"The Necklace"-Guy de Maupassant
When looking at a piece of literature, formalists believe the form reflects its content. This means they look at the conscious choices the author made while creating their piece of literature. When looking at "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant and using the formalist Theory, there are a couple of choices the author made regarding character, point-of-view, and plot that can be further looked at.
Plot
When Maupassant wrote this story, he chose to start at the beginning. He didn't begin the story in the middle, he gave us much needed back-story. The way that the story begins is very flowing and not out of control. If Maupassant had started his story in the middle of things before he gave us some background about the main character Madame Loisel, the story wouldn't have made much since. We wouldn't have known why Madame Loisel was feeling the way she was about her appearance.
Character
The main characters of this story are Madame Loisel and Loisel. The story starts off with background history about Madame Loisel. Just at the very beginning of the story, Madame Loisel becomes from a flat character to a round character. Maupassant throws a lot of background information about Madame Loisel right in the beginning, but without it the story would have been harder to follow. Because Maupassant gave us so much information at the beginning, we know why Madame Loisel acts the way she does about material things. Loisel, Madame Loisel's husband is a very dynamic character. You don't see very much of him in the beginning until Mathilde begs him for a wonderful dress to wear to the party. Also, he comes out a lot when Mathilde seems to get herself in a whirl of trouble by losing Madame Forestier's diamonds. He shows the hard working man he really is, and how much he cares for his wife, especially how he gives her all his money for her dress when he had been saving up for a gun. Madame Forestier is just a minor character, but she also plays a big part in the story. She is the one who is nice enough to let Mathilde borrow her diamonds, and when Mathilde looses them, she feels horrible. Loisel and Mathilde go through a lot of trouble to get the money to buy a new diamond necklace for Madame Forestier, and come to find out at the very end of the story the real diamond necklace wasn't worth more than 500 francs! Madame Forestier is the barrier of both good and bad news.
Point-of-View
In "The Necklace," it is being told in third person omniscient. This point-of-view gives the audience and unbiased view of the characters. It also allows us to make our own assumptions of the characters. If the story was told so we could only hear the husbands thoughts, it might have been a little more aggravating. Although most of the story is seen through Alice's eyes, we also get to see what her husband, Marc is thinking. There is dialouge with Madame Forestier, but I don't think we get to ever peek inside her head.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
1990's
A Scavenger Hunt For Theme
- The story I had selected was "You're Ugly, Too" by Lorrie Moore.
- When looking through the text, I found two themes:
- Someones better than everyone else.
- A sense of aloneness, feeling alone.
- While looking for evidence to support my themes, I found these quotes:
- "'You act,' said one of her senior-seminar students at a scheduled conference, 'like your opinion is worth more than everyone elses in the class.' Zoe's eyes widened. 'I am the teacher,' she said. 'I do get paid to act like that.' She narrowed her gaze at the student, who was wearing a big leather bow in her hair like a cowgirl in a TV ranch show. 'I mean, otherwise everybody in the class would have little offices and office hours.'.... She stared at the student some more, then added, 'I bet you'd like that.'"(654) This shows someone thinking they are better than someone else. Granted, she is the teacher, but she uses that to her advantage too often.
- "'I think I'm too old for fun,' said Zoe." When Zoe says things like this and acts the way she does, she puts herself in situations where she's faced to be alone. Not all the time does she do this to herself, others also make Zoe feel alone and all by herself.
- Lorrie Moore's story "You're Ugly, Too" can connect to "Proper Library" by Carolyn Ferrell. Both of these stories share the sense of being alone. In Moore's story, it's Zoe who is feeling alone. Whether it's because of something she did herself, or she's just home, alone. In Ferrell's story, Lorrie has a sense of aloneness every where but home: at school, riding the bus, and even walking the streets. When Lorrie is at home, his mother pays attention to him and shares her kind words that always bring a smile to his face. But when Lorrie is at school walking the hallways, he hears hurtful words like "fag!" Lorrie feels alone, all by himself when everyone seems to get a kick out of the name calling, even the wood shop teacher!
- The story that I see the most connection to Lorrie Moore's story, "You're Ugly, Too" is "Proper Library" by Carolyn Ferrell. In both stories, there is a strong similar theme: Aloneness.
- "You're Ugly, Too"
- "'Really?' Evan was beaming. 'Oh, Zoe. I have something to tell you. Charlie and I are getting married.' 'Really?' Zoe felt confused." (661) When Zoe's sister tells her that she is getting married, it makes Zoe's alone feeling even stronger. Her sister is getting married before her, and she is younger at that too! With Zoe finding out this big news, it brings more emptiness into her life. She had her sister, but now she's getting married and won't need her anymore.
