Response to Course Material

So I feel like we’ve done quite a bit since our last response to course material post. We’ve finally finished with Ceremony! I think we actually didn’t spend so much time on this one, at least not in class because we had read all the plays together aloud and since this one was a novel we completed it independently. Then we didn’t actually annotate the whole thing and I think we also spent fewer days discussing it. We did do a lot of background information on the novel, like reading those articles and viewing the presentation that Ms. Holmes made for us. Overall, I thought it was a really good book, but it’s a bit confusing and I think for the actual AP lit exam I’ll chose a different work to write about.

Aside from Ceremony, we’ve also started (and almost finished) reading our last novel, Fifth Business. So far I think this is also a really good book and I think it’s a lot easier to read/understand than Ceremony and even some of the plays that we’ve read. I appreciate that this is the work that we’re ending on because it’s been such a quick read.

And other than just the works that we’ve read, we’ve also been doing quite a bit of AP exam practice. We’ve written a couple of in-class essays, done some multiple choice, and even reviewed the whole 2013 AP exam during class, each of us completing allotted multiple choice sections. With all the practice that we’ve done, I feel pretty confident for the exam (and good thing, but we’ll be taking it in just over a week!).

Finally, the last big thing that we’ve done was a research paper project. We had to work in groups with people from other classes and write a paper on some aspect of one of the works we read in class. I guess I shouldn’t really say much about this project because I was selected as one of the editors for the class and didn’t actually have to write any papers. Instead, I collected links to scholarly articles about the works that we’ve read and posted them onto a class website.

Personally, I didn’t really like the project/the idea of it (since I didn’t actually do it). In general, writing a research paper in high school is a good idea to help prepare us for papers we’ll have to write in college. However, being that our AP lit exam is so close, I think it would have been better to do more AP review or something like that instead of spending a week on this project. I also don’t like the idea of having to work with students from other hours because that makes collaboration on the paper a bit harder; everything has to be typed and you can’t discuss your ideas with your partner unless you do so outside of class. Also, even though it was nice not having to do much for the project, I don’t think that it’s really fair to give two students from each hour the job of “editing,” because this essentially meant exemption from the project. As editor, I felt that I really didn’t have much to do at all during class time and instead worked on our peer review assignment and on blog posts. I had to do a lot less work than most of my peers and it was a 40 point project. I think it would be better to have people who want extra credit to do the “editing” job, that way everyone has the same basic assignment but some can do extra if they need the grade. Or, if everyone in a class happened to have an A, then whoever was assigned editor could be exempt from a blog post, or something of that sort. Overall, if this assignment is kept for next year, I think it should be revised and maybe scheduled for earlier in the year (maybe end of third quarter).

Open Prompt 2004

2004. Critic Roland Barthes has said, “Literature is the question minus the answer.” Choose a novel, or play, and, considering Barthes’ observation, write an essay in which you analyze a central question the work raises and the extent to which it offers answers. Explain how the author’s treatment of this question affects your understanding of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

            Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is about Willy Loman, a man aspiring to achieve the American dream. The central question raised through the play: how is this dream is actually achieved, through words or actions? The answer is actions, shown through Willy’s failures and through his neighbor’s, Charley’s, success.

            Willy’s main problem is that he doesn’t act on his goals and simply expects them to happen. He wants to be a successful businessman and tells others about his aspirations but never actually does anything to achieve them. Then, when he realizes that he’s failing he exacerbates the problem by telling his own family that he’s successful and brings home a “paycheck” of money borrowed from Charley. By the end of the play, he realizes that things couldn’t get any worse. He has financially ruined his family and feels that the only way out is to kill himself, so that his family can receive the $20,000 from their insurance company. Willy never acted on his goals and eventually felt that he was worth more dead than alive.

            Charley starkly contrasts Willy as he actually works to achieve his goal of success. Charley believes in hard work and honesty. His has instilled these values in his son, Bernard, who was always thought of as a loser by Willy, but later becomes a successful lawyer. Charley can be seen as a generally virtuous character and even as a voice of reason. Charley is loyal and is always there for Willy and even lends him money when Willy isn’t doing so well economically. Charley even offers Willy a job, but Willy is to proud to accept it. Charley works hard and has a stable, fruitful life. He has a good job and a good relationship with his son.

