Open Prompt #2

2008. In a literary work, a minor character, often known as a foil, possesses traits that emphasize, by contrast or comparison, the distinctive characteristics and qualities of the main character. For example, the ideas or behavior of a minor character might be used to highlight the weaknesses or strengths of the main character. Choose a novel or play in which a minor character serves as a foil for the main character. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the relation between the minor character and the major character illuminates the meaning of the work.

  In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Horatio serves as a foil to the main character Hamlet. These two characters contrast in the way they behave and how they go about interacting with others.

Horatio is balanced and calm compared to Hamlet. Throughout the whole play Hamlet is going through different stages of madness. Horatio assists Hamlet is staying placid. The only time we really learn about what Hamlet is thinking, is when he is conversing with Horatio.

Horatio and Hamlet interact differently with others. Hamlet constantly jumps to conclusions with people, making many assumptions. Horatio watches from the outside and then thoughtfully approaches situations. This is a contributing factor to Hamlet dying and Horatio living.

Hamlet and Horatio, from Hamlet serve as foils to one another. They operate in opposite ways.

Open Prompt #1

2008, Question #3

Response #1
  Overall the first student did a fine job at writing a response essay on “Function of a Foil” using the example of Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan . This student wrote a fantastic opening paragraph that truly accomplishes the idea of “thesis answers prompt.” Her paragraphs included a large amount of details that assisted me in understanding what the story was about, without actually reading it. I do feel like there was summary at times with all the information provided. The vivid language makes up for this at times as it never gets boring to read. The student does a great job at bringing their piece full circle. I think this writing is worthy of an 8. 

Response #2

    It took reading the whole essay to realize who Celie’s foil is, when it really should be clear in the very first paragraph. It would be deserve a much better score if the writer could have just made this major detail more clear. It is a well written piece but becomes unfocused at times and includes unneeded details such as when the student writes that Celie met Shug while singing karaoke at a bar. This does not add anything to story. 

Response #3
First off, this student did not make this a long enough essay to fully develop the message they are trying to convey. This starts right from the first paragraph when the writer does not clearly list the “many ways” Baba is a foil to Hassan. I understand that Baba and Hassan are extremely similar, but the examples to support that are simply not good enough. This essay could have used quotes or something more to back the statements up. The word choice was not strong enough and the repetition of examples occurred often. This essay needs some major revision to get it even close to an 8 or 9. 

Hamlet Analysis

Characters:
Hamlet- The main character, just lost his father, and recently watched his mom marry his uncle who took over the throne. He loves Ophelia and he is dead by the end of the story.
Ophelia- Daughter of Polonius, and Gertrude's lady in waiting. Loves Hamlet and commits suicide during the play due to her father's death.
Claudius- Hamlet's uncle, and now the king of Denmark. Provides the poison that kills himself, Gertrude, and Hamlet.
Gertrude- Hamlet's mom, Claudius's wife, and queen of Denmark. Drinks Claudius's poison and kills herself.
Polonius- Father to Ophelia and Laertes. Is stabbed by Hamlet.
Laertes- Son of Polonius and brother to Ophelia. Laertes dies during the sword fight.
Horatio- Hamlet's best friend.
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern- Basically inseparable, friends of Hamlet, sent to watch his every move.

