Literary Analysis

The Joy Luck Club Literary Analysis

In the novel, The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, Jeng-mei is given the responsibility of fulfilling her mother’s legacy. Jeng-mei’s mother, Suyuan Woo dies of cerebral aneurysm and Jeng-mei is to take over the Joy Luck Club. They never had a great relationship but Jeng-mei still accomplishes her wishes. Through changes that Jeng-mei goes through, she becomes able to take over the Joy Luck Club and play some games of mahjong. In the end, Jeng-mei succeeds to honor and fulfill her mother’s legacy and wishes.

The Joy Luck Club was started so that Suyuan Woo and others could forget miseries and hardships they had to go through. In the club, everyone took turns to host it and they shared happy memories together. When Suyuan Woo dies and Jeng-mei takes over, Jeng-mei feels like she is incapable of fulfilling the role of her mother. Even her mother thought that Jeng-mei didn’t much about her. Jeng-mei had always felt insecure about herself and didn’t believe in her capabilities.Though after some encouragement she stopped feeling so insecure and joined in the games of mahjong. She began to connect with her mother and took the first step in fulfilling her legacy.

The next thing she does that fulfills her mother’s legacy is going to find her mother’s lost twin daughters to meet them. Her mother had wanted to go back to China to find them herself, but she died at the time she got their address. Jeng-mei decides to go to and find them for her mom. Since, she decided to go find them, it further fulfilled the wishes of Suyuan Woo. By doing this, she took over her as her mom even more, because she made her wish be her own. She wants to tell her long lost sisters that Suyuan Woo had died and tell them all about her. Jeng-mei allows the sisters to meet their mother in a way. Jeng-mei fully finishes what her mother dreamed about accomplishing.

In the end, Jeng-mei does everything necessary to honor and fulfill the legacy of her mother. The Joy Luck Club that her mother started was continued by Jeng-mei. She becomes confident in herself and takes over the Joy Luck Club. She also finishes what her mother had begun. Her mother’s wish was to track and find her long lost daughter’s in China but does not get to finish her dream. Jeng-mei fulfills her wish and goes to China to the twin sisters to tell her about Suyuan Woo. The legacy of Suyuan Woo is continued and honored by Jeng-mei. After completing her mothers desires, she succeeds and becomes more connected to her mother than she ever was.

Suyuan Woo’s dreams were to find her twin daughters in China and to keep the Joy Luck Club going. Suyuan Woo died before any of her dreams could have been completed. These hopes were passed down to Jeng-mei and she succeeded in completing them. Jeng-mei overcame her insecurities, finished what her mother had started and connected with her even more. Jeng-mei most definitely succeeded in fulfilling and honoring the legacy of Suyuan Woo.

Leopard Man Questions

9. Tom Leppard is called Leopard Man because he acts like one and modified his body to look like one. I think the reason they don't use his name Tom Leppard is because they don't respect him just since he is a lot different than everyone else in society.
10.The author feels that people tattoos and piercings get them to get attention from others. I think he has this opinion because it's actually true sometimes. A lot of people with stuff like that tend to shove their "non-conformity" down peoples throat for attention.
11.Leopard Man is different from other people with tattoos and piercings because he tattooed his whole body with spots so he could look like a leopard. Other people get tattoos that are there so they could try to look tough or better than other people.
12.Leopard Man lives in the Scottish wilderness in a small cabin but he does go into civilization occasionally to get food and other necessities.
13.According to Feys, society fears people that are seen as freakish and extraordinary, because people fear things that they don't understand.
14.Fey thinks that conformity is the world's most common but dangerous disorder. He argues that an individual destroys himself because of the pressures of society.
15.Leopard Man is so happy, because he can be who he wants to be without dealing with society and the pressures it puts on everybody.
  

Greek Drama Questions

1.What kind of prize is given for dancing choruses of worshipers?
 -They are given a bull or a goat
2.How many spectators would gather in the open-air theater of Dionysus?
-14,000 spectators gathered in the theater
3.How does the mask affect the voices of the actors?
-The exaggerated mouthpieces helped amplify the voices
4.Why was Antigone suspenseful to viewing audiences?
-It was suspenseful because they knew what was coming next and the characters didn't
5.How is the shepherd to leave the infant on the mountainside?
-The shepherd was to leave him on the mountainside with his ankles pinned together
6.What is the riddle the Sphinx gave to Oedipus?
-What creature goes on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening
7.Who are Oedipus' kids?
-Polyneices, Eteocles, Ismene, and Antigone
8.After Oedipus is exiled, who takes over Thebes?
-Jocasta's brother, Creon
9.What did the family do to the dead body?
-They closed the eyes and mouth and prepared them for the prothesis

