because he couldn’t live with the guilt or leaving behind Laura.
Literary terms:
Motifs
A motif is a “recurring subject, theme, or idea in a literary, artistic, or musical work”.
The motifs in Macbeth are:
Hallucinations:
They haunt Macbeth throughout the play. He keeps seeing the ghost of Duncan
Lady Macbeth continues to wash her hands of the blood, which she sees because she feels guilty about what happened to King Duncan.
The ghost of King Duncan also haunts Macbeth at the dinner table with the Scottish nobility.
Prophecies:
The witches prophesize at the beginning that Macbeth would become Thane of Cawdor, and that Macbeth was going to be king, but someone would come and attempt to murder him to avenge their father; the former King Duncan.
At first, everyone always doubts the prophecies of the witches, but in the end they actually start to come true, and it is too late to do anything about that.
Themes
The themes of Macbeth are:
One’s greed for power will only bring misfortune.
Lady Macbeth and Macbeth were so greedy for power at the beginning, but even when Macbeth eventually became king, he was never happy.
After all of what Lady Macbeth did for power, she eventually ends up committing suicide because of all the guilt she felt.
Feeling that only males have the ability to be courageous and manipulative.
Lady Macbeth felt as though of she could only be a man, she would have it in her to do evil things.
She believes that she feels so much, and she has so much guilt because she is a woman.
Lady Macbeth wishes that she didn’t have womanly parts and had thicker blood running through her so that she would be tougher.
Symbols
The Symbols in Macbeth were:
Blood:
Before Lady Macbeth commits suicide, she keeps seeing the blood all over her hands and keeps trying to wash it off.
The Battles, where many lives are lost, there is a lot of blood shed.
Weather:
Every time the witches appear, it is always raining and there was also a lot of lightning.
When they killed Duncan, the weather also changed and they was more lighting and rain.
Conflicts:
Internal:
Lady Macbeth suffers internally because she wants to do so much, but she feels that she is held back by the fact that she is a female. She thinks that if she was a man, she would be able to be ruthless and more courageous.
Macbeth also suffers internally because he wants to prove to his wife that he is manly enough to accomplish everything that he and his wife set out to do. He also wants to prove that
External:
Macbeth has external conflicts and he kills everyone who stands in his way in order for him to reach the top.
Macbeth is constantly trying to deal with the witches prophecies, by first pretending that they do not mean anything, and then by trying to cope with them.
Literary Devices:
Foreshadowing:
The witches prophecies all of the major moments in Macbeth’s life and the things to come in the novel.
Irony:
One would think that after Macbeth and Lady Macbeth got the power that they craved, they were still unhappy, which was pretty ironic.
It was ironic when Macbeth thought that no man was not born from a woman and how he also thought that the forest could not move, but at the end, Macduff was born by C-section and the army were approaching
Important passages:
From Macbeth:
· "What hands are here! Ha, they pluck out mine eyes. Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red."
v Macbeth makes this statement after he has killed the king. His hands refer to the murder and the blood represents his guilt. He expresses that all great Neptune will not clean blood from his hand because he will always have this constant guilt and no matter what it will not go away and will soon be the cause of his downfall.
· "Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood, stop up th’ access and passage to remorse, that no compunctious visitings of nature shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between th’ effect and it. Come to my woman’s breasts, and take my milk for gall, you murd’ring ministers, wherever in your sightless substances you wait on nature’s mischief."
v Lady Macbeth say's this and is expressing that she is ambitious and very strong-minded like a man. This is said when her husband is unsure of killing Duncan and it proves that she is man enough to do what ever she needs to do to higher her position in society even if that is killing the king.
Then lady Macbeth is the one that is trying to clean her hands off of all the blood that isn’t even there. She is subconsciously thinking that there is a lot of
So What:
The purpose of reading Macbeth was to understand the consequences of one's actions and understand that having guilt throughout life will eventually lead to more problems. It is important to understand that every action leads to an outcome whether it is bad or good and only the person doing the action is responsible for the outcome. Being an ambitious person is never a bad thing but to use all the ambition to do evil acts which will eventually lead to the never ending guilt that will effect a person for their rest of their life and life isn't about having regrets but having lessons learned.
SECTION D: Arlind Hoxha, Jefferson Lee, Brian Ho, Tuan Nguyen, Thomas Chan, Jackson Chan 6/10/09Sec DReview/Study Guide Term 4 Macbeth- William Shakespeare Background InformationWilliam Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564 and he died on his birthday in 1616. He lived in Stratford-Upon-Avon and was born to Mary and John. His nickname is the Bard which is a lyrical poet. Eventually, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway when she was 26 and he was 18. They had eight children including a set of twins. He published his first play when he was 25, but he wrote Macbeth in 1606. The first folio edition was published in 1623. Overall, Shakespeare was extremely popular in his time period.The First Folio was published in 1623 and was the first published collection of Shakespeare’s plays. Unfortunately, there was a time period known as the Lost Years in which there is no record of Shakespeare(1585-1592). People suspect the reason for this is that Shakespeare wanted to take time off due to the birth of his twins. Elizabethan England is a time period from 1558 to 1602 in which Queen Elizabeth ruled. Many people call this time period the "Golden Age" or the "English Renaissance." For fun during this time period, people attended executions, danced, hunted(falconry), and went bull/bear baiting. Queen Elizabeth ruled for about 50 years and never married because she didn’t want to lose her title. She wore extremely heavy dresses and only bathed once a month. Overall, she was popular.In 1603, there was an epidemic that struck known as the Black Plague or the Black Death which killed 33,000 people in a year. Still, Shakespeare survived this. One cause of this plague was the fact that people believed disease came from smells and thus used herbs/spices to get rid of the smells. Also, there was no sanitary system and people did not bathe much. Rats helped to spread disease. The Globe Theater was built in 1599 and is located in Southwark. The theater could hold around 5,0000 people. Above the door is the saying, "Totus Mundus Agit Histonem" which is a quote from Shakespeare’s As You Like It meaning the whole world is a playhouse. The theater is shaped like an octagon and has a thatched roof. There were 3 seating levels and had seats on the stage. The stage had trap doors and used sound effects. In 1615, the theater was burned down because a cannon was shot and burned the place down. Due to Puritan beliefs and the fire, the theater was shut down in 1642. Major Characters1. Macbeth- As the main character in the play, Macbeth is a Scottish general who at the start is the thane of Glamis. Macbeth’s ambition is stirred up when the three evil witches predict that he will be the thane of Cawdor and the king of Scotland. He is tempted by his wife to fulfill his ambition by killing Duncan. Eventually, he kills even more people and evokes a hatred and disorder in Scotland. His ambition eventually leads to his death in the end. Macbeth never accepts his role as a criminal, but still chooses the wrong path which leads to his guilt.2. Lady Macbeth- Lady Macbeth is Macbeth’s wife who wants to increase her status and position in society. Therefore, she tries to extend her ambition to Macbeth by using her sexuality. She urges him to kill Duncan so she could be queen. After covering up for him many times, she eventually is overcome by guilt. Her guilty conscience destroys her and drives her mad. Thus, she commits suicide in the end because she can’t bear the guilt.3. The Witches- These three evil witches are the causes of Macbeth’s problems and disorder. They themselves represent disorder and thus create problems for Macbeth through their prophecies. They force Macbeth to kill Duncan, Banquo, Fleance, Macduff, and Macduff’s family. Besides inciting Macbeth’s ambition, they also make Macbeth believe he is unstoppable. These witches have no other purpose in the story except to create disorder and conflict. 4. Banquo- Macbeth’s friend whose children will take over the throne in the future. His character foils Macbeth because he does not give into the false prophecies of the witches. Whereas Macbeth lets his ambition lead to murder and treason, Banquo lives his life purely. His ghost eventually haunts Macbeth and reminds him of the path he chose.5. Macduff- Macduff is a Scottish nobleman who hates what Macbeth has done to the country. He vows to get rid of Macbeth so he could avenge his family and so he could return the rightful heir to the throne. 6. Malcolm- Duncan’s son and the rightful heir to the Scottish throne. His kingship marks the return of order which Macbeth had destroyed in Scotland. Brief Summary The play starts off when Macbeth has just won a battle and has been marked by his courage and valor. The three witches come to him and give him a prophecy. They relate the past, present, and future when they tell him he was the thane of Glamis, he is the thane of Cawdor, and he will be the King of Scotland. This catches Macbeth by surprise because he is not the thane of Cawdor yet. We also see his ambition because he realizes he has to kill the king. Still, he subdues this ambition and stops his murderous thoughts. He becomes thane of Cawdor as the witches predicted. When Macbeth tells his wife what happened, she believes she can use the situation to fulfil her need to move up in society. Thus, she convinces Macbeth to kill Duncan although she feels Macbeth is too "soft" for the world and for this wicked crime. With much hesitation and convincing, Macbeth kills Duncan. He starts to feel guilty, but Lady Macbeth again convinces him that it is easy to wash away sin. Eventually, Macbeth starts to take control and do things on his own. Without the help of Lady Macbeth, he orders for the death of Banquo and his son because they are a threat to his throne(according to the witches, Banquo’s sons will take the throne). To Macbeth’s despise, Fleance escapes death. Then Macbeth begins to hallucinate and thinks he sees the ghost of Banquo sitting in his chair at dinner. This reminds him of his guilt and therefore he chooses to visit the witches. After three ghosts come to him, Macbeth feels better about the situation. He learns that Macduff went to help Malcolm in England, he orders for his and his entire family’s death. Macduff learns this and is extremely saddened. He joins the Malcolm’s revolt against Macbeth in hope to get revenge. Meanwhile, Lady Macbeth is overcome with guilt and starts to sleep walk. She kills herself right before Macbeth goes out to fight Macduff. After two more prophecies come true, Macduff kills Macbeth and order is restored in Scotland. Literary Devices1. Antithesis- a contrast or opposition between two things; usually shown using parallelism and words that strongly contrast each other.2. Paradox- A form of antithesis; seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement that when investigated may be true; sometimes leads to a conclusion that is senseless or contradictory. EX. "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" - When first looked at, this seems to be contradictory. Still, what could be bad, could also be what is fair(especially in the mystical and eerie world created by the witches).Themes/Motifs 1. One major theme in the play is ambition and the influence it has on people. This theme is portrayed through Macbeth and Lady Macbeth because both of them are characters that seek power and the throne. It is good to have ambition because it is what keeps people striving for new goals. Still, too much ambition leads to disastrous outcomes and can have negative effects. Lady Macbeth is overly-ambitious and thus jeopardizes her life and her husbands reputation/life to fulfill this ambition. In the end, Lady Macbeth dies all due to her ambition for the throne. Also, Macbeth becomes overly-ambitious and goes on a killing spree. This leads to his murder in the end as well. Shakespeare’s point is clear that too much ambition is not a good thing to have.2. Another major theme that stems from the theme of ambition in the play is the ambiguity of human nature. This is shown as Macbeth first learns that he is going to be king. He immediately thinks to himself that he has to kill Duncan in order to gain the throne. This implies that all people have a purpose in their thoughts and actions. This theme is reinforced when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth talk about covering up their purpose and appearing normal. Macbeth wants to look innocent although he has a deceitful purpose in mind. Thus, it explains that it is human nature to be jealous and seek vengeance(two other themes). In order to do so, people have to attack each others faults and weaknesses. Shakespeare is showing the human nature is evil. 3. The third theme is the idea of good and evil. This is seen when looking at the play as a whole. The corrupted and evil characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth ultimately die in the end as a result of their evil actions. Contrary to this, all the good characters who remained true to their morals like Malcolm and Macduff lived on and thrived at the end. This theme is closely related to order and disorder. Macbeth and the witches represent the disorder in the play because they bring disruption in Scotland. When Malcolm gains the throne, the order which Macbeth ruined is restored. Thus, Shakespeare is saying that doing evil never pays off.4. The last major theme is how people are able to manipulate each other. This is shown strictly through Lady Macbeth’s manipulating Macbeth into killing Duncan and fueling his ambition. She does so by using her sexuality as a means of superiority. She also taunts Macbeth and pressures him into continuing with the murder(i.e calling him a coward/unmanly). People are so easy to manipulate when their weaknesses are attacked. When people try to manipulate, it is usually for a set purpose which reinforces the theme of human nature. SymbolsThere are three major symbols in the play. As seen from the first page of the play, the weather has an extreme impact on the mood. Usually, there are thunderstorms and lightening when the witches appear. This manifests the theme of disorder by creating a mystical and eerie mood. Another symbol is the use of clothing. Many times, clothing is used to represent appearance. For example, Macbeth mentions that he can’t wear the clothes of the thane of Cawdor because they aren’t his. Thus, he can’t hold that position because the clothes "don’t fit." The last symbol is the use of blood and water. Every time blood is mention in the play, it represents guilt. This is especially seen when Lady Macbeth rubs her hands furiously to remove the figurative blood on her hands. The water symbolizes cleansing. Still, the cleansing that occurs in the play is only a physical cleaning because there will always be blood on the murderers’ hands. Conflicts 1. Macbeth’s external struggle with Lady Macbeth- Lady Macbeth tries to manipulate Macbeth into killing Duncan and giving into his ambition. Macbeth fights not to give into his wife’s tactics, but eventually he can’t resist anymore. 2. Macbeth’s and Lady Macbeth’s struggle with guilt- Both characters face this internal struggle in the play. Macbeth feels it more towards the starts of the play because he feels the guilt of committing treason and killing his king who is under his trust two times. This is shown when Macbeth sees the blood on the sword before he kill Duncan. Yet, Macbeth seems to grow colder as the play goes on. On the contrary, Lady Macbeth is virtually uninfluenced by guilt at the start. She even convinces Macbeth not to worry about the murder. In the end, she goes mad all because of her guilt. Her guilt leads to her character change and suicide. 3. Macduff’s external conflict with Macbeth- Macduff spends most of the play trying to end Macbeth’s reign as king. He hopes to restore the rightful heir to the throne and bring back the order in the country. Thus, this conflict could be viewed as Scotland against Macbeth because Macduff’s struggle represents what everybody in Scotland wants. In the end, Macduff kills MB. Important Passages for Analysis "And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,The instruments of darkness tell us truths"- Here, Banquo is speaking to Macbeth about the witches. He is saying that Macbeth should not completely believe the witches because they only want to see people ruin themselves. For this reason, they tell false "truths" in order to see their disorder carried into other people. The quote shows how perceptive Banquo is and proves that he is the opposite of Macbeth. "Stars, hide your fires:Let not light see my black and deep desires:The eye wink at the hand; yet let that beWhich the eye fears, when it is done, to see"- In this quote, Macbeth is talking to himself. He doesn’t want anybody or anything to recognize his evil and his sin. He doesn’t even want the stars to see the darkness inside of him. Macbeth doesn’t even want his eyes to see his evil deed because he fears it will be too dreadful. This comes right before he is about to kill Duncan. It represents the theme of disguise and covering up a set purpose(both which are part of human nature). "If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere wellIt were done quickly. If th'assassinationCould trammel up the consequence, and catch,With his surcease, success; that but this blowMight be the be-all and end-all-here,But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,We'd jump the life to come"-This quote comes right before the assassination of Duncan. Macbeth is saying that if he has to go through with the murder, he wishes that it is done quickly. He just wants to get over with it as soon as possible. Also, he wishes the death of Duncan could act like a net and catch everything along its way. This would prevent any consequences and would end the matter right there and then. Still, Macbeth lives in a world full of consequences and therefore he can’t get away with murder. The situation is even worse because he is under a double trust, both as a host and as a subject. This shows that Macbeth is hesitating due to guilt, but it also represents human nature and the desire to do evil. "Is this a dagger I see before me,The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.Art thou not, fatal vision, sensibleTo feeling as to sight, or art thou butA dagger of the mind, a false creation,Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain"- Although he has a real dagger, Macbeth sees this imaginary one in front of him. Besides representing the imminent death of Duncan, it also represent the guilt that he feels for killing his king. It shows that every move is calculated because the handle is moving towards his hand. Thus, Macbeth knows what’s going to happen and thus discontinuous the assassination. "Out, damned spot! Out, I say! One: two:why, then 'tis time to do't. Hell is murky..."Lady Macbeth says this as she begins to hallucinate and sleepwalk. This represents the guilt that Lady Macbeth feels at the end of the play. At first, she didn’t care about her conscience, but now it has come back to haunt her. She can’t remove the figurative blood on her hand and therefore she keeps rubbing it. This guilt eventually drives her to death. "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrowCreeps in this petty pace from day to day,To the last syllable of recorded time;And all our yesterdays have lighted foolsThe way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!Life's but a walking shadow, a poor playerThat struts and frets his hour upon the stageAnd then is heard no more. It is a taleTold by an idiot, full of sound and fury,Signifying nothing"- Macbeth says this towards the end of the play. He mentions the longevity of time and how each day that passes by just means more people passing away until time itself actually ends. He then personifies life and compares it to an actor who is scared to go on stage and is never seen again. In the end, he says it is a tale "told by an idiot" because it has so much noise and anger in it, but does not have much meaning. Macbeth says this because he has been so accustomed to seeing death and seeing life pass away. Thus, it doesn’t seem like anything new to him. This is why he does not seem concerned about anything. So What? Shakespeare wrote this play to warn his readers about ambition and human nature. People that are too ambitious only lead to their own self-destruction. He isn’t saying that ambition is always bad, but he is warning that people need to control their ambitions and save themselves. Also, it is human nature for people to cover up their own cause at the extent of others as Lady Macbeth did. Every person has the desire to do evil, but only the people that subdue this desire like Banquo are truly admirable and courageous. Babbitt’s After-Dinner Speechby Sinclair Lewis Major Characters:George F. Babbitt Brief Summary:Babbitt gives a speech to the Real Estate Board in his hometown of Zenith. In his speech, he emphasizes the growing town of Zenith. He states that although there is room for improvement, Zenith is better than many other cities, like New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia. Babbitt also outlines the perfect citizen which includes: being busy, don’t daydream, no tea parties, smokes a cigar at night, rides the bus home, mows the lawn, reads the children stories, takes the family to the movies, plays games, reads the newspaper, reads some Western novel, sleeps with a clear conscience, and contributes to the city. Babbitt goes on to say that art in other counties are left to bums, while business men make art in America. Also bachelors love children, unlike other decayed European states. The people in Zenith are American businessmen with common sense and a vocabulary to back it up. Babbitt then continues to promote Zenith to the board. Themes:Babbitt uses a theme of perfection. He describes Zenith as a growing place of perfection. After insulting European art and vocabulary, he constantly attempts to make Zenith look better. This is important because it is Babbitt’s goal throughout the story to make Zenith looks better. Conflicts:Babbitt vs. the Board Babbitt attempts to persuade the Real Estate Board by providing all of this convincing evidence in favor of Zenith. He is presenting a persuasive speech to the entire Board.Important Passages:"Our Ideal Citizen—I picture him first and foremost as being busier than a bird-dog, not wasting a lot of good time in day-dreaming or going to sassiety teas or kicking about things that are none of his business, but putting the zip into some store or profession or art. At night he lights up a good cigar, and climbs into the little old ’bus, and maybe cusses the carburetor, and shoots out home. He mows the lawn, or sneaks in some practice putting, and then he’s ready for dinner. After dinner he tells the kiddies a story, or takes the family to the movies, or plays a few fists of bridge, or reads the evening paper, and a chapter or two of some good lively Western novel if he has a taste for literature, and maybe the folks next-door drop in and they sit and visit about their friends and the topics of the day. Then he goes happily to bed, his conscience clear, having contributed his mite to the prosperity of the city and to his own bank-account" (Lewis 512). This quote is being said by Babbitt. He outlines the perfect citizen to the Board. This is important and goes with the theme of perfection where Zenith is being prompted up. "It may be true that New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia will continue to keep ahead of us in size. But aside from these three cities, which are notoriously so overgrown that no decent white man, nobody who loves his wife and kiddies and God’s good out-o’doors and likes to shake the hand of his neighbor in greeting, would want to live in them—and let me tell you right here and now, I wouldn’t trade a high-class Zenith acreage development for the whole length and breadth of Broadway or State Street!