- "Proper Library"
- "Mr. Samuels is laughing Haw Haw like he's from the country. Haw Haw Haw Haw. His face is red. Everyone cools down and is just smiling now. Then he says, Class, don't mess with the only girl we got in here! Now it's laughter again. Daniel Fibbs says, Yeah, Mr. Samuels is on! Franklin laughs, No fags allowed, you better take your sissy ass out of here 'less you want me to cut it into four pieces." (Couldn't read page number) Because of the fact that everyone, yes even the teacher, is picking on Lorrie, it makes him feel alone. He has no one else besides himself at school because everyone always makes fun of him.
Later in the 80's...
"Janus"-Ann Beattie
In the short story "Janus," by Ann Beattie, the main character is what I would say is an educated, middle-class women who finds herself "disappointed and disillusioned despite having achieved much of what is commonly believed to define the American Dream. They tend to be unhappy in love, in family life, and in their work; if not actually unhappy, they are merely coping and without any feeling of real satisfaction." This is a common theme in Beattie's stories, and is shown in "Janus." Andrea, the main character, is a successful women who sells real estate. She is obsessed with one thing and one thing only, the bowl. She brings this bowl to every house showing and considers it her lucky charm. It seems that every time that bowl is there, in the house she is showing, things go well. When the bowl isn't bringing Andrea good luck, it's at her house, sitting in the middle of her coffee table, empty. Nothing is to be placed in that bowl; it is meant to be empty. The common theme that Beattie uses is connected to this story because although Andrea is a successful women, I feel like she lacks satisfaction in one way or another. Although she has her bowl, it was her lover who bought it for her, not her husband who she is with now. Having the bowl around could be a sense of her lover still around. This shows possibly unhappiness in her life. Is the bowl the only thing that brings Andrea joy?
"The Way We Live Now"-Susan Sontag
"The Way We Live Now" by Susan Sontag is about a character, who is nameless, who has AIDS/HIV. In the 80's, there was an AIDS pandemic. In 1982, AIDS was officially coined. In '83, warnings are spread that AIDS is transmitted through heterosexual sex and by giving birth with a mother who has it, thus passing it to her baby. In the same year, researchers isolate the virus that causes AIDS. Unfortunately, two years later, the AIDS hysteria builds into a frenzy, and a student is banned from a school in Indiana! Sontag writes about what the "hype" was about in the 80's, and that was AIDS/HIV. If you didn't have it, you were petrified about contracting it. Everyone new what it was, and now they were getting scared. The title "The Way We Live Now" is representative of the time period and the story itself because AIDS/HIV was the way they were living then in the 80's. It was what was "the thing." I don't say that in a good way, because it wasn't good at all. It was horrible. It was "the thing" because it was a new known disease that was being contracted left and right. Now, people knew how they were receiving the so called disease "AIDS/HIV." The story "The Way We Live Now" is a perfect story to demonstrate how the 80's were lived.
In the short story "Janus," by Ann Beattie, the main character is what I would say is an educated, middle-class women who finds herself "disappointed and disillusioned despite having achieved much of what is commonly believed to define the American Dream. They tend to be unhappy in love, in family life, and in their work; if not actually unhappy, they are merely coping and without any feeling of real satisfaction." This is a common theme in Beattie's stories, and is shown in "Janus." Andrea, the main character, is a successful women who sells real estate. She is obsessed with one thing and one thing only, the bowl. She brings this bowl to every house showing and considers it her lucky charm. It seems that every time that bowl is there, in the house she is showing, things go well. When the bowl isn't bringing Andrea good luck, it's at her house, sitting in the middle of her coffee table, empty. Nothing is to be placed in that bowl; it is meant to be empty. The common theme that Beattie uses is connected to this story because although Andrea is a successful women, I feel like she lacks satisfaction in one way or another. Although she has her bowl, it was her lover who bought it for her, not her husband who she is with now. Having the bowl around could be a sense of her lover still around. This shows possibly unhappiness in her life. Is the bowl the only thing that brings Andrea joy?
"The Way We Live Now"-Susan Sontag
"The Way We Live Now" by Susan Sontag is about a character, who is nameless, who has AIDS/HIV. In the 80's, there was an AIDS pandemic. In 1982, AIDS was officially coined. In '83, warnings are spread that AIDS is transmitted through heterosexual sex and by giving birth with a mother who has it, thus passing it to her baby. In the same year, researchers isolate the virus that causes AIDS. Unfortunately, two years later, the AIDS hysteria builds into a frenzy, and a student is banned from a school in Indiana! Sontag writes about what the "hype" was about in the 80's, and that was AIDS/HIV. If you didn't have it, you were petrified about contracting it. Everyone new what it was, and now they were getting scared. The title "The Way We Live Now" is representative of the time period and the story itself because AIDS/HIV was the way they were living then in the 80's. It was what was "the thing." I don't say that in a good way, because it wasn't good at all. It was horrible. It was "the thing" because it was a new known disease that was being contracted left and right. Now, people knew how they were receiving the so called disease "AIDS/HIV." The story "The Way We Live Now" is a perfect story to demonstrate how the 80's were lived.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
The 80's: A Time of MTV, Voguing, & TMNT
"The Shawl"-Cynthia Ozick
"The Shawl" by Cynthia Ozick is told in third person omniscient point-of-view. The most common pronoun that is seen is "it." Also seen is the pronoun "she," but, it's not used as often. The word "it" mainly refers to the shawl, which is very important to Magda for it keeps her alive. When the word "she" is used, it's talking about one of the 3 girls: Magda, Rosa, or Stella. Although all girls are in the story, the main character would be Magda. It is her who is striving to stay alive, with Rosa and Stella taking care of her. Stella isn't as good as a "mother" as Rosa is though. Stella knows Magda is going to die, and wants it to happen soon. Rosa, on the other hand, cares about Magda and is said when she sees Magda out of her shawl.