"Eating Animals" Reaction

    When I read the excerpt “A Case For Eating Dogs” I saw a lot of reason in what Jonathan wrote about eating dogs. He showed how it would be more efficient and better to eat dogs than the animals we eat regularly. I personally agreed with his ideas about eating dogs. Even though, I myself have had dogs I loved throughout my childhood, it still makes sense to use dogs as being a source of food. As Jonathan stated, “This amounts to millions of pounds of meat now being thrown away every year. The simple disposal of these euthanized dogs is an enormous ecological and economic problem.”l, it would be reasonable to use dogs for food. A ton of dogs get put down in shelters and many just suffer in the streets, hungry and alone. People do often adopt some stray dogs but many just end up dead. All those dogs could have been used to make food. People in places in Africa are starving and we just simply dispose of these dogs that could have been a tasty meal for someone suffering of hunger.

    When Jonathan wrote, “Pigs are every bit as intelligent and feeling, by any sensible

definition of the words. They can’t hop into the back of a Volvo, but they can fetch, run and play, be mischievous, and reciprocate affection. So why don’t they get to curl up by the fire? Why can’t they at least be spared being tossed on the fire?”, I realized that he has a point. Why do we place dogs as more special than other animals. There are many animals that could be great pets that are used as food. Dogs are seen as loyal and affectionate animals, but how do we know that they are the only animals like that. Pigs or cows could be as loyal and affectionate as dogs, but we may never know. If we just use them as food and just raise them to be eventually be slaughtered in a factory, how will we ever find out. After reading this excerpt it helped shed some light on how other animals aren’t treated as fairly as others.

Literature Analysis

Slaughterhouse-Five

1. Billy Pilgrim is "unstuck in time", which means that he jumps back and forth in to moments of his life. Since, he's "unstuck in time" the story of his life is separated into pieces throughout the book. He was abducted by extraterrestrials called Tralfamadorians. At their planet he is kept in a zoo with a movie actress and he learns of the Tralfamadorian's perception of time. They tell Billy that when you die, you're just dead at that moment and that you're still alive in another time. It's hard to understand, because the Tralfamadorians know about the fourth dimension. Billy's life story consists of him getting drafted into the war during World War 2 and how he became hospitalized from nervous breakdowns from memories of Dresden, a town that was bombed while Billy was being held as a prisoner of war. Billy raised two kids and became really wealthy after the war. The night after the wedding of Billy's daughter is when he gets kidnapped by the Tralfamadorians. When he returns back to Earth, he gets in an accident in a plane and is the only survivor. He then attempts to notify people about what he learned about time and the Tralfamadorians.

2. I think one of the main themes of Slaughterhouse-Five is that war is really destructive. Billy suffered greatly in the war and even survived a bombing of a German town named Dresden, because him and other American prisoners of war were being contained in a meat locker at the time. He saw many people die during the war. At one point he had to dig holes to look for dozens of dead bodies in Dresden. The war might have traumatized Billy and is probably the reason he says he's unstuck in time. He most likely made up the Tralfamadorians to make an excuse of why war happens, since the Tralfamadorians taught him that you can not change time because it will always be structured the same way. He's hallucinating as a way to escape from a world full of war and destruction.

3. I chose this book sort of randomly. I saw the book and just chose to read it. Once, I started reading, it began to intrigue me. The way this book was structured was new and interesting to me and it seems like the author put some deep meaning into the book that I yet have to unearth.

4. When thinking if this book was realistic, I figured it is both realistic and non-realistic. The part about being abducted by aliens is obviously very unrealistic, but everything about the war and the struggles he goes through is very realistic. I did not find any connections between the book and people or events in my life, since I've never been in a war obviously and I do not know anybody that has been in a war like World War 2.

5. The tone of the author, Kurt Vonnegut, makes Billy very unemotional. For example, "Valencia adored Billy. She was crying and yelping so hard as she drove that she missed the correct turnoff from the throughway.", shows that Billy doesn't really have much feeling for his wife and I think the term "yelping" isn't a very sympathetic way of describing someone grieving over they're husband being hospitalized. Also the author always wrote "So it goes." after almost every death, showing that Billy didn't find death that bad since he believes that you're still alive in another moment. For example, "His name was Howard W. Campbell, Jr. He would later hang himself while awaiting trial as a war criminal.So it goes" and "It is aimed at him from the darkened press box. In the next moment, Billy Pilgrim is dead. So it goes." shows that the author wanted to convey Billy as unsympathetic and not carrying about death.

