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Chera Pupi
March 26, 2008
EL267
Paper Proposal

Inequality of all kinds (in literature and real life) is an interesting topic for me. I am quite passionate about gender inequality in particular; therefore, for my research paper, I will focus on the gender inequalities that appear in Susan Glaspbell’s, “A Jury of Her Peers,” and Earnest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises. Gender inequality plays a large role in both of these works in some form or another. Although the two works are similar in that they both contain gender inequalities, they differ in the genders that are portrayed or referred to as unequal. Through the men’s condescending and patronizing comments in “A Jury of Her Peers,” it is quite clear that women are the inferior sex, and therefore unequal to men in the men’s eyes; because of Bret’s unequal treatment by her ex-husband in The Sun Also Rises, she in turn has begun to treat men as unequal by using them for her own personal gain (sexual and material).
In this paper, I will argue and support with evidence from the text that the women in “A Jury of Her Peers” are treated as less than equals by the men in the story. I have found over 15 separate lines of dialogue that indicate this. From Minnie and John Wright, to the attorney, the sheriff, and Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, the women are consistently treated poorly and unequally by males. I will use the fact that the women for the majority of the story are (with the exception of Minnie) are referred to as “Mrs. [husband’s last name]” indicating that they are nothing more than property of their husbands. Similarly, the women only refer to their husbands as “Mr…” showing a level of distance and superiority of the men over the women. I will also use the condescending comments that the men make towards the women to support my claim.
I will argue that as a result of being treated as unequal herself by her husband in The Sun Also Rises, Bret has turned to treating men as unequals. I will use the fact that when Romero tries to “feminize” her, Bret immediately turns away and refuses to do what he asks to support this claim. Similarly, Bret uses men for whatever she happens to need at the moment. She has no regard for their feelings or for their basic humanity. She cheats on them in front of each other, and through an odd role reversal, takes on the stereotypical male role. She never has to justify herself or be concerned with her appearance, yet the men are constantly concerned with proving their masculinity, and are usually forced to do so as a result of her actions in some form.

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Comments from Instructor:

Good job Chera. You have designed a nice proposal. Others learn: based on what Chera has written, we now know (1) what texts she is going to write about, (2) what thematic or theoretical approach she is going to use, and (3) a few specifics about her argument.

My advice to Chera is to make ONE thesis statement that incorporates both of your works. It seems that you have two theses going right now, one for each work. Decide what you are really hypothesizing about both of the works as a pair and state that in your first paragraph. In the following paragraphs, tell me how, briefly, how you will argue in favor of your thesis (you don't have to develop those arguments yet, you'll do that in the paper).

For example, in both "Plato's Cave" and "The Matrix" a person who learns the truth about his existence tries to free his fellows from their bondage so that they too can be free. In both cases, the protagonist is met with resistance. There is a conflict between those who desire to know and those who do not wish to know. (continued)

(continued) *You see, that's the thesis. Then, in the following paragraphs--two might be enough--you'll briefly explain what evidence from the texts you'll present to "prove your case" (imagine that this is a court case):

In "Plato's Cave," the person was (?) and he did this (page number), that (page number), and the other (page number) to try and help his own kind. At (?) he was met with this kind of resistance (page number) and with (?) he had this kind of conflict (page number), and finally he had to....

In "The Matrix," repeat with similar logic...

...Together, what all this means/signifies is....(your conclusion).

So, just tweak yours a bit and everyone else do the same!

~Lee Hobbs

Samantha Graham
March 25, 2008
EL 276
Proposal

Often times, popular books are adapted into major motion pictures because of the prosperity of the book. However, motion pictures do not portray the book exactly as written. In my paper I will discuss the various techniques used in transforming adaptations from the book to the screen through editing, adding, and substituting elements. "Everything is Illuminated," written by Johnathan Safran Foer, is one such adaptation that was created by Liev Schreiber in 2005.

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Samantha, I'm afraid you're going to have to be a lot more specific here.

See the advice I gave your classmate on the blog and let me know what elements you plan to concentrate on difference in structure? Reinterpretation of characters? Missing plot elements? Added plot elements? Different beginnings, endings?, etc. Dialogue differences?

Try again and I'll repost your changes on the blog (but not on Turnitin.com)

Lee Hobbs

Candice S
26 March 2008
EL 267
Research Paper Proposal
One of the reasons I am a fine arts major is because I believe that we serve society in a very powerful an inflicting manner, through the soul. In my field of music, and especially in my forte of being a vocalist, it is the constant challenge of the performer to delve into her or her spiritual self. Therefore, the topic I will examine will be the spiritual and religious aspects of the works “One” by Metallica and “Everything is Illuminated” by Jonathan Safran Foer. However, I’m going to argue this topic as it relates to secularization of society. There are very obvious examples of religious spirituality in modern American literature, despite the unfortunate secularization of society.
First, I plan to make my statement and then I will showcase some simple but powerful examples of the secularization of society. For example, I will use the elimination of prayer in public schooling and the elimination of the name “God” in many public respects (i.e. money, the Pledge of Allegiance).
Next, I plan to make the connection that God is alive and well in modern American Literature and fine arts. First, I’ll make the general Christian argument as stated in the pleading for death throughout the song “One” by Metallica. Then I will examine the statements made from the Jewish standpoint in “Everything is Illuminated” by Safran Foer. An example being in the letter on page 25 when Jonathan’s faith is tested by his friend Alexander.
My next two arguments will go hand in hand as I will first explain how the beliefs of the protagonists, though challenged, keep them together and keep them alive and searching. Then I will explain that these are statements from the authors to the world. It would seem that in a secularized society religion cannot die in the fine arts. I will also ue some small examples that these are not the only two examples of this idea, there are many more.

Defined as being unfair in action or treatment, injustice encompasses every facet of a social, political, and economic structure. Injustice is in direct opposition with ethical and moral reasoning, which provokes in me a compassion toward those who have suffered injustices based on attributes, innate or not, such as race, class, gender, religion, or other defining difference that can constitute a bias.

Injustices noted in The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway can be compared with those seen in Langston Hughes’ “On The Road” to show that no matter the situation or location, individuals can be treated unfairly. Analyzing some of the injustices in the two works will likely result in similarities in treatment of characters who live under distinctly different circumstances. Readers will be able to deduce that injustices are not reserved for any certain group or class of people.