—aside from these three, it’s evident to any one with a head for facts that Zenith is the finest example of American life and prosperity to be found anywhere" (Lewis 512). This shows that Zenith is not the largest city, it compares to New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia. It is a better and friendlier place than all three of those big cities. So what: This novel relates greatly to Macbeth in terms of human nature. This story speaks about being an ideal citizen and about being a model. Macbeth, who could remain loyal, decides to betray King Duncan. This story is important today because it helps provide a model for a perfect citizen. This story also is an example of persuasive writing. Babbitt does a great job in persuading the Board. Life on the MississippiAuthor: Mark Twain Major Characters:Huck Finn – He is the son of a persecuting, drunkard father. He is an ignorant, but audacious village boy who runs away from his parents. In addition, he is also a master artificer, because he is sly and gives false information to the boatmen when he is found. The Keel Boatmen – They are jolly and arrogant, because they continuously compete with each other during their free time, but they also enjoy themselves by singing and dancing. Bob and the Child of Calamity – They are both arrogant and fight with each other. While they are fighting, they are throwing insults at each other and boasting themselves. However, they do respect each other, because they stated so and shook hands. Brief Summary:Huck Finn runs away from his persecuting parents along with their slave. Their destination is Cairo, Illinois, a free territory of many runaway slaves. One day, he sees a huge raft and sneaks onto it hoping to gather the needed information by eavesdropping. Instead of obtaining information about Cairo, he is entertained by the keel boatmen who sing, dance and fight with each other. When they discover him, he gives them a false identity and they allow him to leave with no penalty, because he is only a boy. Literary Terms:Symbols: The Mississippi River symbolizes hope, because Huck and Jim, the family’s slave, depend on this river to reach their destination. The haunted barrel symbolizes misfortune, because it had caused the deaths of Davy’s fellow boatmen. Themes:Storytelling helps the boatmen to pass time and many of the stories are humorous. The boasts of the boatmen are exaggerating and humorous. Conflicts: Huck Finn and Jim have run away and their only choice left is to keep moving along on the Mississippi River until they reach the destination. They get lost in a fog and Huck goes to seek information. Two of the boatmen, Bob and the Child of Calamity, have an altercation, but they resolve it by shaking hands and stating they had respect for each other all along. The altercation is supposed to be a humorous event. Literary Devices:Metaphors: The boatmen boastingly use metaphors to exaggerate their achievements and prowess. Hyperboles: Hyperboles are the most prevalent, humorous techniques in this story, because many statements and facts are pushed beyond the actual truth. Incongruity: Two opposite events that seem inappropriately matched, the fight between Bob and the Child of Calamity and the sudden truce afterwards, are unexpectedly joined. Important Passages for Analysis: "It won’t hardly do, Charles William. You couldn’t have growed this much in five years, and you was a baby when you come out of the bar’l, you know, and dead at that. Come, tell a straight story, and nobody’ll hurt you, if you ain’t up to anything wrong. What is your name?" (Pg 412) - Huck Finn has just been discovered by the boatmen and it is obvious that his first attempt at giving a false identity is not working. Davy knows that there is no way Charles William could still be alive and is kind enough to give Huck another chance to tell the truth. "From a trading-scow. She lays up the bend yonder. I was born on her. Pap has traded up and down here all his life: and he told me to swim off her, because when you went by he said he would like to get some of you to speak to a Mr. Jonas Turner, in Cairo, and tell him—." - Again, Huck Finn is giving the boatmen a false identity and background. However, this time he is more decisive with the details and make them seem reasonable. "All right, then. You ain’t but little ways from shore. Overboard with you, and don’t you make a fool of yourself another time this way. Blast it, boy, some raftsmen would rawhide you till you were black and blue!" - Davy allows Huck Finn to leave his raft, under the condition that he never sneaks onto their raft again. He states how lucky Huck is at the moment, because a different crew could have punished him. So What? The sly and cunning character of Huck Finn can be compared to that of Macbeth. This story demonstrates how humor is a great part of human nature. Humor is used as entertainment, but can also be very offensive. The character types of the boatmen are evident in soldiers. There are some soldiers who are assigned to areas in which no battle take place. Like the boatmen, they get bored, so one of the ways to pass time is to joke around and tell stories. This literature contains a great amount of informal dialect in both the narration and dialogue. This kind of dialect is used to let the audience understand the setting and lifestyle within the story. From the themes and the story as a whole, we can learn that storytelling and humor are essential to human society. American Drama Drama – most difficult form of writing George S. Kaufman (writer of comedies 1930-1940’s) Said writing plays was not an art, but trick Difference between drama + other literary forms Movement and gestures are essential elements Highpoints might be nonverbal Writer drawn by theatrical trappings Gestures, colorful sets, magical effects Basic Principles of Drama Play goes wrong = writer’s failure to conceive the story in dramatic term Playwright places the characters in a situation involving conflict Protagonist – main character Ex/internal conflict Exposition – background info English plays of Middle ages called miracle plays Dealt with stories from the Bible Drama, dependent on $$$ Producers- ppl who advance the $$$ take risks. Playwrights must find an Agent Person who handles playwrights work Agent = producers first line of defense Play opens for tryout in a small city first History of American Drama Eugene O’Neil (1888-1953) 1st important figure in drama 1920 – Beyond the Horizon Before O’Neil = shows + entertainment Chariot races, burning cities Melodrama and farces written for famous actors Every town had its own "opera house" Theater takes up > new attitudes, subject matters and form Theater as a Social Art Robert Sherwood 1920-1940 "Drama travels in the caboose of literature." Theater = social art Attend in large groups Respond to something new more slowly as a group than as individuals Giving approval Influences of Ibsen, Strindberg, and Chekhov Norwegian Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) Tacked subjects > guilt, sexuality, and mental illness Swede August Strindberg (1849-1912) Brought his characterizations to an unprecedented level of psychological complexity Russian Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) Shifted the external actions to inner actions and emotion American Realism and Eugene O’Neil Realistic drama – illusion that we are looking through a "fourth wall" Became the dominant mode of American drama 1916+1917 New York Provincetown Players + Washington Square Players Began to produce European plays Provided a congenial home for new American playwrights O’Neil dominated American drama In The Great God Brown (1926) Strange Interlude (1928) Resulted in Nobel Prize in 1936 Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams Arthur Miller (born 1915) Best work = Death of a Salesman Williams (1911-1933) Two principal movements, realism and realism, combined to make something more imaginative The Revolt Against Realism Expressionist drama Aimed at the revelation of characters’ interior consciousness without reference to a logical sequence of surface The Glass Menagerie Tennessee Williams Background Info on Tennessee Williams (1911-1983)Opened on Broadway spring of 1945 The Glass Menagerie becomes an American classic Williams known for colorful woman characters Also created great male characters Mixture of straight forward, realistic play construction and highly imaginative conception and language The structure was basically conventional Vision and voice were imaginative and serious Main CharactersLaura Wingfield – crippled daughter of Amanda, very shy, pressures her mom to find a new husband, dropped out of business college Tom Wingfield – is the brother of Laura, works in a shoe factory to support his family, also pushes mom to wed Amanda Wingfield - is the mother of Tom and Laura, once had a night with 17 gentleman callers Jim O’Connor – a friend of Tom’s who gets Amanda makes Laura’s first gentleman caller Brief SummaryAmanda tells Laura a story about the night she had 17 gentleman callers. She wants her to follow in her footsteps but she is crippled. Tom works in a shoe factory and is asked by his mother to find Laura some eligible callers from work. Tom says that he’ll bring his friend Jim O’Connor over after work. Amanda gets Laura dressed up to impress her caller, Jim. After dinner Laura and Jim sit alone to talk. Jim goes in and kisses Laura. Following the kiss, he later tells her that he is already engaged. Laura becomes devastated and Amanda yells at Tom for not telling them earlier. He tells them he honestly did not know and leaves, never to be seen again.Motifs, Symbols and ThemesSymbolsMagic show – this shows how deeply Tom wants to escape from the "real world" Glass menagerie – is Laura’s own private world which breaks Victrola – Laura’s private world Jonquils – memories from Amanda’s past Blue Roses – this is a nickname that Jim makes for Laura MotifsMusic Being deserted/ditched ThemesMemory Not being accepted by society Desire to escape ConflictsTom wants to escape from the shoe factory and his family but he is unable toAmanda wants her daughter, Laura to meet a gentleman caller to wed Laura is unable to fully live her life due to her disability (crippled)Quotes"Laura! Why, Laura, you are sick, darling! Tom, help your sister into the living room, dear! ... I told her that it was just too warm this evening, but - Is Laura all right now?" Amanda tells this to Laura, Jim and Tom at the dinner. This is an example of how society will never accept Laura because of her disability. "On those occasions they call me - Ell Diablo! Oh, I could tell you things to make you sleepless! My enemies plan to dynamite this place. They’re going to blow us all sky-high some night! I’ll be glad, very happy, and so will you! You’ll go up, up on a broomstick, over Blue Mountain with seventeen gentlemen callers!" Tom says this to Amanda in a fit of rage. Tom gets fed up with his mother and opens up his bottled emotions "But the most wonderfullest trick of all was the coffin trick.... There is a trick that would come in handy for me-get me out of this 2 by 4 situation." Tom says this to Laura after coming back drunk from the movies and magic show. This is part of Tom’s persuade Laura to "escape". This follows up to the theme of escape So what?This story tells us about accepting people no matter their disability. Just because Laura is crippled, she is viewed differently and will have trouble getting married unlike her mother. This also tells us that life isn’t always what it seems because Tom has a pretty comfortable life style but he wants to escape from it all just to get away. He feels as if his life is slowly suffocating him and he needs to breathe. We can learn to fully accept people no matter the difference because we are all the same on the inside. Frederick Douglass, the Battle with Mr. CoveyFrederick Douglass – Slave who starts off sick and is abused to farm. After being abused by Mr. Covey, he runs away to find advice. Later he comes back and fights back against Mr. Covey. Sandy Jenkins - Another slave who gives Frederick a root which is said that whoever carries it will never get hit againMr Covey – Slave master who abuses FrederickFrederick is sick and he is forced to work and finally when he is unable to work, Mr. Covey whips him. Frederick leaves to say that he is being abused and ends up at Sandy Jenkins’s place. She gives him a root which is said that whoever carries it will never get hit again. Frederick returns back to Mr. Covey and Mr. Covey attempts to beat him but Frederick develops a fighting spirit and fights back.Literary Terms:The root represents Douglass’ will to fight. When Douglass did not have the root he did not have the motivation and spirit to fight back against Mr. CoveyThe theme is that it is human nature to fight back when something is unfair.Passages for Analysis"It was a glorious resurrection, from the tomb of slavery, to the heaven of freedom. My long-crushed spirit rose, cowardice departed, bold defiance took its place; and I now resolved that, however long I might remain a slave in form, the day had passed forever when i could be a slave in fact."-Frederick Douglass shows the feeling he has after fighting back for the first time, the feeling of freedom. Throughout his life, he has been a slave who has been abused and overworked but for once he finally stepped out of his comfort zone and fought back. He finally obtained his freedom.So what?This shows the will of every human to fight back when things get tough. This is important because not enough people speak out for their own beliefs and fight for what they believe in. If everyone takes that extra step, a lot can change.
SECTION G: Melissa Aybar, Estefany Benitez, Tony Huang and Tien Dao
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Characters
Macbeth: Macbeth is a scottish general and the main character in the play. He is not very well liked by the people around him because they liked being ruled under King Duncan, who Macbeth murdered with the help of his wife's influence. He is very weak-minded, not virtuous, easily tempted, and in the end is not able to deal with the crimes he commits.
Lady Macbeth: Macbeth's wife. She is a very strong character who throughout the play uses her intelligence and appeal to control her husband in order to satisfy her ambition.
The three witches: Three witches who use prophecies to do mischief against Macbeth.
Banquo: A noble man who thinks his kids will inherit the crown of the king and although he thinks with a very ambitious mentality, never acts upon those desires.
King Duncan: The king who Macbeth murders although he is very noble and a great king for Scotland.
Macduff: A nobleman who is unhappy with Macbeth as king. He leads the revolt against Macbeth and gets his revenge for the killing of his wife and son.
Malcolm & Donalbain: King Duncan's sons. Malcolm changes from a weak character to a much stronger character and actually becomes a threat to Macbeth.
Fleance: Banquo's son. Escapes the scene of his father's murder before they could kill him and could fulfill the prophecy that Banquo's son will rule
Lady Macduff: Macduff's wife, shows to be different to Macbeth's wife.
Macbeth summary:
Setting: Scotland, Medieval times
Macbeth comes back after winning the war, and was awarded as the “Thane of Cawdor”. Macbeth and Banquo meet three witches whom gave Macbeth three prophecies and Banquo one. The prophecy predicted Macbeth will be awarded Thane of Cawdor, which came true. Another prophecy predicts Macbeth will become king. To achieve this goal, Macbeth and his wife assassinates Duncan, the king of Scotland at Macbeth’s castle during the king’s visit. Following Duncan’s death, Macbeth became king. Macbeth wanted to keep the king, but the prophecy said Banquo’s son will be king. To avoid this from happening, Macbeth plots to kill Banquo and his sons before they reach the dinner party of Macbeth’s. Banquo was murdered but his son fled away. Macbeth begins to see Banquo’s ghost and does abnormal things. Macbeth visits the three witches again, and he gets another prophecy: If the forest and Birnam doesn’t move physically, he will be safe as king. Also he cannot be killed by someone given birth by a woman. Lady Macbeth gets ill overtime and eventually commits suicide. Macbeth sees the wood in the forest suddenly moving because Macduff ordered his army to carry branches to disguise as trees and moves in slowly. Macduff arrives at Macbeth’s castle and kills him to restore the real successor, Malcolm.
Background information:
Murder under Trust: Scottish law of treason: Murder = Treason = Assassination.
Shakespeare: April 23 1564 -> April 23 1616 (Stratford-upon-Avon)
Wife; Anne Hathaway, 26 while he was 18
Children: 8
Works: first play at age 25
Macbeth written in 1606
First Folio Edition: Macbeth’s first published collection 1623 (dead)
Lost years: 1585-1592 Macbeth had no record, after birth of his twins
Elizabethan England: 1558-1602
Queen Elizabeth’s rule (The Golden Age)
Black Death: 33,000 deaths in one year due to a disease
Globe Theatre: Built in 1599
Located Southwark
Diameter: 100 ft. holds about 3000 people.
Above door: “Totus Mundus agit histrionem”(whole world is a playhouse)
Burned due to fire from a performance
Literary Terms
Motif- a recurring theme or idea, an example of this in Macbeth is the idea that everyone has a fate to fulfill, and no matter what someone does to change it, they have a destiny to fulfill. Among these ideas were also guilt, fate, karma, ambition, honor and murder. Most works of literature have a motif, it emphasizes the idea the author is trying to present to their audience.
Symbol- something that represents something else.For instance, water was not just water, it represented life and purity just as blood represented ambition, murder, and a tainted conscience. In the play the symbols were used by the characters to speak of things without letting others know what they were talking about, also by Shakespeare to create an image of what he wanted us to see.
Theme- a unifying theme or idea of a piece of literature. This can be interpreted differently by different people, I believe that the theme of the play was how a persons' ambition can destroy the people around them.
Conflicts
Macbeth's Ambition vs Macbeth's Conscience- He knows that Duncan is both his friend and his king, that he should be the one protecting him instead of bearing the dagger that to kill him. His conscience dictates that he should not do it because of the "double trust" they share, Duncan is also a noble king that has showered him with gifts, so why kill him, he is a good man? However, Lady Macbeth pressures him to go after use his ambition and once and for all get rid of him for good.
Macbeth vs McDuff- After Macbeth kills Duncan and is names King of Scotland, McDuff, Duncan's most loyal subject rebels and decides to fight against Macbeth along with the King of England and Malcolm the rightful King. McDuff has an even stronger motive after Macbeth slaughters his whole family in a fit of anger when he finds out that he has left Scotland and refuses to return.
Reason vs Guilt- Macbeth has begun to see the ghosts of the people he has killed, his conscience is clearly getting to him and it is becoming harder to hide what he has done, but his reason tells him that everything is alright and that what is done is done and no turning back now.
Literary Devices
parallel structure- using the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance.
antithesis- a contrast or opposition between two things; a figure of speech in which opposition or contrast of ideas is expressed by parallelism of words that are the opposites of, or strongly contrasted with each other.
paradox- a statement or proposition that, despite sound reasoning from acceptable premises, leads to a conclusion that seems senseless and leads to the conclusion that seems senseless or self-contradictory.
symbolism- something that represents something else
metaphors- something that is given the qualities of something else.
similes- comparing one thing to another
imagery- figurative description that create a mental image
Important Passages:
"Nothing in his life Became him like the leaving it" Act 1
This quotation is said by Malcolm and refers to the Thane of Cawdor. This sets the stage for the idea of death and betrayal from a knight. It makes the reader think about treason and shows us Macbeth in the light of a loyal nobleman.
"The thane of Cawdor lives: "why do you dress me in borrow'd robes?" Act 1 Scene 3 lines 112-113
This is of importance because clothing is continually a symbol throughout the play. In this case, the clothing represents the title that belongs to someone else. Macbeth questioned why the gave him the title of "Thane of Cawdor" if it belonged to someone else.
"who can be wise, amaz'd, temp'rate and furious, loyal and neutral, in a moment? No man: the expedition of my violent love outrun the pauser, reason ... " ( page 69 lines 124-134)
Macbeth compares two different emotions and personal traits. Duncan's golden blood is his royalty side. Then he talks about how the murderers look and why they could have done it. Macbeth is mostly saying this but he is referring to himself.
"go get some water and wash this filthy witness from your hands."
Lady Macbeth advises Macbeth to wash the blood off of his hands as though it will erase the fact that the murder was done. It is important because both blood and water are recurring symbols.
Macbeth: So what? Why did we read this? Why is this important to our society, our development as human beings? What can we learn from this literature and its themes?
The story tells us important morals to be aware of in life.
��. Good Vs Evil
Ideally, good always prevail and it should be kept that way. When Macbeth did bad things, such as actually killing the King of Scotland, Duncan, and Banquo, his guilty conscience later consumes him and contributes to Macbeth’s death. Good is and should be always promoted for justice, as portrayed in this novel.
2. Fate
Fate cannot be changed once it is established. However, one can change the outcome. For example, without the influence of the three witches, Macbeth could have done his own decisions and the outcome of the story would be different.
��. Ambition
Macbeth’s ambition was to become king. The witches gave him motivation as they told him his fate to be king. Motivation is the driving force to reach goals as the witches and Lady Macbeth motivates Macbeth to do what it takes, even though it is not the right thing to do such as killing, to get the crown.
Mainly the moral is to let fate does things naturally and one must think of the consequences of doing an action. As our development as human beings, we must be aware of such actions to do things safely and successfully, such as not harming one self’s beliefs. The story also shows how naïve people are when blinded by how much they can gain so much with a big price.
Babbitt's After-Dinner Speech by Sinclair Lewis
Babbit after Dinner Quotes
"Men who had made five thousand, year before last, and ten thousand last year, were urging on nerve-yelping bodies and parched brains so that they might make twenty thousand this year; and the men who had broken down immediately after making their twenty thousand dollars were hustling to catch trains, to hustle through the vacations which the hustling doctors had ordered."
People always want more than they have, and when they get what they want they become just as dissatisfied with it as they previously were . Its always about wanting more and the ambition behind the work.
“Not till that is done will our sons and daughters see that the ideal of American manhood and culture isn’t a lot of crank’s sitting around”
American manhood is working hard and the future of America (the sons and daughters) will not see what this manhood really is if people were to just sit around and do nothing. America's ideals consist of hard workers.
Babbitt’s idea of Good life:
· Busier than a bird-dog
· Not wasting time daydreaming
· Not minding other’s business
· Cigar at night
· Cuss carburetor
· Talk with neighbors
· Read a western novel
· Movie with family
Why we read this story?
Sinclair Lewis’s Babbitt’s after Dinner expresses his opinions about American society and life. Through Babbitts After Dinner Speech we see these more clearly these American ideals that have been set in society over time. We see how people can react when their idea of perfection is challenged, and by reading Babbitts After Dinner Speech it helps us as a class understand the focus question What is America? through the perspective of someone who has their utopia in mind and express disregard for anything that is not "American enough."
The Glass Menagerie by Tenesee Williams
Laura Wingfield- Amanda Wingfield's daughter, very shy girl who has a low self esteem because she thinks she is crippled, and drops out of school on the first day of class.