6. This novel had many literary elements throughout the story.
  1.The whole book itself was an allusion since the bombing of Dresden was an actual historical event.
  2.When the author adds "So it goes" at the end of someone's death helps explain the tone of the author like, "The Germans carried the corpse out. The corpse was Wild Bob. So it goes"(pg.69).
  3. When Billy gets scolded for having horses that were bleeding and suffering pull his wagon, he cries for the first time helps readers understand that Billy is crying,because the horses are innocent victims of suffering just like Billy in the war,"When Billy saw the condition of his means of transportation, he burst into tears".(pg.197).
  4. A prayer Billy has framed in his office, "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom always to tell the difference."(pg.60) helps readers understand that Billy received serenity from the Tralfamadorians by telling him that you can not change the past since time will always be structured the same and he gets courage to attempt to tell everyone else the same thing the Tralfamadorians told him to change people's view on death.
  5. When Billy says something smells like "mustard gas and roses" the author is using imagery. He uses this to describe the smell of the corpses at Dresden, "..and the stink was like roses and mustard gas."(pg.214)
  6. The author uses imagery when people are sleeping. He describes them as "nestled like spoons", "...nestled like spoons in their big double bed."(pg.72).
  7. Another use of imagery that the author uses frequently is "ivory and blue". It is a constant color that the author uses to describe things, "He looked down at his bare feet. They were ivory and blue."(pg.72)
  8.When Billy is looking at books from Tralfamadore, there are stars separating each section of the novel. They are supposed to contain their own short message to create a beautiful scene and copies of the actual book Slaughterhouse-Five has the same stars separating the sections, " ...the books were laid out in brief clumps of symbols separated by stars."(pg.88).
  9. There is figurative language when the Tralfamadorians describe earthlings as machines and Billy accepts their reasoning, "Lionel Merble was a machine. Tralfamadorians, of course, say that every creature and plant in the universe is a machine."(pg.154).
 10. There is irony when Billy decides to spread the idea of no such thing as free will and other things he learned from the Tralfamadorians, but he makes the free choice of reaching out to people to inform them of his ideas, "...telling about the flying saucers and Monatan Wildhack, and so on."(pg.206).

Characterization

1. Examples of direct characterization are Roland Weary and Edgar Derby. You can immediately see that Roland is a though guy and that Edgar is a nice guy. Examples of indirect characterization would be Billy and Kilgore Trout. Through their actions and word you can see Billy is possibly mentally ill and unemotional and Kilgore Trout is bitter and an unappreciated author. Characters that have direct characterization tend to be less interesting and not as important than indirect characters in novels.

2. When the author is focusing on character the author's diction changes, because he uses more adjectives than in other sentences. For example, "...the scouts, clever, graceful, quiet. They had rifles. Next came the anti-tank gunner, clumsy and dense, warning Germans away with a Colt .45 automatic in one hand and a trench knife in the other."(pg.32).

3. Billy is dynamic, because he was living a normal life, but after meeting the Tralfamadorians he changed his view on life and death. Billy is a round character, because there is a lot to him. He is unsympathetic, but also weeps to himself at times,

4. I felt like I met the author Kurt Vonnegut, because the way he wrote this novel interested me very much. There are little details added into the text that I noticed that I found pretty cool. For example, in the beginning when the novel starts of with Kurt it says that he would make drunk phone calls to old girlfriends and that his breath smelled of mustard gas and roses. This detail stood out to me, because when Billy went into his daughters old room her phone rang, "Billy answered. There was a drunk on the other end. Billy could almost smell his breath- mustard gas and roses. It was a wrong number. Billy hung up."(pg.73) and that could have been Kurt calling Billy's daughter. I could be just thinking about too hard, but it was pretty cool to me that it could have been the author of the book about Billy breaking the fourth wall.

Enduring Memory

     Ideas that will be held in my memory from this book are the ideas of being alive in another moment and the prayer Billy had in his office. I do not completely believe that when you die you're still alive in another moment. What I got out of that ideas is that I should cherish all of the good moments on my life, because you're still alive in this moment. The prayer in the book, "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom always to tell the difference."(pg.60), will stick in my memory, because the message it sends is very inspiring. It tells me that I should attempt to change things for the better and not waste my time attempting to change things that should not be changed or meddled with.