Hallie Geary
American Lit

Proposal
Both Kosinski’s Painted Bird and Welty’s “A Worn Path” reveal social inequality between ethnicities; however, they use contrasting differences to show that the ethnicities are all truly equal. Kosinski contrasts the poor, rural German farmers against the Kalmuks and the Red Army/Russian Soviets (it is nearly impossible to use the Jewish ethnicity in this comparison because so few appear in the novel that it is difficult to tell if their treatment would have differed from the main characters, and also it is difficult to tell if the main character’s differed much from that of any loner or vagabond at that time). Welty compares a poor African-American woman to the white ethnicity.
Both stories show a subjugated ethnicity that is highly superstitious, but contrasts this with the atheist or apathetic ideas of the higher class. The subjugated ethnicity is shown as unsophisticated, brutish, and unintelligent, but the higher ethnicity is shown as immoral and capable of extreme violence. Both ethnicities are shown as capable of both acts of kindness and acts wickedness. In the end, both stories leave the reader with a feeling that neither ethnicity is actually any better or different than the other. All of the contrasting differences only emphasize the equality of the ethnicities, showing that only strength and the power to subjugate another causes any ethnicity to be better than any other.

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Hallie,

What clues in the text lead you to believe that the peasants are Germans? Also, what clues lead you to believe that the protagonist (not the author) is Jewish rather than Romany?

You'll need to explain that since it’s a specific about a really unspecific experience of a little boy.

Work on it a little more and repost to the English blog (don't worry about turnitin.com)

Lee Hobbs

Heather Stull
Mr. Lee Hobbs
EL267.01
March 26, 2008

In “The Painted Bird”, author Jerzy Kosinski documents his experiences as an abandoned child during World War II. “Everything is Illuminated”, a novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, focuses also on World War II. The protagonist, named for the author, travels to the Ukraine to find a woman whom he believes may have saved his grandfather from the Nazis. Throughout both novels there exist many conflicts. In my paper, I will be focusing on a conflict that three of the major characters face, characters through whom I believe that when examined, will provide fertile ground for a deeper understanding of the experiences of both of the authors and what they were trying to communicate through writing these novels. The focus will be on Man vs. Society conflict influenced by ethnic/racial prejudices.

From “The Painted Bird” I will be focusing on the protagonist, a representation of Mr. Kosinksi himself. I will examine the impact of his experiences during the war… how his appearance influenced the behavior of his caretakers, and how these experiences were central in shaping his view of himself and the world he lived in. I will be studying two characters from “Everything is Illuminated”. The first will be Jonathan Safran Foer. I will examine the difficulties he faces on his journey to discover his grandfather’s past. What challenges does he face as a Jew in contemporary Eastern Europe and are there any connections between what his grandfather dealt with and his current day struggles? The second character will be Brod, Jonathan’s great, great, great (etc.) grandmother who was rescued from the river of the local shtetl. I will examine how her differences alienate her from the rest of the shtetl and how this impacts her decisions and the course of her life, ultimately affecting Jonathan’s life. Other characters such as the gypsy girl and the three generations of Alex’s (two of which accompany Jonathan on his journey) will be used as supporting examples of the effects of these conflicts/prejudices on relationships.

Aside from the novels, I will be consulting interviews with both Jonathan Safran Foer and Jerzy Kosinski. Also, outside sources of Jewish memoirs from those both imprisoned inside and outside of concentration camps will be used to further examine the circumstances of the parents in “The Painted Bird” , the other children housed with the boy at the end of the novel, and the members of the shtletl in “Everything is Illuminated”. Ultimately, I hope to find further connections between the two authors and the inspiration for these novels, and the consequences of such conflicts/prejudices on the adolescent mind and how it affects the children of generations to come.

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Heather, before you get too deep into this as you've laid out, "carefully" read the introduction to the Painted Bird again and then let me know how you will justify positioning the protagonist as a representation of the author.
In what way? Is this an autobiography? What does Kosinski himself say about it?

The interviews might slow down the paper and you, so remember that you don't need outside research for this. I'm really looking for what you can read from the text itself. What theory can you formulate and back up with textual examples. No outside research. You may, of course, use the introductions in the books we are using, etc. as long as they are cited correctly.

Definitely connect the stories. But try to do so with theme and/or theory.

Do that, rework it, and resubmit to the English Blog (don't worry about turnitin.com)

Best,

Lee Hobbs

A Pittsburgh native, August Wilson, wrote the Pulitzer and Tony Award winning playwright, “Fences”. The play takes place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the time that Hank Aaron led the Milwaukee Braves to the World Series beating the New York Giants. The main character of the story, Troy, was a baseball player in the Negro Leagues but was too old when African Americans were being drafted into the Major Leagues. He moved on with his life and works for the sanitation company lifting garbage cans into the dump truck. This step back from being a professional athlete depresses him. His son Cory, is offered to play baseball for a recruit coming into town. Troy does everything in his power to prevent Cory from having the same high hopes and expectations that he did with the Major Leagues in hopes that Cory will keep his job instead. A similar theme can be seen in the song, “One” by Metallica.
In the song, “One” by Metallica, the interpreted themes are of struggle, failure, and of deep depression. Troy experiences all of these emotions and hardships in the play, “Fences” and can be correlated with one another.
Through science and technology, the main characters’ bitterness towards athleticism in Wilson’s Play, “Fences” can be seen in parallel to the song “One” written by Metallica’s James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich.

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Bob,

You've done a good job here in explaining struggle, failure, in Fences but not deep depression. I'll need to see your take on that.

You'll also need to develop in your proposal, how the themes of struggle, failure, and of deep depression are represented in the lyrics of One.

Finally, I can see how science and technology can be apparent in One, especially if you use Trumbo as a third research source, but how is science and technology apparent to "bitterness," as you say, in Fences?

You'll need to give the reader a better understanding of these issues I've addressed.

Rethink what you are really trying to say, give some specifics, and resubmit to the English-blog (but, not to turnitin.com).

Best,

Lee Hobbs

Thesis:

Through ones travels through life the daunting task of perceiving the truth is influenced by nature’s existence.