Amanda Wingfield- Laura's mother, constantly talking about herself and all her suitors when she was young, and always talks to her daughter about marrying as soon as she can, she also wants her daughter to be someone in life and sends her to school.
Tom Wingfield- Amanda's son, barely seen throughout the play but from the looks of it he is very unhappy with the way he is living and decides to spend his time out of the house.
Summary: The setting is an impoverished section of the town, the house the Wingfields live in does not even have doors. The story starts out with Laura, Amanda and Tom having dinner from what you can see Amanda is very concerned with her daughter getting married that she does not let her get up to do anything. Amanda has enrolled Laura in a typing school so that she's better off in life and at least has something to fall back on in case she doesn't get married. Laura, however, dropped out the first day because of her painfully shy personality. Amanda spends time talking a lot about her youth and suitors and how she should've picked a better man to marry, Laura feels that no one will like her because she is crippled, but that she has had a crush before, a guy that called her Blue Roses.
The Glass Menagerie
It is an American Drama by Tennessee Williams (1911 – 1982). It opened on Broadway in the spring of 1945. This play is most notably known for woman characters. It is a straightforward realistic play that has a concept of being poetic, imaginative, and in language as well as a physiological make up of his characters. It is also a memory based play.
SummarySetting: Great Depression of the 1930’s
Tom, the son of Amanda, has been very distant from his family. He was suspected that he goes to the movies everyday to watch the same movie since he is so bored with his life. Ever since his dad left, he works at the warehouse to support the family. Amanda, on the other hand, wants to find a husband for Laura to take care of because of her health condition. Tom brings his co-worker, Jim, home for dinner and coincidentally, Jim was the one Laura loved back in high school. However, Jim was engaged and eventually left and Tom left with him and never returned.
SymbolsBlue Roses: Laura is called blue roses because Jim mistakes the word “pleurosis” for “blue roses”. It’s significance is since it’s not usually a red rose, she is blue rose which signifies that she is usually the outsider in society.
Glass Menagerie:
It is a collection of colorful animals Laura keeps. It signifies the imaginative world she is in without being alone like in reality.
Conflicts
Tom vs Amanda – Tom does not like how Amanda views Laura as a loner in society because of her health condition. Also Amanda quickly judges Tom’s actions and personality, which makes him easily angry and leaves the house often to stay away from her.
Cindy Herrera, Alex Borges
Title and Author:
· Macbeth by William Shakespeare
· “Babbit’s After-Dinner Speech” by Sinclair Lewis
· “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams
Major Characters and Characteristics:
In Macbeth:
· Macbeth: Macbeth is the Thane of Cawdor and Glamis. Three witches have prophecies that bad things will happen involving Macbeth and he starts thinking about them more and more. Overall he is a good man. What he wants most is to become (and stay) king so he does whatever it takes. He wants to satisfy his hopes and dreams of reaching that throne. After Macbeth commits murder for the first time, he is more easily tempted to continuing with these crimes. He seems to be more of a tyrant than a ruler. He deals with his problems in the worse ways.
· Lady Macbeth: Lady Macbeth is Macbeth’s wife. She has ambitions to become powerful and would do anything to reach them, even becoming a man if possible. She seems like the dominant one in the relationship because she easily manipulates Macbeth. Her conscious is overpowering and leads to her death.
· Duncan: Duncan is a great man and is also the king of Scotland. He is the man who Macbeth needs to murder in order to become king. After his death, things start going awry because in order for things to fully be restored to their rightful places, his descendant should become king.
· Malcolm: Malcolm is Duncan’s son. It is believed that once he has his seat on the throne, things will be put back into place the right way.
· Banquo: Banquo is a brave and ambitious man. Although, he does not pursue his dreams in such extreme ways as Macbeth does, he still stays loyal to the king and its law. The witches made a prophecy that he is the one who is said to inherit the Scottish throne. Banquo has gone along a completely different path than Macbeth. After Banquo’s death, his ghost haunts Macbeth.
· Fleance: Fleance is Banquo’s son. Macbeth tries to kill him, but he survives. He flees by the end of the play and nobody knows where he has gone.
· The Three Witches: The Three Witches want to plot bad things against Macbeth using their spells. Their predictions cause Macbeth to think differently and act on those crazy thoughts.
· Macduff: Macduff is a Scottish nobleman who, from the beginning, does not like Macbeth. He becomes a leader of a plan to remove Macbeth from his throne.
In “Babbit’s After-Dinner Speech”
· George Folansbee Babbitt: a 46 year old that lives a typical lifestyle. He has a decent job, beautiful house, and a loyal family.
· Myra Babbitt: George Babbit’s loyal, easygoing wife
· Tanis Judique: Client of Babbitt with whom he has an affair
In “The Glass Menagerie”
· Amanda Wingfield: mother of Laura Wingfield. She has a very hectic life and is very paranoid about everything. She is viewed as a heroic lady due to her endurance
· Laura Wingfield: the daughter of Amanda Wingfield. She is the mentally and physically crippled one in the family and has lost all contact with reality
· Tom Wingfield: the son in the family and also the narrator of the play. He is a poet but he has no remorse for others so he escapes it by acting without pity
· Tim O’ Connor: The gentleman caller. He is a nice, ordinary, young man
Brief Summary/Details/Background:
Macbeth: Background
· William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564 and died ion his birthday in 1616.
· He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon
· His parents were Mary who was a heiress and John who was a merchant.
· Considered "The Bard" which means lyric poet
· Married to Anne Hathaway who was 26 and he was only 18. They had 8 children with a set of twins and after the twins were born they had no record of Shakespeare for 7 years (1558-1602).
· Published his first play at 25
· Macbeth was published in 1606
· The First Folio was an edition published in 1623 but was not published by him.
Macbeth: Summary
Three witches tell Macbeth that he will become the thane of Cawdor, and then King. He then becomes the thane, and he writes a letter to his wife, Lady Macbeth, telling her this. After reading the letter Lady Macbeth decides to come up with a plan to kill Duncan, the king. Macbeth, at first, is not so sure, but then agrees. They then invite Duncan to their house, and when he is sleeping Macbeth kills him with a dagger. Macbeth forgets to place the dagger with the guards so Lady Macbeth does it herself to frame the guards with Duncan's death. Macbeth then orders the murderer to kill Duncan sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, but they run away. Macbeth becomes king. Believing that Banquo is a threat, he hires a murderer to kill him. After Banquo is killed, Banquo’s ghost haunts Macbeth and the guilt of the king’s death is still on his mind. He becomes uneasy and feels guilty but is told by his wife to be a man. Lady Macbeth shows no remorse. Macbeth orders Macduff to be killed but Macduff had already left. Lady Macbeth commits suicide because she too, had the guilt written all over her face. She would subconsciously start to sleepwalk and talk in her sleep. Towards the end of the novel, Macduff and his army head towards Macbeth's castle; Macbeth decides to fight. Macduff kills Macbeth and Malcolm then becomes king.
“Babbit’s After-Dinner Speech”
· George Babbit lives an ordinary life that consisted of him with a great job, attractive house, and a loyal family. He lives a typical life of an upper middle-class person. He soon realizes that he is not content with his life and feels as if there is something missing. After a few changes to his original lifestyle does he realize that what he had already was better than what he wanted. It is like the saying that goes “you don’t realize what you have until you lose it”.
“The Glass Menagerie”
· Laura is the very shy daughter of Amanda who has a cast on her leg and is crippled. Tom is the son and head of the house, he is financially helping them out but he escapes and looks for a way out to relieve his mind thru liquor, movies, and literature. Amanda is the mother of the family and feels that Laura is missing out and thinks that marriage would be the best solution. So Tom invites Jim O’ Connor, a friend from work, to join them for dinner. Amanda leaves Laura and Jim together to talk and Laura begins to open up to him and begins to show him her most prized possession, a glass unicorn. Jim decides to kiss her but in the process knocks down the unicorn, which causes the horn to come off) and apologizes to her after kissing her. He tells her that he has a fiancée and didn’t mean to kiss her. A few days later, Tom is fired from his job and he runs away, leaving his mother and sister. He returns though because he couldn’t live with the guilt or leaving behind Laura.
Literary terms:
Motifs
A motif is a “recurring subject, theme, or idea in a literary, artistic, or musical work”.
The motifs in Macbeth are:
Hallucinations:
They haunt Macbeth throughout the play. He keeps seeing the ghost of Duncan
Lady Macbeth continues to wash her hands of the blood, which she sees because she feels guilty about what happened to King Duncan.
The ghost of King Duncan also haunts Macbeth at the dinner table with the Scottish nobility.
Prophecies:
The witches prophesize at the beginning that Macbeth would become Thane of Cawdor, and that Macbeth was going to be king, but someone would come and attempt to murder him to avenge their father; the former King Duncan.
At first, everyone always doubts the prophecies of the witches, but in the end they actually start to come true, and it is too late to do anything about that.
Themes
The themes of Macbeth are:
One’s greed for power will only bring misfortune.
Lady Macbeth and Macbeth were so greedy for power at the beginning, but even when Macbeth eventually became king, he was never happy.
After all of what Lady Macbeth did for power, she eventually ends up committing suicide because of all the guilt she felt.
Feeling that only males have the ability to be courageous and manipulative.
Lady Macbeth felt as though of she could only be a man, she would have it in her to do evil things.
She believes that she feels so much, and she has so much guilt because she is a woman.
Lady Macbeth wishes that she didn’t have womanly parts and had thicker blood running through her so that she would be tougher.
Symbols
The Symbols in Macbeth were:
Blood:
Before Lady Macbeth commits suicide, she keeps seeing the blood all over her hands and keeps trying to wash it off.
The Battles, where many lives are lost, there is a lot of blood shed.
Weather:
Every time the witches appear, it is always raining and there was also a lot of lightning.
When they killed Duncan, the weather also changed and they was more lighting and rain.
Conflicts:
Internal:
Lady Macbeth suffers internally because she wants to do so much, but she feels that she is held back by the fact that she is a female. She thinks that if she was a man, she would be able to be ruthless and more courageous.
Macbeth also suffers internally because he wants to prove to his wife that he is manly enough to accomplish everything that he and his wife set out to do. He also wants to prove that
External:
Macbeth has external conflicts and he kills everyone who stands in his way in order for him to reach the top.
Macbeth is constantly trying to deal with the witches prophecies, by first pretending that they do not mean anything, and then by trying to cope with them.
Literary Devices:
Foreshadowing:
The witches prophecies all of the major moments in Macbeth’s life and the things to come in the novel.
Irony:
One would think that after Macbeth and Lady Macbeth got the power that they craved, they were still unhappy, which was pretty ironic.
It was ironic when Macbeth thought that no man was not born from a woman and how he also thought that the forest could not move, but at the end, Macduff was born by C-section and the army were approaching
Important passages:
From Macbeth:
· "What hands are here! Ha, they pluck out mine eyes. Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red."
v Macbeth makes this statement after he has killed the king. His hands refer to the murder and the blood represents his guilt. He expresses that all great Neptune will not clean blood from his hand because he will always have this constant guilt and no matter what it will not go away and will soon be the cause of his downfall.
· "Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood, stop up th’ access and passage to remorse, that no compunctious visitings of nature shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between th’ effect and it. Come to my woman’s breasts, and take my milk for gall, you murd’ring ministers, wherever in your sightless substances you wait on nature’s mischief."
v Lady Macbeth say's this and is expressing that she is ambitious and very strong-minded like a man. This is said when her husband is unsure of killing Duncan and it proves that she is man enough to do what ever she needs to do to higher her position in society even if that is killing the king.
Then lady Macbeth is the one that is trying to clean her hands off of all the blood that isn’t even there. She is subconsciously thinking that there is a lot of
So What:
The purpose of reading Macbeth was to understand the consequences of one's actions and understand that having guilt throughout life will eventually lead to more problems. It is important to understand that every action leads to an outcome whether it is bad or good and only the person doing the action is responsible for the outcome. Being an ambitious person is never a bad thing but to use all the ambition to do evil acts which will eventually lead to the never ending guilt that will effect a person for their rest of their life and life isn't about having regrets but having lessons learned.
SECTION D: Arlind Hoxha, Jefferson Lee, Brian Ho, Tuan Nguyen, Thomas Chan, Jackson Chan 6/10/09Sec DReview/Study Guide Term 4 Macbeth- William Shakespeare Background InformationWilliam Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564 and he died on his birthday in 1616. He lived in Stratford-Upon-Avon and was born to Mary and John. His nickname is the Bard which is a lyrical poet. Eventually, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway when she was 26 and he was 18. They had eight children including a set of twins. He published his first play when he was 25, but he wrote Macbeth in 1606. The first folio edition was published in 1623. Overall, Shakespeare was extremely popular in his time period.The First Folio was published in 1623 and was the first published collection of Shakespeare’s plays. Unfortunately, there was a time period known as the Lost Years in which there is no record of Shakespeare(1585-1592). People suspect the reason for this is that Shakespeare wanted to take time off due to the birth of his twins. Elizabethan England is a time period from 1558 to 1602 in which Queen Elizabeth ruled. Many people call this time period the "Golden Age" or the "English Renaissance." For fun during this time period, people attended executions, danced, hunted(falconry), and went bull/bear baiting. Queen Elizabeth ruled for about 50 years and never married because she didn’t want to lose her title. She wore extremely heavy dresses and only bathed once a month. Overall, she was popular.In 1603, there was an epidemic that struck known as the Black Plague or the Black Death which killed 33,000 people in a year. Still, Shakespeare survived this. One cause of this plague was the fact that people believed disease came from smells and thus used herbs/spices to get rid of the smells. Also, there was no sanitary system and people did not bathe much. Rats helped to spread disease. The Globe Theater was built in 1599 and is located in Southwark. The theater could hold around 5,0000 people. Above the door is the saying, "Totus Mundus Agit Histonem" which is a quote from Shakespeare’s As You Like It meaning the whole world is a playhouse. The theater is shaped like an octagon and has a thatched roof. There were 3 seating levels and had seats on the stage. The stage had trap doors and used sound effects. In 1615, the theater was burned down because a cannon was shot and burned the place down. Due to Puritan beliefs and the fire, the theater was shut down in 1642. Major Characters1. Macbeth- As the main character in the play, Macbeth is a Scottish general who at the start is the thane of Glamis. Macbeth’s ambition is stirred up when the three evil witches predict that he will be the thane of Cawdor and the king of Scotland. He is tempted by his wife to fulfill his ambition by killing Duncan. Eventually, he kills even more people and evokes a hatred and disorder in Scotland. His ambition eventually leads to his death in the end. Macbeth never accepts his role as a criminal, but still chooses the wrong path which leads to his guilt.2. Lady Macbeth- Lady Macbeth is Macbeth’s wife who wants to increase her status and position in society. Therefore, she tries to extend her ambition to Macbeth by using her sexuality. She urges him to kill Duncan so she could be queen. After covering up for him many times, she eventually is overcome by guilt. Her guilty conscience destroys her and drives her mad. Thus, she commits suicide in the end because she can’t bear the guilt.3. The Witches- These three evil witches are the causes of Macbeth’s problems and disorder. They themselves represent disorder and thus create problems for Macbeth through their prophecies. They force Macbeth to kill Duncan, Banquo, Fleance, Macduff, and Macduff’s family. Besides inciting Macbeth’s ambition, they also make Macbeth believe he is unstoppable. These witches have no other purpose in the story except to create disorder and conflict. 4. Banquo- Macbeth’s friend whose children will take over the throne in the future. His character foils Macbeth because he does not give into the false prophecies of the witches. Whereas Macbeth lets his ambition lead to murder and treason, Banquo lives his life purely. His ghost eventually haunts Macbeth and reminds him of the path he chose.5. Macduff- Macduff is a Scottish nobleman who hates what Macbeth has done to the country. He vows to get rid of Macbeth so he could avenge his family and so he could return the rightful heir to the throne. 6. Malcolm- Duncan’s son and the rightful heir to the Scottish throne. His kingship marks the return of order which Macbeth had destroyed in Scotland. Brief Summary The play starts off when Macbeth has just won a battle and has been marked by his courage and valor. The three witches come to him and give him a prophecy. They relate the past, present, and future when they tell him he was the thane of Glamis, he is the thane of Cawdor, and he will be the King of Scotland. This catches Macbeth by surprise because he is not the thane of Cawdor yet. We also see his ambition because he realizes he has to kill the king. Still, he subdues this ambition and stops his murderous thoughts. He becomes thane of Cawdor as the witches predicted. When Macbeth tells his wife what happened, she believes she can use the situation to fulfil her need to move up in society. Thus, she convinces Macbeth to kill Duncan although she feels Macbeth is too "soft" for the world and for this wicked crime. With much hesitation and convincing, Macbeth kills Duncan. He starts to feel guilty, but Lady Macbeth again convinces him that it is easy to wash away sin. Eventually, Macbeth starts to take control and do things on his own. Without the help of Lady Macbeth, he orders for the death of Banquo and his son because they are a threat to his throne(according to the witches, Banquo’s sons will take the throne). To Macbeth’s despise, Fleance escapes death. Then Macbeth begins to hallucinate and thinks he sees the ghost of Banquo sitting in his chair at dinner. This reminds him of his guilt and therefore he chooses to visit the witches. After three ghosts come to him, Macbeth feels better about the situation. He learns that Macduff went to help Malcolm in England, he orders for his and his entire family’s death. Macduff learns this and is extremely saddened. He joins the Malcolm’s revolt against Macbeth in hope to get revenge. Meanwhile, Lady Macbeth is overcome with guilt and starts to sleep walk. She kills herself right before Macbeth goes out to fight Macduff. After two more prophecies come true, Macduff kills Macbeth and order is restored in Scotland. Literary Devices1. Antithesis- a contrast or opposition between two things; usually shown using parallelism and words that strongly contrast each other.2. Paradox- A form of antithesis; seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement that when investigated may be true; sometimes leads to a conclusion that is senseless or contradictory. EX. "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" - When first looked at, this seems to be contradictory. Still, what could be bad, could also be what is fair(especially in the mystical and eerie world created by the witches).Themes/Motifs 1. One major theme in the play is ambition and the influence it has on people. This theme is portrayed through Macbeth and Lady Macbeth because both of them are characters that seek power and the throne. It is good to have ambition because it is what keeps people striving for new goals. Still, too much ambition leads to disastrous outcomes and can have negative effects. Lady Macbeth is overly-ambitious and thus jeopardizes her life and her husbands reputation/life to fulfill this ambition. In the end, Lady Macbeth dies all due to her ambition for the throne. Also, Macbeth becomes overly-ambitious and goes on a killing spree. This leads to his murder in the end as well. Shakespeare’s point is clear that too much ambition is not a good thing to have.2. Another major theme that stems from the theme of ambition in the play is the ambiguity of human nature. This is shown as Macbeth first learns that he is going to be king. He immediately thinks to himself that he has to kill Duncan in order to gain the throne. This implies that all people have a purpose in their thoughts and actions. This theme is reinforced when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth talk about covering up their purpose and appearing normal. Macbeth wants to look innocent although he has a deceitful purpose in mind. Thus, it explains that it is human nature to be jealous and seek vengeance(two other themes). In order to do so, people have to attack each others faults and weaknesses. Shakespeare is showing the human nature is evil. 3. The third theme is the idea of good and evil. This is seen when looking at the play as a whole. The corrupted and evil characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth ultimately die in the end as a result of their evil actions. Contrary to this, all the good characters who remained true to their morals like Malcolm and Macduff lived on and thrived at the end. This theme is closely related to order and disorder. Macbeth and the witches represent the disorder in the play because they bring disruption in Scotland. When Malcolm gains the throne, the order which Macbeth ruined is restored. Thus, Shakespeare is saying that doing evil never pays off.4. The last major theme is how people are able to manipulate each other. This is shown strictly through Lady Macbeth’s manipulating Macbeth into killing Duncan and fueling his ambition. She does so by using her sexuality as a means of superiority. She also taunts Macbeth and pressures him into continuing with the murder(i.e calling him a coward/unmanly). People are so easy to manipulate when their weaknesses are attacked. When people try to manipulate, it is usually for a set purpose which reinforces the theme of human nature. SymbolsThere are three major symbols in the play. As seen from the first page of the play, the weather has an extreme impact on the mood. Usually, there are thunderstorms and lightening when the witches appear. This manifests the theme of disorder by creating a mystical and eerie mood. Another symbol is the use of clothing. Many times, clothing is used to represent appearance. For example, Macbeth mentions that he can’t wear the clothes of the thane of Cawdor because they aren’t his. Thus, he can’t hold that position because the clothes "don’t fit." The last symbol is the use of blood and water. Every time blood is mention in the play, it represents guilt. This is especially seen when Lady Macbeth rubs her hands furiously to remove the figurative blood on her hands. The water symbolizes cleansing. Still, the cleansing that occurs in the play is only a physical cleaning because there will always be blood on the murderers’ hands. Conflicts 1. Macbeth’s external struggle with Lady Macbeth- Lady Macbeth tries to manipulate Macbeth into killing Duncan and giving into his ambition. Macbeth fights not to give into his wife’s tactics, but eventually he can’t resist anymore. 