Summary:
     The play opens with a seen in one of the halls at the Castle of Elsinore in Denmark, with the guards discussing that they have seen a ghost. Turns out this ghost, is actually there, and it is the old king Hamlet. They tell young Hamlet that he needs to come and see his ghost father. Old Hamlet tells young Hamlet that he needs to seek revenge on his uncle, Claudius because he is the one who killed him. Hamlet begins to go mad, obsessing over how he will make this happen to honor his father. Polonius informs Claudius that this madness may be to due to Hamlet loving his daughter, Ophelia. Claudius and Polonius decide to spy on a conversation between Hamlet and Ophelia, and Polonius's suspicions are shot down. Hamlet lashes out telling Ophelia to go to a nunnery. Hamlet ordered an acting trope to act out the story between Claudius and old Hamlet, to try and test Claudius. When Claudius has to leave during the performance, Hamlet confirms that what his dad told him is the truth and is determined to go through with killing him. When Hamlet has the perfect opportunity to gain revenge, he finds his uncle praying. He decides that it wouldn't be fair for him to go to heaven, when his father has not yet, so does not go through with it. Hamlet goes to talk to his mother, Gertrude, about everything that is going on regarding his dad and his uncle. He does not know that Polonius is listening in, and when Hamlet hears something behind the curtain, he stabs that person, assuming it was Claudius. Claudius was outraged and sent Hamlet off with Rosencrantz and Guidenstern to be killed. The news of her father's death is not easy on Ophelia, and she ends up drowning herself in a river. On Hamlet's way out, pirates attacked his ship and he goes back to Elsinore. Laertes blames Hamlet for not only his father's death, but also his sister's and the two of them have a sword fight. Claudius was involved and poisoned Laertes sword so if it cut Hamlet, he would die from the poison. He also adds poison pearls to a potion to poison Hamlet just in case his other method does not work. Gertrude decides to first drink from the cup, and ends up dying, and then Hamlet drinks and dies, as well as Claudius who is forced to drink. After everyone is dead, Fortinbras, King of Norway has arrived and takes over Denmark.

Theme:
An atmosphere of moral confusion along with isolation, can lead to paranoia and corruption and the upset of the natural order.

     Due to Elsinore being separated from the rest of their country, they become isolated from everyone else. They are unable to see the consequences of their decisions and how they impact others. Hamlet is morally confused on whether to kill his uncle like requested by his father, or to follow the Bible, which is against murder.

Notable Quotes:
"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark." (Act I, Scene IV, Line 67)

"To be, or not to be: That is the question:" (Act III, Scene I, Line 58)

"This above all: to thine own self be true." (Act I, Scene III, Line 78)

Response to Course Materials #4

    So. Much. Hamlet. That is about all we have done since the last course materials response post. The first exercise was read the play aloud in class. At times, I really struggled to understand what was going on, but it helped when we would have a mini discussion right after each scene. After taking a week or so to get through the play, we began watching it. The first version we viewed was the Tennent version. This was a more modern take on the antiquated play. Watching the film made me dislike Polonius even more than I did when just reading it. He is so nosey and is interested in everyone's business all the time. I enjoyed the symbolism of the bare feet, as well as seeing some of the key scenes. At first I was not a fan of Ophelia in the Tennent version, but I think she did a great job in the scene where she goes crazy. The next film we watched was the Branagh version. The first scene we viewed was the ghost scene, and the ghost was creepy. His piercing blue eyes gave me chills. It was interesting to compare the two films. In the fencing scene, there are many people observing the fight in the Branagh version. In the Tennent version there is just a select group of people. Unfortunately, I missed the last two clips, but I did hear from classmates that Hamlet and Horatio had a special relationship. I did not pick up on this from reading, but there are many ways to interpret it. This week we will be wrapping up our discussion and then it is winter break!

Response to Course Materials #3

        I can hardly believe November is nearly half over.  Most of these last few weeks were filled with discussion of Death of a Salesman. I enjoy that we discuss the book for a few days because I, unfortunately, am prone to missing minor details. At the end of the week, we practiced multiple choice questions. The vocabulary has been quite intimidating, and I am hoping I will be better at it by the time the real questions roll around. On another day, we took the class period to work on a mood and atmosphere activity. It was welcomed to mix it up from our typical tone and syntax activities. The most valuable thing I have learned these last few weeks has been the intro/essay practice. We learned that thesis answers the prompt. Everything in our introduction paragraph should answer the prompt completely. The essay then explains the key points used in the introduction. We used our new tools on a practice essay. Practice essays are still proving to be a challenge for me. Hopefully, with diligence, I will get better at them. This past week we began the play, Hamlet. I am challenged by the language, but it is very helpful that we discuss the content after we read each scene. 