Proposal:

In all three texts: “Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, “One” by Metallica, and “The Allegory of the Cave” by Plato all reveal some part of the destructive side of human nature. There has been an outside agent that has caused darkness to all characters. For instance in The One there was a bomb, in Worn Path there was disease and a struggle on a journey to help the loved one, and in Plato’s short story it is perception –vs- reality (shadows).
In this paper I will show and support how nature plays a role in the text. For instance within “The Worn Path” I will explain and prove that some sort of nature played a role in Phoenix’s journey. I will show that even though the protagonist is on a hard journey, love will conquer all. The perception is that she doesn’t stop to interpret everything around her. The reality is, is that she needs to get into town. I will also show and support nature’s role in “The One”. Within this short text by Metallica, it shows the destructive side of human nature. The perception of life has been lost and the reality was getting through the perception that he needs to die. It is the nature of warfare and destruction to all. I will also show nature’s role in Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave”. Within the story, it shows how four men need something-they need freedom. The perception is that the shadows are real and that is all they know. The reality is that they are only shadows and there is more than meets the eye.

“Hallie,
What clues in the text lead you to believe that the peasants are Germans? Also, what clues lead you to believe that the protagonist (not the author) is Jewish rather than Romany?
You'll need to explain that since it’s a specific about a really unspecific experience of a little boy.
Work on it a little more and repost to the English blog (don't worry about turnitin.com)
Lee Hobbs”

I don’t know why I put Germany. I must have been thinking about the Nazis at the time.

The author is specifically pretty vague about the actual origins of the people that the narrator lives with, and there are clues that this might be to prevent anti-Polish feelings (which is where the author was). Some of it also comes from the narrator not knowing where he is, so it might be better to say “rural European peasants.”

The comparison I was thinking of making there wasn’t whether or not the author was Jewish (because that is never mentioned) simply that it’s assumed that he’s a Jew (or a Gypsie, which are also hated) but because there are so few Jews that have any interaction in the novel (other than the ones on the train and what the narrator is told about them, I believe only the little boy who fell off the train and the girl who got off the train had any specific information about their treatment) and so many of the peasants, I decided to run the comparison between the rustic, backwards peasant people and the technologically advanced armies. The peasant people are generally horrible to the narrator, beating and misusing him. However, some of their violence comes from their superstitions and their lack of education, and also the fact that they are a violent people in a violent world. Also, despite his cruel treatment, the narrator would not be alive without them, and they do prove themselves capable of love and devotion on several occasions (like hiding the narrator from people who would hurt them, Lekh’s love of Ludmila, and a few others). Meanwhile, the more technologically advanced Kalmuks come in and destroy and entire village, raping and pillaging in a gruesome chapter, proving that having more technology does not change the true nature of humans. And even the Red Army, although they are far more civilized and just than any of the others, proves that the true nature of humans is still present when the sharpshooter goes into the village and takes revenge for his friends by shooting random peasants. As the final nail in the coffin of this prediction, even the children are shown to be just as cruel and merciless as the adults, showing that in adversity humans will always resort to their basic, brutal instincts in order to survive.

Obviously Painted Bird has far more depth than “The Worn Path” but there is a feeling of equality in that story as well. The first instance that comes to mind is that the white man tells Pheonix that he would give her money if he had any and then drops a coin. Pheonix, in response, gets the man to chase the stray dog so that she can pick up the coin. This shows an equal ability to sin from both ethnicities.

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Ok, much better now! Thanks for clarifying that!

Best,

Lee Hobbs

"Journey"
In my research paper, I am going to relate the short story, “On the Road” by Langston Hughes, and the novel, “Johnny Got His Gun” by Dalton Trumbo, in the hopes of correlating the two by their similarities and parallelism of the representation of journey throughout their stories. In both of these stories, they display a lot of hidden meanings, metaphors, biblical personification, and an incredible amount of imagery to make you more insightful as to what the author wants you to think is going on. Both of these stories are very similar in a sense that “On the Road”, entails a man that is on a journey through town in hopes of finding shelter and food, and during his journey ends up meeting Jesus, much like the novel “Johnny Got His Gun”, where a man goes to war and experiences many hardships in hopes of informing other Americans of the dangers of war, and along his “Mind Journey”, he meets Jesus and asks him what he should do because of his unfortunate mishap in war where he looses all senses, touch, sight, smell, hearing and taste.

Thomas A.

T. Wineland
Am. Lit 1915-Present
Professor Hobbs
March 26, 2008

A dominant individual’s influence over another gender can create a false persona and force a person to put their real opinions and beliefs aside while they uphold the dominant individual’s values in order to please them. There are several examples of this in “A Jury of Her Peers” and many connections in Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave.” I plan to point out how another influence over us, especially of another dominant gender, can have a profound affect over how we view the world and how a realization of that hold can help us break free of the same, even if just for a moment, to express our true selves.

In both Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave” and “A Jury of Her Peers” individuals begin to think and see things in a manner in which they previously were ignorant, and out of this new realization they make decisions based upon their own opinions and not that of what was previously told to them. In “A Jury of Her Peers” Mrs. Peters has portrayed a Sheriff’s wife and lived life based upon what was best for her husband and the law. However, she is forced to break out of the shell she has created for herself and do what she believes is the right thing even though it goes against everything she has been known to believe as true. The same happens in Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave”. The individual who is freed from the cave can now see the truth and is able to step outside of what has always been known to be true and look at things differently, making decisions based upon his/her own decisions and not those thrust upon him/her.

