LITERATURE ANALYSIS #2

Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut

1. This book is told from the third person point of view although the first chapter is first person. The book doesn't have a chronologically correct sequence of events so it is mostly just a collection of memories. The book resembles the structure of Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. Billy is a war veteran who has a mental condition where he will have a breakdown if he is reminded of his days at war. The story begins as Billy describes how he has tried to write a book about his experiences in Dresden but just couldn't piece it all together. Billy studied to be an optometrist when he got out of the war and married a woman named Valencia Merble. Billy's mental breakdowns were "treated for" in a mental hospital. Years go by and they have kids and get wealthy. This is where the story gets weird. Billy talks about these aliens that captured him and how they see things in four dimensions and time is perceived differently by them. He is studied by the aliens.
2. The theme of the story was how war can destroy physical things as well as nonphysical things. Like how Billy has a mental breakdown whenever he gets deja vu from some certain war event.
3. The author's tone was very matter-of-fact and sarcastic. "O'Hare remembered one guy who got into a lot of wine in Dresden, before it was bombed, and we had to take him home in a wheelbarrow. It wasn't much to write a book about." "He was sentenced to six months in prison. He died there of pneumonia. So it goes." "A lot of people were being wounded or killed. So it goes."
4. Literary devices

• Amplification- "It is an atomic bomb. It is a harnessing of the basic power of the universe. The force from which the sun draws its power has been loosed against those who brought war to the Far East." p.82
• Allegory- the war was an allegory to the hardships of life and fear a man must live wit his whole life.
• Anecdote- "O'Hare remembered one guy who got into a lot of wine in Dresden, before it was bombed, and we had to take him home in a wheelbarrow."
• Foreshadowing- "This one is a failure, and had to be, since it was written by a pillar of salt. It begins like this: Listen: Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time. It ends like this: Poo-tee-weet?"
• Personification- "During the night, some of the locomotives began to tootle to one another, and then to move."

1. Characters are described with indirect characterization: "Billy Pilgrim went on skating, doing tricks in sweat-socks, tricks that most people would consider impossible-making turns, stopping on a dime and so on." and direct characterization: "Roland Weary was only eighteen, was at the end of an unhappy childhood spent mostly in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He had been unpopular in Pittsburgh. He had been unpopular because he was stupid and fat and mean, and smelled like bacon no matter how much he washed. He was always being ditched in Pittsburgh by people who did not want him with them."
2. Vonnegut uses consistent syntax and diction throughout the book. He insults characters in a very dry and nonchalant way.
3. Billy is a static character. He stays as his typical everyday guy character throughout the book and doesn't change much.
4. By the end of the book I didn't really feel like I had met an actual person because I never really saw things through Billy's eyes. Everything was just described to me and I didn't connect with him at all.

HAMLET ACT I SCENE II

Here's the sitch:

Hamlet's parents were the king and queen of Elsinore but King Hamlet died in battle. Less than two months after her husband's death, Queen Gertrude gets married to her brother-in-law: Claudius. Hamlet is pretty upset about how quickly his mother remarried.

• Hamlet talks to Claudius who notices he is still grieving over his father's death
• Hamlet hides his despisement for Claudius because he doesn't want to appear upset before him
• once alone, Hamlet vents his anger and reveals his feeling about his mother and Claudius
• Horatio, Marcellus, and Bernardo enter to tell Hamlet about what they saw the previous night
• Hamlet was intrigued but swallowed his excitement in front of the guards

HAMLET ACT I SCENE I

• two guards (Bernardo and Francisco) are swapping positions for the next shift in a castle platform in Elsinore
• Bernardo converses with Horatio and Marcellus who claim to have seen a ghost of some sort for the past few nights around the castle
• The ghost reappears and Horatio attempts to communicate with it but fails
• they conclude that the ghosts resembles King Hamlet and decide to alert young Hamlet of their findings the next day

Vocab #6

abase	verb cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of ex: Don't abase the child about his bed-wetting issue- he is very self-conscious about it
abdicate	verb give up, such as power, as of monarchs and emperors, or duties and obligations ex: The ruler abdicated his authority when the people voted for a representative democracy.
abomination	noun an action that is vicious or vile; an action that arouses disgust or abhorrence; a person who is loathsome or disgusting; hate coupled with disgust ex: The "No Selfie Act of 2014" was an abomination
brusque	adj. marked by rude or peremptory shortness ex: The brusque comment infuriated the teacher.
saboteur	noun someone who commits sabotage or deliberately causes wrecks; a member of a clandestine subversive organization who tries to help a potential invader ex: The saboteur left a traffic jam lying in his wake.
debauchery	noun a wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity
proliferate	verb cause to grow or increase rapidly; grow rapidly ex: The proliferation of the use of hashtags has done great wonders for alerting America's attention to pressing matters.
anachronism	noun an artifact that belongs to another time; a person who seems to be displaced in time; who belongs to another age; something located at a time when it could not have existed or occurred ex: The watch posed as an anachronism on the model's wrist.
nomenclature	noun a system of words used to name things in a particular discipline ex: The nomenclature of the physics class was demonstrated by the aerospace engineer.
expurgate	verb edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate ex: Although the essay was long and sophisticated, the professor suggested the student to expurgate some parts of it for the sake of simplicity
bellicose	adj. having or showing a ready disposition to fight ex: The irresponsible barfly was bellicose after a few rounds
gauche	adj. lacking social polish ex: The prepubescent boy was very gauche around girls.
rapacious	adj. excessively greedy and grasping; devouring or craving food in great quantities; living by preying on other animals especially by catching living prey ex: Now five weeks into her pregnancy, the woman grew rapacious.
paradox	noun (logic) a statement that contradicts itself ex: The Liar paradox is demonstrated by the statement, "this sentence is false." If it were false, then it would be true, but it can't be true because it says that is is false, and so on.
conundrum	noun a difficult problem ex: The mystery behind Stonehenge is a true conundrum.
anomaly	noun (astronomy) position of a planet as defined by its angular distance from its perihelion (as observed from the sun); a person who is unusual; deviation from the normal or common order or form or rule ex: The power outage at the school was an anomaly, seeing as they are powered by solar panels, and it was perfectly sunny.
ephemeral	adj. lasting a very short time; noun anything short-lived, as an insect that lives only for a day in its winged form ex: To everyone's delight, the business meeting was ephemeral.
rancorous	adj. showing deep-seated resentment ex: The student was rancorous towards the teacher for locking him outside the classroom for being one minute late.
churlish	adj. having a bad disposition; surly; rude and boorish ex: The substitute teacher saw the kids as a bunch of churlish brats because of the silly way they pronounced their names.
precipitous	adj. characterized by precipices; extremely steep; done with very great haste and without due deliberation ex: The precipitous work of the assailant let him get away from the scene, but not the crime.