            The question posed by Miller’s Death of a Salesman is whether words or actions will ultimately lead to success. Both options are explored through the work, with Willy representing words and Charley representing actions. It is quite clear that the answer is actions Charley is the character that is able to succeed. Willy searches for success through words and meets his ultimate downfall: death.

Ceremony Summary and Analysis

Ceremony Summary and Analysis

Author: Leslie Marmon Silko. She is of mixed race (Laguna Pueblo, Mexican, and white), just like the main character Tayo (though he is only Laguno Pueblo and white).

Setting: Various times and places (past and present), depending on the scene in the novel. Takes place in the New Mexico, where the Laguna Pueblo have their reservation; in the hospital that Tayo stays at in California; and in the Philippines during the war.

Plot:

So, I thought it might be easier to write the plot summary in chronological order rather than the order that the book is in, that way it could be somewhat more cohesive:

-Tayo grows up living in his aunt’s house and growing up with his “brother” Rocky. He had always felt distanced from them because he was of mixed race, not pure Laguna like the others. He was often frowned upon, despite his adherence to Native values and traditions.

-Later, Tayo and Rocky sign up to go to war together and Rocky is killed, leaving Tayo to come home alone. Tayo feels as though a part of him is missing and can’t seem to function normally any more.

-Back in New Mexico, Tayo spends time at the bars with some of his peers and eventually gets mad at one of them, Emo, and stabs him in the belly.

-Tayo’s grandmother calls in a medicine (Ku’oosh) man to help cure Tayo, but this doesn’t do much good.

-Ku’oosh then sends Tayo to another medicine man, Betonie. Betonie preforms several rituals on Tayo and then instructs him to find Josiah’s lost cattle.

-Tayo finds the cattle, but has to break into someone else’s land to retrieve them. Police find him, but then a mountain lion comes and distracts them.

-Ts’eh finds the cattle, and Tayo spends the rest of his summer with her, away from his family.

-Tayo finds out that Emo and his followers are plotting against him.

-Tayo encounters Harley and Leroy. He sees Harley being killed and believes it to be part of a ceremony.

-Tayo returns home. Emo leaves for California.

-At the end, grandma says, “It seems like I already heard these stories before… only thing is, the names sound different.”

Characters:
Tayo: The main character. He is of mixed race but seems to identify more with Laguna culture than even some of the full-bred members of the Laguna tribe. He fought in WWII, but can't seem to assimilate back into society after witnessing the death of his brother, Rocky.

Rocky: Tayo's "brother." He is actually Tayo's cousin, but they were raised essentially as brothers. He dies in the war and never really seemed to enjoy Laguna culture.

Betonie: He's a medicine man who helps Tayo. He tells Tayo about the ceremony that he needs to complete.

Emo: Seems to be the opposite of Tayo. He romanticizes the war and tells his friends lies about how great it was. Since Tayo is the only one who openly speaks out against him, the two quickly become enemies.

Josiah: Tayo's uncle, but also a sort of father for Tayo. He is much more accepting of Tayo than Auntie or even Rocky; he and Tayo are pretty close.

Auntie: Raised Tayo, but not quite like a son. She always made sure that he knew where he came from and that he was different due to his mixed race. Auntie, however, wasn't like the rest of the Laguna people because she was a Christian.

Grandma: embraces her Native American culture and takes Tayo to the medicine man.

Night Swan: She is a confident and beautiful Mexican woman and is Josiah's girlfriend. She later seduces Tayo as well.

Harley: one of Tayo's old friends. He also went to war but comes back addicted to alcohol and doesn't do much other than drink.


Quotes:
"'It seems like I already heard these stories before... only thing is, the names sound different.'" -Grandma
Through Grandma, Silko is demonstrating how destructive and violent stories are told over and over again, not only in Laguna culture, but in all of humanity. There has never been a time where violence and hate hasn't existed, no matter how hard people try to stray away from it. The two have been a prevailing theme throughout history.

Theme:

In Ceremony Silko suggests that good and evil exist in everything and are therefore arbitrary classifications; understanding this allows one to achieve a personal and communal balance.