the uncanny

the uncanny

On the presentations...

The two readings were interesting and fitting for our class on close reading. Bathes used psychoanalysis to explain away the deeper meanings beneath cultural symbols and the tactics of marketing. Barthes close reads mythologies, examining the connotation of word choices such as foam and deep. The argument made for detergent builds structurally but it is not entirely clear where it ends up. As for Wine and Milk it is interesting how much meaning the author attributes to the drink choice, as representative of a nation, a set of ideals, and a lifestyle. The sentence styles are varied and there is a frequent usage of italics (altering the words connotations). Each argument that the author makes is followed by examples that serve to validate and elaborate on the points. Both excerpts seem to be using style to sell the reader on the value of the given mythologies.

Paste

Paste, fortunately, is incredibly different from the excerpt of his we read in class a few weeks ago. Here his writing is straightforward and filled with emotion as apposed to the obscure impersonal style of his later work. James layers social commentary on top of social commentary, creating the sense within the piece that all of the characters are self-centered and self-serving. James’ voice is vividly pronounced through the narrator and more significantly through the subtleties within the dialogue. As the characters communicate, they outwardly express ideals of friendship, consideration, and well-meaning intentions; yet, implicitly they reveal themselves to be calculating and self-interested. This is James’ voice asserting sarcastically, that one’s social appearance is often contradictory to one’s true nature. Arthur acts maliciously out of denial, Mrs. Guy the opportunist takes advantage of Charlotte, and Charlotte attempts to relieve her sense of dishonesty by exploiting Arthur’s denial. On top of this the deceased woman is accused of obtaining the pearls through illicit means. No one is spared by James, as he builds up the story through the character’s emotional responses and psychological insights. It seems the statement, “He’s really morbid” expresses more than just the character’s nature, but also Henry James’ view of society at large, materialistic and treacherous.

Hills like White Elephants

I read this story a long time ago and kept thinking while reading it again that the meaning was going to be revealed in the end. Which is definitely not the case. To me this means that the story itself conveys the intended meaning so well, that I remembered and was waiting for it to be spelled out for me. It is pretty obvious that the couple is discussing an abortion. By never affirming this, Hemingway leaves the story open for interpretation. It can be seen as a social commentary of the era or of gender roles or of relationships in general. The woman is presented as deeply unhappy, self-sacrificing and disillusioned. The man thinks little of her, putting himself first and pushing for her to get an abortion. It is clear that she doesn’t know what she really wants, because, as she asserts, she doesn’t care about herself and thus is not able to think of her own needs. She does however seem aware of this inability, and she seems to be trying to make up her own mind. She has hang ups about having an abortion and she doesn’t think that it will fix anything, that their relationship is beyond repair. Hemingway builds suspense and then leaves the reader hanging. This creates a sense of hopelessness and makes it seem like the characters situation will not or cannot evolve. Happiness should be self-evident, merely saying you are happy does not make it so, alternately it points to an unhappiness. Throughout the story the couple's discourse is like a strained and unsuccessful effort at becoming happier by denying that anything is wrong. To me, this story evokes a similar sentiment to the one Didion expresses in Goodbye to all that: disenchantment.

Sister Mary Ignatus Explains it all for You

This was a funny and disturbing play. It made fun of Catholicism in a simple, straightforward way. It was pretty campy, maybe because it was written as a play instead of in a more serious format like an essay. It didn’t seem over the top though. Sister Mary was typical without being too cliché. Her speech was very authoritative yet childish. She sounds like Thomas, making her seem less accountable for her wrongdoings, as if she never really grew up and is not at fault. I thought the shootings in the end were a bit much. The second one was funnier since she justified murdering him by his supposedly going to heaven.

Both my grandmothers were catholic though that was the extent of Catholicism in my family. My grandmother still cries and begs me to get baptized, and tells me I’m going to hell if I don’t. Both of my parents endured Catholic school for 12 years and their experiences were similar to the play. My mom still hates the particular color green she had to wear for those 12 years. Sadly the abuses of the nun in the play were a reality. Stylistically it was a little too simplistic for me the writing was almost too exaggerated. It was funny nonetheless. The idea of anyone actually being like or living like Sister Mary really bothers me. She makes me want to go and have abortions and do drugs and sin. She makes me really uncomfortable, I cannot imagine anyone being able to be happy living like that.