Jodi Schweizer
March 26, 2006
EL 267
Paper Proposal

As an English Literature major working towards a teaching certificate, assignments that mesh together the beauty of the written form and the intricate workings of the human mind especially interest me. This is the main reason I chose to explore psychological issues evident in Earnest Hemmingway’s “The Sun Also Rises” and Susan Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers”. Although “The Sun Also Rises” and “A Jury of Her Peers” were written at different places in time, both stories show the harmful effects caused by many psychological and mental defects, especially depression and post traumatic stress disorder.
In Hemmingway’s “The Sun Also Rises, ” there is plenty of evidence that numerous characters, including Jake, Lady Brett, and Robert Cohn exhibit classic signs of depression, including sleeplessness, alcohol dependency, crying, and extreme mood swings. Jake is also a perfect argument to the effects of post traumatic stress disorder after serving in the war. I will back up these findings by using both Hemmingway’s text, and numerous valid psychology sources.
“ A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell also exhibits sign of depression by the character Minnie Foster. Although the reader never sees Mrs. Foster, they are told of her pitiful plight by Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale. The two women tell the reader of Minnie never being permitted outside to visit with her neighbors, of a beautiful singing voice that has been silenced by her husband, and the sad shell that remained of the beautiful woman after she married her husband. These signals by the other characters also clue in the reader to the fact that Minnie Foster was most likely being abused by her husband. This abuse will be the reason for Minnie Foster suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. These arguments will also be backed up using the text and numerous valid psychology sources.
After reading the arguments proving the authors use of psychological and mental disorders, the readers (members of the class and the professor) will easily be able to view the serious effects suffered by the characters, and consequently suffered by other characters due to their disorders .

Michelle Eaglehouse
March 26, 2008
American Literature
Research Proposal

Thesis: Although the decision to enter or begin a war is in the hands of people in power of nations, those that actually fight in the war or live in the countries involved with the war are greatly affected by the war in a number of ways, while those that decide to make the decision to enter a war are not affected in the same ways.
The main idea I want to cover in my paper from “Johnny Got His Gun” is that Joe was greatly affected by the war that he did not make the decision to fight in to begin with. He did not want to go to war at all, but he was drafted and did not have a choice but to go and fight. As a result of the war, he was stuck in a hospital bed for the rest of his life. He could not move, talk, eat, breath on his own, see, or hear anything. He was basically a vegetable although he still had cognitive capabilities. The people that decided to go to war walked into a room and gave him a medal for fighting in the war. They were still able to walk in the room without a problem, as far as he knew. These people that he was fighting for were not affected by the war in the same ways as him.
The main idea I want to cover in my paper from “The Painted Bird” is that the boy had to leave his whole family because he was not safe with them. He was Jewish and the Nazi people were killing all of the Jewish people at this time. As a result, the six-year-old boy was sent to a village where his parents thought he would be safe. He had to fend for himself once he arrived. He moved from village to village all of the time and was always trying to fit in. Since he had dark hair and eyes and light skin, the people could tell that he was Jewish and did not accept him. Although this boy did not fight in the war because he was too young, he was greatly affected by it. He did not decide for the country to go to war, but the war had a greater effect on him than it did for the officials that made the decision to go to war.

A common metaphor represented in Plato’s parable of the cave and Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery” is that isolation causes ignorance. In Plato’s parable, the people have been held captive in a cave their whole life, only seeing shadow puppets on a wall. They perceived these images to be reality. These people have been isolated from society their entire lives. Their minds have been confined to only knowing things they have learned from being inside of the cave. By that, the people are not willing to accept anything else as reality, causing ignorance toward the outside world. In Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery”, the society which people live in is based on traditional values. These traditional values keep them isolated from advancing with the rest of the world. The people in the story believe in a lottery where a person is chosen to be stoned. They believe the lottery is a civil and normal tradition. Their isolation caused them to not realize that their traditional beliefs are barbarous and have become out-dated.

Chris King
3-26-08
English Lit.
Proposal
I chose the Novel “Everything is Illuminated” and the short story “Everyday Use” with religion/spirituality as the focus. I feel this is something that can greatly improve my perspectives on religion considering I come from a very religious background. I believe it will show both pros and cons in different situations and circumstances. Also, I feel this will be interesting for me, as a Christian, and not as a Jew
How does religion (Judaism in particular) impact Jonathan’s views during the trip he is on? Judaism and the holocaust obviously have a lot to do with one another. I feel that Jonathan’s trip, to find out his families’ history, was impacted by religion. I will discuss how it impacts his journey. Also, I will be discussing the religious title Jonathan hold as a “Jewish-American” and how that impacts his life/journey. Does that mean something different to Jonathon than it did for others during the holocaust? I will also touch upon the three different stories with in the novel. How does religion play, or not play, into each of the stories. Is it predominant throughout? Does it impact the plot line? Impact the characters? If so, how?
Does not possessing any religious views affect your life style and situations that are encountered? The family (mother and two daughters) doesn’t seem to share any religious views, which could be considered as a religious view in itself. I have always been reinforced with Christian views, but I think I can show how this family’s nonreligious views impacts their life compared to how it may if they did have religious views. Christianity, for example, supports the views of honesty, faith, trust, etc... If the mother imposed these view on her children, would their lives be different? Would Dee’s boyfriend be a different person? Also, let’s say the Maggie, for example, was the one who imposed religious views, would she be an outcast in her family? Would she better the family? Could she offer “betterness” to the family? All of these different situations are ones that I will talk about. They will show/describe the pros and cons of both believing/beholding a religious view, or not.
I will argue my points through references I use these to support my findings.

Proposal-----

Throughout reading the “The Painted Bird” by Jerzy Kosinski, I have noticed a commonality between it and “Johnny Got His Gun” by Dalton Trumbo. Both of these novels involve war and dramatically develop the consequences that come with war. More specifically, each of these novels describes a person’s fight with war. “Johnny Got His Gun” involves an adult male who has fought in the war and suffered extreme consequences. “The Painted Bird” is about a young boy who is not fighting in the war but does face cruel consequences because of the war. In each of these novels, war is represented as a violent and destructive monster that affects all people, whether they fight in the war or not.
For my research paper, I will write about the outcomes of war that are represented in each of the novels, whether it be a direct consequence from fighting in the war or an indirect consequence that is felt outside of the battle itself.

Shantavia Burchette
March 26, 2008
EL267
Paper Proposal

Great Literature takes you on a journey. A journey that either moves through the story or through the characters mind. This can be seen in Art, Novels, Poetry, and Short Stories. The journey doesn't have to be an obvious one but it will leave the reader with a sense of beginning and end. I would like to analyze "journey" in a sense of time and placement in reference to Langston Hughes' "On the Road" and the play we will read. I think that time can refer to years or hours and placement can refer to setting or mental state.
This ties into "On the Road" perfectly because Sargeant goes on both a mental journey and a physical journey. It will be interesting to see how these two works will tie together in the end.

