Summary and Analysis of The American Dream

 Author: Edward Albee- most commonly known for using techniques from The Theatre of the Absurd.

Setting- In Mommy, Daddy and Grandma’s apartment. Not much more information is given to the reader about the setting of the play.

Major Characters:

·      Mommy- She would be the antagonist of the play. She comes off as very mean and materialistic. She doesn’t see to care about anyone else but herself. She is very rude towards Grandma in the play, and is very controlling towards Daddy. I would have to say that she represents the “new American Dream”.

·      Daddy- seems like Mommy controls every aspect of his life. He is also very feminine and can’t state his own opinions or say anything without Mommy interfering or controlling what he is saying.

·      Grandma- seems to be the only character in the play that knows what is going on and has a good head on her shoulders. Stands for the “old American Dream”. Doesn’t get along too well with Mommy, but she doesn’t get too caught up in it.

·      Mrs. Barker- she runs the Bye-Bye Adoption Service. Gave Mommy and Daddy their first child twenty years ago, and does not think that the fact that they killed this child is wrong. She is clueless throughout most of the play, as well.

·      The Young Man- stands for the new American Dream. People only see his good looks and do not realize that there is nothing on the inside. He is the twin of Mommy and Daddy’s first child. Only grandma really understands him.

Plot- The play starts out with Mommy and Daddy sitting in the living room of their apartment, waiting for some visitors to arrive, and Mommy starts complaining about the color of a hat she had bought. She repeatedly stops to make sure that Daddy is giving her his full attention. They repeatedly talk about never being able to get satisfaction. Grandma enters soon enough with a lot of nicely wrapped boxes that she dumps at Daddy’s feet. Mommy only notices that the boxes are nicely wrapped and never gives a though to what might be inside. At this point, Mommy and Daddy seem to feel bad for grandma and talk about how she is getting old and that she should just leave with the “van man”. There continues to be more conversation about wanting to get satisfaction from Mommy and Daddy, with occasionally interjection from Grandma when Mrs. Barker arrives. Daddy gets up to answer the door, but hesitates. Mommy tries to encourage him by telling him how masculine he is, so he opens it. They meet Mrs. Barker and Mommy and Daddy don’t know why Mrs. Barker is there, but Grandma apparently does, so she gives Mrs. Barker a hint as to why she is there and figures out the fact that they had adopted a child twenty years back, but mutilated the child after getting no satisfaction from it. At this point, Mommy and Daddy go looking for water and grandma’s television in the apartment because grandma was being “bad”. Another person comes to the door and it is the Young Man. Grandma, at first, believes it is the van man coming to take her away just like Mommy and Daddy had threatened, but realizes that he is not. He is the twin of the mutilated first child. All he has is looks, and is unable to feel, or love. Grandma pretends that he is the van man to Mrs. Barker and has him take all of her boxes outside. She says good-bye to Mrs. Barker and leaves. When grandma has left, Mommy and Daddy think the van man has actually taken her away and Mommy is very sad, but then meets the Young Man and immediately forgets that Grandma had left. The play ends by grandma speaking to the audience.

Albee’s Style- Throughout the play, Albee used many literary techniques to emphasize meaning. For tone, there was a lot of shifting between characters, especially with Mommy and other characters. Mommy would be rude to Daddy one minute and then be telling him how masculine he is the next. There was a lot of symbolism in the play as well. Grandma’s boxes were a symbol, as well as grandma herself. Mrs. Barker and the Young Man are also considered symbols in the play. There was no point of view in the play.

Important Quotes-

1.     Daddy: “Don’t mention tubes to me.”

Mommy: Oh! Mommy forgot! (To Mrs. Barker) Daddy has tubes now, where he used to have tracts” (p. 90).

This quote from the play ties directly with the theme of emasculation of Daddy. Mommy is the one who is constantly emasculating him and he does not do anything about it. This shows reversed roles in a typical American family; Daddy is the more feminine one.

