The novels I chose to read are The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga and The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. (Standard)
PROMPTS for How To Read Literature Like A Professor
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Flights of Fancy (Chapter 15):
Select a literary work in which flight signifies escape or freedom. Explain in detail.
Symbolically, the term flight or freedom can be depicted in many ways: escape, sense of spirituality, the flight from darkness, love.. The novel I chose,The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, showcases the protagonist’s quest to freedom and stages of his “flight” to freedom of his past. Balram Halwai stars as the entrepreneur, philosopher and murderer. Born into a poor family on the low social ranking of India, Balram starts to build himself up from his not so glamourous life to work in the city. I think this shows his first baby steps to freedom and escape, where he starts to move himself apart from what he is perceived as from the rest of the world. Meaning, just because he grew up living in poverty, does not mean that he incapable of doing big things. While moving steadily, Balram successfully gets a job in the city of Delhi as a chauffeur for a rich landlord. Now, by this part I think he was starting to take off on his flight to freedom. He does have some slips, with murdering his rich boss and stealing his money. From that though, he transcends to become a successful entrepreneur and businessman, establishing his own taxi company/service. Overall, I believe that this novel has revolved itself around the idea of escaping your own doubt and working hard to freedom.
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Every Trip Is a Quest (Except When It’s Not) (Chapter 1)
List the five aspects of the QUEST and then apply them to something you have read (or viewed) in the form used on pages 3-5
For the Quester, the character Enid of The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen goes on a quest to have her broken-apart and scattered family to come home for one last christmas together. As for the Place To Go, with constant requests from Enid, the family decides to come together for a christmas. Reason to go there? The stated reason from Enid of having a nice christmas together. Challenges? The story shows the different family members and their individual struggles in life, so all three children of Enid and Alfred, as well as Enid and Alfred themselves somehow make it work with several issues like Depression, losing Jobs, Family problems, etc. The real reason to come home for the christmas was because family needs family. In times that are hard, the people who are always going to stick by your side are the ones who raised you and were there from the beginning.
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Nice to Eat With You (Chapter 6)
Choose a meal from a literary work and apply the ideas of Chapter 2 to this literary depiction.
As soon as Enid hears that her children are coming to visit for Christmas, after so many requests, she is ecstatic. However, the day comes rolling around and things do not end subtly. Like I have said in the previous paragraph, each of the family members have been suffering their own troubles. They have not exactly reached out to each other on deep levels, making the family not any closer. Whenever people drink or eat together, it’s a communion which brings a positive feel from it. Although when a meal fails, that most times brings out the negative feelings. On the Christmas which Enid had finally put together for her family, commotion comes out and the dinner is ended with everyone storming out and leaving.
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It’s More Than Just Rain or Snow (Chapter 10)
Discuss the importance of weather in a specific literary work, not in terms of plot.
Weather is a great symbol for many things. It can be used as a plot device. For example, to some people Rain can symbolize fertility, or life. Rain is clean, can restore dying earth back to life, and on the flip side, can be destructive as well. (Too much rain can kill crops, create floods, etc.) Snow can be seen as negative--cold, still, death. While on the positive side it can represent playfulness and cleanliness. Weather can help make a plot more real. In The White Tiger, hot weather had been a trouble to Balram. For one, working as the chauffeur for a landlord, the sunny days described in the novel gave a sense of the hard work that had to be done in the sun. In a way, it is relatable, because we have all had times where we had to work or play in the sun for long periods of time, which can be tiring and not fun at all. All in all, weather is important in novels because it can help enhance a story plot with more imaginative images and can represent some emotions not said by words.
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More Than It’s Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence (Chapter 11)
Present examples of two kinds of violence found in literature. Show how the effects are different.
I think there are two types of Violence in Literature; Character caused, and the opposite. In The Corrections, each family member of the Lambert family is battling their own demons. Divorce, depression, employment, family and other mental problems. These are mostly character caused. The violence that comes with it has changed each of their lives on the dark turn, which shapes their character development to what it is in the end. The not-character caused violence is the father, Alfred's death from disease. This creates it's own sadness and demons that each of the family members have to experience because of their loss. Both these violences can be
PROMPTS for How To Read Literature Like A Professor
--
Flights of Fancy (Chapter 15):
Select a literary work in which flight signifies escape or freedom. Explain in detail.