Paper Proposal

Many times when I read a novel, I find it hard to differentiate what is actually happening to what is a memory. Sometimes it is also difficult to fully understand metaphors or hidden meanings without visual aid. It is easier to define these things when reading for pleasure but squeezing reading in for class occasionally leaves holes in the reader’s understanding.
I will be using the novel “Johnny got His Gun” by Dalton Trumbo along with the movie counterpart. I will focus on sections of the book which contain metaphors/foreshadowing/etc. and compare it to that section in the movie. I would also like to particularly focus on the flashbacks, dream sequences and the section of the book/movie which feature Jesus Christ. I found the section about Jesus very interesting after watching the movie. There were many visuals in the movie which gave a greater understanding to that section of the book.

In the two short stories, Everyday Use by Alice Walker and The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, there is a representation of materialism. When one is materialistic, they become greedy; wanting something and maintaining it so others will be jealous. Walker presents materialism in the form of the character Dee and Jackson presents materialism in the form of the whole town, in my opinion.
In my paper, I will write about the similarities and differences of materialism in both short stories; as well as comparing them to the movie Mean Girls- which id the epitome of materialism. I think I will be able to shed an interesting light by comparing the materialism found in the text with the materialism found in the movie. I will help the reader gain a better sense of materialism and how it is prevalent in today’s society and how it can relate all throughout history, shown in these two short stories, which were written in 1948 and 1973.

For my research paper, I will be discussing the representations of reality in August Wilson’s Fences. The main character Troy Maxson has several characteristics that represent reality. Troy is in his forties and has become a very bitter man. He has experienced many hardships in his lifetime that have made him become this way. Because of his bitterness, Troy tends to push the people who love him the most away and also have an affair. These are all representations of things that happen in real life. In my paper I will try to compare these situations to real life.

One complimentary conflict in Earnest Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises” and Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” is a main character in each story desires something that ultimately they can not receive. Realistically this is a conflict that people confront everyday of their life. Interestingly enough, Jacob from “The Sun Also Rises” and Dee from “Everyday Use” are completely different characters with completely different outcomes. However, both characters face the same conflict on some level.
Jacob wants throughout the entire story to be with his love Brett. Whereas Dee desires more materialistic needs in wanting a quilt that were constructed by her grandmother. Even though Jacob and Dee desire two totally different items both are shallow to an extent. Jacob does himself no justice by following Brett around like a puppy for nearly the entire book hoping for something that will never be because of his impotence. Whereas Dee desires something that was promised to his younger sister and condescends her sisters needs and use for the quilt.
Jacobs’s shallowness lies in the simple fact that he is doing himself no good longing for Brett and Dee makes herself look like a shallow fool. In the end neither Jacob nor Dee get what they desire and in Jacobs case he realizes at the end of the book it is for the better. Dee, on the other hand, doesn’t realize that it was better her sister Maggie received the blanket for practical reasons and in the end would serve Dee no more purpose than a trophy.

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Erin, as with all reading responses submitted to the English-Blog for EL 267, you must first submit the response to the proper space on www.turnitin.com (the date for which it was assigned). To get credit, the response must be present in both places by the deadline. Submissions to only one will not receive credit, so beware!

Joe Bonham, a blind, deaf man with neither a face nor limbs attempts to communicate with the outside world in hopes of teaching others about the outcome of war. Sargeant, an African American homeless man tries to find a place to sleep for the evening, while attempting to knock down the racial barriers he is faced with. Two men, with hardly any obvious similarities, both share their journeys as they overcome challenging obstacles.
Both these men are treated poorly by society, and are hardly heroic. However, they embark on a journey to beat the odds and to be that change in the world. Joe hopes to educate others, and frighten families enough to hold their children and loved ones back from entering the war. Sargeant wants justice and equality, and is willing to fight for what he believes in and stand up for himself.
Joe and Sargeant undergo significant changes in characters. Sargeant follows all of the rules and behaves humanely. He politely knocks at the Reverends door, asking for help, however is shunned immediately when the door is shut in his face. Expecting the rejection, he moves on until he sees two church doors. When the doors are locked, he attempts to pull them open, however fails. His breaking point occurs when the police pull at him, demanding him to let go. They beat him until he blacks out, which is when the threshold of adventure is crossed from the ordinary world to the special world. Sargeant meets Jesus, who becomes a companion for him to talk to about his problems. He is not the almighty Jesus as Christians believe; he has no advice or knoweldge to instill in Sargeant. In attempts to get away to a new place, Sargeant jumps onto a train, but is beat again until he wakes up. He is prison being beat by the guards. Although it appears as though he is defeated, he does not give up. He knows the battle is not over for him.
Joe wakes up in the dark, unable to open his eyes because they are no longer a part of his face. After a few moments he realizes that he has no face. He later learns that he has no arms and legs, and solely consists of a midsection, neck, and back of the head. All he has left are his memories in which he flashes back to regularly. Joe feels helpless and useless. He feels dead even though he is alive. His mind races and memories haunt him. His threshold to adventure is crossed when Joe is successful in learning how to develop a concept of time. He becomes ecstatic and proud of his successes, and begins to embark on a new adventure. Joe practices Morse code every time a person enters the room, hoping he/she will understand. His new nurse becomes his ally, as she does everything possible to understand what he is trying to communicate. She brings him in a man who understands Morse code to communicate with Joe. The man asks Joe what he wants, and when Joe explains that he wants to be an exhibit to teach others about the outcome of war, the man explains that it would be against regulations. Joe is defeated, left there hopeless to die.

Amanda S.

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The answers to the midterm examinations (both versions) and scans of the research proposal sign-up sheets (the sheet for topics and the sheet for theories) are all on J-Web in the section "Handouts assigned on 12 March 2008." Pay special attention if you were absent that night and missed the details of the assignment (e-mail me with your choice[s]).

The discussion questions we covered in class are also there. Remember, I won't be "collecting" the questions for you anymore. For the final exam, be sure you are taking notes in class, reading the blogs, and keeping your own list of questions asked, whether they are in a quiz or in group/class activities.