The play reminded me of this christian church in Kentucky and how terrifying it is,

James Baldwin

The title says it all. In Europe he is still a stranger, whereas in America his presence has been, by necessity, constantly vivid and unignorable since her conception. In Europe, racism is abstract and isolated within the confines of distant colonies. Alternately, in America slavery and racism has always been very much apart of not only society, but also the home, and beyond this the American identity. He recognizes that American beliefs are founded in European beliefs but that there is a definitive point of separation between the two sets of ideals, a departure that leads places that Europeans, not having the same history as American’s, will never comprehend fully. He concludes by acknowledging that, out of a tragic past and through the modern battles being waged the American identity encompasses black people in a way that Europe has never been capable of. In other words progress has been made though, it has been at the cost of so much suffering, leaving permanent scars.

Stylistically, he speaks abstractly or in generalities at times to distance his voice from what he is saying. He does this also to downplay without diminishing the severity of his criticisms and anger. Ultimately, he establishes a place for himself (in America) through the climactic structure. Beginning softly and building in intensity, he reflects the transformation from oppression and submission into authority and power. This he says, will never and can never be reversed, innocent ignorance will never resurface in America, as it still exists in Europe.

The money was placed in a manila envelope once a month. The same increment different drop location. The blackmailer was an anonymous, all-knowing, and clever blackmailer, accruing considerable wealth through each transaction. As extortions go demanding more money would have been more than plausible. Yet, greed was never a motive. By asking for a humble sum, the blackmailer ingratiated his victim to him. Ultimately, the vulnerable target, felt like the blackmailer had done him a favor when he stopped calling, for things could have gone much worse.

Goodbye to all that

I thought this story was great, it really caught what its like to fall in and out of love with NYC. I related to the narrator a great deal. Most people that I know who have moved here from elsewhere, express similar notions to those depicted. A lot of people say when they first move here, that it doesn’t feel real or that it hasn’t sunk in that they live in NYC. The author conveys something similar, like how she doesn’t have furniture and how she keeps a flight schedule. New York is this magical living breathing yet surreal, almost fictional place for many people. People in all parts of the world grow up hearing about NY and longing for it in one way or another. I can see how when you move here with this mindset, at some point the magic fades and it becomes a real place. I have only been here a few years and I have experienced, to a lesser degree, this sense of disenchantment. However, I do not think that I will ever fall out of love with New York. Definitely though, it is not the same city for me that it was initially, and it never will be that place again. NYC still amazes me everyday, and I’m totally grateful to be able to live here.

It was hard to place the time period of the story. Maybe this is a testament to how timeless the experience of moving to New York is. Her writing is very straightforward, she doesn't have to be exaggerated or excessively descriptive to communicate something. Despite conveying sentiments and experiences that I would consider difficult to express, I do not like her writing style. In some instances the way she said something sounded weird or completely wrong, to the point of resembling typos.

I did like her usage of paratactic sentences. For instance, “As it turned out the bridge was the Triborough, and I stayed eight years.” Also, I loved the following paragraph. Part of the magic of New York is in not knowing the names of places, its much more immense when you know next to nothing about it. Overall I really enjoyed the reading.

There's something devastatingly sad about how wonderful New York is, as if anything this great will inevitably break your heart or let you down at some point. Or maybe its that NYC is great all on its own, and it will never really need you as much as you need it.

I remember this story from an abnormal psych lit class in high school. It is a difficult thing to eloquently and imaginatively express the pressures of growing-up in a dysfunctional family, especially with such brevity. Lawrence never sounds trivial as he tells us a story suitable for an early twilight zone episode. If he had gone a different route and abandoned the elements of fantasy it would not have been as effective. Lawrence by corrupting a common children’s toy, really shows Paul’s desperation. While the rocking horse visually parallels horse racing. Further, the boy’s illness reminds the reader that gambling is an illness.

The idea of luck is used by the mother as an excuse and by her son as an obsession. Lawrence speaks of an unhappy upbringing in the tone of a children's tale, evoking the perspective of the child, this is more provocative than a solemn mature tone would have been. Another element of innocence and fantasy, is the way in which the house itself whispers of their never having enough money. This theme of greed and insecurity is repeated constantly throughout, providing enough build up to make the boy’s death seem plausible. However, for me the opening paragraph is the most disturbing, when we find out of the mother’s inability to love her children. Sadly, she wants to but she is simply unable to. Her maternal instincts do come out, but unfortunately not soon enough.

The sentences themselves vary from short and clear to long and informative series style sentences.

Grace

Above all this piece speaks of the human desire to do and be better. As the title Grace implies this story depicts a man’s need to be forgiven and repair not only his reputation but also his sense of self-respect. Mr. Keran hits rock bottom amidst strangers. The enablers who helped him reach this point have vanished. However, Mr. Keran’s real friends step in, covertly carrying out an intervention, they try to offer him a chance at redemption through Catholicism. He eventually is persuaded, this attests to the collective appeal of religion. Structurally the story follows the directional flow of the context, ultimately depicting Mr. Keran’s rise back to grace. Joyce touches on the discrepancies between the Catholics and Protestants in Ireland. This story shows how much of an impact our friends can have in our lives, for better or worse.