In omniscient, third person point-of-view, the narrator moves the audience between multiple characters personalities, allowing the audience a wide range of understanding of the personalities belonging to the characters in the story. Cynthia used this point-of-view in her story "The Shawl." I think she used this point-of-view so when reading the story, the audience can get to know each character. Not only do we get to know what Stella is thinking, but we get to know how Rosa is feeling too. Every now and then, we would get a line from Magda, but never anything needed to take note of. it was mainly brief dialogue.
"Gesturing"-John Updike
The story "Gesturing" by John Updike is told in third person limited point-of-view. In third person limited, the audience understands only one character's thoughts, feelings, and actions. One of the pros of limited point-of-view is that the narrator is not the character. With the narrator standing out, looking in, we have the benefit of exploring character's personality without interference of unreliability, which is shown in first person point-of-view. Also, as the audience, we have a more intimate knowledge of the character.
Granted, in "Gesturing," there is dialogue seen between characters other than the main character, Richard. There are conversations between Richard and his wife, Richard and his mistress, and others. Having this dialogue helps show scene and imagery. Even though these dialogues are not just Richard, him being "limited," all the regular text is in his mind. All the text besides dialogue is Richard's thoughts. Not his wife's thoughts. Not his mistress' thoughts. Just his. What he thinks about each of the women is shown in the context, but not what each of the women think of him.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
The 70's =]
"How to Win"-Rosellen Brown
In "How to Win", Rosellen shows one of her main themes that are shown in a lot of her stories. "How to Win" is about a family who has a son named C. His full name is Christopher, but that was the name he was born with, when he was "normal." Now, he is different, so his name is just C. With C being a "problem child," his parents are faced with difficulties that a normal family wouldn't be faced with. This is the main theme of Rosellen's stories: "disasters that are ever-impending in everyday American families.
In the 70's, Congress had passed a law that made it so public schools had to let all children with disabilities be eligible for an education. This Law was called Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. In "How to Win," C goes to a public school. The time period reflects the story well.
"Verona:A Young Women Speaks"- Harold Brodkey
In "Verona:A Young Women Speaks," Brodkey uses very, very long sentences. He is known to do this in his stories. His sentences are usually over 100 words, but flow together well. He uses wonderful punctuation to make his long sentences orderly.
The story "Verona:A Young Women Speaks" is about a trip to Verona, where the daughter of a man and women is basically spoiled for one good "get away." Not only is she lavished in many new things, but her parents are being spoiled too. "Daddy was a fountain of money:he said it was a spree; he meant for us to be amazed; he had saved money-we weren't really rich but we were to be for this trip."(534) This trip to Verona was planned to be a good trip, and the family was going to do anything in their power to make it happen. They had saved up money, and now it was their time to shine.
In "How to Win", Rosellen shows one of her main themes that are shown in a lot of her stories. "How to Win" is about a family who has a son named C. His full name is Christopher, but that was the name he was born with, when he was "normal." Now, he is different, so his name is just C. With C being a "problem child," his parents are faced with difficulties that a normal family wouldn't be faced with. This is the main theme of Rosellen's stories: "disasters that are ever-impending in everyday American families.
In the 70's, Congress had passed a law that made it so public schools had to let all children with disabilities be eligible for an education. This Law was called Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. In "How to Win," C goes to a public school. The time period reflects the story well.
"Verona:A Young Women Speaks"- Harold Brodkey
In "Verona:A Young Women Speaks," Brodkey uses very, very long sentences. He is known to do this in his stories. His sentences are usually over 100 words, but flow together well. He uses wonderful punctuation to make his long sentences orderly.
The story "Verona:A Young Women Speaks" is about a trip to Verona, where the daughter of a man and women is basically spoiled for one good "get away." Not only is she lavished in many new things, but her parents are being spoiled too. "Daddy was a fountain of money:he said it was a spree; he meant for us to be amazed; he had saved money-we weren't really rich but we were to be for this trip."(534) This trip to Verona was planned to be a good trip, and the family was going to do anything in their power to make it happen. They had saved up money, and now it was their time to shine.
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