*NOTE* The deadline for this assignment has now passed. Any comments listed below are *ONLY* for the reposting of proposals that I asked to be revised. Any posted below that missed the deadline will not get credit for the assignment. Please note, however, that you cannot turn in a final paper without doing a proposal. So, even if you missed your chance to get credit for it, you *STILL* have to do one.

A Pittsburgh native, August Wilson, wrote the Pulitzer and Tony
Award winning playwright, "Fences". The play takes place in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania at the time that Hank Aaron led the Milwaukee Braves to the
World Series beating the New York Giants. The main character of the story,
Troy, was a baseball player in the Negro Leagues but was too old when
African Americans were being drafted into the Major Leagues. He moved on
with his life and works for the sanitation company lifting garbage cans into
the dump truck. This step back from being a professional athlete and
having to settle with a "Joe" job depresses him. His son Cory, is offered
to play baseball for a recruit coming into town. Troy does everything in
his power to prevent Cory from having the same high hopes and expectations
that he did with the Major Leagues in hopes that Cory will keep his job
instead. Similar themes of struggle, failure, and depression can also be
seen in the song, "One" by Metallica.
In the song, "One" by Metallica, the interpreted themes are of
struggle and deep depression. In the song, "One" , Metallica describe the
feelings and struggles with everyday life of the main character of the song,
as well as book and movie "Johnny Get Your Gun; a World War I veteran who
had his ears, throat, sight, arms and legs blown off by a land mine. Such
struggle, where he had failed on several occasions to accomplish some of his
daily goals. This is based off of the book, the movie, as well as the
interpretation of the song. Suffering from deep depression is easily seen
in "Fences". It is also seen and well understood that the veteran would
suffer from great depression as well. Evidence of depression in the song is
seen in the refrain, "hold my breath as I wish for death, oh please God wake
me..." Troy experiences all of these emotions and hardships in the play,
"Fences" and can be correlated with one another.
Through the advances of science and technology, the main characters'
bitterness towards athleticism and evidence of depression and struggle, and
in Wilson's Play, "Fences" can be seen in parallel to the song "One" written
by Metallica's James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. This connection is seen as
the advancements in technology and science, the fields too, as if a person,
had undergone struggle and depression as the veteran and Troy had endured.

Inequality of all kinds (in literature and real life) is an interesting topic for me. I am quite passionate about gender inequality in particular; therefore, for my research paper, I will focus on the gender inequalities that appear in Susan Glaspbell’s, “A Jury of Her Peers,” and Earnest Heminway’s, The Sun Also Rises. Gender inequality plays a large role in both of these works in some form or another. Although the two works are similar in that they both contain gender inequalities, they differ in the genders that are portrayed or referred to as unequal. Through the character’s actions and dialogue, it is quite clear that women in “A Jury of Her Peers,” and men in The Sun Also Rises are indeed unequal to the opposite gender within the individual stories, and are somehow inferior.
In this paper, I will argue and support with evidence from the text that the women in “A Jury of Her Peers” are treated as less than equals by the men in the story. I have found over 15 separate lines of dialogue that indicate this. From Minnie and John Wright, to the attorney, the sheriff, and Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, the women are consistently treated poorly and unequally by males. I will use the fact that the women for the majority of the story are (with the exception of Minnie) are referred to as “Mrs. [husband’s last name]” indicating that they are nothing more than property of their husbands. Similarly, the women only refer to their husbands as “Mr…” showing a level of distance and superiority of the men over the women. I will also use the condescending comments that the men make towards the women to support my claim.
I will argue that as a result of being treated as unequal herself by her husband in The Sun Also Rises, Bret has turned to treating men as unequals. I will use the fact that when Romero tries to “feminize” her, Bret immediately turns away and refuses to do what he asks to support this claim. Similarly, Bret uses men for whatever she happens to need at the moment. She has no regard for their feelings or for their basic humanity. She cheats on them in front of each other, and through an odd role reversal, takes on the stereotypical male role. She never has to justify herself or be concerned with her appearance, yet the men are constantly concerned with proving their masculinity, and are usually forced to do so as a result of her actions in some form.

*Is the thesis statement better now?

Heather Stull
Mr. Lee Hobbs
EL267.01
Revision 4-2-08

In “The Painted Bird”, author Jerzy Kosinski tells the story of an abandoned child during World War II. “Everything is Illuminated”, a novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, focuses also on World War II. The protagonist, named for the author, travels to the Ukraine to find a woman whom he believes may have saved his grandfather from the Nazis. Throughout both novels there exist many conflicts. I will be focusing on a conflict that three of the major characters face. The type of conflict is Man vs. Society influenced by ethnic/racial prejudices.

From “The Painted Bird” I will be focusing on the protagonist himself. I will discuss the difficulties that this character faces as a result of being “different”. Does he try to change himself to fit in? Under what circumstances is he accepted, if at all, by the other villagers? Also, when he is reunited with his own family, is he able to act as before or has he been forever altered by his experience as an outcast?
I will be studying two characters from “Everything is Illuminated”. The first will be Jonathan Safran Foer. I will examine the difficulties he faces on his journey to Eastern Europe. How is he received by his guides? What difficulties does he face on this journey as a foreigner? Secondly, I will look at Jonathan’s translator, Alex. Is he an “outsider” in any way? What difficulties doe he face throughout the novel? What is the reason behind his strong bond with Jonathan? Although these characters exist in two different time periods, the root of their conflict is the same. Ultimately, I hope to uncover similar responses from these characters to the struggles that they encounter.