Big Baby Hermes

Main Characters:

Hermes-17 year old god, messenger of the gods, a trickster

Apollo-A god, brother of Hermes, 

Hera-Wife of Zeus, goddess, grew to like Hermes

Zeus-God of the sky and ruler of all gods, father of Hermes

Maia-Mother of Hermes, human, had a secret affair with Zeus

Settings:

• Mount Olympus where his trial was held for stealing the cows of Apollo
• A cave in Arcadia where his mother was raising him in secret
• Pieria where he stole the cows of Apollo

Main Conflict:

The main conflict of the story was that Apollo took Hermes to court because he stole his cows for a drink of milk.

Purpose of Myth:

This myth was explaining how Hermes became the messenger of the gods, how he got his wand, and who/how invented the lyre.

Latin Roots #2

Roots and Derivatives

1. anni, annu, enni
2. aqua, aque
3. arm
4. art

Word List

1.aqua

   She bought an aqua colored shirt for her mother's birthday present.
2.aquaculture

   Many places that live along the sea have aquaculture.
3.aqueous

   The inside of your body is very aqueous.
4.armada

   During the war, the dictator decided to send an armada to attack.
5.armature

   The army had special armature for when they go to battle.
6.armistice

   The two feuding countries made an armistice so they can make peace.
7.artifact

   The archaeologist discovered an artifact while digging.
8.artifice

   The thief used artifice to get the lady to give him her money.
9.artisan

   His artwork showed that he was a highly skilled artisan.
10.millennium

   The comet was scheduled to pass by again in a millennium.
11.perennial

   The plants planted in my backyard are perennial.
12.superannuated

   The old truck that Bob got was superannuated.

Journal Entry

     Young people want to be older than they are, because they want the authority they get when they become older. They don't want to be ordered around, because they are younger than others.Older people want to become young again, because they want to experience the joys of youth again. Now that they are older they don't have time or energy to do fun things they could do if they were young. I am personally fine with my age. I don't really get pushed around in my household. My sister is about 15 years older than me, but I still am the one that pushes around her. It is true that people have authority over me in my house, but I just don't listen to anyone. Others complain about their age, but I'm glad I'm still young. I really don't want to become older, because there will be bigger responsibilities in life and of course eventually you start getting close to death.

Latin Roots #1

ROOTS AND DERIVATIVES

1. act, ag, ig: to do, to move, to drive
2. ali, alter: another, other
3. am: at/ to love
4. anim: life, spirit, soul

WORD LIST

        1.agenda

        Bob wrote down his plans for the day in his agenda.

        2.agile

        Jimmy was trying to catch his cat, but it was too agile. 
        3.alienate

        Fred started to alienate his brother when his friends arrive.       
        4.altercation

         The two angry drivers had an altercation in the middle of the street.

        5.amiable

        Jeff was really amiable all the time.

       6.amorous

       When Bob saw the girl across the street he began to have amorous feelings for her.     
        7.animated

        The writer dreamed of a day his books would become an animated T.V. show.       
       8.equanimity

        His equanimity allowed him to be level headed during the argument.       
       9.inalienable

         Since he was a citizen, his rights are inalienable.       
       10.inanimate

          Fred's pet rock is inanimate, but he pretends it isn't.       
        11.magnanimous

         Joe is magnanimous, because he always tries to help others.

       12.reactionary

         The new president seems to have reactionary ideas.

Purpose of Myth Review

1. 4 fundamental questions that myths address:

• What is the nature of the universe in which I live?
• How do I relate to that universe?
• How much control do I have over my own life?
• What must I do on order to survive?

2. 4 themes in world mythology:

• First parents are often the gods of sky and earth
• The creator god usually fashions the first humans from parts of the earth
• The gods destroy at least one mortal world by causing a great flood
• Heroes are children of gods who have unusual births, embark on journeys, have extroardinary strength, possess special weapons, and have unusual deaths

3.The beginning of the universe for most cultures begin with divine beings who separate earth and sky. It usually begins with chaos, but the gods separate it and the creator god brings life.

4.The hero myths and epics teach members of society appropriate attitudes, behavior, and the values of that culture.

5.Ordinary people identify with heroes, because the imperfections and human weaknesses of the heroes helps people identify with heroes.