2. Macbeth’s and Lady Macbeth’s struggle with guilt- Both characters face this internal struggle in the play. Macbeth feels it more towards the starts of the play because he feels the guilt of committing treason and killing his king who is under his trust two times. This is shown when Macbeth sees the blood on the sword before he kill Duncan. Yet, Macbeth seems to grow colder as the play goes on. On the contrary, Lady Macbeth is virtually uninfluenced by guilt at the start. She even convinces Macbeth not to worry about the murder. In the end, she goes mad all because of her guilt. Her guilt leads to her character change and suicide. 3. Macduff’s external conflict with Macbeth- Macduff spends most of the play trying to end Macbeth’s reign as king. He hopes to restore the rightful heir to the throne and bring back the order in the country. Thus, this conflict could be viewed as Scotland against Macbeth because Macduff’s struggle represents what everybody in Scotland wants. In the end, Macduff kills MB. Important Passages for Analysis "And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,The instruments of darkness tell us truths"- Here, Banquo is speaking to Macbeth about the witches. He is saying that Macbeth should not completely believe the witches because they only want to see people ruin themselves. For this reason, they tell false "truths" in order to see their disorder carried into other people. The quote shows how perceptive Banquo is and proves that he is the opposite of Macbeth. "Stars, hide your fires:Let not light see my black and deep desires:The eye wink at the hand; yet let that beWhich the eye fears, when it is done, to see"- In this quote, Macbeth is talking to himself. He doesn’t want anybody or anything to recognize his evil and his sin. He doesn’t even want the stars to see the darkness inside of him. Macbeth doesn’t even want his eyes to see his evil deed because he fears it will be too dreadful. This comes right before he is about to kill Duncan. It represents the theme of disguise and covering up a set purpose(both which are part of human nature). "If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere wellIt were done quickly. If th'assassinationCould trammel up the consequence, and catch,With his surcease, success; that but this blowMight be the be-all and end-all-here,But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,We'd jump the life to come"-This quote comes right before the assassination of Duncan. Macbeth is saying that if he has to go through with the murder, he wishes that it is done quickly. He just wants to get over with it as soon as possible. Also, he wishes the death of Duncan could act like a net and catch everything along its way. This would prevent any consequences and would end the matter right there and then. Still, Macbeth lives in a world full of consequences and therefore he can’t get away with murder. The situation is even worse because he is under a double trust, both as a host and as a subject. This shows that Macbeth is hesitating due to guilt, but it also represents human nature and the desire to do evil. "Is this a dagger I see before me,The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.Art thou not, fatal vision, sensibleTo feeling as to sight, or art thou butA dagger of the mind, a false creation,Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain"- Although he has a real dagger, Macbeth sees this imaginary one in front of him. Besides representing the imminent death of Duncan, it also represent the guilt that he feels for killing his king. It shows that every move is calculated because the handle is moving towards his hand. Thus, Macbeth knows what’s going to happen and thus discontinuous the assassination. "Out, damned spot! Out, I say! One: two:why, then 'tis time to do't. Hell is murky..."Lady Macbeth says this as she begins to hallucinate and sleepwalk. This represents the guilt that Lady Macbeth feels at the end of the play. At first, she didn’t care about her conscience, but now it has come back to haunt her. She can’t remove the figurative blood on her hand and therefore she keeps rubbing it. This guilt eventually drives her to death. "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrowCreeps in this petty pace from day to day,To the last syllable of recorded time;And all our yesterdays have lighted foolsThe way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!Life's but a walking shadow, a poor playerThat struts and frets his hour upon the stageAnd then is heard no more. It is a taleTold by an idiot, full of sound and fury,Signifying nothing"- Macbeth says this towards the end of the play. He mentions the longevity of time and how each day that passes by just means more people passing away until time itself actually ends. He then personifies life and compares it to an actor who is scared to go on stage and is never seen again. In the end, he says it is a tale "told by an idiot" because it has so much noise and anger in it, but does not have much meaning. Macbeth says this because he has been so accustomed to seeing death and seeing life pass away. Thus, it doesn’t seem like anything new to him. This is why he does not seem concerned about anything. So What? Shakespeare wrote this play to warn his readers about ambition and human nature. People that are too ambitious only lead to their own self-destruction. He isn’t saying that ambition is always bad, but he is warning that people need to control their ambitions and save themselves. Also, it is human nature for people to cover up their own cause at the extent of others as Lady Macbeth did. Every person has the desire to do evil, but only the people that subdue this desire like Banquo are truly admirable and courageous. Babbitt’s After-Dinner Speechby Sinclair Lewis Major Characters:George F. Babbitt Brief Summary:Babbitt gives a speech to the Real Estate Board in his hometown of Zenith. In his speech, he emphasizes the growing town of Zenith. He states that although there is room for improvement, Zenith is better than many other cities, like New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia. Babbitt also outlines the perfect citizen which includes: being busy, don’t daydream, no tea parties, smokes a cigar at night, rides the bus home, mows the lawn, reads the children stories, takes the family to the movies, plays games, reads the newspaper, reads some Western novel, sleeps with a clear conscience, and contributes to the city. Babbitt goes on to say that art in other counties are left to bums, while business men make art in America. Also bachelors love children, unlike other decayed European states. The people in Zenith are American businessmen with common sense and a vocabulary to back it up. Babbitt then continues to promote Zenith to the board. Themes:Babbitt uses a theme of perfection. He describes Zenith as a growing place of perfection. After insulting European art and vocabulary, he constantly attempts to make Zenith look better. This is important because it is Babbitt’s goal throughout the story to make Zenith looks better. Conflicts:Babbitt vs. the Board Babbitt attempts to persuade the Real Estate Board by providing all of this convincing evidence in favor of Zenith. He is presenting a persuasive speech to the entire Board.Important Passages:"Our Ideal Citizen—I picture him first and foremost as being busier than a bird-dog, not wasting a lot of good time in day-dreaming or going to sassiety teas or kicking about things that are none of his business, but putting the zip into some store or profession or art. At night he lights up a good cigar, and climbs into the little old ’bus, and maybe cusses the carburetor, and shoots out home. He mows the lawn, or sneaks in some practice putting, and then he’s ready for dinner. After dinner he tells the kiddies a story, or takes the family to the movies, or plays a few fists of bridge, or reads the evening paper, and a chapter or two of some good lively Western novel if he has a taste for literature, and maybe the folks next-door drop in and they sit and visit about their friends and the topics of the day. Then he goes happily to bed, his conscience clear, having contributed his mite to the prosperity of the city and to his own bank-account" (Lewis 512). This quote is being said by Babbitt. He outlines the perfect citizen to the Board. This is important and goes with the theme of perfection where Zenith is being prompted up. "It may be true that New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia will continue to keep ahead of us in size. But aside from these three cities, which are notoriously so overgrown that no decent white man, nobody who loves his wife and kiddies and God’s good out-o’doors and likes to shake the hand of his neighbor in greeting, would want to live in them—and let me tell you right here and now, I wouldn’t trade a high-class Zenith acreage development for the whole length and breadth of Broadway or State Street!—aside from these three, it’s evident to any one with a head for facts that Zenith is the finest example of American life and prosperity to be found anywhere" (Lewis 512). This shows that Zenith is not the largest city, it compares to New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia. It is a better and friendlier place than all three of those big cities. So what: This novel relates greatly to Macbeth in terms of human nature. This story speaks about being an ideal citizen and about being a model. Macbeth, who could remain loyal, decides to betray King Duncan. This story is important today because it helps provide a model for a perfect citizen. This story also is an example of persuasive writing. Babbitt does a great job in persuading the Board. Life on the MississippiAuthor: Mark Twain Major Characters:Huck Finn – He is the son of a persecuting, drunkard father. He is an ignorant, but audacious village boy who runs away from his parents. In addition, he is also a master artificer, because he is sly and gives false information to the boatmen when he is found. The Keel Boatmen – They are jolly and arrogant, because they continuously compete with each other during their free time, but they also enjoy themselves by singing and dancing. Bob and the Child of Calamity – They are both arrogant and fight with each other. While they are fighting, they are throwing insults at each other and boasting themselves. However, they do respect each other, because they stated so and shook hands. Brief Summary:Huck Finn runs away from his persecuting parents along with their slave. Their destination is Cairo, Illinois, a free territory of many runaway slaves. One day, he sees a huge raft and sneaks onto it hoping to gather the needed information by eavesdropping. Instead of obtaining information about Cairo, he is entertained by the keel boatmen who sing, dance and fight with each other. When they discover him, he gives them a false identity and they allow him to leave with no penalty, because he is only a boy. Literary Terms:Symbols: The Mississippi River symbolizes hope, because Huck and Jim, the family’s slave, depend on this river to reach their destination. The haunted barrel symbolizes misfortune, because it had caused the deaths of Davy’s fellow boatmen. Themes:Storytelling helps the boatmen to pass time and many of the stories are humorous. The boasts of the boatmen are exaggerating and humorous. Conflicts: Huck Finn and Jim have run away and their only choice left is to keep moving along on the Mississippi River until they reach the destination. They get lost in a fog and Huck goes to seek information. Two of the boatmen, Bob and the Child of Calamity, have an altercation, but they resolve it by shaking hands and stating they had respect for each other all along. The altercation is supposed to be a humorous event. Literary Devices:Metaphors: The boatmen boastingly use metaphors to exaggerate their achievements and prowess. Hyperboles: Hyperboles are the most prevalent, humorous techniques in this story, because many statements and facts are pushed beyond the actual truth. Incongruity: Two opposite events that seem inappropriately matched, the fight between Bob and the Child of Calamity and the sudden truce afterwards, are unexpectedly joined. Important Passages for Analysis: "It won’t hardly do, Charles William. You couldn’t have growed this much in five years, and you was a baby when you come out of the bar’l, you know, and dead at that. Come, tell a straight story, and nobody’ll hurt you, if you ain’t up to anything wrong. What is your name?" (Pg 412) - Huck Finn has just been discovered by the boatmen and it is obvious that his first attempt at giving a false identity is not working. Davy knows that there is no way Charles William could still be alive and is kind enough to give Huck another chance to tell the truth. "From a trading-scow. She lays up the bend yonder. I was born on her. Pap has traded up and down here all his life: and he told me to swim off her, because when you went by he said he would like to get some of you to speak to a Mr. Jonas Turner, in Cairo, and tell him—." - Again, Huck Finn is giving the boatmen a false identity and background. However, this time he is more decisive with the details and make them seem reasonable. "All right, then. You ain’t but little ways from shore. Overboard with you, and don’t you make a fool of yourself another time this way. Blast it, boy, some raftsmen would rawhide you till you were black and blue!" - Davy allows Huck Finn to leave his raft, under the condition that he never sneaks onto their raft again. He states how lucky Huck is at the moment, because a different crew could have punished him. So What? The sly and cunning character of Huck Finn can be compared to that of Macbeth. This story demonstrates how humor is a great part of human nature. Humor is used as entertainment, but can also be very offensive. The character types of the boatmen are evident in soldiers. There are some soldiers who are assigned to areas in which no battle take place. Like the boatmen, they get bored, so one of the ways to pass time is to joke around and tell stories. This literature contains a great amount of informal dialect in both the narration and dialogue. This kind of dialect is used to let the audience understand the setting and lifestyle within the story. From the themes and the story as a whole, we can learn that storytelling and humor are essential to human society. American Drama Drama – most difficult form of writing George S. Kaufman (writer of comedies 1930-1940’s) Said writing plays was not an art, but trick Difference between drama + other literary forms Movement and gestures are essential elements Highpoints might be nonverbal Writer drawn by theatrical trappings Gestures, colorful sets, magical effects Basic Principles of Drama Play goes wrong = writer’s failure to conceive the story in dramatic term Playwright places the characters in a situation involving conflict Protagonist – main character Ex/internal conflict Exposition – background info English plays of Middle ages called miracle plays Dealt with stories from the Bible Drama, dependent on $$$ Producers- ppl who advance the $$$ take risks. Playwrights must find an Agent Person who handles playwrights work Agent = producers first line of defense Play opens for tryout in a small city first History of American Drama Eugene O’Neil (1888-1953) 1st important figure in drama 1920 – Beyond the Horizon Before O’Neil = shows + entertainment Chariot races, burning cities Melodrama and farces written for famous actors Every town had its own "opera house" Theater takes up > new attitudes, subject matters and form Theater as a Social Art Robert Sherwood 1920-1940 "Drama travels in the caboose of literature." Theater = social art Attend in large groups Respond to something new more slowly as a group than as individuals Giving approval Influences of Ibsen, Strindberg, and Chekhov Norwegian Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) Tacked subjects > guilt, sexuality, and mental illness Swede August Strindberg (1849-1912) Brought his characterizations to an unprecedented level of psychological complexity Russian Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) Shifted the external actions to inner actions and emotion American Realism and Eugene O’Neil Realistic drama – illusion that we are looking through a "fourth wall" Became the dominant mode of American drama 1916+1917 New York Provincetown Players + Washington Square Players Began to produce European plays Provided a congenial home for new American playwrights O’Neil dominated American drama In The Great God Brown (1926) Strange Interlude (1928) Resulted in Nobel Prize in 1936 Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams Arthur Miller (born 1915) Best work = Death of a Salesman Williams (1911-1933) Two principal movements, realism and realism, combined to make something more imaginative The Revolt Against Realism Expressionist drama Aimed at the revelation of characters’ interior consciousness without reference to a logical sequence of surface The Glass Menagerie Tennessee Williams Background Info on Tennessee Williams (1911-1983)Opened on Broadway spring of 1945 The Glass Menagerie becomes an American classic Williams known for colorful woman characters Also created great male characters Mixture of straight forward, realistic play construction and highly imaginative conception and language The structure was basically conventional Vision and voice were imaginative and serious Main CharactersLaura Wingfield – crippled daughter of Amanda, very shy, pressures her mom to find a new husband, dropped out of business college Tom Wingfield – is the brother of Laura, works in a shoe factory to support his family, also pushes mom to wed Amanda Wingfield - is the mother of Tom and Laura, once had a night with 17 gentleman callers Jim O’Connor – a friend of Tom’s who gets Amanda makes Laura’s first gentleman caller Brief SummaryAmanda tells Laura a story about the night she had 17 gentleman callers. She wants her to follow in her footsteps but she is crippled. Tom works in a shoe factory and is asked by his mother to find Laura some eligible callers from work. Tom says that he’ll bring his friend Jim O’Connor over after work. Amanda gets Laura dressed up to impress her caller, Jim. After dinner Laura and Jim sit alone to talk. Jim goes in and kisses Laura. Following the kiss, he later tells her that he is already engaged. Laura becomes devastated and Amanda yells at Tom for not telling them earlier. He tells them he honestly did not know and leaves, never to be seen again.Motifs, Symbols and ThemesSymbolsMagic show – this shows how deeply Tom wants to escape from the "real world" Glass menagerie – is Laura’s own private world which breaks Victrola – Laura’s private world Jonquils – memories from Amanda’s past Blue Roses – this is a nickname that Jim makes for Laura MotifsMusic Being deserted/ditched ThemesMemory Not being accepted by society Desire to escape ConflictsTom wants to escape from the shoe factory and his family but he is unable toAmanda wants her daughter, Laura to meet a gentleman caller to wed Laura is unable to fully live her life due to her disability (crippled)Quotes"Laura! Why, Laura, you are sick, darling! Tom, help your sister into the living room, dear! ... I told her that it was just too warm this evening, but - Is Laura all right now?" Amanda tells this to Laura, Jim and Tom at the dinner. This is an example of how society will never accept Laura because of her disability. "On those occasions they call me - Ell Diablo! Oh, I could tell you things to make you sleepless! My enemies plan to dynamite this place. They’re going to blow us all sky-high some night! I’ll be glad, very happy, and so will you! You’ll go up, up on a broomstick, over Blue Mountain with seventeen gentlemen callers!" Tom says this to Amanda in a fit of rage. Tom gets fed up with his mother and opens up his bottled emotions "But the most wonderfullest trick of all was the coffin trick.... There is a trick that would come in handy for me-get me out of this 2 by 4 situation." Tom says this to Laura after coming back drunk from the movies and magic show. This is part of Tom’s persuade Laura to "escape". This follows up to the theme of escape So what?This story tells us about accepting people no matter their disability. Just because Laura is crippled, she is viewed differently and will have trouble getting married unlike her mother. This also tells us that life isn’t always what it seems because Tom has a pretty comfortable life style but he wants to escape from it all just to get away. He feels as if his life is slowly suffocating him and he needs to breathe. We can learn to fully accept people no matter the difference because we are all the same on the inside. Frederick Douglass, the Battle with Mr. CoveyFrederick Douglass – Slave who starts off sick and is abused to farm. After being abused by Mr. Covey, he runs away to find advice. Later he comes back and fights back against Mr. Covey. Sandy Jenkins - Another slave who gives Frederick a root which is said that whoever carries it will never get hit againMr Covey – Slave master who abuses FrederickFrederick is sick and he is forced to work and finally when he is unable to work, Mr. Covey whips him. Frederick leaves to say that he is being abused and ends up at Sandy Jenkins’s place. She gives him a root which is said that whoever carries it will never get hit again. Frederick returns back to Mr. Covey and Mr. Covey attempts to beat him but Frederick develops a fighting spirit and fights back.Literary Terms:The root represents Douglass’ will to fight. When Douglass did not have the root he did not have the motivation and spirit to fight back against Mr. CoveyThe theme is that it is human nature to fight back when something is unfair.Passages for Analysis"It was a glorious resurrection, from the tomb of slavery, to the heaven of freedom. My long-crushed spirit rose, cowardice departed, bold defiance took its place; and I now resolved that, however long I might remain a slave in form, the day had passed forever when i could be a slave in fact."-Frederick Douglass shows the feeling he has after fighting back for the first time, the feeling of freedom. Throughout his life, he has been a slave who has been abused and overworked but for once he finally stepped out of his comfort zone and fought back. He finally obtained his freedom.So what?This shows the will of every human to fight back when things get tough. This is important because not enough people speak out for their own beliefs and fight for what they believe in. If everyone takes that extra step, a lot can change.
SECTION G: Melissa Aybar, Estefany Benitez, Tony Huang and Tien Dao
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Characters
Macbeth: Macbeth is a scottish general and the main character in the play. He is not very well liked by the people around him because they liked being ruled under King Duncan, who Macbeth murdered with the help of his wife's influence. He is very weak-minded, not virtuous, easily tempted, and in the end is not able to deal with the crimes he commits.
Lady Macbeth: Macbeth's wife. She is a very strong character who throughout the play uses her intelligence and appeal to control her husband in order to satisfy her ambition.
The three witches: Three witches who use prophecies to do mischief against Macbeth.
Banquo: A noble man who thinks his kids will inherit the crown of the king and although he thinks with a very ambitious mentality, never acts upon those desires.
King Duncan: The king who Macbeth murders although he is very noble and a great king for Scotland.
Macduff: A nobleman who is unhappy with Macbeth as king. He leads the revolt against Macbeth and gets his revenge for the killing of his wife and son.
Malcolm & Donalbain: King Duncan's sons. Malcolm changes from a weak character to a much stronger character and actually becomes a threat to Macbeth.
Fleance: Banquo's son. Escapes the scene of his father's murder before they could kill him and could fulfill the prophecy that Banquo's son will rule
Lady Macduff: Macduff's wife, shows to be different to Macbeth's wife.