7 April 2008
EL 267
Research Paper Proposal (revised)
In my paper I will be exploring how Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth and the theme of journey is paralleled in the novel “Johnny Got His Gun” by Dalton Trumbo and “Siddhartha” by Herman Hesse. I will be assessing the similarities between these two works in how they are similar in the journey to find enlightenment, and how enlightenment has different definition for both of them. The universal idea of journey brings many protagonists to their personal enlightenment, and the journey in each work is very similar and can be modeled in Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth.
I plan to split the paper up into three parts like the novel, Siddhartha. The first part of the book refers to Siddhartha attempting to find enlightenment through him and his friend’s joining of a group of nomadic people. I will compare this to the relationship with Joe’s family and friends back home. The first section will focus on the use of family and friend relationships as a catalyst to enlightenment. I will use this as the departure phase of the journey.
The second part of the book is based on “the temptation of the woman” and I will use this as a comparison between Siddhartha and his lover and Joe and the many women he encounters in the book. I will examine how Joe’s relationship with Kareen, the nurse, and other minor female characters compares to Siddhartha’s love interest and compare the relationships to the monomyth. This part will be the first half of the initiation phase.
The last part of the book is about the self- finding enlightenment. Therefore, I will look at the Joe’s path to enlightenment and compare it to Siddhartha’s path. Joe’s path to enlightenment was very different in that he was forced away and it was not his choice to find enlightenment through seclusion. Siddhartha’s path was chosen, but they both reach an end that is very different literally, but symbolically similar. This last part I will use as an example of the end of the initiation phase and the beginning of the return phase.

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23 April 2008

Ok class, the results of your new assignment (as discussed in class tonight) will now be displayed below this remark. By now, your thesis should be much more refined than it was in your proposals.

Dr. Hobbs

Amanda Farabaugh
April 24, 2008

Thesis:
Perceiving the truth is through nature’s existence in a literature text.

3 Main Points:

Within both texts: Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” and Metallica’s “One”, both show nature symbolizing something else within their texts. Eudora used the world around Phoenix as ways to bring out natural symbolism. I will show that they do exist within the text. For example, when Welty writes that the worn path (something in nature) actually symbolizes the natural symbolisms that surround her on her journey. Each natural symbolism has another meaning behind what is written and I will show throughout the paper how nature plays a part in natural symbolisms.

In Metallica’s “One”, natural symbolisms are in the form of his lyrics. James Hatfield uses symbols to describe the protagonist’s feelings. For example when he writes that he is back in the womb, this actually symbolizes without being able to move, speak, hear, see it’s like there is a womb that is covering him; like an unborn child in the womb. I will show the symbolisms throughout the text and their meanings.

Also within the texts nature’s role is also through perception verses reality. Both characters in the two texts are trying to deal with reality that surrounds them, while only being able to perceive things as they see them. I will show and explain how perception verses reality affects natures role in texts.

Thesis: Brett and Rose, though total opposite in character, play very strong feminist roles in The Sun Also Rises and Fences.
Argument: Their Beliefs
How they live their lives
The period of time they lived in
And the choices they make

Blog 8
Thesis: The universal idea of journey brings many different types of protagonists from both eastern and western literature to their personal enlightenment, and most of these journeys can be traced through Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth.
Arguments:
1. Both of the protagonists try to use friendship as a catalyst to enlightenment through the departure phase. This idea fails for both of them, but the experiences help them grow as a person and they learn from them.
2. In the initiation phase both of the protagonists turn to the temptation of women and peace with the father. This idea, again helps the protagonists grow as people, but it does not aid them in their path to enlightenment.
3. In the return phase of both Joe and Siddhartha’s Journey they find enlightenment through the peace and contentment within themselves.

In both The Painted Bird and Everything Is Illuminated, the characters are sometimes pulled together by the violent acts of racism, but far more often their lives are disrupted and pulled apart.

Alex and Jonathan’s friendship is born from the discovery that they share the same heritage. The boy of The Painted Bird, despite being reunited with his parents, is never able to return to his former self after his experiences during the war. His close relationship with Gavrila and Mitka serve to further complicate the situation.

The boy of The Painted Bird is separated from his home and family due to an extreme cultural prejudice.
Jonathan must journey away from his country to trace the history of his ancestors who were forced to flee because of their ethnicity.

Ethnic conflict keeps the boy of The Painted Bird alienated from the peasants and Brod, from Everything is Illuminated, from the members of the shtetl. Both suffer acts of violence because of their ethnicity.

Thesis:
Audiences will often comment that the movie is not as “good” as the book because the movie adaptation, in this case, does not fully illuminate the characters by just using illuminating effects and leaving out the past events that lead to the illumination.

1.) The movie does not even include most of the major flashbacks from the movie, making the the flashbacks that are incorporated difficult to understand.
2.) There are specific flash backs not included that diminish the illumination of not only Alex's grandfather, but Jonathan's grandfather as well.
3.) Even when the illumination effect is used in the movie, the illumination is still lacking as the viewers do not know the entire back story to how the character became illuminated.

Inequities noted in Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises may be compared with those seen in Langston Hughes’ “On the Road” to show that no matter the situation or location, individuals can be treated unfairly.

Injustice is in direct opposition with ethical and moral reasoning yet is still a a composite characteristic of many. Injustices are not reserved as a form of treatment toward only the downtrodden and less fortunate; inequities based on gender and religion are often seen as a part of daily life.

The themes of gender bias and religious intolerance will be discussed as found within the two texts.

Chera Pupi
April 30, 2008
Paper Thesis and Arguments

THESIS: Through the character’s actions and dialogue, it is quite clear that women in “A Jury of Her Peers,” and men in The Sun Also Rises, are indeed unequal to the opposite gender within the individual stories, and are somehow inferior.

MAIN ARGUMENTS:
1. The men constantly degrade the women’s livelihood and intelligence in “A Jury of Her Peers.”
2. Women do not have their own identities in “A Jury of Her Peers.”
3. Women’s husbands treat them as property.
4. Every instance in which the men and women are together, the men are making fun of the women.
5. Brett totally controls the men in her life.
6. Brett has no regards for the basic humanity of the men.
7. Brett never has to justify her actions, but the men do.
8. Brett manipulates and degrades Jake.

Joe Bonham, a blind, deaf man with neither a face nor limbs attempts to communicate with the outside world in hopes of teaching others about the outcome of war. Sargeant, an African American homeless man tries to find a place to sleep for the evening, while attempting to knock down the racial barriers he is faced with. Two men, with hardly any similarities both share journeys as they overcome challenging obstacles, as outcasts of society. Joe and Sargeant embark on their journeys to beat the odds and to be that change in the world. They are both rejected, silenced, and stopped, but they remain strong willed as they attempt to break through barriers.

Amanda S.

Thesis: Those that fight in the war and those that live in countries that are involved with the war are greatly affected by the war, which is portrayed in both Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo and The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski.