UNPHOTOGRAPHABLE

A photo not taken.
An overcast sky paints the scene gray and disconsolate. The crowd in black gathered in silence, staring. Their stomachs torn with sorrow, vision blurred by the tears they dare not wipe away. The pain is unbearable. A slow drizzle began, made noticeable by the pitter-patter sound on the umbrellas. The mound of dirt absorbs the moisture, emitting the smoky and dark odor. They stand for what seems like hours, frozen like statues. The heavens are now sobbing uncontrollably. A loner stands apart from the assembly, his throat clenched, chest screeching in pain, lungs in breathless agony, yet emotionless on the surface. Drops pound on his hood, dripping over his numb face. He knows what the rest do not, a burden that makes life impossible worth living. No one will understand. The loner exits as the crowd disperses. The deluge soaks into softened soil. The sky darkens deeper, the mound lies alone.

CANTERBURY ONLINE

Knights Tale

1. I picked Knight's Tale because I liked how it was a love story yet it had violence
2. Arcite is the brother of Palamon. Both are disillusioned lovers and blinded by their passionate love for Emily. They are both very determined to obtain the hand of her, whatever the cost.
3. Chaucer's tone is created through the conflict between the two characters over Emily
4. Chaucer characterizes the protagonists through their actions (indirect characterization)
5. The genre is romance because of the battle over the love of Emily.
6. The fight between the characters reveals the larger theme of love being a battlefield and sometimes having a negative and hurtful outcome.
7. I would give the female a bigger role on the tale and make the battle include Theseus.
8. It would have been more violent with the females as the main characters would have been more vocal with their feelings and jealousy would be more prevalent in the story. That being said, i think that the fight would've gone down in the tower because girls don't like to wait to settle their differences. #shovelgirl

GREEN EGGS AND HAMLET

A) I don't actually know that much about Hamlet at all. I know that it has to one of the most referenced literary pieces of all time but I have unfortunately been left out of that loop. However, I do know that melancholy means gloomy and I am 50% Danish so there's that
B) I know that Shakespeare was and is a world renowned playwright. I also know that he likes to write his plays with the iambic pentameter rhythm.
C) I think students "involuntarily frown" when they hear Shakespeare's name because they know that a truckload of reading, character analyses, and biological analyses are headed straight for them.
D) I think we can make the study of this play most memorable by acting out some of the parts and getting into heated debates over the characters themselves. I think there are going to be some hardcore discussions in room 606 for the next few weeks to say the least.

CANTERBURY TALES (II): WHAT A CHARACTER!

Palamon

Chaucer used both indirect and direct characterization for Palamon. Palamon's reaction to seeing Emily for the first time was actually pretty funny because of the way it intrigued Arcite. It also revealed how when Palamon has a personal issue, he likes to gain attention from others so he can have others connect with him. Direct characterization was shown when the characters were first introduced. Chaucer described Palamon as young warrior who was hurt in battle. This reveals how Palamon is a loyal warrior and will die beside his comrade to honor his friendship. Chaucer's tone when describing Palamon's feeling toward Emily is very urgent and shocked to show what Palamon is experiencing. The way Chaucer portrays Palamon's reaction to Emily is very comical because he acts as if he is struck with sorrow with makes Arcite worry that he is hurt. Palamon is a passionate lover and an attention seeker.

THE POINT OF CANTERBURY TALES IS...

Canterbury Tales is about about social hierarchy and the characterization of others through their actions/behaviors, or information received from others.

CHARACTER STUDY (I)

A plucky young adult slides into his clothes for the day and rushes out of his dorm room door to make it to class on time.With both shoes carried in one hand, one sock halfway up his ankle, and backpack slung around one shoulder, he scurries to his first class of the day: astronomy. He stumbles into class and sits down at an open desk before narrowly missing the start of the lecture. Once the lecture had begun the student was absorbed in the curious topic of wormholes. It wasn't easy for him to get to this stage of education. The University of California San Diego does not accept many with an aerospace engineering major, but through stellar SAT scores, consistent academic excellence, and a lot of help from others, he has earned a spot in the honors program the the beautiful college. After class, he meets with one of his friends to play a friendly but competitive match of tennis. After playing for a couple hours, he comes back to his dorm, showers, and plays a very competitive ping-pong match with his roommate. Naturally, the tennis player and awesome pong stud wins the match. After a solid two hour nap, he heads off for his second and final class of the day: aerospace engineering. This class is very difficult for him, but his desire to learn and use creativity to design new aerodynamic figures is what keeps him motivated.