Macbeth summary:
Setting: Scotland, Medieval times
Macbeth comes back after winning the war, and was awarded as the “Thane of Cawdor”. Macbeth and Banquo meet three witches whom gave Macbeth three prophecies and Banquo one. The prophecy predicted Macbeth will be awarded Thane of Cawdor, which came true. Another prophecy predicts Macbeth will become king. To achieve this goal, Macbeth and his wife assassinates Duncan, the king of Scotland at Macbeth’s castle during the king’s visit. Following Duncan’s death, Macbeth became king. Macbeth wanted to keep the king, but the prophecy said Banquo’s son will be king. To avoid this from happening, Macbeth plots to kill Banquo and his sons before they reach the dinner party of Macbeth’s. Banquo was murdered but his son fled away. Macbeth begins to see Banquo’s ghost and does abnormal things. Macbeth visits the three witches again, and he gets another prophecy: If the forest and Birnam doesn’t move physically, he will be safe as king. Also he cannot be killed by someone given birth by a woman. Lady Macbeth gets ill overtime and eventually commits suicide. Macbeth sees the wood in the forest suddenly moving because Macduff ordered his army to carry branches to disguise as trees and moves in slowly. Macduff arrives at Macbeth’s castle and kills him to restore the real successor, Malcolm.
Background information:
Murder under Trust: Scottish law of treason: Murder = Treason = Assassination.
Shakespeare: April 23 1564 -> April 23 1616 (Stratford-upon-Avon)
Wife; Anne Hathaway, 26 while he was 18
Children: 8
Works: first play at age 25
Macbeth written in 1606
First Folio Edition: Macbeth’s first published collection 1623 (dead)
Lost years: 1585-1592 Macbeth had no record, after birth of his twins
Elizabethan England: 1558-1602
Queen Elizabeth’s rule (The Golden Age)
Black Death: 33,000 deaths in one year due to a disease
Globe Theatre: Built in 1599
Located Southwark
Diameter: 100 ft. holds about 3000 people.
Above door: “Totus Mundus agit histrionem”(whole world is a playhouse)
Burned due to fire from a performance
Literary Terms
Motif- a recurring theme or idea, an example of this in Macbeth is the idea that everyone has a fate to fulfill, and no matter what someone does to change it, they have a destiny to fulfill. Among these ideas were also guilt, fate, karma, ambition, honor and murder. Most works of literature have a motif, it emphasizes the idea the author is trying to present to their audience.
Symbol- something that represents something else.For instance, water was not just water, it represented life and purity just as blood represented ambition, murder, and a tainted conscience. In the play the symbols were used by the characters to speak of things without letting others know what they were talking about, also by Shakespeare to create an image of what he wanted us to see.
Theme- a unifying theme or idea of a piece of literature. This can be interpreted differently by different people, I believe that the theme of the play was how a persons' ambition can destroy the people around them.
Conflicts
Macbeth's Ambition vs Macbeth's Conscience- He knows that Duncan is both his friend and his king, that he should be the one protecting him instead of bearing the dagger that to kill him. His conscience dictates that he should not do it because of the "double trust" they share, Duncan is also a noble king that has showered him with gifts, so why kill him, he is a good man? However, Lady Macbeth pressures him to go after use his ambition and once and for all get rid of him for good.
Macbeth vs McDuff- After Macbeth kills Duncan and is names King of Scotland, McDuff, Duncan's most loyal subject rebels and decides to fight against Macbeth along with the King of England and Malcolm the rightful King. McDuff has an even stronger motive after Macbeth slaughters his whole family in a fit of anger when he finds out that he has left Scotland and refuses to return.
Reason vs Guilt- Macbeth has begun to see the ghosts of the people he has killed, his conscience is clearly getting to him and it is becoming harder to hide what he has done, but his reason tells him that everything is alright and that what is done is done and no turning back now.
Literary Devices
parallel structure- using the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance.
antithesis- a contrast or opposition between two things; a figure of speech in which opposition or contrast of ideas is expressed by parallelism of words that are the opposites of, or strongly contrasted with each other.
paradox- a statement or proposition that, despite sound reasoning from acceptable premises, leads to a conclusion that seems senseless and leads to the conclusion that seems senseless or self-contradictory.
symbolism- something that represents something else
metaphors- something that is given the qualities of something else.
similes- comparing one thing to another
imagery- figurative description that create a mental image
Important Passages:
"Nothing in his life Became him like the leaving it" Act 1
This quotation is said by Malcolm and refers to the Thane of Cawdor. This sets the stage for the idea of death and betrayal from a knight. It makes the reader think about treason and shows us Macbeth in the light of a loyal nobleman.
"The thane of Cawdor lives: "why do you dress me in borrow'd robes?" Act 1 Scene 3 lines 112-113
This is of importance because clothing is continually a symbol throughout the play. In this case, the clothing represents the title that belongs to someone else. Macbeth questioned why the gave him the title of "Thane of Cawdor" if it belonged to someone else.
"who can be wise, amaz'd, temp'rate and furious, loyal and neutral, in a moment? No man: the expedition of my violent love outrun the pauser, reason ... " ( page 69 lines 124-134)
Macbeth compares two different emotions and personal traits. Duncan's golden blood is his royalty side. Then he talks about how the murderers look and why they could have done it. Macbeth is mostly saying this but he is referring to himself.
"go get some water and wash this filthy witness from your hands."
Lady Macbeth advises Macbeth to wash the blood off of his hands as though it will erase the fact that the murder was done. It is important because both blood and water are recurring symbols.
Macbeth: So what? Why did we read this? Why is this important to our society, our development as human beings? What can we learn from this literature and its themes?
The story tells us important morals to be aware of in life.
��. Good Vs Evil
Ideally, good always prevail and it should be kept that way. When Macbeth did bad things, such as actually killing the King of Scotland, Duncan, and Banquo, his guilty conscience later consumes him and contributes to Macbeth’s death. Good is and should be always promoted for justice, as portrayed in this novel.
2. Fate
Fate cannot be changed once it is established. However, one can change the outcome. For example, without the influence of the three witches, Macbeth could have done his own decisions and the outcome of the story would be different.
��. Ambition
Macbeth’s ambition was to become king. The witches gave him motivation as they told him his fate to be king. Motivation is the driving force to reach goals as the witches and Lady Macbeth motivates Macbeth to do what it takes, even though it is not the right thing to do such as killing, to get the crown.
Mainly the moral is to let fate does things naturally and one must think of the consequences of doing an action. As our development as human beings, we must be aware of such actions to do things safely and successfully, such as not harming one self’s beliefs. The story also shows how naïve people are when blinded by how much they can gain so much with a big price.
Babbitt's After-Dinner Speech by Sinclair Lewis
Babbit after Dinner Quotes
"Men who had made five thousand, year before last, and ten thousand last year, were urging on nerve-yelping bodies and parched brains so that they might make twenty thousand this year; and the men who had broken down immediately after making their twenty thousand dollars were hustling to catch trains, to hustle through the vacations which the hustling doctors had ordered."
People always want more than they have, and when they get what they want they become just as dissatisfied with it as they previously were . Its always about wanting more and the ambition behind the work.
“Not till that is done will our sons and daughters see that the ideal of American manhood and culture isn’t a lot of crank’s sitting around”
American manhood is working hard and the future of America (the sons and daughters) will not see what this manhood really is if people were to just sit around and do nothing. America's ideals consist of hard workers.
Babbitt’s idea of Good life:
· Busier than a bird-dog
· Not wasting time daydreaming
· Not minding other’s business
· Cigar at night
· Cuss carburetor
· Talk with neighbors
· Read a western novel
· Movie with family
Why we read this story?
Sinclair Lewis’s Babbitt’s after Dinner expresses his opinions about American society and life. Through Babbitts After Dinner Speech we see these more clearly these American ideals that have been set in society over time. We see how people can react when their idea of perfection is challenged, and by reading Babbitts After Dinner Speech it helps us as a class understand the focus question What is America? through the perspective of someone who has their utopia in mind and express disregard for anything that is not "American enough."
The Glass Menagerie by Tenesee Williams
Laura Wingfield- Amanda Wingfield's daughter, very shy girl who has a low self esteem because she thinks she is crippled, and drops out of school on the first day of class.
Amanda Wingfield- Laura's mother, constantly talking about herself and all her suitors when she was young, and always talks to her daughter about marrying as soon as she can, she also wants her daughter to be someone in life and sends her to school.
Tom Wingfield- Amanda's son, barely seen throughout the play but from the looks of it he is very unhappy with the way he is living and decides to spend his time out of the house.
Summary: The setting is an impoverished section of the town, the house the Wingfields live in does not even have doors. The story starts out with Laura, Amanda and Tom having dinner from what you can see Amanda is very concerned with her daughter getting married that she does not let her get up to do anything. Amanda has enrolled Laura in a typing school so that she's better off in life and at least has something to fall back on in case she doesn't get married. Laura, however, dropped out the first day because of her painfully shy personality. Amanda spends time talking a lot about her youth and suitors and how she should've picked a better man to marry, Laura feels that no one will like her because she is crippled, but that she has had a crush before, a guy that called her Blue Roses.
The Glass Menagerie
It is an American Drama by Tennessee Williams (1911 – 1982). It opened on Broadway in the spring of 1945. This play is most notably known for woman characters. It is a straightforward realistic play that has a concept of being poetic, imaginative, and in language as well as a physiological make up of his characters. It is also a memory based play.
SummarySetting: Great Depression of the 1930’s
Tom, the son of Amanda, has been very distant from his family. He was suspected that he goes to the movies everyday to watch the same movie since he is so bored with his life. Ever since his dad left, he works at the warehouse to support the family. Amanda, on the other hand, wants to find a husband for Laura to take care of because of her health condition. Tom brings his co-worker, Jim, home for dinner and coincidentally, Jim was the one Laura loved back in high school. However, Jim was engaged and eventually left and Tom left with him and never returned.
SymbolsBlue Roses: Laura is called blue roses because Jim mistakes the word “pleurosis” for “blue roses”. It’s significance is since it’s not usually a red rose, she is blue rose which signifies that she is usually the outsider in society.
Glass Menagerie:
It is a collection of colorful animals Laura keeps. It signifies the imaginative world she is in without being alone like in reality.
Conflicts
Tom vs Amanda – Tom does not like how Amanda views Laura as a loner in society because of her health condition. Also Amanda quickly judges Tom’s actions and personality, which makes him easily angry and leaves the house often to stay away from her.
Term 5 Study Guide:
SECTION C: Jane Nguyen, Jamal Mason, Ebonèe-Rae Mascall, & Julian Ledoux
What we read this term:
In the Literature Book
The Minister’s Black Veil (TMBV) by N. Hawthorne
Rappaccini’s Daughter by N. Hawthorne
Book of the Term
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
The Characters:
The Minister’s Black Veil
Reverend Hooper – a man that feels horrible guilt for a crime that he committed. As result, wears a black veil hiding his face everyday until the day of his death.
Elizabeth – Hooper’s fiancé, she broke the engagement with Hooper when he refuses to take off the veil, but is the only one that stays by his side at the time of his death.
Rappaccini’s Daughter
Rappaccini – a scientist that is so dedicated to his life work that he turned his daughter into a living experiment. He can also be described as a “demented scientist”
Giovanni – a young scholar who goes to Paris to further his education, there he meets Beatrice the young and beautiful daughter of Rappaccini. He falls in love and learns the evil secret behind Beatrice and the garden she spends so much time in.
Beatrice – a young maiden who lived most of her life in the confines of her home and her garden. She was a living experiment of her father, her breath could kill animals. She falls for Giovanni and ends up turning against her father and ends up drinking a liquid in a vial given to her by Giovanni and dies.
Baglioni – Giovanni’s teacher/advisor. He considers Rappaccini a rival and warns Giovanni of the risk of being with Beatrice. In the ends he gives Giovanni a vial and claims it contains the “cure” to Rappaccini’s garden of poison but truly did it out of spite.
The Crucible
Abigail Williams – she is Parris’s niece. When was caught dancing in the woods she took the chance to save herself and started accusing innocent people of witchcraft. She is a manipulative girl and is willing to lie to court officials, betray friends, and even commit murder. In the end she runs away from Salem leaving behind the chaos she started.
Betty Parris – Parris’s daughter. She is also caught in the woods with Abigail. Her fake symptom of witchcraft is what set off the hysteria in Salem.
Parris – he is the reverend in Salem who used to be a businessman. He did not change his life after he had “turned to God.” He still looks for opportunities to get money and is very concerned with his own reputation. He puts himself before his daughter and at a point even the lives of those accused.
John Proctor – a hardworking man who spends most of his days in the fields rather than the church. His relationship with Abigail leads to the imprisonment of his wife Elizabeth Proctor. In the end when he attempted to denounce Abigail he ended up being denounced himself. In the end when he refused to sign his confession he is lead to hang.
Elizabeth Proctor – a God fearing woman who follows the church and gospel much more closely than her husband. She resents Abigail for the relationship Abigail has with her husband, and she constantly reminds her husband of his lechery. But when it came to telling the truth to the court about her husband’s relationship with Abigail she lied, leading to her husband being denounced. She is accused of witchcraft and is jailed but has a chance to live on longer because she is with child.
Reverend Hale – he comes to Salem on the request of Parris to find any witches that resides in Salem. He is devoted to his work and enforces the laws against witchcraft. When the truth is finally revealed to Hale he quits the court only to come back to ask the innocent to “confess” so that they may live.
Mary Warren – she is the Procter’s servant and is the friend of Abigail. She was a reliable “witness” of the court until Elizabeth was arrested. She then, under John’s command, goes to court to denounce Abigail. Abigail then turns the court against her and she, saving herself, denounces Proctor.
Literary Terms:
The Minister’s Black Veil
Theme: everyone sins
Symbol(s): the black veil – the shame and guilt Hooper feels for his guilt
Motifs(s): the black veil
Rappaccini’s Daughter
Theme: Looks can be deceiving and knowledge can be dangerous
Symbol(s): the garden – represents how beauty can be deadly
Represents Beatrice
Represents how dangerous extensive knowledge can be
This all ties together to show the irony because in the end Beatrice was lethal and she came from the garden
Motifs(s): the garden. Beauty and death.
The Crucible
Theme: The accuser is not always right.
Symbol(s): the poppet – though it was meant for good it end up leading Elizabeth to her imprisonment.
Motifs(s): witchcraft/witch trials – relate to the Red Scare
Conflicts:
The Minister’s Black Veil
External conflicts: Hooper is feared.
People avoid him and children run from him.
Elizabeth leaves him because of his refusal to remove the veil.
Internal conflicts: Guilt he feels for his sins.
Not being able to tell anyone.
Resentment towards people who were so close to him is now avoiding him.
Rappaccini’s Daughter
External conflicts: Beatrice’s breath can kill.
Giovanni is now poisoned.
Baglioni is against Rappaccini and is using Giovanni to “get back” at Rappaccini.
Internal conflicts: Giovanni is conflicted, now that his breath is killing living things to he is angered because Beatrice had lead him to this but he loves her too much to do anything about it.
The Crucible
External conflicts: Abigail and her friends are accusing the innocent of Salem of witchcraft. Hundreds are to be hanged.
Internal conflicts: John Proctor didn’t want to expose the truth about Abigail in the beginning because he had feelings for her. Then she goes and accused his wife. Now he has to make his choice, wife or girl?
SO WHAT?
So why did we spend all term reading and thinking over what The Minister’s Black Veil, Rappaccini’s Daughter, and The Crucible is all about and how it relates to us. It is because all of these stories represent a part of us as human nature and as Americans.
Through the Minister’s Black Veil we learned of something we keep to ourselves for as long as we knew what the word “secret” meant. And we are meant to realize how, even when we don’t try to, we are all wearing our own veil. We all have a secret and like Hooper we should admit it.
Through Rappaccini’s Daughter we learn that beauty is not always as lovely as it seems, like the Venus Fly Trap with its sweet smell it is in fact deadly. It teaches us to never judge a book by its cover. Also this story teaches us that knowledge can in fact be deadly. As Rappaccini follow his dream for the ever more knowledge he only ends up leading his own daughter to death.
And finally through The Crucible we learn a little more of our history of hysteria. As humans and as Americans we have had our fair share of hysteria and it is always due to someone pointing the fingers and everyone else listening to the accuser and never the accused. We, hopefully, are meant to learn from our past mistakes and learn to not be so persuaded by one “appointed” to lead us to only hysteria
SECTION D: The Crucible by Arthur Miller
· Major Characters
o John Proctor- a well respected farmer that is fighting for the life of his wife. He had an affair with Abigail
o Abigail Williams- a young woman that causes the witch scare. She accuses a number of people of being witches including proctor’s wife. She has a love interest in John.
o Elizabeth Proctor- Wife of John. She is a very faithful Christian who is accused by Abigail of being a witch. She kicked her out after she founds out about the affair.
o Mr. Hale- A young minister that starts the investigation for witches. He later backs away from the trial as he finds out that the girls are lying about witchcraft.
o Reverend Paris- the minister of Salem. He cares more about his image and reputation than religion. He is also uncle of Abigail.
o Judge Danforth- the supreme judge of the trials. He believes that what he is doing is the right thing.
o Thomas Putnam- a wealthy landowner that accuses other people of witchcraft so he can buy their land.
o Ann Putnam- mother of 7 deceased children with Ruth the sole survivor
o Mary Warren- servant girl of the Proctors. She confessed to everybody about lying but later accuses Proctor of being a witch for fear of being called a witch.
o Giles- An old man that fights Putnam for his lands. He dies because he did not want to give up the name of the witness that testify against Putnam.
· Brief Summary
o The Crucible depicts the Salem witch trials in 1692. Abigail Williams and other Salem girls accused other people of witchcraft because they did not want to face their punishment. John Proctor had an affair with Abigail. It is later known that his wife Elizabeth kicked Abigail and damaged their relationship. Abigail blames Elizabeth as to the reason why John denies their relationship and accuses her of witchcraft. John knowing that the girls are lying tries to convince the town and Judge Danforth of the truth. In the end, he is accused of witchcraft and is hanged.
Literary Terms
Motifs, symbols and themes
The Red Scare influenced this book therefore one theme is everyone panicking and going crazy. People were scared of Communism like the Salem people were scared of witchcraft.
The Crucible is like the Red Scare so it connects to McCarthyism. McCarthyism was one person causing chaos by saying he had a list of names that were communist. The Crucible connects directly to the Communism scare.
Conflicts
John Proctor
Internal - Confessing to witchcraft, writing a confession, pinning the confession to church doors, guilty to adultery.
External – The court/ church = John Proctor dislikes the church and court and how it handles the witchcraft issue. John Proctor feels that it is all untrue and Danforth just doesn’t see it. John Proctor disliked the court ever since Elizabeth was taken away.
Abigail vs. Elizabeth (External)
Abigail dislikes Elizabeth
Abigail wanted John
Abigail mentioned Elizabeth’s name in court to witchcraft.
Accused Elizabeth of stabbing her with the doll with a pin hidden in it.
Parris (Internal)
Keeping his reputation and ministry
Keeping the dancing business of the girls a secret from Danforth
Important Passages for analysis
Page 10-11
Abigail is questioned by Parris and lies. “It were sport, uncle!”
Page 20
Abigail tells everyone else to tell the same story as her.
Page 24
Abigail talks to Proctor and asks cute. “I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart!”
Page 42-48
Abigail blames Tituba, and Tituba confesses. Abigail and the other girls start to blame other wives.
Page 54
“You will not judge me more…” John Proctor tells Elizabeth that he should have just shut her up because he confessed and told her everything but she still suspects him.
Page 60
“I am bound by law, I cannot tell it.” Mary Warren tells Proctor about the court and how Elizabeth has been mentioned by she will not say by whom because she is an official by court and she cannot be ordered around.
Page 63-71
Reverend Hale visits Proctor and his wife. He questions them to see how their family life is. Hale also asks Proctor to recite the Ten Commandments to which Proctor misses one which Elizabeth informs him is adultery.
Page 109
Abigail makes up a shadow because Mary Warren confessed that all the witchcraft was fake.
Page 110
Proctor confesses to committing adultery with Abigail and calls her a “Whore.”
Page 113
Elizabeth cannot tell the truth that Proctor had an affair with Abigail.