Points covered:
1. Joe lost his legs, arms, and face due to the war. He was greatly affected by the war even though he did not want to fight in it.
2. The boy had to leave his parents and was on his own traveling from village to village. He did not fight in the war but was greatly affected as well.
3. War will effect people no matter if they are in the war or if they are outside the war.

Representation of Journey in “On the Road” and “Johnny Got His Gun”
A journey in a story is a process that someone must go through, easy or difficult, to get to a common objective or goal. My objective is to relate the short story, “On the Road” by Langston Hughes, and the novel, “Johnny Got His Gun” by Dalton Trumbo, in the hopes of correlating the two by their similarities and parallelism of the representation of journey throughout the two stories. In both of these stories, they display a lot of hidden meanings, metaphors, biblical personification, and an incredible amount of imagery as to guide the reader in the direction that the author would like one to believe is happening.

Thomas A.

Thesis: In Jonathans Safran Foer’s novel “Everything is Illuminated” and Alice Walkers’s short story “Everyday Use”, religion is a central theme. By comparing the religion in each story, to one’s own religion, it is possible to not only see the differences, but also that even those who do not practice an organized religion are practicing their own beliefs in their own way.
Three main points:
1 The Uprights vs. the Slouchers- what caused the split and why they are still split.
2. Alex’s Impression of Jewish People- Alex has a vision of Jewish people that is not correct. He assumes Jonathan looks like a “Jew”.
3. Showing of “non-religion” in “Everyday Use” by choosing who will get the quilt. The Family does not hold and religious view, this hinders them as a family.

Revised Thesis:

The outcomes of war are represented in Johnny Got His Gun and The Painted Bird, whether it is a direct consequence from fighting in the war or an indirect consequence that is felt outside of the battle itself.

My thesis is "Isolation of his/her mind causes their perception of reality to be very vague and can be identified in the short stories "The Allegory of the Cave" and "The Lottery", the novel The Giver as well as our reality."

The arguments that are presented in my paper are (1)Seclusion of one's mind causes lack of knowlege. (2) Finding out the truth may cause a great deal of pain. (3) Isolation causing ignorance is present in our world today.

Am. Lit II
Revised Thesis and Three Arguments

Thesis:
Both Jerzy Kosinski’s The Painted Bird and Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” reveal a definite difference in the power of two ethnicities; however, both also reveal equality between the two by contrasting their views on civility and religion, and by the different outcomes of the main character’s journey.

Argument 1:
Although the two ethnicities in both books have different levels of power, neither ethnicity is civilized and both are capable of acts of immorality and savagery.

Argument 2:
Although one ethnicity uses religion/superstition and one uses order, both ethnicities use a ritual to gain a feeling of safety and control over their own lives.

Argument 3:
The main characters of both stories see flaws in both cultures, and both characters must choose whether they are willing to return to their home with this knowledge.

Although The Sun Also Rises and “A Jury of Her Peers” were written at different historical places in time, both stories show the harmful effects caused by many psychological and mental defects that humans experience, especially depression and post traumatic stress disorder.

The first argument in proving this thesis is that Lady Brett and Jake, characters from "The Sun Also Rises" both suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder following WWI. Secondly, Lady Brett and Jake also both suffer from depression in conjunction with alcoholism. Finally, the character Minnie Foster in "A Jury of Her Peers" also suffers from depression.

Natasha Hill

When movies are made about books the movie sometimes adds scenes or eliminates rather important ones. In my paper I will be proving that the film version of Trumbo’s novel enhances the experience of the reader. It makes metaphors, dream sequences and the reactions of others towards the main character more understandable and clear. This film is an excellent companion to the novel. Three sections of the book/movie I will cover particularly are the 1) separation between dream and reality, 2) The presence of Jesus in Joe’s dream, and 3) The ending of the book as compared to the film.

Reading a good novel is a very good journey. The journey is not only follow the characters’ trip in the novel, but also the readers need to feel the characters’ sprint, their emotion and their personal development. All the things that have the meaning in the story are the nature. Nature could be humans, things, the environment, and everything else that could influence the story. In “Everyday Use” and Everything is Illuminated the nature and culture greatly influence the characters and changed their personal value.

Yichuan Sun
Professor: Mr. Lee Hobbs
EL 267 America Lit.
April 30, 2008

The Nature and Culture Influence in Novel
Reading a good novel is a very good journey. The journey is not only follow the characters’ trip in the novel, but also the readers need to feel the characters’ sprint, their emotion and their personal development. All the things that have the meaning in the story are the nature. Nature could be humans, things, the environment, and everything else that could influence the story. In “Everyday Use” and Everything is Illuminated the nature and culture greatly influence the characters and changed their personal value.
Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” is a story that confronts us with three characters (mother and two daughters) with different opinion about how to deal with their grandmother’s remnant. And it’s actually the conflicting ideas about their identities and ancestry. The way they think about the grandmother’s quilt actually shows their different personal value.
The mother narrates the story of the day one daughter, Dee, visits from college and clashes with the other daughter, Maggie, over the possession of some heirloom quilts. We can easily find the mother and the younger daughter, Maggie are represent the old traditional black women, while the older daughter Dee who had became really different from them. Through describe the complete difference mother and daughter; I think the culture influence which is the “nature” outside that makes this happen.

The theme centers on Mama’s awakening of one daughter’s superficiality and to the other’s deep-seated understanding of heritage. Dee has a total different understanding of the meaning of the heritage from her mom and sister, Walker describe her as a selfish and arrogant woman, but what makes her has so much difference with her sister and mom. Dee left her small country home town and went to the college. Her college experience completely changed her. She got the education from the school that her mother and sister never got and met a lot of people from the different background such as her boy friend. Those things that changed her personal value are the nature and the culture.
Alice published “Everyday Use” in 1973 which was a time that black culture in the heyday, the Afro hairstyle was in fashion and Blacks were seeking their cultural roots in Africa. At the same time, black’ culture get violent strike form the white culture in U.S.A. Dee is a typical black girl which actually been influenced by the white culture. Walker described Dee’s movements when she was determined to take the quilts show how she is an ego girl. “She held the quilts securely in her arms, stroking them;”
In this story, Walker use grandmother’s quilts symbolized as the traditional African American black culture heritages, which Dee’s selfish make she does not un