“He wished the details of the incident to remain vague. He wished his friends to think there had been some mistake, that Mr. Harford and he had missed each other. His friends, who knew quite well Mr. Harford’s manner in drinking, were silent.” (p.262)

This passage, like the majority of them, is from the narrator’s perspective. It informs us of Mr. Keran’s embarrassment as well as the empathy his friend’s feel for him. There is repetition present in the first two sentences (he wished… he wished). Mr. Keran’s desire to avoid the details of his incident reveals remorse. This makes him vulnerable to the manipulations of his friend’s. They can convert him because he feels foolish and wants to be redeemed in their eyes.

Four sentence styles:

“The constable, a young man with thick immobile features, listened.” (p. 256)

This sentence has an interrupting modifier. (pattern 11)

“On the mantelpiece of this little office a little leaden battalion of canisters was drawn up and on the table before the window stood four or five china bowls which were usually half full of black liquid.” (p.258)

This sentence uses prepositional phrases. (pattern 14)

“Such a sight!”

This is a short, dramatic sentence. (pattern 19)

“He was quite unconscious that he was the victim of a plot which his friends, Mr. Cunningham, Mr. M’Coy, and Mr. Power had disclosed to Mrs. Keran in the the parlour.”

This sentence has a series of appositives. (pattern 7)

Lolita

“I grew, a happy, healthy child in a bright world of illustrated books, clean sand, orange trees, friendly dogs, sea vistas and smiling faces.”

The beginning of this passage lists, in series style, numerous contributing factors to the narrator’s happy childhood. Smiling faces is stated last (after the dogs) possibly making it the least apparent aspect in his youth. Everything mentioned is somewhat superficial. Smiling faces are not necessarily equivocal to loving caregivers.

“Around me the splendid Hotel Mirana revolved as a kind of private universe, a whitewashed cosmos within the blue greater one that blazed outside.”

This sentence begins with a prepositional phrase (at least I think it does) similar to pattern 14. Followed by two metaphors acting as appositives. The narrator’s grandiose comparison of the hotel to the cosmos, as well as his declaration of it revolving around him (instead of him being a part of it) effectively distinguishes it as external and inaccessible. This secluded place was his entire world yet, despite its splendor it did not exceed his vision of the world beyond it.

“Ruined Russian princesses who could not pay my father, bought me expensive bonbons.”

This sentence begins with a past participle making it an introductory particle sentence (pattern 12).

“He, mon cher petit papa, took me out boating and biking, taught me to swim and dive and water-ski, read to me Don Quixote and Les Misérables, and I adored and respected him and felt glad for him whenever I overheard the servants discuss his various lady-friends, beautiful and kind beings who made much of me and cooed and shed precious tears over my cheerful motherlessness.”

This sentence begins with an appositive after the subject (pattern 7a). Following this is at least one long series. This sentence is very difficult to analyze. Aside from its complicated and confusing structure, it depicts an active, loving and deeply appreciated father. While, simultaneously portraying a frequently abandoned son. Also present, is the notion that instead of the father maintaining a committed relationship, he carries out numerous affairs. Despite these women’s attempts to fawn over their lover’s son, none of them are in a position to fulfill the role of mother. While the context asserts the boy’s expression of respect and affection, the overall structure conveys something quite different. Due to its lengthy and compounded nature, the sentence implicitly speaks of an isolated boy aware of his father’s frequent absences as well as his lack of a real mother. It is in the combination of ideas (reverence and appreciation, as well as promiscuity and motherlessness) that the real sentiment is asserted. Further, referring to his father as “mon cher petit papa” is somewhat condescending and due to its linguistic divergence it stands as separate. Both of these details contribute to the initial sense that the father is a fairly detached figure.

Overall, reference to the father seems to serve as an explanation for the narrator’s tendencies with women, since that is the main theme within Lolita. Throughout the passage, Nabokov uses structure to convey a contradictory truth to the messages presented by the context.

I had a difficult time discerning which of Sullivan's sentence styles were used in the passage. It is easier to understand them than to identify them.

Clinton's Inauguration

“Today we celebrate the mystery of American renewal.”

With this opening Clinton introduces his focal point. He supports this with the metaphor of spring and the acknowledgement of present day winter. Spring is a recurring image throughout his speech, capable of evoking the idea of renewal and reinvention in a very visual way. From the get go, he actively and consistently works to diminish the distinctions present between his audience, the American people, and himself, as in, “my fellow Americans”. His most blatant and effective rhetorical style is alliteration.