Page 118
Mary calls Proctor the “Devil’s man.” Proctor is than taken away. Reverend Hale also leaves the court.
Page 126
Abigail and Mercy Lewis disappear.
Page 138
Proctor confesses to witchcraft for Elizabeth and his kids.
Page 142
Proctor is told to write a confession to be hung in front of the church door but Proctor refuses to.
So What?
Do not lie! Lying is bad. Panicking is also bad. A wide spread scare like communism or witchcraft was nothing big and should not have been thrown out of proportion. The Crucible is important to our society because it shows that we as a society panic and go hysterical over something that is not a big deal and may not even be true. This book can help our development by showing us that people should not exaggerate unnecessarily. McCarthyism is just like the Salem witch trials.
Rappaccini’s Daughter By Nathaniel Hawthorne
Major Characters
Giovanni- Young medical student, falls in love with Beatrice.
Beatrice- Rappaccini’s daughter yet also his “experiment.”
Dr. Rappaccini- Researcher of the medicinal properties of plants, Beatrice’s father.
Baglioni- Giovanni’s friend and also Dr. Rappaccini’s rival.
Brief Summary
Giovanni starts to go under the wing of Dr. Rappaccini in his study of exotic plants in his garden. Dr. Rappaccini gives over the task of cultivating his plants to his daughter Beatrice who seems to have a primitive version of a “green thumb” when taking care of the plants. He even has her care over the poisonous plants which seem to flourish under her care. However, Beatrice starts to depend on the plants just as much as they depend on her, "Give me thy breath, my sister, for I am faint with common air." Giovanni becomes amused and attracted by Beatrice’s presence in the garden but also fearful. After spending time caring for the poisonous plants, Giovanni notices a change in Beatrice. He witnesses small creatures and normal flowers dieing in the presence of Beatrice who seems to be now in sync with the poison from the various plants she tends. Giovanni still socializes and falls in love with her despite her new obtained qualities and pretty soon he not only becomes immune to her poisonous fumes, but also starts to become poisonous himself when he noticed he is able to kill insects too with his breath. He then turns to his friend Baglioni who was able to convince Giovanni that Beatrice has been living as Dr. Rappaccini’s “scientific experiment.” Baglioni aids him with an antidote that can counter the poison and suggests to give it to Beatrice first. The purpose of the antidote was to revert Beatrice to her normal condition, but instead she becomes sick and dies.
Literary Terms
Irony- Hawthorne notes, "as poison had been life, so the powerful antidote was death." Basically and ironically, the poison is what kept Beatrice living and the antidote is what killed her.
Hubris- Dr. Rappaccini was wrong to think that he, a mortal, could be like a god by attempting to improve natural creation. Penalty for such a deed was the death of his daughter.
Adam & Eve- This story somewhat relates to the biblical story of Adam & Eve of how all of Dr. Rappaccini’s experiments are started in the garden (Garden of Eden, where Adam & Eve were created).
So What?
This story’s purpose was to teach people to accept living things for the way they are and that it is wrong to try and force something or someone into something different that seems appeasing to that person’s view. It is like trying to make someone live their life as lie or trying to replace someone’s photo album, kind of like brain washing. Can’t simply change a person like or if they don’t want to. Some people would rather be hated for who they are rather than be loved for who they are not.
The Minister’s Black Veil By Nathaniel Hawthorne
Major Characters
Reverend Hooper- A well-respected Minister of a small Puritan town who suddenly stars wearing a black veil over his face which concerns his people.
Elizabeth- The Reverend’s fiancée who leaves him when he refuses to take off his veil, even for her
Reverend Clark- A young priest who comes to pray at Hooper’s deathbed and who asks the Minister to take off his veil during his final hours.
The Townspeople- The people play an important role, because even though their names aren’t mentioned, they are the 4th character and their reaction to the veil is crucial to the story.
Brief Summary
Mr. Hooper is a respected Minister in a small Puritan town. One day he unexpectedly begins to wear a black veil which completely covers his face. This causes much commotion in the village, especially because he refuses to give a reason for his behavior. He goes on with his tasks (masses, weddings, funerals), never taking the veil off. He quickly becomes the hot topic of the village. The townspeople all speculate as to what the reason for this unusual behavior might be. Hooper, however, refuses to tell his people his secret. He gives vague explanations and repeatedly says that he sees a black veil on everybody’s face, although not physically visible. He remains secretive even with his fiancée, Elizabeth, who leaves him soon after. The Minister’s face remains covered even at his deathbed, where even though he is repeatedly asked to, he refuses to take off the veil. The idea for the story possibly came from a Minster whom Hawthorne knew, who accidentally killed a friend of his and wore a black veil for the rest of his life.
Literary Terms
Motif, symbols, and themes
The black veil symbolizes a secret sin, which could be either a real, secret sin one committed or the fact that everyone is a sinner (a Christian belief, especially emphasized by Puritans).
Conflicts
Hooper vs. himself; Mr. Hooper is obviously fighting an internal battle with himself and his conscience.
Elizabeth vs. Hooper; Hooper refuses to tell his fiancée his dark secret which leads to the split between the two.
Literary Devices
Symbolism; symbolism is the most important part of the story because the symbolism and meaning of the veil are the main theme of the story.
Important Passages
“Tremble also at each other! Have men avoided me, and women shown no pity, and children screamed and fled, only for my black veil? What, but the mystery which it obscurely typifies, has made this piece of crape so awful? When the friend shows his inmost heart to his friend; the lover to his best beloved; when man does not vainly shrink from the eye of his Creator, loathsomely treasuring up the secret of his sin; then deem me a monster, for the symbol beneath which I have lived, and die! I look around me, and, lo! On every visage a Black Veil!" (273)
Mr. Hooper screams this when asked to take his veil off on his death bed. Here lies the theme of the story, that every one is a sinner, whether in the biblical meaning or the nobody-is-perfect meaning. The Reverend’s last words are accusing the ones around him of being all worthy of wearing the same veil that put a shadow over his life and what’s believed to symbolize the dark secret he is keeping.
SO WHAT?
We read this to see yet another perspective of the Puritan life and culture, which was a big part of this year’s course. It shows the mentality of Puritans and the reality of life for the first settlers of our country. The repentant Reverend who puts an invisible wall between himself and the world as well as the gossip-loving people makes a good picture of those times. Also, the symbolism in the story and the message that everyone is a sinner and has something on their conscience are very interesting and crucial in understanding the times. They are ideas worth considering as well.
The Cold War, Propaganda, and Japanese Internment
Called “Cold” because no direct fighting took place.
US wanted to spread Capitalism and USSR communism and socialism.
Indirect conflicts took place in Korea, Vietnam, Latin America, Laos and Cambodia
US also sent billions to Greece and Turkey to prevent communist regimes from taking hold (Marshall plan).
· Anti-communist hysteria began after the Russian Civil war (1920’s, Sacco and Vanzetti.), but ballooned after WWII, when the Soviets established satellite countries in Eastern Europe, as well as blockaded Eastern Germany in a power bid.
· HUAC (House Un American Committee)
o Organized by Congress in 26 May 1938. (during the Great Depression). Established to seek out American Socialists, Fascists, Communists etc, though quickly narrowed in on Communists.
· Rosenberg’s and Alger Hiss.
o The Rosenberg’s (Ethel and Julius) were a Communist, Jewish couple who were tried for espionage (selling atomic secrets to the USSR) and executed in 19 June 1953, they were the first civilians in US history executed for Espionage. Alger Hiss was a New Deal supporter who was accused by Whittaker Chambers of Espionage. After the statute of limitations ran out for espionage, he was prosecuted for perjury, which lead to a hung jury.
His second trial resulted in 5 years prison. In 1992, a Russian general declared him innocent.
· McCarthy and McCarthyism.
o Joseph McCarthy was an Appleton WI Republican senator, who after an innactive term and fear of losing party support, claimed to have a list of 205 communists in the State department. (he alternatively used 57 persons; the list has never been proven, nor at the time was it shown to any in the media or government.)
· Propaganda
o Messages in media to influence thinking, actions and advertising. “Commercials”
Can be overt or subliminal, have a target demographic or try to appeal to all
· Bandwagon- everyone is buying/thinking/acting this, as should you.
· Testimonial- endorsed by either a celebrity or a common person (the latter also being know as Plain folks)
· Transfer- associates message with a popular established message, movement, symbol etc.
· Fear- message states (direct or indirectly) that the message or product is necessary for Survival (physical, political, social, economical etc)
· Japanese Internment
o During WWII, the Japanese Empire was loosely aligned with Germany and Italy,
causing much fear that Japanese Immigrants were still loyal to the Japanese Government and were subverting the war effort.
o Executive Order 9066 Law allowed authorized military leaders to select and round up any person or Japanese ancestry (citizen-noncitizen, immigrant-native born, mixed race etc.) and relocate them to exclusion zones in the middle of the country. Persons detained also lost rights to any property and most possessions.
· The Order was rescinded entirely on 2 January 1945, persons interned were given $25 and a train ticket to their former home.
SECTION G: Thao Ha, Kevin Harkess, Danny Grewe, Hector Hernandez, Tara Hollins
Section: G
Term 5
“The Crucible” by Arthur Miller
Setting: Salem, Massachusetts, spring of 1692
Characters:
Reverend Samuel Parris- Minister in Salem. Worries about his reputation more than anything.
Abigail- Parris’ niece. Starts the witch trials by accusing others. Pretends to see spirits. Madly in love with John Proctor. Plans to get rid of Elizabeth Proctor to be with him.
John Proctor- Salem farmer. Committed adultery with Abigail. Openly condemn Parris and do not attend church.
Elizabeth Proctor- Wife of John Proctor. An honest woman who fired Abigail because of her affair with her husband. Got accused of witchcraft by Abigail.
Reverend John Hale- Minister in Beverly. Was called up by the people of Salem to look into Betty’s condition to see if it was witchcraft. Supports trials but changes his mind when he figures out Abigail is lying.
Deputy Governor Danforth- Judge serving in Salem during the trials. He signs the death sentences to people refusing the accused crime(s). Refuses to delay execution for fear he will appear weak by townspeople.
Marry Warren- Servant to the Proctors. Admits lying after going along with Abigail and the other girls. Was part of the jury.
Betty Parris- Parris’ daughter. Got caught dancing in the woods and pretended to be sick. Accused people of witchcraft.
Mrs. Putnam- Believes that witchcraft is responsible for the death of her 7 children and accuses Goody Nurse of being a witch.
Mr. Putnam- Greedy landowner in Salem. Accuses neighbors of witchcraft.
Ezekiel Cheever & Marshal Herrick- Appointed by the court and assisted in arresting accused individuals.
Sarah Good- Begger in Salem (was poor/homeless) and first one to be accused.
Tituba- Parris’ black slave from Barbados and was discovered casting spells and making potions with the girls in the woods.
Giles Corey- An elderly farmer in Salem. Challenges the court in order to defend his wife who was accused. Was pressed to death.
Judge Hathorne- A judge of the court
Mercy Lewis- Servant of the Putnams and friends of Abigail. Pretends to see spirits and accuses others of witchcraft.
Francis Nurse- Farmer and landowner of Salem. Respected member of the community and often calls forth to settle disagreements.
Brief Summary:
“The Crucible” is about the Salem witch trials that were started by a group of girls (Abigail, Betty and others) who were caught dancing naked in the woods by Reverend Parris. This book deals with the mass hysteria of witchcraft that was push upon the Christian community. People lost all common sense and started to accuse one another of witchcraft in fear of losing their life and/or creditability and these witch trials worries everyone in town. Even though it was all a lie, almost everyone bought what Abigail and the other girls were saying about spirits. Abigail’s love for John Proctor forces her to accuse John’s wife, Elizabeth, of witchcraft which causes John to confess to the court of his adultery in order to save his wife. This ends with Abigail and Mary Lewis running away because they were caught lying and Elizabeth looking on as her husband was being led to the gallows to be hung.
Important passages for analysis
“I made a gift for you today, Goody Proctor. I had to sit long hours in a chair and passed the time with sewing.”
-Who said it: Mary Warren
-Meaning: This means that Mary Warren spent her time sewing instead of listening in the courtroom.
-Significance: This passage shows how nonchalant Mary Warren feels about the whole witchcraft situation
“No more! I should have roared you down when first you told me your suspicion. But I wilted, and, like a Christian, I confessed. Confessed! Some dream I had must have mistaken you for God that day. But you’re not, and let you remember it! Let you look sometimes for the goodness in me, and judge me not.”
-Who said it: John Proctor
-Meaning: This is when John’s anger grows from Elizabeth incessantly mentioning things about him and Abigail Williams. He wants her to know that he will never commit adultery again.
-Significance: This shows that John Proctor is now a changed man.
“A dress?”
-Who said it: Abigail Williams
-Meaning: Abigail says this statement very innocently so that she will seem that way to others around her. She tries to act as if she will never do sinful things.
-Significance: This shows that Abigail has something to hide and she covers it up with a façade of beauty and innocence.
“Abby, I never give you hope to wait for me…Abby, you’ll put it out of mind. I’ll not be comin’ for you more”
-Who said it: John Proctor
-Meaning: John tells Abigail that he will no longer commit lechery with her and that he never lead her on. She should never think like that again.
-Significance: This shows that john realizes he has made a mistake and committed a sin and he wants to change. He does not want his wife to stay angry at him.
“You come so late I thought you’d gone to Salem this afternoon.”
-Who said it: Elizabeth Proctor
-Meaning: Elizabeth is inquiring that she expected john to be in Salem because that is where Abigail is. Elizabeth thinks that John still has relations with Abigail.
-Significance: This shows that Elizabeth still has a bit of mistrust in John.
Motif, Symbols, and Themes:
A motif is a usually recurring salient thematic element or a dominant idea or central theme. A motif that went along far in the play was execution. Many people got killed for their beliefs. Another motif could be expressed in the idea of lying. Everyone lied from the beginning to the end to either save their life or other lives.
A symbol is something that stands for or suggests something else by reason of relationship, association, convention, or accidental resemblance. One of the biggest symbols was society in general and how it also depicted the society from which Miller was from, in the mid 1900s. He lived during a time of the red scare and its madness was portrayed by the Salem Witch Trials.
A theme is the subject or topic of a particular piece of literature. A major theme with the play the crucible was chaos and hysteria. Through out the whole play, there was a constant fear of being “possessed” by witches. It caused so much panic that yelling in the streets frequently happened.
Conflicts (Internal/External)
There was an internal conflict in regards to Mary Warren. At first she had the decision to side with Abigail or the Proctors. That decision process was magnified due to the apprehension of Elizabeth Proctor. Now Mary Warren faced the dilemma of being true to herself or trying to save herself from witchcraft.
John Proctor had an internal conflict based on society’s judgment. He did not know whether to admit his sin of committing adultery with Abigail Williams or keep quiet. He was afraid of what society might label him as. Eventually, that did not matter as he wanted to bring down Abigail’s social integrity so her lies could not be brought any further.
There is an external conflict between Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail Williams. Their constant bickering over John Proctor spilled over into the public’s eye. Abigail wanted the affair with John to go on, but Elizabeth wanted it to stop. Abigail got very much enraged that she tried to have Elizabeth killed by accusing her of being a witch. Thus, she could have John all for herself. However, the story ended up that Abigail ran away, Elizabeth lived, but John died.
There is an external conflict between John Proctor and Abigail Williams. There is big tension between the two characters through out the play. Abigail wants the two to be attached while John does not want to associate with her. John hates her character so much that he wants her to be disregarded from society. The conflict ends by the two going their separate ways with no remorse.
Literary Devices
The Crucible is considered to be both an allegory and a satire. There is much symbolism to the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy era of the 20th century. However, it is a satire for how crazy and stupid society acted during the 1950s just because of propaganda. Miller made fun of the 1950s by having character going beyond lengths and doing outrageous things like seeing invisible objects to prove the chaos that erupted based on speculation.
So What?
Miller wrote “The Crucible” during the time when Americans were accusing people of being a communist. This book is important because it shows how propaganda and finger pointing can lead to panic and that in society we tend to blame other people to get out of trouble. Also, the theme of this book is standing up for the truth and getting over misfortune (shown through the character John Proctor). From this work of literature, it reminds us that people are not perfect, and that we can make mistakes. Even though we make mistakes, we can make amends by making what is wrong right again.
Japanese Internment Camps
After the attacks on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed “Executive Order 9066 Law”. This allowed military commanders to designate military areas. This meant that all people of Japanese ancestry were excluded from the Pacific Coast, unless they were in internment camps. Anyone that was at least one eighth Japanese were eligible for these camps. A total of over 7,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese from Latin America were held in the camps, which were run by the Immigration and Naturalization Serve (INS). Eight of the twenty seven U.S. Department of Justice Camps held Japanese Americans. 2,210 persons of Japanese ancestry were held in these camps. After the war, 1400 persons were not allowed to return to Latin America and more than nine 900 Japanese Peruvians were deported to Japan. The Exclusion order was rescinded on January 2nd, 1945. Freed internees were given twenty five dollars and a train ticket to their former home. The last internment camp was closed in 1946.
Important Dates
March 2nd, 1942 – General DeWitt issues Public Proclamation No. 1. This informed Japanese Americans they would have to be at least 100 miles from the Pacific Coast.
March 11th, 1942 – Executive Order 9095 created the Office of the Alien Property Custodian, and gave it discretionary authority over all alien property interests.
March 24th, 1942 – Public Proclamation No. 3 declares an 8 pm to 6 am curfew for “all enemy aliens and all persons of Japanese ancestry” within the military areas.
March 27th, 1942 – General DeWitt’s Proclamation No. 4 prohibits all those of Japanese ancestry from leaving “Military Area No. 1”.
May 3rd, 1942 – General DeWitt issues Civilian Exclusion Order No. 346, ordering all people of Japanese ancestry to report to assembly centers, where they would live until being moved to permanent “Relocation Centers”.
Rappaccini’s Daughter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Major Characters Rappaccini- is a scientist who grows plants in a garden that have poisonous toxins in them. The flowers are beautiful on the outside and release dangerous toxins. Just like the flowers Rappaccini has a daughter named Beatrice who is very beautiful as well. He is a scientist with bad motifs using his daughter for his experiments. Beatrice- the daughter of Rappaccini who is a strange character seen in a garden piking flowers. Although she seems quiet and quite tranquil she has a dangerous secret inside of her. Giovanni- a scholar who goes to Padua, Italy to study at the University. This is the main protagonist of the short story who falls in love with the girl from the garden, Beatrice. Giovanni learns more about Beatrice secret as he continues to see her each day. Baglioni- is considered a foil to Rappaccini. Baglioni a good friend to Giovanni’s father acts like a father towards Giovanni in consulting him about the dangers of Beatrice and the intentions of Rappaccini himself. Brief SummaryThis is a short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne that tells the story of a man named Giovanni who falls in love with a strange girl named Beatrice. The young girl the daughter of Rappaccini is subject to the mad scientists experiments on poisonous flowers. As Giovanni comes more into contact with Beatrice he learns more about her secrets and what the flowers in the garden possess. ThemeGood vs. Evil is a theme that is greatly used in this story. Rappaccini is considered a sort of antagonist who causes the poisonous flowers to affect everyone else. Unlike Rappaccini, Baglioni is the complete opposite who helps out Giovanni and is not ambitious like Rappaccini. Symbols Beatrice is a symbol of indirect evil disguised as beauty. Although she never temps Giovanni she represents how evil can manifest itself into a beautiful figure that can attract its victims. Just like a flower with beautiful petal patterns and captivating scents they capture their prey by fooling them into coming closer. Though, Beatrice is not intentionally trying to hurt anyone. ConflictsInternal conflict where Baglioni and Giovanni speak about how dangerous Beatrice is and her father Rappaccini. Giovanni keeps this argument inside of him contemplating on how Beatrice can be someone dangerous. External conflict is when Giovanni figures out that Beatrice is toxic and that she is not safe to be near to. So what?We read this story to learn about temptation and how evil is manifested into beauty and uses this as a weapon to attract victims. This is significant in showing how someone is not always what they are. Learning about someone and learning their secrets can lead to surprises. Giovanni loved Beatrice and that love was sort of transferred by the toxin from Beatrice. They both would share the same poison and feel the same for each other. One thing that can be learned from this is that love gives to each partner something similar to use and share.