2.     Mommy: “WHAT a masculine Daddy! Isn’t he a masculine Daddy?

(Grandma and Mommy say something irrelevant in between)

Daddy: “Maybe we can send them away…”

Mommy: “Oh look at you! You’re turning into jelly; you’re indecisive; you’re a woman” (pg. 75).

This quote shows a different side of Mommy. The real side. She tries to bring Daddy up, telling him he is masculine, but then tears him down, demeaning him like she always does. This shows her bad qualities.

Theme: A new American Dream that is only cares about consumerism and getting satisfaction is replacing the old American Dream, which Grandma represents.

Support: In the play, Albee presents many examples of how the old American Dream, Grandma’s American dream, is getting replaced by Mommy and Daddy’s generation, who are obsessed with consumerism. Albee shows this with symbolism with Grandma's boxes. In those boxes is Grandma's discarded life, or in other words, the Old American Dream. This shows that the old American Dream is fading away. Also, Mommy talks about how she gets the rights to all of Daddy’s money since she married him. This ties into consumerism because all she wants to do is have money and buy things. That is all she cares about and Daddy doesn’t have a problem with it. He doesn't care that she only loves his money. But Grandma does. She is a genuine, hardworking person and she remembers how the American Dream is really supposed to be. I thought that Grandma leaving at the end of the play really showed that the old dream was gone. Overall, Albee effectively got the point across that the New American Dream was taking over. 

Close Reading #2

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/17/opinion/the-exclusive-eight-high-schools.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

An editorial posted on October 16, 2012, called "The Exclusive Eight", talks about a complaint that was made with the United States Department of Education over some admissions policies of New York City's "specialized" high schools. The compliant focuses on a two and a half hour multiple choice test that determines who gets admitted to these high schools. The author uses many examples of diction, details, and syntax to get the point of this debate across.

There was a lot of diction in this editorial that I saw. Most of it was pejorative, as well. For example, in the very first sentence of this editorial where the author says, "Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City was distressingly dismissive this month..." has two examples of pejorative diction right in a row. The author's use of the words "distressingly" and "dismissive" in the sentence gives the topic a more serious feel. Another example of some diction in this editorial was when the author said, "...highlights a serious problem that has festered for decades,". The word "festering" is most definitely an example of pejorative diction in the article. This gives off the feeling that this problem has been around for a while, but it isn't getting any better. The problem is just getting messier. The use of the word "festering" in that sentence is also an example of figurative language for the same reason. It gives off the feeling that the problem has been around for a while, and that the problem is continuously getting worse, just like something that would be festering.

Details was something else that I saw a lot of in this editorial. The author chose to state in the in the sixth paragraph that this test favors families that can provide their kids with expensive tutors and prep-courses because the test material is not covered in many middle schools. When I read this, I got the feeling that the schools only want to admit people that can afford things like this. I felt that the author was trying to state his or her opinion by saying this, too. That this is completely unfair to the kids and the families who cannot afford this. Another example of details is in the third paragraph where the author says, "The complaint, filed by a coalition including the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund...". The authors decision to include the names of the groups involved in this debate make the whole problem seem more serious. I think the author is trying to show by adding that detail was that this is not a problem to take lightly if these types of groups are getting involved, and it also puts a negative light on the whole thing.

Lastly, I saw some syntax in this editorial that puts emphasis on certain things. For example, in the eighth paragraph, it starts off with a short sentence, "All this would be bad enough." and goes on to describe two other arguments that were made by civil rights lawyers. The short sentence puts a lot of emphasis on what comes after it. Again, it made everything seem more serious. Most of the syntax that I saw in the editorial had to do with short sentences putting emphasis on what comes after it.

 Overall, the author did a nice job of incorporating some literary techniques that gets the point of this debate across. Everything that he or she used helped with the the meaning and the tone of the whole editorial.