“Deep divisions”

“Sights and sounds of this ceremony…instantaneously”

“end to the era of deadlock and drift”

“resolve to reform”

“Profound & powerful forces are shaking and remaking our world”

This engages the audiences through the aesthetic or poetic elements of his speech. It also actively emphasizes and connects certain ideas together. The structure of his speech is engendered through varying layers of parallelism. One common and simple form of this is homoioptoton, in which he creates patterns of similar word endings, as in:

“Communications and commerce are global, investment is mobile, technology is almost magical, ambition for a better life is now universal.”

This last sentence builds up. Indirectly utilizing the hypotactic structure he implies that the last clause is the result of the first three clauses. Yet it is technically paratactic since it does not directly spell anything out to us it only implicitly reveals a connection.

His writing is accessible while remaining eloquent. His tone sounds sincere and relatable. He articulates every syllable, speaking slowly and clearly. He alters his volume and emphasizes certain words, to create suspense and climax. He seems to end many sentences softly, noticeably arriving at a resolution after a passionate climax. His speech is in the periodic style, thought out and with a clearly defined beginning, middle and end. His reflections upon America’s past also ascribe his speech to the periodic style.

At one point he defines posterity in a specific way. He exploits the audience’s preconceived connotations of the word, rendering it a tool capable of uniting our definition with his and further with several secondary concepts.

He concludes, as he began, with the concept of renewal, leaving the audience feeling a sense of finality.

As far as questions regarding Lanham, I am having a hard time discerning noun vs. verb style sentences, even though this should probably be the easiest of his styles to understand.

Morris, you see, had been a street boy in Liverpool—Woody’s mother and her sister were British by birth. Morris’s Polish family, on their way to America, abandoned him in Liverpool because he had an eye infection and they would all have been sent back from Ellis Island. They stopped awhile in England, but his eyes kept running and they ditched him. They slipped away, and he had to make out alone in Liverpool at the age of twelve. Mother came of better people. Pop, who slept in the cellar of her house, fell in love with her. At sixteen, scabbing during a seamen’s strike, he shovelled his way across the Atlantic and jumped ship in Brooklyn. He became an American, and America never knew it. He voted without papers, he drove without a license, he paid no taxes, he cut every corner. Horses, cards, billiards, and women were his lifelong interests, in ascending order. Did he love anyone (he was so busy)? Yes, he loved Halina. He loved his son. To this day, Mother believed that he had loved her most and always wanted to come back. This gave her a chance to act the queen, with her plump wrists and faded Queen Victoria face. “The girls are instructed never to admit him,” she said. The Empress of India, speaking.

Bellow’s, in several successful ways, endears Morris to the reader. The above paragraph is one instance of this. Bellow’s elicits pity by informing us that Morris was abandoned at the age of twelve by his family. In just a few sentences he is able to justify why Morris is an incompetent father, constantly dependent upon his son for help and money. I think that the power in the opening of this paragraph lies in the fact that it isn’t Morris divulging his own sob story. Throughout the piece, it is Woody who makes forgiving justifications for his father while, actively looking for the good in him. Woody is not as kind in his depiction of his mother, instead he reveals her religious hypocrisy and lack of passion towards life. In this paragraph’s close, Woody briefly references his mother. In doing so, he reinforces the idea that she has played a much more passive role in both her own life and in his, than did his father.

The last few paragraphs of the story are incredibly compelling. The image of Woody holding his shrunken dying father to keep him from ending his life was very moving. This scene in which, Morris manages to die on his own terms really drives home the tenacity, for better or worse, by which Morris lived. In that one image, Bellow’s affirms that this story is, as he declared in its beginning, a reflective memorial piece during mourning.

Morris is more compelling than any of the other characters, including Woody, despite all of his negative attributes or actions. This might be due to the affectionate manner in which Woody regards his deceased father. Also, there is an extremely genuine quality to the piece, due in part to Bellow’s candid style. This made me feel more empathy for the characters and it made the story seem more real. 

9/2/09

Hello,

I'm Asha and this is my first time writing a blog. My favorite authors are Georges Bataille, Murakami and Jorge Luis Borges. I really enjoy Bataille for his ability to be shocking while challenging the reader to consider his controversial ideas in a serious manner. I find Murakami's erratic style appealing, for his ability to keep me interested. Also, his writing is somehow beautiful even when he is expressing or depicting unsettling ideas. Lastly, I really enjoy the beauty of Borges dreamlike writing. If their unique styles were combined, the end result would be shocking yet beautiful and informed yet surreal. I really love writing and hope to improve both stylistically and technically through this course. I would also like to become a more aware reader.