The Minister’s Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Major CharactersReverend Hooper- is the nice, tranquil minister of a village that begins to wear a black veil to cover his face. He does this because he accidentally murdered his best friend. Hooper feels the need to wear the veil to cover his face from the world and from god because he is ashamed of himself. The people of the town see him as a scary image and feel uncomfortable with him wearing the black veil. Elizabeth- Reverend Hooper’s fiancée who cares about him. Since Hooper does not want to take of his veil she leaves him, because she cannot seem to comprehend what causes the pain to Hooper. Reverend Clark- the man who tries to convince Hooper to remove his veil on his deathbed. Clark uses lots of references to God and how he must remove his black veil to rest in peace. Brief Summary-Reverend Hooper a minister who accidentally killed his friend now wears a black veil to hide his face from the rest of the people. The story shows Hooper go into many village events such as weddings and funerals and seeing the reactions of the people. The people of the village have intertwined ideas about what is happening to the minister. His own fiancée Elizabeth pleads him to remove his veil but refuses to do so. The story ends with his death in the bed and never for once wanting to remove the veil. Even when Reverend Clark pleads him to remove it he refuses and dies with the veil on. On his burial service he is buried with the black veil on his face. Symbols-The Black Veil- represents shame, sin, secrets, unhappiness. The veil as used by the minister is meant to prevent others to see his face because he feels that his face is unworthy of being by the village people. The veil also represent an evil image surrounding a good person. This ties in with evil disguising itself as beauty and it can also be good disguised as evil as well. Internal conflict- there is one conflict between the reverend Hooper and himself. He troubles with the murder of his own friend that he wears a black veil to remind himself of the wrong that he has caused. He refuses to take off the veil when is told to do so. External conflict- is between the village people and the reverend. The people see him as a bad image and feel uncomfortable with it. Either way they still adore him, but want him to remove the veil.
So What?The point of reading this short story was to see how changing ones appearance can lead to huge differences in how people react to the change. In society this change can happen when people feel threatened or have done something wrong that can actually cause this.
Communism and 20th century Notes
-Communism was major force in politics. It wanted to destroy capitalism.
-Socialism is when public companies are owned together with many people. It was designed for equality for everyone. It was compared with communism.
-The word “crucible” means a test or trial.
-Josef Stalin was ruler of Soviet Union for over 25 years.
-Karl Marx was considered the father of communism.
-Joseph McCarthy was one of the fathers of the Red Scare of the 1950s. He accused 205 people of being communists. Led a big investigation to convict 57 of them. He lost credibility as a result.
-The HUAC was a committee of the U.S. that was eventually designed to seek out communists.
-The Hollywood Blacklists was a list of professionals who were not allowed to work due to their public political affiliations .Highlighted by the Hollywood Ten.
-The Cold War was the international struggle between the Soviet Union and the United States for world dominance.
-Hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials was started because of an ongoing frontier war, economic conditions, congregational strife, teenage boredom, and personal jealousies.
-The Crucible differs from the actual Salem Witch trials by the book saying that John Proctor and Abigail Williams had an affair, when actually that never happened in real life.
-Similarities between the Red Scare and the Salem Witch Trials are: violent and cruel events, wrongfully accused people, and a system which demonstrated order and conformity.
-McCarthyism made national headlines due to the boldness of McCarthy himself of blatantly naming people of being communists. McCarthyism was all about hyping up anti-communism.
-Walter Winchill invented the gossip column and permanently altered journalism.
-The Rosenburgs were a couple who were killed due to the fact they accused of being communist spies.
-Roy Cohn was a lawyer who died form AIDS in 1986. He was also accused of being a homosexual.
Propaganda- refers to certain demographics and makes us feel a certain way
Bandwagon- since everyone is doing it, you should too!
Everyone is wearing skinny jeans now. Don’t you want to be apart of the in-crowd fashion of the world?
Testimonial- famous people are paid to advertise and go in on a cause.
Shaq and Ben Stein want you to be a good player and smart when you…
Plain Folks- make a candidate or cause identity with common everyday people
Keep voting for Mayor Menino; he lives in Boston and shops at Stop&Shop
Transfer- images, quotes, or symbols of famous people are used to convey an unrelated message
Trust the Midas touch and…
Fear- uses something that instills fear, but also gives a solution you should partake in to fix it
Get health insurance because you wouldn’t want to pass away unprepared; we can help.
Logical Fallacies- there is an accurate premises, but an inaccurate conclusion
1- Bill Clinton supports gun control
2- Communist regimes support gun control
3- Bill Clinton is a communist
Glittering Generalities- related to transfer, rights, values, and accepted virtues used to stir up emotions
You owe it to yourself and to your family- Jim Sokolove- I’ll give you the rights you deserve
Name-calling- opposite of glittering generalities, links a person or cause to something negative
In a campaign, you claim you care, and the other person is too “cold-hearted”
From The Crucible (Handout)
Slogans- more easily remembered
Subway- eat fresh
Repetition- to stay in a person’s mind
Flashcards
Loaded Words- feeling words used to get an emotion
Peace, choice, patriotism
Powerful Images- their emotion associations that tend to make us feel good
Gardens, rainbows, babies…
Appeals to Fear- If you do not do a certain thing, something that you fear can happen
Bandwagon of fears
Appeals to basic needs/desires- in order to survive, we also have emotional needs
Needs to be loved, cared for, and have meaningful work.
What we read this term:
In the Literature Book
The Minister’s Black Veil (TMBV) by N. Hawthorne
Rappaccini’s Daughter by N. Hawthorne
Book of the Term
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
The Characters:
The Minister’s Black Veil
Reverend Hooper – a man that feels horrible guilt for a crime that he committed. As result, wears a black veil hiding his face everyday until the day of his death.
Elizabeth – Hooper’s fiancé, she broke the engagement with Hooper when he refuses to take off the veil, but is the only one that stays by his side at the time of his death.
Rappaccini’s Daughter
Rappaccini – a scientist that is so dedicated to his life work that he turned his daughter into a living experiment. He can also be described as a “demented scientist”
Giovanni – a young scholar who goes to Paris to further his education, there he meets Beatrice the young and beautiful daughter of Rappaccini. He falls in love and learns the evil secret behind Beatrice and the garden she spends so much time in.
Beatrice – a young maiden who lived most of her life in the confines of her home and her garden. She was a living experiment of her father, her breath could kill animals. She falls for Giovanni and ends up turning against her father and ends up drinking a liquid in a vial given to her by Giovanni and dies.
Baglioni – Giovanni’s teacher/advisor. He considers Rappaccini a rival and warns Giovanni of the risk of being with Beatrice. In the ends he gives Giovanni a vial and claims it contains the “cure” to Rappaccini’s garden of poison but truly did it out of spite.
The Crucible
Abigail Williams – she is Parris’s niece. When was caught dancing in the woods she took the chance to save herself and started accusing innocent people of witchcraft. She is a manipulative girl and is willing to lie to court officials, betray friends, and even commit murder. In the end she runs away from Salem leaving behind the chaos she started.
Betty Parris – Parris’s daughter. She is also caught in the woods with Abigail. Her fake symptom of witchcraft is what set off the hysteria in Salem.
Parris – he is the reverend in Salem who used to be a businessman. He did not change his life after he had “turned to God.” He still looks for opportunities to get money and is very concerned with his own reputation. He puts himself before his daughter and at a point even the lives of those accused.
John Proctor – a hardworking man who spends most of his days in the fields rather than the church. His relationship with Abigail leads to the imprisonment of his wife Elizabeth Proctor. In the end when he attempted to denounce Abigail he ended up being denounced himself. In the end when he refused to sign his confession he is lead to hang.
Elizabeth Proctor – a God fearing woman who follows the church and gospel much more closely than her husband. She resents Abigail for the relationship Abigail has with her husband, and she constantly reminds her husband of his lechery. But when it came to telling the truth to the court about her husband’s relationship with Abigail she lied, leading to her husband being denounced. She is accused of witchcraft and is jailed but has a chance to live on longer because she is with child.
Reverend Hale – he comes to Salem on the request of Parris to find any witches that resides in Salem. He is devoted to his work and enforces the laws against witchcraft. When the truth is finally revealed to Hale he quits the court only to come back to ask the innocent to “confess” so that they may live.
Mary Warren – she is the Procter’s servant and is the friend of Abigail. She was a reliable “witness” of the court until Elizabeth was arrested. She then, under John’s command, goes to court to denounce Abigail. Abigail then turns the court against her and she, saving herself, denounces Proctor.
Literary Terms:
The Minister’s Black Veil
Theme: everyone sins
Symbol(s): the black veil – the shame and guilt Hooper feels for his guilt
Motifs(s): the black veil
Rappaccini’s Daughter
Theme: Looks can be deceiving and knowledge can be dangerous
Symbol(s): the garden – represents how beauty can be deadly
Represents Beatrice
Represents how dangerous extensive knowledge can be
This all ties together to show the irony because in the end Beatrice was lethal and she came from the garden
Motifs(s): the garden. Beauty and death.
The Crucible
Theme: The accuser is not always right.
Symbol(s): the poppet – though it was meant for good it end up leading Elizabeth to her imprisonment.
Motifs(s): witchcraft/witch trials – relate to the Red Scare
Conflicts:
The Minister’s Black Veil
External conflicts: Hooper is feared.
People avoid him and children run from him.
Elizabeth leaves him because of his refusal to remove the veil.
Internal conflicts: Guilt he feels for his sins.
Not being able to tell anyone.
Resentment towards people who were so close to him is now avoiding him.
Rappaccini’s Daughter
External conflicts: Beatrice’s breath can kill.
Giovanni is now poisoned.
Baglioni is against Rappaccini and is using Giovanni to “get back” at Rappaccini.
Internal conflicts: Giovanni is conflicted, now that his breath is killing living things to he is angered because Beatrice had lead him to this but he loves her too much to do anything about it.
The Crucible
External conflicts: Abigail and her friends are accusing the innocent of Salem of witchcraft. Hundreds are to be hanged.
Internal conflicts: John Proctor didn’t want to expose the truth about Abigail in the beginning because he had feelings for her. Then she goes and accused his wife. Now he has to make his choice, wife or girl?
SO WHAT?
So why did we spend all term reading and thinking over what The Minister’s Black Veil, Rappaccini’s Daughter, and The Crucible is all about and how it relates to us. It is because all of these stories represent a part of us as human nature and as Americans.
Through the Minister’s Black Veil we learned of something we keep to ourselves for as long as we knew what the word “secret” meant. And we are meant to realize how, even when we don’t try to, we are all wearing our own veil. We all have a secret and like Hooper we should admit it.
Through Rappaccini’s Daughter we learn that beauty is not always as lovely as it seems, like the Venus Fly Trap with its sweet smell it is in fact deadly. It teaches us to never judge a book by its cover. Also this story teaches us that knowledge can in fact be deadly. As Rappaccini follow his dream for the ever more knowledge he only ends up leading his own daughter to death.
And finally through The Crucible we learn a little more of our history of hysteria. As humans and as Americans we have had our fair share of hysteria and it is always due to someone pointing the fingers and everyone else listening to the accuser and never the accused. We, hopefully, are meant to learn from our past mistakes and learn to not be so persuaded by one “appointed” to lead us to only hysteria
SECTION D: The Crucible by Arthur Miller
· Major Characters
o John Proctor- a well respected farmer that is fighting for the life of his wife. He had an affair with Abigail
o Abigail Williams- a young woman that causes the witch scare. She accuses a number of people of being witches including proctor’s wife. She has a love interest in John.
o Elizabeth Proctor- Wife of John. She is a very faithful Christian who is accused by Abigail of being a witch. She kicked her out after she founds out about the affair.
o Mr. Hale- A young minister that starts the investigation for witches. He later backs away from the trial as he finds out that the girls are lying about witchcraft.
o Reverend Paris- the minister of Salem. He cares more about his image and reputation than religion. He is also uncle of Abigail.
o Judge Danforth- the supreme judge of the trials. He believes that what he is doing is the right thing.
o Thomas Putnam- a wealthy landowner that accuses other people of witchcraft so he can buy their land.
o Ann Putnam- mother of 7 deceased children with Ruth the sole survivor
o Mary Warren- servant girl of the Proctors. She confessed to everybody about lying but later accuses Proctor of being a witch for fear of being called a witch.
o Giles- An old man that fights Putnam for his lands. He dies because he did not want to give up the name of the witness that testify against Putnam.
· Brief Summary
o The Crucible depicts the Salem witch trials in 1692. Abigail Williams and other Salem girls accused other people of witchcraft because they did not want to face their punishment. John Proctor had an affair with Abigail. It is later known that his wife Elizabeth kicked Abigail and damaged their relationship. Abigail blames Elizabeth as to the reason why John denies their relationship and accuses her of witchcraft. John knowing that the girls are lying tries to convince the town and Judge Danforth of the truth. In the end, he is accused of witchcraft and is hanged.
Literary Terms
Motifs, symbols and themes
The Red Scare influenced this book therefore one theme is everyone panicking and going crazy. People were scared of Communism like the Salem people were scared of witchcraft.
The Crucible is like the Red Scare so it connects to McCarthyism. McCarthyism was one person causing chaos by saying he had a list of names that were communist. The Crucible connects directly to the Communism scare.
Conflicts
John Proctor
Internal - Confessing to witchcraft, writing a confession, pinning the confession to church doors, guilty to adultery.
External – The court/ church = John Proctor dislikes the church and court and how it handles the witchcraft issue. John Proctor feels that it is all untrue and Danforth just doesn’t see it. John Proctor disliked the court ever since Elizabeth was taken away.
Abigail vs. Elizabeth (External)
Abigail dislikes Elizabeth
Abigail wanted John
Abigail mentioned Elizabeth’s name in court to witchcraft.
Accused Elizabeth of stabbing her with the doll with a pin hidden in it.
Parris (Internal)
Keeping his reputation and ministry
Keeping the dancing business of the girls a secret from Danforth
Important Passages for analysis
Page 10-11
Abigail is questioned by Parris and lies. “It were sport, uncle!”
Page 20
Abigail tells everyone else to tell the same story as her.
Page 24
Abigail talks to Proctor and asks cute. “I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart!”
Page 42-48
Abigail blames Tituba, and Tituba confesses. Abigail and the other girls start to blame other wives.
Page 54
“You will not judge me more…” John Proctor tells Elizabeth that he should have just shut her up because he confessed and told her everything but she still suspects him.
Page 60
“I am bound by law, I cannot tell it.” Mary Warren tells Proctor about the court and how Elizabeth has been mentioned by she will not say by whom because she is an official by court and she cannot be ordered around.
Page 63-71
Reverend Hale visits Proctor and his wife. He questions them to see how their family life is. Hale also asks Proctor to recite the Ten Commandments to which Proctor misses one which Elizabeth informs him is adultery.
Page 109
Abigail makes up a shadow because Mary Warren confessed that all the witchcraft was fake.
Page 110
Proctor confesses to committing adultery with Abigail and calls her a “Whore.”
Page 113
Elizabeth cannot tell the truth that Proctor had an affair with Abigail.
Page 118
Mary calls Proctor the “Devil’s man.” Proctor is than taken away. Reverend Hale also leaves the court.
Page 126
Abigail and Mercy Lewis disappear.
Page 138
Proctor confesses to witchcraft for Elizabeth and his kids.
Page 142
Proctor is told to write a confession to be hung in front of the church door but Proctor refuses to.
So What?
Do not lie! Lying is bad. Panicking is also bad. A wide spread scare like communism or witchcraft was nothing big and should not have been thrown out of proportion. The Crucible is important to our society because it shows that we as a society panic and go hysterical over something that is not a big deal and may not even be true. This book can help our development by showing us that people should not exaggerate unnecessarily. McCarthyism is just like the Salem witch trials.
Rappaccini’s Daughter By Nathaniel Hawthorne
Major Characters
Giovanni- Young medical student, falls in love with Beatrice.
Beatrice- Rappaccini’s daughter yet also his “experiment.”
Dr. Rappaccini- Researcher of the medicinal properties of plants, Beatrice’s father.
Baglioni- Giovanni’s friend and also Dr. Rappaccini’s rival.
Brief Summary
Giovanni starts to go under the wing of Dr. Rappaccini in his study of exotic plants in his garden. Dr. Rappaccini gives over the task of cultivating his plants to his daughter Beatrice who seems to have a primitive version of a “green thumb” when taking care of the plants. He even has her care over the poisonous plants which seem to flourish under her care. However, Beatrice starts to depend on the plants just as much as they depend on her, "Give me thy breath, my sister, for I am faint with common air." Giovanni becomes amused and attracted by Beatrice’s presence in the garden but also fearful. After spending time caring for the poisonous plants, Giovanni notices a change in Beatrice. He witnesses small creatures and normal flowers dieing in the presence of Beatrice who seems to be now in sync with the poison from the various plants she tends. Giovanni still socializes and falls in love with her despite her new obtained qualities and pretty soon he not only becomes immune to her poisonous fumes, but also starts to become poisonous himself when he noticed he is able to kill insects too with his breath. He then turns to his friend Baglioni who was able to convince Giovanni that Beatrice has been living as Dr. Rappaccini’s “scientific experiment.” Baglioni aids him with an antidote that can counter the poison and suggests to give it to Beatrice first. The purpose of the antidote was to revert Beatrice to her normal condition, but instead she becomes sick and dies.
Literary Terms
Irony- Hawthorne notes, "as poison had been life, so the powerful antidote was death." Basically and ironically, the poison is what kept Beatrice living and the antidote is what killed her.
Hubris- Dr. Rappaccini was wrong to think that he, a mortal, could be like a god by attempting to improve natural creation. Penalty for such a deed was the death of his daughter.
Adam & Eve- This story somewhat relates to the biblical story of Adam & Eve of how all of Dr. Rappaccini’s experiments are started in the garden (Garden of Eden, where Adam & Eve were created).
So What?
This story’s purpose was to teach people to accept living things for the way they are and that it is wrong to try and force something or someone into something different that seems appeasing to that person’s view. It is like trying to make someone live their life as lie or trying to replace someone’s photo album, kind of like brain washing. Can’t simply change a person like or if they don’t want to. Some people would rather be hated for who they are rather than be loved for who they are not.
The Minister’s Black Veil By Nathaniel Hawthorne
Major Characters
Reverend Hooper- A well-respected Minister of a small Puritan town who suddenly stars wearing a black veil over his face which concerns his people.
Elizabeth- The Reverend’s fiancée who leaves him when he refuses to take off his veil, even for her
Reverend Clark- A young priest who comes to pray at Hooper’s deathbed and who asks the Minister to take off his veil during his final hours.
The Townspeople- The people play an important role, because even though their names aren’t mentioned, they are the 4th character and their reaction to the veil is crucial to the story.
Brief Summary
Mr. Hooper is a respected Minister in a small Puritan town. One day he unexpectedly begins to wear a black veil which completely covers his face. This causes much commotion in the village, especially because he refuses to give a reason for his behavior. He goes on with his tasks (masses, weddings, funerals), never taking the veil off. He quickly becomes the hot topic of the village. The townspeople all speculate as to what the reason for this unusual behavior might be. Hooper, however, refuses to tell his people his secret. He gives vague explanations and repeatedly says that he sees a black veil on everybody’s face, although not physically visible. He remains secretive even with his fiancée, Elizabeth, who leaves him soon after. The Minister’s face remains covered even at his deathbed, where even though he is repeatedly asked to, he refuses to take off the veil. The idea for the story possibly came from a Minster whom Hawthorne knew, who accidentally killed a friend of his and wore a black veil for the rest of his life.
Literary Terms
Motif, symbols, and themes
The black veil symbolizes a secret sin, which could be either a real, secret sin one committed or the fact that everyone is a sinner (a Christian belief, especially emphasized by Puritans).
Conflicts
Hooper vs. himself; Mr. Hooper is obviously fighting an internal battle with himself and his conscience.
Elizabeth vs. Hooper; Hooper refuses to tell his fiancée his dark secret which leads to the split between the two.
Literary Devices
Symbolism; symbolism is the most important part of the story because the symbolism and meaning of the veil are the main theme of the story.