Open Prompt #2

1988. Choose a distinguished novel or play in which some of the most significant events are mental or psychological; for example, awakenings, discoveries, changes in consciousness. In a well-organized essay, describe how the author manages to give these internal events the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax usually associated with external action. Do not merely summarize the plot.

One of the most controversial books of all time is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. This novel is known for having many significant internal breakthroughs through the character of Huck Finn. Mark Twain shows the many internal conflicts of Huck as he is growing up and realizing that society does not always know what is best. Twain does a remarkable job of incorporating these internal conflicts and breakthroughs with exciting plot events in the story.
Huck had one of his biggest moral breakthroughs in the novel towards the end of the book when the duke and dauphin had sold his trusty friend Jim, who is also a runaway slave. Huck, scared and alone in this part of the book, decides it would be best to tell the Widow what has become of her slave, but at the last minute decides not to. This was the biggest moment in the book because you really see how Huck has grown up and decided that society does not know everything. All his life society had been telling him that having slaves of was normal, and that it was okay. At that moment though, Huck decides for himself that he was going to help his friend Jim get free. Twain gives some excitement to this moral breakthrough by sending Huck on a huge mission to get Jim back, which brings back another big character in the novel, Tom Sawyer. So not only so you see how Huck's morals have changed, but you are kept on the edge of your seat as Huck and Tom come to Jim's rescue. Twain's combination of a moral lesson plus an exciting mission makes this the novel's climax.
Another significant event that Huck learned from had to do with telling lies. Huck had told many lies to many different people in the novel. He always thought that telling lies were harmless until he met the Duke and the dauphin. He saw them lie to numerous innocent people and hurt a lot of them. Huck thought of them as horrible people for lying to everyone, but he does the same thing himself. He starts to feel bad for lying to a lot of people until he had to tell his biggest lie of all. One of the most notable lies that Huck told was to the slave hunter looking for Jim. Huck lied that his family had been exposed to smallpox and that it was highly contagious. This was a big conflict for him because throughout the novel he has learned that lying and conning people was bad, but in that certain circumstance he had to. Although this was confusing for Huck, he learned that it was okay to lie depending on the circumstance. I think that this situation was Twain's way of showing how Huck is breaking out of society's shell, and he is learning things on his own. If Huck had stuck with society's rules, he would have lost a great friend. Twain also makes this moral lesson much more exciting by making the person that Huck was lying to the slave hunter, and if Huck had told the truth, it would have created chaos in Jim's life.
Overall, Twain incorporates many exciting events with some serious moral lessons that Huck learns throughout the novel of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain is able to keep the reader on the edge of their seat, as well as get the main points across. 

Response to Course Material #2

As the weeks have gone by, we have really started to set the foundation by learning some analyzing techniques and trends in literature that will help us later on in the year and on the AP exam. Something that has helped me tremendously so far was DIDLS: Diction, imagery, details, language and syntax. We practiced this over and over again in class, annotating numerous pieces. We also practiced a free response on the poem The Century Quilt, something like what would be on the AP exam and that really opened my eyes as to how important knowing DIDLS would be, and how I should be able to find examples of this in a piece of writing. Because I memorized DIDLS beforehand, I was able to find numerous examples in The Century Quilt. I realized how being able to pick out examples of this would be a crucial part of the prompt on the AP exam as well, so even though I know what DIDLS stands for, I still think I should practice picking out examples more and applying it to the meaning of the work. I learned that you can't just memorize something in this class, you must be able to apply it as well.

Something else that we did in class that really helped me was filling out the chart on Trends in the History of Western Literature. I was really able to see the trends as we went down the line from Classical lit, to medieval, and all the way down to postmodernist era. I knew beforehand that the literature in these times were different from one another, but I never realized how it was a downward trend. For example, I saw that the literary protagonists in classical lit were the gods and epic heroes, but for the postmodernist era, they were the lower and middle class, even the anti hero. So it was a lot easier for me to remember the little details and the trend by filling out this chart.