Symbolically, the term flight or freedom can be depicted in many ways: escape, sense of spirituality, the flight from darkness, love.. The novel I chose,The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, showcases the protagonist’s quest to freedom and stages of his “flight” to freedom of his past. Balram Halwai stars as the entrepreneur, philosopher and murderer. Born into a poor family on the low social ranking of India, Balram starts to build himself up from his not so glamourous life to work in the city. I think this shows his first baby steps to freedom and escape, where he starts to move himself apart from what he is perceived as from the rest of the world. Meaning, just because he grew up living in poverty, does not mean that he incapable of doing big things. While moving steadily, Balram successfully gets a job in the city of Delhi as a chauffeur for a rich landlord. Now, by this part I think he was starting to take off on his flight to freedom. He does have some slips, with murdering his rich boss and stealing his money. From that though, he transcends to become a successful entrepreneur and businessman, establishing his own taxi company/service. Overall, I believe that this novel has revolved itself around the idea of escaping your own doubt and working hard to freedom.
--
Every Trip Is a Quest (Except When It’s Not) (Chapter 1)
List the five aspects of the QUEST and then apply them to something you have read (or viewed) in the form used on pages 3-5
For the Quester, the character Enid of The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen goes on a quest to have her broken-apart and scattered family to come home for one last christmas together. As for the Place To Go, with constant requests from Enid, the family decides to come together for a christmas. Reason to go there? The stated reason from Enid of having a nice christmas together. Challenges? The story shows the different family members and their individual struggles in life, so all three children of Enid and Alfred, as well as Enid and Alfred themselves somehow make it work with several issues like Depression, losing Jobs, Family problems, etc. The real reason to come home for the christmas was because family needs family. In times that are hard, the people who are always going to stick by your side are the ones who raised you and were there from the beginning.
--
Nice to Eat With You (Chapter 6)
Choose a meal from a literary work and apply the ideas of Chapter 2 to this literary depiction.
As soon as Enid hears that her children are coming to visit for Christmas, after so many requests, she is ecstatic. However, the day comes rolling around and things do not end subtly. Like I have said in the previous paragraph, each of the family members have been suffering their own troubles. They have not exactly reached out to each other on deep levels, making the family not any closer. Whenever people drink or eat together, it’s a communion which brings a positive feel from it. Although when a meal fails, that most times brings out the negative feelings. On the Christmas which Enid had finally put together for her family, commotion comes out and the dinner is ended with everyone storming out and leaving.
--
It’s More Than Just Rain or Snow (Chapter 10)
Discuss the importance of weather in a specific literary work, not in terms of plot.
Weather is a great symbol for many things. It can be used as a plot device. For example, to some people Rain can symbolize fertility, or life. Rain is clean, can restore dying earth back to life, and on the flip side, can be destructive as well. (Too much rain can kill crops, create floods, etc.) Snow can be seen as negative--cold, still, death. While on the positive side it can represent playfulness and cleanliness. Weather can help make a plot more real. In The White Tiger, hot weather had been a trouble to Balram. For one, working as the chauffeur for a landlord, the sunny days described in the novel gave a sense of the hard work that had to be done in the sun. In a way, it is relatable, because we have all had times where we had to work or play in the sun for long periods of time, which can be tiring and not fun at all. All in all, weather is important in novels because it can help enhance a story plot with more imaginative images and can represent some emotions not said by words.
--
More Than It’s Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence (Chapter 11)
Present examples of two kinds of violence found in literature. Show how the effects are different.
I think there are two types of Violence in Literature; Character caused, and the opposite. In The Corrections, each family member of the Lambert family is battling their own demons. Divorce, depression, employment, family and other mental problems. These are mostly character caused. The violence that comes with it has changed each of their lives on the dark turn, which shapes their character development to what it is in the end. The not-character caused violence is the father, Alfred's death from disease. This creates it's own sadness and demons that each of the family members have to experience because of their loss. Both these violences can be