Important Passages
“Tremble also at each other! Have men avoided me, and women shown no pity, and children screamed and fled, only for my black veil? What, but the mystery which it obscurely typifies, has made this piece of crape so awful? When the friend shows his inmost heart to his friend; the lover to his best beloved; when man does not vainly shrink from the eye of his Creator, loathsomely treasuring up the secret of his sin; then deem me a monster, for the symbol beneath which I have lived, and die! I look around me, and, lo! On every visage a Black Veil!" (273)
Mr. Hooper screams this when asked to take his veil off on his death bed. Here lies the theme of the story, that every one is a sinner, whether in the biblical meaning or the nobody-is-perfect meaning. The Reverend’s last words are accusing the ones around him of being all worthy of wearing the same veil that put a shadow over his life and what’s believed to symbolize the dark secret he is keeping.
SO WHAT?
We read this to see yet another perspective of the Puritan life and culture, which was a big part of this year’s course. It shows the mentality of Puritans and the reality of life for the first settlers of our country. The repentant Reverend who puts an invisible wall between himself and the world as well as the gossip-loving people makes a good picture of those times. Also, the symbolism in the story and the message that everyone is a sinner and has something on their conscience are very interesting and crucial in understanding the times. They are ideas worth considering as well.
The Cold War, Propaganda, and Japanese Internment
Called “Cold” because no direct fighting took place.
US wanted to spread Capitalism and USSR communism and socialism.
Indirect conflicts took place in Korea, Vietnam, Latin America, Laos and Cambodia
US also sent billions to Greece and Turkey to prevent communist regimes from taking hold (Marshall plan).
· Anti-communist hysteria began after the Russian Civil war (1920’s, Sacco and Vanzetti.), but ballooned after WWII, when the Soviets established satellite countries in Eastern Europe, as well as blockaded Eastern Germany in a power bid.
· HUAC (House Un American Committee)
o Organized by Congress in 26 May 1938. (during the Great Depression). Established to seek out American Socialists, Fascists, Communists etc, though quickly narrowed in on Communists.
· Rosenberg’s and Alger Hiss.
o The Rosenberg’s (Ethel and Julius) were a Communist, Jewish couple who were tried for espionage (selling atomic secrets to the USSR) and executed in 19 June 1953, they were the first civilians in US history executed for Espionage. Alger Hiss was a New Deal supporter who was accused by Whittaker Chambers of Espionage. After the statute of limitations ran out for espionage, he was prosecuted for perjury, which lead to a hung jury.
His second trial resulted in 5 years prison. In 1992, a Russian general declared him innocent.
· McCarthy and McCarthyism.
o Joseph McCarthy was an Appleton WI Republican senator, who after an innactive term and fear of losing party support, claimed to have a list of 205 communists in the State department. (he alternatively used 57 persons; the list has never been proven, nor at the time was it shown to any in the media or government.)
· Propaganda
o Messages in media to influence thinking, actions and advertising. “Commercials”
Can be overt or subliminal, have a target demographic or try to appeal to all
· Bandwagon- everyone is buying/thinking/acting this, as should you.
· Testimonial- endorsed by either a celebrity or a common person (the latter also being know as Plain folks)
· Transfer- associates message with a popular established message, movement, symbol etc.
· Fear- message states (direct or indirectly) that the message or product is necessary for Survival (physical, political, social, economical etc)
· Japanese Internment
o During WWII, the Japanese Empire was loosely aligned with Germany and Italy,
causing much fear that Japanese Immigrants were still loyal to the Japanese Government and were subverting the war effort.
o Executive Order 9066 Law allowed authorized military leaders to select and round up any person or Japanese ancestry (citizen-noncitizen, immigrant-native born, mixed race etc.) and relocate them to exclusion zones in the middle of the country. Persons detained also lost rights to any property and most possessions.
· The Order was rescinded entirely on 2 January 1945, persons interned were given $25 and a train ticket to their former home.
SECTION G: Thao Ha, Kevin Harkess, Danny Grewe, Hector Hernandez, Tara Hollins
Section: G
Term 5
“The Crucible” by Arthur Miller
Setting: Salem, Massachusetts, spring of 1692
Characters:
Reverend Samuel Parris- Minister in Salem. Worries about his reputation more than anything.
Abigail- Parris’ niece. Starts the witch trials by accusing others. Pretends to see spirits. Madly in love with John Proctor. Plans to get rid of Elizabeth Proctor to be with him.
John Proctor- Salem farmer. Committed adultery with Abigail. Openly condemn Parris and do not attend church.
Elizabeth Proctor- Wife of John Proctor. An honest woman who fired Abigail because of her affair with her husband. Got accused of witchcraft by Abigail.
Reverend John Hale- Minister in Beverly. Was called up by the people of Salem to look into Betty’s condition to see if it was witchcraft. Supports trials but changes his mind when he figures out Abigail is lying.
Deputy Governor Danforth- Judge serving in Salem during the trials. He signs the death sentences to people refusing the accused crime(s). Refuses to delay execution for fear he will appear weak by townspeople.
Marry Warren- Servant to the Proctors. Admits lying after going along with Abigail and the other girls. Was part of the jury.
Betty Parris- Parris’ daughter. Got caught dancing in the woods and pretended to be sick. Accused people of witchcraft.
Mrs. Putnam- Believes that witchcraft is responsible for the death of her 7 children and accuses Goody Nurse of being a witch.
Mr. Putnam- Greedy landowner in Salem. Accuses neighbors of witchcraft.
Ezekiel Cheever & Marshal Herrick- Appointed by the court and assisted in arresting accused individuals.
Sarah Good- Begger in Salem (was poor/homeless) and first one to be accused.
Tituba- Parris’ black slave from Barbados and was discovered casting spells and making potions with the girls in the woods.
Giles Corey- An elderly farmer in Salem. Challenges the court in order to defend his wife who was accused. Was pressed to death.
Judge Hathorne- A judge of the court
Mercy Lewis- Servant of the Putnams and friends of Abigail. Pretends to see spirits and accuses others of witchcraft.
Francis Nurse- Farmer and landowner of Salem. Respected member of the community and often calls forth to settle disagreements.
Brief Summary:
“The Crucible” is about the Salem witch trials that were started by a group of girls (Abigail, Betty and others) who were caught dancing naked in the woods by Reverend Parris. This book deals with the mass hysteria of witchcraft that was push upon the Christian community. People lost all common sense and started to accuse one another of witchcraft in fear of losing their life and/or creditability and these witch trials worries everyone in town. Even though it was all a lie, almost everyone bought what Abigail and the other girls were saying about spirits. Abigail’s love for John Proctor forces her to accuse John’s wife, Elizabeth, of witchcraft which causes John to confess to the court of his adultery in order to save his wife. This ends with Abigail and Mary Lewis running away because they were caught lying and Elizabeth looking on as her husband was being led to the gallows to be hung.
Important passages for analysis
“I made a gift for you today, Goody Proctor. I had to sit long hours in a chair and passed the time with sewing.”
-Who said it: Mary Warren
-Meaning: This means that Mary Warren spent her time sewing instead of listening in the courtroom.
-Significance: This passage shows how nonchalant Mary Warren feels about the whole witchcraft situation
“No more! I should have roared you down when first you told me your suspicion. But I wilted, and, like a Christian, I confessed. Confessed! Some dream I had must have mistaken you for God that day. But you’re not, and let you remember it! Let you look sometimes for the goodness in me, and judge me not.”
-Who said it: John Proctor
-Meaning: This is when John’s anger grows from Elizabeth incessantly mentioning things about him and Abigail Williams. He wants her to know that he will never commit adultery again.
-Significance: This shows that John Proctor is now a changed man.
“A dress?”
-Who said it: Abigail Williams
-Meaning: Abigail says this statement very innocently so that she will seem that way to others around her. She tries to act as if she will never do sinful things.
-Significance: This shows that Abigail has something to hide and she covers it up with a façade of beauty and innocence.
“Abby, I never give you hope to wait for me…Abby, you’ll put it out of mind. I’ll not be comin’ for you more”
-Who said it: John Proctor
-Meaning: John tells Abigail that he will no longer commit lechery with her and that he never lead her on. She should never think like that again.
-Significance: This shows that john realizes he has made a mistake and committed a sin and he wants to change. He does not want his wife to stay angry at him.
“You come so late I thought you’d gone to Salem this afternoon.”
-Who said it: Elizabeth Proctor
-Meaning: Elizabeth is inquiring that she expected john to be in Salem because that is where Abigail is. Elizabeth thinks that John still has relations with Abigail.
-Significance: This shows that Elizabeth still has a bit of mistrust in John.
Motif, Symbols, and Themes:
A motif is a usually recurring salient thematic element or a dominant idea or central theme. A motif that went along far in the play was execution. Many people got killed for their beliefs. Another motif could be expressed in the idea of lying. Everyone lied from the beginning to the end to either save their life or other lives.
A symbol is something that stands for or suggests something else by reason of relationship, association, convention, or accidental resemblance. One of the biggest symbols was society in general and how it also depicted the society from which Miller was from, in the mid 1900s. He lived during a time of the red scare and its madness was portrayed by the Salem Witch Trials.
A theme is the subject or topic of a particular piece of literature. A major theme with the play the crucible was chaos and hysteria. Through out the whole play, there was a constant fear of being “possessed” by witches. It caused so much panic that yelling in the streets frequently happened.
Conflicts (Internal/External)
There was an internal conflict in regards to Mary Warren. At first she had the decision to side with Abigail or the Proctors. That decision process was magnified due to the apprehension of Elizabeth Proctor. Now Mary Warren faced the dilemma of being true to herself or trying to save herself from witchcraft.
John Proctor had an internal conflict based on society’s judgment. He did not know whether to admit his sin of committing adultery with Abigail Williams or keep quiet. He was afraid of what society might label him as. Eventually, that did not matter as he wanted to bring down Abigail’s social integrity so her lies could not be brought any further.
There is an external conflict between Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail Williams. Their constant bickering over John Proctor spilled over into the public’s eye. Abigail wanted the affair with John to go on, but Elizabeth wanted it to stop. Abigail got very much enraged that she tried to have Elizabeth killed by accusing her of being a witch. Thus, she could have John all for herself. However, the story ended up that Abigail ran away, Elizabeth lived, but John died.
There is an external conflict between John Proctor and Abigail Williams. There is big tension between the two characters through out the play. Abigail wants the two to be attached while John does not want to associate with her. John hates her character so much that he wants her to be disregarded from society. The conflict ends by the two going their separate ways with no remorse.
Literary Devices
The Crucible is considered to be both an allegory and a satire. There is much symbolism to the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy era of the 20th century. However, it is a satire for how crazy and stupid society acted during the 1950s just because of propaganda. Miller made fun of the 1950s by having character going beyond lengths and doing outrageous things like seeing invisible objects to prove the chaos that erupted based on speculation.
So What?
Miller wrote “The Crucible” during the time when Americans were accusing people of being a communist. This book is important because it shows how propaganda and finger pointing can lead to panic and that in society we tend to blame other people to get out of trouble. Also, the theme of this book is standing up for the truth and getting over misfortune (shown through the character John Proctor). From this work of literature, it reminds us that people are not perfect, and that we can make mistakes. Even though we make mistakes, we can make amends by making what is wrong right again.
Japanese Internment Camps
After the attacks on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed “Executive Order 9066 Law”. This allowed military commanders to designate military areas. This meant that all people of Japanese ancestry were excluded from the Pacific Coast, unless they were in internment camps. Anyone that was at least one eighth Japanese were eligible for these camps. A total of over 7,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese from Latin America were held in the camps, which were run by the Immigration and Naturalization Serve (INS). Eight of the twenty seven U.S. Department of Justice Camps held Japanese Americans. 2,210 persons of Japanese ancestry were held in these camps. After the war, 1400 persons were not allowed to return to Latin America and more than nine 900 Japanese Peruvians were deported to Japan. The Exclusion order was rescinded on January 2nd, 1945. Freed internees were given twenty five dollars and a train ticket to their former home. The last internment camp was closed in 1946.
Important Dates
March 2nd, 1942 – General DeWitt issues Public Proclamation No. 1. This informed Japanese Americans they would have to be at least 100 miles from the Pacific Coast.
March 11th, 1942 – Executive Order 9095 created the Office of the Alien Property Custodian, and gave it discretionary authority over all alien property interests.
March 24th, 1942 – Public Proclamation No. 3 declares an 8 pm to 6 am curfew for “all enemy aliens and all persons of Japanese ancestry” within the military areas.
March 27th, 1942 – General DeWitt’s Proclamation No. 4 prohibits all those of Japanese ancestry from leaving “Military Area No. 1”.
May 3rd, 1942 – General DeWitt issues Civilian Exclusion Order No. 346, ordering all people of Japanese ancestry to report to assembly centers, where they would live until being moved to permanent “Relocation Centers”.
Rappaccini’s Daughter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Major Characters Rappaccini- is a scientist who grows plants in a garden that have poisonous toxins in them. The flowers are beautiful on the outside and release dangerous toxins. Just like the flowers Rappaccini has a daughter named Beatrice who is very beautiful as well. He is a scientist with bad motifs using his daughter for his experiments. Beatrice- the daughter of Rappaccini who is a strange character seen in a garden piking flowers. Although she seems quiet and quite tranquil she has a dangerous secret inside of her. Giovanni- a scholar who goes to Padua, Italy to study at the University. This is the main protagonist of the short story who falls in love with the girl from the garden, Beatrice. Giovanni learns more about Beatrice secret as he continues to see her each day. Baglioni- is considered a foil to Rappaccini. Baglioni a good friend to Giovanni’s father acts like a father towards Giovanni in consulting him about the dangers of Beatrice and the intentions of Rappaccini himself. Brief SummaryThis is a short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne that tells the story of a man named Giovanni who falls in love with a strange girl named Beatrice. The young girl the daughter of Rappaccini is subject to the mad scientists experiments on poisonous flowers. As Giovanni comes more into contact with Beatrice he learns more about her secrets and what the flowers in the garden possess. ThemeGood vs. Evil is a theme that is greatly used in this story. Rappaccini is considered a sort of antagonist who causes the poisonous flowers to affect everyone else. Unlike Rappaccini, Baglioni is the complete opposite who helps out Giovanni and is not ambitious like Rappaccini. Symbols Beatrice is a symbol of indirect evil disguised as beauty. Although she never temps Giovanni she represents how evil can manifest itself into a beautiful figure that can attract its victims. Just like a flower with beautiful petal patterns and captivating scents they capture their prey by fooling them into coming closer. Though, Beatrice is not intentionally trying to hurt anyone. ConflictsInternal conflict where Baglioni and Giovanni speak about how dangerous Beatrice is and her father Rappaccini. Giovanni keeps this argument inside of him contemplating on how Beatrice can be someone dangerous. External conflict is when Giovanni figures out that Beatrice is toxic and that she is not safe to be near to. So what?We read this story to learn about temptation and how evil is manifested into beauty and uses this as a weapon to attract victims. This is significant in showing how someone is not always what they are. Learning about someone and learning their secrets can lead to surprises. Giovanni loved Beatrice and that love was sort of transferred by the toxin from Beatrice. They both would share the same poison and feel the same for each other. One thing that can be learned from this is that love gives to each partner something similar to use and share.
The Minister’s Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Major CharactersReverend Hooper- is the nice, tranquil minister of a village that begins to wear a black veil to cover his face. He does this because he accidentally murdered his best friend. Hooper feels the need to wear the veil to cover his face from the world and from god because he is ashamed of himself. The people of the town see him as a scary image and feel uncomfortable with him wearing the black veil. Elizabeth- Reverend Hooper’s fiancée who cares about him. Since Hooper does not want to take of his veil she leaves him, because she cannot seem to comprehend what causes the pain to Hooper. Reverend Clark- the man who tries to convince Hooper to remove his veil on his deathbed. Clark uses lots of references to God and how he must remove his black veil to rest in peace. Brief Summary-Reverend Hooper a minister who accidentally killed his friend now wears a black veil to hide his face from the rest of the people. The story shows Hooper go into many village events such as weddings and funerals and seeing the reactions of the people. The people of the village have intertwined ideas about what is happening to the minister. His own fiancée Elizabeth pleads him to remove his veil but refuses to do so. The story ends with his death in the bed and never for once wanting to remove the veil. Even when Reverend Clark pleads him to remove it he refuses and dies with the veil on. On his burial service he is buried with the black veil on his face. Symbols-The Black Veil- represents shame, sin, secrets, unhappiness. The veil as used by the minister is meant to prevent others to see his face because he feels that his face is unworthy of being by the village people. The veil also represent an evil image surrounding a good person. This ties in with evil disguising itself as beauty and it can also be good disguised as evil as well. Internal conflict- there is one conflict between the reverend Hooper and himself. He troubles with the murder of his own friend that he wears a black veil to remind himself of the wrong that he has caused. He refuses to take off the veil when is told to do so. External conflict- is between the village people and the reverend. The people see him as a bad image and feel uncomfortable with it. Either way they still adore him, but want him to remove the veil.
So What?The point of reading this short story was to see how changing ones appearance can lead to huge differences in how people react to the change. In society this change can happen when people feel threatened or have done something wrong that can actually cause this.
Communism and 20th century Notes
-Communism was major force in politics. It wanted to destroy capitalism.
-Socialism is when public companies are owned together with many people. It was designed for equality for everyone. It was compared with communism.
-The word “crucible” means a test or trial.
-Josef Stalin was ruler of Soviet Union for over 25 years.
-Karl Marx was considered the father of communism.
-Joseph McCarthy was one of the fathers of the Red Scare of the 1950s. He accused 205 people of being communists. Led a big investigation to convict 57 of them. He lost credibility as a result.
-The HUAC was a committee of the U.S. that was eventually designed to seek out communists.
-The Hollywood Blacklists was a list of professionals who were not allowed to work due to their public political affiliations .Highlighted by the Hollywood Ten.
-The Cold War was the international struggle between the Soviet Union and the United States for world dominance.
-Hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials was started because of an ongoing frontier war, economic conditions, congregational strife, teenage boredom, and personal jealousies.
-The Crucible differs from the actual Salem Witch trials by the book saying that John Proctor and Abigail Williams had an affair, when actually that never happened in real life.
-Similarities between the Red Scare and the Salem Witch Trials are: violent and cruel events, wrongfully accused people, and a system which demonstrated order and conformity.
-McCarthyism made national headlines due to the boldness of McCarthy himself of blatantly naming people of being communists. McCarthyism was all about hyping up anti-communism.
-Walter Winchill invented the gossip column and permanently altered journalism.
-The Rosenburgs were a couple who were killed due to the fact they accused of being communist spies.
-Roy Cohn was a lawyer who died form AIDS in 1986. He was also accused of being a homosexual.
Propaganda- refers to certain demographics and makes us feel a certain way
Bandwagon- since everyone is doing it, you should too!
Everyone is wearing skinny jeans now. Don’t you want to be apart of the in-crowd fashion of the world?
Testimonial- famous people are paid to advertise and go in on a cause.
Shaq and Ben Stein want you to be a good player and smart when you…
Plain Folks- make a candidate or cause identity with common everyday people
Keep voting for Mayor Menino; he lives in Boston and shops at Stop&Shop
Transfer- images, quotes, or symbols of famous people are used to convey an unrelated message
Trust the Midas touch and…
Fear- uses something that instills fear, but also gives a solution you should partake in to fix it
Get health insurance because you wouldn’t want to pass away unprepared; we can help.
Logical Fallacies- there is an accurate premises, but an inaccurate conclusion
1- Bill Clinton supports gun control
2- Communist regimes support gun control
3- Bill Clinton is a communist
Glittering Generalities- related to transfer, rights, values, and accepted virtues used to stir up emotions
You owe it to yourself and to your family- Jim Sokolove- I’ll give you the rights you deserve
Name-calling- opposite of glittering generalities, links a person or cause to something negative
In a campaign, you claim you care, and the other person is too “cold-hearted”
From The Crucible (Handout)
Slogans- more easily remembered
Subway- eat fresh
Repetition- to stay in a person’s mind
Flashcards
Loaded Words- feeling words used to get an emotion
Peace, choice, patriotism
Powerful Images- their emotion associations that tend to make us feel good
Gardens, rainbows, babies…
Appeals to Fear- If you do not do a certain thing, something that you fear can happen
Bandwagon of fears
Appeals to basic needs/desires- in order to survive, we also have emotional needs
Needs to be loved, cared for, and have meaningful work.
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