6. The foundation of the matriarchal society was that women were highly valued and women were usually the head of the families.

7.Sigmund Freud's view of myths was that they contain many similar themes that reflects the existence of a common collective unconscious.

8. Myths demonstrate that people possess the intellectual capacity to understand the world we live in.

The Traits of an Only Child

Throughout my childhood I had never considered myself as an only child, but once I read this research it made me realize that I’m actually similar to an only child. I had lived with my sister my whole life, so I thought the research must have been wrong when I was put under the category of only child. The way an only child is described suits me well in some aspects, but not so much in others. The types of careers that only children are most likely to go into fits into my career preferences. This research showed me ways I am like an only child and ways I am not.

The traits that correspond to me that only children have are being a procrastinator and being scholarly. I am a huge procrastinator and I hate the fact that I am one. Last year when I was in Mrs.Davis’s class we were assigned a book report project months in advance and I ended up doing the whole thing the night before it was due. I still tried really hard on it, because I want a good grade. I tend to be scholarly,for the most part, when it comes to school. I always put my all into most of my work, because I really want to get good grades in all of my classes. I find it ironic that I’m a procrastinator and a scholar when it comes to school. It’s so contradicting that I wonder how I manage to do it.

In the research, there were also some traits that only children had that did not go with me at all. Those traits were being self-centered and being well organized. I don’t think of only myself most of the time and I hope others don’t think I am. I like to help others when they’re in need. When my sister became pregnant with her third child I didn't want her to stress with getting new stuff for the baby, because she was her first girl. She couldn't really reuse that much because her first two children were boys. I bought her a new stroller and pitched in for some other stuff aswell. When it comes to organizing, I am very bad. If my mom weren't here to remind me to pick things up and to clean things my room would look like a miniature jungle. Any organization that I had started at the beginning of school disappears later on. Eventually, I just put papers into my backpack instead of sorting them in my binders.

The careers that only children usually go into suits me very well. The fields that only children go into include science, engineering, medicine, computer science, etc. I one day hope to make it to college so I can major in computer science. I’m also interested in engineering and science. Since I was a child I was fascinated by computers. I was bought one when I was about six years old. I always pondered on how they functioned on the inside. I want to build my own computer once I’m older and have the money for some really good parts. A lot of people out there know how and there is a ton of resources I can use, but I want to explore and discover how to build one by myself. When I look at a piece of technology or machinery I start to wonder how they work. I’m the type of person that likes to wonder how stuff works when I’m not sure how they work.

The research that was conducted for Birth Order was accurate for the most part, but didn't get everything right. I expect them not to get everything 100% on their research since there are a lot of only children in the world and everyone has different personalities and interests. I've always had a sister with me, but this research made me consider the fact that I am similar to an only child. The traits like procrastinating and being scholarly was dead on, but the traits about being self-centered and well organized was completely off. I found this research pretty interesting and it shed some light about what type of child I’m most similar to.

Birth Order Trait

What the research says	Evidence of accuracy or inaccuracy
May Procrastinate	This is true because I’m always procrastinating
Careers: Engineering/Computer Science	This is true because my future career that I want is computer science
Well-organized	This is not true because I’m the worst at organizing
Serious	This is sort of true because I can be both serious and not serious at times
Scholarly	This is sort of true because I’m only scholarly sometimes

Reflections On Week 1

1.The only factor that might affect my experience in the class is the homework. I'm a huge procrastinator when it comes to homework. With the amount of homework I get everyday, when I'm done procrastinating I might forget to do the homework or do it late at night really improvised.

2.I can't recall of an awesome way of teaching I've ever seen. It's all pretty much the same in most classes. The only thong different I can think of is what I'm doing right now, posting my homework on a blog. 

3.The thing I'm most excited about is how the blog is going to turn out. I'm not sure what I'm excited to learn from the class. Anything I learn in the class will make a difference in my life, because it will help me in college.

My Six Words

    When I was thinking about my six words, I was also hungry for some CP( I usually call Cheese Pizza CP). So, I made my six words about the wonders of cheese pizza. I usually get my CP delivered because that's how I get it all the time. When I receive my CP it's the best feeling ever. I tried making some CP once, but when it's delivered right to me it's the best. No one can interrupt me when I'm having a good time with my CP. If you've never gotten CP delivered to you, I am very sorry for you. If I ever get a job I hope it will be delivering pizza. I would love to see the smile on peoples faces when I go deliver their CP. That is why I made my six words about CP.