Death of a Salesman Analysis

Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, was another unique and compelling play. The main character, Willy Loman, is, without a doubt, mentally unstable. The play begins with Willy arriving home from a work trip exhausted and depleted. His two sons are visiting, Happy and Biff, and they hear Willy yelling at his wife, Linda. They come downstairs to the main floor of their house that does not have corners, or a roof. Willy then has a flashback to when his boys were younger and it is apparent that he is jealous of his neighbor, Charley. He then remembers when he and his mistress were together in his hotel room. He gave her stockings. The present day appears again and Linda is sewing her stockings, because they are unable to afford new ones. Later, Willy is playing cards with Charley, and a memory of his brother appears. He then continues a conversation with both Charley and Ben. The flashback of Ben is when he left to go to Alaska, and Willy asking him not to go. During the night, Linda and Biff notice that Willy is outside conversing with himself. Biff tells his dad his plan to go and talk to an old friend the following day to ask for a loan to start a business, the “Florida deal”. The following day, with convincing from Linda, Willy decides to go and converse with his boss, Howard, about working more local so he does not have to travel as much. When he arrives at the office, Howard is playing with a recording device that he just bought. Willy requests to have a lower paying job, but still working in the area. When Howard rejects this, he does not understand why. Willy believes that if you are well-liked you should be able to get what you want. Howard then fires him and Willy has a flashback involving his brother, Ben. Ben asks Willy to go to Alaska with him, and Willy objects. The next scene is a conversation between Biff and Happy. Happy is talking to a prostitute, and Biff mentions that he waited for many hours to talk to the businessman, who does not even remember him. Happy does not think it would be good to tell Willy that, so he convinces Biff to lie to him saying that he is reviewing the proposal. Willy goes to meet his sons for dinner and Biff tries to explain the whole story to him. Willy then flips out and has a flashback to when Biff caught Willy cheating on him in a hotel room years ago. Later, Biff and Happy come home bringing flowers to their mom. Linda yells at them for leaving their father at the restaurant and tells them to leave the house. Willy is outside plating a garden. There is an argument between Biff, Willy, and Linda. Willy then gets in his car, crashes, and then dies. The last scene is at Willy’s funeral with only his immediate family, Charley, and Bernard present.

Motifs

Regret

Dreams

Entitlement

Weath

Significance of Names

Loman- low-man symbolizing low class

Singleman- salesman, a single-man

Biff- punch

Happy- ironically, he is not happy

Linda- housewive’s name, soft, tender, type of tree= strength of family

The affair woman, did not even have a name

Willy- child’s version of William

Miscellaneous Points
The milk = cheese = Linda being motherly
Linda acts like a mother to Willy, because his was absent.
Howard = flashback Willy

Overall Theme

The sense of entitlement for the idealized American Dream of financial and social prosperity can lead to tragedy.

Important Quotes
"He's liked, but not well liked."
"He has the wrong dreams. All, all wrong."
"Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He's not the finest character that ever lived. But he's a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him"

Close Reading: Brittany Maynard was courageous and right

My last close reading post was about Brittany Maynard and the plan to end her life. The article reflects on her decision to end her life on November 1, 2014. The author, Ronald M. Green, uses diction, syntax, and language to argue that physician-assisted is okay.

The author is explicit that he supports Brittany’s choice. His first sentences states, “I strongly support Brittany Maynard’s impassioned efforts…” By using the word strongly, we know that he feels robustly about Ms. Maynard’s life changing choice. Using the word impassioned shows that we often feel empathetically for those who cope with stressfully horrendous issues.  I believe the author is trying to persuading us to understand why doctor-assisted suicide is acceptance.

Ronald Green writes this article using long, technically written sentences. They are used to examine ideas meticulously. He utilizes these by packing them with opinion and idea. Some of these include, “It may seem strange to say this, but the reason that you and I as free individuals cannot access life-ending drugs is because governments have imposed rules that require prescription approval by physicians for such drugs.” This is a strongly stated sentence used by Green. Another example includes, “But mutual respect here also requires that we allow others who who believe differently to end their lives in the way they see fit, as Brittany Maynard has now courageously done.” This sentence is used to be reflective, really allowing us to think about our own lives. A short sentence would not be as powerful if used here.

Lastly, Green uses language to effectively develop his message. In his second paragraph, he discusses that he does not believe that physicians should be involved in death. When reading phrases such as, “mass killing” and “corps of people”, I visualize death and horrific acts. The writer is communicating that physician-assisted suicide is not comparable to other instances of dying. Another example of this is, “grievous and irreversible pain.” Not only is this useful diction, it creates a feeling and understand of what the person is experiencing.

I believe that Ronald M. Green did a thorough job of explaining his opinion of physician-assisted suicide. He made this possible by using diction, syntax, and language.